Chick Lit · Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance

Whiskey and gunpowder – Liliana Hart

37655464| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something…bedazzled?

In twenty-four hours, Addison Holmes will be a married woman. Maybe.

A week to plan a wedding in the south is not for the fainthearted, but Addison (along with the help of her neurotic mother, unreliable sister, and unpredictable Aunt Scarlet) are determined to pull it off.
There’s just one problem. Okay…two problems.

Problem #1: The preacher is missing.
This seems like a bad omen to Addison, and all the best investigators she knows are taking part in the pre-wedding festivities (that’s code for drunk).

That leaves one man for the task: FBI Special Agent Matt Savage. But Addison isn’t sure he’s the man for the job. She and Savage have a complicated history, and Savage could make the preacher disappear forever if it served his own agenda.

Problem #2: Rosemarie Valentine is in charge of booking the bridal party for a spa day. Enough said.

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My thoughts:

The sixth book in the series about Addison Holmes starts of as usual, with her complaining about something and in a situation beyond her control but still, somehow her fault. The sixth and hopefully last book was unfulfilling, repetitive and shallow. I’m so tired of her constant bitching and talk about how fat she gets from just looking at a cinnamon bun. You could feel that even the author was tired of writing the series and just no longer cared. And that is pissing me of. I overall really liked the series and if this indeed is the last book, it was not up to it full potential and I feel as readers deserved more.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Romance

The husband’s secret – Liane Moriarty

17465450| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: My Darling Cecilia
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s devastating secret.

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My thoughts:

I really, really liked The Husband’s secrets. Never read anything by Moriarty before but keep seeing her name circulating out there in the bookish community. So when I found one of her books in my grandma’s bookshelf I just had to buy myself a copy and give it a try. Grandma has great taste in books.

At first I was a little confused. Judged by the synopsis, I thought that the letter would have had a much bigger part of the story than it actually has. But it is the three main characters, Cecilia, Rachel and Tess, and what was happening in their day to day life, that’s actually was the focal point. I like the history twist of the story, the character and their relationships. It is not disappointed at all that it was not what I first had foreseen. It is relatable, believable and realistic. Really well written and even though it is suppose to be a chick flick, the mystery feel of it and the dark emotions certainly made it a lot more likable for me. It made it more captivating, if you understand what I mean. And that ending was both wonderful, heartbreaking and you sit there thinking, what could have been and are not in your own life and on the butterfly effect.

Non of Moriartys books has interested me but after this I certainly feels that I should look into them to. Maybe I have missed something big here. Either way, I would differently recommend The Husband’s secrets. A perfect book for those late summer days.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance

The undomestic goddess – Sophie Kinsella

33722| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

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My thoughts: I LOVED “Can you keep a secret?” and adored “Finding Audrey” but The Undomestic Goddess was nothing more than some time-killer and company while doing my workout (listened on the audiobook). I didn’t find it as hilarious as it supposed to be. It wasn’t a strong chick lit with great characters. No it was not witty, smart nor romantic. If anything it was exaggerated. Excessive in the multiple breakdowns that is occurring, the runaways, her reactions and her way of solving situations that would not have been able to be solved that “easy”. If I would describe this book to my friends, I would say that “it is like that comedy movie where they try so hard to be funny that in the end it is just a cheap, cringe worthy movie you will only see once and never recommend to your friends.”

I’m sorry but no. This was nothing for me. And the worst part of it all is the ending. It was unsatisfying and a little lame. I would have like to see Samantha stand up for her self and make her point clear. And what happens next? How will it go? What will they do? It left to many questions unanswered and for me it was the end. Done, finito. Happy for you who liked this book but that is not me and I don’t have anything more to say!

 

Adult fiction/Erotica · Chick Lit · Humor/Funny · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Sweet Dreams – Kristen Ashley

18656253| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: She’s ready for the ride of her life . . . 

Lauren Grahame is looking to reinvent herself. After leaving her cheating husband, Lauren moves to Carnal, Colorado, and gets a job as a waitress in a biker bar called Bubba’s. It’s a nothing job in a nowhere joint . . . until Tatum Jackson walks in. Lauren has never seen a man with such good looks, muscles, and attitude. But when he insults her, Lauren doesn’t want anything to do with him. Too bad for Lauren he’s also the bar’s part owner and bartender.

When the rough-around-the-edges Tate meets the high-class Lauren, he thinks she won’t fit in at Bubba’s. Yet there’s more to Lauren than meets the eye, and Tate soon sets his mind on claiming her as his own. Before long, the desire burning between them is heating up the cold mountain air. But when violence strikes the town, Tate must reveal a dark secret to Lauren-one that may put an end to their sweet dreams.

