Last year, I was going through a reading slump when I started Wrecking Ball, the first[image]
4.5 “Slow burning me” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you!!!!
Last year, I was going through a reading slump when I started Wrecking Ball, the first book in the Hard to Love series (P.S.: the series title is wrong, because these books are super easy to love). The same thing was happening when I decided to start Sledgehammer. The result was the same: I’m now cured.
I was going to wait to start this book until next week because I have other ARCs that needed my immediate attention due to their release dates, but all the books I’ve read for the past few days have failed to WOW me. Some I liked more, others less, but nothing stuck with me, even though other people have loved them.
That’s the thing about this reading business: subjectivity rules. Sometimes I have a hard time explaining why a story didn’t work for me. All the elements were there, but nothing did it for me. Other times, a simple story has this extra sparkle and I’m done for. Sledgehammer fits in this last category.
If you haven’t figured it out by now I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with this book.
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To be completely honest, I went into this knowing I’d probably enjoy the heck out of it. The blurb is great. The first book was amazing. P. Dangelico has a whole Mariana Zapata vibe with her slow burn romances. So, yeah, it was a recipe for success. But the thing is, I didn’t just like it. I inhaled, breathed, lived and died with it. It gave me all the FEELS, to the point I had to take a break because I was hyperventilating. And I’ll tell you this. Although I loved, loved, looovveeedddd Amber, the guilty party here is Ethan Vaughn.
Ethan Freaking Vaughn.
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Book boyfriend Ethan Vaughn was amazing. A-mazing. Everything I needed and a little more. The angst was alive and real and making my chest burn because this dude, the things this dude did, the way he spoke, the dirty talk, the proclamation of love…. Every-freaking-thing was perfection. I don’t care if you disagree. I don’t. He was it for me.
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(view spoiler)[When he went all “I’m going to make it impossible for you to leave me” (in a not creepy way, I have to add, because out of context this might sound creepy), I swear my heart did a funny thing. I’m not joking. It just got to me in a way that it’s hard to explain.
Then, he went all “I wanted a little more time with you” because he needed “To show you how much I love you”, I nearly had a heart attack because nothing gets to me more than a man so desperately in love, and Ethan was desperately in love. It even made him stupid—because what he did was stupid. A little romantic, too. Stupidly romantic. Amber was totally right to be pissed, even though it broke my heart to see how devastated he was.
Finally, Ethan killed me and buried me with his love speech:
“I love you,” he says, his voice calm and steady while his eyes burn brightly with longing, my face still in his reverent hold. “And…” He exhale harshly. “And not the flowers and dinner on Valentine’s kind of love. It’s not soft or sweet. The way I love you is… is—“ His face twists in frustration. “It’s fucking painful. When you’re not near me I feel like Popovitch is sitting on my chest and I can’t breathe.” (hide spoiler)]
So, yeah. I’m dead. This guy killed me.
[image]
I don’t even care that the whole “I’ll post her bail and let her live with me” thing sounded a little weird. Does that even happen in real life? I’m not sure, but who cares? Because that landed them exactly where I needed them to be. Together. Living under the same roof. Getting to know each other, and OMG the slow burn. The “we don’t like each other” to the “we’re friends” to the “we can’t get enough of each other” gave me life. Slow burn is my thing. The more I read authors like P. Dangelico and Mariana Zapata, the more I’m convinced I want, need and will give all my money for hot, real and well-done slow burn.
Now, Amber… This chick was awesome. I knew I’d love her when I highlighted the first paragraph and wrote: “YES!!! VOIIIICEEE!” I know the concept of voice is a little hard to grasp (at least I have a hard time explaining it), but when it’s there, you just can’t miss it. It sort of hits you in the face and gives you pause. It happened here. I read one paragraph and I knew I’d love Amber because her voice got me. She was funny AF, loyal and smart. She was also surprisingly down to Earth considering everything that she had gone through. I couldn’t have asked for a better narrator for this story.
I don’t even know what to say about the romance without getting a little spoiler-y. I’ll just say that it developed exactly the way I’d hoped it would. There were tons of bantering, tons of heat, and it went through the three stages that will make a romance extra special for me: a little bit of animosity >> friendship >> love. And I also got a little The Hating Game by Sally Thorne vibe when it came to Ethan, so it was real perfection.
Aside from Ethan, Amber and their romance, I also loved the whole NFL vibe (I’m a fan) and all the side characters. I loved seeing Cam and Calvin living their happy ever after, getting a little bit more of Justin and meeting Amber’s little sis. I even teared up with a minor side character: the driver Ethan hired who’d been out of work for two years. Dude, that got me right in the feels.
This entire book got me right in the feels. It was fabulous. It was everything I wanted, and more than I needed. It’s the reason I’m going to be stalking this author until she releases her next book. P. Dangelico, get back to your computer and start writing your next story because I need it. Right now.
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It's this simple:
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Merged review:
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4.5 “Slow burning me” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you!!!!
Last year, I was going through a reading slump when I started Wrecking Ball, the first book in the Hard to Love series (P.S.: the series title is wrong, because these books are super easy to love). The same thing was happening when I decided to start Sledgehammer. The result was the same: I’m now cured.
I was going to wait to start this book until next week because I have other ARCs that needed my immediate attention due to their release dates, but all the books I’ve read for the past few days have failed to WOW me. Some I liked more, others less, but nothing stuck with me, even though other people have loved them.
That’s the thing about this reading business: subjectivity rules. Sometimes I have a hard time explaining why a story didn’t work for me. All the elements were there, but nothing did it for me. Other times, a simple story has this extra sparkle and I’m done for. Sledgehammer fits in this last category.
If you haven’t figured it out by now I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with this book.
[image]
To be completely honest, I went into this knowing I’d probably enjoy the heck out of it. The blurb is great. The first book was amazing. P. Dangelico has a whole Mariana Zapata vibe with her slow burn romances. So, yeah, it was a recipe for success. But the thing is, I didn’t just like it. I inhaled, breathed, lived and died with it. It gave me all the FEELS, to the point I had to take a break because I was hyperventilating. And I’ll tell you this. Although I loved, loved, looovveeedddd Amber, the guilty party here is Ethan Vaughn.
Ethan Freaking Vaughn.
[image]
Book boyfriend Ethan Vaughn was amazing. A-mazing. Everything I needed and a little more. The angst was alive and real and making my chest burn because this dude, the things this dude did, the way he spoke, the dirty talk, the proclamation of love…. Every-freaking-thing was perfection. I don’t care if you disagree. I don’t. He was it for me.
