Chasing Nikki by Lacey Weatherford

Chasing Nikki by Lacey Weatherford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! I can't do this *SOB SOB*

This book ripped me to pieces. OH MY GOD. I am sobbing so hard my eyes are going to fall out. I can't believe this. I. Can't. *SOB SOB SOB SOB*

I'm done. I'm at a loss for words and I can never finish this review. *walks away and falls to the floor convulsing*

Oh God Chase, I'm so sorry.
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Okay, so against my better judgment I decided to write my review tonight. Since my emotions have simmered just a bit, I'm still in tears but not sobs. I'm at the numb stage. I cried myself out to exhaustion. My eyes are burning and my throat hurts because I literally was full on sobbing. I had to leave the room and go someplace private so I didn't wake up my kids, it was that loud. But I realized that if I didn't write my review now, I never would. It would be too hard.

First of all, I need to give Lacey kudos on this book. I seriously don't know how she wrote this it. I can't even imagine the emotions she went through while actually writing out some of these scenes. I literally am baffled. As a writer, I have wrote some emotional scenes that made me sad. But God this would have ripped my heart out and then I wouldn't have been able to continue. On to the review...


SYNOPSIS:
Chase Walker is a 17 year old football player who is lost in his grief after his dad dies in a tragic plane crash-ON HIS BIRTHDAY. He becomes destructive...turning to drugs and alcohol to numb his pain. It doesn't work well when after a party with friends they get pulled over for speeding and having marijuana and drunk driving. He spends time in jail until his mom bails him out. Once they get his sentence of community service and pay fines, his mom and him move to his grandparents house on a ranch where he has to make new friends and attend a new school-basically start over. Everyone looks at him like the new bad kid who causes trouble and plays the field. He meets Brett who automatically sees the real Chase without making assumptions. He and Brett hit it off. Chase then sees Nikki Wagner.....

Nikki Wagner is a 17 year old cheerleader who moves on after her father dies of cancer. She was also abused by her ex boyfriend Jeremy, a football player. After that, she swore she'd stay away from football players....

Chase and Nikki meet....they don't hit it off. In fact Nikki won't give him the time of day. But Chase is determined to have her. Once he is told he has to volunteer at the hospital as part of his community service, he runs into Nikki who happens to be the person he is supposed to help pass out packets to the drug and alcohol group session every week. They are both shocked to be there at the same time. But nonetheless, Chase realizes his feelings for Nikki are nothing more than genuine and he truly wants to get close to her. She is just different from the girls he's had sex with and dumped. His feelings are clouding his judgment. After spending more time with Chase, Nikki realizes he may just be the guy she's been searching for.

They date...for a long time, into their senior year. And then after a football game, Nikki and Chase decide it's time to take that step that Chase has been patiently waiting for(Nikki is still a virgin and Chase has been SO good about waiting for her), after the prom....it's their night, they sneak out of their houses to meet. And then there's an accident.....


And I'm stopping there. I will cry again, the water works are right there waiting to spill out. This book all the way up to the last few chapters were AMAZING!!!!!! I fell instantly in love with Chase. And Nikki. One thing I have to say is that I can relate to them both in every way. My father died of cancer when I was 18 and eventhough Chase's was so sudden, it was still painful nonetheless. I had time to prepare like Nikki did but it never softened the blow. A death is sad no matter how it happens-especially with a parent. So as I'm reading this, I'm reliving my past and it hit me so hard, I lost it. I cried for Chase. I cried for Nikki. But she was able to move past it, even though it still hurt her, she took a more positive approach. Chase on the other hand wanted to stop hurting and to numb the pain. Lacey showed us both ways a death affects people. We all grieve in our own way. He was doing better with not drinking or smoking pot, but there was still temptation. And sometimes he felt he wasn't strong enough to cope without it. This book was happy at times, most of the book made you feel good. It was showing how your first love really stays with you always. I could relate to Nikki, I was also abused by an ex. He was a real prick. But once she found Chase and realized that he wasn't like every other guy...things were pretty great!! OH. MY. GOD. I loved him!!!!!!! He was everything real guys should be.