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My thoughts: Overall I would like to describe the book as deep, complex characters, complicated, thrilling, butterflies in my stomach, knock me on my head, god damn perfect with that satisfying ending, horrible tearful chapters and beautiful closing. I can’t enough English words to try explain what I’m feeling. But for me, this book, was pure perfection and exactly what I needed, wanted and sought.

KA is starting to be an addiction. I literally have to prevent myself from binge reading all her books. That is how good she is. And this is as usual a book who takes hold of you from the first page. It hooked me and never let go. I’m happy I started reading this only a day before the weekend because work at Friday was awful. I could not stop thinking about the book. I dreamed about it in the nights and on the days I only wanted to look myself in my home, abandon society, all my responsibilities, sleep and food. All I wanted was Lauren and Tatum.

It is a sweet story really. I love the characters and how diverse they were. Ashley is such a great author who writes these perfect characters that are deep, complicated and so easy to love or hate. I get invested in all her books and it is like I know them. I connected so hard with this one that when I ended the book, I could not stand starting a new romantic book right now. That is how huge impression this book, these characters and their story made on me. I can only say, read it! Hopefully you will to, love it.

Adult fiction/Erotica · Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance

The hating game – Sally Thorne

25883848| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

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My thoughts: So I finally read this one. I threw myself on the hating game wagon to see what all the fuss is about. I do not often like hyped up books as much as everyone else. I’m always that pessimistic person who do not find them as perfect and wonderful as the hype states. I hate it and often avoid books just for that reason. I think the hype itself destroys it for me. And I have to be honest and say that I was very skeptical to this book and it took me some time to get into it and feel relaxed while reading. I had expected something else. Something quite angst filled and repetitive. Some juvenile actions and over the top romanticism. Well this was nothing like that and now I’m a little mad at myself for the reason that I have had this book on my kindle for like a year and kept swiping past it. Because this is goddamn one of the best books I have read this year. Yes it is that good.

Lucy and Joshua is rivals and yes the book do start out with the rival in focus, but I was pleasantly surprised about how grownup this book was. There is no big drama or angst filled actions or misunderstandings. There are two strong people who talks instead of assume and do not drive over, push or leave without giving each other a chance to explain or make right. It feels very true to my experience of real life and it made me fall in love with the characters, side characters, the plot and the book itself so hard that it hurts.

It is an easy, sweet, funny and adorable story about an office romance between two enemies who fall in love. It filled me with such happiness, joy and glowing feelings that I hardly can keep it contained. I love Lucys history and how positive she is trying to stay throughout it all and I love Joshuas history and how he really tries and how the fit together. They are like two puzzle pieces who have not realized that they fit and make the whole puzzle picture complete.

It is so cleverly written with a plot and characters who snares you in, lock you up and the outside world is forgotten. I would love to read this again. Like right now. That is how good it was.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Mystery/Crime · Romance

Hot six – Janet Evanovich

6858.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Low-rent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum reaches depths of personal experience that other women detectives never quite do. In Hot Six, for example, a sequence of new and hideous cars bite the dust; she finds herself lumbered with a policeman’s multiply incontinent dog; and she has several bad skin days. All this when she is trying to prove her distinctly more competent colleague and occasional boyfriend Ranger innocent of a mob hit; avoid the heavies trailing her in the hope of finding him; and cope with a wife-abusing bail defaulter with nasty habits, such as setting Stephanie on fire.

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My thoughts: This is, by far, the best one in the series (so far). Book number 6 totally knocked me out of the park. It is funny, quirky and the characters and plot is just over the top great. I love how easy it is but still really exciting and hilarious. How bad luck Stephanie keeps having but this time it isn’t on the border to be too much. An we get to meet a new character. Bob! I love Bob and hopes to see more of him in the future books.

Homicidal maniacs, dog poo, Ranger, Morelli, a dead guy in a lawn chair, eccentric grandma Mazur, the nemesis from hell, good friends, bad luck, mobsters and a Star Trek party. That is just some of the many fantastic highlights from this laugh out loud story where we are following Stephanie Plum and many great secondary characters like Lula, Vinnie, Eddie, Connie and many more.

The writing is great. I always forget how good the writing really is. It is easy, fast and makes you not realize how long you have been reading. You are totally eaten by the book so hear my advice and make sure you have someone to remember you about the important stuff. Like eating. Sleep you can do when you are dead.

Stephanie is an character that is easy to connect with. Her bad luck is recognizable and true and you cant do anything other than just love her. She is a bad luck charm walking and everyone around her needs to be careful. In the earlier books, all that bad luck got a little to much sometimes but in this book it is just the right amount. She is strong and funny and o I would love to see this series as an tv-show. (The movie was awful).

