Oh, well, this book took me completely by surprise.
First, let me say something about where this book fits[image]
4.5 “Fate isn't always a bitch” Stars
Oh, well, this book took me completely by surprise.
First, let me say something about where this book fits genre-wise. Goodreads and Amazon label it as “paranormal”, and yeah, I can see that, but part of me is asking if this wouldn’t be best described as “magical realism”. I’m the first to confess I don’t know MR all that well, but, from what I’ve heard about this genre, this book might be it. So if you’re iffy about paranormal because of you’re not into supernatural creatures (totally not my case, because I LOVE them), don’t worry. To Have it All isn’t that kind of paranormal.
MR or PNR, this book was exactly what I needed. Unique, sweet, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Such a unique premise, unlike anything I’ve read in romance!
I believe the best way to start this book is the way I did: knowing just what the blurb told me and nothing else. So I’ll try my best to keep this review spoiler-free.
Instead of focusing on the plot, then, I’ll talk about the characters and how they made me feel so much I finished the book feeling dizzy.
I absolutely loved Liam, the bum who, after an accident, occupied the body of a rich man hated by almost everyone in his life. Liam was genuinely good. You know one of those people who, no matter how hard life got, didn’t let the circumstances turn him into someone he’d hate? In a world filled with scumbags, reading about a Liam is always heartwarming. It makes me think humanity isn’t lost, after all.
Liam’s goodness made watching him interact with people a pleasure. His relationship with all the major characters (aside from Max and Waverly’s brother) was just SO GOOD! You could feel the goodness inside him spreading and enveloping the people around him. His sister, Waverly, Prim…These three stood no chance against Liam’s love-hurricane. Neither did I.
Aside from the romance plot (expect slow burn, angst and beauty, so much beauty), the best part of the story for me was Liam’s relationship with Prim. I wish I could say more without spoilering the whole thing, but let me just say that they both made me smile, laugh and tear up countless times.
Another huge plus here was how the story also gave Max, the so-called villain, space to grow. I loved how Fate was actually focused on Max and not Liam, and how everything came full circle in the end.
That ending, by the way, was pure perfection.
I only had a tiny issue with the story when it came to Waverly and her brother, because of one thing she did toward the second half of the story. I thought it was a little inconsiderate of her to act the way she did, and it ended up making me like her a little less. That’d be okay, too, if I couldn’t see a way to keep the same storyline without making her look bad. There was an easy fix there and I don’t know why the author chose not to use it. But that was such a small detail in comparison to how original and beautiful this story truly is.
Again, I know this review isn’t giving you much to work with, but trust me when I say this is one of the most unique premises in romance books out there, and that the little spin on reality only makes it better. These characters and their journey have made me feel so much, I bet you’ll be touched, too. Go read it! ...more
This is my first book by Boone Brux and somehow it's [image]
3.5 “Best friends, new house and cute pets” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled!!
This is my first book by Boone Brux and somehow it's the middle of one of her series. I don't think I realized I was requesting the third book in the Wedding Favors series, but I'm glad I did it anyway.
Properly Groomed's first chapter left me wondering for a few minutes if I'd be able to follow the story as I had not read the first two books, but that feeling was quickly pushed away as I kept reading.
This is the sweet, cute and sexy story of Joya, who's a bridesmate at her brother's wedding and a woman in love with his best friend. She's been into Linc for ages, but she never made a move, partially because Linc was her older brother's friend and partly because Linc was known for not wanting a serious relationship. Somehow, though (and I mean somehow because we don't get to see how they got there in this book), Joya wakes up the day after her brother's wedding half-naked and in bed with Linc. Talk about awkward.
Joya flees the scene, but the next day she finds herself face to face with Linc again. He's going to be spending some time at her brother's place since he's just sold his old place and is looking for a new house now. The thing is, Joya has also agreed to stay at the house to take care of her sister-in-law's pet (an iguana). There'll be no escaping Linc after that.
Not that he wants her to escape him, either. Not now that he has finally looked at his friend's little sister and seen the woman she has become. A woman he's much too interested in getting to know better. A lot better.
Look, once I got past the confusion with being thrown into the story as it seemed to have already started (with Joya and Linc in bed), things progressed just about the way I wanted. Linc made it impossible for Joya to resist him by being super sexy and sweet. As a restaurant owner, he even cooked for her multiple times. A man after my heart!
Joya didn't try to resist him all that much, either, which made sense considering she had a thing for him already. Not that she could resist a man that cooked for her shirtless. I mean, who would?
Together, Joya and Linc had a lot of chemistry. Their scenes went from hot to sweet back to hot. Just the way I like it. The fact that Joya and Linc knew each other for a while made progressing from friends to lovers a little smoother. I still wished the whole falling in love thing had been a tiny less insta, but, again, the "being friends for years" was a good way out.
With the help of Linc's dog and his seating-on-people's-foot obsession, the story was even cuter. The iguana also helped with that job. I love when the author can fit pets into a love story. It's always a plus for me.
The only reason I didn't rate this higher was because of the subplot involving Joya's job. I didn't exactly agree with her decisions involving her job, and I didn't even understand her reasons until much later on, when she finally talked to Linc and explained why she did what she did. Even then, I'm not sure she made the right call. It just made me feel slightly uncomfortable to see a woman make a decision like that, especially when she hadn't even talked about their relationship prior to making that call.
Other than that, the rest of the story really worked, especially the dynamic between the two main characters. I also loved the interaction between Joya, Linc and the rest of their friends. Too bad we didn't get to see it until much later on. Either way, I read the last couple of chapters with a big smile on my face. It was that adorable.
Properly Groomed was a quick, sexy and sweet read that introduced me to a new author and made me want to read more books in that series. I bet you'll feel the same way if you give this book a chance, too....more
The Room Mate requires some suspension of disbelief, but once you’re [image]
3.5 “Playing house and doctor” Stars
ARC provided by the author.
Thank you!
The Room Mate requires some suspension of disbelief, but once you’re done with that, it turns out to be a really entertaining read.
Like Paige, I wanted to call bullshit when Cannon seemed to think he was cursed because every woman who slept with him ended up falling in love and turning into a manic was to call bullshit. That was my initial reaction, but after reading about a few things that had happened to Cannon… well, it looked like he was cursed, indeed.
Paige, on the other hand, isn’t a believer. She wants to prove Cannon wrong by sleeping with him and not falling in love with him at all. I mean, Paige and I know she really just wanted to get into Cannon’s pants, but she wasn’t going to admit that. Not when she was so not supposed to be sleeping with her best friend’s little brother.