I loved the characters! They all played a big role in this book. Brittany and Brett were twins and became amazing friends to Nikki and Chase. Also most of the guys on the football team showed that not all football players are arrogant assholes. I loved both Chase and Nikki's moms. They both went through the same thing of losing their husbands. It was so difficult for them and I could feel that they were having a hard time dealing with it. But Chase's mom does meet someone and even though he doesn't like it at first, he supports it. I also really liked Chase's grandparents, which are his mom's parents. They always show support even when Chase had slipped a time or two. They understand he's going through a hard time. I think the character dynamic was amazing! She really made me feel for these awesome people. I loved when they did, laughed when they laughed and I sobbed when certain things happened.

The storyline is very heartbreaking from the get go. It gets better then BAM!!!!!! A shocker ending that keeps you in sobs!!!! I can't tell you how much I wanted to quit reading this. My eyes literally had no more tears left. I don't know how this author was able to write this book!!!! I had to take a break because I couldn't see my nook. The words blurred together and I almost gave up but then once I was able to breathe again, I read the rest. Only to be in more tears. Then the letter. OMG, the letter. Holy shit, it really made me bawl and at that time I'd felt numb so I just sobbed right through it. How? Why? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHAT THE FUCK??????????????? Those were things that went through my head towards the end. I almost couldn't breathe. Oh Chase. My God Chase. It's weird because I felt this book was written for me. I went through everything they went through. They were living my life. Even that ending, before the prologue....MY LIFE. I swear, I would have been a nervous wreck writing this. I couldn't even write my own book after reading this. As it was I didn't go to sleep til 4 am. I felt like a zombie and my face hurt. I can't say READ OR DON'T READ. But I'm warning you....if you do read this....A box of tissues is needed. Okay, I've said all I can now. My eyes are getting teary again.

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Review of Mark of the Princess

Mark of the Princess by B.C. Morin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can't think straight....review to come!!! :)

OKAY, I finally have come up with words to form this review. But before I do, let me please start off by saying this. Barbie and I have become such good friends before I even read her book. She is an amazing person inside and out. I saw her writing skills before purchasing her book(she can write an ending to any book and make it better than how it was originally written) and all I could say was "DAMN THIS GIRL HAS GOT SOME MAD SKILLS"!!! I was mesmerized from the start and quite intimidated might I add. I'm also a writer and when she read my first book(part of it anyway) I felt that I couldn't compete with her awesomeness. But then she told me she loved it and couldn't wait for more and that when we became famous and our books made it big, she wanted to do a book tour with me. I was floored and honored at the request. She is truly a beautiful person on so many levels and I have been blessed to have been graced with her awesome friendship. I am looking forward to many years of friendship and hope to one day tour with her like we talked about!

Okay, so she was kind enough to send me a signed copy and an awesome bookmark that I used during my adventures with these great characters. OMG, I can not begin to tell you how much I loved this book. The ending really had me going "OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" I loved this book so much! I was captivated by this magical Fae world that Barbie created for us! I really did not want it to end. Although, it took me a little longer to finish than normally because there were things that went on and kept me from reading but I took this book everywhere and caught bits and pieces every chance I got. I took it with me several times to the park while my kids played, which was perfect cause it created the perfect scenery for what was going on in the story at the time so I felt like I was actually there in the story.

SYNOPSIS:

Alannah is a Fae princess of the kingdom of Meira. She's got a mark on her back which is significant to her powers that start to develop and she becomes more powerful. She is not good at controlling them yet. But she gets kidnapped by Maligo, an evil sorceror. He wants to use her to fight in a battle since her powers are so strong. Tristan and Kaleb are Faeries and Kaleb is the Prince of the kingdom of Talom. Evyette is Alannah's adopted sister. When Alannah gets kidnapped, they embark on a rescue mission to save her from Maligo and his army of trolls and bad guys.
While Alannah is locked up in a cell, alone and helpless....she gets rescued by the sexy Brennus. He's a warrior Faerie. And he is yummy. So while they escape, they run into Tristan, Kaleb and Evyette....and trouble. They fight a bunch of Fae hating trolls, rogue faeries and other creatures. As they try to get away without alot of problems, Evyette gets badly hurt. She almost dies, but not before Brennus takes her to the kingdom of the Magi who have the power to heal her. So they all go there where things get more complicated. In the mean time, Alannah has to work with the elder faeries to learn to control her powers. The adventures continue and there's never a dull moment in this action packed book filled with magic, love, and fun.

