Genre: Adult

Review Round Up | My Not So Perfect Life, Literally, ACOWAR, and Always & Forever, Lara Jean

Posted June 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 4 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 reviews of already published books (either older/backlist or newer releases) that I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! Man, this was cute. Seriously… so good, guys. If you like early Kinsella like Can You Keep A Secret, Remember Me, and I’ve Got Your Number, give this one a shot. I read all of those – plus a few more – back in the day and had been craving her style again. This book did not disappoint. The story starts in London, where Katie/Cat is struggling to achieve the city life of her dreams. She’s soon let go from her job and returns home to her dad’s house in the country, where her stepmom and father have started a glamping business on their farm. She quickly settles back into life there and her scatter-brained ex-boss suddenly appears with her family on vacation. The book was pretty long and covered a lot more time than I expected, but it was nice to see all the different “phases” of her life to see how things progressed. I loved learning more about her boss, Demeter, who was not who she seemed. I loved Katie trying to find herself, fit in, and/or put her talents to good use on the farm’s business. I loved Alex. I loved her parents. I loved Steve. Seriously, everyone was fantastic. I really liked seeing secrets get […]

Series Review: Black Dog Bay

Posted April 13, 2017 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I really enjoyed the first and only Beth Kendrick novel that I previously read – Second Time Around. I’m always interested in charming bed and breakfasts, seaside towns, friends reuniting, etc. That book and this series hit on most of those elements. I was randomly looking for a new audiobook before going skiing and came across this whole series on Hoopla. I decided it’d be the perfect light audio series to binge. The books in the series are companions to each other and set in the same coastal Delaware town of “Black Dog Bay.” It’s known as a destination for people dealing with heartbreak; there are places called the Whinery, Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, and Eat Your Heart Out Bakery. Quick summary: After dealing with a personal plane-related tragedy and a little bit of heartbreak, Summer heads to Black Dog Bay. It’s a town known for being perfect for people who just got out of relationships. She enters into arrangements with the hot mayor of the town as well as the crotchety old lady who essentially owns half of the town. Heroine: Summer was immediately an intriguing character. She had this past she kept alluding to that made her unwilling to find love again, so I was concerned this would annoy me later on. I liked that she was spunky and did whatever she wanted. Once she set her mind to something, she refused to give up. Romance: So, along those same lines, this definitely included her attraction to the off-limits town mayor, […]

Review Roundup | PS I Like You, The Forgetting, Kiss Cam, and Reunion

Posted March 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 6 Comments

Before the regularly scheduled programming… Happy International Women’s Day! In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 backlist books I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I think you’re aware of the fact that I tend to hoard my favorite authors’ books so I always have at least one to read when I REALLY need it. Kasie West is one of those authors. Sometimes I just need to read her words because I know she won’t let me down. For PS I LIKE YOU, my sister had been hounding me to read it and lent me her copy. I went ahead and got the audiobook from Hoopla to crank it out and MAN do I love Kasie West still. I read it just as BY YOUR SIDE was coming out and I was borrowing LUCKY IN LOVE from a friend. So, it was safe to read this one finally ? The story was cute, albeit incredibly predictable. I don’t mind the formulaic nature of many YA books because it’s comforting to get that HEA at the end. I knew who the secret pen pal was literally within the first chapter or two of the book and the rest of the story was equally predictable from there. I know my romance tolerance is lower than usual, so I tried to not let it sway my opinion of this fluffy book by a favorite author. There was […]

ARC Review: Close Enough to Touch

Posted March 3, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement BEFORE I GO by Colleen Oakley had been on my TBR – I even own a copy – for a loooong time. I won it in a giveaway, saw amazing reviews, and was incredibly intrigued by the premise… but still it remains on my shelf. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. In any case, I was eager to request CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH, as if Oakley was a favorite author of mine without me even reading her books. I decided to make it one of my final reads of 2016 – the second to last read, to be precise – and I’m so glad I did. Quick Summary Jubilee has been living alone in her house for 9 years, with her extreme allergy to other humans evolving into agoraphobia. When her mother unexpectedly passes away and the money stops coming, she has to get a job and get out of her house for the first time in almost a decade. The other character (and POV, as this book alternates between the two) is Eric. He’s struggling with his adopted son, who lives with him, and his biological daughter, who lives with his ex-wife and refuses to speak with him. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels While I feel like not much happened, there was plenty of character development that kept the plot moving. I loved seeing how Jubilee reacted out in the world and slowly developed various relationships with people. The library setting was awesome; I’ve always loved stories […]

Book Buddies: The Young Wives Club

Posted March 2, 2017 / Book Buddies Reviews, Book Reviews / 5 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. This is a really character-driven story, as each of the four girls is struggling with their relationships and marriages. One thing that never wavered was their friendship with one another. Even if one of them made a horrible decision, the rest of the girls were there for her. They didn’t really judge and only offered opinions. I liked that this wasn’t a book about struggling with friends; it’s about leaning on friends to get through everything else. Today, I’m including my Cover Colors feature to share the book cover and a few outfits (one for each girl). Cover Colors This is definitely one of my favorite book covers. I love the colors and obviously the cake. I like that it’s all bent out of shape, but still very pretty and pastel. It represents the book really well. Now, onto the outfits for each character! Some are based […]

Last Book of 2016 & First Book of 2017 | Reviews: The Night Circus and The Secret of a Heart Note

