Book Review: In Your Dreams by Ginger Scott

In "In Your Dreams," we meet Casey Coffield. Casey's a DJ with an extraordinary talent for mixing songs so well, bodies on the dance floor are hypnotized by the beat he lays down for them. But, according to a few others, like Casey's father, Casey's a screwup.

After a video surfaces on YouTube of Murphy singing a song she wrote called, "In Your Dreams, Casey Coffield," Casey realizes that whoever the girl in this video is may not be HIS biggest fan. But, he immediately becomes HER biggest fan. Casey is enamored with her voice. He's convinced that he can make her a star.

Murphy Sullivan is a singer with purple hair, grey eyes, and a raspy voice. She works with kids by day part-time teaching music to kids in elementary school. By night, she signs herself up for Open Mic nights at a local bar called "Paul's." And, she's acquired a bit of a following. She's got a brother, Lane, who has Down's Syndrome and lives at home with Lane and their mother. She's college-educated and lacks the confidence she needs to put herself out there and go for that record deal that she wants badly but doesn't quite yet realize that she deserves to have one.

Casey knows Murphy was in the same high school class as he was but, he simply can't remember who she is or why she would write a song bearing his name that is NOT meant to be a compliment. What he does know is that her voice is something that needs to be heard. The other thing that Casey is completely sure of is that Murphy is not the type of girl that you use as a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am," or a "love 'em and leave 'em." Chase just knows by something instinctual that he needs to move slow with her, work with her, get to know her and that she's the kind you work to keep.

I've heard many refer to this particular novel of Ms. Scott's as a "slow burner." And guess what? If Casey's relationship with Murphy is the kind of relationship where Casey needs to work for her, then a "slow burner" it must be. You can't have the relationship going at one speed and the book flying on all pistons. Ms. Scott definitely chose right when setting the tone and the speed at the same pace. That does NOT mean that you will be able to put the book DOWN. Oh no! That is NOT going to happen. There's a big difference between a "slow burner" and a "slow reader."

Ms. Scott displayed two her best gifts (she has many more) in this novel just as she's done in her others: writing the first kiss scene and the "first time" scene. As I read the first kiss scene in "In Your Dreams," what I saw in my head was literally slowed down to slow motion.  Oh GAWD was it absolutely fabulous. You WILL go back and read it over and over. I even read this a few times OUT LOUD because I wanted to hear what I would sound like if I was the one reading the audiobook version. 

The coveted "first time" scene? I can't say much about the scene itself because that would be telling. Trust me, you don't want it spoiled for you. But, let's just say that the "always willing to be daring" Ms. Scott went a different kind of "all the way" with it. And the best part? She's so damned GREAT at how she writes these scenes, one feels like one is somewhat of a voyeur looking in on it all. Man, oh man, did I love "watching" THAT.

I honestly could rave on and on about everything. The characters are all multi-dimensional, including the secondary characters. Ms. Scott always gives multiple layers to all of her characters. You'll definitely want to know HOW Murphy knows who Casey is and, why he doesn't remember HER. You'll probably be mad at Casey for a few pages. Trust me, you'll get past it.

I would have liked a longer, more detailed ending as well. But I just wanted more novel because I love reading Ginger Scott's books and I'm greedy for as much of her story writing as I can get. 

I liked how the book ended. The way the book was brought to its end could have been longer. But, it gives me a chance to make up my own theories about some of the time frames not covered. 

"In Your Dreams" is definitely a FIVE-STAR novel. If it rises to #1 on Amazon like other Ginger Scott novels have done, I won't be surprised. Not even a little bit.

I received an advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. Ms. Scott's timing is somewhat magical. As I was writing to her about some really BAD family news and asking her if the ARC's were ready yet because I needed escape so badly, she was sending the ARC to me. And I mean it came in the email as I was writing the email to her. Definitely magic! Just like Ms. Scott and just like "In Your Dreams." 

Bring on the withdrawal until the next book! How does one quell the withdrawal of the Ginger Scott novel? By reading all of her books over again, of course!

About The Author:

Ginger Scott is an Amazon bestselling author of eight young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, Wild Reckless and The Girl I Was Before.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

"Wicked Restless" Another New "Classic" by Ginger Scott

Title: Wicked Restless

Author: Ginger Scott

Release Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Where To Buy:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Restless-Harper-Boys-Book-ebook/dp/B015UFJP5U/

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=8xucCgAAQBAJ

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/wicked-restless/id1044896250?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-restless-ginger-scott/1122718400

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/wicked-restless

Synopsis:

Andrew Harper grew up in a house marked by tragedy. His older brother Owen did his best to shelter him, but you can only be protected from life’s pain for so long. Eventually, you end up just feeling numb…and isolated.

Loneliness was the one constant in Andrew’s life. Until one girl, met by chance in a high school hallway, changed everything. Emma Burke was a mystery and all that was beautiful in this world, the only air Andrew ever wanted to breathe. She took the lonely away, and filled it with hope and color, and Andrew would do anything to keep her safe, happy and whole.

But sometimes, what feels good and right is what ends up hurting us the most. And when Andrew and Emma are faced with an impossible decision, Andrew is tested to see just how far he’s willing to go for the girl who owns his heart.

Cuts are deep.

Scars are left behind.

And revenge beckons.

When Andrew finally gets his chance, in college, five years after his first love broke him completely, he finds out old feelings don’t really disappear just because you say you hate someone. The more he tries to avenge all that he believes he lost, the more he uncovers the real story of what happened years before.

Love is wicked. But a restless heart is never satisfied beating on its own. Can Andrew and Emma make it right before it's too late, or will the ties that bind them now destroy their only chance at a future?

Review:

There comes a time after reading an author you've loved since the very first time you laid eyes on her first book, that you don't need to decide WHY it deserves 5 out of 5 stars.  You need to decide just how many of the five-star fabulous facets about the specific book you're reading by that author you simply MUST put into your review. There are exactly THREE authors for me where these times apply. Ginger Scott is one of those three authors and THIS is one of those times. 

When I finished "Wicked Restless," I was speechless. I didn't know if I should read it again and make a list of things to talk about. I didn't know just how many different emotions I just put myself through. I had no idea how many of those emotions I could I tell you about without ruining the magic of the story.

When we finished "Wild Reckless," the story of Owen Harper, satiated and massively in love, we didn't know Andrew was getting his own story. However, you could feel it in your GUT that his story NEEDED to be told. 

Andrew and Emma meet as teenagers. Andrew is an academic genius attending college while still in high school but, needs to attend the mandatory gym class everybody hates and he has to go to his high school to take the class. Ugh. Square dancing. I remember having to do square dancing in gym. I really did think to myself, "why the heck is she making Andrew square dance?" DUH! So Andrew could finagle himself across from Emma and be her square dancing partner! Yes, of course I smacked myself for that. But that should be a testament to Ginger Scott's writing. Sometimes some of the most common things, which should be obvious, aren't. If there is something Ginger Scott is NOT, it's predictable.

Their romance as teenagers comes to a massive and tragic halt and these two don't come together again until they're both in college. Andrew is attending college on a hockey scholarship and Emma is now Pre-Med. It is NOT a pretty reunion. In fact, it's the exact opposite of pretty. It's ugly and downright nasty. 

These two drove me INSANE! I thought that by the time I was finished, I would have completely white hair, and I'd be gumming my food while endlessly rocking in a chair and mumbling "Anbloo-N-Embah, Anbloo-N-Embah." My emotions pulled in every direction and a few new ones. Up, down, this way, that way, here go sideways, throw your leg up behind your head! My gut and my HEART were like two pinballs in a pinball machine but with 100 different bumpers to smack the balls around.

There's a part in this book where Andrew is "away" at "school" because of a decision made on that tragic night where Andrew and Emma parted. And he's writing letters. Tons and tons of letters to Emma. And because of the letters and where I was in the story, and having a tiny speck of an idea where the book was going, I thought of the words "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight...," the song "Stay Gold" by Stevie Wonder began in my head, and I started an ugly cry. 

via GIPHY

My heart was simply broken for Andrew at that point. I believe that even at his age at this point in the book, that he did what he did for love. Not infatuation, not major like, but epic love.

Did I love Andrew and Emma together? Yeah, I did. I got to a frustrated point. You know, the point when you're actually talking BACK to your book? "Why don't you just TELL him?" "And you, you dope, tell HER what she obviously doesn't know!" But that's part of Ginger Scott's magic. She weaves and spins and twists and finally, you have this beautiful, glorious story of two people who need to be together in order for both of them to be able to breathe.

