Not So Nice Guy

Not So Nice Guy by R. S. Grey

Published: August 9th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: “Oh my god. Who that?”
I get asked this question a lot.
“Oh him?” I reply. “That’s just Ian.”

Just Ian is the biggest understatement of the century.
Just the Mona Lisa. Just the Taj Mahal. Just Ian, with his boring ol’ washboard abs and dime-a-dozen dimpled smile.

Just Ian is… just my best friend.

We’re extremely close, stuck so deep inside a Jim-and-Pam-style friendzone everyone at works assumes we’re a couple – that is until one day, word spreads through the teacher’s lounge that he’s single. Fair game. Suddenly, it’s open season on Ian.

He should be reveling in all the newfound attention, but to our mutual surprise, the only attention he seems to want is mine.

He’s turning our formerly innocent nightly chats into x-rated phone calls. Our playful banter sports a new, dangerous edge.

I want to assume he’s playing a prank on me, just pushing my buttons like always – but when Ian lifts me onto the desk in my classroom and slides his hands up my skirt, he doesn’t leave a lot of room for confusion.

I’m a little scared of things going south, of losing my best friend because I can’t keep my hands to myself. So, I’m just going to back away and not return this earth-shattering kiss – oh who am I kidding?!

Goodbye Ian, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal!

Helloooo mister not so nice guy.

So I really loved this book! I read it in a few days but I didn’t want to put it down! It was so funny and enjoyable and the characters were really amazing!

I loved Sam as a character! She was quirky, funny, and full of life! I honestly wanted her to be my best friend! She was so fully alive and I just loved reading into her mind! She was so different I feel from Grey’s other female characters. I’ve only read a two other of her novels, but she made Sam stand out so much to me.

Ian was just adorable! I liked him instantly! She was caring, smart, and witty! I loved reading about his life and his relationships with his parents and Sam. He was passionate about sports and fitness, and his students as well and it was a joy reading about that.

But I think the best part of the whole novel was reading about Sam and Ian’s friendship and their banter. They were so cute together as best friends and I loved seeing their relationship as lovers grow. I liked that it wasn’t a novel full of like sex and such. I mean don’t get me wrong, I love smutty novels but this one didn’t need it! You didn’t need to see them getting down and dirty every page to really enjoy them and their relationship. I think that I enjoyed seeing them share pretty much everything, and had traditions and such with each other. I just couldn’t get over how cute they both were and I just loved them so much!

I thought that them being teachers was fun too! They had a good work dynamic and the events that happened in the novel during their school time was funny. There was a scene having to do with whipped cream that I thought was hilarious! I couldn’t stop laughing! I couldn’t believe that happened! One of my all time favorite scenes in any of her novels!

If you’ve read this novel you’ll know the scene!

So freaking funny!

I do have to admire Ian that when they were talking about their possible relationship, Ian made sure to bring it up that he didn’t want a friends with benefits type of relationship with her. He wanted the whole thing. And I really appreciate that. He wasn’t looking for a quick fling. And I liked that because he knew her so well, he knew how to handle her during their beginnings of their relationship, when they were trying to figure out how to navigate this. He knew when to give her time, and when to leave her alone and everything. He wasn’t afraid to let her take some time to think things through.

I just respected Ian as a character for being the way he was with her. He knew when to push her to admit things, and knew when to back down and leave her in peace when she wasn’t sure about certain aspects.

Overall this novel is fun, and hilarious, with amazing characters, a good plot, and just witty banter. I love R. S. Grey’s writing and she continues to hook me on her words and characters from page one! I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a fun romantic comedy! You won’t want to put this down!

What is your favorite R. S. Grey novel? I’d love to know!

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Taming Him

Taming Him by Kennedy Fox

Publisher: Kennedy Fox Books LLC

Published: January 30th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: Alex Bishop is your typical cowboy.
Charming, sexy, and wears a panty-melting smirk.

Working on the ranch helped build his solid eight-pack and smoking body. He’s every girl’s wet fantasy, and he knows it too. Alex doesn’t follow the rules of your typical playboy bachelor. After wining and dining his dates and giving them the best night of their lives, he always sends flowers and calls the next day—even if it’s to say, let’s just be friends. His mama taught him manners after all, and his Southern blood knows how to be a gentleman. Still, that isn’t enough to tame the wildest of the Bishop brothers.

