Casey Peeler

Disclosure: I received a copy from the author/publisher, in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my review in any shape or form.

Jason Aldean’s Country Boy World fits Tutu’s and Cowboy boots to a T. If this book had a theme song I’m pretty sure this would be it.

Tutu’s and Cowboy Boots is a city girl meets the country kind of story. It was fast paced and gave you an insight as to how it is in the South. I loved reading about Cadence’s experiencing the South for the first time.

Cadence is a spoiled brat, ungrateful and disrespectful. It was definitely hard liking her. I had to take a break from her at times because she was just so whiny and conceited. But I also sympathized with her, I wasn’t her age when my parents broke up I was way younger but I definitely understood her feelings.

Barrick is the good ol’ Southern boy that I love to read about and fall in love. But I also felt like I didn’t really get to know him. Sometimes, his voice and Cadence’s voice it was difficult to distinguish between them. I had wished his voice was a bit stronger.

There were a couple things I would change, like I would love to see the actual pranks between Cadence and Barrick. There were a couple mentions of them but I still wanted to see more. I’d definitely want more Barrick to really get to know him better.

Aside from that, the story kept me interested and I loved reading about things I’ve always known about like Dairy Queen (former DQ employee right here!), homecoming, always cooking for 10,000 people when the family is only 5.

I am sad that the story did end in bit of cliffhanger so you will be seeing a review of the second part soon.… (mehr)

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for honest review*

Just by looking at the cover, I thought this book was going to be about a Southern Romance. I mean there is a guy and a girl on the cover and the title is Southern Perfection. Boy, was I wrong.

Our Characters:
Raegan. This girl has had an extremely hard life. At five years old, she has lost her mother, father and grandmother. The only family she had left in this world is her granddaddy and cousin Cole. Her granddaddy is her entire world, he is her sunshine and she is his sunshine.

I could relate to Raegan in most aspects, my grandpa is my rock. He’s the man that raised me, he’s my dad and I’ve tried really hard to not disappoint him because that would absolutely hurt me to the core. So I understood Raegan’s relationship with her granddaddy because in many aspects it related to my life and I knew this book might just break me.

Raegan remembers her granddaddy telling her she needed to be extra good at the funeral of her parents and grandmother. She remembered being afraid of the men in suits who were at the funeral, and in her young mind she thought if she was extra good they wouldn’t come back. This definitely shaped who she becomes. She is an over-achiever. She’s head cheerleader, she talks to everyone no matter who you are she’ll speak to you, she gets good grades, she also works on her granddaddy’s farm helping him run it. Her goal is to be perfect and make her granddaddy proud so she ignores the boys who fall to their knees begging for a chance because granddaddy comes first. But deep down she’s broken. Her granddaddy is sick and the thought of losing him scares her, it scared me too. She’s afraid that the world as she knows it maybe coming to an end. But she promised her granddaddy she wouldn’t tell anyone he was sick and that secret is eating her up alive and causing her stress. She’s not your average teenager anymore.

Casey Peeler definitely brought back memories of last year. Last year, my grandpa who still thinks he’s 21 even though he’s 78 had a bad accident and we weren’t sure he was going to make it (but he’s stubborn and made it). I remember feeling exactly like Raegan. I knew if I lost my grandpa that my world would end and the thought scared me. So needless to say, I truly connected to Raegan.

Her granddaddy is a big part of the story of course. I loved him so much because he reminded me so much of my grandpa. I swear I felt like Casey must know how my grandpa is. He is very stubborn, doesn’t like others to see him weak and has a whole lot of pride; he was exactly like Raegan’s granddaddy.

Then one day, Emmett Bridges returns to town and Raegan’s world changes. See, guys wanted Raegan but she would always turn them down but when it comes to Emmett she just couldn’t say no. This isn’t a love at first sight kind of story at all and there is no love triangle. This love started a long time ago when they were too young to realize it. Emmett knew that Raegan was broken after losing her family so suddenly and remembered how much she loved their class bunny named Thumper. He showed up with a stuff bunny and Raegan snapped out of her funk, she was alive again as her granddaddy would say.

The Romance
The unattainable girl finally has a boyfriend and everyone is asking, “What does he have?”

Raegan and Emmett begin a romance that was based off a friendship starting back when they were kids. Something her granddaddy predicted a long time ago, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life is grandpa is always right.

Being around Emmett lets Raegan be herself; she can let her guard down and finally just be herself. Around Emmett she’s not the girl who’s lost her family, she doesn’t have to be perfect she can be herself. I really loved Emmett and Raegan’s relationship. It wasn’t based of pure physical attraction but on trust, loyalty, respect and communication. They had conversations; they did things together and enjoyed each other’s company without sex always being the forefront of their relationship.

The Turning Point
Granddaddy isn’t getting better and he knows it. So he hides it from Raegan as best as he can. He wants to see her live because for so long she’s been helping him; worrying about him etc. she’s never actually enjoyed much. She wouldn’t change it for the world. Emmett and Cole know her granddaddy is a lot sicker then he’s letting Raegan know so they have to make sure she’ll be okay.