[image]
(view spoiler)[When he went all “I’m going to make it impossible for you to leave me” (in a not creepy way, I have to add, because out of context this might sound creepy), I swear my heart did a funny thing. I’m not joking. It just got to me in a way that it’s hard to explain.
Then, he went all “I wanted a little more time with you” because he needed “To show you how much I love you”, I nearly had a heart attack because nothing gets to me more than a man so desperately in love, and Ethan was desperately in love. It even made him stupid—because what he did was stupid. A little romantic, too. Stupidly romantic. Amber was totally right to be pissed, even though it broke my heart to see how devastated he was.
Finally, Ethan killed me and buried me with his love speech:
“I love you,” he says, his voice calm and steady while his eyes burn brightly with longing, my face still in his reverent hold. “And…” He exhale harshly. “And not the flowers and dinner on Valentine’s kind of love. It’s not soft or sweet. The way I love you is… is—“ His face twists in frustration. “It’s fucking painful. When you’re not near me I feel like Popovitch is sitting on my chest and I can’t breathe.” (hide spoiler)]
So, yeah. I’m dead. This guy killed me.
[image]
I don’t even care that the whole “I’ll post her bail and let her live with me” thing sounded a little weird. Does that even happen in real life? I’m not sure, but who cares? Because that landed them exactly where I needed them to be. Together. Living under the same roof. Getting to know each other, and OMG the slow burn. The “we don’t like each other” to the “we’re friends” to the “we can’t get enough of each other” gave me life. Slow burn is my thing. The more I read authors like P. Dangelico and Mariana Zapata, the more I’m convinced I want, need and will give all my money for hot, real and well-done slow burn.
Now, Amber… This chick was awesome. I knew I’d love her when I highlighted the first paragraph and wrote: “YES!!! VOIIIICEEE!” I know the concept of voice is a little hard to grasp (at least I have a hard time explaining it), but when it’s there, you just can’t miss it. It sort of hits you in the face and gives you pause. It happened here. I read one paragraph and I knew I’d love Amber because her voice got me. She was funny AF, loyal and smart. She was also surprisingly down to Earth considering everything that she had gone through. I couldn’t have asked for a better narrator for this story.
I don’t even know what to say about the romance without getting a little spoiler-y. I’ll just say that it developed exactly the way I’d hoped it would. There were tons of bantering, tons of heat, and it went through the three stages that will make a romance extra special for me: a little bit of animosity >> friendship >> love. And I also got a little The Hating Game by Sally Thorne vibe when it came to Ethan, so it was real perfection.
Aside from Ethan, Amber and their romance, I also loved the whole NFL vibe (I’m a fan) and all the side characters. I loved seeing Cam and Calvin living their happy ever after, getting a little bit more of Justin and meeting Amber’s little sis. I even teared up with a minor side character: the driver Ethan hired who’d been out of work for two years. Dude, that got me right in the feels.
This entire book got me right in the feels. It was fabulous. It was everything I wanted, and more than I needed. It’s the reason I’m going to be stalking this author until she releases her next book. P. Dangelico, get back to your computer and start writing your next story because I need it. Right now.
Three things you need to know about Sometimes I Lie:
1. Don’t look at spoilers before or while you’re reading 2[image]
4.5 “Twisted like a Pretzel” Stars
Three things you need to know about Sometimes I Lie:
1. Don’t look at spoilers before or while you’re reading 2. You probably won’t guess all the twists and turns and that’ll make the experience even better 3. It’s as good as everyone else is saying
Sometimes I Lie has been on my TBR for a while, but the library waiting list was LONG, so I had to sit and wait. I did, and I was rewarded with a great reading experience.
I can’t go into too many details (read #1 above), but I have to say it’s been a long, long time since I read a book that kept me guessing. The last psychological thrillers I read were good, but the surprise elements fell short because I guessed them pretty early on. This didn’t happen this time. I had a bunch of theories about the accident, the diary, the people involved in all of it, like I normally do, and but while I guessed some of the small twists, the major ones caught me by surprise.
The whole thing was so well-planned that, every time a twist was revealed, I had to stop, go back and reread some scenes just to make sure they fit the narrative. I’m glad to say most of them did.
The characters were another great surprise. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Amber, but she turned out to be smarter and stronger than I expected. I almost threw my Kindle across the room when the last chapter started (that’s how mad I was at what I thought was her “decision”), but then, once again, BOOM!
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Again, reviewing this book and keeping it spoiler free is almost impossible, so I’ll stop talking. All you need to know is that the book is well worth the read, even if the twist at the end was confusing and unnecessary, in my opinion.
Grab your copy, get ready to for all the twists and reveals and enjoy the ride....more
Even though I think I haven’t reviewed them, I’ve read a few novels and novellas by this author, and I’ve enjoyed them.[image]
2 “What happened?” Stars
Even though I think I haven’t reviewed them, I’ve read a few novels and novellas by this author, and I’ve enjoyed them. But this book was a complete mess. I can barely believe this was written by the same author as Sincerely, Carter, which I really liked.
I first heard about Over Us, Over You a few weeks ago during the cover reveal tour, and I was so excited to see it was a “falling for my best friend’s little sister” romance. I patiently waited for its release, but it disappointed me beyond words.
First, Hayley is one of the most irritating, unlikable, immature main characters I’ve read about in a while. She’s supposed to be in her mid-twenties (I think), but she sounds like a spoiled fifteen-year-old.
I was initially okay with her despite the fact that she took the money her brother sent to pay college tuition and invested in a small café business that didn’t survive a few months. It was a little silly and immature, but okay, I was willing to overlook that because she made it sound like she’d worked hard to make it work, but had been unlucky. I was wrong. After getting to know Hayley a bit better, I realized she was simply lazy and not all that smart.
Hayley really got on my nerve when, after losing her business and getting thrown out of her apartment, she decided to go back to San Francisco and ask her brother for help. Her big brother, who also happened to be super overprotective and a self-made millionaire. Oh, that’s when Hayley shows her true colors. Her brother doesn’t hesitate to get her on a private plane, get her freaking huge house and create a position for her at his company. A company he built from nothing. What does Hayley do? Refuse to move into the house until her friend and former business partner comes to town—a friend who’ll also be getting a job at Hayley’s brother’s company simply because Hayley asked for it. There’s some excuse about how Hayley has problems sleeping so she doesn’t want to be alone in the house, but honestly, none of it is explained in a way that makes much sense. Hayley obviously doesn’t care that she’s creating a problem for her brother and instead of trying to fix her situation, she waits for him to do so, which leads him to ask his best friend (the love interest) to take Hayley in.
