2015 Besties

This may be one of the most challenging posts of the entire year! How to narrow down an entire year of great reads into just one post featuring the best of the besties? We’ll do our best (see what we did there?) to highlight our favorite reads from 2015. Be sure to scroll to the bottom and enter our 2015 Besties, Rafflecopter Giveaway!

BFF K’s 2015 Besties

#1 The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward

Pure pleasure.

#2 Everything by Penny Reid

In 2015, I’ve read/listened to all but 1 book by Penny Reid and I absolutely LOVE them all! This could be considered my “Year of Penny” and it was fabulous. I’ve only reviewed a few of the books on the blog so far, but I hope to review all of them for you in the coming weeks and months.

#3 Bad Romeo & Broken Juliet by Leisa Rayven

Fantastic stories, great characters, I wish I could re-read both of these again for the first time!

#4 Darken the Stars and Iniquity by Amy A. Bartol

Epic conclusions for two of my all-time favorite series’!

#5 Royal Marriage Market by Heather Lyons

Magical royal romance!

#6 Chasing Fire Series by Ann Marie Walker and Amy K Rogers

Best steam since Fifty Shades. #HudsonChaser

#7 Dirty English by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Hot and fun!

#8 The Hidden Library and The Forgotten Mountain by Heather Lyons

Terrific additions to this incredible series.

#9 Bright Side and Gus by Kim Holden

Love these books so much. The review for Gus will be coming soon.

#10 The Allure of Dean Harper by R.S. Grey

Fun and flirty! The Allure of Julian Lefray was fantastic too!

BFF K Bonus Besties

These three books have stayed with me as much as any books I read all year! I find myself thinking about these characters all the time!

Life Rewritten by Andrea Johnston

Until I Met You by S.L. Scott

Some Sort of Happy by Melanie Harlow

BFF A’s 2015 Besties

#1 Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

#2 Bright Side and Gus by Kim Holden

#3 November 9 by Colleen Hoover

#4 You by Caroline Kepnes

#5 Never Never 1 & 2 by Tarryn Fisher and Colleen Hoover

#6 Confess by Colleen Hoover

#7 The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward

#8 Betrayal by Aleatha Romig

#9 The Hidden Library and The Forgotten Mountain by Heather Lyons

#10 Bad Romeo and Broken Juliet by Leisa Rayven

BFF A Bonus Besties

The Girl on the Train by Paulette Hawkins

Dirty English by Ilsa Madden-Mills

All of the images above are buy links for Amazon.com. And, you can click on many of the headings to find our reviews. We are so grateful to all of you for joining us on our incredible book journey in 2015! We’re looking forward to all that’s in store for 2016!

signoff_K_sm signoff_A_sm

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Duo Review – Incendiary by Amy A. Bartol

WINNER OF THE 2013 UTOPYA AWARDS FOR BEST VILLAIN & BEST BOOK COVER OF THE YEAR

Cold, fine drops of rain fall softly on my cheeks as I emerge from the darkness of the ship’s interior to the gray, overcast sky of the main deck. Pulling my dark pea coat tighter to my body, the wind lifts red tendrils of my hair. I walk slowly to the railing overlooking the water.

I catch my first sight of the Irish coastline; its craggy landscape makes me shiver in dread. I find it difficult to imagine now how the Gancanagh had made this their home for so long without anyone realizing it. The cold, moss-covered edifices practically scream their presence. As I study the shadows between the falling-down stone, I imagine creeping shapes of undead Faeries grasping the rock, waiting for our ship to draw nearer to their position.

Tipping my face up, I let the rain wash over me. It bathes away the frigid sweat of fear that has broken on my brow. “You don’t know how fiercely beautiful you are, do you?” A quiet voice behind me asks, causing me to stiffen and fix my eyes on the rocks along the shoreline.

As one of Ann and Kiersten’s real life BFF’s, Missy has been subjected to countless hours of book discussions! Over the years there is NO other series that has generated as much discussion between Missy and Kiersten as the Premonition Series by Amy Bartol. It is one of our most favorites and we love it more than is really healthy.

The 5th and FINAL book in the Premonition Series, Iniquity, will be released on December 8. In advance of this exciting event, I asked Missy to join me for another guest edition of the Duo Review to share our thoughts on this incredible series! Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you about the awesomeness that is the Premonition Series!

Read our Duo Review of Inescapable.

Read our Duo Review of Intuition.

Read our Duo Review of Indebted.

Duo (Guest) Review

rating_5_80

This is the book where s#$% got real. The End.

Just kidding….mostly…..this book is so hard to describe and review without giving away so many many details.

There’s another new character that shakes the foundation for Russell, Evie and Reed. Anya rocks. She is a fantastic character and a terrific addition to the mix. This is also the book where we meet both Evie’s father and her long time guardian. These two characters also mix up the dynamics and change the game.

Incendiary is really about unraveling and clarifying the missions and separating the characters to define them and their relationships to one another. This book is where we see Evie begin to embrace her powers and accept her mission no matter the reasons behind it.

There are really not enough usable words in the English language to tell you how fantastic this series is and all of the reasons you should read it. This is the series that convinced me (BFF K) I do love paranormal romance.

cd_5

hero_5

heroine_5

romance_5

suspense_5

world creation_5

supptchar_5

butterflies_5

signoff_K_sm

AND Missy

Amazon Links to Purchase The Premonition Series

Kindle Copy of All 5 Books in the Premonition Series

*All links also include Audible option.

Amazon Links to Purchase The Kricket Series by Amy A Bartol

Under Different Stars (Book 1)

Sea of Stars (Book 2)

Darken the Stars (Book 3)

*All links also include Audible option.