With Paige and Cannon we had one of my favorite tropes – some variation of friends turned into lovers with a hint of forbidden romance, since Cannon’s sister and Paige’s best friend really didn’t want any woman to touch him. More on that soon.
You know what else Paige and Cannon did? They brought a lot of chemistry to my Kindle screen.
I really enjoyed how, though they shared a past, they had to get to know each other all over again, since they hadn’t had much contact in recent years. Cannon was too busy with med school to socialize with his sister’s friend (and his childhood crush), and Paige was too busy with life to even think about the geek boy she saw around whenever she visited her friend. But when a little incident with one of Cannon’s ex-girlfriend ended with him homeless, Paige offered the help he desperately needed. With that, they were forced to live under the same roof and get acquainted all over again. This time, it involved a lot less clothes and lot more chemistry.
Sure I knew where the story was going when they decided to sleep together and test Cannon’s curse, but it was still fun to watch them try to fight their attraction until it was impossible to deny what both of them wanted any longer. They had some sweet and sexy times, which made me enjoy this book immensely.
I would’ve kept enjoying it as much if some things hadn’t happened later on.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.
(view spoiler)[First, I had some problems with the timeline. Some scenes seemed out of order or simply didn’t make sense time-wise. Second, I really despised Cannon’s sister. For a bigger sister and a best friend, she sure seemed unhappy about the two most important people in her life falling in love. Plus, halfway through, even after she had room in her place for her brother, she never even considered inviting him to move in with her. That just made her look even more selfish.
Then, there was the whole thing with Cannon, med school and the patient he lost. For starters, I might be completely wrong about this (forgive me if I am), but as a med student with no specialty defined, how is Cannon assisting on a surgery? Wouldn’t he have to be on a surgery residency program for that to happen? Even if that isn’t the case, how am I supposed to believe he’s a 4th year med student and he has never lost a patient before? I mean…that seems pretty much impossible.
I know those are small details and they’re not even related to the big plot, which is the romance, but these small things took me out of the story for a while, and I had really been enjoying the book that far. (hide spoiler)]
It doesn’t mean that I stopped enjoying it. Not at all.
The Room Mate was a fun, quick read with tons of chemistry and characters who were likable and had a good sense of humor. For those reasons, I recommend it....more
3.5 “Break a leg, a wall and some rules while you're at it” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled (Embrace)!!
I’ll start with this: the s[image]
3.5 “Break a leg, a wall and some rules while you're at it” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled (Embrace)!!
I’ll start with this: the second book in The Rule Breakers series is steamier than the first one, so hurray for that!
As I learned by reading The Rule Book, my first Jennifer Blackwood title, this author knows how to write sexual tension and chemistry extremely well. Lanny and Brogan had tons of that, and the new main characters in the series didn’t stay behind.
We met Zoey and Ryder (although I don’t remember if I knew his name then) in the first book, but we got to really care for these two characters now.
Zoey is now more than Lanny’s BFF. She’s a successful, funny and strong young woman who can’t get over the man who turned her life upside down when he slept with her. Too bad he was a jerk and left without a good-bye.
Ryder is a professional athlete who’s going through a tough time with his injury and a situation with his brother. He has no time for relationships, but he’s still thinking about Zoey, the girl he slept with and had to leave in the middle of the night.
Months later, a work project forces Zoey and Ryder to work together, and you can imagine how it goes from there, right?
Out of the two, Zoey was definitely my favorite character. Her voice was really strong and even funnier than Lanny’s. She sounded young and fresh while still showing traits of a mature woman. I liked how she cared about her job and had ambitions. In fact, young, smart and ambitious women seem to be the theme with female main characters in this series, and I LOVE that.
The fact that I loved Zoey more doesn’t mean I didn’t like Ryder. He was a good love interest. He was funny, sexy and you could really tell that he cared for his brother, which is always a plus. I only wished there’d been a little more of his personality. There was room to develop his character further, especially with all the family drama going on. His grandparents were awful people, and I thought that could’ve played a bigger part in Ryder’s story.
The romance developed nicely. It was slow burn and there was heat from the very beginning. The fact that Zoey and Ryder had slept together previously, but waited so long to do it again only made the chemistry between them stronger.
In a way, The Rule Maker had similar elements from the first book, which is perfect for a title in a series, but it still managed to be fresh and unique. Plus, it was sexier. If you liked The Rule Book, then I bet you’ll enjoy this one, too....more
In case you were wondering, YES, Kelly Siskind ended her Over t[image]
4 “Tattoos, siblings and love” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Forever Yours!
In case you were wondering, YES, Kelly Siskind ended her Over the Top series on a high note. Not that one could doubt that after reading her previous books, right?
Hooked on Trouble is the story of Nico and Raven, the last couple from the group of three women who met the men of their lives in Aspen. In case you haven’t read the beginning of this story, go check My Perfect Mistake. You won’t regret it.
Just to be clear, though, you don’t have to start with the first book in the series. All of them stand alone, as far as I’m concerned.
Now, about Hooked on Trouble, I have to confess it took me a while longer than I’d anticipated to get into this story and fully connect with the main characters. Don’t get me wrong. Nico and Raven have distinguishing and strong personalities, and their chemistry is incredible. But something held me back for a while. I can’t really explain what it was, so I’m blaming it on my reading mood. 10% in, though, I was hooked–pun not intended.
The thing that impressed me most about this book was the main characters’ personalities. Those two felt like real people, you know? Their flaws and insecurities were more evident, and the problems surrounding them and their families only added layers to their personalities. These were real-life people. Sure, I like to read about billionaires and rock stars falling in love as much as the next girls, but I also LOVE when I can read books and go “yeah, this feels genuine.”
It was more than just the drama involving Nico’s siblings and Rose’s sister. It was basically the two of them and who they were. Raven was so far from perfect. She had a past that shaped her into this person who didn’t see things only black and white. In fact, there was a whole lot of gray in her. And Nico...He tried so hard to get the black separated from white that I also saw the gray in him. He wasn’t just a good guy because life is good and his soul is pure. He was the good guy because he had to be. His life and the people around him needed that from him.
I really love when I can see why characters (people) are the way they are, and this book gave me that.
Nothing I say about the romance will come as a surprise if you’ve read or heard about Kelly Siskind: it was swoony and HOT! Really hot. The chemistry was there from moment one (or moment zero, if you take into consideration the previous books in this series), and it only burned hotter with each chapter. Nico was the kind of guy you wanted in your life and bed. You probably wouldn't be leaving your or his bed all that much, to be honest. The problems they had to face later on, the trust issues, the getting back together... everything was done in a way that felt real. Yep, it was that good.
