The First Husband

The First Husband - Laura Dave

"When The First Husband opens we find Annie Adams completely content in her life: she gets to tour the world writing her rather successful travel column; her long term boyfriend, Nick, is beginning to taste success as a film director; her much-loved dog, Mila, is keeping her feet warm. What could go wrong? In the next breath her world begins to unravel: Nick announces he is leaving her for the possibility of a better life with a better woman, taking her beloved Mila with him; she learns her job is potentially in danger since the paper has been taken over by a new owner; the once comforting home she shared with Nick becomes filled with the memories of what they had and what will no longer be.

With the push of her best friend, Jordan (Nick's sister), Annie decides to thrust herself back into life to see if it will stick. She finds herself in a beachside restaurant after hours, where she meets Griffin who is highlighting as Executive chef until the permanent chef returns and he goes home to small town Massachusetts to open his own restaurant. Annie instantly feels connected to Griffin and decides that he might be the new lease on life she was looking for, her way to be someone new and improved. As they get to know each other the time dwindles until Griffin must go back to the life he had only temporarily put on hold...with one new addition: Annie.

Annie takes a leap and accepts Griffin's impromptu wedding proposal, traveling to Massachusetts, by way of Las Vegas and a little wedding chapel, ready to begin anew. What she doesn't expect when they arrive is Griffin's brother, Jesse, waiting at their home with his two rambunctious and sticky twin boys, declaring he and his wife are separated. She doesn't expect the ex girlfriend who spent thirteen years with Griffin and doesn't seem able to fully let go, or the icy mother in law that dotes on Griffin's ex as the daughter in law she wished she had. She doesn't expect to feel trapped by the small town life or the total immersion into a past she doesn't share with Griffin. Most of all, she doesn't expect the feelings that keep creeping into her thoughts: did I make a mistake rushing into this?

When Nick shows up at the opening of Griffin's new restaurant and declares he is ready to give Annie everything she wanted from him she has to make a decision: does she go back and begin again the life she thought she always wanted, or does she live this new life she never knew was missing?"


The First Husband is a great novel by author Laura Dave.  It is smart and intelligent, and is not your basic chic-lit.  It shows the difficulties of finding a true love and soul mate in a world that is ever-changing in a career/money focused society.  Annie struggles with finding her Home in a fast paced career.  She is given the opportunity to travel to magical, dream destinations all over the world, but no matter how many places she goes and how many people she meets she still struggles with being lonely and sad.  She did not realize what was missing until she found it. It just happened to be her first husband, Giffin.  In haste she married and moved with him to a small town across the country.  The novel does a great job of showing just how much that right person means to us and how nothing (even a dream job in a great country) is as good as love is.  She struggles with an ex-boyfriend issue that is resounding to us all. The one that wants us back once we moved on.  She showed us how to be brave and move on.  It was a great novel that was well written. 

4.25 out of 5

Providence Triolgy

Providence - Jamie McGuire

"In the old world shadows of Providence, Rhode Island, Nina Grey finds herself the center of a war between Hell and Earth. Struggling with her father’s recent death, Nina meets Jared Ryel by chance…or so she believes. Although his stunning good looks and mysterious talents are a welcome distraction, it soon becomes clear that Jared knows more about Nina than even her friends at Brown University. When questions outnumber answers, Jared risks everything to keep the woman he was born to save—by sharing the secret he was sworn to protect. When her father’s former associates begin following her in the dark, Nina learns that her father is not the man she thought he was, but a thief who stole from demons. Searching for the truth behind her father’s death, Nina stumbles upon something she never expected—something Hell wants—and only she holds the key."