I typically don't refer to other reviews but in this case, I'm making an exception. The drama in this book, in a review (or two) I read, was described as being "far-fetched." WHAT? Ginger Scott infuses real life situations into every single novel she writes. The style of writing? Well, let's go back to the reference from "The Outsiders" up above. 

Back when S.E. Hinton wrote that book, she infused real life gang drama into a tale about love, hate, heartbreak, and young people coming into their own despite all of the obstacles and hurdles. Ginger Scott is a fresh, newer fiction author that infuses real life drama into tales about love, hate, heartbreak and young people coming into their own despite all of the obstacles and hurdles.

If you read "The Outsiders" when you were in school, then you can easily see, as I do, Ginger Scott's stories of both Harper brothers, being on the grades 7-12 English reading list. There may be all of these new genre names NOW but it's still the type of fiction where you walk away with an entire research paper length analyzation in your head. Ginger Scott is writing the new "classic" fiction. One doesn't need to wait until the book is decades old to make it a part of you.

-------------------------

Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling author of eight young and new adult

romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How

We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, Wild

Reckless and The Girl I Was Before.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she

often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot

quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has

been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than

15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors,

scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work,

visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a

baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce

Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona

Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college

sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

COVER REVEAL: "The Girl I Was Before" by Ginger Scott

THE GIRL I WAS BEFORE (Falling #3)

 NA Contemporary Romance

Scheduled to release: June 23, 2015

Goodreads

BLURB:

I’m the selfish one. I suppose that’s the nicest thing people say about me. I’ve heard the other things, too. “Paige Owens is a pretty girl with nothing else to offer. She’s just a good time at a party. She’s stupid, heartless, cold and useless. All she cares about is getting a guy to look at her. Why would anyone want to be her friend?”

Some of those things are true. Others were true. They’re all hurtful.

None of it matters.

I’m ready to make the hard choices. I’m ready to face the consequences. I’m ready to be the girl I was before, and I’m done being the one who lost her way.

I’m ready to become the girl Houston Orr sees when he looks at me.

Houston isn’t a star athlete. He doesn’t play in a band. He’s never going to be president, and his life is so far away from simple and easy it isn’t even funny. He wasn’t part of my plan. But I’m starting to think plans are overrated, and maybe our stories are what we make them. And mine depends entirely on me, and the choices I make…starting now.

Houston is my fairytale. He’s perfectly imperfect. He’s poetry and life. He’s truth and heartbreak, all rolled up in a tall body with dark hair, broad shoulders and green eyes that lull me into submission. He’s nothing I ever thought I wanted, but the very thing I need. He’s the only guy I’ve ever really loved, and he thinks I’m a princess. I fell into him, and now I’m holding on.

But sometimes life takes away our ability to choose. Sometimes…things aren’t in your control. Sometimes, it hurts to be selfless. My only hope is that when it comes time to choose, I get it right.

Welcome to my once upon a time and wish for happily ever after.

EXCERPT:

I’m slow with my hand, and when she sees my fingers near her cheek, her breath hitches again.

“I like you, Paige,” I repeat, my voice a whisper, my lips close to her ear. I barely remember how to do this, how to do any of this, but every movement, every word with her right now feels so natural. “I don’t want to. You don’t want me to. But I do. And so do you. And we can keep fighting, and you can walk away from things, and you can yell at me when nothing makes sense and you don’t have anyone else to blame. I’m okay with that. I’ll be that guy. Even though part of me doesn’t want to. That part is fucking terrified. But the rest of me…”

I step back again, my hand fully on her cheek now, her weight resting on me, her eyes closed, lips still trembling.

“The rest of me just wants to kiss you,” I say, closing the inches quickly until my lips touch hers, surprise hers, claim hers and quell her fears all in one action. Her protest is short, and soon her hands find my shoulders and then my back and she pulls me into her. My hands are holding her face, and we both walk backward until her back is against my door.

I reach with one hand, frantic to find the doorknob, desperate to open the damn door. Panicked that if I break this contact she’ll stop, that she’ll slap me, that she’ll go back to not wanting to…anything. When I get the door open, we both fall inside, but our lips never part, our grip remains tight on one another. Reaching with one hand, I close the door behind us gently, not wanting to make any sound that could possibly get us caught.

