Surviving Amber Springs

Surviving Amber Springs
Siobhan Davis

Siobhan Davis latest release Surviving Amber Springs is here! This is a standalone contemporary romance reverse harem book. Read on for more information about this book or download your copy exclusively from Amazon for only 0.99 (limited new release pricing.) Also, FREE to read in Kindle Unlimited: https://smarturl.it/SASAmazon Surviving Amber Springs by Siobhan Davis



Series: Standalone

Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Reverse Harem Age Category: Upper Young Adult/ New Adult Release Date: 26 December, 2018



Book Description: Let him who is without sin cast the first stone…



I’m the second-most hated person in Amber Springs.



First place honors go to my twin, Ethan; however, hate isn’t a strong enough word to convey how people feel about him.



Not that I blame anyone—some days, I hate him too. Mostly, I’m just lost and afraid, drowning in a sea of betrayal and guilt, wondering how this happened right under my nose.

There’s no choice but to leave. To move clear across the country in a last-ditch attempt to start over.



Transferring to a new school midway through senior year is hellish for most people. For me, it’s a welcome relief—until someone discovers our secret and now everyone knows.

The pointing, whispering, and scathing looks follow me around again, and I’m back to square one. Except, this time, I’m not alone.



Axel, Skeet, and Heath took me under their wing from the minute I arrived here. I’ve no idea why three of the hottest guys in town took any interest in me or why they continue to have my back, but I’m so grateful to have them in my corner.



Because, right now, they’re the only reason I’m not following my brother into an early grave.



Due to sensitive content, and possible triggers, this book is recommended to readers aged 18+. Full length novel.

Add Surviving Amber Springs to your to-read list on Goodreads: https://smarturl.it/SASGR



Buy your copy of Surviving Amber Springs on Amazon for only 0.99: https://smarturl.it/SASAmazon



About Siobhan Davis: USA Today bestselling author Siobhan Davis writes emotionally intense young adult and new adult romantic fiction with swoon-worthy romance, complex characters, and tons of unexpected plot twists and turns that will have you flipping the pages beyond bedtime! She is

the author of the international bestselling Kennedy Boys, Saven, and True Calling series’. Siobhan’s family will tell you she’s a little bit obsessive when it comes to reading and writing, and they aren’t wrong. She can rarely be found without her trusty Kindle, a paperback book, or her laptop somewhere close at hand. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Siobhan forged a successful corporate career in human resource management. She resides in the Garden County of Ireland with her husband and two sons.





Social media links: Subscribe to romance newsletter: http://smarturl.it/KennedyBoysList Subscribe to reverse harem newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dbbSVr Amazon Author Page: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisAmazon Author website: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisWebsite Goodreads: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanGoodreads Facebook: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisFacebook Twitter: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisTwitter Author Blog: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisBlog BookBub: http://smarturl.it/SiobhanDavisBookbub

Guys, I will have a full review post about this book soon, but let me just say, you can NOT go wrong with a Siobhan Davis book!  Read them all!

The Boyfriend List

After listening to two such powerful and emotional books, I needed something light and fluffy.  So, my next pick was The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart.  I had read We Were Liars a few years ago by the same author and really liked it.  So, I was hopeful that I would enjoy this one too.

The title of this book is slightly misleading.  Boys and boyfriends definitely play a role in this book, but it's about so much more than that.  This book was a great way to show teen girls that the boyfriend of it all is not the most important thing.  Being true to yourself is more important.  Standing up for yourself is more important.  Finding loyal friends is more important.  

The main character, Ruby, finds herself having panic attacks and through the therapy that results from that, she ends up learning a lot about herself and re-evaluating her life and choices.

One thing that really bothered me throughout the story, was Ruby's friends.  Her friend Kim was HORRIBLE!  I don't understand how none of her other friends realized that what Kim did was a total shitty thing to do!  Young girls can be so MEAN and also oblivious to when someone is doing them wrong.  But through this book, I hope teens can learn that holding it all in is unhealthy.

I know my friend, Beka, has read this book...has anyone else?  What are your thoughts?  

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I haven't seen the movie yet, because I prefer to read the books first.  I'm not entirely sure why, I just do.  Probably something to do with my OCD.  In any case, I finally got around to reading (well, listening, I'm still on restriction) to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.  One thing I will advise for those who have not read it, have a box of tissues.  Like seriously, an entire box.  I ugly cried so hard at the end of this book!  