River Lancaster has finally met the man of her dreams. Too bad after six months of romantic bliss, she finds out he’s married. With a broken heart and blind rage, she books herself a ticket to Key West, Florida. Tired of cheaters and liars, she’s set on escaping to forget he ever existed. Who needs a man when there’s an all-you-can-drink margarita bar, anyway? That’s what she tells herself until she bumps into the right guy who can make all those bad memories disappear.

Even if it’s only temporarily.

Two weeks on the beach is what they both need. No strings attached, no expectations, no broken hearts. Too bad the universe has other plans—one that’ll change the entire course of their lives in just nine short months.

This book was addicting! I loved it so much and I didn’t want to put it down when I started it. I read it at work one day during my lunch and I got maybe like 15% through the first day and then binge read it the next day! I couldn’t get enough of it and I loved it so much! I said that already but I loved it!

Hands down one of my favorite romances ever.

And it’s a western romance!!!

So good!!

Alex Bishop was just the best! I loved him a lot! I loved his dedication to his family and his interactions with his brothers, and his long distance relationship with his sister. I mean his brother Jackson was a lot to handle and they seemed to have a decent but crazy relationship but you could tell either way he loved his brother. Even his older brother who seemed to be closed off and in his own world being a doctor. I just liked seeing their relationship and I cannot wait to see their interactions in the future books! I do appreciate a family that is really present in books, and I loved seeing his parents in this story!

And I loved his relationship with River! Seeing them go outside their boundaries in different ways was great! River and Alex are pretty different in terms of love and sex. River is very closed off and overthinks a lot and doesn’t really so the casual sex relationships aren’t her thing and it was cool seeing her step out of that box with Alex during their vacation.

With Alex, he has had many lovers and seeing him stay with just River during their vacation was fun and really changed the game with him and their future relationship.

I of course thought their relationship, both sexual, and not, was adorable and I wanted more! I honestly didn’t want the book to end because I was just so addicted to their romance and them as characters. I really think it’s great that Kennedy Fox wrote characters that you really cared about and adored throughout the story. I don’t think I have ever read a novel where not even a third of the way through and I was just in love with the characters and was rooting for them and what they had with each other to succeed!

River was a great character as mentioned above. I liked her and her passion for helping children after what happened to her in the past. I loved seeing her drive and see her interaction with children who were sick. I wanted to see more of that because I enjoyed that so much. And seeing her with her best friend was so cute! They had a great friendship and I wanted to find out more about them and thought that they balanced each other out so well!

I think my only issue with the novel is that the summary spoils something that happens during the book. As you can see up above you know from the summary that she gets pregnant which is something I felt would have been better for us to find out while reading. I like to find that kind of stuff out while reading the novel, not reading the summary.

But speaking of River being pregnant, seeing Alex be the way he is with River during her pregnancy was so cute!!! I adored them and thought that he made a perfect father to their kid! I think they both learned something during their time together and I enjoyed seeing them learn it and see them learn to be parents.

Overall this was a great novel and I adored the characters, the plot, the romance, and just everything about this novel. I really want to pick up the next book so I hope to do so in the future! Highly recommend this series!

Have you read any Kennedy Fox books? Which one or ones did you read, and what were your thoughts???

 

Sky in the Deep

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Published: April 24th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother’s betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed this book yet, and I’m kind of ashamed since I read it a few months back. That’s how behind I am. But yes.

Anyways.

I loved this book! I thought it was really interesting! My only comment was that it didn’t feel like a viking setting. I don’t really know the setting was supposed to be based off Vikings if the summary in the back didn’t tell me.

But I really did enjoy Sky in the Deep though, and I thought the characters were super interesting and the world was unique. I didn’t mind that much that I couldn’t really tell it was supposed to be viking-ish. The setting and such didn’t give me that clue, but I think what really let me fall into the viking aspect of the novel was the characters.

Eelyn really made me feel that way being herself and the way she lived her life and fought. I really did feel bad for her in a way because she loved her brother and she was super shocked and upset when she found out he was alive and didn’t really bother to come back to her and her family. The idea that he was like that saddened me. I could tell she was upset and it hit her like a punch in the gut. She worked hard to let it not affect her but I think when she did that, you could tell how much it bothered her. I mean I would feel the same way in her position. I think that is why I was sort of proud of her that in the end she overcame what was bothering her with her brother Iri and tried her best to reconnect with him because in the end she really loved him. She was just a strong person, and I liked that she was tough and at the same time was able to let herself fall in love with someone that she deemed different from her.