You know what else was that good? The ending. Fans of this series will be all over that ending. Everything came together as it was supposed to. Everyone got their happy ending. The last chapter warmed my heart and gave me something else I can always count on this author delivering: humor! I had this big, silly smile the whole time I was reading that chapter. Exactly what I needed!
Well, I’m truly happy I had the chance to get to know these characters and read about their lives, love and future. So go get yourself some happiness, too!
The only question remaining now: when do I get more books, Kelly Siskind?...more
Warning #1: Due to the holiday season and the lack of Internet access, I’m ke[image]
2.5 "Ballet & Secrets" Stars
ARC provided by the author.
Thank you!
Warning #1: Due to the holiday season and the lack of Internet access, I’m keeping my reviews short & sweet. Back to the normal speed next year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, guys!
Awkward Victoria is a romance book with a famous trope: bad boy meets good girl, falls in love and stops sleeping around. Unlike a lot of readers, I don't have a problem with this trope. I actually enjoy these stories a lot when well-done, like Elle Kennedy's books, for example.
Unfortunately, Awkward Victoria suffers from too many problems: unlikable characters, unbelievable insta-love (yeah, insta can be believable, see Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven), weak storyline and unrealistic situations.
The bet that introduces the main conflict didn't feel believable enough to carry the story and take it where it should. After we find out the motivation behind that bet, things only get worse. The main couple lacked chemistry, mainly because the bad boy fell in love way too fast. He met the girl and then, BOOM, everything about him changed. We didn't get the chance to get to know his love interest (Victoria) and fall in love with her ourselves. Not that I'm sure we would've, since Victoria (and Max, too) didn't have distinctive enough personalities to make a mark.
On the plus side, the whole ballet storyline was interesting, with the dance moves and the dance routine providing a chance for the characters to interact....more
Warning #1: Due to the holiday season and the lack of Internet access, I’m[image]
3.5 "Realistic best friend romance" Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you!
Warning #1: Due to the holiday season and the lack of Internet access, I’m keeping my reviews short & sweet. Back to the normal speed next year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, guys!
I didn’t realize this until much later, but Not in my wildest dreams is the second book in a romance series. Like most cases, it stands alone, but I did catch myself wondering more about the couple from the previous book (fans of the first story will be happy to know they’re featured in this one often) than the two people getting together in this story.
That’s not to say that Not in my wildest dreams wasn’t a good book. It was. But having read so many contemporary romances, and some really good ones about best friends falling in love, I have to say this read lacked a bit of chemistry.
Here’s a list of what I liked and what I didn’t about Not in my wildest dreams:
Positives: This was one of the most realistic stories about best friends falling in love I’ve read. Not only their friendship felt real— as people who knew each other since forever and had a good friendship, but didn’t walk around each other half naked or lay down together and stuff, because really, who has that kind of male friends? I’m not saying it’s impossible (I’m sure there are friends like that out there), but I don’t know many people who act like that. Their romantic relationship was also very realistic. They had normal-people problems, and that was a plus because it made it easier to relate to them as individuals and a couple. Same goes for the non-romantic plot. The whole deal with the hotel project was well-planned and interesting, and it made sense for the MC to be involved in it because of her relationship with the love interest. Like I mentioned before, the side characters intrigued me and made me want to learn more about them. I was especially interested in knowing more about the LI’s sister: the perfect human being who is clearly hiding a very unhappy life.
Could’ve been better: I would’ve liked the chemistry to have burned hotter, especially when in the LI’s POV. There were good romantic scenes between them, but it wasn’t angsty or sweet enough.
For a BFF to lovers story, what this book lacked on chemistry, it made up on realistic and relatable....more
Dude, I needed this book. Seriously. I did. I was having a bad read[image]
4.5 “Wrecking me like there’s no tomorrow” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you!
Dude, I needed this book. Seriously. I did. I was having a bad reading week where nothing I started held my attention, until this book came along.
I hadn’t planned on starting this book so soon after getting the e-ARC because it won’t be published until Mid January, but as I went through my Kindle searching for something that would keep my attention and interest, I ended up circling back to Wrecking Ball. Thankfully!
This book was all sorts of great.
Why? Because it delivered on what it promised: a romance between two people who have been hurt by the ones they used to love and now, despite initially hating each other, end up falling in love. It delivered crazy chemistry, an extremely likable main character and a brooding, ultra sexy love interest.
Like I said, everything I needed.
Camilla/Cam/Cami, the main character, was exactly the kind of protagonists that conquers me from chapter one. She had a strong voice, a difficult backstory that instead of turning her into a sobbing mess only made her stronger, and tons of personality. Cam was the kind of woman I could see myself befriending because she was smart enough to know when to push back or give in. She fought for what she thought was right and she didn’t let people walk over her, but she wasn’t stupid enough to pass on great opportunities because of her pride. I seriously loved Cam, because life was cruel to her, but she got back up and found a way to make the little she had work. She was also thoughtful and loyal to the people she loved. Her relationship with her parents, her best friend and the eight-year-old boy she was hired to teach were all excellent, and they showed how amazing Cam was.
But, yeah, the star of the show was her relationship with the kid’s uncle, the man who hired her: sex-on-stick, too-hot-for-his-own-good quaterback Calvin Shaw.
Calvin was my kind of hero. Moody, broody, mysterious and sexy AF at first sight, then itense, protective and caring once you got to know him more. From the start, I knew that Calvin’s attitude was his way of dealing with his attraction to Cam. That was clear, even though we didn’t have this POV, which is another plus.
I love the dual POV romance as much as the next girl, but sometimes a story calls for single POV, and this is a good example of one. Plus, Cam had a great enough voice to carry this story from start to finish.
Back to Calvin, dude needed major lessons on how to date and make a woman swoon, but fortunately Cam’s job required her to live in his house in order to take care of his nephew, which gave Cam and Calvin a lot of opportunities to interact and get to know each other.
Like The Hating Game, another favorite of mine this year, The Wrecking Ball took its sweet time building the relationship between Cam and Calvin. Making them go from sort-of-enemies to friends to more. There was no rush, and I enjoyed every second of it. The story also took its time develiping Cam’s attraction to the brooding hero. She wasn’t all over him at first, despite acknowledging his beauty and appeal. That was consistent to Cam’s character and her arc. So, yeah, everything happened the way it was supposed to.
I also really appreciated how we got to see Cam interacting with Sam and helping the boy come out of his shell. I was kind of expecting a different ending for that plotline, but I wasn’t unhappy about the way things went.
