Book Review: Pretty Girls Never Lie (St. Mary’s #5) by S.J. Sylvis

Spending my summer at St. Mary’s Boarding School isn’t the same without my friends. I knew it wouldn’t be. What I don’t expect is to see her again. Isla Ransford.

The last time I saw Isla, I gave her one rule to follow: become invisible. Four years later, she shows up at St. Mary’s and is anything but invisible.

The only logical solution is for me to ignore her—resist her.

When I find out why she’s back at St. Mary’s, my choice to stay away is taken. I’m forced to intervene. After all, I’m the reason for her suffering.

Pretty Girls Never Lie Novella is the fifth and final book in the St. Mary’s series and can be read as a standalone. Reader discretion is advised. (From: Goodreads)

Book Review: Sticks and Stones (Shadow Valley U #1) by S. Massery & S.J. Sylvis

Sticks and stones may break our bones…

Hockey is my life.

After Wren Davis puts my dreams of the NHL in jeopardy, I vow to make her life hell if she ever comes near me again.

But she’s my best friend’s foster sister, and even though they don’t live together anymore, their bond is still tight, which makes avoiding each other extra difficult.

Especially when I show up at Shadow Valley University and learn my new room comes with an unwelcome addition: Wren Davis.

As much as I try to make her life hell, she gives it right back, until she’s not just under my skin but constantly on my mind.

But some things can’t be forgiven, and fraternizing with the enemy is the last thing either of us want. (From: Goodreads)

Book Review & Book Rec: Ice Bet (Bexley U #2) by S.J. Sylvis

She’s the coach’s daughter and his rival’s newest target.

Aasher Matthews is everything I detest. Arrogant jock: check. Coy smirk: check. Too hot for his own good: check. To make matters worse, he plays hockey. Unfortunately for him, my father is his coach. Fortunately for me, I’m deemed untouchable.

The only common ground I have with hockey players is our love of the ice, so staying away from them will be easy-peasy.

Until I overhear their bet—who can get Coach’s daughter in their bed first?

I’m ready to bring the entire Bexley U hockey team to their knees. Instead of fleeing, I flirt. Instead of hiding, I run just so they’ll chase me. Luring my father’s players into a trap has a certain appeal to it.

Except, Aasher isn’t fooled by my feigned temptation. He has too much riding on a perfect season and has plans to join the NHL after winning the Frozen Four.

So he proposes our own bet.

If he wins, I stay away from his teammates and stop messing with their heads.
If I win, he tells my father—his beloved coach—about his teammates’ dirty plans for me.

But the more Aasher crosses the lines we’ve carved into the ice, the more I find myself letting him. The only problem is, someone else is in on our gamble, and they aren’t willing to concede.

Ice Bet is a spicy coach’s daughter college sports romance. It is a complete stand-alone. The other books in the series do not need to be read in order, but you will see glimpses of future characters in each book. (From: Goodreads)

Book Review: The Problem with Perfect (Cedar Point #3) by Jillian Liota

Bellamy Mitchell is a meticulous planner. When her old flame returns to Cedar Point engaged, blowing apart her vision for the future, she claims to have a serious boyfriend. The problem? The first single guy she can think of is her brother’s much older, closed-off best friend.

Rusty Fuller likes to keep people at a distance. He’s been through enough to know that letting anyone too close is a mistake, unless it’s only for a little fun. What he definitely doesn’t need is his best friend’s little sister turning him into anyone’s boyfriend, especially her own.

For some reason, helping Bellamy is a challenge Rusty can’t refuse, and he develops a reluctant soft spot for the woman beloved by everyone in town. She’s too young, too innocent, but also too hard to resist. So he promises himself this fake dating gig is just that: fake.

When Rusty and Bellamy find more in each other than either of them expected, they’re faced with a difficult question. Is what they share too flawed to be real? Or did they stumble upon their own kind of perfect? (From: Goodreads)

Book Review: Stay Alive (Stay Awake duology #2) by Audrey Francis-Plante

Defeating the Shroud was one thing. Adjusting to life without rest vials is another.

Farren Bray is slowly learning to deal with the guilt and trauma attached to her sleep. She’s finding her place at the fields with Easton when someone she was hoping she’d never see again contacts her. Theo.

After running from the ISRR with Geoffrey’s research, he’s now developing a new product that requires the assistance of his darling “Cloudy”. Theo’s ambition knows no bounds, and eventually Farren is forced to get involved.

But the world has been precarious and unpredictable since the Shroud. This time, the challenge won’t be to stay awake…

It’ll be to stay alive. (From: Goodreads. Get yours NOW.)

Book Review: Weak Side (Bexley U #1) by S.J. Sylvis

He’s the hottest hockey player in the nation, and I just agreed to be his fake girlfriend.

