mignon mykel { reviews }: review || SURRENDERING TO ALWAYS { blog tour } by Chelsea M. Cameron

Thursday, October 8, 2015

review || SURRENDERING TO ALWAYS { blog tour } by Chelsea M. Cameron

Self-Published | October 6, 2015 | New Adult Romance
Surrender Saga, book 4
★★★1/2

SOURCE: INKSLINGER PR

They’re about to walk down the aisle, but more than one obstacle is standing in their way…

Rory Clarke didn’t want to get married until she was at least thirty. But then she hired sexy redheaded, chin-dimpled Lucah Blythe as her assistant at Clarke Enterprises and everything changed. She’s finally agreed to set a wedding date and plans are well underway. Rory's definitely starting to see the perks of being engaged and she couldn’t be happier. As long as everything goes her way, of course.

That is until not one, but two huge surprises rock her world, putting everything she’s planned in jeopardy. Her job, the wedding, the future she planned for herself. Lucah is there for her no matter what, but trusting someone else isn’t always easy, even if you love them more than anything.

Her road to the alter is a rough one, but will Rory decide it’s not worth the struggle to get there? Or will she take Lucah’s hand and throw herself into their future together?

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{ about chelsea m. cameron } .

Chelsea M. Cameron is a New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car, tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman) and playing fetch with her cat, Sassenach. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.

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{ review } .

Things are starting to happen for Rory and Lucah in this epilogue of their story -- and not all of the things are exactly as Rory has planned. From surprise dresses to baby fever, and even further yet to business plans, all Rory and Lucah are trying to do is get to the end of the aisle.

If you hadn't guessed, please remember that this is the fourth of a continual series. There are three books ahead of this one that map out Lucah and Rory's journey; this is simply the pages before "the end". I knew this and hadn't read the previous books -- which I'm totally cool with. I'm an epilogue reader, after all. And like when I read every other book, I've now read the epilogue and will happily read the beginning ;)

I truly enjoyed Lucah and Rory in this installment of their story. Told in Rory's voice, you see the world as she sees it; you see the love Lucah has for her, you see the plans she has for her professional life, you see the joy she has with the idea of marrying Lucah. I love the friendships she has, and I love the way she loves Lucah. And gosh, I love his post-it notes.

Chelsea M. Cameron writes new adult beautifully. I rarely find flaws in her style -- the plots make sense, the dialogue feels read, the characters could be your own friends. Some of her works are better than others, and I feel that this saga is one of her better ones (...judging off my favorite part of a book, of course). You feel the love, the fear, the anxiety, the questions that Rory feels in SURRENDERING TO ALWAYS. I have no doubt that I will go back and read the first three in Rory and Lucah's story (...even if book three belongs to another new favorite red-head and Rory's good friend)!

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

View all my reviews