Come Back to Me

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Kit wins the show. He is just so swoon-worthy and it doesn’t even surprise me anymore. Sarah seems to be very good at writing extremely swoon-worthy males. I don’t even know where to begin talking about him, though. For starters, he cooks. HE COOKS. HE BAKES, TOO! I mean, that would have been enough for me, but he is also the sweetest. He is understanding of Jessa and never pushes her to do something she wouldn’t be comfortable doing. He also takes it upon himself to give Jessa the breathing room she desperately needs and provides an escape from her tensed household. He takes her on adventures and gives her freedom to be herself. Let me start by saying I LOVED the first two books in this series and so I had high hopes for this book, especially when I realised it was childhood friends to lovers. He’s staring at me fiercely, his jaw clenching and unclenching as though he’s trying to dislodge a tooth.Khanh: ENOUGH! ENOUGH! BURN HER! BURN HER!!!!! She finished her first novel, Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), just before they left the UK, wrote the sequel on the beach in India and had signed a two book deal with Simon & Schuster by the time they had reached Bali.

American characters speaking fancy British words like mum (for mom) and vest (for undershirt) and using what we Americans like to call military time. It's always good to brush up on your British! If you're a clueless American like me, of course. ;DI went and googled the author and, sure enough, she was born and raised in London. So why did she set her story in Seattle, Washington (technically Bainbridge, but close enough)? Not that she isn't allowed to set her story wherever she wants, but she should use words and terminology that those characters would actually use...just saying.

Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and princess-obsessed daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home. After several months in India, Singapore, Australia and the US, they settled in Bali where they lived for five years. Right from the first chapter, this book made my heart race. I just felt that kind of breathless intensity and connection to the story that I'm constantly searching for in books. I had a huge smile on my face and my review notes are pretty much filled with "OMG LOVE", "SO MUCH AWESOME", "I LOVE THIS", over and over again. On leave for 4 weeks, moment of truth has finally come. Kit and Riley plan to make the most out of this time at home with their families. Including, revealing pent up longing and deep feelings hoping it's reciprocated. Oh yeah, thus begins the secret affair that makes your toes curl and the butterflies swarm. It's a beautiful thing. But what happens when you're on a time frame? What happens when you only have a few weeks? Is it long enough to develop into love; something that could last forever? And what about all the sneaking around? Is it worth telling everyone about and risking friendships and ridicule? I loved the other two books I had read by Gray, and I had forgotten this one was in my TBR pile. This one is added to the other two and is another stellar story.

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As for the ending? I absolutely did not see that twist coming and I applaud Alderson for keeping me on my toes. Very unexpected and while she didn't leave a huge cliffy (thank-you very much) I'm still dying to know what happens next!! Overall: A touching and heartfelt story about friendship, love, and healing. I experienced my romance trifecta: I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and best of all, I was left with happy tears in my eyes. Khanh: We are here in The Reader's Court for the pre-trial of Readers vs. Liva, the 17-year old main character of Out of Control. She stands here accused of being a dumbass. What are the detailed charges?

It's a contemporary romance, so no mind powers in this one and it's a lot, LOT steamier than my YA... :) In fact I've told my parents they can't read it... It's also a bit of a tear jerker so bring your tissues! Con: Jake's "troubles" crossed into OTT (over the top) territory at one point. I think, at one point, I stated, quite loudly, "You have got to be kidding me. " However, when I saw the big picture and figured out what Gray was trying to accomplish, I dismissed my initial feelings, because it did serve a purpose. Kit: Hanging out with Riley and Jessa. Anywhere is good. On my ideal day I’d get up, make Jessa breakfast in bed, then give her dessert..I want to take her, inhale her, own her. I want to press myself into her flesh like a thumbprint into wet clay, leaving a makers mark. I want to take a piece of her with me and leave a piece of me with her. How do I get enough of her to last me a year? What is there to say about Hunting Lila? It is an interesting mix of paranormal, science fiction and romance (focusing heavily on the latter), featuring an exciting cast of side characters and a (sometimes a little bratty) heroine with a (rather cool) superpower she doesn't dare tell anyone about. Let's say X-Men meets romantic comedy.

Also there was this age difference between them so obvious, that made me wonder why would a guy like Alex like a girl like Lila. She was naive and childish (funny how she wanted people to think of her as an adult, but her actions showed all the contrary); Alex was more mature, his actions calculated, his life so different than hers. Maybe all those differences made them fall for each other, who knows, I am glad they did because this way they kept my attention, waiting to see who will make the first step. Kit. Ahhh. I liked Kit. It's so good to have a break from reading about douche guys! He's thoughtful and sweet without overdoing it. He's not perfect and he made awful decisions but I understood him. Ahhh, I wouldn't also know what to do if I'm put in his shoes. To be honest, there were so many kissing scenes (and a lot more, if you know what I mean), that there wasn’t really a whole lot of time for character development and growth. If the author’s intent was to give us an escapism romance with lots of romantic moments, she succeeded. If the author’s intent was to show us the workings of a military romance and how war can effect it and change the people who served, she failed. Speaking on that note… The romance is Hunting Lila was perfect. I was swooning at that dreamy and slightly sexy romance within the first couple of chapters. Lila and Alex had believable and sizzling chemistry together with a relationship that moved at the right pace. ARC kindly provided by Simon Pulse via Fantastic Flying Book Club Tours in exchange for an honest review*All in one, a great one-sitting-kind-of-story that makes you want more, more, more... oh yeah, and then some more :) Later in the book, Jake gets in trouble when he fails a drug test for smoking weed one night when he was at a party. This happened in Massachusetts. So in the book, they have the local chief of police haul him in for questioning about it. This is not how this would work. Not even a little bit. First of all, a local cop wouldn't care about that in the state of Washington. It wouldn't be treated as a criminal offense. Second of all, there is a little thing called jurisdiction, and a cop in Washington would have no jurisdiction on something that happened across the country. Jessa Kingsley has had a little crush on Kit for a long time. But what with an overbearing, controlling father and the fact Kit is away often, sometimes for 12 months at a time, she keeps her thoughts and feelings to herself. That is until her 18th Birthday, when Kit decides he isn't waiting any longer to let her know how he feels, and gives her the present of a lifetime.