MK Harkins

Tiffany has sworn off relationships after a disastrous high school break up that still leaves her hurting. She's too busy throwing girls at Todd to notice he happens to have his eyes on her. After two run ins, they give it a shot, but there's something sinister lurking the background. An unknown person keeps interrupting their time together and is awaiting the perfect opportunity to take Tiffany. Across the world, as a form of punishment, socialite Angela has been sentenced to a year at a show more Romanian orphanage. After lying and manipulating things to go her way, her family wants nothing to do with her and Angela wants nothing to do with Romania. She's figured out a way to get home, her plan slowly hatching, but the orphanage may be just what she needs to find a new side of herself. This is the sequel to Breaking Braydon in the Breaking and Taking series.

Tiffany is a funny character, she's the epitome of an American heiress, complete with fundraisers, but has a vulnerable side she's afraid to show. She has dreams of her independence and finding love, but she's got a vulnerable, dependent side. Of all characters, Tiffany felt the most realistic. Todd is definitely a charmer, I enjoyed his relationship with Tiffany and how his past formed him into who he was. There was definitely some twists coming from Todd that made this book even more enjoyable. The sinister unknown person, whose POV you read from without knowing who it is, definitely brought a lot of suspense to the book. I loved that M.K. Harkins weaved their POV into the story, allowing the reader to see from their eyes and hear their thoughts. It made it just a tad bit creepier, but also made the book have so much more depth.

The Angela part of the story threw me off at first, she brings with her a lot of unknowns and of course her POV is completely separate from the others. It was an interesting way to do this book, but I enjoyed the breaks between the POV's of Todd, Tiffany, Angela, and the unknown kidnapper. I could have read a whole book just about Angela and her growth. She had this side to her that readers never saw in Breaking Braydon, so it was a welcome change. I liked the minor characters in her segments, especially the cute, brooding doctor. There are also a lot of twists within her story that brought this story full circle for me, because Angela's role in everything, both at home and in Romania, shows how much she's grown and helps close the doors on questions we had unanswered.

I enjoyed Taking Tiffany, even if I did get confused by the switching POV a time or two. The twists are totally unexpected, the romances heartwarming, and the character development phenomenal. M.K. Harkins writes a great, clean, and funny story with great characters. You won't want to put this one down. show less

Ashley Adams is just trying to survive her senior year of high school so she can escape to college far away from the stepmother and stepsisters. After Ashley's father died, her stepmother, Veronica turned on Ashley. Her father put all of his money in a trust for when Ashley successfully graduates high school. Now, Veronica is trying to do anything she can in order to change Ashley's perfect GPA. Veronica's plans change when pop sensation Harry James transfers to Ashley's school. She sees show more Harry as a cash cow and is determined to put her daughters in his line of vision. However, the minute Harry sees Ashley, he is hooked. Despite her best efforts, Ashley has finally found someone she can relate to. Although multiple obstacles stand in their path like Veronica, Harry's manager, Leona and high school queen bee, Brittany, Harry and Ashley's love story may find a happy ending with the help of some fairy godmothers.

Ashes is a young adult, contemporary Cinderella retelling. Ashes is full of high school melodrama, a relatable pop star, a down-to-earth Cinderella and over the top social media obsessed step-siblings. I loved that Ashley's character was determined and fought for herself. The romance was sweet and progressed very naturally. I'm glad that Harry's experience finally allowed him to be himself and that Ashley and Harry brought out the best in one another despite everyone trying to pull them apart. There were several places in the story where I had to suspend my disbelief over what was happening, however, remembering that this is a fairy tale retelling made it go down easier. I do wish the inclusion of the fairies was brought into the story more than just the beginning and the end, I almost had forgotten that Ashley was their mission all along!

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

** I was provided an advanced copy by NetGalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.**

So disclosure: on NetGalley, there is NO description of this book. None. No synopsis, no clues, nada. Obviously, the lack of a synopsis caught my attention, and when I saw that other reviews said it was best going into it with no information, I was intrigued!

Obviously, for any other readers, the synopsis is published, but it is still suitably vague so that you can discover what the heck is going show more on at the same time as Ann does - but I rather enjoyed going into this one blind. It's not practical for marketing purposes at all, but there you are. I still felt the need to share this bit as it does obviously mean I was even more surprised by plot, etc.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the story. It was imaginative, fast paced and suspense-filled. Harkins does some lovely concept building with the Jacks, Readers and Seers. She lays a strong groundwork for everything that happens to Ann, whose story is revealed in bits and pieces to her (and to you, the reader.) Ann doesn't know who she is, what happened to her, and who to trust - and the info is doled out in pieces to her as well, so she isn't shocked. Clever plot device...

GAH. I really want you to go into this like I did, because it was such a treat. This is a fun paranormal novel with a plot that zips along, good tension between characters, some unexpected twists, and an MC that is feisty and fun.

While part of a series, Ann's story is wrapped up nicely, which I appreciate.
(Honestly, this is my favorite kind of series - I'm too impatient to wait a year between installments.)

If you like paranormal romantic fiction with a bit of excitement, give The Reader a try. show less

From the start I was hooked into the book. It’s a very well written fairytale romance and just a touch of suspense to keep the reader fully submerged into the story. I could feel George’s sadness and despair pining over a possible “one that got away”. Then seeing George open his heart to love made my heart swoon. Even though this book is part of a series, it’s written well enough that it can be read as a standalone also. I cannot wait to see what happens next for this book series