Nothing about this book made me unhappy, to be honest. Sure the writing needs another round of editing or two, especially for commas and repetition, but the voice, the chemistry and the characters made up for it. In fact, this book made me smile, laugh out loud and even tear up. Not too mention all the swooning I did. I couldn’t have been happier about picking up this book, and I hope you do that, too....more
This book is hilarious. Brooke, the MC, just has one of those voices you can't [image]
3.5 “Hot Mess & Life Tips” Stars
ARC provided by author
Thank you!
This book is hilarious. Brooke, the MC, just has one of those voices you can't ignore. She's in your face and she's not sorry about it, and because of her personality, you'll find yourself laughing hard a lot. I mean, look at the excerpt bellow and you'll understand what I'm saying:
[image]
I’ll be completely honest and say this book is a lot different from what I expected. While I went into it thinking I’d read a category romance (the relationship as the main focus), this turned out to be more of a women’s fiction/chick lit since it’s heavily focused on Brooke and her life. In fact, Being Brooke reminded me a lot of Love, Chloe from Alessandra Torre, and they’re both great books.
The good news here is: Brooke is a strong enough character and has a strong enough voice to carry this book.
Don’t get me wrong, the romance is there. After all, Brooke’s main concern is the fact that she has feelings for her best friend, Cain, who happens to be in a relationship. Although this dilemma is the driving force of the story, the romance doesn’t become the focus until much later on (as contradictory as it may sound).
At first, we get to spend a lot of time seeing Brooke interact with people around her, Cain included. Brooke let us into her chaotic new home and her crazy life. She shows how her relationship with her mother isn’t the best because her mom expects her to be someone he isn’t. She treats us to great scenes with two of her best friends, Cain and Carly. She charms you with her potty mouth, her over-the-top attitude, her inability to move two steps without bumping into things or making a mess of something, and her non-stop chatter. While Brookes might drive you and the people around her crazy, she’s so eccentric you won’t be able to look away.
Brooke is full of contradictions, if you ask me. And that’s what makes her so interesting.
She’s the type of character whose voice will hook you from the start—she’s hilarious, witty, sarcastic and unapologetic; and those traits will end up driving you insane. You’ll still enjoy it, though. Brooke is bitchy AF, but to her defense, she acknowledges that all the time. She doesn’t pretend to be otherwise. Above all, Brooke felt real. She’s not one of those Mary Sue protagonists. She’s batshit crazy and she has as many flaws as redeeming qualities. I felt like I was reading about someone I could actually know, and that’s not something that happens every day. Sure she got on my nerves a few times, especially with the way she treated/talked/thought of Cain’s ex-girlfriend. I get that the ex was supposed to be as bitchy as Brooke could be, but since we hardly interacted with Cain’s ex-girlfriend, I felt Brooke’s reactions went a little too far. Still, I related to something Cain and Carly often said: Brooke drove them crazy, but they kept coming back for more because they loved it.
Another thing that felt real was the transition between Brooke and Cain’s friendship to their romantic relationship. Look, I love friends-to-lovers stories. That’s always going to be one of my favorite tropes, and it was the reason I requested this book. But I can’t say I’ve seen this trope handled the way Emma Hart did here. The awkwardness Brooke felt when Cain first kissed her, when they’re relationship moved into new territory made complete sense. Even though she’d been in love with him for so long, getting to live her fantasies was new to her and she was scared. I felt that with her, and I enjoyed how it put a spin on this trope.
Speaking of romance, Cain was a good love interest. It took me a while to get a 100% on team Cain because of a few things involving his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, but he earned my respect when he put an end to it. The fact that he didn’t cheat on her despite her being a bitch and despite the fact that he was already attracted to Brooke also made it easier to like him. It didn’t hurt that Cain was hot AF.
The ending was a big YES for me, because it made me so emotional. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it, but I have to say I swooned hard. It was pretty perfect, in my opinion.
Overall, this was a really funny book about a crazy young woman learning to navigate life and love. It's perfect for fans of books that makes you swoon and laugh....more
I don’t know why I’m surprised since the last time I read a Kristen Callihan book I loved it, but [image]
4.5 “Elly May & Lawn bum are fantastic” Stars
I don’t know why I’m surprised since the last time I read a Kristen Callihan book I loved it, but I didn’t expect to fall this hard for Idol, the first book in her VIP series. The thing is, I didn’t only fall in love with the two main characters… I want more of the world Kristen created and all the characters in it.
I’m dying for Mr. Scott’s story (coming next). For Brenna and Rye’s story. Jax, OMG, Jax’s story is going to be phenomenal, I can already tell. I want them all. So, yeah… this book and this VIP world won me over.
In a way, Idol reminded me of a rock-star-falls-for-normal-girl book I read a while ago called A Million Miles Away by Elizabeth Corva (a series that definitely deserves more attention). Like AMMA, Idol felt legit. I could relate to the music/celebrity world Kristen explored. I could understand the problems that she presented. I felt the pain the characters were dealing with. I understood what was happening and could get behind it because everything made sense. It may not look like it, but making the famous/celebrity world real in books isn’t an easy task. It’s too easy to dive into clichés, but I didn’t feel like Kristen did that at all.
But yeah, the main star hear is the romance, as it’s supposed to be. The love story between Liberty, a.k.a Libby or Libs (a recluse living on her own after her parent’s death), and Killian (the lead singer of the bigger rock band in the world who’s broken because of his closest friend’s suicide attempt) is so perfect and beautiful and raw you won’t be able to look away until you read the last page. Don’t worry, you’ll get your well-deserved HEA.
Before you get there, though, you’ll get to meet these two amazing people. Learn about what makes them special—their kind hearts and love for music. Watch them rediscover their passion for life after tragedy took or almost took the people they loved away. Fall in love with them as they fall for each other. Hurt when life throws them apart. Keep your fingers crossed that they come together sooner than later. Well, I felt everything, and I blame it on Kristen’s writing!
The characters were so ridiculously relatable that I didn’t even know what to do with myself as I fell hard for them. They were flawed, but so good on the inside that I couldn’t help but love them no matter what. They had a great sense of loyalty and an even better sense of humor. The freaking chemistry when they were together? Ha. Just ridiculous.
And don’t get me started on the pacing. In this book, it was close to perfect. Everything happened as it was supposed to. Nothing felt rushed. Nothing dragged. In fact, I didn’t want it to end. I wanted more and more, and that teaser with Mr. Scott’s story was pure torture because I’m on hold on the library and the line to get this book is so stupidly long. *cries*
Speaking of crying, while Idol didn’t bring tears of sadness, it brought some of joy because this book was so freaking funny. Libs and Killian had the best chemistry—not just sexually, but that, too—and that means we got some pretty spectacular moments with them interacting, teasing each other and making me laugh.