So, for those who don't know of this book (are there any?) it's about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.  Bruno is the son of someone very high up in the ranks of Hitler's army and is moved out to Auschwitz to take over the concentration camp there.  Bruno is 9 and doesn't really understand much of what's going on, but he does know he's not happy about it.

About a third of the way through the book, I happened to browse through some reviews because I had seen a few with 1 or 2 stars and I just couldn't understand what these people didn't like about the book.  One thing I saw mentioned was that the boy and girl in the story seemed much younger than they were said to be.  For example, the boy at 9 years old kept saying things wrong and seemed kind of naive.  I discussed this with my friend, Liz, as she has a 9 year old daughter and has read the book as well.  The thing we both ended up thinking and pointing out to each other was the time frame.  Back then, a 9 year old would be more naive than a 9 year old now that has access to all this technology and knowledge.   Also, this particular family had led a very sheltered life and only ran in limited circles.  Anyway, that didn't bother me at all.  Liz pointed out that other people didn't like the ending.  It was sad, for sure, but it was POWERFUL and it got the message across in a big way.  The last line in the book really hit me hard.

I HIGHLY recommend this book.  It was SO good.  I am looking forward to watching the movie.  Even though I know I will likely cry even harder than I did when reading it.

Have any of you read this one, or watched the movie and have thoughts to share?

A Night Divided

Still listening to audio books at this point.  My CT Scan was on Friday the 16th and I have a follow up with the doctor on Monday, so I hope to get cleared very soon!

My next "listen" was A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen.  It's a historical fiction story about the Berlin Wall.  I usually have a little trouble getting into historical fiction, but that was not the case with this book.  

I'm going to assume that everyone reading this blog knows at least a bit of the history of the Berlin Wall.  Knowing even the slightest bit, I am sure you can imagine who emotional the book was.  It follows a family who was split when the wall went up.  A father and son on one side, while mother, another son and daughter on on the other.  Even knowing this was the reality for many families and friends, it was hard to wrap my mind around.

The part that really got to me, was how the government and secret police were able to turn friends and family against each other simply out of fear.  Through this story we are able to see how the Wall affected not only the families split by the wall, but how the young men were turned into soldiers in spite of their own personal beliefs or wants.  How desperate people were to escape to the West.  They were willing to risk their own lives to be free.

I will say there were some very sad moments, but all in all the ending was not so horrible.  I am not naive enough to believe that was the case for many families though.

Any of you enjoy Historical Fiction?  Do you have a favorite time period or event?

The Last Star

It's been awhile since I read The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey.  When I read the first two, I don't believe that the third book had been published yet.  And as so often it happens, it kept getting pushed back on my "to read" list when it finally was.  When I saw it on Libby, I knew I should finally finish the trilogy.  Unfortunately, I waited so long that I was a bit lost as to what was going on in the beginning.  In hindsight, I should have refreshed my memory with the first two books or at least listening/reading the last chapter or so of the 2nd book prior to getting started on this one.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, right?

Anyhow, once I got into the story and my memory of the first two books started coming back, I was really into it.  There was plenty of action and it kept me on the "edge of my seat" so to speak.  There were also a couple of crazy plot twist moments.  

I know from skimming some other reviews on both Amazon and GoodReads, that a lot of people did not like the book.  They thought the ending was horrible, they thought there were many chapters with nothing interesting going on.  I did not have this feeling.  The ending was tragic, that's true.  It wasn't tied up in a neat pretty little bow like some books or series are.  But that's realistic to me.  Not everyone gets a happy ending.  Not all stories end perfectly...some are even just beginning.  This ending left some possibilities open to imagine.  What might have happened with these characters after the final page?  How were things rebuilt?  I'm not saying I like it for every book I read, but sometimes that's what fits with the rest of the story, and I found that to be true here.  

That's not to say the ending didn't upset me.  I was sad.  And for more than just the main reason most people were sad.  Things weren't pretty...but some things showed a possibility of being pretty eventually.  That's the part I look for in endings like this.

All in all, if you enjoyed the first two books, you should definitely finish the series.  Did anyone else have trouble with this third book?  Anyone who, like me, enjoyed it for what it was?