All of Amy Bartol’s Books have an audio book option. BFF K is a HUGE audio fan!

These are all absolutely fantastic!

About the Author

I live in Michigan with my husband and our two sons. My family is very supportive of my writing. When I’m writing, they often bring me the take-out menu so that I can call and order them dinner. They listen patiently when I talk about my characters like they’re real. They rarely roll their eyes when I tell them I’ll only be a second while I finish writing a chapter…and then they take off their coats. They ask me how the story is going when I surface after living for hours in a world of my own making. They have learned to accept my “writing uniform” consisting of a slightly unflattering pink fleece jacket, t-shirt, and black yoga pants. And they smile at my nerdy bookishness whenever I try to explain urban fantasy to them. In short, they get me, so they are perfect and I am blessed. Please visit me at my website: http://www.amyabartol.com

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Goodreads Tumblr

Duo Review – Indebted by Amy A. Bartol

I hang my head in sorrow for just a moment when I know I am truly alone. I feel like I’m going to my execution, just as he had said. Then I move forward again. I hop a fence of fieldstone and cross a field dotted with Queen Anne’s lace. Goose bumps rise on my arms as I pass the cluster of windmills that I have seen in a dream. The scent is sweet in the field though, not the scent of heat, like it had been when it was forced upon me in visions. I gaze down the hill, beyond the small, whitewashed house that I knew would be there. The church looms dark and grim with its rough-hewn, timber façade, capped by tall, oblong spires reaching to the sky. Black, ominous clouds have collected above the roofline, as if Heaven is showing me the way.

Read our Duo Review of Inescapable.

Read our Duo Review of Intuition.

Duo (Guest) Review

rating_5_80

Evie opens up a whole can of new abilities in Book #3 AND her inherent need to protect those she loves is the driving force in her decisions in this installment of the Premonition series.

Brennus is still hanging out causing trouble and there is a whole cast of new creatures and nightmares. This book includes more narration from Russell’s point of view. It is so interesting to see things as they unfold but from a different perspective.

Reed realizes that his attempts to protect Evie sometimes leave her at a disadvantage and they will reevaluate some aspects of their relationship. Evie is evolving and developing, she’s learning about her strengths and just what she is capable of doing and being.

There’s drama and tons of character development. This is the book that moves so many of the storylines forward and further uncovers the story of Evie’s mission and everyone else’s role in that plot.

cd_5

hero_5

heroine_5

romance_5

suspense_5

world creation_5

supptchar_5

butterflies_5

signoff_K_sm

AND Missy

Amazon Links to Purchase The Premonition Series

Kindle Copy of All 5 Books in the Premonition Series

*All links also include Audible option.

Amazon Links to Purchase The Kricket Series by Amy A Bartol

Under Different Stars (Book 1)

Sea of Stars (Book 2)

Darken the Stars (Book 3)

*All links also include Audible option.

All of Amy Bartol’s Books have an audio book option. BFF K is a HUGE audio fan!

These are all absolutely fantastic!

About the Author

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Goodreads Tumblr

Duo Review – Inescapable by Amy A. Bartol

My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me–my freshman year of college. I’d been hoping that once I’d arrived on Crestwood’s campus, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t.

I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I’m grounded…sane. I look for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he’s near, I feel an attraction to him–a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him. I know what you’re thinking…that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would be…if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood…or him. But get this, for some reason every time I turn around he’s there, barging into my life.

What is the secret that he’s keeping from me? I’m hoping that it’s anything but what I suspect: that he’s not exactly normal…and neither am I. So, maybe Crestwood won’t be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I’ve been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.

The BFF’s (Ann stripes in pic and Kiersten in denim) have 2 other BFF’s. We all live on the same street and can often be found engaging in many fun shenanigans together! Angie (on the far left) and Missy (on the right) both read a LOT too and many of our conversations revolve around books. Over the years there is NO other series that has generated as much discussion between Missy and Kiersten as the Premonition Series by Amy Bartol. It is one of our most favorites and we love it more than is really healthy.

The 5th and FINAL book in the Premonition Series, Iniquity, will be released on December 8. In advance of this exciting event, I asked Missy to join me for a guest edition of the Duo Review to share our thoughts on this incredible series! Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you about the awesomeness that is the Premonition Series!

Duo (Guest) Review

rating_5_80

The Premonition Series is a series that we have spent way too many HOURS (I’m not kidding, HOURS) discussing. We talk about these characters like they’re friends, neighbors and loved ones. It is one of my (BFF K) most recommended series!

Evie Claremont starts the book as an excited college Freshman with a whole new world opening up at Crestwood College. There she meets and befriends Freddie, a geeky, socially awkward young man. She also meets Russell, the quarterback of the football team and a boy whom it feels like she’s known forever. Then, Evie meets Reed. Every time they are near to one another they both have an uncontrollable case of butterflies and a pull to one another that is unexplainable.

Evie has a recurring nightmare that grows increasingly more vivid and soon strange things are happening to her! She draws the group of friends close together. Soon Zephyr, Buns and Brownie join the crew to help Evie discover who and what she is.

Evie has a way of surviving when she really shouldn’t. There is something about her that draws others to her and her presence causes them pause. We can’t really say more without giving away major plot points and believe us, you want to read/reveal these for yourself!

This book sets the stage for Evie in the entire series! There is angst, romance, action and suspense; moments that will get your heart beating for so many reasons. This is one of our most favorite series ever and book #1 is our favorite book! There is not really much else to say other than you MUST read this book!

angst_5