Fiske and her were totally opposite in beliefs and everything, and their tribes were enemies for the longest time. But she was able to put aside her hate of him and his people, for his sake, and the sake of everyone. And that also goes along with her putting herself last and doing whatever she could to make sure her loved ones were safe. That shows just how great of a character she was. And her relationships with the other characters in the story were great to see. I liked seeing her relationship develop with Fiske, who I thought was the cutest! I loved him! He’s so dark and broody, but he loved Iri like he was his own blood brother. Them being from opposite tribes never stood in the way of them being best friends and brothers. I thought was so really great and I really enjoyed their friendship during the novel. But their sexual tension was just…wow! I would get on the edge of my seat when they were in a scene in the story together. You could tell they were attracted to each other and were starting to feel more feelings for each other, and that is what made me like them so much! Their tension was just addicting and I couldn’t get enough of it.

I was trash for it.

Also Eelyn’s relationship with Inge was so important I think in the novel. Eelyn lost her mother years previous, and while Inge wouldn’t be able to take the place of her mother, Inge was a good person to help her out and do what she could for her and step into that motherly role in a way. I mean Eelyn was a hard person to get along with, but Inge was stubborn and didn’t let it bother her. I guess what I am trying to say that while Inge isn’t Eelyn’s mother, she was someone I could see would be willing and able to step into that role and help her like only a mother could.

I do think my favorite relationship besides Fiske and Eelyn’s growing relationship, was Eelyn and Myra’s relationship. They are best friends and fighting partners. They pretty much know each other like the back of their hands. They were friends through and through, and no matter what they had each other’s back. I just thought it was such a good friendship, and I do wish we got more of it because I wanted to know more about them and see more into their relationship.

But overall this novel was great and I loved the storyline and the characters and thought it was really action packed and full of things going on. I liked seeing the characters develop in this story and see where they ended up in the end. I didn’t expect it to do this way for Eelyn but I am happy it did and I am happy she’s with someone who makes her happy, even if it was the last person she expected. That’s sometimes always the best way to meet someone.

Again highly recommend this novel and I think many people will really enjoy it!

Have you read this book yet? What did you think?

 

The Beauty of Darkness

The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E Pearson

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Published: August 2nd, 2017

Rating: 

Summary: Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

So I listened to this on audiobook! I highly recommend checking out the audiobook for this book because it was really good! It was narrated by like 6 people I believe and it was super interesting! I thought they made the book seem so real to me because the voices were different. I really enjoy that people do that for audiobooks!

And I loved the first two books and I put this one off because I was so nervous since it was a massive book, things were happening, and it was the end of the trilogy!

It definitely lived up to my expectations!

I expected a lot out of this book and it really met them and surpassed them! I just didn’t want to put it down and I felt like it things were happening all over the place and you couldn’t think one thing of a person one way because something was revealed about them and that changed the game and the way things were going. The secrets that were revealed were intense and I didn’t expect them and couldn’t believe the way things were turning out!

So Lia is great! I mean she’s so strong and such a badass female and never backs down from doing things that most might not want her to do. But they are the right thing to do and she is all down for doing what is right. She’s also able to just open her mind and her heart for the other country of Venda when most people in her world don’t trust them. I just loved seeing her growth from a girl running away from her wedding to a young woman fighting to save her world from destruction. And her ability to love someone and even with heartbreak, but her feelings aside and be able to work together to save their kingdoms. I also loved her female friendship with Pauline because they were there for each other no matter what in the entire book.

And I loved Lia’s relationship with her brothers. I mean I wish you saw more of it because you could tell it was there. But you could hear the love for them in her voice and when she was working hard to find out where they were and get them back to her.

Lia just had great relationship s with people and was willing to fight for her friends to keep them alive. Her and Kaden are a great example of that. She didn’t seem to trust him after what she went through in The Heart of Betrayal but because she knew she needed him and he was the way he was because of things that happened in his life, she opened her heart to seeing him in a different light and they developed a really good friendship.

And Lia and Rafe…oh man oh man their relationship was interesting because they were in love, and then Rafe was a DICK and said some stuff that was really hurtful and I like how Mary E Pearson left their relationship open. I really loved that. I mean they had a solid ending but at the same time there wasn’t a solid conclusion and I think that really left it open for Dance of Thieves. I hope we get to see more of them and find out more of what happens to them in the future. I just loved seeing their romance because they were so cute in the beginning and they made leaps and bounds throughout the novel. I adored them. I’m happy that in the end their love for each other won out because I think they were really prefect to each other.

