Lost and Found by Nicole Williams

Rowen doesn't care what other people think about her. She doesn't care when mothers move their kids away from her on the street, or when people mutter, "Freak," as they take in her punk clothes. She's been on her own her entire life, with an absentee mother who couldn't care less and a father she doesn't even know the name of. The last stop she has to make on her way to college is a summer at Willow Springs Ranch, in Montana. What she doesn't expect to find is unconditional love and a family like she's only dreamed could exist. A summer of love, loss and acceptance, a summer that will change Rowen forever.

"We all want to open up to someone, Rowen. The hard part is finding someone we trust enough to open up to. That person we're not afraid to let into the darkest parts of our world."

Rowen was a great main character. We know she's had a rough past, but it isn't until the end of the book that her mystery is really revealed. While it's entirely possible to guess the big reveal, there are aspects of it that make it an original plot twist, and that much more tragic. She really doesn't let what people say to her get under her skin, and has lots of witty comebacks herself. Despite her damaged exterior and history of making bad decisions, she's real enough of a person to really like and relate to.

"I wasn't living with just the nicest family in existence; they were probably descendants of Aristotle."

The Walkers were a fantastic family, and have been born and raised in Montana, not far from the truth when it comes to how ranch families are. They have a great dynamic and their interactions always aid to the plot, they're not just filler. How they accept Rowen into their lives and family is wonderful, and every conversation with Rose left me beaming at me Kindle like a complete fool.

'"I will rise, but I do not shine," I croaked as I stood. "Even if I did, I sure as heck wouldn't this early."'

The ranch living was quite accurate, though an aspect that was never approached in this book is the farming. Most ranch families also have a subsistence farm that the women take care of while the men are out with the cattle. When you live that far from town, you can't drive in every time you run out of lettuce. Before I go any further I must put in however, that I think Ms. Williams chose the wrong side of the state. I live thirty minutes from a ranch called Willow Springs, and I live in the third largest town in Montana. We're not huge, but it's a college town and definitely not the stick that she was describing. Western Montana is dead set in the Rocky Mountains, the plains are out east, where most of the ranches and farms are. But other than that little location hiccup, I applaud the new territory.

'"Check those pancakes. I think they're smoking." His dimples set into his cheeks. "What can I say? I have that effect on things."

Jesse deserves to have that cocky attitude, and boy did I enjoy it. He's not a troubled bad boy who lashes out at people–that's Rowen's job. He's a boy with a dark past who overcame it to become a better person, and man was that a great change of pace. He's funny, smart, witty and kind. Men can't get much better than that. He sees in Rowen the girl she tries to hide from everyone else, and doesn't for a moment think that she's just a screw-up girl with no future. This isn't an abusive relationship, as many YA novels these days are. They are one hundred percent good for each other, and that's a breath of fresh air if I ever took one.

'"We don't deserve anything, Rowen. We don't deserve punishment, we don't deserve happiness, life owes us nothing. Realize that." His voice wasn't gentle anymore; it was as strong as I'd ever heard it. "So we have to take what we want because life sure as shit isn't going to freely hand it over." He kissed the skin just above my collar bone. "And I want you."' 

This book will drop some doozies on you, but it doesn't seem like it's trying too hard. It's just chalk full of wisdom that I'm highly tempted to paint in calligraphy on my wall. This isn't a heartbreaker, it's a book that will leave you grinning from ear to ear and completely satisfied once you put it down. There's a second book, but it's not a cliffhanger ending. It's bright, happy and resolves all the main conflicts. In fact, it's so great I'm scared of what the second might do to my heart.

So read on fellow Nicole Williams fans, and embrace the cowboy you never knew you wanted.

Five Stars

Rosalie Williams

Lost and Found on Goodreads

 

 

 

Crash by Nicole Williams

After her family is uprooted by a tragedy, Lucy is off to a new school, in a new town, and all she wants to do is dance. Until she meets Jude. Resident bad boy, everyone has already written Jude off as a waste of space, but Lucy sees something more in him, and she's not about to give up on him like everyone else.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. The writing is witty and funny, and I did laugh out loud like an idiot multiple times. But then it's also heartbreaking and sad and I broke down in tears at least twice. I'll admit that I stayed up until four in the morning reading this, and it tore me apart. So for those of you looking for a light read, don't pick up this book.

