"Crave" by Teresa Mummert

I was super excited when I heard that Teresa Mummert would be writing a Vampire novel; I love her writing and her male characters are usually to die for - while this is the case with Crave's male protagonist, Elijah, as well - and in this case quite literally, the novel itself unfortunately didn't quite manage to suck me in (no punk intended, I think ;-)).

I loved the general ideas of - and in - the story, and that the author took the chance to dive into a different genre than she did for the other books I had previously read by her. And I really enjoyed the love story developing throughout the novel, with all its ups and downs, because let's face it - love isn't always a walk in the park, and sometimes tragedy and danger lurk around the corner, waiting to beat you down. However, the story couldn't really... convince me. I can't say what it was, but something felt off - there were several times when I felt like I had missed out on something, despite not having skipped any chapters, or even pages or paragraphs, which is why I can only give this book a 3.5; can't wait for my next Mummert read though!

All I craved was one night to forget about the tragic murder of my brother Marcus. Elijah Malakai seemed like the perfect person to take my mind off everything my family had endured. He was a hunter and for the first time in years, I felt safe. 

But Elijah had his own tragic past. As his secrets unraveled, my world was thrown into turmoil once more. 

I had to decide whether or not Elijah was worth the pain his past would bring and if I was strong enough to stand by his side and fight.

Teresa Mummert grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where she began dating her husband when they were only sixteen years old. They married at eighteen and soon moved to Louisiana as her husband began his military career. They are the proud parents of four children that they are raising in Georgia. 

Teresa began writing when her husband deployed to Afghanistan as a way to cope with him being away at war. She soon became a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her work includes the word of mouth bestselling White Trash Trilogy which landed her a three book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster. She has also written the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Note and the USA Today bestselling novel Safe Word. Other novels include Perfect Lie, Pretty Little Things, the Honor series, Rellik, The Good Girls, Something Wicked, Crave, The Death of Lila Jane, Hollow (Hollow Point #1), and the USA Today bestselling novel Sweet Nothing co-written with Jamie McGuire.
Future releases include Hellion (Hollow Point #2), Shameless, Defending Her Honor (Honor Series), Cruel, Depravity, When the Memories Fade, Weeping Willow, Paper Doll, The Deep, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Rocked, Before I Wake, Fall to Pieces, Ash & Dust, and Victim. She also has a Middle-Grade children's novel coming out soon titled The Seeker under the pseudonym T.S. Mummert. 

Visit Teresa Mummert on her website || goodreads || facebook || twitter || instagram

Find Crave on goodreads || amazon US || amazon UK || amazon DE

Read my reviews of other novels by Teresa Mummert: The Death of Lila Jane || The Good Girls || Rellik || Sweet Nothing

*** I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review! ***

"The Death of Lila Jane" by Teresa Mummert

Oh. My. Heart.
As much as I hate it when people say something like what I am about to say, I simply cannot not say it... "I CAN'T EVEN! ALL THE FEELS!"
Is it bad that I feel like crying like a baby because the book I've been reading is over?! This book is so absofuckinlutely beautiful, you really should pick it up if you haven't already read it. - Go grab it, add it to your tbr, dive right into it. Whatever. Just... read it. Like, yesterday. Now. ASAP. Fall in love with it, like I have. And while you're at it, please excuse me while I go and die a million fictional deaths because I can't have more of this. This story ending way too soon basically was its only flaw... and even that flaw was a really beautiful - and obviously inevitable - one!

Honestly, I don't know what to say.
Or how to say it.
This.
Simply.
Was.
A.
Stunningly.
Beautiful.
Read.





(Those few words right there? "Stunningly beautiful read!"? That could very well be my review. As in... all you're getting, because it's all there is... I'm still sitting here like an emoji, swooning all heart-eyed!)

And I want more. Lots more.

The Death of Lila Jane is a read that managed to suck me in right from the beginning - it was unputdownable (yes, that is a word!), both when it comes to the style in which Mummert has chosen to tell the story, as well as when it comes to the story itself. There wasn't a single moment of reading time in which this novel made me roll my eyes, or check the time; it had a steady pace, that was neither too slow, nor too fast - following the story of Lila Jane and Kaden never seemed even remotely draggy, and I found myself giggling, teary-eyed, swooning over the hunk of the story and absolutely dreading the end of the book (don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad ending at all, other than being an end!). The Death of Lila Jane is a beautiful novel, through and through, from page one all the way to the words no reader wants to encounter when loving a book - all the way to "the end". It's a tale of love and loss, of friendship and family, of happiness and sorrow. A book of life and death, of loosing and finding yourself - and your perfect counterpart.
In case you couldn't already tell: I absolutely loved this book!