The Fill-In Boyfriend

After listening to The Girl on the Train on my Libby app, I decided to see how my Hoopla app compared.  So, I checked out The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West.  (Hoopla is another free app that uses your library card, but your library must be a participant in order to use it.  Check your local library for details.)  I liked the Hoopla app just as much as the Libby app, the only major difference being that I could still play games and check texts and other things while listening on Libby, but with Hoopla the book will stop if you switch over to another app.

Anyway, back to The Fill-In Boyfriend.  I hadn't read this author before, but my daughter had read another book of hers and enjoyed it.  I really love that I can talk books with my daughter now.  (My boys too!)  And I've really been gravitating towards YA Contemporary this past year.  I normally set myself up a genre goal for the year and I didn't do that this year, instead just reading what looks good to me at the moment.  I think I will do this again in 2019.  But I have gotten off topic...The Fill-In Boyfriend...

The MC has gotten dumped and needs a... you guessed it, Fill-In Boyfriend.  The guy chosen does almost *too* good of a job in his position and makes it difficult for our MC to come clean to her friends.  It's very High School, very teen drama.  All about saving face in front of your friends and finding out that they would have loved you anyway.  Mixed in is a lesson in compassion when someone is going through stuff even when they're not nice to you.  (I still don't really care for the character I'm referring to here!)  And of course, a bit of romance in unexpected places.  Everything you need for a feel good YA romance.

I did enjoy this book enough to want to read more by this author.  Have any of you read anything by Kasie West?  By the way, in my head I've always pronounced it like Cassie, but in the audio book, they pronounced the author's name like Casey.  Not overly important, just that I like to pronounce and spell people's names correctly due to having an often misspelled or mispronounced name myself.

Happy Reading all!

The Girl on the Train

First of all, it's KILLING me to not be able to read actual books!  I know someone out there understands, right?

I've been listening to audio books though, and I've finished several that I need to post about, so forgive my mass posting tonight while I try to catch up.  For those who don't know, I've also been put on limited screen time, so I'm not at my computer or on my phone very much.

I've had the paperback of The Girl on the Train for quite awhile and just hadn't gotten around to reading it.  With this new limitation, I decided to check it out on Libby and listen instead.  (If you don't know about Libby, you're missing out!  It's a free app and you can sign in using your library card.  Then you can check out audio and e-books on whatever device you have the app installed!)  

First of all, I love listening to people with English accents, so the audio was fun for that reason alone!  But unfortunately, I found it difficult to really get invested in the story.  Mainly because I didn't really like any of the three narrators.  The story is told from three different women's perspectives and throughout most of the book, none of them have any redeeming qualities.  One is a drunk who's sort of guy obsessed.  One is a married woman who cheats on her husband.  One is a woman who started as a mistress and then got pregnant and ended up with someone else's husband.

Of course, the main part of the story is a mystery and so it was difficult to walk away, even though I wasn't really enjoying the book for a majority of it.  I just needed to know what happened.  I will say, though, if I had been reading instead of listening, I might have given up on it.  That's one good thing about audio books...it's easier to keep going with a book that might not be your favorite.  It's how I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn this past summer as well.  (I wasn't blogging then, but feel free to check out my GoodReads for my review.)

Anyway, in the end I was a bit shocked at the "whodunit" of the story and I did end up even liking a couple of the characters.  (One more than the other.) I even understand why the author told the story in the manner in which she did.  We had to think certain things about these women were true in order to keep the suspense.  I am curious about the movie adaptation, but have been told it's worse than the book and since I didn't particularly enjoy the book, I will not be rushing to watch the movie.

I'm curious if any of you have read this book or watched the movie adaptation and what your thoughts were!  Tell me in the comments!

The Here and Now

This is the last book I was able to finish before I was told to rest my brain and stop reading for awhile.  That was just on Friday and it's only Sunday and already I can not wait to get the ok to start reading actual books again.  But, I do have to say that the headache is lessening each day and so I must admit that it's working.  I'm also limiting my screen time, so that's why I'm just now getting to this review.

I found this gem at the Dollar Tree!  I shop there quite a bit actually, and I always have to take a peek at their books to see if there is anything that looks good.  I loved the first four books in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, (I have yet to read Sisterhood Everlasting,) so I was pretty sure I would enjoy this book by the same author.  Upon reading the back of the book, I realized it was kind of a dystopian type book, which I also love, but wasn't expecting from this author.  As I began to read, I realized it was also a bit of Sci-Fi with some Time Travel going on.