I can stress enough how great this book was. Just go read it, please. Then come thank me later. Meanwhile, I’ll be here, slowly dying until I can get my hands on Managed, the second book in the series, featuring too-hot-for-this-world Mr. Scott. Can someone wake me up when I’m next in line?...more
Okay, so let’s start this review with the basics: In real life, smoki[image]
3.5 “Smoking shouldn’t be this sexy” Stars
ARC provided by author
Thank you!
Okay, so let’s start this review with the basics: In real life, smoking is bad. Really bad. It might kill you, and even if it doesn’t, it can cause many health problems, in addition to the ugly-looking teeth and bad breath. Got it?
In fiction, smoking in also often frowned upon—unless, you know, you have a cover like the one above and a love interest like Callan Carmichael. Dude makes smoking sexy. How dare him!
While I wished Callan’s nasty smoking habit made me like him less, I can’t say it worked that way. Cigarettes or no cigarettes, it’s pretty impossible not to fall in love with him by the end (or much, much sooner) of the book.
This book is told from Olivia’s POV, but the real star of the show in my opinion was Callan. I fell for him hard. He was the right balance between alpha and sweet, and while he didn’t have the most complex backstory, he was smart, sexy and swoon-worthy enough to make up for the lack of drama.
I loved how I could see him falling hard for Olivia right from the beginning. He didn’t hold back, he didn’t try to make it a bigger deal than it was or tried to use his “bachelor status” as an excuse to not follow his heart—he liked her, he wanted to spend time with her and he did that. He put aside his worries and insecurities and went all in. Nothing gets me harder than a man utterly in love and willing to make the woman love him as much as he does her… That’s how I saw Callan and that’s why he won me over.
Olivia, on the other hand, tried to push away her feelings for Callan for so long that I wanted to slap her towards the end. No, I get it. She had goals and plans, and Callan didn’t fit into them. He was not supposed to happen to her—not until she was twenty-eight, when she had planned she’d fall in love—but Olivia soon learns life doesn’t work that way. Callan was irresistible, and she was a damn lucky girl, if you ask me.
Olivia’s arc both annoyed and pleased me. I can see the value of having her work hard to build something for herself instead of taking the opportunities her brother could offer her for granted. I liked that about her. I also liked that she had a plan for her life and that she was willing to follow it. But in the beginning she came across as too naïve and a little spoiled, so it took me a while to get used to her and understand her mind set. Once I did, we had a better relationship.
There were some pretty unbelievable parts about this story—especially the whole thing in the beginning with Olivia not even thinking of asking Callan’s name, but still thinking about him as a friend after having met him a couple days before. How can you be friends with someone and don’t even ask his name? Weird. But once the story moved away from that plot choice, things got so much better.
The chemistry between Olivia and Callan was off the roof. They were so sexy together!
There was such a raw intensity about their feelings and the whole “this is temporary” thing… Maybe it was because I could see how much it was hurting Callan to think about Olivia leaving or how much she was trying to deny her feelings because she was afraid she’d get hurt… whatever it was, I felt it right with them, which made this whole experience a lot better.
After a rough beginning (that could’ve benefited from a couple more round of edits), this book became exactly what I wanted it to be: sexy, intense and intriguing....more
I almost felt like I was reading a sexy retelling of Cinderella with [image]
3 “Cinderella’s Hockey Skates” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Loveswept!
I almost felt like I was reading a sexy retelling of Cinderella with a sport twist.
In Hooked, we have a likable main character meeting a not-so-likable love interest. I found Miranda to be extremely relatable, but though I like alpha males, I had some trouble connecting with Jake.
Look, Miranda is one easy to like woman, because she’s working twice as hard as anyone around. She’s often criticized by her pain-in-the-ass boss, but she keeps it together and gets the job done. She spends late nights studying so she can someday graduate, even though it’ll take her forever to do so because she can only go to school part time. She’s there for her sister, even when she barely has time for herself. She’s my kind of people, you know? There’s nothing fancy about her. She’s just another girl trying to get through life and make a living.
The main thing here for me is that while some authors have tried and failed to make their main character relatable by using the “poor girl” arc, Brenda Rothert did a good job building Miranda in a way that was believable. I liked Miranda. It’s as simple as that.
But Jake? Well, let’s just say Jake is the kind of hero that takes warming up to. He’s an asshole at first. He’s sleeping around, having an attitude, thinking he’s the king of the world just because he’s a famous hockey player. Sure he’s hot and all—but when are hockey players not hot? I mean… I don’t watch hockey games (most people in my country don’t give a damn about it), but I have this illusion that all hockey players are hot. Don’t ask me why… I just do.
Or maybe because...
[image]
Anyway… So Jake is an arrogant ass in the beginning, and not exactly in the kind of way that I find passable because of my alpha male obsession. But that situation doesn’t last forever. When Jake moves into a hotel because his apartment is getting renovated, he meets a woman who intrigues him: Miranda. That’s when Jake starts opening up and showing Miranda (and us) that deep down he’s a nice guy with a troubled side. It gets easier, then, to understand how down-to-Earth Miranda falls for him.
One of the best things about the romance is how it doesn’t feel rushed. Jake and Miranda go from strangers to flirting to “let’s go out” to “let’s date” to more. They’re not rushing to get things done—not even sexually, which I always appreciate. Yay for lasting sexual tension!
While I liked all of those things, I had a few other problems with the story that kept me from loving it as much as I would’ve liked.
The whole drama with completely-insane Hailey was a little over the top. It was also pretty obvious where things were heading from the moment Miranda mentioned her trust issues. It just felt too cliché… And that predictability was present in much of the story, you know? There was just something familiar about the whole thing. While Miranda was a good main character and she felt real, I guess I missed a different or exciting element that would set this apart from other contemporary romances with sport stars as the love interest.
Overall, this was a good romance story with a relatable main character and good sexual tension. I just wish it had had that extra something to make it stand out....more
This was a sexy, body-positive story with one of my favorite[image]
3.5 “Falling for the Best Man” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Entangled (Brazen)!
This was a sexy, body-positive story with one of my favorite romance trope, so it’s no surprised I enjoyed every minute of it.
If you read the blurb above then you know this is a part of the Wedding Dare series, but this can still be read as a stand-alone. I did. Of course there’s always that feeling that you could be enjoying it even more if you’d read the first titles, but that’s basically because you want to know more about the other characters, too. When it comes to Logan and Sophie, the main characters, their story starts with this book, so no worries there.
