My June wrap up!
Yes, I know I am late. I usually am and I suck sometimes I know. I will link below the reviews to the books I have already reviewed here on the blog.
I read 10 books in the month of June. Which I have to say is pretty good considering that I am writing a new book and still having to do all the wife and mommy duties.
Here is a collage of the books I read and my thoughts.
Often times I leave a book feeling happy but this one left me so satisfied that days later I still think about the characters and all the crap they went through, especially the heroine Catherine......UNTIL IT FADES <--- click on link for full review
I did not know what I was getting into with this book but WOW! I have never read anything by TJR and I am so glad that this book, THIS BOOK was the one to introduce me to her. Right away I was hooked by her writing style. It was easy and seamless then as the characters were introduced I understood why everyone was in love with her books. .....The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo <---click link for full review
We all know S.C. Stephens knows how to wreck your heart with love triangles, and she didn't disappoint. While I hated Felicia btw all I kept thinking about was this everytime her name popped up
...Dangerous Rush <--- click on link for full review
Ahhh now let's move on to the other books I need to review. I know I suck what can I say. Alright, we ready?
My Rating: 
Genre: Romance
How I read it: Paperback
My Thoughts: I know this book came out years ago and I have heard about it ever since. How amazing it is. How it's one of the best books that person has ever read. I am not one to look at ratings because I love going into books completely blind. I had jury duty (Which sucks) but I got there early and had about an hour to kill so I went to a thrift store and lo and behold they had this book there...for a dollar. I bought it and started reading it in the car and right away was swept away by the writing and the characters. I didn't get picked for jury duty so I went home and finished this book. So if you are like me and have heard of this book but have yet to read it, all I can say is DO IT!!
Anna is a teacher and hired to be TJ's tutor for the summer. TJ is recovering from cancer so he missed quite a bit of school, therefore, needs to catch up. TJ's family decided the best place for this to happen is in the Maldives. I mean seriously who would pass up this opportunity to teach in paradise. TJ's family left a few days earlier while TJ stayed for a party with his friends. He and Anna will catch the plane together to meet up with his family. Obviously, they don't make it and end up the lone survivors of a plane crash and end up on an island.
What I loved about this is that it's about two people who have to work together and trust each other in order to survive. Anna is older than TJ and their story doesn't turn sexual right away. It's a slow burn and you see how and why they end up falling in love. As I read how they survived day in and day out I was fascinated by them at first as separate humans and then later as a couple. Beautifully told and I absolutely loved every minute of their story. Highly recommend, especially for a summer beach read LOL.
Next book:
My Rating:
Genre: Adult Romance
How I read it: E-book *ARC*
My Thoughts: HOLY FUCKBALLS OF GOODNESS! This book is EVERYTHING. I swear to you and all that is the best things in life...YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! Seriously I had no idea what I was getting myself into and then BAM there I was at 2 AM still reading and freaking out because WHAT THE HELL GODWIN?
First, we have Danni who was engaged to Cole but he has to leave for a year for work. He never returns because he dies! LIKE WHAT THE HELL! But even all these years later you can feel Danni's heartbreak. I felt it my god did I feel it and I was a mess. Then I was getting used to the idea of Danni being forever alone....
Trace comes into the picture. This dude is a piece of work. Seriously alpha asshole. I hated him and I was like DANNI NOOOOOOO STAY AWAY...NO BUENO but you know I can't help fall for those alphas. Jesus the push and pull in this book was whew...I LOVED IT. This book is right up my alley with the drama and angst and the slow burn and sexual tension.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
How I read it: e-book
My thoughts: First off this woman knows how to write and set a scene! Often times I have found that most authors when writing past to present and toggle back and forth don't exactly execute that well, but Penelope Ward does it and does it well! Mack is a single father who has a friend named Frankie (Francesca) who was his roommate for a while in college. He took a liking to her but was already involved with his baby mama at the time so he never took it further. I can respect the hell out of that. The more I read the more I understood why Mack made the choices he did, including the one that leads him right back to Frankie. I loved the ease of their friendship and the flashbacks were the best part. Getting to see how they fell for one another way back in the day. When current issues arise I love how Mack will do anything to protect Frankie. I was not expecting the twist and I rooted for them because I could see how much Mack did love her. Frankie, I liked her character but I think at times I wanted her to be more fierce.