At this point in the story, I was crying so much. It was like my deepest fears coming to life all over again. It also brought back some memories of my aunt two years ago. She was really sick and I spent a lot of time with her, I remember wanting to be selfish like Raegan wanted to and telling her she needed to stay here and fight longer. Then I could see how tired she was and I had to tell her it was okay to let go. So towards the end of the story I was crying for Raegan and for myself because this story really hit so close to home.

Overall
This story is so well written. Even though it is told from both Emmett and Raegan’s point of you, I felt like I knew her granddaddy so much and I also knew Cole. I felt just as connected to them as I did Emmett and Raegan. I loved that this story wasn’t about romance; it played a small role in the story. It was about what family and friends mean. Family doesn’t have to be blood it can just be the people closes to you. It reminds you to enjoy the simple things in life, laugh a little, hug someone, and cry, because you just never know what could happen.


If you plan on reading this book, you need to have tissues with you because you will cry. Towards, the end of the book I was crying so hard I had to stop reading to gather myself. I rarely cry so when my sister saw me crying she knew this book was good because I was sobbing uncontrollably I couldn’t even tell her what was wrong. So any book that can make a girl like me who hates to cry sob uncontrollably you know it’s amazing because girls like me don’t just cry for nothing. Southern Perfection is a heartwarming, heartbreaking amazing story. You’re missing out if you don’t check it out. And when you do check it out, let me know what you thought about it. Trust me, this one is worth reading.… (mehr)

When I saw Crashing Tides available on Netgalley I jumped at the opportunity to review it. I fell in love with Southern Perfection so I wanted to see what Crashing Tides was about if it would blow me away just like Southern Perfection.

Our Story
Marleigh and GC meet during Spring Break and have a Spring Break Fling. I won’t lie I rolled my eyes at the insta-love but then I stopped because this just wasn’t insta-love it was true love. So anyway, they have the most wonderful week together during Spring Break and make a plan to go to college together and make things work despite the distance. Suddenly Marleigh decides to put an end to their relationship claiming the distance is too much and it would be better to break it off with GC. She breaks GC’s heart completely. He never really gets over her, he just tries to move on but it doesn’t matter with how many girls he ends up with he always ends up thinking about Marleigh or picturing when he’s with someone else.

Three years after they break up, GC is playing basketball at Costal his dream school. He walks around campus every day wondering if Marleigh ever came to Costal to make her dream of a Marine Biologist come true. In two years all he’s seen is Marleigh’s sisters Tinleigh and Carleigh (they’re triplets in case the whole name thing doesn’t give it away) every time he asks them where Marleigh is they avoid him or give vague answers.

Then one day he sees her. All those feelings he tried to forget just come running back to him and he has to know why. Why did she suddenly break up with? Did he do something wrong? Does she feel the same way about him still? Was it truly just a Spring Break fling or was it true love?

I wish I could go into detail about the story but that would really ruin it for you so I will stop there!

Our Characters
Marleigh is a junior in high school when she meets GC. I know many will say what she did was wrong but I cannot judge her for the decision she made. I made a similar decision that Marleigh made and I can say that at the time I thought the decision was the best one but now I know that it wasn’t. I really connected with Marleigh because I was in her shoes once upon a time only I was three years older. I guess that’s why I enjoyed her character because at one point in my life I was her; I made the same decisions only to regret them later. Either way it shaped Marleigh and when she makes things right you can’t help but be happy for her.

GC is so lovable. Seriously, he was crushed when Marleigh broke up with him without any explanation but he does everything with her in mind. He never stopped loving her no matter how hard he tried he just never got over her. When he finds her he refuses to let her go. You can’t help but love the man he becomes despite the reason Marleigh left him, he is truly amazing.

The Romance
Like I said I rolled my eyes at the insta-love but then soon realized it wasn’t like most insta-love stories because this one shows what happens when things don’t go according to plan. It shows how one decision could impact your entire life. Their fling wasn’t just a fling it was true love. Neither stopped loving each other and when they were reunited they picked up where they left off, like those years that passed never happened.

What I loved the most about their romance is that they dealt with real issues. They had to learn to make the decisions together and work towards being a couple. It’s what some people actually have to deal with. I know that it was very realistic.

Overall,
Casey Peeler is becoming one of my favorite authors….like I already purchased all her books so far. I love how both the books I have read by her have real life situations that pull at your heartstrings.

Sometimes I hated the sudden time passing you see throughout the book but it needed to be there for the whole story to come together. I loved how everything flowed well together and how even though you may not agree with Marleigh you understand her decision. And you seriously cannot help but fall in love with GC.

I was actually looking for a book with basketball romance. I love basketball and I wanted a book with romance and basketball. Even though it doesn’t give much details about basketball it still made satisfied my longing for a basketball romance story.

There is so much I WISH I could say about this story but I seriously cannot because that would totally ruin it for you. If you pick up Crashing Tides then please please talk to me about it because I need someone to talk to.… (mehr)