Sophie takes her brother’s wedding (hello, LI and MC from the first book in the series! Nice to meet you!) as a much needed opportunity to test her new self: a more outgoing and determined woman. While sleeping with her brother’s best friend (the best man) wasn’t her initial plan, it might help move her plan along. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s super sexy and super into her.
Logan knows when his best friend asked him to take care of his little sister and help her come out of her shell during the wedding festivities, he probably meant a less hands-on approach. But when Logan sees the new Sophie, he doesn’t think he can deal with the situation any other way. Flirting and falling in love seems to be the only way to go.
So that’s what they both do.
We start the book in Logan’s POV and that was the absolute right call for this, because we’re immediately aware of Logan’s promise to Sophie’s brother, but also that what motivates him to flirt with her has nothing to do with that. Logan is attracted to Sophie fro who she is, which clears any suspicious. Of course Sophie doesn’t know that yet, so she can’t understand why a guy like Logan is interested in a woman “like her”.
Here’s when we understand that Sophie isn’t only shy, but she’s also very insecure about her image, which we later come to know is partially a result of having to deal with a mother who was always ready to critique her. Thing is, Sophie isn’t a tall, skinny woman. She has curves, but she doesn’t see it as a good thing.
While the “I’m overweight so I’m not sexy” theme can be jarring, I liked how this author portrayed it here, especially when it comes to Logan. He not once looked at Sophie as if she was different (better or worse) because she wasn’t skinny. He just saw her and he liked what he was seeing. He didn’t try to compare her with other women, and when she showed him how insecure she was about her body, he showed her how he saw her in a very, very sexy scene that should’ve wiped all doubt from her mind.
So, yeah, I truly loved that about him. And it wasn’t the only thing great about this man. Logan was hard-working, funny and friendly. Sure he was a workaholic, but that was his arc and I liked how it gave him room to develop as a person.
Sophie’s arc also gave her a lot of room to grow. She went from “I’m the girl hiding in the corner so don’t look at me” to “I’m the woman who spent a small fortune on a sexy red dress”. I liked how she put herself out there in the end, and the prize was totally worth it.
Together, Logan and Sophie had the kind of chemistry I came to expect from Brazen’s books. They were fun and sexy and their relationship developed at the right pace.
This book delivered on what it promised, so if you liked “falling in love with your best friend’s sister” stories, you should check this one out....more
Here’s another book I expected to love based on premise and great[image]
2 “Sex, drugs and a little music” Stars
ARC provided by the author.
Thank you.
Here’s another book I expected to love based on premise and great ratings on Goodreads, but couldn’t connect at all.
The premise is quite promising: two broken people trying to get past their addiction and start a new life get together and fall in love. The problem is, 50% into the book and there isn’t a sign these two are falling in love.
This review is about to get spoilery, so… warning, SPOILERS AHEAD.
(view spoiler)[Don’t get what I said about the “falling in love” part wrong because I’m not a insta-love fan at all. Having said that, by the time I’m reaching halfway into a romance story, I want these people to have developed strong feelings for each other if they’re not already acting on those feelings. Instead of having that, though, we have the LI having sex with someone else in front of the MC.
I mean… That’s a big no in romance books, isn’t it? Well, it has to be.
When I pick up a contemporary romance title, I don’t want to see the LI and the MC having said with anyone else, unless it’s a ménage story or it features a love triangle; but none of that represents The Prince’s Plan.
And that’s not the only problem I had with the book.
For starters, I believe this story suffers from the “started too early” syndrome. The author didn’t need the first few chapters or Danny’s (the LI) country singer girlfriend at all. The book could’ve easily started with Danny getting in trouble because of relapse, risking his sister’s safety and then having a wake-up. Everything else felt unnecessary and just prolonged what I really wanted to see: Marnie and Danny together. Plus, again, I didn’t want to see Danny having sex with a third person.
My second and probably biggest problem was Marnie. I simply couldn’t connect with her whatsoever. I didn’t find her likable and I struggled with her lack of conviction or desire to get out of the life she was living. I wanted her to want to fight, and for the first half of the book she simply didn’t. It just got on my nerves that she had that opportunity handed to her and at the first sign of someone offering her drugs, she was more than ready to take them. Sure relapses are part of an addict’s story, and it made for good drama, but it could’ve worked a lot better if she had at least tried to resist it.
Danny wasn’t that much better. While his attitude toward drugs and his addiction was better than Marnie’s, the same can’t be said about his attitude toward women. I didn’t like how he treated his ex-girlfriend (no matter how awful she was), Marnie or his other hookups. How he acted like nothing was happening while he practically forced Marnie to stand in a room and talk to him while he was having sex with someone else? Disrespectful to all involved.
The side characters were also problematic, especially the women. For almost the entire first half of the book, the women seemed to pretty much hate or get jealous of Marnie; or they were pretty insane, like Danny's ex-girlfriend. Oh, well, that's a very problematic portrayal, if you ask me.
And bringing in that super long flashback halfway through? Not the best way to keep me reading when I'm already having the problems mentioned above. (hide spoiler)]
With the first half of the book focusing on everything else but the romance, and the characters not being likable enough to keep my attention, when the romance finally kicked in I was already disconnected from the story.
On the positive side, the writing was pretty solid. There were the eventual POV shifts, but other than that, the writing was good.
Again, I expected to really like this book and, if you can get past the issues I had with the story, you might, too. Just take a look at the other reviews before you make that call....more
I mentioned this on my review of Mr. President, but it wasn't u[image]
3.5 “Now I'm really yours, Mr. President” Stars
ARC provided by author
Thank you!
I mentioned this on my review of Mr. President, but it wasn't until Commander in Chief that I really felt like I was in a less-dramatic version of Shonda Rhyme's Scandal, and any comparison to the early seasons of that show is a plus for me.
This books starts weeks after the end of Mr. President, with Matt elected as POTUS and Charlotte touring Europe. Both of them are trying to stay away from each other, but are failing miserably. Matt, to my surprise, is the first one to give in and chase Charlotte. He makes sure she understands he wants her--his reservations all forgotten. So, if you were expecting a lot of drama that would keep them apart, you'll be getting none of that. Matt and Charlotte are very much in love, and Matt is definitely not letting her go.
In a move that I didn't even know possible, Matt asks Charlotte to be his Acting First Lady, and at first they don't confirm their romantic relationships to the people and the media--not that it stops them from speculating. From there on, we know it's just a matter of time until they come clean and face the public. The question here is: will the American people accept Charlotte or will they turn against her?
The thing about Commander in Chief is that it lacks tension. Sure there are questions about Charlotte's (and even Matt's) approval rate once their relationship comes to light, but it's not enough to make readers hold their breath. The little tension there is relies on the subplot involving Matt's father's murder. Matt is determined to find out the truth, and there are little hints here and there that this might come back to hunt him and endanger those around him. Like I said, they're just little hints and things don't get heated until the very end.
That meant Commander in Chief was a lot slower than Mr. President.
On the other hand, Katy Evans managed to keep some good aspects of the previous book, like the main character's likability. Charlotte continued to be her humble self. She took her job as First Lady seriously and had good ideas that showed her professional and concerned with the American people she was. Matt was also the perfect President. He maintaned some of the traits that caught my attention when I first read about him, and I still wish he was real.
I had no idea if this would be the final book in the series when I started it, but pretty early on Commander in Chief stabilishes itself as the conclusion to Charlotte and Matt's love story, since you get to see them building their HEA from almost the beginning. Yep, that means you'll get a love of cute scenes with this couple. Enjoy!...more
WTF did I just read? I mean… I mean… this was SO not what I expected from readi[image]
4 “Out of my comfort zone” Stars
ARC provided by author
Thank you!
WTF did I just read? I mean… I mean… this was SO not what I expected from reading the blurb.
When I read the synopsis, I thought I was going to get a Scandal-like romance. Girl falls in love with POTUS, and because of political reasons or because of a third person, they can’t be together. And while some of that is still true, there’s just some much more to that “three of us bound together” part of the synopsis. SO much more!
Look, I don’t normally read books with ménage as part of the plot, and after having read some books with BDSM, I decided that wasn’t for me, either. I just can’t get behind the whole submissive thing. It always ends up making me feel uncomfortable when I have to watch/read about a woman completely surrendering (and often humiliating) herself to a man.
This book has both of those things (ménage and BDSM), and I still read it in one sitting.
Part of the reason it intrigued me so much was because of the Scandal-like plot. I’m a fan of that show’s first couple seasons. And, yes, I’m an Olitz fan.
[image]
Or was…. Because Shonda ruined both Olivia and Fitz characters the last couple seasons. That’s a rant for another time, though.
But this book promised something intense involving the POTUS, and my mind instantly went to that show and how powerful the love between Olivia and Fitz were when they couldn’t be together and all that…
But the reason I kept reading (since it turned out to be nothing like Scandal) was the writing. This is my first book by this author, but Sierra Simone’s writing is simple, but addictive. Judging from the other books listed under her name on Goodreads, she doesn’t hold back punches when it comes to taboos and concepts/scenes that will make the conservative in you want to hide.
This book reminds me of another title I recently finished: Corrupt by Penelope Douglas. Those are not books for the faint of heart or people easily impressed. Like Corrupt, American Queen is about sex and power and experimenting and pushing your boundaries. It’s about scandal (the word, not the show). It’s hot. Extremely hot, but not traditionally hot, maybe. I can’t say too much about it because it’ll spoil the experience of reading it, but if you like your romance traditional, then maybe that’s not the best book for you. Or maybe it is, because I like my romance traditional and I still couldn’t put this down.
Yeah, this book will leave you confused. And bothered. In a lot of ways.
Wanna know the third reason I was entertained? It answers by the name of Emery. While I’m still not sure how I feel about Ash (I’m not his biggest fan at the moment), I really, really like Emery. There was just this quiet aggression about him that made me see him as the true alpha, although he acted like the complete opposite when around Ash. I’m just team Emery, and I don’t see this changing any time soon.
And as to the reason I’ll be coming back for more… Oh, well, that cliffhanger didn’t leave much of option, did it?...more
Just couldn't connect with the characters enough. The story was at parts too predictable and at others too unbelievable. The writing was good.Just couldn't connect with the characters enough. The story was at parts too predictable and at others too unbelievable. The writing was good....more
Let’s just start by saying that I love these President-theme romances, and [image]
3.5 “I’m yours, Mr. President” Stars
ARC provided by author
Thank you!
Let’s just start by saying that I love these President-theme romances, and I applaud the authors and publishing teams for releasing these books at the perfect time, since the POTUS election is just around the corner.
I’ve recently finished American Queen by Sierra Simone, and that’s also a story about POTUS doing nasty things. I feel weird saying that, but if you’re into romances with strong, powerful man, it doesn’t get more powerful than the POTUS, does it? While American Queen is more erotica than romance, Mr. President is exactly in my comfort zone. So, pick your poison. Or read both. That’s what I did.
Anyway… Mr. President is the story of Charlotte, the daughter of a senator who met the POTUS when she was eleven. That night, she also met his son, a boy older than her, but who held her attention from the start. When POTUS said his son would one day take his place at the White House, Charlotte promised she’d be part of his campaign when that happened. Flash forward a decade and that boy, Matthew, announces he’s running for President, and he wants Charlotte to keep her word.
Seeing in Matthew all the qualities she wants in a President, Charlotte decides to join his campaign and work for the man she hopes will become the next POTUS. What she doesn’t expect is to realize that the crush she had on Matthew is still alive, even after those many years, and it isn’t one-sided.
With Matthew’s campaign focusing on his life as a single man devoted solely to America, a romance (or a scandal) with a woman working on his campaign might ruin his chances at getting elected, so Matthew and Charlotte have to either resist each other or be very discreet. Of course with all the sizzling chemistry between them, they have to choose option number two.
I mentioned in my review of American Queen that I expected to have a Scandal-like story, but that ended up not being true. Well, I found that here, with Mr. President. In truth, with this story, we got to see what the Shonda Rhymes’ show ended up only showing with flashbacks. We have a man running for President and having an affair with a woman working on his campaign, and a possible scandal that will rise if people find out about it. And that was exactly what I was looking forward to reading.
Charlotte was a likable character. She had this air of innocence about her that was intriguing, because she was so deep into politics, with her family and everyone else around her belonging to that world, that I would’ve guessed her to be a little more “corrupted”. Maybe that’s just the Brazilian in me… In my country, politics and innocent don’t go together.
She also tried to stay professional as hard as she could. She wasn’t throwing herself at Matthew, even when she realized he was just as attracted to her as she was to him. I liked that about her.
We also got to see a little about Matthew in his POV chapters. What made me really fall for Matthew was the fact that he was the perfect candidate. Man, I wish he was real, because I think he’s what America needs now. An intelligent, ambitious and level-headed man with integrity and solid plans. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s sexy AF. I could totally understand why Charlotte chose to drop everything and do her best to get this man elected—I’d do the same.
My main criticism is that it took a little longer than I normally like to get the romance going. Sure it was interesting to see the behind the scenes of a presidential campaign, but I wanted more of Matthew and Charlotte sooner.
If you’re in an election mood, I’d recommend picking up this book and giving it a chance....more
Let me just say that the beginning of this book rem[image]
3.5 “Distraction is the best fear therapy” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Entangled Brazen
Let me just say that the beginning of this book reminded me a lot of Jennifer Blackwood’s Landing the Air Marshal, also from Entangled Brazen. In both books, we have a heroine who’s terrified of flying (I can totally relate) and a hero who’s willing to help her through it with, let’s call it, unorthodox methods… meaning, a little bit of sexy times. Not complaining here.
But that’s where the similarities ended.
In “Temporarily Yours”, we have Kayla as the main character. She’s heading to her sister’s wedding and getting ready to face her family and their non-stop questions about her (inexistent) love life. Kayla is single, and she wants to stay that way. She’s busy with her career and comfortable in her own skin. She doesn’t need a man to make her life complete. Go, girl!
Still, her family is always pushing her toward finding a partner, and Kayla is tired of all that. So she comes up with a solution: she pretends to be dating someone. The only problem is having a pretend boyfriend can be really tricky when she needs him to accompany her to the wedding.
Kayla’s lucky girl, though. While she’s freaking out at the airport before boarding her flight—she hates flying about as much as I do—she meets Cooper. He’s traveling on business—in a matter of days, the ex-marine will be traveling overseas for a new job. Cooper and Kayla hit it off and, once he realizes she’s terrified of flying, he upgrades his seat to first class just to sit near her and distract her. Sweet, huh? His distraction methods? Not so sweet.
From there on, Cooper and Kayla start a steamy romance that is meant to last just one night… or a couple of days, when Cooper offers to be her fake boyfriend.
But as Cooper and Kayla get to know each, they start falling in love. Again, sweet. And sexy.
That’s the best way to describe this story. We have a quick read, with likable characters, a famous trope (fake relationship), some tension and a lot of sexy times. We also have sweet moments between Kayla and Cooper as they get closer and realize their feelings for each other aren’t fake at all.
Again, Entangled Brazen managed to deliver on what it promised, because “Temporarily Yours” is a fun and sexy book you can read in a couple of hours and finish it with a smile on your face....more
Jamie Howard wrote one of my favorite 2016 reads, Until It’s Right, so when her [image]
4 “Present meets Past” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Swerve.
Jamie Howard wrote one of my favorite 2016 reads, Until It’s Right, so when her publisher contacted me about her new book, I went into fangirl mode. Seriously, guys, if you still haven’t read Until It’s Right, go get it. Now. And get a copy of All the Ways You Saved Me, too, because it’s also sooooo good!
All the Ways You Saved Me has a different vibe from the author’s first two books, but it made me *feel* just the same. I mean… While Until We Break got me all worked up because I wanted to hit the MC, and Until It’s Right made me fall in love with the LI so fast and so hard that I appointed myself as the President of Kyle’s fan club, All the Ways You Saved Me made me tear up more than a couple of times, which is so rare.
This book is much more emotional than the other two, and its structure reminded me a lot of Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover, which I also LOVED.
The best way to go into All the Ways You Saved Me is knowing as little about the plot as possible, so I’ll try to keep this review spoiler-free. To do that, I’ll focus on the characters.
The MC, Bianca just finished Law School and she’s ready to go back home to Texas, where her Senator father and her uptight mother expect her to take the bar and work at a law office they picked for her. Bianca’s life is all planned for her; all she has to do is live it the way her parents want her to and keep her head down. That’s what she’s been doing her whole life, so how hard can it be?
The first thing that might come to mind after reading the last paragraph is: why is a grown, soon-to-be lawyer woman, still living the life her parents planned for her? Why isn’t she doing what she wants? I know a lot of people will assume she’s too comfortable with the money her parents give her and the privileged life she’s lived since she was born; but those people are wrong in assuming that about Bianca.
Jamie Howard did an excellent job showing how Bianca didn’t really care about material things--she didn’t even blink when her parents cut her off; she immediately started looking for a job and a way to support herself. Good for her! The author also made sure we understood all Bianca really wanted was for her parents to love her. She wanted to please them and see them proud of her so bad, that she worked extremely hard to see that happening. She put aside her wishes to fulfill theirs, but she was still not good enough to be loved by them.
It was heartbreaking to watch a smart woman like her so broken and insecure because she couldn’t move past her need to be loved by her parents. I’m not saying that as if it’s a bad thing. We all have things that hold us back. For Bianca, that was the lack of love from her mom and dad. Her journey was pretty clear from the start: Bianca needed to realize she didn’t need her parents to feel loved or to be who she was. A sad, but necessarily conclusion for this character.
That journey started the night before Bianca was supposed to go home. Her best friend dies, leaving behind an incomplete bucket list. The things written there aren’t all that extreme, but for a person like Bianca, they were life-changing. Challenging her parents for the first time in her life, Bianca decided to stay in New York and complete the bucket list. That was her first step toward becoming an independent woman. I was already rooting for her at that point.
The second step was meeting Ian, the mysterious man who helped her complete the first item on the list, and then stuck around to help some more. With Ian, Bianca was a little less the perfect senator’s daughter and a little more herself. Sure the changes were gradual, but we could see her coming out of her shell. I liked the way she went into that relationship knowing there was a chance it’d lead to nothing, but she still let herself go. For someone like Bianca, I could tell that was a big deal.
As Ian and Bianca start spending more time together, the second POV kicks in. Ian’s point of view takes us back 08 years and… no, I won’t tell you what happens because it’ll ruin the rest of the story. Let’s just say that it shows us why Ian is such a mystery, and knowing the reason behind it will probably break your heart. Ian, baby, come here and give me a hug.
Ian’s past will also introduce you to some amazing characters. Since this book is part of a series, I can’t wait to see whose story we’ll see next, but I’m definitely anxious to read more about Ian’s brother, Ben, and Ian’s best friend, Rachel. I need to know what happened that day at prom, and how Ben feels about Rachel, because I know she still feels the same about him as she did years ago. She has to, right? ‘Cause I need those two together.
So, as much as the similarities between All the Ways You Saved Me and Ugly Love made me nervous about this story at first, Jamie Howard wrote a story with unique elements and made choices about her characters and their lives that made this book different from Colleen Hoover’s story. So if that comparison worries you, just relax and give All the Ways You Saved Me a chance. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Once again, Jamie Howard wrote a book that will go straight to my “made-me-feel” list. As long as she keeps doing that, I’m ready for whatever she writes next....more
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