Does Hayley seem grateful for that? Not really. Does she go on and respect that rules Corey, the best friend who let her stay with him, set for her to live in his house? Not really, either. Were these rules pretty absurd? Sure, but I don’t know about you, but if someone was letting me stay at their place for free, I wouldn’t be wearing their clothes without permission or playing music at night just because I couldn’t sleep. *rolls eyes*
But that wasn’t even my biggest problem with Hayley. Her behavior at work was. Dude! Dude! The woman couldn’t be bothered to get to work on time or do anything useful even when her brother had practically created a position for her so she wouldn’t be sitting home doing nothing. A little appreciation wouldn’t hurt, woman! Just get there on time and do a decent job, at least. Try to show him you’re grateful he’s buying you a house and giving you a car! I can’t understand what the author was thinking when she wrote Hayley the way she did. Between her brother giving her anything she wanted and Corey taking her on private planes for short vacations around the world, she didn’t have to work for anything and she couldn’t even bother to be grateful?! No. I can’t get behind that. A lack of work ethic is something I simply can’t forgive in a protagonist. No one likes leeches.
Corey wasn’t that much better. He had some big jerk moments for no reason, but at least he seemed to have worked hard for his money. And I was honestly too pissed at Hayley to really pay much attention to Corey. On the plus side, I thought the story had a lot of potential judging for their backstory. With the right vision, those two could’ve had a really touching love story.
Another thing that felt extremely off about this story was the dialogue. It was so unrealistic, I can’t even explain how bad it was. There were so many scenes that caused me to roll my eyes and go “I can’t believe this is happening”. I honestly don’t understand what happened here.
I had high hopes for Over Us, Over You, but unfortunately this book didn’t work for me at all....more
This is my fifth (?) book by Jamie Howard, and I'm ready for the next one, especia[image]
3.5 “Second chances” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Swerve.
This is my fifth (?) book by Jamie Howard, and I'm ready for the next one, especially since I hope (please, please) it'll be about Ben and Rachel and all the angst of loving someone for years without moving it past friendship.
But while The Way Back to Us wasn't my favorite book by this go-to author, it was still entertaining.
Let me just pause for a second and say I'm still in love with Juliet, the heroine from the last book in this series. She kept pulling my attention toward her whenever she showed up in a scene in this new book, and she was consistent in how she kept seeing the good in people and giving them a chance. I also loved to see her get closer to her happy ever after with Felix. <3 font="">
Now, as to Dani and Gavin, the couple we get to focus on this time around, I wish I had connected more with their story. My main problem here wasn't Gavin. He was still as carefree and funny as I remembered him to be. Dani, on the other hand, took a little longer to warm up to.
I have to be fair and say I have a hard time connecting with the second chance romance trope. There's something about the characters already knowing each other and being in love and then breaking up for some reason or other than usually doesn't work for me. Though Dani's motive for running away and breaking Gavin's heart was strong, I guess not knowing the truth about it until much later in the story made it a little harder for me to understand and forgive her for what she did. Half the time I felt like Ben--ready to confront Dani about what she did and why she was back.
Maybe seeing her more reluctant about walking back into Gavin's life when she knew she'd have to leave again, or fighting the attraction between them harder or suffering a little more would've helped. I don't know. Maybe. I just didn't fall in love with Dani as hard and as fast as I wished.
Now, Gavin was another story. I felt sorry for the poor guy because he was so in love with Dani even after all those years. And even though she she had hurt him that bad, he was still willing to give her another chance because he didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to be with her. The whole Howgarts thing made sense because it was such a Gavin thing to think and say. Part of the reason I tried so hard to like Dani, despite her doing some things that made me cringe was because of how much Gavin loved her. That's how much I liked him.
I also LOVED, LOVED the beach house part of this book because I got to see all the characters from the series together. I loved the girls cooking, the girls and guys playing in the pool, the dinner conversation with them sharing secrets (I'm still in shock because I didn't remember the Gavin/Felix threesome thing. o.O). My absolute favorite parts of this book were when all the characters were together doing things. I want more of that.
So while The Way Back to Us didn't hook me the way the previous book in this series did, I still loved to read more about Gavin and get to see that great cast of characters interacting again. Also, there was a lot of Rachel and Ben, and do I need to say once again how excited about their love story I am?! In case I do, here's the perfect gif:
Three things you need to know about Sometimes I Lie:
1. Don’t look at spoilers before or while you’re reading 2[image]
4.5 “Twisted like a Pretzel” Stars
Three things you need to know about Sometimes I Lie:
1. Don’t look at spoilers before or while you’re reading 2. You probably won’t guess all the twists and turns and that’ll make the experience even better 3. It’s as good as everyone else is saying
Sometimes I Lie has been on my TBR for a while, but the library waiting list was LONG, so I had to sit and wait. I did, and I was rewarded with a great reading experience.
I can’t go into too many details (read #1 above), but I have to say it’s been a long, long time since I read a book that kept me guessing. The last psychological thrillers I read were good, but the surprise elements fell short because I guessed them pretty early on. This didn’t happen this time. I had a bunch of theories about the accident, the diary, the people involved in all of it, like I normally do, and but while I guessed some of the small twists, the major ones caught me by surprise.
The whole thing was so well-planned that, every time a twist was revealed, I had to stop, go back and reread some scenes just to make sure they fit the narrative. I’m glad to say most of them did.
The characters were another great surprise. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Amber, but she turned out to be smarter and stronger than I expected. I almost threw my Kindle across the room when the last chapter started (that’s how mad I was at what I thought was her “decision”), but then, once again, BOOM!
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Again, reviewing this book and keeping it spoiler free is almost impossible, so I’ll stop talking. All you need to know is that the book is well worth the read, even if the twist at the end was confusing and unnecessary, in my opinion.
Grab your copy, get ready to for all the twists and reveals and enjoy the ride....more
While The Heartbreak Cure was just as cute and sweet as most of the YA romances published by Entangled Crush, it stood out to me because it did a great job building relationships that made me feel aside from the romance.
Using a mix of friends to lovers + fake relationship + bad boy tropes, the romance was swoony from start to finish, especially because I learned early on Alex had a thing for Cat. I'm all for the "boy secretly likes girl" thing, and it worked really well here. But, yeah, like I said, I'd come to expect adorable romance arcs from this publisher, and while I'm super happy this wasn't an exception, I'm also glad we also got to see good family and frienship bonds.
