REVIEW: Charade & COVER REVEAL: Facade by Nyrae Dawn

Title: Charade
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Series: Games #1
Pages: 245
Publisher: Self-Published
Date Published: October 22, 2012
Format: eBook
Source: Bought

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ B&N

Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection.

Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too.

Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne’s past isn’t what she thought? Soon they’re trading one charade for another—losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real.

Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart forever.

I am a huge Nyrae Dawn fan!  I loved her What a Boy Wants series, so I was extremely excited to read Charade.  It definitely didn't disappoint!  I love how well Nyrae does male POV.  She nails it every time.

Charade begins with Cheyenne walking in and finding her boyfriend, Gregory, in bed with another woman.  She already has abandonment issues because of her mother, so she takes this even harder.  She decides that what she needs is a fake boyfriend to make Gregory jealous.  When she sees him get into an argument with Colt she decides he's the perfect guy for her charade.

Colt walks around like he doesn't have a care in the world.  He's sarcastic and angry, and he can be a real ass.  But he's also lonely.  In reality, everything is falling apart.  His mother is terminally ill, and when she's gone, he'll be alone.  The last thing he needs is to play games with a pampered princess, but when she offers him money he can't refuse.  He needs it to pay for his moms pain medicine.

I love how both Cheyenne and Colt find each other frustrating and aggravating.  They fight each other and how they feel until they can't hide it anymore.  The relationship between them starts slow and grows...not rushed, love at first sight.  I like this!  It makes it more real.  Charade is a sweet romance, but it's also a heartbreaking story.  Both Cheyenne and Colt have had their share of past hurts, and they lean on each other when things get even tougher.  Charade will make you laugh, it'll make you cry, and the romance will make you swoon.  It's an altogether great read, and I can't wait to get my hands on Facade. 

“This isn’t a fucking game anymore. No charades here. I don’t know exactly what to call it, but whatever it is, it’s ours. I’m going to latch onto it. And never let go.”

 

Facade is Book #2 in the Games series. Facade is about Colt's friend Adrian, and is sure to be just as amazing as Charade. Check out the amazing COVER REVEAL below!

**FACADE COVER REVEAL**

*************

 

Title: Facade
Author: Nyrae Dawn
Series: Games #2
Projected Release: March 2013
Goodreads

Website

No one knows who twenty-one year-old Adrian Westfall is behind his façade. After what he’s done, he deserves to live alone with his pain, even if he’d do anything to forget. Anything for a moment of quiet without his past haunting him.

Eighteen year-old Delaney Cross wants nothing more than to absolve her family from her father’s sins. To keep her suicidal mom off that ledge, and help her brother Maddox get the light back in his eyes. She thinks their road to freedom is through Adrian.

Adrian and Delaney are bound together by tragedy… Only Adrian doesn’t know it.

As their lives intertwine, they find a solace in each other they never knew existed. Laney knows she needs to tell him—to come out from behind her smoke screen, but to say the words could mean losing him.

Two people. Two disguises. True love.

Will it be enough to save them when all secrets are bared?

FACADE is a New Adult book and intended for mature readers.

2012 Wrap-Up

It's hard to believe that 2012 has come to an end!  What an amazing year this has been for me and for Silver Wings Reviews.  I started this blog in April, simply as a place for me to put my thoughts into words, and to have an outlet to connect with others that love reading as much as I do.  I  never really expected to fall in love with blogging the way I have.  I have made many new friends, and I've had so much fun this year.  Not to mention, I've read some amazing books!!  Here are a few of the highlights of my amazing year:

First of all, I'm amazed to say that in only a few short months SWR went from being a brand new baby blog to a blog with a following of over 500!  I find that astounding, and I want to thank each and every one of you!  Knowing that there are people out there that actually care what I think...that's quite humbling.

If there is one thing I've discovered this year, it's that Indie authors totally rock!  I've had the opportunity to connect with several Indies that I find utterly amazing!  If you haven't already, you should be sure to put these at the top of your reading list for 2013.  And yes, I realize some of these are now traditionally published, but when I read them they were still considered Indie. 

