Giveaway/Review: Life's A Cappella by Yessi Smith

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I want to tell you how great my life was. 

How I lived without regrets. With constant laughter. Without any tears. I want to tell you how I lived each moment to the fullest. How each breath I took was fresh and full of life. With eagerness. Without any fear.
I want to tell you all of that, but then my story would be masked with lies and not worth telling.
My life didn’t start until I left my past. And I left everything. My mother, my friends, my name.
My new name, the name everyone knows me by is Erin Lewis.
Four years after finding the courage to leave her hometown in Alabama, Erin is finally happy with where her life has led her. Not only is she secure in her environment, but the relationships she has formed center her, making her forget how damaged she once was. Before she can fully settle into her new life, her past crashes into her present, unraveling a set of events that destroy the very foundation she has built her new life on.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮

Format: eBook

Recommend: I do! 

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What does Bindi have to say about it:
This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I've been lost in the world of angst and horror for the past few weeks, and while this book has some drama...it's good drama. Well not really "good," but it's the type of drama that makes you really connect with the lead Heroine, Erin.

Yessi did an excellent job of weaving a tale of a girl who came from nothing and turned into something! It wasn't easy and there were many bumps along the way, but I definitely finished this book with a smile on my face. This book does have alternating view points; one of which I assumed was a flashback voice, but I was very very wrong lol.

I also love the fact that this book dealt with real people. There's no billionaire dom CEOs and none of them are a part of a motor cycle club (No sparkling in the sunlight either! lol). Erin's just normal human being that's trying to live her "new" life the best way that she can.

So do I recommend this book? YES. At first I wasn't sure if I'd really enjoy the book, because to be honest, I'm all over some Alpha males and anything paranormal at the moment, but real talk, my feels were all over the place while reading Life's A Cappella and I LOVED it! The hope and inspiration that I felt after spending some time in Yessi's world is something that I didn't realize I needed in my life until now. It was extremely well written and the story was unique and the characters were REAL! Four solid stars for this one guys!

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About the Author: Yessi Smith

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I’m a Hispanic living in South Florida with my redneck husband from Texas and our “half breed” son, who is actually the reason I started writing again after years of celibacy. My son loves stories, but not the kind you can read in an existing book. No, he’d rather make up a story, complete with our own illustrations. So, thank you, Son, for igniting a flame I had let go out. 

I also live with two dogs: a neurotic Border Collie we call Nitro and a midget Rottweiler named Nisa.

I have always found my sanctuary at the beach and in music and writing. I wish I could write rhymes so I could become a famous rapper, but rhyming is completely lost on me. 

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s in Human Resource Management. I have held several jobs, from picking up dog crap to upper management positions. And now I am hoping to leave the business world behind so I can live full time in a world that does not exist until I place my fingers on.

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And now my monsters! It's time for the grand finale!!!
First, Our A Cappella (1.5 in the A Capella series) comes out:

✦FEB. 7th, 2014!!!!✦

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Synopsis: Five months after their wedding, Trent struggles with the strain of juggling work and family life as Erin furthers her education, getting a Master's degree in Nursing. All Trent wants is one weekend alone with his wife to reconnect but Erin's focus is adamantly elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, Nate, Erin's oldest friend and brother, has formed an undeniable bond with Tonya that he is reluctant to pursue because of his own inner demons. 

Will love be enough?

Sounds good right!?!

I can't wait to see what happens!

Now monsters before we go, I'd like to thank Tyeesha Webb and Yessi Smith for letting me be apart of this review tour! I (like Erin!) am an aspiring nurse and I have been studying and stressing out over the TEAs exam this week. Thankfully, it's almost over and my nursing application will be complete and ready to be submitted, but these women have been a god send in the patience department! So thank you ladies for putting all of this together and thank you Yessi for sharing a piece of your world with me!

-B

Ps: Monsters, I'll be back later on in the week with two more reviews, but before you click off of this screen make sure you enter into the GIVEAWAY!

See! There's a method to my rambling. Well not really, but whatevs. ;)

GIVEAWAY

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Review: Mine (Real #2) by Katy Evans

You can find my review of the first book in this series, REAL, here.

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He's mine, and I'm his. Our love is all-consuming, powerful,
imperfect, and real...

In the international bestseller REAL, the unstoppable bad boy of the Underground fighting circuit finally met his match. Hired to keep him in prime condition, Brooke Dumas unleashed a primal desire in Remington "Riptide" Tate as vital as the air he breathes... and now he can't live without her.

Brooke never imagined she would end up with the man who is every woman's dream, but not all dreams end happily ever after, and just when they need each other the most, she is torn away from his side. Now with distance and darkness between them, the only thing left is to fight for the love of the man she calls MINE.