The relationships between Cat and her mother and Cat and her best friend brought a much needed lighteness to the story, which balanced well Alex's much heavier side. Cat's mom was pretty awesome, and I truly enjoyed seeing those two being respecteful and having a healthy mother-daughter relationship. As to Cat and her best friend, there was no unecessary drama or girl hate, which YAY!!!! Those two seemed to really enjoy each other's company, and I loved how her friend was the sassy one while Cat was a little shy and more reserved.
While Cat's arc was more focused on the romance and her passion for writing, I thought Alex had the biggest and heavier arc. Poor guy had a dark past that dragged him down and made me feel like he was unworthy of love, which broke my heart. Alex was a great guy: honest, hard-working, respectful, so he deserved to let go of those ghosts and be happy. I loved how he got to that happy point by noticing that he wasn't alone (and in truth hadn't been for a while). His relationship with his boss, his grandmother and with Cat were huge influnces and helped him underestand that there were more than enough people in his life that believed in him and saw the good in him.
The Heartbeat Cure was a little heavier on the internal and emotional arc side of things, but it was still a cute and fun read. ...more
Dude, this was SOOOOOO good! Roomies is hands down my fav[image]
4 “Shipping the fake married couple” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Gallery Books!!!
Dude, this was SOOOOOO good! Roomies is hands down my favorite Christina Lauren’s book, and one of my favorite contemporary romance reads of the year.
I’m a sucker for a good fake relationship/marry for a visa trope, and this is probably one of the best stories about that trope I’ve read in a long time. I loved so many things about Holland and Calvin’s love story.
First, I loved Calvin. The whole sexy musician/cute Irish accent thing was doing it for me. Big time. I think I pretty much swooned every time he said something Holland perceived as Irish-y, which was almost all the time and that was fine with me. The fact that Calvin played his guitar as if he was making love to his music didn’t hurt his case, either. I think I had a crush on him as big as the one Holland did even before I got to know him well. And then he turned out to be respectful, adorable and funny, and I was a goner. Come play for me, Calvin!
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I also really, really liked Holland. I was more than pleased with the single POV here and that’s because Holland was such an entertaining character to follow. She had a great sense of humor without being over the top, and her struggles felt authentic. Like Holland, I’ve looked at my life and wondered what I was doing, felt disappointed in myself for my lack of focus and/or motivation, wondered if I was ever going to achieve my dreams. Holland’s going through that phase, and I liked how her struggle was portrayed in realistic, non-overdramatic way.
The fact that I like both Holland and Calvin made it only easier to ship them as a couple. And I shipped them hard.
“My phone lights up with a single text: And I despite every night I go to sleep without you.”
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The whole let’s going to get fake married so you can get a visa and do what you love while I help the people I loved worked really well here because: 1) Calvin and Holland had good chemistry from the start; 2) Like Holland, the pretending to be flirting and in love got my feelings all mixed up in a great way; 3) they both had great motivations to get into this deal.
Holland’s relationship with her uncles was one of my favorite things about this book. I LOVED so many of their scenes together, and they were not only adorable and cute, but also funny AF. The table/birthday scene was hilarious. In fact, this book made me laugh quite a lot.
Calvin and Holland’s passion for music, writing and Broadway also played a huge part in this story, and it all felt cohesive. I don’t know as much about Broadway as I wish I did, but I always seem to enjoy books centered in this world. Roomies was no exception.
As you can see, this book truly worked for me. Having said that, there were a few things I wished had been different, mainly the Lulu subplot (felt a little like girl on girl hate with the jealousy thing), the breakup (I couldn’t fully get behind Holland there, because I thought she overreacted a bit) and the “almost fade to black” sexy scenes (with all that tension building, I expected more).
Those things aside, I’m super, super thankful I got my hands on an early copy of this book and I can’t wait for everyone to read it and love it as well....more
I’ve been on a BFF-to-more trope vibe lately, and t[image]
3.5 “Science, Friendship and Love” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Entangled Teen (Crush)!!
I’ve been on a BFF-to-more trope vibe lately, and this is probably the one with one of the most unique premise I’ve read lately. That’s because of Nora Reid’s obsession with the first kiss hypothesis and finding true love.
While with the BFF trope we normally have characters fighting their attraction to each other because they’re afraid to lose their friendship, here we have Nora refusing to move her hot best friend Eli past friend-zone because their first kiss back when they were eight years old didn’t make her heart stop and the earth move under her feet. Nora seriously believes that for each person in the world there’s only one other person and that they’re able to see they’re soul mates from their first kiss. Since her first kiss with Eli was too wet and not all that life-changing, she ruled him out as her soul mate, even though she still has a huge crush on him.
Eli, on the other hand, is tired of seeing Nora test her theory and ignore him as a viable candidate to love of her life. He then decides to make a move and prove Nora’s theory wrong.
Despite the whole theory being a little out there, it works in this context because of Nora’s relationship with her grandmother and the disease that is slowly taking her grandmother away. Implausible as it was, it felt like a link between Nora and her grandmother, and it worked well to build tension between Nora and Eli. And as I said before, it served its purpose as a different and fresh reason for the best friends to hold back on moving into romantic zone.
The chemistry between Nora and Eli was pretty great, and I also appreciated that Eli had an arc aside from the romance, even though the solution to his problem felt a little too easy.
Overall, the romance worked really well, and this turned out to be another cute read. ...more
Two things caught my attention about this book: One, it was written by Ci[image]
3 “Renovations & Romance” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled!
Two things caught my attention about this book: One, it was written by Cindi Madsen, who also happened to write one of my favorite YA Contemporary Romances of 2017, Operation Prom Date. Two, it promised a little bit of hate to love, and everyone knows how I feel abotu this trope.
Things got better when I leaned Jackson was actually Ivy's best friend's brother, which means double yay as far as I'm concerned.
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Ivy and Jackson had great chemistry and the banter was pretty great. I also liked the humor aspect. Ivy had a good, fun voice, and most of her interactions with Jackson and Savannah made me smile.
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I have to say I didn't see it coming from the level of heat in the first few chapters, but the romance turned out to be fade to black, which was sort of disappointing. Having said that, Ivy and Jackson still had some steamy scenes together.