Overall the story was great. The writing was excellent, I didn't feel like I lost anything with the toggling from past to present if anything that added more insight to the story. I hate Mack's ex, she's a total bitch. I love Penelope Ward's stories they always leave me with a smile.
And next up we have.....
My Rating:
Genre: Contemporary Romance (music)
How I Read it: e-book **ARC**
My Thoughts: Man oh man Michelle Valentine NEVER disappoints me. She can write the heck out of a rock star romance. I do not know how she comes up with these, I mean seriously look at her books! They are all mostly about rockers and each one is different, I love her mind and how it works. This book is no exception. Laz Rawlings is an ex-boy band performer and record producer. He got lost in drugs but is now clean and ready to make comeback. He convinces his old record label (that is owned by his father) to give him one more shot. He puts together a girl group.
Aundrea or Drea is a little self-conscience and doesn't know the beauty she possesses, or how great her voice is. She isn't the best dancer but under Laz's tutelage, she comes a long way. What I loved about Drea is her quiet strength, her resolve to push forward even when everything around her falls apart.
I loved each character separately but together, magic! They brought out the best in one another. Laz made many many mistakes but he is owning up to them and moving ahead. This book just made me feel happy. I also love that Michelle is not afraid to write about diverse characters. They are so real and no stereotype attached to them. (THE BEST!!!) Once again Michelle Valentine shows why she is the queen of writing about rockers, she knows how to make them loveable with the biggest hearts.
When It's Real by Erin Watt
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Romance
Purchase links: Amazon B&N iTunes
Add to Goodreads
My Rating:
My Thoughts: Holy sizzle. I have no idea where to even start this review. SERIOUSLY!!! Right from the jump, it was just different. Vaughn is a no nonsense type of chick who is a working to help her older sister raise their younger brothers. Their parents died and they have struggled to keep a normal life for them all. Vaughn is offered a hell of a lot of money for a once in a lifetime opportunity. All she has to do is pretend to date, Oakley Ford.
Oakley Ford is a popular teen pop star who wants to be taken seriously. (He reminded me a lot of J. Biebs -as far as being young when he broke through the music scene, then growing up and wanting to be taken seriously.) Fortunately, I loved Oak way more than Bieber. What I liked about him was that he was just straight forward. He knew he wanted to be taken seriously, he knew what direction he wanted his music to go. He also knew that in order for the one guy that could help him with this -a well-known producer- who would only work with him IF he knew Oak was serious. Enter Vaughn, Oak's publicity team think this would be a good pairing to help him change his image. While on paper all this sounded great one problem is Vaughn has a boyfriend.
I wasn't sure they would be able to pull this off especially because of Vaughn's boyfriend. I really did not like that guy. He did not appreciate her and the more I read the more I loved the idea of Vaughn and Oakley together. I flew through this book because I had to know what would happen next. And man those twitter exchanges from his fans could be brutal. Reminds me of the 1D fandom 😂🤣😂🤣
Overall I enjoyed this book and the writing. It seems I can never go wrong reading anything from Erin Watt. They make it seem effortless when telling a story and I loved this one. Definitely one of my top reads for this year!!
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
My Thoughts: I just to say that I had a really great reading month, especially towards the end. This book is EVERYTHING. I didn't know what to expect, I have never read anything by this author. HOLY HOT SLOW BURN! The writing was phenomenal, the characters were amazing and I hated than loved, Aiden Graves. This dude "The Wall of Winnipeg" OMFG he made me soooo mad, I was crying for Vanessa (literal tears) because I was so freaking pissed off at him. HOW DARE HE TREAT HER LIKE THAT? I get she worked for him but seriously dude, SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HECK? I had to laugh out loud when she would flip him off and he'd be all calm and say "you can stop doing that now"
I was happy when she quit to do what she loved. But here came Aiden wanting her to come back to work for him and I didn't know what to think all that went through my head was...
