Book Review – Page 19

My Favorite Couples: Valentine’s Edition

It is Love day and so what better day to post about my favorite literary couples! I have quite a few couples who have stuck with me this past year and a half of reading and I think they all deserve some recognition. Some of my favorites might even be your favorites or maybe you despise them! Lets see how much we have in common.

None of this is my art! If I know who created the fanart I will try to post their name to give them credit but I am using google. I appreciate all the wonderful fanart that is out there and I truly appreciate their talents! If you know where some of the art came from please let me know so I can mention them.

Top 5 Couples

August and Jane

August and Jane are from my all time favorite romance read “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston.

I immediately fell in love with their chemistry and think that they deserve the world! They were cute, quirky and just all around loveable characters.

Also I am in love with all the fanart from this book! Every piece I have seen has embodied the characters so well.

August is my go too girl, me and her would be besties in the real world!

The big graphic above comes from Art.Gent on Tumblr and I was unable to pin point where the rest came from.

Olive and Adam

I really loved the idea of a professor and student being together, yeah it is morally wrong but that might be a secret fantasy of mine.

I thought their relationship started off really awkward and rocky but I loved their romantic tension! It really got me rooting for them in the end.

I will admit that the fan art was what really made me fall in love with them, look how cute!

Not sure where this one came from but it was one of my favorites!

The big picture above is from Bela:Koa on twitter and this one is from Lia on twitter

Hunt and Bryce

These two are from my most favorite fantasy book Crescent City! These two drove me wild! I loved their relationship with all my heart that at times it hurt. I knew from the moment Hunt entered the scene that they would make one bad A** couple!

I really hope good things come for them in the rest of the series.

Unable to find the artist of the main big picture and this one

I believe this one is from Alexandra Curte

This picture is painted by Anabel.Kay on twitter

Alex and Henry

These two were the first couple I ever really fell in love with so they will always have a place in my heart.

I am a sucker for enemies to lovers and these were my originals! Despite all odds they made their relationship work. They had a pretty steamy romance too! Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a must read!

Not sure who this one is by or the main picture either.

Poppy and Alex

This was a trope that really pulled me in. Friends who drifted apart but find love. Ugh so cute! I just think this relationship could be so relatable to a lot of people that rooting for them just became easy.

Not a lot of fanart for this story out there but I love this piece by RedBubble.

QOTD: Who is the couple you love to ship?

Book Review: “The Unhoneymooners” By Christina Lauren

I read this book for a buddy read that I am hosting at the end of this month and to be honest I have a lot to talk about with this book! With that said you should come join in on this buddy read and join in on this conversation.

I apparently tried to read this book back in August and only read the first two chapters before my mood swapped from romance to thriller. So this book has been on my back burner for awhile and I am pretty upset that I hadn’t picked it up sooner. Keep reading to see my thoughts!

“I knew he was a book lover, but to be the same kind of book lover I am? It makes my insides melt.”
Direct Quote

About The Book

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books

Published Date: May 14th 2019

Page Count: 400 pages

Main Genres: Romance, Contemporary and Fiction

GoodReads Rating: 4.01

“I can appreciate my body in a bikini and still want to set fire to the patriarchy.”
Direct Quote

Synopsis

Olive is the complete polar opposite of her twin sister Ami. Olive is just unlucky in all aspects of life where as her sister who is getting married to a nearly perfect guy can now get married for practically nothing when she wins contest after contest to help her plan her dream wedding.

However, on the wedding day everyone comes down with food poisoning except for Olive and her arch nemesis Ethan, the grooms brother. This leaves the Honeymoon up for grabs and there is no way unemployed Olive is going to sit and mope in her lonely apartment while her enemy gets to enjoy an all paid trip to Hawaii.

The catch? They have to put all hatred aside to put on the perfect show of a happily newlywed couple so they don’t get caught committing fraud. Can these two put their hate aside to enjoy a once in a life time vacation or will they get caught in all their lies?

“You don’t get to choose the circumstances. That’s the point of luck: it happens when and where it happens.”
Direct Quote

Rating

“It’s so exhausting pretending to hate you.”
Direct Quote

Review

Once I started this book it was pretty hard to put it down! It took me three days to read this book. Now to some of you this might seem like a long time but for me I average one book a week, so to finish this in three days I know I must have enjoyed it!