This was a great book from the start! I started reading this after I found out that Jamie McGuire wrote it (she also wrote Beautiful Disaster).  This book had me hooked and was a great story.  It puts love on a new playing field.  Like most other YA books, you have the hott guy and the girl that needs saving and they fall into this unfathomable, deep rooted love.  It is good because we see struggle as well as bliss.  It is not all happy endings and fairy-tales, even though at times Nina finds herself living in a less than normal world,  as the couple fights fate to be together.  Jamie is a good writer and can twist and turn a story.  This story was good because it is unique.  It has a twist into the supernatural, but not in the ways of vampires or fairy-tale characters; it uses the Bible and the theories of Angles and Demons that inhabit our world and walk side by side with humans. This books leaves you excited and ready for the next one. 

Requiem 

"Dreaming of the dead might mean a restless night for anyone, but for Nina Grey it was a warning. Still healing from her last run-in with Hell, Nina struggles with not only her life as a Brown University student, but also as an intern at Titan Shipping, her father's company. Recurring nightmares about her father's violent death have become a nightly event, but being overwhelmed with guilt from Ryan's unexpected departure to the Armed Forces, and heart ache over Claire being across the ocean to protect him, Nina believes her sleepless nights are the least of her problems—but she's wrong. Worried about Nina's declining health, Jared must steal back Shax's book for answers. Fighting new enemies, and with the help of new friends, Jared's worst fear comes to fruition. Desperate, he is faced with a choice: Fight Hell alone, or start a war with Heaven."

The second book in the Providence Trilogy, Requiem, is just as good and captivating as the first.  Providence showed us who the characters were, gave us the classic love story, and began to set up the theme of the series.  Requiem gives us the action packed novel that keeps us entranced and interested in the series.  Nina starts having very vivid dreams of her father and his Arch/protector Gabe (who happens to be Jared's father) stealing the bible of Hell. They are so real that she begins to think they are more than just dreams and even begins climbing walls in her sleep, much to the delight of Bex, Jared's younger brother.  To add to the panic of her middle years of college she is acting CEO of Titan, her father's company with a very annoying intern and her best friend by her side as acting assistant.  While juggling college classes, a company, and the impending war between Heaven and Hell, she finds out Claire (Jarred's sister) is Ryan's protector.  Little does she know that her world is about to change dramatically after one night of trying to be a normal couple with her boyfriend.  Their loft and home is blown up forcing them to move into her ice-hearted mother's home.  There they plan their attach on how to defeat Hell and get the demon's to leave them alone.  With help from a surprising ally and best friend Kim, they decide that the best way to protect what would be the first Angel born to earth is to steal the book from Hell itself. McGuire does a good job in this book adding twists and turns and keeping the reader engaged.  Her plot is amazing and the action helps draw  you in.  While I did find it hard to read past several of the grammar and spelling errors, I'm not one to judge on English. ;)  The way she thought of this supernatural story is amazing.  It brings a topic that most of us know about, and adds to our interests into something that just might sound crazy enough to be real!  She developed not only the main characters, but gave the main sub-characters backgrounds and histories and feelings that really help shape the plot and novel.  You really get a sense of who these people are and inside their lives. She really does not leave any questions unanswered.  

Eden 

"She had seen the unspeakable.

She would learn the unknowable.

Now, she would fight the invincible.

In the third and final installment of the Providence series, Nina Grey will marry the wrong man, carry the child that was never supposed to be born, and fight a war she can't win.

Faced with the impossible task of protecting his new wife and unborn child against the throes of Hell, Jared Ryel is allowed no mistakes. Pressured to return the Naissance de Demoniac to Jerusalem, he revisits St. Ann's to learn the answers were in front of him all along. 

Together, they must survive long enough to let their child save them - and the world."

Eden picks up exactly where Requiem left off, literally the next day.  It is finally Nina's wedding day, after a two year engagement, and Jarred could not be more excited!  However the circumstance, and wherever the next days will lead them, Jarred and Nina's love will bring them all through it.  They will fight the nightmare and struggle to get the happy ever after they deserve.  They just have to convince Heaven to get on their side.  Easy? Maybe.... 
This book is amazing! To me it is the best of the three.  It brings together the love of the first book and the action of the second.  It is a perfect combination of crazy, out of the world, drama and true, star-crossed lovers.  It is in this book that I really realized that the whole series was spread out across four years.  The ending is the perfect ending for a drama filled trilogy.  It was simple and did not leave many questions.  We saw a chapter of their lives come to end and I did not have to dwell on wondering what happened to any of the characters as McGuire made their lives round out well.  She did a great job of creating a strong heroine that would stand on her own when needed, but would love and stand beside her hero as well.  It all came down to family and love.  Not to mention one amazing set of wedding vows from Jarred! 