Overall I think this was a great ending an amazing trilogy and I cannot wait to see what Dance of Thieves brings to the picture. Because of work I haven’t had a chance to read it but today my goal is to finish it or get close to finishing it today since I am finally off work! Stay tuned for my review!

Have you read this series? Who’s your favorite character? Which book is your favorite book? Mine would have to be this book The Beauty of Darkness! So worth every page read!

Gilded Cage

Gilded Cage by Vic James

Publisher: Del Rey Books

Published: February 14th, 2017

Rating: 

Summary: In modern-day Britain, magic users control everything: wealth, politics, power—and you. If you’re not one of the ultimate one-percenters—the magical elite—you owe them ten years of service. Do those years when you’re old, and you’ll never get through them. Do them young, and you’ll never get over them.

This is the darkly decadent world of Gilded Cage. In its glittering milieu move the all-powerful Jardines and the everyday Hadleys. The families have only one thing in common: Each has three children. But their destinies entwine when one family enters the service of the other. They will all discover whether any magic is more powerful than the human spirit.

Have a quick ten years. . . .

So this book was really interesting. I didn’t really know what to make of it when I first started reading it. But it was really interesting the way this book went about with everything. It was filled with so much conflict and twists and turns I loved it! It kept me on my toes and I couldn’t tell what was happening next and everything was all over the place.

I don’t know if that makes sense.

But basically I would read the book and think that it would go one way and it wouldn’t, it would go a completely different way.

It was like you couldn’t really predict everything because there was always something underneath everything and it would either be revealed or something would happen to turn things a different direction.

I liked that, I like being surprised.

The characters were interesting too. I did have an issue with the slavery parts of the novel. The characters that were the “masters” were really cruel and horrible. I expected it in a way because of the way things were in this story, but I didn’t expect the things they did. It was a bit sad and uncomfortable and such.

There was a lot going on with this society, because like there were two different classes of people that were relevant. The Equals, and the commoners. The Equals have skills and are high class society, while the skill-less people are lower class commoners. And the commoners have to do 10 years of slave-days. And that is actually where the story begins. Luke’s family the Hadley’s are taking their slave days together as a family and the older sister finds that the family The Jardines are looking for hired help in their household and she volunteered her family for that but sadly Luke ends up being taken away to a work camp.

It was kind of obvious that Abi was going to fall for Jenner. I saw it right away and I was kind of like ehhh. It was kind of predictable. And Jenner was the guy who was like “No you can’t fall for me I’m not right for you”. Not sure overall how I feel about this romance. It just didnt feel genuine mainly because Abi was employed by Jenner and also a servant of his family and I’m like are you really in love with him or what? Especially since she was some pretty horrible things at that house.

I thought that it was interesting how Daisy, at 10 years old, was able to bring herself into a position of some influence in the family. She is charged with taking care of Gaver’s illegitimate child, and finds herself really starting to care for Gaver and the baby. I do like that in a way Gaver protected Daisy and listened to her. And seeing as how Gaver was such a hothead and a really mean person, I liked the little insights we got when he would spend time with his daughter. He really did care about his daughter in his own way.

The brother that creeped me out was Silyen. Mainly because he seemed to always be playing some sort of game, and was super sneaky and mysterious. He was just creepy and had a lot going on in this story. I just wasn’t sure about anything with him. He kept me on my toes and had me guessing a lot. I think that while he was a bit creepy and such, he was also the most interesting character to me.

I did enjoy Luke’s part in this story. I wasn’t sure where the direction of his story would go but it was actually really interesting and engaging and I liked reading about it and seeing the world from his eyes. He starts a freaking Rebellion! It was intense! I liked who he came in contact with and what he was able to do with his friends at the camp he went to.

Overall this book this book was really interesting and I will be continuing with the series and cannot wait to see where this goes!

Have you read this book? What did you think if you have? If you haven’t, does this seem like something you would enjoy??

Brightly Burning

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Published: May 1st, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.

But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet.

So I was actually a bit let down by this novel…I was expecting to like love it because while I haven’t read Jane Eyre I’m down for a good class retelling in space with romance! And I didn’t really feel that way with this novel. I just didn’t read anything that kept my interested. It almost felt like I had to push myself to read more of it before I would like try to stop what I was doing and just put it down because it wasn’t catching my eye.