5/5

 

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Teresa Mummert comes a cautionary coming of age tale.
Lila Jane is spending her summer vacation preparing for high school. She does everything asked of her, but her parents rarely give her credit for her efforts. She decides to sneak out with a friend to attend a local party and shed her little girl image, to become a woman once and for all. What starts out as a fun escape soon escalates into a life on the run with a boy she barely knows.  

 

Teresa Mummert grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where she began dating her husband when they were only sixteen years old. They married at eighteen and soon moved to Louisiana as her husband began his military career. They are the proud parents of four children that they are raising in Georgia.
Teresa began writing when her husband was deployed to Afghanistan as a way to cope with him being away at war. She soon became a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her work includes the word of mouth bestselling White Trash Trilogy which landed her a three book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster. She has also written the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Note, the USA Today bestselling novel Safe Word, Perfect Lie, Pretty Little Things, the Honor series, Rellik, The Good Girls, Something Wicked, and the USA Today bestselling novel Sweet Nothing co-written with Jamie McGuire.
Future releases include Crave, Cruel, Depravity, The Death of Lila Jane, Hollow, Weeping Willow, Paper Doll, The Deep, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Rocked, Before I Wake, Fall to Pieces, and Victim. She also has a Middle Grade children's novel coming out soon titled The Seeker under the pseudonym T.S. Mummert.

Visit Teresa Mummert on her website || goodreads || facebook || twitter || instagram

Find The Death of Lila Jane on goodreads || amazon US || amazon UK || amazon DE

Read my reviews of other novels by Teresa Mummert: The Good Girls || Rellik || Sweet Nothing

*** I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review! ***

"Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura" by Annie Hughes

Wow... what an emotional rollercoaster!
Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura by Annie Hughes made me shed more tears than I care to admit - some were of laughter, others turned into some truly ugly crying... and if I hadn't liked the book as much, I'd hate how much I actually loved both kinds (in some twisted ways).

From page one, I immediately fell in love with the writing - it's very authentic, and makes it extremely easy to believe that the narrator is a girl in her teenage years.
The writing captured me from the start, but the story itself started somewhat slow for me - for a while, I even questioned the plot and some of the characters. If it wasn't for the topic of the novel, for Anna's story, the writing would make this an easy and very light read, which was what ultimately kept me reading in the beginning. After about half the book though, Una Familia Segura suddenly turned into an absolute page-turner and I couldn't put it down anymore - I just had to finish reading it right then and there. The story of Anna's past, which haunts her until the end of the novel, is anything but light - it's dark, and some of it might call for a trigger warning, as it's very realistically - believably - written.

I really like how Hughes pointed out the differences between the UK and the US, between British and American things, when her main character, Anna Rosa, finds herself moving from one country to the other, rather than just stating that she has 'switched countries'. It makes things more real, and makes it really easy to take part in Anna's journey. The overall writing also makes it easy to empathize with Anna, which made the novel turn me into an emotional mess at times.

Una Familia Segura has a little bit of a Cinderella story spin - without wanting to give too much away, Anna goes from an abusive, traumatizing childhood of terror, to living with a wealthy, well-known and at times seemingly overly loving family. In the beginning, this made me feel like some of the characters were a little too 'shallow', for the lack of better words, but as I kept on reading it became perfectly clear that this was needed to emphasize the contrast between her old life and her new.
I also very much enjoyed the cute little lovestory developing in the almost-hidden, making it a lot more real than instalove and constant puppy-eyes ever could have in the situation Anna finds herself in.

Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura is, despite - or maybe especially because - of the dark matter it touches a beautiful story that underlines the importance of family and true friendship.
I'll have to treat myself to a paperback of this, and am looking forward to the next part in the series, which releases July 17th!

4.5 / 5

Anna Rosa Castillo is unlike most 16 year old girls.

She doesn't care for clothes or make up, nor does she giggle with her friends about hot guys. Coming from a small town in the North of England, where drugs and criminals are at the top of the food chain, Anna's life is an impossible mixture of pain and sorrow. She lives by only one rule - do whatever he says, and she might live long enough to get away.

All that changes when a fatal night lands the monster of her nightmares in a prison cell and herself in a hospital bed, staring into the eyes of a father she has never known. 

The addition of a father and a family turns Anna's life upside-down, thrusting her into a world she could never understand. Inner demons and unspeakable memories claw at her as she tries to build a relationship with her new family. But with her past looming over her new life, will she be able to break free?

Hello Everyone :)

I'm a brand new author who's just released her very first book baby - Breaking Free: Una Familia Segura. 