I do have to say I wasn't a fan of the Caroline (the woman Jackson's family was "forcing" him to date) plotline. I wish he had made himself clear about not being interested in Caroline sooner. It was a bit of a jerk move to let her know he was taken the way he did.
Overall, even though this book didn't grab my attention as much as Operation Prom Date did, it was still a good and funny romance story....more
As a huge fan of the BFFs falling in love trope, I was eager to rea[image]
3 “Virgins & BFFs” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled Teen (Crush)!
As a huge fan of the BFFs falling in love trope, I was eager to read this book from the moment I saw the ARC. It didn't wow me as much as I'd hoped, and I ended up having similar problems with the story as I did with Monica Murphy's other book, but it was an enjoyable read.
One of the things I liked most about Saving It was how real Eden and Josh's friendship was. I truly felt like they knew each other and had been close friends for a long time, which made the scenes between them much more enjoyable.
As it happened with Daring the Bad Boy (another book by this author I read recently), the male POV worked better than the female for me, but I still liked Eden enough. She was fun and I enjoyed how worried she was about not coming out as a pimp while she helped Josh find the perfect candidate to lose his virginity with.
Eden and Josh took their time figuring out their feelings for each other, and most of their scenes were super cute. I also liked how realistic the portrayal of first time was here.
My biggest complain is probably the repetition. Eden and Josh's chapters could get really repetitive, which took me out of the story from time to time. And even though the romance was cute, I still wanted to see more chemistry between the two of them.
Overall, Saving It is a nice read for fans of the BFFs falling in love trope....more
(For some reason, I forgot to post this on Goodreads back when I read it, but h[image]
4 “Talk dirty to me” Stars
ARC provided by the author
Thank you!!!
(For some reason, I forgot to post this on Goodreads back when I read it, but here it is now!)
New Kelly Siskind book? Of course I was immediately in, and I’m so glad I got the chance to read this.
If you have read this author’s previous works, you’ll know she always finds a way to insert humor in her swoony, sexy stories, and Legs is no different. There are some pretty funny situations featured in this book, and an overall “feel good”, “keep smiling while you read” vibe to it.
Something else that won’t be lacking in Kelly Siskind’s love stories is sexy times. Lots of it. Whether the characters are actually doing it or simply looking at each other, you’ll get the sexy vibe and it’ll leave you breathless.
The chemistry between Rachel and Jimmy was craaazyyy (BTW, if you haven’t already, go read Chasing Crazy, this author’s debut). From the moment they met, which was hilarious, these two were on fire.
I have to confess I had a “WTF” moment when Rachel and Jimmy’s first time (no spoilers, since the blurb calls Jimmy her one-night stand) faded to black. One part of me was sort of glad that I didn’t see it because I’m not a fan of characters getting to it in the first few chapters. I like my angst, slow burn and tension, thank you very much. But another part was seriously wondering why this author wasn’t using her great sex-scene writing powers. Then, one I realized the fade to black helped the character’s arc AND kept the tension between them, I was thankful the author chose that path.
And let me tell you about that tension. While Rachel did her best to avoid falling back into bad-boy, tattooed, Mom-will-never-approve Jimmy’s bed, he didn’t give up. The man was relentless in a dirty-talking way. Dude, that man’s dirty mouth.
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I can’t even tell you how much my love for Jimmy grew every time he opened his mouth. LOL.
Anyway.
Another super positive aspect of Legs was its focus on wine as the connecting theme between the characters. I confess I know nothing about wine, but I love drinking it, so I was happy to learn a little bit more about it.
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Rachel and Jimmy’s passion for wine bled through the pages, but didn’t take over the story in a way that pushed the romance or their individual subplots aside. In fact, it helped connect all those elements. Wine was a part of Jimmy’s arc with his family and Rachel’s search for a fulfilling career. It was also what brought those two together.
In the end, Legs only proved that I did right when I rushed to request Kelly Siskind’s new book. This author balances the right amount of heat, romance and humor in her stories, creating the kind of romance books I fall hard for....more
I can see Begin Again being big during the NA golden years a while back. It had the [image]
2 “Listen to your friend” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you!
I can see Begin Again being big during the NA golden years a while back. It had the key elements: young people going to college and making dubious choices, lots of drama, bad boy hero and a nice girl heroine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work for me now.
I’m not saying I’m over New Adult. I’m not. I read two NA books this week alone that I absolutely loved, but they didn’t feel as stilted as Begin Again.
I understand this book was initially written in German, so I’m blaming the stilted and sometimes uncomfortable dialogue on translation problems, but I don’t think I can blame translation for the rest of the issues I had with this book.
First, I didn’t dislike Ally, but I didn’t like her, either. She lacked the backbone needed to make me connect with her. Spineless main characters are one of my biggest pet peeves, and the way Ally let her family and Kaden walk all over her didn’t work for me.
Kaden…Well, Kaden, I’m all in for alpha males, but you took things a little too far, huh, buddy? Kaden is a jerk. There’s no nice way to say it. To his credit, he admits to being one. To my credit, his reason to being a jerk didn’t convince me.
Kaden’s trauma wasn’t big enough to justify his actions, especially one toward the ending—the break up scene. What he did was cruel, unnecessary and I was Scott (Ally’s friend and the most sensible person in this story) the entire time after Ally confessed what Kaden did to her.
Scott is the best part of this story. His constant “Sorry, people, but that doesn’t work for me” comments about Kaden’s behaviors gave me life.
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I felt represented by Scott throughout this story, because he wouldn’t go all “aww, cute” whenever Kaden showed up after screwing up. He’d try to make Ally see some sense, though that seemed to be a lost battle.
I did enjoy some of the moments between Kaden and Ally mid-book, because I thought he was progressing toward opening up to her and being less rude for no apparent reason. But then he’d do something stupid and I’d take that step back.
Maybe if Ally had been more sure of herself and stood up for what she wanted, I could’ve enjoyed this book. But with Kaden being a jerk and Ally lacking a backbone, plus the problems with the dialogue, this book was a lost battle for me. ...more
I think it's never enough to say that this book isn't a romance. At all. So if you know [image]
3.5 “Writing Secrets” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you!
I think it's never enough to say that this book isn't a romance. At all. So if you know Alessandra Torre because of her steamy romance stories, don't come expecting more of the same. You'll get to meet a completely different side of her with this book.
Writing a review for this book isn't an easy task. I believe readers should go into this knowing just as little as the blurb tells . THis way, they'll get to experience each reveal and each twist. That's how I did it, and it worked for me.
