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: Red Hill by Jamie McGuire

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When the world ends, can love survive?

For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone makes fighting for tomorrow an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can’t remember what it’s like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda’s biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals.

When reports of a widespread, deadly “outbreak” begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can’t outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in the face of a terrifying enemy—an enemy who no longer remembers what it’s like to be human.

Set against the backdrop of a brilliantly realized apocalyptic world, love somehow finds a way to survive. But what happens when the one you’d die for becomes the one who could destroy you?

Rating: ✮✮✮

Format: Paperback

Recommend: If you're a zombie lover, sure. 

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It's not a shocker that I adore anything and everything zombie related. My fixation with the undead started many moons ago when I saw Pet Cemetery for the first time.

Red Hill had the perfect mix of suspense and uncertainty that many zombie novels and movies highlight, but there where a few things that I (personally) had issues with.

1. The romance wasn't needed. It just didn't work for me. Mostly because it came out of no where and then as the book started to wrap up, it actually made me dislike one of the heroines.

Scarlet and Nathan

2. Too many things were going on at once. I loved seeing the POV of three different characters, BUT I feel like it caused the author to forget about previous story lines that were introduced at the beginning of the book. By the end of the book I guess it didn't really matter because shit hit the fan anyways, but I think this book would have been much better if the story lines and pov's were condensed or elaborated on.

3. The ending. It wasn't good at all. I didn't go in to this book thinking that everyone would get a HEA. I know better than to hope for that when dealing with post apocalyptic, but the ending, ugh it wasn't believable at all. I mean really, you're going to stay on a farm in the middle of no where instead of going to where all of the other humans are?

Miranda and Bryce

I think over all the plot of this book was on point and unique, but the execution failed. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but I did expect more from the author.

-B