I'm a full time working mother to a gorgeous little boy and when I'm not busy with mum chores you can guarantee that I'm staying up until obscene hours either reading or writing.

I hope you all enjoy reading my stories, lots more to come in the future I think :)

Visit Annie Hughes on facebook || twitter || goodreads

Breaking Free (#1): Una Familia Segura on goodreads || amazon US || amazon DE || amazon UK

Breaking Free (#2): Learning to Fly on goodreads || amazon UK || amazon US || amazon DE

*** I received a review copy from the author, in exchange for an honest review! ***

"The Good Girls" by Teresa Mummert

Teresa Mummert never ceases to amaze me - she is some kind of genius mastermind that has perfected the art of screwing with my mind. Her books make me happy, angry, sad and giddy at the same time as they blow my mind. Whenever I think I know where one of her stories is headed, she delivers a twist that throws me off track. The Good Girls was no different from my previous Mummert-adventures - just when I thought I had it all figured out, I had to realize that what I thought I knew wasn't even close to the whole story.

The Good Girls was my first f/f read; not because I am one to shy away from the topic, at all, but simply because no blurb hinting on a lesbian romance had ever caught my interest before... and truth be told, the blurb alone probably wouldn't have done it for me on this one either, but once I had laid eyes on the first teaser, there was no turning back - and I definitely do not regret having picked up this book. On the contrary - The Good Girls is a great read, and I had a lot of fun exploring the lives, feelings and sexualities of Ellie and Cara, the two main characters whose alternating point of views the story is told from. Mummert has done a tremendous job in sharing their story - it doesn't make you feel like anything has been forced or far-fetched; it's as real as fiction gets. The novel tackles a lot of sinister issues that some people unfortunately have to face on a daily basis in real life - including, but not limited to, bullying, bigotry, hatred and hate crimes, violence and rape. At the same time, it also targets the importance of love, family, friendship, support, unconditional parental love, and accepting people for who they are... not to forget the journey of curiosity, of confusion and of exploring the beauty that comes with discovering one's sexuality.

Altogether, The Good Girls is a beautiful approach to the topic - and as cute as it is dark. It will make you frown as much as it will make you giggle, and Mummert definitely didn't forget to include some hot and steamy moments.
My only small little dislike was that both Cara and Ellie seemed a little too naïve to me at times, but in retrospect that just showed their young age (in the beginning of the story they are both about to start their senior year in high school), so it isn't a real dislike - and every time Brody showed up in the story most certainly made amends for any and all ugh, how naïve-moments I might have had. Brody... sigh... I love, love, loooooved that character, so he can't not have a mention in my review! While The Good Girls did come to a beautiful end, I am not-so-secretly hoping that there will be some sort of sequel, featuring a loooot of Brody - maybe he could be taken up on his donation offer?! There is no denying that he is a character that got my fanfic mind spinning (; ... more, please!

5/5

My life was meticulously planned and I refused to deviate from that path. While my peers were partying, I prepared for the future. Then a tragic event destroyed everything and I learned that while I was looking ahead, I forgot to live in the moment. 

Starting over seemed impossible until I met Cara McCarthy, who lived every day like it was her last. She opened my eyes to a world of chaos and disorder. I loved every minute of it. She was also dating Tristan Adams, one of the most gorgeous men I’d ever seen.

The three of us became inseparable. Our parents were oblivious and soon lines became blurred, feelings began to grow, and someone’s heart was going to get broken. I hoped it wasn’t mine.

I was a Russian spy at the ripe age of thirteen, given my uncanny ability to tell if someone was lying ( I also read fortunes on the weekends). By sixteen I had become too much of a handful for the Lethal Intelligence Ensemble (L.I.E.). I was quickly exiled to the south of France where I worked with wayward elephants in the Circus of Roaming Animals and People (C.R.A.P.). I was able to make ends meet by selling my organs on the black market for pocket change and beer money. At the age of twenty three I decided to expand my horizons and become a blackjack dealer in Ireland. I loved the family atmosphere at Barney's Underground Liquor Lounge (B.U.L.L.). People couldn't resist the allure of Liquor up front and poker in the rear. Eventually I became tired of the rear and headed off to the United States to try my hand at tall tales. That is what brings us here today. If you have a moment I'd like to tell you a story. 

(This bio is not to be taken seriously under any circumstance.)

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the White Trash Trilogy, The Note, Perfect Lie, Pretty Little Things, Honor series, Safe Word & Rellik.

The Good Girls on goodreads || amazon US || amazon UK || amazon DE
Teresa Mummert's website || on goodreads || on facebook || on twitter || on instagram