And I don’t know why it was. I mean the romance was broody and slow building and it wasn’t bad. But I think because it felt like it took way longer than it probably should have for things to happen I wasn’t interested anymore.

The writing was okay, it didn’t blow me away, but I feel bad because I’m making this book seem like it was this horrible book when it really wasn’t the case. It just wasn’t as good as I was expecting, and I’ve also read books that have captivated me from page one, and this book just didn’t do that for me. It was interesting to see how they twisted the Jane Eyre story, and again while I haven’t read Jane Eyre I know the general storyline. And I did enjoy the turn of this story and I loved how this novel took Jane Eyre and put it in space! I enjoy books set in space and I’m glad that this novel mad it so that the terms and such weren’t super technical that they go over our heads.

The characters were okay. I mean Hugo was the typical brooding guy, and I liked him but I didn’t fall in love with him like I do other guys. I’m not sure what that is. I think because while they would talk about him, he honestly wasn’t present enough for me to really get a feel of him. It went like other novels where the main guy is there a lot and you see them interacting or doing whatever, but Hugo wasn’t. He spent a lot of time away from Stella in the novel so I didn’t feel connected to him.

Stella I did like. She was a mechanic and was headstrong and I really enjoyed that. I also liked that she was a mechanic but also a teacher. She wasn’t one or the other, and was trying to follow her passions. Her passion was teaching and she really went out of her way to try and continue that passion as a governess.

But I do like this trend that is going around, where a girl is secretly in love with one character in the beginning of the novel, and then later on comes to figure out she doesn’t care for him that way and falls for someone else. And I also enjoy that she didn’t hold that against him, she wasn’t looking to make him jealous with her new love interest. Stella and her previous love aren’t bitter towards each other, they’re friendly and that continues on as the story goes on.

Back to Stella, she was interesting and I did enjoy reading her POV and such, but again wasn’t blown away by her and Hugo.

Overall this novel was just average. I mean I enjoyed it as a novel but it wasn’t something I was in love with or super into and such. I don’t think I’d ever reread it but I am happy I read it if that counts for anything?? I mean I recommend if you’re interested in this Jane Eyre retelling in space! For a retelling it was interesting!

Have you read this book yet? What is your favorite retelling of anything??

Bright We Burn

Bright We Burn by Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte

Published: July 10, 2018

Rating:

Summary: Haunted by the sacrifices he made in Constantinople, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever . . . and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed . . . and would he even want it?

Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper. They must go to war against the girl prince.

But Mehmed knows that he loves her. He understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. Radu alone fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. Only by destroying everything that came before–including her relationships–can Lada truly build the country she wants.

Claim the throne. Demand the crown. Rule the world.

I’m so sad this is over!

I really don’t think that I was ready for this journey with Lada to be over yet! I had so much fun with her and seeing her development on this journey and how she fought so hard to get and keep what was hers. I will admit that she isn’t the best character morality wise but you couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She really had so many flaws but those flaws made her who she was.

I think it was sad seeing her and Radu turn out the way they did. You kind of knew because they’re so different and I honestly didn’t see them really getting close but you couldn’t help but wish for that for them. I think what was most interesting to me as that Radu and Lada did end up so different from each other and it goes to show how people react to different situations and how they try to make the best of everything and how that turns out.

Radu in the first book really embraced his Islam faith once he was introduced to that, and how that seemed to save him and give him strength and peace throughout his life. It’s insane how he embraced that and it gave him strength and that carried him throughout the novels. I did like him better in this story than I have in the previous books. He was a changed man after all he had done in Constantinople and there was no going back for him in Bright We Burn. I feel like I, not explaining this properly but I appreciated that the characters had growth and were different people from the beginning to the end.

But again I liked Radu in this novel, mainly because he had focused on other things rather than Mehmed and was willing to put his love for him aside and saw beyond what he saw in Mehmed previously. He learned that while he believed Mehmed to be this different person, he couldn’t avoid finally seeing that what he had in his mind wasn’t what was in front of him. Also Radu was smart AF. He was smart and sneaky and really could get in the mind of his sister and handle the ways of the court. I admired that about him.

