Pages: 304

Publication date: August 27, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

How I got the copy: Around The World ARC Tours

Rating:  1 Star
  

From Goodreads:

Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

Cover:  I don't understand how this book still have no cover and it hits shelves in a month...

     I've never given a book one star before so bear with me...I'll try not to rant.  I was expecting a Sarah Dessen-ish type book with a hard topic at the core, but with a lesson learned and some romance in between.  And while this book had those components something went amiss in the execution.

It's kind of like baking a cake.  If you add in the ingredients at the wrong time and too much or too little of even just one ingredient the end product is not quite right.  It might still taste okay, but maybe it looks flat or isn't the right consistency.  I feel that Contemporary books have a certain recipe that make them extraudinary and the author didn't even glance at it while concocting this book.

There was so much hurt and hatred in Heartbeat that was not balanced by the romance.  It left me feeling angry and depressed pretty much the whole time.  I was reading it in a hospital so that might have not helped, but all in all it was not an uplifting book. And when the character finally learns to move past her hateful emotions it is so random and quick that I was left in the dust confused.  How can someone go from hating a person for days/months to forgiving them in one instant.  It doesn't work like that.

Emma was just so selfish it disgusted me.  She'd rather kill her baby sibling than let her mom be on life support for a few weeks.  Plus, her stepfather is grieving and she's being incredibly disrespectful to him.  Even at seventeen I would have NEVER said or done what she did and I've been through many a death in the family at much a younger age than that.  So I had such a hard time connecting with her.  Maybe it's just me, but I want to read strong female characters who even when their life is falling apart they pick themselves back up.

I did however like Caleb.  He was the one thing that kept me reading.  I wanted to know his back story and see how he helped Emma grow.  I felt his character could have been explored more.  Maybe a dual POV with a few chapters from his perspective could have helped the story feel a little less depressing.

I've read lots of other reviews and everyone seemed to love this book.  I feel weird for not liking it, but I refuse to lie to other readers for the sake of not getting booed.  So my honest opinion: if you liked Elizabeth Scott's other books than try this one.  If not or if you're like me and haven't read anything else of hers... skip it. 

"I look at him and my heart, which I was so sure was dead, burned out, beats hard and fast.  Beats like I'm alive, like there is life in me, like I didn't die when Mom did." 

(Quote is from an ARC and may appear different in finished copy)

Andrea from So Many Books So Little Time: 4 Stars Anna from Diamond In Rough Coal: 4 Stars

Publication date: February 12, 2013

Publisher: Tor Teen

How I got the copy: Bought

Rating:  2.5-3 Stars
Labels:


  

From Goodreads:

The second installment in Kristen Simmons's fast-paced, gripping YA dystopian series.

After faking their deaths to escape from prison, Ember Miller and Chase Jennings have only one goal: to lay low until the Federal Bureau of Reformation forgets they ever existed.

Near-celebrities now for the increasingly sensationalized tales of their struggles with the government, Ember and Chase are recognized and taken in by the Resistance—an underground organization working to systematically take down the government. At headquarters, all eyes are on the sniper, an anonymous assassin taking out FBR soldiers one by one. Rumors are flying about the sniper’s true identity, and Ember and Chase welcome the diversion….

Until the government posts its most-wanted list, and their number one suspect is Ember herself.

Orders are shoot to kill, and soldiers are cleared to fire on suspicion alone. Suddenly Ember can’t even step onto the street without fear of being recognized, and “laying low” is a joke. Even members of the Resistance are starting to look at her sideways.

With Chase urging her to run, Ember must decide: Go into hiding…or fight back?

Plot: 3/10

Characters: 6/10

Setting: 4/10

Pacing: 2/10

Style: 7/10

22+50=72 (3 Stars)

Format: Audio

Publication date: April 16, 2013

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

How I got the copy: from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Thank you!)

Rating:  5 Stars
  

From Goodreads:

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon’s moved to New York City and is looking for excitement and passion without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night’s fun. But the manner—and speed—with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.

The whole city knows that Max Stella loves women, not that he’s ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it’s not until Sara—and the wild photos she lets him take of her—that he starts wondering if there’s someone for him outside of the bedroom.

Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

Plot: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Setting: 9/10

Pacing: 8/10

Style: 8/10

Cover:  I love that blue font on the black and white.  It goes perfect with the first books cover while still looking completely different.

41+50=91 (5 Stars)

     Companion novels sometimes are hard to get into because while the characters are familiar, they are not the ones you originally fell in love with.  This story was  not that way at all.  Chloe and Bennett (from Beautiful Bastard) are in it a lot, especially in the beginning.   We get to see how they're doing since the last book.  If it's even possible I loved Max and Sara more than Chloe and Bennett though.  Max is British, established, funny, and charming.  And Sara is emotionally guarded, feisty, and adventurous yet still very cautious.  The two were the perfect pair.  On paper they don't make sense together, but their chemistry was palpable.  I loved that for once the woman had complete control over the arrangement.  Too often in books it's the man making all the rules and being distant.

     I love how the characters are also very different than the first book.  They don't hate each other like Chloe and Bennett did.  In fact they're infatuated with each other the more they get together.  The plot was formatted the same as the first book where the characters hook up for most of the book, then something blows up at the end, and then they finally admit their feelings.  This always lends for an exciting and captivating story.

     Listening to this made me want to listen to audiobooks all the time now.  I love the guy that read for Max.  His accent sounded like a British Gerard Butler to me.  I'm a huge fan of Gerard so that was a major plus for me.  It definitely added to the experience to be able to hear the POVs read by the different people.  The only thing I didn't like was when Sara was narrating and the woman read Max's dialouge.  Her voice got really low and weird and kind of ruined the intimate moment.  Originally I was a little worried it would be awkward to listen to a book of this genre, but it actually was not awkward at all.  There were no weird sound effects or anything.  It was narrated well.  

     Fans of Sophie Kinsella's books should definitely try this one.  It's got the same humor and romance, with a pinch of those intimate scenes these two authors write so well.  This is definitely a great beach read.

     

     Also, there's another book and some novellas coming out in this series!!!!  Who else is excited!?

“Beside me, Richie chimed in. "What the... Max. there's a girl on your face."

Sara pulled back and her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, crap."
"Calm down," I told her quietly. "No one here gives a f*** who we are. They hardly remember my name every week."
"Patently untrue," Richie said. "Your name is Twat."
I tilted my head to him, smiling at Sara. "Like I said.” 
― Christina Lauren, Beautiful Stranger

Michelle from Dark Faerie Tales: 4.5 Stars Kristen from Kristen's Book Blog: 5 Stars