Review- Kiss the Sky by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Kiss the Sky on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

Virgin. Sex addict. Daredevil. Alcoholic. Smartass … Jackass. Her five friends are about to be filmed. Reality TV, be prepared.

Rose Calloway thought she had everything under control. At twenty-three, she’s a Princeton graduate, an Academic Bowl champion, a fashion designer and the daughter of a Fortune 500 mogul. But with a sex addict as a sister and roommate, nothing comes easy. 

After accepting help from a producer, Rose agrees to have her life filmed for a reality television show. The Hollywood exec is her last chance to revive her struggling fashion line, and boundaries begin to blur as she’s forced to make nice with a man who always has his way. 

Twenty-four-year-old Connor Cobalt is a guy who bulldozes weak men. He’s confident, smart-as-hell and lives with his equally ambitious girlfriend, Rose Calloway. Connor has to find a way to protect Rose without ruining the show. Or else the producer will get what Connor has always wanted—Rose’s virginity. 

This New Adult Romance can be described as Friends meets The Real World. Expect fist fights, drugs, sex of varying degrees, crude humor and competitive alpha males. Definitely for mature readers audiences only.

Release date: February 20th 2014

Published by: K.B. Ritchie

Page numbers: 442

REVIEW: 

I'm a fan of the Addicted series. I had read and absolutely enjoyed Addicted to You, Ricochet and Addicted for Now two years ago maybe. For me, the series is very fresh, different and new compared to all the monotonous New Adult books doing the rounds. Unlike said books, I cannot predict what the characters from this series are going to do next. For some reason or the other, I kept putting the rest of the series on hold, until recently, when I finally began Kiss the Sky. And I am so glad I did. 

Kiss the Sky is the story of the second eldest Calloway sister, Rose, who, as the book cover perfectly describes, is a "perfectionist, genius and virgin." Previously, I liked how Rose has always been strong and and super protective about her sisters. Her perfectionism was admirable. A cleanliness freak, a thorough feminist and a feisty fighter, Rose's head was fun to get into. There were times when- especially the more explicit material- which made me question Rose's character. 

Then we had Connor to perfectly balance out her urge to dominate. I had only heard fantastic and fabulous things about Connor Cobalt (thanks to Mrs. Cobalt aka Siiri @ Little Pieces of Imagination). I don't remember much of how he was before, but I bet he was good, as he only got better and better in this book. A perfect match for Rose, Connor too is a genius. His intelligence did turn me on. There were times when- and yes again, especially the more explicit material- when Connor seemed like a smart and intellectually pleasing version of Christian Grey, but even I know that comparison is unnecessary. This book is very much adult, in my opinion, with an erotic and BDSM dimension. 

Together, Rose and Connor were far more than just a couple. They were a team of two strong, like-minded, intelligent and responsible individuals who put their group of family and friends before anyone else. It was nice to see the two maintain poise even when they were mentally disturbed and shocked by the current happenings of the situation where the characters (Lily, Loren, Rose, Connor, Daisy and Ryke) were part of a reality TV show. Now the whole reality TV show concept was neither new nor fascinating for me. But just the fact that all these amazing guys who I've grown to love were together made it enjoyable. Somewhere along the way, Kiss the Sky became everyone's book, rather than just Rose and Connor's. 

Even though Kiss the Sky is Rose and Connor's story, someone stood out far more than the two of them, for me at least. Even though I adore Rose and Connor's grammar nazism and it made me silently moan with pleasure, the person whose vocabulary that turned me on the most and that's the closest to mine is Ryke. He is fucking amazing! I cannot wait to read Daisy's and his story in Hothouse Flower. I can already tell that they are going to be my favourite couple. I still love Lil and Lo (who doesn't?), but Daisy and Ryke will be something else entirely. 

The length of my review brings me to the length of the book, which is a problem I have. And the books just keep getting bigger. It doesn't stand as a grant issue though, it only takes me time to read long books. It's really fun to spend time with these six amazing people who seem like your own by the end. Kiss the Sky did start out slow and it took me a lot of time to get into it, but at last, it was  all worth it, especially after the sweet and sexy epilogue. And it did, after all, help me cope with my reading slump.  

BUY THE BOOK: Amazon (IN)

Review- Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Goodreads Summary:

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

This book is intended for mature audiences.

REVIEW:

The sole reason why I read Fifty Shades of Grey was for all the hype surrounding it. A few people loved this book, while most of them hated it, but no one really stopped talking about it. When it comes to me, I tend to like what almost everyone dislikes and dislike what everyone likes. As for Fifty Shades of Grey, let me just go ahead and admit the fact that I actually ended up liking it. It's a book that's as good as it is disgusting and for me, it was an... experience- an amusing one at that. 

Usually when a story occupies my mind it means that I've either loved the book or hated it. In this case, I can't say that it's been on my mind all the time, but at the same time, I've thought of it a lot. It's not an I-can't-get-it-out-of-my-head mind fucking story, because come to think of it, it's not even original. 

Even though Fifty Shades of Grey is a Twilight fan-fiction story, I have no intentions of saying anything about the latter simply because even though the two are similar, the sole difference between the two sets them far apart. And that difference is what made Fifty Shades such a disgusting, kinky and sick, but at the end of the day, a really good read. I’m not saying that Fifty Shades is better than Twilight- because it isn't, but I love reading numerous takes on the same thing. 

There were more things I disliked about Anastasia Steel and Christian Grey than there are chapters in the book. Ana seemed like a silly girl and a desperate woman at once while Christian seemed like a chauvinist pig and a highly disturbed person who just wants-no sorry, needs- to do to others what has been done to him for reasons I’m dying to know. Both the characters, however, are extremely stupid and thoroughly complex. A lot can be said about them, but this a review, not a report. 

I have studied Psychology for three years in total in college and during graduation. And Fifty Shades was like reading a live example of everything I studied all those years ago. Had I chosen Psychology as my majors, I would have loved to do a thesis on Ana and Christian perhaps because there is that much that can be said about them. 

I hated the characters but I liked the story and that leaves me hanging somewhere in the middle. There are many ways of looking at Fifty Shades of Grey and I choose to look at it as something that was heavy, profound and good in it's own odd and absolutely yucky manner. But when the characters, who are the story, are essentially unlikable, the point is set off. This was, as is said in the book itself, fifty shades of fucked up. 

RATING: