Format: Paperback

Blog Tour | Review & Author Interview: The Accidental Beauty Queen

Posted December 7, 2018 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

On Sale: December 4, 2018 Gallery Books | Trade Paperback Original Available for purchase here ISBN: 9781501197604 | $16.00 E-ISBN: 9781501197611 | $7.99 Audio-ISBN: 9781508283553 | $17.99 Review Once I learned that this author had written books and Hallmark movie adaptations, I was sold on this book. I also tend to love books that are billed as more “romantic comedies” as well, a la Sophie Kinsella. Another key point? The reference to Miss Congeniality. I’m so happy that this book lived up to my expectations! Charlotte and Ginny are twin sisters. The former is a children’s librarian and the latter is a beauty queen… until they have to secretly switch places. While Charlotte visits with Ginny in Florida for a pageant, Ginny suffers an allergic reaction that would otherwise derail her participation in the pageant. Much to Charlotte’s initial dismay, Ginny begs her to compete instead… and she agrees. It was interesting to see these two seemingly different sisters try to bond and essentially become the same person for a few days. It was even better to meet others in the competition and see how Charlotte’s biases toward them completely changed; she was able to see that her sister was right – they ARE about more than just outward appearances. The contestants are supportive and encouraging to each other, and there were a lot of sweet scenes along those lines. Of course, it wouldn’t be a rom-com without the romance element! It’s not exactly in the synopsis so I won’t spoil […]

Review Round Up | Evidence of the Affair, So Close to Being the Shit…, and My Lady’s Choosing

Posted October 18, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I was one of the first people to hear about this short story. I randomly saw it when browsing on Amazon and was shocked that there was no information about it. I immediately preordered and read it within the first week it was out. I couldn’t wait for new TJR words and I’ll be honest – the short story length was needed in my monthly reading goal. As expected, my reaction was “holy shit.” I’ve never felt so moved by a short story before and it should really come as no surprise which author made me feel this way. There was a lot packed into these pages. I thought I saw where some parts were heading but still ended up surprised by the end. Leave it to TJR to write a novella only through letters and STILL make me feel all the things. I’m really not a short story person and I don’t hesitate to recommend this to other people who feel similarly. If you like her other novels, just give this one a read. I think the ending was close to perfect, which is usually my issue with short stories. The books never feel complete. […]

Bite-Sized Reviews: Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Dear Martin

Posted March 2, 2018 / Bite-Sized Reviews, Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I know I have full reviews and I have mini review round-ups, but there are some books that could be reviewed in just a few sentences. This is mini round-up I’ll have sometimes for books that really don’t need much more than my small Goodreads review and progress updates say. First up, we have an incredibly hyped up read that many bloggers have loved. I’ve owned it for a while and we read it for book club, so it was a good excuse to finally put aside the hype. Here’s a quick view of what I thought, because I’m surprised I don’t have a lot more to add?? Next, an incredibly important book that deserves more than a mini review, but I can’t really form the words. I love how all sides of the Black Lives Matter movement were discussed and I hope that anyone who doesn’t somehow see the need for the movement learns a lesson. So powerful.

The Nostalgia Project | Gemma Doyle Trilogy

Posted May 26, 2017 / Book Reviews, The Nostalgia Project / 5 Comments

The Nostalgia Project is my way of revisiting and rereading old favorites from my young adulthood to see if they still resonate with me. Learn more here and read old posts or reviews here! I didn’t include the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray in my original post about this project. Honestly it doesn’t really fit because it’s not the same kind of genre I was looking to analyze. However, if this trilogy is anything to me, it’s nostalgic. My book club decided to read this series for our meetings for March, April, and May, so it was finally the right excuse to make this reread happen! Man, this book. ? I love when rereads are a perfect mix of homey, nostalgic feelings plus a “brand new” story (because I forgot almost everything that happened!). It’s time like these where I love that my bookish memory is terrible. This was like revisiting an old favorite and being surprised at the same time. I think the biggest difference, looking back, is the pacing. I can see how some people may consider the story somewhat slow or even boring at times. The pacing is similar to a historical fiction book (which makes sense, because it is one), but there are some fantastical elements. The pacing is definitely not like that of a fantasy novel. I didn’t mind the slow-moving plot because my feels kept me going, not gonna lie. Gemma and her friends were worse to me this time around. I liked Gemma overall, even though she was definitely […]

#ReadADessen: Along for the Ride

Posted May 17, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I was sent a finished copy of this book for review as a part of the Penguin Random House Partner program. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Click the photo below to view the original source on the Penguin Read a Dessen campaign website! When Penguin invited some bloggers to join in with the #ReadaDessen campaign in honor of her new book ONCE AND FOR ALL (out June 6th), I hopped on board real quick. I’d been planning a Dessen-filled summer with Cristina already, but figured I’d give myself even more motivation to get rereading. True story: everyone has a favorite Sarah Dessen book. And if you ask them about it, they’ll be more than happy to gush about it for as long as possible. That’s why this summer we’re asking readers to spread the love by sharing their favorite Sarah Dessen novel with the world. Whether it’s because your favorite Sarah Dessen book gave you a love for reading, got you through a tough time, or changed the way you see the world – we want to know. [Source] Why Along for the Ride? In 2009 when this book initially came out, I was turning 18 years old and moving away to college in mere months. I was with my dad and family in Maine for one of the two weeks we’d spend there each summer, when we went to this little bookstore in Wells. The shop owner asked me what kind of books […]