PLOT:
I loved the storyline. I haven't read many books in the Fae world and it was a great break from the typical vampire/werewolf/angel series. This was a wonderful adventure that I felt like I was there the whole time watching with my own eyes. Barbie has a way of creating a world that seems so real, you start to wonder what is and what isn't. It was a pleasure reading this story and the characters were all so amazingly described and well developed.

CHARACTERS:

OMG, I loved all of the characters. It's hard to distinguish a favorite because they are all so awesome!!!

Alannah, the princess. She is one of my favorite heroines. She's brave, strong and a kick ass chick. I loved all of her scenes and felt she was so real. She was a powerful fighter and I know once all of her powers come in, she'll be stronger than ever!

Kaleb. Oh what do I say about him? I loved him since the beginning. He was a great guy and I felt he was perfect for her. He would do just about anything for Alannah. The love he had for her was so sweet. I really loved him....

BUT....

Brennus is the real true mate for Alannah. I fell for him at the start too. He was brave and put his own life in danger at any cost to save Alannah's. He's amazing. Their relationship blossoms and then.....and then....OMG I will not continue that. Let's just say the ending had me saying "OMG NOOOOOOOOOO"!

Tristan. Oh my sweet Tristan. I don't know what to say about him. He's amazing! I really almost fell for him more than I did for Brennus. He's Kaleb's best friend. He was always by his side, helping him out and fighting with him. Ready to take on any dangers lurking around and he had no complaints. I'd almost dare to say that he was my favorite character. He also loved Evyette. He protected her as well. It was genuine, sweet emotions that I felt between the two of them. I was happy when they were together. And sad for him when Evy got hurt. I felt his pain he suffered during that time. Call me crazy, but I think they're love is almost more real than Alannah's an d Brennus....almost. So don't kill me.

Evyette. I liked her character development. She was described so well. She was a great sister to Alannah. She was adopted by Alannah's parents as a young baby. But they grew up together and really had a close relationship. It shows that blood isn't what always makes a family. It's the bond and connection and love. They have all of that. She could have stayed behind, allowing Tristan and Kaleb to go search for Alannah after she was kidnapped. But she wouldn't have that. She went along with them even when she knew there would be dangers. I admire her for that. Great sister.

The rest of the characters were done brilliantly as well. I loved the Queens and Kings of the kingdoms. Alannah and Kaleb's parents...they played big roles in this and I can't wait to see more of them in the next books. Each of the characters made an impact on me and even the bad and evil guys have a place in my heart. That's how well Barbie created them. It's not often that I love the majority of the characters in the book I read. There are characters I can relate to and those that are just...eh okay. That is definitely not the case here. I love them all and can't wait to share more adventures with them.

WRITING STYLE:

Like I said before, the writing style is mesmerizing and captivatin from the first page. I loved the magical world we got to live in. It was fascinating and very easy to follow. I loved the names she came up with for her characters. They are creative and unique. I mean geez this girl has the whole package. First it's the plot that grabs you and holds on til the last page....then the names of all the characters, that alone is intriguing. Also the names of each kingdom is ridiculously charming. Barbie is just an all around awesome person in every way imaginable. I can't wait to see what's in store for the characters in the next book. And I'm hoping I can somehow get my hands on it before it comes out so I can review it. Ahem. *hint hint*

Anyway, so to sum up this review.....THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING A FAIRYTALE SHOULD BE AND MORE. I didn't want it to end. Now I miss them, but at least I have the book so I can re read it before the next one comes out! GREAT JOB BARBIE!!!! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS OFF! :) <3

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