I have to say I was surprised at how different this was from Alessandra Torre's previous books. The writing is still as good, but while in romance stories the author needs to make the main characters likable and relatable, Alessanda Torre didn't pull back from making Helena complex and, yeah, unlikable. Getting behind Helena's actions and reactions was hard--half the time I was just perplexed at how rude she was--but even that didn't make me want to stop reading. Normally, when I can't connect with the main character, I have to fight the urge to just drop the book and go read something else, but this didn't happen here. I wanted to know what had happened in Helena's life to make her that way. I wanted to follow her story.
The whole mystery behind Helena's "confession book" was the main reason I kept reading. I had an idea of what had happened from the beginning, but I didn't know how and why, and when the truth came to light, my heart broke a little for her. It still didn't make me like or understand her 100%, though. And you know what? That's also okay. I don't have to love Helena or any other main character to enjoy their story. When well done, an unlikable narrator can make the book special (see my love for Gone Girl by Gillian Flyyn).
Besides, Helena's literary agent and her writer rival brought enough likability to make up for Helena's grumpiness. I loved how these two characters came into Helena's life and refused to leave even though she initally treated them so badly. They made her less lonely and therefore more human.
I had a few problems with pacing and with Helena's reactions after she learns "the truth", but I can say this book surprised me in a positive way. I wasn't expecting something so raw, but that's what I got, and it fit the premise and the complexity of the characters perfectly....more
Even though I should've expected it, this book still took me by surp[image]
3.5 “Fighting with Humor” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled Teen!
Even though I should've expected it, this book still took me by surprise by its funny approach on such a serious topic--and I say surprise and funny in a good way.
Comedy was the theme for A Messy, Beautiful Life. From the main character's voice to the way she dealt with her diagnosis, there was a light vibe the story maintained from start to finish.
Since Ellie and her friends were a part of an improv comedy group, the book introduces humor right from page one. I was immediately drawn into Ellie's world by her voice, her group of friends and Jason, the love interest. I loved that they met during an improv show and that they were in sync from moment on. There was enough chemistry to make me want them together from moment on.
The entire improv comedy scene made this book fresh and entertaining. I can't remember reading anything with this theme, and while some of the scenes were a bit of "fade to black" (for a lack of a better term), there were a few other that showed the jokes and they were pretty funny.
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But the things I liked most about this story were Ellie's relationship with her friends, parents, Jason, and the way she dealt with her disease.
This was a character-driven story that worked because the characters were interesting. Ellie's two best friends could've used a little more work, since they didn't have different enough personalities to set them apart, but they were still amazing friends to Ellie. There was none of the unecessary girl-hate drama.
But the star of friendships for me was the one between Ellie and her stepbrother. I loved how Craig came out of his shell and showed Ellie how important she was and how great of a big brother he could be. Every scene between Ellie and Craig was awesome.
Ellie's relationship with her mother was another plus, and even the drama with her father was handled well.
Now, as for Ellie and Jason, like I said before, I felt their chemistry from the start and I liked that Jason's past was connected to Ellie's present in a sad, but still meaninful way. I also liked how they worked through it and found a way to be happy.
When I say A Messy, Beautiful Life handled Ellie's diagnosis in a funny way, I mean funny as in a "this won't get me down and I'll keep fighting" approach and not as in "I'm making fun of something serious." Even Ellie's stand up comedy show focused on her cancer was tasteful.
In the end, I think this book succeeded in bringing a different, light and funny way to deal with such a serious topic, and the good dynamic between the characters and cute romance acted as a bonus....more
Of course I’ve heard of Marie Lu before, but this was actually the first book by this author I’ve rea[image]
4 “Holy World Building Super Powers” Stars
Of course I’ve heard of Marie Lu before, but this was actually the first book by this author I’ve read, and yeah, I totally get the hype. This author can write! And the world she created? Wow!
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I’m in love with the world Marie Lu created for Warcross. It’s kind of my dream world, in fact. I’m not a huge fan of video games, but it totally gave me a The Sims vibe, and who isn’t obsessed with The Sims?
Anyway, Warcross has the kind of world that draws you write in and makes you want to live inside the book’s pages, and in this case, inside the game (Marie Lue and) Hideo Tanaka created. The thought of putting on a glass and then going into a game like that leaves me salivating. The whole concept is new, fresh and unique!!
You know what else I loved? The diversity portrayed in this book with characters from all over the world and non-white main characters, plus the outside-the-USA setting.
There was a lot, a lot right with this book.
Emika was such a strong character. She was so relatable and likable and badass. I loved how smart she was, and how she didn’t back down from a challenge. Go, Emika!
Hideo was also my kind of love interest—mysterious, keeping a secret, hot and damaged. I wish I’d gotten to know him a little better, but I’m guessing that’ll happen in book 2.
The romance was cute. I expected more from it, but I wasn’t necessarily disappointed in what I got. Emika and Hideo made a good couple and they shared some great scenes. Was it just me or the fact that the characters were upper YA suggested the romance would have a little more heat? *shrugs* It was probably just me.
The only thing I didn’t exactly love about this book was the mystery around the villain and the people helping him. It was pretty obvious to me who was involved right from the beginning and I also guessed the identity of the villain when he was first mentioned in the story. I’m also guessing I know the motive behind the villain’s action already.
Having said that, the plot twist involving Hideo and Emika caught me by surprise, so yay for that!
Overall, this was an excellent first experience with this author. I know a lot of people love her books, and after reading Warcross, I’m more inclined to try her previous titles....more
Looking for a fun, sexy, refreshing read with a sassy Latina main character and [image]
4 “Take me to Aruba” Stars
ARC provided by the author
Thank you!!
Looking for a fun, sexy, refreshing read with a sassy Latina main character and a swoony Hollywood love interest? Then you got it. Even if you weren’t looking for exactly that, you still want to read Acting on Impulse. Trust me.
I read my first Mia Sosa book last year, and I truly enjoyed how she wrote what I called “realistic romances”. For me, those are stories you can see yourself or someone you know living. Instead of that big drama that I love in angst reads, in Mia Sosa’s books I always find relatable problems/situations that I believe most women can find themselves into. Even though Acting on Impulse featured a Hollywood star as the love interest, the way he met and fell in love with the main character was still fairly “normal” (not impossible to happen).
Honestly, I think there’s something special about authors who can write sexy, swoony romances that are still relatable.
And Acting on Impulse had all of that.
For me, the fun element was the one I noticed first. The first chapter is written from Hollywood heartthrob Carter Stone’s POV, and the voice was light, funny and sexy.