Colleen Hoover has managed to wiggle her way into my heart, and her books have touched me like no others.  I had the opportunity to meet Colleen at the Decatur Book Festival in August, and this was absolutely the highlight of my blogging year!  I got signed copies of Slammed (my review) and Point of Retreat (my review), and I even got a hug.  Colleen is not only an amazing writer, but a crazy sweet person.  Her newest release, Hopeless, is still with me a week after finishing it.  I haven't written the review for it yet because I simply cannot find the words.  It was THAT good.   

I also got to meet Abbi Glines at the Festival and got signed copies of Breathe, Because of Low and While it Last.  I hadn't actually read the books yet at the time, and I kick myself now.  I wish I'd known what an amazing author she was while I was standing there chit chatting with Colleen!  While I haven't gotten the reviews on the blog yet, I can tell you that this series is wonderful...along with the newest, Just For Now!!  And I won't even get started on her sexy Vincent Boys Series...holy moly.  Read them all!!  You won't be sorry! 

While we haven't met in person, Claudia Carozza and I have become great friends.  Her books, The Twenty (my review) and The Forgotten (my review), should definitely be added to the top of your to-be-read pile, especially if you're a fan of dystopian!  This girl can write!

Other great Indies that I've read this year:  Jessica Park, Jamie McGuire, Robert J. Crane, Nyrae Dawn, Tammara Webber, Tracey Garvis Graves, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Katja Millay, Jessica Sorensen...the list goes on and on!   

I read 109 books this year!  There is no way I could ever choose a Top 10, but I have to give you a list of the books that I absolutely adored.  Some of them may not have reviews on the blog yet, but I promise, if they are on this list, the gushing review is coming soon!  In no particular order,

My Faves of 2012:

Medusa Girls Series (Sweet Venom and Sweet Shadows) by Tera Lynn Childs
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Barronlands Trilogy (The Twenty and The Forgotten) by Claudia Carozza
Easy by Tammara Webber
The Girl in the Box Series (Alone, Untouched, Soulless and Family) by Robert J. Crane
Tiger's Destiny by Colleen Houck
Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves
What a Boy Wants and What a Boy Needs by Nyrae Dawn
Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
The Vincent Boys and The Vincent Brothers by Abbi Glines
Sea Breeze Series (Breathe, Because of Low, While it Lasts, and Just for Now) by Abbi Glines
Lux Series (Obsidian, Shadows, Onyx and Opal) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

Ok, that's it for my year!  I can't wait to see what wonderful reads 2013 brings us!

 

Happy New Year!!

REVIEW: What A Boy Needs by Nyrae Dawn

Title:  What A Boy Needs
Author:  Nyrae Dawn
Series:  What A Boy Wants (#2)
Pages:  164
Publisher:  Self-Published
Date Published:  June 2012
Format: eBook
Source:  Bought
Buy It:  Amazon or B&N

Jaden Sinclair knows he'll never amount to anything...so why would he deserve a girl like Priscilla Mendoza?

Since last summer, things have been screwed up between Jaden and Pris. He knows it's his fault, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to go a few rounds with her new boyfriend. He also knows he’s the loser his dad calls him, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting her.

After getting a huge bomb dropped on him, Jaden lashes out and lands himself in jail. Everything in his chaotic life is turned upside down and to make it worse, his mom kicks him out in order to side with his dad. Yeah, he’s totally a prize for a girl like Pris.

Sebastian, Aspen, and Pris are all going places in their lives...and he knows he can't keep tagging along for the ride.

The group has one last chance for The Epic Adventure they've been looking for: a road trip to New York, where Jaden's friends will be going to college. Unfortunately, the more time Jaden hangs around Pris, the harder it is to keep the carefully constructed walls between them so she doesn't find out what a train wreck he really is.