I would recomend this trilogy to everyone who loves YA, romance, or supernatural books.  It is the perfect mix.  Read it, Sweet Potato Fries. 

4.5 out of 5 

Beautiful Disaster

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way,  Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

This book was a roller coaster for me. I was sucked in and could not put it down until I was finished; however, I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or hated it.  The setting is at Eastern University where Abby, a college freshman, meets bad boy Travis.  The red flags about Travis start from the first pages where we see him in a fight club type circle spitting blood all over Abby's 'good girl' cardigan.  Basically, Abby has a past that she hoped to escape at Eastern U.  She came with best friend America.  I think this is what annoyed me most about this book.  Her best friend is named America, it was challenging at first to read past this (I was reading it during Memorial Day weekend so 'America' our country was mentioned every where and could be quite confusing).  It just did not strike me as a clever name for a character.  The plot was good, and by the end I was rooting for the couple to work out. The situations were a bit far fetched, however.  Her past was not one that seemed like it was something to run from, and the way it intertwined with Travis was very far fetched.  The issues they faced were unrealistic and I just could not relate to them.  After the traumatic event I was hoping there would be something more, but the book just ended pretty much and that part was underdeveloped to me.  

All in all, however, I did end up falling in love with the bad boy myself even after all the red flags and smoke signals that said stay away.  I would not have gone about a relationship with such blinders on as Abby did, but you couldn't help be excited that they were happy.  

I gave it a 3 out of 5.  

Love Unscripted

Love Unscripted - Tina Reber

Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd become the most sought after film star on the planet. Taryn Mitchell has been feigning contentment while running the family pub in Seaport, Rhode Island. Her peaceful life is tossed upside down when Ryan tries to outrun a group of fans by taking a shortcut through Mitchell's Pub.

This novel starts off in the small town, Rhode Island bar of Taryn Mitchell.  Little did she know that the all to famous celebrity, Ryan Christensen, would stumble into her bar and forever change her life. She wanted nothing to do with the famous celebrities that were in town filling the second movie of the Seaside trilogy and their snobby ways.  Ryan Christensen was famous, beautiful, and fending off every female world wide. She had never seen his movies, and could care less.  Then, one fateful day, she helped him escape the wild fans and ushered him into her bar.  He was a normal person as they talked for the rest of the afternoon alone in her bar.  She knew he was wrong for her, and leaving after the end of the movie filming, but something felt right about him.  He wasn't this self-centered, egotistical actor she imagined; but a normal guy who just so happened to be famous.  The more time she spent with him the more she fell for him.  She couldn't, she wouldn't fall for him and the walls went up.  He had to have her, after all she didn't want him for his money or his fame. She wanted him for him.  Their story, however, was not to be without struggle.  How could she not be jealous of his co-star ex-girlfriend who was filming as his love interest?  How could she not think she was not good enough? How could she not blame herself? Did he really love her? Should she trust him? Should he trust her? 