It started off kind of slow, it picked up around page 80 or 90 and once I past that I was reading until I had no choice but to put it down. I think the writing was gorgeous! I loved each character individually and even though the trope feels over played I didn’t care. It was a book that just kept giving!

I know I stated I liked the characters individually but lets talk about Olive and Ethan as a couple. I hated them as a couple! I do not ship them, boot them off the island! Their relationship was soooooooo exhausting. Sorry for all the o’s back there but I need you to fully understand how I feel. Every chapter they were off and on and I just wanted to strangle them both! The arguments every other page felt pointless. I just wanted to fall in love with them but they made it so hard! Now with that said the few steamy scenes in there were really what made me root for them in the end.

Something I took away from this book is that it is important to find a partner who fully trusts you and understands your feelings. Don’t let anyone make you feel like your feelings are invalid! You are worthy of so much more!

Even though I hated Olive and Ethan as a couple I liked the story and the characters alone enough to give this a decent rating. This book also had a lot of humor that made up for the parts that had you screaming. Over all this was a pretty cute and fun book. definitely worth the read!

“It’s the strangest feeling to be proud simply because I’m taking care of me and mine. Is this what it’s like to grow up?”
Direct Quote

Come join us!

Don’t forget to come join my buddy read for this book! We have a few weeks left for you to catch up before we fully discuss the book! Just let me know to get you added!

QOTD: Do you have characters who you just hate as a couple?

Book Review: “The Last Thing He Told Me” By Laura Dave

This book has been on my TBR for a few months. I received it from my Book of the Month Subscription a little while back and I have been wanting to read it for awhile but to be honest the cover just didn’t pull me in, so it kept getting pushed back. Finally I saw that it was listed on Scribed to listen to for free and I knew I had to dive in!

“Maybe we are all fools, one way or another, when it comes to seeing the totality of the people who love us—the people we try to love.”
Direct quote

About The Book

Author: Laura Dave

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published Date: May 4th 2021

Page Count: 320 Pages

Main Genres: Mystery, Fiction and Thriller

GoodReads Rating: 3.93

“He never understood that I wasn’t scared of someone leaving me. I was scared that the wrong person would stay.”
Direct Quote

Synopsis

Hannah’s life gets thrown for a loop when she receives a note from her husband saying “Protect Her”. Hannah knows she is meant to protect her step daughter Bailey, who has already had a troubled life and most importantly who hates her. Why can’t her husband just tell this to her face, why send a note? Protect her from what?

When her husbands boss gets arrested and the FBI start knocking on her door and her husband is no where to be found she decides to start taking things into her own hands.

Taking her scared step daughter all the way to Texas, they start to unravel a very unsettling truth. Is her husband really who she thought he was?

“This is the terrible thing about a tragedy. It isn’t with you every minute. You forget it, and then you remember it again. And you see it with a stark quality: This is what is required of you now, just to get along.”
Direct Quote

Rating

“This is the thing about good and evil. They aren’t so far apart—and they often start from the same valiant place of wanting something to be different.”
Direct Quote

Review

My favorite part about this book is that the daughters name is Bailey, I mean that is my name just spelt wrong! All jokes aside, I really did enjoy this book!

I went into this, like most books, blind. I hadn’t read a synopsis or very many detailed reviews. I knew it would be a mystery and I also knew it was on the GoodReads choice awards which really got me interested. Without knowing what I was really getting myself into I think the story really surprised me. It took turn’s that I wasn’t expecting and over all made a pretty great reading experience.

I started off not loving the characters, which frustrated me because I struggled to want to listen to the first maybe 30% of the book. But the book quickly picked up and the relationship between the characters really started to blossom and I ultimately made great connections with them. I think the over all character development between Hannah’s and Bailey’s relationship was the most touching part of the book and what really stuck with me even after reading. With that said, I didn’t really care why Owen was in hiding, I was just rooting for Hannah and Bailey to grow closer together.

I loved the audio book! I own the hard copy but wasn’t tempted to pick it up because the lady who voiced this book did such a wonderful job! I really recommend picking this one up on audio if you are on the fence.