Rating: ✮✮✮

Format: Paperback

Recommend: Eh...it depends. 

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This book has me stumped.

I absolutely adored Real, but Mine just didn't do it for me. 

Don't get me wrong, Remy was GREAT, the sex was good, but Brooke Dumas annoyed me to no end. 

I hate saying that about a female character, so I can assure you that I don't rag on them without rhyme or reason. I just hated how she turned into a total valley girl in this book. The plot line took a back seat to the constant drivel about how hot Remy is and how good of a fighter he is. Not to mention the fact that one minute she's totally in love with him and the next she's pissed off to no end and wants to physically harm him before being totally saturated in the panty department because her vagina just gushes constant lady juices for Remy no matter how pissed off she is.

Girl, chill out.

But wait, there's more.

Now this could be a MAJOR spoiler, so if you haven't read the book, then stop right here, because I'm fixing to do some serious nick picking over two of the MAJOR story lines in this novel. 

Seriously go away.

No I mean really.

Well, if you insist.

WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GET KNOCKED UP!? Why oh why. That right there shot the book down to four stars because get REAL. Brooke is supposed to be smart and she knows, GOD SHE KNOWS, that Remy is a handful and is hella complicated. So why have your main heroine get impregnated so soon in a series? Honestly, I don't feel like the baby story line was well thought out, and if anything, it took away from the original story that was Remy and Brooke.  

Also.

Where did the fucking video that was supposedly used to blackmail her sister come from?

I still have no idea how that shit got introduced into the story and quiet frankly I'm too damn lazy to go back and look.

Brooke, your sister is a bitch. The sooner you realize that and cut her out of your life, the less of a headache you'll have when she betrays you yet again.

Brooke doesn't care though.

Brooke just wants Remy and his infallible hotness.

Omg Remy I'm so hot for you.

OMG Remy take me now.

I'm yours.

You're mine.

 I'm yours.

You're mine.

Orgasms for everyone.

REPEAT FIVE HUNDRED TIMES and slap a THE END at the bottom of it.

I feel really bitchy writing a review that isn't praising how awesome this book is, but for $6.99, you better offer up something decent and this sequel completely missed the mark.

As for things that are GREAT about MINE.

Remy

God, Remy is so good. He's moody and complicated still, but he fucking loves him some Brooke Dumas.

Also the sex is AWESOME.

I could just read a whole book dedicated to Remy banging all of God's creatures and call it a day.

So do I recommend this book, yes and no.

No if you want an actual story.

Yes if you came to the party for some hot sex scenes.

-Bindi OUT- 

Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

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She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. 

So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Format: Paperback

Recommend: FUCK YES! 

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Every once in a while, I stumble across a book that I have to beat myself up over. WHY DIDN’T I READ THIS SOONER!?

I hate that I just now discovered this book, but I’m so fucking happy that I’ve had the privilege of reading it.

Forbidden is the first book of 2014 that had me reading while simultaneously trying to hide behind my hands; which is damn near impossible to do with a paperback book!

Hollllly mind fuck

This book is tame compared to most of my reads, but it has evoked some seriously strong emotions inside of me and has definitely made me questioning myself:

Who has the right to tell you who you can and can’t love?

Forbidden tells the story of Maya and Lochan Whitley. Two people who are connected on levels that some people will never find in their lifetime. They are also two kids who have had a pretty shitty deck of cards thrown their way and have had to grow up far sooner than one ever would wish upon their children. So when they say they love each other, they truly mean that they love each other—with every fiber of their being. It’s genuine and tangible through-out the story. There’s no need for grand acts of affirmation of that love or hot steamy sex scenes. The reader can feel in their soul that these two people…these kids…understand what love is really about.

Only problem is… they’re brother and sister. 

Now, now before you roll your eyes and go on about how disgusting it is, hear me out.

I wasn’t sure about this book at first. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE taboo subjects and Flowers in the Attic is one of my all-time favorite V.C. Andrews books. But it takes a special kind of person to turn the reader from feeling wronged and disgusted to damn near distraught over the pain and suffering that these two human beings endure all because they “love” each other. Suzuma did just that, and more.

She weaved Maya and Lochan’s tale together effortlessly and this is probably one of the most beautifully written books that I have EVER read.

GOD THE FEELS! 

The feels take a direct hit when reading this tale. Hell, I’m tearing up over here just thinking about it. So do I recommend it? HELL YES! I'd even go as far as to say that this one of the more believable love stories that I've ever read. Bravo Tabitha Suzuma, you've written a masterpiece! 

-B

PS: Anyone else excited to see the re-make of Flowers in the Attic that premiers tonight on Lifetime? Ha!