Posted January 23, 2017 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I thought it would be appropriate to put my reviews for my last read of 2016 and the first read of 2017 together. I ended up cutting it very close with my Goodreads goal because I decided to be lazy with my final book. I ended up finishing it 20 minutes before I had to leave for New Jersey for my NYE plans… whoops. That’s what happens when you tell yourself to meet your Goodreads goal exactly – no more, no less. I started my first book of 2017 on New Years’ Day while Chris and I were hanging out at home before bed. I was hoping to spend a good portion of the day reading but I ended up watching lots of football (duh). In any case, here are the books that ended one year and started another! I had pretty high expectations for this book. It ends up on a LOT of people’s all-time-favorites lists. I bought this on Scribd forever ago with one of my credits, solely because it was narrated by Jim Dale. The story itself intrigued me because I find circus settings to be fascinating, but I really only went through with the purchase because of Jim Dale. He is perfection. His narration did end up being a major highlight for me. It was jarring at times because he used similar voices to the Harry Potter characters (like one character in this book sounded a lot like Dumbledore) and the book had some similar words I […]

Holiday Mini Reviews: Winter Storms and What Light

Posted December 24, 2016 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Story Winter Street swept me away pretty quickly for some reason. I was instantly intrigued by the Quinn family and wanted to get to know all of them. Once I finished with the bit of a cliffhanger, I moved on fairly quickly to Winter Stroll. The characters, over the course of the year between stories, regressed so much. They went back on decisions they already made and then made stupid ones. I didn’t like it nearly as much, but you know I was ready for the final book in the WINTER trilogy to arrive at the library. It unexpectedly did last week, so I was quick to hop right into it to finish it off. This book was definitely worse than the first one but better than the second one. I was incredibly annoyed by Ava mostly, with her love triangle that turned into a square. (Yep.) I thought she became much snootier and more guarded than necessary. I think her character “developed” in the wrong direction. The other characters were their usual selves and I didn’t mind them as much. I love where the story went for Kevin and Isabelle, Margaret and Drake, and somewhat for Patrick and Jennifer. The ending was very abrupt and I kind of hated it. I think things were left too open-ended for my liking. So, there was some good closure with a few characters but not all of them. Wintery Setting and Holiday Feels This story was interesting because it started in the spring […]

Holiday ARC Review: All I Want for Christmas

Posted December 22, 2016 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Basics and Initial Excitement Every year I’ve come to look forward to Jenny Hale’s newest Christmas story. I’ll be the first to tell you that they’re formulaic (especially when you’ve read all of her Christmas stories), often predictable, and cheesy in some parts. But honestly, what good Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movie isn’t all of those things?! These books put me in the Christmas mood like no others and I am so happy to read them each year. I read this one in two settings within the course of 12 hours and I have no regrets. Characters and Story The setup for this one is somewhat similar to her others, but had some welcome twists to the norm. Leah and her daughter Sadie grew up with and loved Leah’s Nan. She owned a huge plantation where she would host events and the girls would spend time together. When Nan dies unexpectedly, Leah is not surprised to see that she was willed the plantation. However, she IS surprised to see a twist – a man from her childhood, David, is living there and was ALSO willed the mansion. When Leah, Sadie, and Leah’s family and friends trickle in for one last Christmas, sparks fly and the two have to figure out how to move forward with the mansion. I really loved getting to know Leah, Sadie, David, and Leah’s friends (Roz and Louise). They had great bonds with each other. David was incredibly kind and at times, a little too perfect. I […]

Holiday Review: Winter Stroll

Posted December 16, 2016 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Basics and Initial Excitement Winter Street wasn’t perfect, but you better believe it made me invested in the Quinn family. I immediately requested this one from the library and it came in faster than expected. So, you also better believe I started reading ASAP! (I also requested the third one but since its a new release that might be a pipe dream this month.) The story takes place one year later, after a fairly big cliffhanger surrounding a member of the family. I won’t say who but it might come up later in this review… so be warned if you haven’t read book one! In any case, the Quinns went through a lot of changes since the previous Christmas where we left them. This story takes place at the beginning of December so the ~holiday season~ vibes are different too. Characters and Story Every character regressed so much from book one. Each person had decided on a partner or a future plan or SOMETHING in book one, but there was a bit of cliffhanger in some ways. In WINTER STROLL, all the fucking characters (okay, minus like two of them) went back on what they previously planned on or chose for themselves. I don’t want to spoil anything but there are some annoying characters that return (Nathaniel, Mitzi) to fuck shit up. Ava can’t make up her mind between her current boyfriend and her old boyfriend. Kelley can’t make up his mind between letting Mitzi back into his life or letting her go. Margaret, […]

Holiday Review: Season of Second Chances

Posted December 9, 2016 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Basics and Initial Excitement I’ve had this book on my TBR probably since I started blogging. I added it to my holiday TBR again this year and just resolved to finally read it. I saw that it had less than 75 pages, so why not blitz through it? I was excited to get another book under my belt early in the month because I really want that Goodreads challenge done before Christmas so I can just RELAX until January… maybe. ANYWAYS, I finally got to this one! Woohoo. The basic premise for this holiday novella is that Claire ends up stranded on Christmas Eve, trying to visit her family. Her ex-fiancee, Logan, ends up coming to the rescue. Yes, I know what you’re thinking! Second chance romance, woohoo! Because that’s totally what I was thinking. AND add in the snowed-in element? Sold. Characters and Story Logan, a single father and workaholic, lost Claire because he kept putting his job first. Claire returned to Chicago before the holidays, got snowed in, and was stuck alone in the airport on her birthday/Christmas Eve. Logan comes across her and BAM she’s at his house and feelings are pretty much back for everyone involved. I felt like the two of them were pretty well-done, in terms of characterization, considering how short of a book this was. I definitely shipped them even though some plot points were suuuuper cliche. Wintery Setting and Holiday Feels Being snowed in is one of my favorite tropes, especially if it leads […]