QOTD: What book do you find yourself thinking back to the most?

Book Review: “Weather Girl” By Rachel Lynn Solomon

This book is actually one of the books I chose to read for my group buddy read this February. We aren’t having our group discussion until the last week of the month but I sped through this book! I am really excited to share my thoughts and deep dive into my burning questions with my reading group!

It is not too late to join in! If you like my review for this book let me know and we can get you added to our buddy read! I am so excited!

“There’s rainwater in these veins instead of blood.”
Direct quote from page 18.

About The Book

Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon

Published date: January 11th 2022

Publisher: Berkley

Page Count: 352

Main Genres: Romance and Contemporary

GoodReads Rating: 3.90

“The only things I kept from him were for his own good. Although lately, I’ve been wondering how happy I really was with him if I hid that much of myself.”
Direct quote from page 41.

Synopsis

Ari is working her dream job as the weather girl for the local news station and her boss happens to be her childhood hero, Torrance Hale. The only issue is that Torrance isn’t the best mentor, she is way too focused on making her ex husbands life difficult rather than to help Ari grow in her profession. The problem with this is that it creates a hostile work environment.

When a work Christmas party gets out of hand, Ari and her sports reporter co-worker Russell devise a plan to get their bosses back together and to bring happiness and structure back to the news station.

Now that Ari and Russell are working so closely together maybe more than just one relationship can blossom.

“That’s the thing about depression. You can know it’s there, know it’s part of you, but you can go ages without seeing it. It lives with you, an invisible roommate, up until the time you start sinking, and then it sprawls itself across your couch and kicks its feet up on your coffee table and uses up all the hot water. Never pays its half of the rent, either.”
Direct quote from page 287

Rating

“It’s still scary as fuck though.” “Putting your heart out there and not knowing whether the other person will be careful with it.”
Direct quote from page 295

Review

This book was recently released just less than a month ago and it caught my eye on the day it released! I knew I would read this and love it!

I picked this book up and it only took like three sittings to finish. I started it right before my vacation and ended it the day I got back, and no I didn’t read a page while I was in Disneyland… I had no time!

This book lived up to my expectations fully and really entertained me. It was really well written and it was a super cute read. Also it had some decent steamy scenes!

Ari was honestly such a cute character! I loved her little hobbies and how true and honest she is with herself. I really need to purchase some of her jewelry! As for Russell, I loved that he was a realistic father with the dad bod and all. When you read romances things feel way exaggerated with the characters but these two felt like real life people that I could picture.

The author wrote this in such a respectful way when talking about depression. As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression I felt like this book was speaking to me. I fund some of the quotes very relatable which was a nice touch. When I read the blurb before the book the author talked about how she wanted to write this in a respectful way and even added the suicide hotlines in the book if anyone who was struggling needed to talk to someone. I appreciate how honest this book got and how it showed that being open about your depression with the most important people in your life can bring you comfort and peace.

Over all the story was really amazing but I also felt it was slow at sometimes and that is the real reason I am giving this four stars.

If you or anyone you love is struggling with depression please reach out to someone. You are never alone! I am always someone you can come to on a rough day. If you are having suicidal thoughts please reach out to the number listed below. Please know that you matter and someone cares about you. Sending all my love and virtual hugs!

National Suicide Prevention Line: 800-273-8255

QOTD: Would you rather read a book with a male lead who has all the muscles and fancy job or one with a dad bod and a normal life? Does it matter?

Buddy Read

If you would like to join the buddy read this is the schedule if you would like to read at this pace or if you are a fast reader and finish before that is perfectly fine! Here is all the information. Come join us!

Buddy Read

January Wrap Up

The beginning of 2022 treated me pretty well book wise. I found a new book to love and a new book to despise! I read a total of four books this last month and I would say they were all very different from each other which made for a pretty diverse reading month for me.

I will post a quick thought on each book and also the link to the full review so you can easily find my full thoughts on the books. If you have read any of these please drop your rating below!

Books

Lets start from my favorite read all the way to my least!

“Crescent City” By Sarah J. Maas

This is my new all time favorite book! Just barley beating Verity and One Last stop out.

I loved this book with all my heart! The world building was well… Out Of This World!

I fell in love with all the characters as well.