What I really loved was that the author took her time with the characters. I started loving them and getting to really know who they were. For a while, I really didn't like Aiden but he slowly grew on me. The way he protected Vanessa..gah
And let's not forget Zak because I feel that without him as kind of a neutral party Vanessa would have had a hard time. From the beginning the book had me, it held me and even though the burn was slow I appreciated the way the author wrote this book. It was so well done that I didn't mind it and I wanted so much more. I was new to this author but trust me this will not be the last one I read!
Aundrea or Drea is a little self-conscience and doesn't know the beauty she possesses, or how great her voice is. She isn't the best dancer but under Laz's tutelage, she comes a long way. What I loved about Drea is her quiet strength, her resolve to push forward even when everything around her falls apart.
I loved each character separately but together, magic! They brought out the best in one another. Laz made many many mistakes but he is owning up to them and moving ahead. This book just made me feel happy. I also love that Michelle is not afraid to write about diverse characters. They are so real and no stereotype attached to them. (THE BEST!!!) Once again Michelle Valentine shows why she is the queen of writing about rockers, she knows how to make them loveable with the biggest hearts.
Are you still with me? LOL okay soooooo next up on my list is.....
When It's Real by Erin Watt
Published by: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Romance
Purchase links: Amazon B&N iTunes
Add to Goodreads
My Rating:
My Thoughts: Holy sizzle. I have no idea where to even start this review. SERIOUSLY!!! Right from the jump, it was just different. Vaughn is a no nonsense type of chick who is a working to help her older sister raise their younger brothers. Their parents died and they have struggled to keep a normal life for them all. Vaughn is offered a hell of a lot of money for a once in a lifetime opportunity. All she has to do is pretend to date, Oakley Ford.
Oakley Ford is a popular teen pop star who wants to be taken seriously. (He reminded me a lot of J. Biebs -as far as being young when he broke through the music scene, then growing up and wanting to be taken seriously.) Fortunately, I loved Oak way more than Bieber. What I liked about him was that he was just straight forward. He knew he wanted to be taken seriously, he knew what direction he wanted his music to go. He also knew that in order for the one guy that could help him with this -a well-known producer- who would only work with him IF he knew Oak was serious. Enter Vaughn, Oak's publicity team think this would be a good pairing to help him change his image. While on paper all this sounded great one problem is Vaughn has a boyfriend.
I wasn't sure they would be able to pull this off especially because of Vaughn's boyfriend. I really did not like that guy. He did not appreciate her and the more I read the more I loved the idea of Vaughn and Oakley together. I flew through this book because I had to know what would happen next. And man those twitter exchanges from his fans could be brutal. Reminds me of the 1D fandom 😂🤣😂🤣
Overall I enjoyed this book and the writing. It seems I can never go wrong reading anything from Erin Watt. They make it seem effortless when telling a story and I loved this one. Definitely one of my top reads for this year!!
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
NEXT UP......
My Rating:
My Rating:
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Sports)
How I Read it: e-book
My Thoughts: I just to say that I had a really great reading month, especially towards the end. This book is EVERYTHING. I didn't know what to expect, I have never read anything by this author. HOLY HOT SLOW BURN! The writing was phenomenal, the characters were amazing and I hated than loved, Aiden Graves. This dude "The Wall of Winnipeg" OMFG he made me soooo mad, I was crying for Vanessa (literal tears) because I was so freaking pissed off at him. HOW DARE HE TREAT HER LIKE THAT? I get she worked for him but seriously dude, SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HECK? I had to laugh out loud when she would flip him off and he'd be all calm and say "you can stop doing that now"
I was happy when she quit to do what she loved. But here came Aiden wanting her to come back to work for him and I didn't know what to think all that went through my head was...