When the trip ends, Jaden has to decide if he's ready to say goodbye to his friends, and the girl he loves. He knows what he needs, but will he be man enough to go for it?

_________________________

After reading What A Boy Wants and loving it so much I knew I had to read What A Boy Needs right away.  I wasn't really prepared for the difference between the two books.  Sebastian is a comical character and he loves his friends unconditionally.  What A Boy Wants is light and funny.  What A Boy Needs is written from Sebastian's friend, Jaden's, point-of-view.   Jaden, while laid back on the outside, is a tortured soul on the inside.  Sebastian hints that Jaden has problems at home in What A Boy Wants, but it's not until you see it from his point-of-view that you realize just how bad Jaden's home life is.  His father hates him and has never let him forget it.  He tells him that he's worthless and will never be anything.  As if that's not bad enough he find out that he's not his real father.  But the part that really bothers him is that his mom has let him make Jaden's life miserable anyway.  It's apparent right away that Jaden has some real baggage he needs to deal with.

_________________________

"He steps into the room.  He's never put his hands on me.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to deal with than his words that still rot inside me long after physical wounds would heal."

"That's right!  You think you're going to New York with your friends soon, right?  How are you going to do that?  Mooch off them?  I know you don't have any money and you sure as hell aren't getting anymore of mine.  Eighteen years is enough of that.  Pretty soon they'll get tired of picking up your slack, kid.  It won't take them long to realize what I've always known.  You're not worth it.  You're not worth anything."

_________________________

What A Boy Needs picks up a year after What A Boy Wants.  The friends are graduating from high school, and the plan is to take a road trip to NYC where the girls will be going to college.  This has always been the plan.  For years they have talked about it.  But now that it's time Jaden is hesitant.  Everything his father has said to him starts to well up inside.  And then there's Priscilla.  Where Jaden has nothing, Pris has everything.  Her father is the DA, they are loaded.  Her parents give her anything she wants, but not the love and attention she needs.  Jaden knows he will never be good enough for her.  Priscilla wonders if she will ever be enough to break down Jaden's walls.

_________________________

"Priscilla's face buries into my shirt as she lets go; big, sobbing cries that vibrate through me.  Wetness seeps through my shirt, but I don't care.  All I want to do right now is make it better.  Take care of her.  That's what you do, right?  When someone is important to you, you take care of them.  You try to take their pain away, pull it into yourself if you can, because it's easier to fight her demons for her than to risk someone scarring her."

"My body is a cracked mirror, lines spider-webbing out from the central breaking point.  My chest, my head and the rest of me does the same.  How can she think she's not enough for me?"

_________________________

While there is still a lot of the familiar banter between the friends the dynamics of What A Boy Needs is different.  Everyone knows that Jaden has a lot going on that he is trying to deal with, but they don't know how to help him, so the mood is darker.  We still get to see the amazing bond between these four friends.  When Jaden feels like running they always stand in his way making sure he knows they love him.  I enjoyed watching the phases that Jaden goes through on his way to healing and learning to live his own life. 

 _________________________

"Views are so freaking skewed -- the way people see each other and the way they see themselves.  Anything can change them or alter them.  What you see on the outside usually isn't what you get on the inside and that's what matters.  Actions.  What you put into the universe or whatever.  Right now I feel like more of a man than I ever have."

_________________________

I really liked What A Boy Wants, but I loved What A Boy Needs!  I love the friendship and the banter.  I love how dedicated Sebastian, Aspen, Jaden and Pris are to one another.  Real friends like that are hard to find.  Nyrae Dawn is an amazing author and I plan to keep her on my radar.  These two books are most definitely at the top of my favorites list.