Theo Brooks is hard not to notice. With his coy smirk, rock-hard abs, and skilled agility on the ice, he’s the cockiest of all the jocks and, unfortunately for me, my new roommate.

When Admissions mixes up my first and last name and I end up living in the male dorms, I feel my perfectly tied schedule loosening with every string Theo pulls. And he likes to pull every single one.

It isn’t until I find out that my long-time boyfriend is sampling other girls that things get interesting. Theo proposes a solution to my problem—he helps me make my ex jealous, and I help him fend off the relentless puck bunnies that are doing nothing but distracting him from sealing his future with the best NHL team there is.

So, we fake date. We kill two birds with one stone.
The puck bunnies think he’s taken.
My ex is regretting his poor choices.

But the more Theo Brooks shows up by my side and places his hand around my waist, the more I realize that the lines we drew are blurring.

This may have started out as a fake-dating scheme, but with each misleading kiss, we may both get more than we bargained for.

Weak Side is a spicy fake dating/forced proximity college sports romance. It is a complete stand-alone.

(From: Goodreads)

Release Blitz & Book Rec: Somewhere Between Hello and Goodbye by Aisling Magie

Hansel

I never knew I needed her until she came into my life—my beautiful stranger. Bowie was everything I wasn’t. Free. Impulsive. Carefree. With a common destination, we embarked on a road trip. Little did I know, my life was about to change forever.

Bowie

I never thought he’d become more than a stranger—my dopamine hugger. Hansel was everything I wanted. Caring. Understanding. Giving. I told him we could remain strangers during the road trip but part with good memories. But the best and worst things lie in the unexpected.

We were never supposed to meet again, but when we did, I wished we had never said hello in the first place.

Book Review: Stay Awake (Stay Awake #1) by Audrey Francis-Plante

If you could get sleep from the store, would you buy it? It’s 2141 and rest vials can be bought worldwide, small injections that provide the energy of three, six, or nine hours of sleep without having to actually sleep them.

Nineteen-year-old Farren Bray doesn’t have a choice but to use rest vials after her parents’ deaths left her struggling with insomnia and debt. Buying her sleep allows her to work a full 150-hour week and survive in a fast-moving city.

But a mysterious entity called the Shroud is spreading on the continent, killing people in their sleep. The price of rest vials goes through the roof and a lot of people, including Farren, can no longer afford sleep.

Her rest vials are dwindling.

The Shroud is approaching.

The only option left is to stay awake.  (From: Goodreads)

Book Review: Dead Girls Never Talk (St. Mary’s #3) by S.J. Sylvis

AMAZON Top 50 Bestselling Author, SJ Sylvis, brings an addictive interconnected standalone boarding school romance set in a deliciously dark world packed with angst and off-the-charts chemistry.

Cade

Loving her was like breathing air—it was hard to live without.

Journey Smith was quiet and guarded, and above all else…beautiful. When we were alone, I grew to know the girl behind the stormy eyes. Her hesitant touches and hidden smiles were reserved for me, but now they’re gone. Stolen moments of happiness were replaced with sharp barbs and fiery glares concealing her fear.

Our past was written in the stone of St. Mary’s—a past that I was not willing to repeat. But what I assumed to be the truth was nothing more than a fabrication of such.

Journey was back, but she was no longer mine.

Journey

They say time heals all wounds—unless, of course, your heart was broken by someone like Cade.

Cade Walker was elusive, part of the Rebels who ruled the halls of St. Mary’s. However, I got his playboy smile and deep dimples. When we were alone, he said all the right things–until his betrayal.

Now that I was back, we no longer stood on even ground. With every fleeting glance he gave me, my hammering heart tried to obscure my fear. Cornered in the darkened halls of St. Mary’s Boarding School, Cade demanded to know the truth.

A truth I wasn’t willing to give.

Dead Girls Never Talk is a complete standalone in the St. Mary’s Series and ends with an HEA. This book deals with subjects that some may find triggering.  (From: Goodreads)

Book Review: Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

“We were perfect together. Until we met.”

Misha

I can’t help but smile at the words in her letter. She misses me.

In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed.

It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever…

And that was the start. For the next seven years, it was us.

Her letters are always on black paper with silver writing. Sometimes there’s one a week or three in a day, but I need them. She’s the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

We only had three rules. No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it?

Until I run across a photo of a girl online. Name’s Ryen, loves Gallo’s pizza, and worships her iPhone. What are the chances?

F*ck it. I need to meet her.

I just don’t expect to hate what I find.

Ryen

He hasn’t written in three months. Something’s wrong. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch.

Without him around, I’m going crazy. I need to know someone is listening. It’s my own fault. I should’ve gotten his number or picture or something.

He could be gone forever.

Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it. (From: Goodreads)