Trigger warning: This review might anger or hurt the author and some readers...
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Starlet + Milo
Starlet had her life all planned out since Trigger warning: This review might anger or hurt the author and some readers...
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Starlet + Milo
Starlet had her life all planned out since she was 14 years old. But her cheating idiot of a boyfriend just put a stop to everything. And on her 21st birthday no less. She was expecting a proposal and not to stand around a frat party trying to drink and flirt with a stranger - like her bestie told her to do. Enter Milo. He seems to be in a similar mood. And they bicker their way into bed that night. And of course she's his tutor the next day in her new job as a student teacher. They try to be just friends until graduation - but ....
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Well. I loved parts of it. But I also hated most of it. So sorry Brittainy. I just can't handle books with sick people. And I don't care if it's cancer, depression, Parkinsons ... - any and all diseases! Get out of my romances! It seems like most people in books (and real life) are depressed these days. I could live with that in a book - I don't need it, but okay - it is what it is. But wouldn't it be healthier for real-life depressed people to read about healthy people? But what do I know. But then... here we get teased very early on with what will happen and I immediately said to my kindle: If that's happening I'm done! I kept on reading and finished it, but I hated that thing. I also hated other parts. She's 21 and he's 19. Nothing about anything here is illegal ... she could've just asked for another class or another student to tutor. That would've made everything unproblematic. But we obviously need drama in our books. (I don't!) This was not my day, not my book, not my trope(s). I'm so sorry!! Brittainy is not at fault here at all. (Even though I did have my problems with some of the writing/grammar/tenses too!) I just couldn't love this like I wanted to. I think we could've put both of them into college and the story would've been just as great. We could've gotten drama from somewhere else. I don't like student-teacher things. Even though there was nothing illegal about it this time. No creepy pedo moments or anything like in other books. There were lots of cute moments, funny ones (Tom!), very heartbreaking ones. It wasn't all bad! Don't let me scare you too far away with my complaining! I really liked the cast - Tom and the uncle were great. It's a great romance for readers who love student/teacher and heartbreaking sickness things. (Nobody dies! The mothers are already dead though!)
Oh and while I'm at it with all the complaining... LOL! I hated Starlet's dad job - I hate tattoos! I hate-hate-hated her musical taste! BTS? ...more
They were best friends as kids, but now she hates him. She's hated him for 15 years now. But now he[image] [image] [image] [image] [image]
Mallory + Zeke
They were best friends as kids, but now she hates him. She's hated him for 15 years now. But now he's back in town and he's kinda still interested in being her friend - or more. And with his secret dating app alter ego, she's all interested - but she doesn't know it's him.
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Well ... I didn't finish this. I wanted to ...because I didn't hate hate it. I don't know what it was. I just couldn't keep on reading. The writing, the people, the silly dating app trope, the constant teaching us about authors and basketball, their ages! They're 28 - not 19 like I first thought and like they behave! I just couldn't go on. But then I had a bit of free time between books and I thought - okay - let's try this one more time. I hate not finishing books. And I still didn't love it. I really liked Zeke, but he was basically the only good part of the book. I just couldn't handle the ridiculous dating app 'secret' trope that will lead to a ridiculous fight and break up! And their ages and all the other people in there - family, friends - people from the author's other books - I don't care for that at all. I finished it but I fast-forwarded a lot.
It wasn't our day book - you were not bad, it was probably just my mood. Sorry.
DOUBLETALK was a cute kinda second-chance author + baller love story.
Silicon Valley. Cat and William seem to have it all. The perfect marriage. The perfect California castle. The über successful tech compan[image] [image]
Silicon Valley. Cat and William seem to have it all. The perfect marriage. The perfect California castle. The über successful tech company. The perfect social standing - they're the envy of all their neighbors.
Neena and Matt. They don't have much of anything. Matt loves Neena with everything he has. But that is and never will be enough for Neena. She wants Cat's life. She wants the billionaire husband. The house. The company. She wants to be queen of Palo Alto. She thinks she deserves it so much more than everybody else.
But Cat is not as easy a victim as Neena had hoped she'd be.
Let the games begin!
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Phew. I don't know what to say. I usually don't like those kinds of books. The ones where we don't know if there'll be a happy end - of if there even is someone we want that happy end for.
Most people won't want to read this book, because cheating is a hard limit for most readers. And it is for me too. At least in a romance. But this is not a romance. Yes, it's about two couples and there's a lot of love and affection. But it's more of a SOCIOPATHIC-SUBURBAN-MILLIONAIRES-ROMANTIC-PSYCHO-THRILLER ... or something like that. ☺
We have Cat and William - who we are kind of rooting for. But I guess some will love the other couple more. But it's basically Cat's story. Neena and Matt are the new neighbors and Neena wants William and all that comes with him. Money, social standing. Everything.
But she didn't really count on his clueless-housewifey Cat to be such a strong opponent.