5 Stars * * * * *  

REVIEW: What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Title: What a Boy Wants
Author:  Nyrae Dawn
Series:  What a Boy Wants (#1)
Pages:  140
Publisher:  Self-Published
Date Published:  April 6, 2012
Format:  eBook
Source:  Bought
Buy It:  Amazon or B&N

Courtesy of watching his mom’s relationships, Sebastian Hawkins knows what girls need to do to get a guy. He has what he considers a PHD in hooking up. When he needs extra cash for a car, Sebastian starts up an online venture as The Hook-up Doctor, to anonymously help girls land the guy of their dreams. Of course, his services don’t offer a happily-ever-after guarantee. He’s seen firsthand getting together never means staying together.

And then he falls in love…
With the last girl he would expect…

Totally not in his game plan.

Suddenly, Sebastian finds himself muddled in the game he’s always prided himself on. He can’t even pick up girls at parties anymore! Why would anyone want to be in love when it turns you into a stuttering, screwed-up, mess with really lame stalker tendencies? Stalking? Totally not his gig.

But the Hook-up Doctor won’t let himself go down easily. He’s always known how to give a girl what she wants and now it’s time to figure out what a boy wants… and he definitely plans on getting it.

_________________________

What a Boy Wants was such a fun book to read!  You can't help but love Sebastian and his friends Jaden, Aspen and Pris.  They've been best friends since Kindergarten, and they do everything together.  The bond between these four friends is unbreakable.  What a Boy Wants is told from Sebastian's point-of-view, and he is such a comical character that I found myself laughing out loud over and over.  After watching his mom get her heart broken by guy after guy he decides that there is no such thing as real love.  It's better for everyone if they just keep it fun.  He and Jaden live for the hook-up, but they're sure to tell the girls up front that they're not looking for a relationship.  The last thing Sebastian wants to do is hurt someone the way his mom has been hurt.  When he starts to fall for his best friend, Aspen, he realizes he may be The Hook-Up Doctor, but he is most definitely not The Love Doctor.  He can't seem to do anything right.

There is so much to love about this book!  First of all, I adore the relationship between Sebastian and his mom.  He would do anything for her, and he's not ashamed to admit it.  His dad walked out on them when he was just a kid and she's done her best to make sure Sebastian always knows how much she loves him.  Even though he makes a lot of mistakes, and he doesn't know how to have a real relationship, it's his relationship with his mom that keeps him from  hurting all the girls he's hooked up with.

_________________________

“Still I pulled her into a hug, because I knew she let me off the hook on purpose and yeah, I'm a guy and I love my mom. So shoot me. I'm man enough to hug her without feeling like a mama's boy.” 

"'Ma, quit hogging all the Chunky Monkey.  I grabbed the pint of ice cream off Mom's lap as she sat next to  me on the couch.  I wasn't proud of myself.  Actually, I was pretty embarrassed that I was practically crying in my ice cream with my mom."

_________________________

The four friends constant banter and bickering is hilarious, and Sebastian is constantly kicking himself for his stupid mistakes.  He's such a guy!  Fist bumping and chest beating included.  Even though they always manage to keep the conversation light you can tell that they would do anything for each other. 

_________________________

"We fist bumped again, because it was much manlier than getting sappy twice in one day."

"No matter how whipped I was, I'd obviously still be a guy.  That gave me some relief.  'You're drooling.'  Jaden nudged the elbow I was leaning on making it fall off the table. 'Shut up.' Lame reply, but it was all I had."

"Jaden threw a glance over his shoulder.  'Aspen...I can see why you wouldn't mind.  Her and Pris, they're kind of better than the other girls out there, ya know?'"

_________________________

The chemistry between Sebastian and Aspen is great.  Aspen is a very likable character.  She's sweet and smart and I love her sarcasm.  Because Sebastian and Aspen are friends there is already an amazing connection between them.  I love how Sebastian's thinking changes as he realizes his feeling for Aspen have changed, but he's still a total guy.

_________________________

"Once I decided to go for it with Aspen, I wanted this weekend to be special.  You know, like long walks on the beach, and all that other special stuff that used to make me want to gouge my own eyes out."

_________________________

What a Boy Wants was a great read.  It's funny and sweet, and even a little bit adorable.  It's a perfect chick lit read!

4 Stars * * * *