But damn Aiden gives her an offer she can't walk away from. If I was in her shoes I would have done the same. Hey, I am far from stupid and when an opportunity like this presents itself C'mon don't tell me you'd walk away? I know if you haven't read this book you are probably saying WTF are you even talking about? Well, you have to read it so you get what I am asking.
And Finally!!!
My Rating:
Genre: YA, Fantasy
How I Read it: physical and audio
My Thoughts: Last month I began my re-reads of the Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. I read these book and reread these book every year and have since they were released... the only problem is that I have never gotten to the end of this series. Why you ask? well, I loved every book in the series but then you know the Infernal Devices Series came between books 4 and 5 or some crap like that. I read the first book when it was released...scratch that I read 100 pages of Clockwork Angel and stopped. I was utterly bored, but I continued with TMI until book 6. Then everyone was like if you don't want spoilers for 6 then you need to finish ID.....UGH FINE! So here I am years later wanting to finish TMI series only thing stopping me INFERNAL DEVICES. Being me I think about this and I'm like okay what if I do audiobooks? I got audiobooks, and still boring UNTIL book 3 Clockwork Princess...HOLY CRAPOLA talk about a huge change. This is what I had been waiting for from Cassy. The angst, intensity, the love, the loss, ALL OF IT. Books 1 and 2 in this series for me was meh..at best. I get that for these types of books we need world and character building but I just wasn't invested in them. Book 2 (Clockwork Prince) was in my opinion WAAAY better than Clockwork Angel. I can't go into depth being as this is the 3rd and final book in this series but I can say that this book really brought everything together. I finally understood #Jessa and #Wessa and that ending...
My emotions were EVERYWHERE. I was happy and sad and heartbroken but then happy for Tessa but sad. I mean JFC talk about my heart going through the ringer! Now I can finally finish TMI series and I am so happy. I now know how portals were made and by whom, how stupid the clave is - and obviously always has been- that pendant that Izzy wears and OMFG did I mention that I absolutely LOVED Will's sister Cecily? Well, I did OMG she was the perfect person to add to the cast she brought so much to the table and OH OH OH OH Gabriel and Gideon.....WHOA....I mean seriously, at first, I was like you Gabe WTF are you doing? Man oh man, there was just so much to this book and I just ADORED it! And Magnus I will never get enough of him.
Oh, wait let me talk about Charlotte. This chick was just bad ass. I mean she's like 24 and running the Institute. From the very beginning of the series you could see how much love and care she gave to everyone. I loved how they all respected her even the Lightwood brothers. Consul Wayland was a dick. Plain and simple. I also fell so hard for Henry, he was way ahead of his time and never got the recognition he deserved. Whew...okay so I can't give away too much so I think I should stop rambling and just say that you should read this series. I dream about the characters often and I am so glad that I pushed myself forward because this book was so worth it!!!
Once again Cassandra Clare has shown me why she has been my go to for all things YA, Fantasy, Paranormal. She is the queen and I bow down to her skillz as a writer. She brought these characters to life and with this backstory, I now can see where Jace gets his sass from, where Izzy gets her guts and why Clary is not afraid to jump in. Can't wait to keep going in the Shadowhunter world!!!!
Once again Cassandra Clare has shown me why she has been my go to for all things YA, Fantasy, Paranormal. She is the queen and I bow down to her skillz as a writer. She brought these characters to life and with this backstory, I now can see where Jace gets his sass from, where Izzy gets her guts and why Clary is not afraid to jump in. Can't wait to keep going in the Shadowhunter world!!!!
There you have it...my June wrap up. Whew, that was a lot of reviews but I love helping out authors and this is a way to thank them. Anywhoo, hopefully, it won't take me forever to do July's wrap up. It's already proving to be a great reading month. Till next time...
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