Tina Reber did a wonderful job drawing me into this novel.  I was hooked from the first interaction of Ryan and Taryn.  The beginning started out a bit slow as we developed the character of Taryn as unsure of herself. We see the forming of a late twenty-something woman who was heart-broken and in the 'men suck' stage of getting over her ex-fiance that cheated on her.  In true movie/book fashion her prince charming fell into her lap, or should I say bar, expectantly.  From the moment you meet Ryan, you know he is not the stuck up actor that the tabloids make him out to be.  That is what is great about this book; you get to see the stars from their point of view.  Ryan is just a normal twenty-something guy, who happens to be H-O-T-T and an actor, and the heartthrob of every girl in the world.  To me he is like Justin Bieber (please don't hate me for the reference, I am not a big Justin fan, but it fit perfectly).  Justin was an over night sensation and went from typical teenage boy to mega star after one hit.  That is Ryan, one movie and now he is Charles from Seaside.  (also similar to the overnight sensation Rob Pattenson  got from Twilight).  These guys can have a hard time coping with instant fame.... but who wouldn't? Taryn sees him for him, and that makes her his perfect lover.  Every good book has to have the 'happily ever after.'  We see this in the middle of the book. While Ryan is filming his movie in the small town they have it all, and have a dang good relationship of sorts (if you forget about having to dodge the cameras, crazy girls, stalkers, and basic nut jobs).  This section of the book plants the roots for what is to come in the later parts.  The book really gets interesting when Ryan leaves to shot another movie in Miami with an ex-girlfriend.  The long distance and stress of him being famous really start to push them into a tail-spin and their relationship hangs in the balance.  Without giving any details away, the last part of this book can be very dramatic but pulls you in and won't let you put your book down!  


It really got me as a great book because of how real it is.  Even though he is a movie star, the dynamics of their relationship are very real and everyone can relate.  You can even relate to his fame, and it will make you think twice before you pick up a PEOPLE or US Weekly or watch TMZ.    It is around 600 pages (I read it on my tablet so I do not have an exact page count), but is worth the time spent reading such a large novel.  She also has the next four chapters of the second book, Love Unrehearsed, available at her website. 

I give it a 4.5 out of 5!!

The Book List

Here is a list of books worth mentioning from my library, 
ranging all the way back to my younger days...

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1-4)
The Giver
To Kill a Mockingbird
1982
Coach: The Life of Bear Bryant
Bowden
13 Little Blue Envelops
The Last Little Blue Envelop
Utopia
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
Tuesdays with Morrie
Five People You Meet in Heaven
Have Alittle Faith
Perks of Being a Wallflower
I can't tell you
Post Grad
The Summer of Boys
How to Teach Filthy Reach Girls
Slacker Girl
Harry Potter (1-4)
The Help
Twilight (1-4)
Marriage Bargain
Dear John
Paper Towns
Week at the Beach
Fifty Shades of Gray 
Fifty Shades Darker
Fifty Shades Freed
Love Unscripted
Beautiful Disaster
Hunger Games (1-3)
Water for Elephants
The Lucky One \




(See "MY STACK" page for a current listing of books, and their reviews!)

Introducing... The Stacks!

Welcome!

I am going to give this blogging thing a try and hope you all enjoy the ride along with me!  I am not an avid blogger, but I am an avid reader.  Hence, this blog will be about my books and thoughts and crappy attempts to share my own interests in writing.  Please bear with me along my journey.

 :)  

I love comments and feedback, and any help you all can give me on this path that is so new to me.  I do not claim to be an English major, a good speller, or even a great writer... but I wanted a place where I can share my passion for reading with others.  

Hope you all enjoy!

A little about me:

I currently live in Music City, Nashville to those of you who are not avid country fans.  I am a Graduate Student studying Recreation and Sports with a passion for college student development. I am currently undecided in what I want to be when I grow up, but am figuring it out along the way. I love TN but hope to live by the ocean soon.  If you cannot tell already, I love to read and get way to emotionally attached to my characters.  I love country music and could not live without my DVR.  I work multiple jobs averaging 40-50 hr work weeks (most unpaid) and am truly a broke grad student.  My family lives in TN and I graduated from MTSU.  I have a younger brother who is off to college this year and two parents that will be empty-nesters.  My fellow Grad Assistants are my family until May and my best friend/Big Sis is my weekend roommate.   I am a proud Alpha Omicron Pi Alumni.

"If I could do it again, I'd do it all the same. Not one regret, I wouldn't change a thing." 

- Corey Smith