There was a theme that keeps coming back to me, about how one event can cause a huge impact on the future.  It's something that I've thought on in my own life, thinking that if I had a different childhood, if certain things hadn't happened to me, would I still be here now?  The thing is, while it would be nice to change somethings in our pasts that maybe weren't so pleasant, we don't know what that would do to our current lives and would we be willing to risk what we have now to change what happened then?

The dystopian aspect comes in with the "Rules" that all the travelers are supposed to follow.  If you don't follow the rules, horrible consequences are doled out.  The leaders in charge are surely totalitarian and since they've formed their own kind of government, that creates a dystopian world for those who came back in time.

I loved how brave and strong the main character, Prenna, ended up being.  She followed her own course, in a way, from the beginning, but toward the end she really found her voice.  While the book can stand alone and be fine the way it is, I really would love to see what became of these characters and if their actions really did have an impact on the future they came from.  

I think those who enjoy time travel fiction, dystopian fiction, and YA romance, will enjoy this book.  It's also a very quick read.  It took me a bit longer because of work, but I could see someone finishing it in one sitting.

Any thoughts on this book, or this mix of genres?

Say What?!?!?!

So, for the past few weeks I've had a major headache off and on.  As of last Thursday, the 26th, it's been ON constantly.  It's only on the left side of my head and after being misdiagnosed with Shingles (I've never even had Chicken Pox!) they have come to determine I had a concussion from the accident I was involved in on the first.  Left untreated, it's become painful and now I must "brain rest" which means no reading!  😲

I can not even tell you how disappointed I am.  You all probably know and understand my pain.  I shouldn't even be writing this!  But, rest assured, I did ask if I could listen to audio and the answer was thankfully yes.  So, I won't have as many reviews to post and certainly no more book beard pictures for the time being, I will still be reading in this altered way.  I just wish I hadn't gone to the library right before my doctor's appointment!  

Currently, I am listening to The Girl on the Train on my Libby app.  Has anyone read it?  What did you think?  

Hoping to be back to reading soon, as one day without reading has already lessened my headache a ton!

We are Okay

I finished another audio book today!  I've been off work for two days because they suspected I had Shingles!  UGH!  Luckily, my labs came back negative...however, that means they still don't know why I have this stabbing pain in my head behind my left ear.  But, using my right earbud and some computer time, I was able to finish another book, so oh well!  (Also, since my labs were negative, I'm allowed to go back to work tomorrow.)

"We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour was an audio book that just caught my attention at the library the other day.  I hadn't heard anything about it and didn't read any reviews before listening.  With the title, I assumed there would be some type of loss that the main character had to recover from or learn from.  I was right, but there was so much more going on in this somewhat short little story.  (5 discs, which is probably the smallest amount of discs in audios I've listened to so far.)

One thing that really stuck out to me in this story, is how our family is often times more than just our blood relations.  We can find family in friends as well.  Family is more than just who we are related to, it's the people who care about you and are there for you no matter what.  It's the people who welcome you into their home and life when you really need a place to turn.  It's the people that forgive us without question when we let them down and still love us through it all.  Sometimes this is found in relatives, but some people have to look outside of that to find this.  Marin is one of those people.  

Mabel is a friend that all of us should strive for.  She and her family are the kind of people to openly welcome someone who needs family in their life.  When Mabel sees how much Marin needs them, there is no room for anger or bitterness in past actions, there is only the thought of making her see that they are her family now.  It's a lucky person who has never had to experience true loneliness or the need for an "alternate" family.  Most of us, at some point or another, have needed that welcoming presence in our lives.

There is loss in the story.  Marin has to deal with loss on such a huge scale, because she doesn't just lose a family member to death, she discovers things about that family member after they pass that cause a different sort of grieving.  To find out, when it's too late, who someone truly is must be so difficult.  My heart went out to Marin as she reels from her discoveries while processing the loss.

I think that people who enjoy the works of John Green or just Young Adult Contemporary works in general will enjoy this book.

Unlike my last audio book, the narrator did nothing to turn me off to the story.  Her vocal changes for characters was great and I didn't get the sense of over pronunciation that I did from the last one.  She also portrayed the deep emotion that the character was feeling through her voice.  I was impressed.

I'm currently reading "The Here and Now" by Ann Brashares and hope to finish soon.  In the mean time, please feel free to share any thoughts you have on any of my reviews so far.