#ReadADessen: Lock & Key

Posted May 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 1 Comment

I was sent a finished copy of this book for review as a part of the Penguin Random House Partner program. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Click the photo below to view the original source on the Penguin Read a Dessen campaign website! When Penguin invited some bloggers to join in with the #ReadaDessen campaign in honor of her new book ONCE AND FOR ALL (out June 6th), I hopped on board real quick. I’d been planning a Dessen-filled summer with Cristina already, but figured I’d give myself even more motivation to get rereading. True story: everyone has a favorite Sarah Dessen book. And if you ask them about it, they’ll be more than happy to gush about it for as long as possible. That’s why this summer we’re asking readers to spread the love by sharing their favorite Sarah Dessen novel with the world. Whether it’s because your favorite Sarah Dessen book gave you a love for reading, got you through a tough time, or changed the way you see the world – we want to know. [Source] Why Lock & Key? I didn’t remember much about this one so I partially picked this story to remind myself of why I initially loved it! I remember there being a really excellent character arc in this one, where Ruby learns to rely on other people sometimes and admit she needs help. I’m ALWAYS drawn to sister stories because I love my sister and want […]

Review Roundup | Take the Key and Lock Her Up, One Paris Summer, and Hope Was Here

Posted February 2, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 7 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-3 backlist books I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I’m a big Ally Carter fan… You can tell from all the books listed above that I’ve read by her. While the Gallagher Girls series is one of my favorites, Embassy Row didn’t really disappoint until this final book. Many people were annoyed with Grace before but I kind of liked her closed-off ferocity. She had been through SO much; I really understood why she was so hardened to the world and how she didn’t trust easily. That was a non-issue for me in the first two books, but really took a turn in TAKE THE KEY AND LOCK HER UP. I will admit that SO much of this had to do with the audiobook narrator. She over-acted and over-exaggerated her reactions to everything, so Grace was even more whiny, irritating, and hardheaded. The story itself was lacking in some areas, but my issues with Grace really distracted me from anything else going on. She jumped headfirst into really stupid things… and then didn’t understand why certain people would be mad at her for them. Seriously, such a moron! Her selfishness in this book astounded me. I don’t know why it surprised me so much, but it did. I thought the first half of the book dragged on a little bit because they were essentially on the […]

Holiday Book Buddies: Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless

Posted December 23, 2016 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Book Buddies is a discussion-style “review” that takes place with Cristina from Girl in the Pages. (You can check out past posts here.) We both read the book, have a discussion, and post our conversation (plus other fun things sometimes!) here. Book Buddies is a seasonal feature that now happens four times per year. Be sure to check out the other half of our feature and discussion on Cristina’s blog (link below)! Check out Cristina’s post here! We’ve decided to bring some new elements into our Book Buddies posts, so it will be less Q&A discussion between the two of us, and more personal applications to the book. Because this book featured a bunch of lists the main character keeps in her head, we decided to channel the same thing for our post! The lists below are generally related to the book too. Chloe gets stuck at work in a grocery store on Christmas Eve, so you’ll see some place and food-related questions below! 5 Things About This Book This book made me so nostalgic for my grocery store days. I worked at Geissler’s Supermarket, a family-owned chain only in Connecticut and Massachussets, throughout the end of high school and beginning of college (on breaks). This book is incredibly accurate for what it’s like to work in a grocery store, from scheduling breaks to weird relationships with coworkers to having to work on Christmas Eve. Chloe and her coworkers were a bit presumptuous. I didn’t like so many of the assumptions they made about fellow […]

Book Buddies: Daughter of Deep Silence

Posted October 19, 2016 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Book Buddies is a discussion-style “review” that takes place with Cristina from Girl in the Pages. (You can check out past posts here.) We both read the book, have a discussion, and post our conversation (plus other fun things sometimes!) here. Book Buddies is a seasonal feature that now happens four times per year. Be sure to check out the other half of our feature and discussion on Cristina’s blog (link below)! Check out Cristina’s post here! We’ve decided to bring some new elements into our Book Buddies posts, so it will be less Q&A discussion between the two of us, and more personal applications to the book. I’ll also be including (at least for this particular book) my Cover Colors feature for both book covers – the redesigned paperback, which I read from, and the original hardcover. I will be sharing my quick thoughts on the book in this post for those of you who are looking for a review or recommendation as well, don’t worry! 😉 Cover Colors Daughter of Deep Silence by bookmarklit featuring Maybelline I’ll let Cristina analyze the covers and why they may have been changed, but I have to say – they both really intrigue me, plot aside. I don’t get why the cover was changed and how the paperback edition really makes sense with the story itself. The hardcover does a perfect job of capturing what happens in the book, in my opinion. As for my Cover Colors and collage above… I loved playing […]

Mini Adult Contemporary Reviews: Nine Women, One Dress and The Hating Game

Posted September 28, 2016 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

I recently checked out a few adult contemporary fiction books from the library – both very recently released. I have been reaching for this genre (target age group?) so much lately for some reason. I think I needed somewhat of a break from YA. Both of these books were fantastic and I highly recommend them. I didn’t have super high expectations going into this book but I was really excited for it. I let the library fines pile up a little bit and decided to just go for it. I have to say, NWOD really impressed me. Most of the reviews implied a rom-com-style book that wouldn’t really blow your mind. I completely agree that this book would make a PERFECT romantic comedy movie. Seriously, I hope that happens. The plot summary reminded me a little of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but the story wasn’t really set up that way. THE little black dress of the season, size small, gets passed around between multiple ladies who don’t know each other throughout the course of the book. Each chapter features the POV of one character – some are those women who wear the dress, the salespeople, the men they’re dating or want to date, the maker of the dress, etc. I was pretty nervous I wouldn’t be able to keep track of everyone or let the story impact me, but that wasn’t the case at all. I honestly can’t remember every single character anymore but am left with a great overall impression. […]