Sarah J. Maas really knows how to captivate her readers and transport them into her worlds, that is what really made the book my all time favorite!

Full Book Review

“The Maid” By Nita Prose

I really thought this book would have been a quick five star read for me, but it wasn’t! It took me about 100 pages to actually get into this super short book and then towards the end I finally fell in love with the main character Molly.

I felt like this book was over hyped but to be honest it was still a book that maybe one day I would give another try to see if maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for that week.

Full Book Review

“Malibu Rising” By Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is another over hyped book that I read this month. I had heard so many great reviews for this book but I just don’t see why?

I felt like the book moved really slowly, if you like books that have a lot of background history into the characters this book would be for you.

The main issue was that they introduced too many characters and nothing ever paid off!

Full Book Review

“Leave The World Behind” By Rumaan Alam

This will be a mini Review

I HATED this book with all my heart. It made Anxious People sound pleasing to read again which was previously my least favorite book before this one.

I listed to this on audio and the only thing I enjoyed about the book was the narrators voice. It took all of me to finish listening to this book.

All it was is listening to people say “I wonder what is causing the black out?” “What was that noise” over and over again. I felt like every chapter was the same thing just written a tad different than the first.

I really don’t like to be a negative person but I really didn’t have a positive thing to say about this book. I guess they are going to make a movie out of it and I am wanting to know how? We will just be watching people sit down and drink and freak out over the world possibly ending? I am not sure if there is enough content to make a movie, but to each their own.

I highly recommend not wasting your time on this one.

Favorite Quote

“It sucks that everyone just…moves on, and forgets. They expect me to forget. But I can’t.”
From Crescent City

QOTD: What was your favorite read for January?

I just made a buy me a coffee site where you can go to support me and this blog! I am hoping to start making bookmarks soon and this is a way you can help me reach my goal and start my dream shop! I changed it a bit and it is called buy me a book, just to fit my theme!

Buy me a Book!

Book Review: “The Maid” By Nita Prose

I went into this book pretty much blind, meaning I did not read the synopsis I just saw it was labeled as a debut mystery book on Book of the Month Club and decided ehh why not. I liked the simplicity of the cover and that it was less than 300 pages which meant it would be a pretty quick read. Lets see what my thoughts were on this book.

“I am your maid. I know so much about you. But when it comes down to it: what is it that you know about me.”
Direct Quote from book

About The Book

Author: Nita Prose

Date Published: January 4th, 2022

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Page Count: 285

Main Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller

GoodReads Rating: 4.05

“I don’t cut corners, I shine them. No fingerprint left to erase, no smear left to clear.”
Direct quote from book

Synopsis

Molly works as a maid at The Regency Grand Hotel. What she lacks in social skills she makes up for with her superior cleaning skills. Molly finds happiness in knowing that she can come into a destroyed room and to leave it as if it had never been touched.

Her simple maid life takes a quick turn downhill when she finds a V.I.P guest dead in their hotel room and she quickly finds out that she is the number one suspect! With very little social skills and hardly any friends she has to figure out how to clear her name.

“Hello, I’m Molly, the Maid. You don’t see me, I’m invisible but I see you and all you leave behind.”
Direct quote from book

Rating

“It’s what’s between the lines, not on them.”
Direct quote from book

Review

This book started off pretty slow for me. I was on page 75 when I contemplated not finishing the book. However, there was less than 300 pages in the book and it felt like a waste to be almost half way done with the book and to quit so I trekked on! To be honest I felt like the ending was worth the read.

I really struggled with the writing in this book for the first half, the story was slow, the conversation boring and I had nothing that pulled me in. The book really started moving about half way through and you will be forced to finish in one sitting!

Like I said before I have seen this book all over bookstagram with a lot of 5 star reviews so I am in the minority here with this unpopular opinion. I typically love mysteries and it isn’t that this book wasn’t good it is just that it wasn’t memorable!

What I did really like about this book is that Molly really grows on you towards the end. I thought her character was really well rounded and put together. I also liked the relationships that grow throughout the book. Well written characters made this book for me.

I think if you like the synopsis for this book then give it a try! But if you are on the fence maybe skip it.

QOTD: What is your favorite mystery novel?