Turtles All the Way Down

One of the things I've started to do fairly recently, is check out Audio Books from the library and listen to them while I check e-mail, work on my photography, or anything else I have to do while sitting at the computer.  In my mind, this doubles my reading time since I can be listening to the book while I get other things done that I need to do.

My most recent 'listen' was "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green.  The story itself was good, but I did have some issues with the narrator.  There was just something about the way she spoke that was irritating to me.  It wasn't something I couldn't get past though, and I was able to listen to the whole book.

Down to the meat of the story though...

I was intrigued by Aza as a character and her conditions.  I have experience with anxiety and O.C.D. but not to this extreme.  I can't imagine having my thoughts spiral to the degree in which hers did.  The toll it takes on her relationships and just her functioning as a normal individual are hard to fathom.

The mystery going on in the story is enjoyable, but also made me angry.  Without spoiling anyone, I just can't imagine how a person can do what Davis's father did.  And my heart hurt for Davis and Noah.  Sometimes, being a parent makes certain stories even more emotional for me.  When reading books like this as a child, I obviously identified with the child.  Now that I have kids of my own, I generally end up identifying with the adult, and I just couldn't see how this man behaved in this manner.

The dynamic between Aza and Daisy was different from other friendships I've read about and I think that the fanfic that Aza finally read ultimately gave them a stronger bond.  Daisy's feelings about her friendship with Aza made me reflect on my own friendships and how my anxiety might color people's opinions of me.  I think in the future I will be more conscious of how that anxiety manifests itself when hanging out with friends.

Like all Green novels, I did enjoy it.  It was deep and meaningful.  Some YA is what I call 'fluffy,'  it's easy to read and light and fun.  Those books are awesome, but so are the ones like this.  If you want more than a sweet romance, this book might be for you.

A Love Letter to Whiskey

Last night, I finished "A Love Letter to Whiskey" by Kandi Steiner.  I won this book through a giveaway of some sort, (I honestly don't remember which one,) and it's even signed!  It came with the bookmark in the picture above as well.

When I first got the book and read the back, I wasn't sure if it was about a romance or an actual alcoholic.  Rest assured, my romance reading friends, it is a romance.  Whiskey is what the MC calls the man that she's been in love with forever.  Due to the way he makes her feel like she's an alcoholic for him and due to the color of his eyes and his whiskey like scent.  Each chapter is named something to do with alcohol that compares her infatuation with him to a drunk's infatuation with their favorite liquor.

Beginning in her Junior year of High School, Brecks (or B as she prefers to be called,) tells the story of how she fell for Jamie and how the timing was never quite right.  Through the course of this book I was so frustrated with B and Jamie for not seeing what was right in front of their eyes.  It's definitely one of those books that made me want to slap the MC and show her how stupid she was being.  But it's also told in her voice, so you can tell that she's slapping herself enough already.

I've really been into contemporary romance lately and this book fit right in with what I've been wanting to read.  I enjoyed how the story started in High School but spanned clear out into their late 20s.  We got the WHOLE story, and it didn't just fast forward through parts to get to the ending quicker.  At the same time, it didn't feel like the story was dragging...even though I was screaming in my head "Come on already!" to the characters to get their stuff together.

In the end, I had to give it 5 stars.  I used to give 5 stars to pretty much everything I enjoyed at all, but learned from an author that doing that isn't necessarily helpful to them.  They want to know what we liked and what we didn't so they can constantly be improving their writing.  This book deserved it from me though.  I would recommend it to friends and possibly even re-read, and that means a full 5 stars from me.

A shout out and thank you to Kandi Steiner for signing by book (and my name was spelled correctly!)  And also for her generosity in the giveaway.  I apologize that it took me so long to read your wonderful book!

Welcome to my Book Blog

Thanks to anyone choosing to follow my new blogging adventure.  I'm going to be trying my hand at book blogging.  I review every book I read anyway, but I wanted a way to connect with other readers and share some more of my personal feelings while reading.

I read a little bit of everything, but currently have been enjoying YA Contemporary books.  Some other favorites of mine are Paranormal and Dystopian books.

What are some of your favorite genres?  What has been your most recent 5 Star read?

I hope to post at least once a week and have a few questions for you all in each post.  My next post will be about the book I'm currently reading, "A Love Letter to Whiskey" by Kandi Steiner.