As mentioned I couldn’t help but feel bad for Lada. You could see herself becoming so isolated from people, and it sucked that when she got close to people and started to slightly open herself up she would get hurt again. You could really see that with Nicolae. Her whole storyline with Nicolae was proof of her starting to feel alone. And again with Bogdan. I liked what he gave Lada. She leaned on him a lot because she knew him for so long and she relied on his loyalty. He was loyal to a fault, nothing would change his mind about her and he loved her. He really loved her. But man Lada went through a lot and while she was very cruel, she was in a lot of pain.

I’m sad I won’t get more stories about her. But I loved that this ended with a solid ending, it wasn’t open ended. You got a resolution and I’m very happy with how Kiersten ended this story. I’ll miss it so much! It’s been a wild ride!

And yeah. Loved this series. Highly recommend. You won’t regret it!!

Have you read this series yet? What did you think of it if you have? I’d love to know!

Simon Vs the Homo Sapien’s Agenda

Simon vs the Homo Sapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Published: April 7th 2015

Rating: 

Summary: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. 

So I really loved Simon! I loved this book! I’m shocked I haven’t read this book before I did! I had it for a while so I’m just glad I decided to check it out!

Now I just gotta wait for my friend to read it because once she’s done reading it we said we’re going to watch the movie together! I’m excited!

But damn I loved all the characters, I felt for them and I just adored them like they were my own friends. I forgot after reading Upside how much of an amazing writer Becky Albertalli is. She’s able to make characters so fleshed out and so real to you that you just fall head-first into their stories. I mean with Simon you can’t help but do that.

Simon is the sweetest guy, and he’s so funny and silly, and his friend group is great! They’re so different but so right for each other. It made me wish for that in my high school days. I wasn’t able to go to breakfast with my high school friends, I lived an hour away from my school so once I’d get out I would rush straight home to beat the traffic. We never got the chance to be like “hey let’s go to Denny’s and chill for a few hours and chat!” But I love that this character has that experience in his story and that his friend group was so great!

Simon and Blue’s emails to each other were cool to read. I liked seeing every aspect of their relationship grow. Their friendship was rad, and see that grow into something more was something I loved so much. They put so much of themselves into those emails so it was great seeing that side of them both even though it was from Simon’s POV.

Martin was annoying, and an ass. I didn’t like him but I thought it was brave of Simon to be so willing to forgive him for what he was doing to him. All to get the attention of a girl who didn’t even like him.

But Leah I think I had issues with. She just felt mean. She would get mad over everything and take offense over everything and so she wasn’t someone I cared too much about. I don’t know, something about her rubbed me the wrong way I think.

Blue was a sweetheart and I didn’t expect him to be who he was at all! I thought it was so many other people and I loved that reveal! But I love that they’re so shy and sweet with each other now. It’s the cutest thing to see!

There’s just so much I wish I could articulate about this novel that I loved and I just think it’s something everyone should read. I think a lot of people who don’t feel heard and just don’t see themselves will see themselves in these characters. This book is just something I recommend for everyone to read. Simon has something for everyone! You’ll love it! Trust me!

Have you read Simon before? Have you read any of her other books? What did you think??

It Takes Two

It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday

Publisher: Forever Romance

Published: June 26th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: All’s fair in love and war

Wendy Liu should be delighted to be her best friend’s maid of honor. But after years spent avoiding the bride’s brother – aka the boy who once broke her heart – she’s now trapped with him during an endless amount of wedding festivities. Luckily she’s had time to perfect her poker face, and engaging Noah Denning in a little friendly competition might just prove that she’s over him for good…

Noah Denning is determined to make his little sister’s wedding memorable. But it seems Wendy is trying to outdo him at every turn. Challenging each other was always something he and Wendy did right, so when she proposes they compete to see who can throw the best bachelor or bachelorette party in Sin City, Noah takes the bait – and ups the stakes. Because this time around, he wants Wendy for keeps. And when you’re fighting for love, all bets are off.

This was really fun! I enjoyed it very much! Wendy is fun and interesting and very spunky! It was a solid romance novel and I enjoyed the characters.

I did feel that there wasn’t much going on at times with the romance and it felt that it took them a while to even really get together but I did like that she wasn’t letting him just come back and be her lover. Especially after he stood her up all those years ago! That’s got to suck! But I did love how close they were to each other and it showed, like they knew her aunt and her routine and they would make sure to visit her and include her in their lives. And considering what happened later on in the novel, I thought that was cute and so nice of Noah and his sister to be there for Wendy.