This was a really interestinig story. A beautifully written story really. And I kinda hated reading it. LOL! I wanted to DNF several times. I swore to myself that I would delete the book as soon as William even so much as leaned toward Neena for a cheating kiss. And I almost did. But I didn't. I had to find out how this all would end - and I'm not one of those idiots who reads the end of a book first. And now that I'm done with it - I'm really happy that I read it all.
I'm still not a fan of cheating - there's really no justification for cheating in my mind. If you want out of a relationship - do it. Leave. Cheating just doesn't make any sense at all. And if you're such a weak idiot that you can't resist such a b*tch, then I don't need you anyway. BUT - William was kind of a great guy - even though we hate him sometimes. And we hate Neena. And we love poor Matt. But we also hate them all for being idiots and crazy. But we still love them all. Ugh - I don't make any sense - read this book. Don't give up - don't delete if from your kindle once you encounter a part that you don't like - keep on reading!
I really loved it in the end. The end was good. Still not a life I would want to be in, but still good! This was a really great story. I so need to see this on Netflix one day!
Uhm, about the cover? This scene doesn't happen - but while I was reading I was sure that it would come! That it would be a scene where they all travel to Hawaii together!!! Was this scene cut? Or was it never in the book? Because I was prepared to throw my kindle out the window if William had asked Neena to join them on their trip! LOL!!! But now that I look closely, it's the pool at the house - which they didn't really swim in either, so. ☺
OK guys - I will put my whole review in a spoiler thingy - not because I'm spoiling anything (much), but because I'm kinda mean and weird about[image]
OK guys - I will put my whole review in a spoiler thingy - not because I'm spoiling anything (much), but because I'm kinda mean and weird about the book. I don't want to offend anyone or stop anyone from reading and loving the book. So ... please don't read my review if you want to enjoy the book or if you don't like people who complain a lot or if you're the author or ... better yet ... just don't read my review at all! ☺ I'm weird with so many things. Things I hate and dislike ... BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT - make up your own mind! I'm just here to tell you guys → MY VERY OWN HONEST OPINION. ☺♥
Ok - my little summary is ok to post without the spoiler thingy:
Jayden is a famous romance author. But ever since he left his cheating wife six months ago, he hasn't been able to write one word. He's suffering from writer's block - plus ... he's been busy screwing and drinking himself around town.
But now he met this perfect woman on a plane. She's inspired him from the second he first saw her.
Bla bla - some interesting but not at all surprising events later - Jayden and Carrie are in Paris to do some research for a new book idea they came up with.
And while researching romance in the most romantic city ever ... they fall for each other..... But of course his ex is not done with him and Carrie's family and past relationships might become problems too ...
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Well, that was kinda adorable. A sweet mix of rom-com, second-chance, finding yourself again, travel & writing love story. I liked the idea of the book. The idea of this cheated-on author and the cute girl spending time in Paris. But (view spoiler)[ the problem I had with this book started on page one. Page one is a very short page, but I still found THREE things that bothered me. I'm not going to tell you about all of them ... it would take too long - just know that one has to do with my AS problem. Readers of my reviews know that I HATE THE AS! The ones that are not used to compare things like as big as .. but the ones that should be a since or a because or just a pausing - or ; (I couldn't pick you up from school, AS I was busy being a serial killer!) Well - I hate that. It's a british/legal/official kind of thing, and I can live with the british hero of this book saying it - even though he does it way too much. But all characters use it, because the author uses it. Not her characters. And I hate that. I also know that Monica is from Australia, so I can totally understand her using it. But I still hate it! The book is supposed to be american - at least most characters are. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I hate it. Once I see the first AS in a book I want to throw it out the next window, but I always give it a little more time - hoping that it was just a little one/two-time accident. But just like all of Sawyer Bennett's books, this first one I ever read by Monica, was sooo full of those horrible AS's too - I couldn't enjoy this book the way I was hoping to. I skimmed a lot of it.
And don't think the writing was the only thing bothering me about this book - nope - there's this little other thing that bothered me ... the horrible hero! OK, to be fair - I kinda liked him. He's been cheated on by the love of his life. I can understand how he had to blow off some steam in the months following, BUT... those months didn't have to be more than 30% of this book!!!! This book where we want him to find his happily ever after with Carrie!! Ew. Just ew! He was such a disgusting slut the whole first third of the book. That was almost the 2nd reason I was about to throw the book out of the next window. Thank the stars above I was reading in the basement TV room today! I can't afford a new kindle! ☺
I kept going and it got better. Once we're in Paris it gets adorable and french and writer-y and cute and sexy. But then there are some weird moments again later on with the ex and Carrie's secret. Ugh.