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There was insta-lust when he first sees fitness trainer Tori Alvarez on the plane, but I didn’t mind it because it didn’t feel like he was taking it too seriously. The way he called her “his future” wife and kept thinking about how he’d tell this story to their grandchildren was sort of adorable, and a lot less creepy than one might think. The main reason it worked for me was because of the sweet and fun theme that followed the story from start to finish, and also because Carter was a real sweetheart and being inside his head was a pleasure.
Tori’s POV chapters were also extremely enjoyable. She was a smart, confident and funny woman, and she made me smile and laugh quite a lot. She was sassy in a non-annoying way, which, trust me, isn’t easy to pull off.
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Another thing I enjoyed about Tori was how centered and matured she acted. When I thought she’d freak out over something, she found a composed and mature way to deal with it—be it her problems with her family, her relationship with Carter, her breakup with her ex or even the annoying reporters. It helped keep the story light, and it didn’t hurt the fun element, because the heart of the story wasn’t the drama, but the romance.
And I loved the romance. It was refreshing to see how it started—as two strangers forming some sort of heated friendship in a hot location. Side note: this story left me craving a visit to Aruba! It was even more refreshing to see how it developed. Everyone knows I’m a fan of slow burn, and this had a little bit of it. Even though Tori and Carter were dying to jump in bed, they kept their hands to each other for a while, and that only made me want to see them together more. A little torture is good for this romance-reader heart.
One last thing I want to say about this story is how the ending surprised me. I thought Carter’s movie plot was going to go one way, but it ended up being completely different from what I expected. He got his happy ending in all aspects of his life, obviously, but not in an obvious way.
Overall, Acting on Impulse was another win for me when it comes to Mia Sosa’s books, and I’m extremely happy I got the chance to read it....more
This book had a lot of what I look for in fantasy. The world was familiar, but still managed to feel fresh. The main charac[image]
4 “Dragons!!!” Stars
This book had a lot of what I look for in fantasy. The world was familiar, but still managed to feel fresh. The main character was likable. The romance had enough heat to make me anticipate every scene between them. And there was enough action to keep me entertained.
Plus, there were dragons.
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Who doesn’t like dragons?
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I believe the book’s strongest element is the world Kristen Ciccarelli created. I loved how the author integrated the old stories with what was happening with Asha and the people around her. Even the idea that dragons responded to stories told out loud felt fresh and unique. I felt the whole thing came full circle in the end in a beautiful way.
I will say, though, that the slavery element didn’t sit well with me because of Asha’s involvement in it. The way she felt about it was the main thing that kept me from rating this book even higher. I have a really hard time connecting with main characters that are okay with slavery. Sure Asha had been raised to think the slavery of a whole group of people was justifiable, but her relationship with her cousin should’ve given her a different perspective. I honestly believe she should’ve started the book as someone who was at least bothered by the notion of slavery, especially considering how it affected someone she loved.
She got there eventually, but I’m also not happy with the fact it took her falling in love with a slave to get there. I’ll be fair and say it wasn’t the only element that made her change, but it still felt like it was the biggest one. Had she learned that lesson solely through her own experiences with the slaves (more than the boy she was falling for) or even because of her friendship with her cousin, maybe I would’ve been less annoyed with that aspect. Maybe….
Having said that, Asha still managed to be likable for me. Given the fact that not being anti-slavery usually makes me automatically hate characters (see my opinion on Marie Rutkoski's The Winner’s Curse), I have to say I’m truly surprised.
I think the main reason I was still able to connect with Asha was because of how much she struggled with being herself. Her misguided notion of her wickedness and her guilt over what had happened with the First Dragon made her relatable. I saw in her someone who was willing to sacrifice a lot to earn her people’s forgiveness, even marrying someone who was a lot worse than she could ever be.
The entire plot point involving the dragons also helped. And yeah, the romance and her chemistry with Torwin didn’t hurt, either. I really enjoyed watching the two of them together, especially when the dragons were involved. I don’t think I can go into details here because of spoilers, but every scene featuring Asha, Torwin, Kozu and Shadow were among my favorites.
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Now, even though I could see the whole thing coming from a mile away, I still enjoyed Asha’s journey from who she thought she was to who she was always meant to be. There’s no denying the beauty of that message.
I’m truly happy The Last Namsara lived up to my expectations, and even though I thought the story read like a standalone and I can’t envision what a sequel would look like, I’m curious to see what else the author will do with this great world she created....more
This was a fun read, and a lot less "triangly" (I know that's not a wor[image]
3.5 “Rebel Royal” Stars
ARC via NetGalley.
Thank you, Entangled (Embrace)!
This was a fun read, and a lot less "triangly" (I know that's not a word) than I thought.
I went into this book thinking I'd get a royal love triangle, and while there were some flashback scenes that showed a little of that, the scenes set in the present made it clear that the focus of the romance were Alexandra and Oliver.
The story starts with Alexandra, an American girl raised with the British royal family due to her father's friendship with the King, returning to England for a royal wedding. It's clear early on that she had feelings for two of the King's sons and that caused enough trouble between the brothers that she "ran away" to America.
For me, Alexandra was likable and relatable, despite being super rich and having been raised among royals. I liked that she was into sports (soccer fan here!) and wasn't interested in exposing her life to the media. Her voice was fun and young, and her reasons for staying away from the people she loved seemed valid enough.
Like I said, there are a lot of flashback scenes that showed Alexandra's friendship with the boys and how she began to develop feelings for them. I'm usually not a fan of this going back and forth thing, but it didn't bother me here. I actually liked seeing more of how Alexandra went from dreaming about the older brother (the one who would one day become King) to falling for Oliver, the youngest prince, who also happened to be the one mostly liked to embarass the British crown.
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While Alexandra was a little more Pippa Middleton than Kate, Oliver was a lot like Prince Harry in his more troublesome years. The third in the line for the throne, Oliver didn't care too much about ruling, so he focused his energy on being the one the media wrote and talked about (we later learn he has good reasons for acting that way). For me, that made him more interesting, because he knew how to shake things up and make them more fun.
In fact, one of the things I enjoyed most about this story was how it made the "less princely" guy the love interest. He wasn't as well-behaved or serious as his older brother, or as smart as the one getting married, but Oliver had a lot going for him and it was obvious he was the right guy for Alexandra.