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Finding Audrey – Sophie Kinsella

23305614| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Audrey can’t leave the house. she can’t even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

Then her brother’s friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she’d thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

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My thoughts: It was…. okay, it was cute and sweet. A little funny, a lot heartwarming and a quick read. Something nice to occupy my mind with after the mind blowing good horror/thriller and mind blowing bad chick lit book I recently read.  It takes on a serious topic and also gives the reader a true and honest look into a young girls life while living with depression and anxiety. When I was a teenager, I had a lot of trouble with the same. I truly understands how it is and how bad it can be and how hard it can effect a family. But I also understands and knows that it isn’t the end of the world, you can get better, at least I did and life is worth fighting for. Kinsella did a great job with describing the feelings and actions in Audrey’s life. The one thing that bugged me the most was the whole Linus relationship. But that I can’t go into in detail without spoiling the story, so we will leave it at that.

The book is about Audrey who have a really ruff time and suffers from some severe anxiety. She is a young teenager who lives with her “crazy” family somewhere in England (can’t remember where). She has no friends, do not go to school and goes to therapy once a week.  What I love the most about the book is the family. They are loud and obnoxious but still a family who loves and would die for each other. I love the mother and her “old” ways of handling the family and the father who reminds me so much of Arthur Weasley (from Harry Potter series). I could really picture him in my mind. I love young Felix and his ways of playing messenger between Audrey and Linus oh and Frank. Come on, you got to love Frank. He is like the typical, modern teenager and so lovable. They all have their own character, traits and quirks and Kinsella has as always done a great job with describing her characters and I find no fault here.

I did like the book but didn’t love it. I find this whole “teenage love angst” a little too much over the top and I think i’m starting to get to old for that. And I also find the book a little too short and would have love to have some real confrontation or emotions not only from Audrey but other characters to. It is a hard topic to write about and I do think Kinsella tried to steer away so it wouldn’t be sad and depressing. But too much happy, happy, fluffy stuff, just makes it unrealistic. But maybe that is just me since I have personal experience and to this day still struggles with anxiety.

So over all a good story, quick and easy. But don’t go and expect to get to know what happened to Audrey, because that mystery is never revealed. You get hints and can pretty much build your own story from it, but it bugs me that I never got to know what “really” happened.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance

The thing about love – Julie James

27246123| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Two undercover FBI agents can hide who they are from everyone but each other in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Suddenly One Summer

FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have a past. The former lawyer and cocky Army ranger clashed during their training at Quantico, gladly going their separate ways after graduating from the Academy. Six years later, the last thing either of them expects is to run into each other again–assigned to work as partners in a high-profile undercover sting.

For both of them, being paired with a former rival couldn’t come at a worse time. Recently divorced from a Hollywood producer and looking for a fresh start, Jessica is eager to prove herself at her new field office. And John is just one case away from his dream assignment to the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. In order to nail a corrupt Florida politician, they’ll have to find a way to work as a team–a task that becomes even trickier when they’re forced to hole up at a romantic, beachfront resort as part of the investigation. Suddenly, the heat behind their nonstop sparring threatens to make the job a whole lot more complicated. . .

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My thoughts: Damn it, I went in the chick lit trap again. I was scrolling in my book list on my kindle (I have like 70 books on it) and stopped at the title. It was one of those titles that I have had in my kindle for a long time and just kept scrolling past and now I thought that “Now I have to get it read”. I wouldn’t had bought it if I didn’t want to read it at some point. Often when I do that, read a book that I have had for a long time but never really come to read, I just do it and more often than not, find the book wonderful. Well not this time.

James is a new author for me. Never read anything by her but several of my GoodReads friends have and many of them have given her books high scores. So I was not prepared for the boring hours to come. The book is about Jessica and John, who hated each other in the FBI Academy, and now six years later have to work together in an short undercover ploy. I had extreme problem with connecting to the characters and already two chapters in the book, I was bored. But it was too early to DNF it so I kept going. There is nothing exciting with the story and it’s pretty predictable. They hate each other and then they don’t. They do their work, not much is happening, it is a pretty boring case and then the work is done. No suspense, no angst or heavy love. No history or old girlfriends/boyfriends who come forward. No great writing or a story that you think about while not reading. It was quite a relief when I was done and I was so ready to move on.