Oy, another few things I just remembered ... I even googled them, to make sure I wasn't completely wrong ... but I wasn't ... the author didn't do her research properly. I can only remember two things right now. One was that Jayden mentions - multiple times - that he's used to even colder weather than Paris and New England - because he's from London. HA!!! London is wet and yeah it can be cold, but not colder than Paris and New England in the middle of winter. Jeez. The 2nd thing is the orange butterfly flying around Paris at the end of december? In snowy Paris? Nope. They die in the cold - or they sleep, but they don't fly around a park. Another thing had to do with Whiskey but I can't for the life of me remember what it was ... oh and also the topless sunbathing in that country they're vacationing in? Nope. Verboten in that country! You'll go to jail and never come out if you're caught! ☺ (hide spoiler)]
It wasn't a bad book - not that anyone can tell from my rant ^^^ - but please give it a chance - you should btw. always do that - even after you read one of my reviews. Because I know I'm very weird with what I like and hate! ☺ I liked this book and I liked the characters - especially the agent! He's hilarious! It just wasn't my day for this kind of story/writing/characters/research. The cover is pretty and the blurb sounded cute too - I would definitely watch it if it turned up on my Netflix one day!!!
OMG - I just saw some reviews talking about hating all the religious shit in this book? WHY KELLAN'S MOM??? WHY???? THERE'S ALMOST NOTHING I HATE MOREOMG - I just saw some reviews talking about hating all the religious shit in this book? WHY KELLAN'S MOM??? WHY???? THERE'S ALMOST NOTHING I HATE MORE THAN RELIGION!!!!! I'm already seeing myself giving this book only 1 star - whyyyyy???? I was hoping for something amazing like The Simple Wild - but I'm afraid I'm not getting that .... well - let's hope (or PRAY) I'll survive this trip to Alaska!
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Mallory is on her way to the Alaskan wild. She does that every year. She goes up there to take pictures of wild animals. That's her job and her passion.
But this year the weather is not on her side - an unforseen storm makes her crash the plane.
She has to fight injuries, bears, wolves, and the horrible cold weather for a very dangerous while. But then she's saved by Michael. He heard the plane go down and made his way through the snow to see what's what.
He's been living out here for five years.
But why?
Mallory is fascinated by the man. She doesn't want to ask him, but since they have to stay in his cabin until spring, she might get him to talk about his life .... and she might fall for him - but he's never going to leave this place - or can she convince him to start living again?
WHAT WiLL HAPPEN TO MALLORY & MICHAEL? WILL THERE BE A HEA?
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I'm such a huge #KellanKyle fan - he's still my number one book boyfriend of all time - so anything that follows in his footsteps will have a hard time with me ... But I will definitely try ... almost anything.
I'm the biggest hater of anything to do with religion! And since I unfortunately read some reviews of this book on goodreads, I was pretty sure I was going to hate this story.
And yeah, the praying and touching-her-cross-necklace starts pretty early into the story and it pretty much never stops - it only gets worse once she tries to find out how Michael lost his faith .... I didn't like it. Not one bit.
BUT - I also really wanted to keep on reading because I wanted to know why Michael checked out of his old life and what happened to him and how they would fall for each other and how the story would end.
It was hard - there was a lot of praying and faith talk. It would've been too much for me with almost any author, but it's a book by Kellan's mom and it was somewhat exciting here and there, so I didn't want to stop reading. But I constantly felt like some missionary wanted to recruit me for their cult. Ewww.
But when we look past the whole faith sh*t. The story wasn't really all that amazing either. Nothing I haven't read in dozens of wilderness/snowed-in romance books before. Yes, it definitely had its exciting and suspensy and dangerous and romantic and heartbreaking and adorable and fun moments. But I was expecting so much more. So much more emotion and love and surprise. There's almost nothing here. No real sexiness, just some church-camp kind of tame kissing. The whole quiet and serene atmosphere has this 'holy' kind of feel to it. Ugh.
The end was better - once Mallory finally leaves, it got a bit better. I even cried some tears.☺
If I had to say anything about how this book would be sold/marketed, I would either sell it exclusively as a Christian Romance (ewww). Or have a very atheist editor go through it again and remove most of that praying and god stuff and add a bit more excitement and love and chemistry, maybe even a few chapters from Michael's POV (view spoiler)[ and mayyyybe make it so his wife was maybe killed while on a date with her secret boyfriend? That way we could hate her and he could too, because the way it is, falling for Mallory feels too much like cheating for Michael and the reader - even though it's been many years. (hide spoiler)]
OK. I don't want to make future readers run away screaming. Please read this book. It's a pretty ok snow adventure romance thingy. There were definitely good moments. But for me, today, there was just not enough to fall in love with this book and the people in it. Sorry.
UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS was a sweet & exciting Alaska snow romance! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Michael!
... another thing that bothered me - and it's just me being weird again, I know that ...
Some authors use expressions that they learned back home, from grandma etc. and it's totally ok to use them in your books, BUT if you do, I think only one character should use them, not all of them. Especially when they're strangers from different parts of the country and haven't grown up together! In this case (like in all of her books) it was EVEN STILL & SO LONG AS. Ugh, I hate these two expressions!
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