Tag: book blogger

REVIEW: 10 Blind Dates – Ashley Elston

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43885673Title: 10 Blind Dates
Author: Ashly Elston
Rating: ★★★½

10 Blind Dates is an absolutely delightful book sure to give readers warm and fuzzy feelings. The foundation of this story is family, friendships, and rediscovering yourself. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys watching those heartwarming, wholesome holiday movies on the Hallmark channel!

My favorite thing about 10 Blind Dates is the large, extended family of the protagonist, Sophie. As someone who comes from a very large Italian family, it was really easy to understand how important the holidays were to Sophie and the chaos that comes with many relations all under the same roof. Growing up, Christmas Eve was always my favorite day and it was amazing to get the same feeling of nostalgia and comfort from these pages.

The blind dates Sophie’s family puts her up to and the betting chart that accompanied the schedule was so fun! You can definitely feel some of the second-hand embarrassment she must have felt being put on the spot by her family. And the main romance that develops was really cute and well-written!

Overall, 10 Blind Dates is a light, heartwarming story about family and friendships perfect for the winter holidays coming up. I definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoys stories full of cheer and happy endings!

Monthly Wrap-Up: September 2019

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Hello fellow book lovers! September was a hard reading/blogging month for me. I have been feeling very overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do for my classes and so unfortunately I just didn’t feel up to reading or writing blog posts 😦 And then I felt guilty and anxious because I felt like I should be. Hopefully October will be a better month and I will get out of this reading rut!

INTO_THE_CROOKED_PLACE6INTO THE CROOKED PLACE: I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Six of Crows or Ace of Shades! This book has a lot of similar elements that made it enjoyable, and yet it also had a plot that was entirely unique. The story is told through the POV of four characters and while I loved all of the characters, I think it could have lost a POV or two without losing the essence of the story.  ARC provided by the publisher.  ★★★½

44291755GRAVEMAIDENS: This was really not what I had been expecting. It was necessarily bad, it just didn’t impress me all to much, especially since I think I had really high expectations going into this from all the praise I had seen/heard over it. I tried really hard to like the protagonist, but she treated some of the other characters in the book really poorly and it made it hard to enjoy reading things from her perspective.  ARC received through #booksfortrade on Twitter.  ★★★

40972652THE WALLFLOWER WAGER: You know I’m in a reading rut when I rate a Tessa Dare book anything less than four stars. I was really looking forward to Penelope’s story, but there was just ~something~ missing from this one that usually makes me fall head over heels over Dare’s books. I think there was just not as much of a build-up of tension that I usually look forward to in these books.  ★★★½


36199084._SY475_THE KISS QUOTIENT: I really wish I had read this so much sooner. This is a book that I had been constantly hearing about, yet it kept getting putting off reading. Let me just say that this book was worth every bit of hype it has gotten. I loved that this is an #ownvoices novel featuring a high-functioning autistic woman and diverse characters. Stella was a fantastic protagonist and I resonated so much with her! It was very easy to root for her and her happy ending.  [review]  ★★★★★

37539001CAPTURING THE DEVIL: Audrey Rose and Thomas have such a special place in my heart and this was a fantastic end to a wonderful series! First of all, this book had so much damn angst and romantic tension throughout the pages it’s like Kerri Maniscalco wrote it specifically for me. I absolutely adore this series and I can’t wait for whatever the author has next up her sleeve!  ★★★★


36321739THE NEVER-TILTING WORLD: Don’t feel fooled by this rating. I almost DNF’d this literally like five times. It took me almost T E N days to finish this. I was planning to only rate this 2 stars, but I have to give the book credit: things really picked up during the last quarter of the story. I wish the whole book could have been as exciting as that last bit. I went from not wanting to finish this book to looking forward to what will happen in the sequel.  ARC received through #booksfortrade on Twitter.  ★★★

43189874._SY475_WELL MET: This book so so much fun to read. I absolutely cruised through it. This is a contemporary romance that was perfect way to end the summer. From the hate-to-love romance to the RenFaire shenanigans, there was really nothing to dislike about this story. I wasn’t aware that this was the author’s debut novel because it’s so well written and constructed.  ★★★★


42613944._SY475_THE MEMORY THIEF: This is another book that was taking me forever to get through, except I was so bored that I had to stop. When I dread the thought of reading a book, that’s usually a pretty good sign that I should just quit while I’m ahead. The story itself is okay, although there are so many memory flashbacks that it was becoming extremely annoying and I started to skip over them to get on with the story.  ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.  DNF @ 51%

44131124._SY475_THE PRENUP: This was a cute story! This was a new to me author and I had only happened upon this title from another blogger’s post about new contemporary romances this summer, but I’m glad I did because I enjoyed this! Fake marriage is one of my favorite tropes and I loved how it was handled in this book. My only complaint? Not enough (or any) steamy scenes  🔥 #sorrynotsorry. There was soo much build up in the tension between them and no resolution for us a reader!  ★★★½

OTHER

Contemporary Romances That Had Me Swooning This Summer | The ABC Book Challenge – O

REVIEW: The Bridge Kingdom – Danielle L. Jensen

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46356471Title: The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Rating: ★★★★★

This book was 100% worth the wait. Danielle L. Jensen promised a badass heroine, a lushly unique world, and a compelling hate-to-love romance and boy, did she delivered. The Bridge Kingdom is a book I’ve been waiting for ever since it was first announce and it definitely did not disappoint!

The action begins right off the back and it does not hold back! I was hooked from the first chapter, which instantly had me loving the heroine, Lara. The book first portrays her in a certain intriguing light, however, as the chapters go on, readers begin to realize Danielle L. Jensen has purposely deceived them. Lara is strong, intelligent, and manipulative, but clearly has a soft heart under her tough exterior. I really enjoyed reading from her POV and following along with her sneaky plotting.

The setting was so incredibly unique and interesting to read about! I will admit to feeling a bit confused by the geography at some parts, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying the story. I’m a very visual person so I’m hoping for a map in the future 🙏🏼 The pacing of the book was absolutely perfect. Danielle L. Jensen is an incredible writer and it really shines in The Bridge Kingdom.

This book had everything I was looking for: excellent writing, a compelling story, and a fantastic enemies-to-lovers romance. The Bridge Kingdom is exactly what I wish more NA stories would be. I really loved this and I cannot wait for the sequel!

REVIEW: The Kiss Quotient – Helen Hoang

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36199084._SY475_Title: The Kiss Quotient
Author: Helen Hoang
Rating: ★★★★★

Wow, I really wish I had read this so much sooner. The Kiss Quotient is a book that I had been constantly hearing about, yet it kept getting pushed further down my TBR. Let me just say, however, that this book was worth every bit of hype it has gotten.

The Kiss Quotient was a heartwarming, charming story about a woman named Stella, who hires an escort to help her enjoy sex/intimacy with a partner. I loved that this is an #ownvoices novel featuring a high-functioning autistic woman and diverse characters. Stella was a fantastic protagonist and I resonated so much with her! It was very easy to root for her and her happy ending.

The romance was amazing! When a romance book can give me butterflies as I’m reading it’s a total win. I felt like such a giddy fool reading all the scenes between Stella and Michael. The two of them together were such #couplegoals, I swear.

The Kiss Quotient brought me out of a horrible reading slump because it was that fantastic. This book has so much hype and every single ounce of it is well deserved! This was an utterly charming, romantic story and I absolutely adored it.