Lit Junkie: Blog Tour

This was the perfect balance that left me incomplete. Usually, I either get stories of characters wide open and out of the closet and others where characters accept that they are gay and try to find ways to get out of said closet. This go, we had an open gay who wasn't ready and one who can't say the word. No. He isn't mute.

Graham is so deep in the closet that you might need a 100ft rope to get him out. His theories were half sad and half hilarious because of the details placed in every day things like the colour of his sheets o.O

I can't imagine anyone putting in the time and logic that Graham used to keep that closet door close but it made for an interesting story to get the views of a self-loathing gay. It also gave the story another mystery because you leave not knowing if it was the traumatic event as a teen or society's views that made him a paranoid alcoholic for the most part of this story.

Then we have Rikker, who should be the paranoid drunk, but instead is the poster boy for 'gay but manly all the same'. He isn't shopping, sipping cosmos and gossiping. You just don't need glaringly obvious reminders that he's gay. It's who he is. He was funny, scratch that, he was hilarious! He took everything in stride and flipped Big-D's comments when necessary.

I hate spoilers and I hope this isn't one for someone, but you really do wait until the very end for any revealing scenes. Then, I was left with so much unsaid and unresolved that I wonder if I got the complete novel and if perchance, book 4 will answer some of the questions I now have.

M/M romance novels normally carry the hot and angry sex scenes but this is 'The Ivy Years' series, so blow by blow sex scenes were bypassed for a steamy build up and a little cuddling after.

This novel was the most hockey based novel in the series, but I still didn't feel overwhelmed, so that's a plus. Unfortunately, due to Graham's phobia of his sexual orientation and all the time spent on the ice, we hardly spent any personal time with Rikker and Graham as a couple.

Sometimes, the story even dragged because we were stuck in the back and forth that is Graham's mind. Then came the really fast crescendo that began and ended before we could blink. I am now anxious to know what happens next and it's not even me being greedy, it's just that a whole new world now awaits.

Sarina Bowen has never been afraid to tackle major issues and this was no different. There is more to this novel than "coming out" and I think that's why the end left me feeling incomplete. There were also a few more grammatical errors than I am used to from a Sarina Bowen novel but I'll just chalk that up to it being an ARC. A purchased copy should have less grammatical errors. I hope.

Still, it wasn't enough to deter me and my interest was captured and held until the end. There is drama, lessons, fun, friendship, first love and acceptance all wrapped in two Harkness Hockey jackets.

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22701480-the-understatement-of-the-year

Andi and David have settled happily into Andi’s Northampton home, but David wants more. He wants them to get married. Their discussion is put on hold when Wylie, a fifteen-year-old girl, shows up in their backyard, bearing news that takes David’s mind off the future and sends it spiraling into the past. Reeling from David’s news, Andi receives a startling announcement of her own, one that leads to a relationship with her estranged mother. As Andi and her mother get closer and Wylie weaves her way into their lives, Andi finds solace in an old comfort: her ex-fiancé. With the past threatening to eclipse their future, the timing for a wedding is all wrong. But if Andi knows anything about timing, it’s that there’s no time to waste.

I remember reading 'Faking it' and 'Ordinary World' and how I loved them both. I also remember how I felt at the end and none of them evoked the feelings I have for 'She has your eyes'.

Don't assume you know the content or progression of this book, because you will be wrong! I surely was. The entire series reads as complete stand alone's and this one is no different. You never feel cheated or short changed after reading a book from this series. Closure and content is too mild to describe the feelings I got from this story.

Maybe I am getting older or its the material and genre of this novel, but this is what I have been looking for in the longest while! The problems are every day struggles that transcends to the pages beautifully! It's nice to take a break from young adults and traverse the world of womanhood. The over 35 crowd can be quite spectacular :)

This is reality, even if in the end, is the better side.

Andi and David has stayed true to their characters throughout this series and watching them acclimate to the problems thrown their way is great. But even with the changes, we are thrown in the past with a little Devin/Cutrone madness occasionally. The thing that could have made this book scorching is more detailed sex scenes, but that wasn't even necessary. Their story stood on it's own without the help of sexual gimmicks. There was enough good content, issues, momentum and struggles to last us a lifetime!

I love Wylie! She is a riot! If anything, I would have loved to spend more time with her character. She is not what I expected and she definitely contributed spice to this novel. She came in like hurricane force winds and kept her momentum throughout. Her personality, reactions and presence was a great addition and I love when she fell in the role of a typical teenager. Trish seems just as awesome!

Separate and apart from the obvious main issue of this novel, we got to clear mistakes of the past and curve our way to the future. We even got a wedding in the mix :) English lessons were prominent as always. For anyone interested in details, you will love this book. If you don't learn anything after reading this novel, then you should probably read it again ;)

This book did something for me that 'Ordinary World' didn't. It helped me understand and appreciate Sam's character for the first time. I still don't approve of it, but I understand it.

Andi's relationship with her brothers have always been solid, but we get some one on one time with her mom and that was more precious than anything else highlighted in this novel. Even with death plaguing the fringes of this novel, it never once felt like 'Faking it' or 'Ordinary World'. There is evolution and growth. You are transported to a different time in both Andi and David's life. You get to see them struggle to find their footing, as both individuals and a couple.

The surprise for me was the inclusion of Andrew in the story. If you don't remember Andrew, then you need not worry. You will by the end of this novel. All I will say is, he shook this book and no one, or at least I, didn't even remember him. I will not though.

A more mature crowd would understand and appreciate this novel, but anyone can give it a go. It is real, concise, detailed and leave you wanting more while feeling satisfied. Women's Fiction has a new face, and her name is Elisa Lorello.

- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18318647-she-has-your-eyes

- http://www.amazon.com/She-Your-Eyes-Elisa-Lorello-ebook/dp/B00D237Q6I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1392511679&sr=1-1&keywords=she+has+your+eyes

Elisa Lorello was born and raised on Long Island, the youngest of seven children. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and eventually launched a career teaching rhetoric and composition. Elisa spent six years in North Carolina, where she split her time between teaching writing to university students and publishing her own work. She has since returned home to the Northeast. Elisa is the author of Kindle bestselling novels Faking It and Ordinary World, Why I Love Singlehood (co-authored with Sarah Girrell), and Adulation. Faking It, translated in German as Vorgetäuscht, also spent three consecutive weeks at #1 on the German Kindle Bestseller List. When not writing, Elisa is an unapologetic Duran Duran fan, Pop-Tart enthusiast, walker, and coffee shop patron, and she can sing two-part harmony.