I did finish the book instead of DNF it and that was only because of the one thing I liked with the book. The banter and jokes they kept throwing back and forth. When they talked to each other or other characters, it actually was pretty funny and I liked the way those parts was written. But it was all the other things in between that totally ruined the book. SO, I give it a one star rating. As a whole, I did not like the book at all, but bits and pieces I did and that saved the book from a DNF. That has to count for something. Now that I’m done with the book, I do however, realize that I should have DNF it. Just a waste of time in my opinion but done is done. Time to move forward.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Romance

My DisOrganised Life – Nina Whyle

51JallO8lpL._SY346_| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A viral video of drunkenness and vomiting over a policeman is the stuff of nightmares, and so is living back home with your religious, nutty parents. Fed up with life not going her way and turning quietly insane, Eve Poots comes up with a plan. Well more of a list of “things to do while I’m still twenty-something”.
Six months later, and the list is working its power: she is now living with her new boyfriend, junior doctor Adam, and working as an assistant to TV producer Alastair on a reality show – life really is on the up.
But then it all starts to crumble and she soon realises that what the list should have really said was:
1. Awful colleague hell-bent in making your life agonising – check
2. Unplanned engagement – check
3. Lusting for dashing TV director when you have a perfectly decent boyfriend at home – check
4. Seeking help from a sex therapist – check
5. Growing a back-bone – pending
Has her life suddenly turned into a TV melodrama of its own?

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My thoughts: I’m not much of a chick lit person, never really been actually. It is probably the one genres I read the least of. But when I do, I do prefer to read British chick lit’s. It is something special with it. I do not know if it is the language, the wording or what it is. But when stuff happens, it just makes it so much funnier. I was contacted by one of the authors and they gave me the book for free against an honest review. And even though I really, really wanted to love it, it was just not something for me. I did like it, I did, but unfortunately there is no love here.

The story is written from Eve’s point of view. She is a young 20-something woman who works as an assistant at a TV show production company. She is one of those type of people who are a little social awkward and has a lot of bad luck. She doesn’t have a lot of friends, her parents are highly religious and her sister is little of a rebel. Her boss is amazing, she has a wonderful boyfriend but unfortunately a colleague that totally hates her and tries to make her life a living hell. Not only that but she is also an obsessive list writer. And one of those lists is about to make her world even crazier. Because one item on that list is “Getting Married”.

There is many attempts to humor in this book. Some more successful than others. I didn’t fell deep enough in the book to actually have this loud “haha” moments but I did snicker a couple of times. I find that the book is unevenly written and specially in the end. There is a big part of the book where there is not that much that is happening and suddenly we are at the end and it is almost frantic. Like it need to be done. And that just makes me stressed out. I also had some trouble with connecting to the characters. I did find the character Gudrun, hilarious, though. The dialog, dialect and questions was so strait forward and she was funny. I could totally picture her in my head. Too bad I didn’t see more of her than I did. The book has some great moments and it was an easy read.

Would I recommend the book? Well yeah. If you seek something easy and light, this is one of those book. And if you really like the genre Chick Lit, you will probably love this one.

Chick Lit · Romance

Marrying a SEAL – Summer Hines

51JallO8lpL| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Only a month out from a special election for State Senate, focused and ambitious Anna Kelly can’t make her numbers budge. Until she meets Chris Webb, a laconic Navy SEAL with a crazy idea. Maybe he could help her out: a brief engagement, she wins the election, he ships out, and they divorce. Easy as apple pie.
Two people on very different courses, they don’t expect to have much in common, but as circumstances contrive to keep them together, they realize they might be getting more than they bargained for.

Summer Hines delivers another story with all the best ingredients of a traditional romance, with sharp dialogue, fully-realized characters, real stakes, and–best of all–fiery chemistry between her whip-smart heroine and brooding SEAL.

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My thoughts: The full title of the book is Marrying a SEAL, Marrying a stranger but felt it was to long, so just for this review post I have shortened it to Marrying a SEAL. I received this book from the author for free, against a honest review.

This is such a fun, quick and soft romantic book, perfect for this late summer nights when you do not want to strain your head with something heavy. Or this is one of those perfect books to read when you have a book hangover to get rid off. But be careful, because I loved it so much it even gave me a small hangover.

Anna is an ambitious, young woman who is running for state senate. Due to that she is a woman, young and according to a lot of people, inexperienced, the polls do not look so good. And with only one month left to the election is over she need to do something drastic. In walks Chris with his asinine idea that they should get married, pretend for a while and after he has shipped out, they can just get an divorce. Easy peasy, right? Well …. no. Not exactly.

I love Anna. She is such a great character and Hines has really done a great work with writing her so that I can connect. Had it a little harder to connect with Chris but I think that is because most of the book is written from Annas point of view. I do love Chris to and I love how slow burn and soft romantic this book really is. But I do miss some more depth and would have wished to see Anna and Christ together more than they where. I would have liked to read more about the growth of there relationship. Have them realize some stuff a little earlier, have some hot 18+, adult rated, chapters before some stuff in the end. And the ending was a little to quick and forced. Other than that, this is a wonderful book and I’m so happy that Hines took contact with me and gave me a chance to read it.