This cannot be interrupted. It’s still too new, too at risk for being the only time I get to feel this. Goddamn does she taste like the most expensive drink I’ve ever had. Scooping her into my arms, I pull her even closer to me, until my legs hit the bed. I don’t want her to think anything other than this kiss is enough. I’ve thought about more. Fuck, I think about more twenty-three of my twenty-four hours, dreaming when I’m sleeping, daydreaming when I’m awake. But this kiss—it’s enough right now.

About the Author:






Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling author of eight young and new adult
romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How
We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, Wild
Reckless and The Girl I Was Before.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she
often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot
quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has
been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than
15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors,
scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work,
visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.


When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a
baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce
Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona
Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college
sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

Social Media Links:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GingerScottAuthor

Twitter: @TheGingerScott

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/thegingerscott/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GingerScottAuthor

Google: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GingerScottAuthor/posts

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GingerScott

Website: http://www.littlemisswrite.com

Book Review: The Trouble With Love by Lauren Layne

The Trouble with Love by Lauren Layne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

As Lauren Layne’s salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series returns, a jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old flame: falling for him all over again.

As Stiletto magazine’s authority on all things breakup-and-heartache, Emma Sinclair writes from personal experience. Five years ago, Emma was Charlotte, North Carolina’s darling debutante and a blushing bride-to-be. Now she’s the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene. Emma left her sultry Southern drawl behind, but not even her closest friends know that with it she left her heart. Now Emma’s latest article forces her to face her demons—namely, the devilishly sexy guy who ditched her at the altar.

After giving up everything for a pro-soccer career, Alex Cassidy watches his dreams crumble as a knee injury sidelines him for good. Now he’s hanging up his cleats and giving journalism a shot. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to pick a job in the same field, and the same city, as his former fiancée . . . right? But when Emma moves in next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.

Review:

Even though this is the fourth book in the Sex, Love & Stiletto series, this book can be read as a standalone as well. Emma and Cassidy (Alex) are bright, cute, and sexy characters without being overdone.

In general, I enjoyed the book and reading it was a pleasure. Probably the best part of the book overall is that these two already have a rough past with each other and their nearly non-existent recognition of each other in the present is the biggest challenge these two have to face. There are tons of misunderstandings and a lot of untold information that resulted in Emma being ditched at the altar. How these two break through some extremely thick walls is well-written and it all makes sense. There isn't anything convoluted or unbelievable. I buy these two as being in a previous relationship. I buy how they deal with each other at work because they have to be professional.

If you like to read good, solid romance you will enjoy "The Trouble With Love."

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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Book Review: Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson

Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the prequel to Martha's Vineyard, (hence the #0.5). I now need to go back and read Martha's Vineyard because I wasn't as thrilled with it as I was with every other RNP novel. But then I read this and I thought it was fabulous. Like Martha's Vineyard, Loss of Innocence is not like all of the other RNP novels that are usually filled with lots of courtroom drama, crime, corruption and mystery.

If you read Martha's Vineyard, you will have no clue who Whitney Dane is but, you'll figure out how the books fit together at the very beginning of Loss of Innocence,

Whitney is young, just graduated from college, and is a summer away from getting married to the perfect college graduate guy. Her parents are rich, her sister is a model, and her future husband will work for her dad. Sounds perfect doesn't it?

Then two things happen, one immediately right after the other. Bobby Kennedy is killed and Whitney meets Ben Blaine, who worked, literally, side by side with Bobby Kennedy. Ben Blaine is an "islander" on the Vineyard. He comes from a poor family, unlike Whitney.

Whitney and Ben become friends. Great friends. Over a three month period we see Whitney's growth, Ben's growth (or deterioration), depending on how you read it and, what's really going on with Whitney's family.

I've seen the not so great reviews for this book and for Martha's Vineyard. I think it's because RNP fans are so accustomed to his usual. But RNP wanted to write books about Martha's Vineyard and life there. He also wanted to write a period piece and set it on Martha's Vineyard so he wrote Loss of Innocence.

I think I'm going to love the third book in this trilogy. TO those who've read Martha's Vineyard and thought it wasn't so great, read Loss of Innocence and then try again.

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