I also liked seeing a little bit of the friends to lovers trope I love so much, especially in the flashbacks. I was rooting for Oliver and Alexandra to end up together from the very start and I was happy to get that happy ending....more
I try not to get mad at books, but I have to say I’m pretty[image]
2.5 “Almost Book Boyfriend” Stars
ARC via NetGalley
Thank you, Entangled Teen (Crush)
I try not to get mad at books, but I have to say I’m pretty mad at this one, because I was so close to finding a new book boyfriend and he practically got ripped out of my hands last minute.
Like I mentioned in my last review of an Entangled Teen (Crush) title, I can often count on them to bring me sweet and cute YA romance stories. This started out like that. Boomerang Boyfriend attracted my attention with the “falling in love with my best friend’s older brother” trope, and kept it when I first met Jack.
Jack-the-Jerk, like the MC Delia called him, wasn’t a jerk at all (not until the 85% mark, at least). Sure he had the brooding teen thing going on, but I love that, so I didn’t mind. But most of all, Jack was a dog person. A true dog person. His actions and thoughts when around Rocky, his best friend’s dog, was just too adorable. Right from the beginning I saw Jack was a boy after my heart.
I squatted down and rubbed Rocky’s ears. “I bet you were framed, huh, buddy?” He leaned into the ear rub and sighed. “I bet it was the cat, wasn’t it?” He sighed again like he was agreeing with me.
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Then came the whole story with his grandfather and his father, and the way he thought he was losing his mother, too, and I was ready to hug him because my heart hurt for him.
Up until the 85% mark, I was in love with Jack. So in love with him that I found it easy to ignore how unlikable Delia, the other main character was. I was in it for Jack and nothing mattered. But, then…the jealousy/pettiness plot kicked in and Jack lost major points with me. Worst of all, it felt so out of character. He hadn’t come across as the kind of guy that would throw a hissy fit over something so small as Delia refusing to share a secret that wasn’t even hers with him. I honestly thought the whole thing felt contrived and ruined his character, which was a shame.
I still like Jack, but it’s disappointing to go from love to like here because of something so silly.
As for Delia, I can’t say I felt as bad for my change of heart. I thought she was an interesting character in the beginning, because she had the “I don’t care what other people thing” attitude and she even made it sound genuine. But then she turned into a little monster early on, and she completely lost me.
I went from annoyed to mad with Delia pretty fast. She came across as selfish and immature when she poorly dealt with the situation with Aiden. The guy was sharing a huge secret with her, and explained why it was a secret, and instead of being a friend, she was only worried about herself. Besides, it wasn’t as if she had been so in love with him that his rejection really hurt her. It was just a crush. So get over it already, girl! Maybe I could’ve forgiven her if she had shown Aiden a little more support as the story progressed, but in all honesty she only got worst.
In fact, I was way more into Jack’s chapters and his interactions with his best friend and the dogs (plural, because he adopted one for himself) than anything about his relationship with Delia. It simply didn’t work for me, because I had no sympathy for Delia at all.
I truly enjoyed all of Jack’s scenes with Trevor, Rocky and Buddy (the puppy), and I wish the book had been about those two best friends and their amazing dogs being adorable together. Someone write me this book:
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If it had been, and if Jack hadn’t been ruined at the end, I wouldn’t rated this book higher (even though the writing was too simplistic for my taste) and added Jack to my book boyfriend list. ...more
If you go into One of Us is Lying expecting a Gillian Flynn-worthy mystery, you’ll be disappointed. But if[image]
4 “Diverse Pretty Little Liars” Stars
If you go into One of Us is Lying expecting a Gillian Flynn-worthy mystery, you’ll be disappointed. But if you adjust your expectations and think of it as a better written Pretty Little Liars with a bunch of likable, relatable characters, then you’ll probably enjoy it a lot.
I didn’t initially get into it with the right mentally, but after a few pages I already knew where the mystery was going—it was pretty obvious—and I got the PLL vibe, so I changed my perspective. That was crucial, and I ended up liking this book.
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One of Us is Lying is the story of 4 high school kids who find themselves involved in a murder investigation after one of their classmates is poisoned and dies in front of them.
We have Bronwyn (the super smart daughter of an immigrant), Addy (the beautiful girl whose life goal is to marry her high school sweetheart), Cooper (the baseball star) and Nate (the drug dealer). You might grimace at the stereotypes, but that’s what makes this story interesting. Not exactly that, but how this author manages to take these characters from the tiny boxes they’ve been put into and make them something more. Give them flaws and personality traits and a future.
For me, One of Us is Lying was about these four kids and what they made me feel. And they did make me feel a whole lot.
I blame the four POVs for how the mystery part of the book fell apart. Being inside the head of these four main characters didn’t allow for much suspense, which hurt the mystery element. In all honesty, the title and the way the book was market gave the vibe this was going to be a mystery/thriller, but this book is, in its core, a contemporary.
But the four POVs worked for me because they allowed me to get to know and connect with these characters. Sure the POVs sounded pretty much the same—the voices weren’t distinctive at all, but I still didn’t mind them because I like (and sometimes LOVED) the story being told.
I fell in love with all four characters, and I rooted for them. Bronwyn was probably the first one I connected with. She was smart and had enough pressure on her with all that had happened with her sister and her parents, and she sounded genuine enough to pull me in instantly. No surprise I also fell for Nate instantly. This is the third book I read this year with a drug dealer as a main character, and I always end up rooting for them. Don’t know what that says about me.
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And obviously, I jumped on board as soon as that became a ship. Or even before that.
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Now, Cooper and Addy took a little warming up to. The first because he wasn’t giving me much, and because I pretty much knew what the big secret he was keeping was (again, the mystery didn’t work for me). The second, because I spent half the time wanting to slap some sense into Addy at first. But I have to say that Addy won me over in a way that she ended up being my favorite character in this story. Her arc was the strongest one, in my opinion, and she turned into such a beautiful character in the end that I wanted to hug her.
I loved, loved how these people went from virtual strangers to close friends. That was probably my favorite part of the book. Something Addy said resonated with me a lot: you find out who your true friends are when things get tough, and I thought that was what happened here.
Something else I adored was the romance. It wasn’t a huge part of the plot, but it was big enough to be important, and it was well-developed. I shipped all the couples (especially Bronwyn and Nate) and loved the direction things went toward the end for all the couples featured in the story.
So, while the mystery and everything involving Simon didn’t impress me, the bond Cooper, Addy, Bronwyn and Nate formed did. So did their individual stories. My PLL feelings were alive, and I was happy for it....more
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