But they had such a fun vibe! Especially when they decided to compete and see who had the better party! That was adorable and so fun! And especially the whole situation with the stripper. That was hilarious! I just thought that hey were humorous and it made reading this book so much fun!

And speaking of Noah’s sister from earlier, Wendy and Jane had the cutest friendship and had such history with each other that it was so sweet. I liked that it showed that they had such a long history as friends, that they even had their own club. And this novel showed that they really tried hard to make their friendship work, even though Wendy was feeling a little sad that she felt she was being left behind by her friend since Jane is getting married. But I felt it was important that they made it know that no matter what they’re friends to the end. I think reading some books with great female friendships is so important, because friendships are just as important as romantic relationships, especially since some authors like to make girls enemies over boys. Jane cracked me up though when she kept saying that she was having a low-key wedding and it was anything but low-key! She was funny! I enjoyed her!

But it was great that she was letting herself get closer to her other friends. Gia and Wendy got closer and I enjoyed seeing that friendship strengthen.

I think that this novel really brought the angst and I loved it. Not dark angst, more like longing angst. Because man they longed for each other like no other. It was great. I died with emotions because Noah really just was head over heels for her, and she him. But they held themselves back because they didn’t know what Jane would think since Noah is her brother, and Wendy wasn’t ready to let go that he hurt her by standing her up years ago. It was like they wanted each other so bad but they felt like they couldn’t have each other! Such passion! Much Angst!

But the characters were interesting in the fact that they were so driven and so determined because they had such a sad life in the past. Noah’s father died, and his mother fell into a deep depression. So Noah basically became the man of the house, and had so much responsibility placed on his shoulders, and felt he had to do all this stuff for his family by himself. And Wendy’s mother died so Wendy had a lot of responsibility as well. And they’re just very determined people and they matched so well in my opinion. I liked them both and felt that they fit. Cutest couple!

Overall this book was really fun, the characters were cute, the romance when it finally got going was adorable, and the friendships were great. It didn’t blow me away but I think that it was a really solid novel and overall I recommend this novel! I might check out the other books of the series in the future! Stay tuned for that maybe!

Have you read this series? Is this something you want to check out??

 

 

 

 

My Plain Jane

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Publisher: HarperTeen

Published: June 26th, 2018

Rating: 

Summary: You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

So I read this and I really really enjoyed it! I do think that I prefer My Lady Jane to this one, mainly because I haven’t read Jane Eyre so the references sometimes went over my head. I don’t think you need to read Jane Eyre to really enjoy this book, but I think if you have read Jane Eyre it’ll be much more humorous to you. But also I think I liked Jane and Gifford better. I enjoyed seeing their romance develop.

But this book is just…wow so funny!

Jane sees ghosts, and her best friend happens to be a ghost, and Jane is also friends with Charlotte Bronte which is funny! But I thought that Jane and Helen had a really funny friendship, and they shared such wit and sarcasm that just added to their friendship. Helen as a character is hilarious, and I think it’s even funnier that not many people can hear Helen so it makes her comments even funnier! But going back to Jane and Helen’s friendship, it’s really sweet that Jane is very conscious to Helen’s feelings. Helen doesn’t like people really being in her, or like passing through her ghost body, and Jane is very conscious to not do that and not disrespect Helen.

And Charolette is funny! I liked her POV and how she made an effort to write everything down and she reminded me of Velma because she would lose her glasses and would have to fumble around to find them. It just reminded me of Velma and when she has to crawl around finding her glasses and would do silly things without them! And her brother was super funny as well, he was a total klutz and such a dork! He would mess everything up, and would try to do the right thing but then everything would go wrong. He was just silly and a light funny character with a good heart!

I think the Rochester section was a bit confusing. There were so many mentions of different ones and I would sometimes be like which Rochester is this? And then there was another and another being mentioned, and I think that is where the knowledge of Jane Eyre might come in handy..maybe. I haven’t read Jane Eyre as mentioned, so I’m not sure if having read the book would have helped in keeping everyone separated.

And Mr. Blackwood was great! He was a dashing character. I liked him and his need to avenge his father’s death. I think that made him more mysterious. He and his need for propriety was adorable because he would get super flustered. He was adorable and I liked where his story went.

Overall though this story is just completely hilarious! And I think everyone should read this and My Lady Jane, I think you’ll really enjoy this. I think that when you need a good laugh, read these books because the humor is on another level! Definitely check this series out!

Have you read this or My Lady Jane? Did you enjoy them??