My first impressions of Lucy were pretty good. She saw a hot guy, and wanted his attention, so she got it. But when he opened his mouth and was a jerk, she decided it wasn't worth it. Unlike a lot of YA novels these days she didn't put up with his abuse, and seriously brushed him off. I liked that a lot. Further on in the book she also didn't cave. That's the thing, she's ridiculously stubborn. Sometimes I liked that, sometimes I didn't. By the end of the book I was pretty fed up with Lucy. She let Jude walk away too many times, and she didn't listen to him when he spoke. She has some major trust issues, and it bothered me that she never got over them.

"You can't be friends with the person you were meant to spend you life with."

Jude was funny but really sexy. However, I never got the really bad side to his character. Sure he gets angry at the drop of a hat, but he's never malicious. On the other hand, he actually was a bad boy, which was refreshing from all those bad boy wannabes that are in literature these days!

Something about Lucy's and Jude's relationship is extremely emotional and intense. Every word and action is carefully choreographed to draw you in and make you fall so deeply in love with them you feel like your heart is being ripped out. There are some really swoon-worthy scenes in this book, and it made me madder than hell that Lucy couldn't get over herself and just trust Jude.

"You didn't make me a better person, because no one can do that. You made me want to be a better person."

The only thing I really didn't like about this book, other than sometimes Lucy, was how much time it skipped. At the beginning it wasn't that bad, but then at the end the book just skips the entire school year and goes to graduation, and then it goes from graduation to the beginning of college. I hate it when main characters are away from each other like that, and the time skips just seemed like a cop out to me. I didn't like that Jude ignored her, and I didn't like that she let Jude walk away, and never tried to talk to him. This is what kept this book from five stars and my favorites shelf.

Although I may be bitter from the first two chapters of the second book (which by the way I'm not liking very much so far), this book really digressed from beginning to end for me. I wish it hadn't, because initially I really liked Lucy, and I loved her and Jude's relationship.

I hope that this series doesn't rip my heart out, because something I'm realizing about contemporary books these days, is that the authors love a tragedy.

Four Stars

Rosalie Williams

Crash on Goodreads

Fall From Grace by Christine Zolendz

Grace has had her heart broken. Not by men, but by God. The people she loves have died endlessly as she is continuously shoved into the lived of dying women, as punishment for loving an angel. She doesn't feel anything for men, until Shane. A tattooed, guitar playing rock star, not to mention a man-whore (pardon my language), Grace doesn't know why she takes notice of him. She has to find her angel, because she'll never love another.

First of all, all that talk about witty heroines, wipe it from your mind. I thought I knew witty and strong heroines. False. Grace is level-minded and hilarious, two traits I love in a main character. She likes Shane, she doesn't deny it, but she also doesn't fall all over him to be used and abused. Unlike most girls in books these days, he falls in love with her first, and she remains funny and charming the whole time. I really liked Grace to be honest.

Shane is hot and intense. He doesn't always say the right things, but in the end he comes around. Most of the time he tries to deny his attraction to Grace, but everyone can see how he feels. There is another book that tells the story from his point of view, and I cannot wait to read it.

Grace is beautiful, and because I'm a sucker like that, I love it when guys hit on her. It's amusing, I know, shame on me, but I can't help it!

There are a few mistakes, as any amazon publisher will have, but all in all it was really good. The writing is much better than what I'd come to expect from amazon writers, and best yet–the books aren't expensive and don't raise in price further down the series (I loath that)!

I very much enjoyed this, and it should probably be on the top of the amazon free books list. It has some adult content, while no actual sex, things get pretty heated (wink wink) so evaluate your maturity before reading this, it's not a young adult book.

Bravo

Four Stars

Rosalie Williams

Fall From Grace on Goodreads