Category: Contemporary

Contemporary · Romance · Sports/Games · Young, New adult/College

From Lukov with love – Mariana Zapata

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37683751| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.

After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.

But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.

Including Ivan Lukov.

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My thoughts: I want so badly to give this book a five star rating. It was so good, I’m serious. It was! But there was a couple of things that totally ticked me off and no matter how much I tried, I can’t ignore it. But first, lest talk about the positive things.

God I Love Jasmine and Ivan. They are such funny characters and their constant banter toward each other is never to much or excessive. And it certainly makes the sport part of the book a lot more fun to read. Sport books can often be tedious due to all the technical talk. But that never happened here. I love the side stories and how much deeper characters Jasmine and Ivan are. Nothing is as you first think it is and it is a wonderful story to follow. I don’t know what it is but Zapata is a queen when it comes to writing books. They are complex and deep which just makes your heart warm, fuzzy and you feel so good after ending the book.

The two things I did not like however is how slow start it was and that it was a lot of writing between the characters talk and somewhat repetitive. But when the story finally kicked off, that was no longer a problem. The second thing is the romantic aspect of the story. You, who follows my reviews, knows that I love slow burn romance but come on, here you could have kicked it up a notch at least 100 pages earlier in my opinion. I would have liked to seen more of it and due to the slowness off it, the book ended to fast.

But still, god damn this is a good book. Perfect middle of the week read when everything else feels dull and boring.

Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Four letter word – J. Daniels

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28963772.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Fate. Hate. Love. Lies.

Which four letter word will change their lives forever?

Sydney Paige was never so mortified to hear the words “wrong number” in her life. She meant to tell off the guy who broke her best friend’s heart but unleashed her anger on a perfect stranger instead. And now her world is turned upside down by the captivating man who wants to keep her on the line.

Brian Savage is living a life he’s quickly come to hate-until Sydney’s wild rant has him hooked and hungry for more. Soon the sexy woman on the phone becomes the lover in his bed. But Brian has secrets, and the closer he lets Syd get, the harder it is to shield her from the devastating mistakes of his past . . .

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My thoughts: Cute story. Great build up and sweet characters, a little long and slow some parts and somewhat predictable but cute non the less. I wouldn’t say I love it but can’t say I hate it either. Until like 50% in the book I really enjoyed it. I adored the sexual tension banter between some of the main characters, the easy atmosphere and the interesting sensation it created. There is some depth to the story and layers to the characters that I found intriguing to peal of.

After the 50% however the pace started to halter and nothing really happened. One could anticipate what would happened and how it would go and it was kind of boring, reading + 100 pages and just waiting for it to kick off so something would change the mush that kept going on and on. Nothing surprising in the whole ordeal when it finally happened, but it was still nice and I liked the way they resolved the situation.

A little part in the end surprised me though and it was nothing I had foreseen. I feel it matched the plot perfectly and I would probably not have found the book as great without it. It gave some of the soul back to it.

The writing is somewhat long and not easy for the eye, but nothing I thought much about after I got used to it. It did however make it a little harder for me to connect with the book in the beginning and may be a reason for the slowness in the middle of the book.

Contemporary · Romance

Edison – Jessica Gadziala

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36357979.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Lenny
I have one mission in life.
Revenge.
I didn’t have time for anything else.
Let alone the mysterious, unfairly good-looking member of a local outlaw biker gang.
But Edison is not the kind of man to be easily ignored, and the closer he gets, the more I seem to sway from my mission.
Until the unthinkable happens.

Edison
She’s special.
That has always been my type, women with that ‘something’ that you can’t quite put your finger on. And Lenny with her knife-sharp tongue, stubbornness, and guards thicker than almost any I had ever seen, yeah, she had that thing. And I wanted to put my finger on it.
Finger. Mouth. Tongue… everything on her.
But Lenny is hiding things.
And it wasn’t until her world shatters around her that I finally get to see what was beneath them all along. And it is more than I could have ever hoped for. It’s something I want to hold onto. I guess the only thing left is to get that through her stubborn head as well…

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My thoughts: I have not read a book by Gadziala for way to long and now that my prohibition of buying books have been lifted, of course my first one was one of her books. I have missed her. I have missed her books, her writing, stories and her world in Navesink Bank. I have missed to get to know more of the Henchmen men and see what will happen with all that is happening in the crime capital of USA. Edison was also an character who intrigued me right from the start. He was so dark and mysterious in the earlier books, that I just had to start off with him since he was the next one to read in the series.

This is the 10th book in the series about the Henchmen in Navesink Bank. Gadziala have built a whole world with different series that are linking together. The Henchmen will probably be my favorite. Well I did love the Mallicks family (still have one more book to read) and I can’t wait for The Grassis to be published and the Professionals are also a great series, but it is the Henchmen who made me fall in love. And what’s so great is that it is so different from many other MC series out there. Her books always have a kick ass female character and awesome alpha hero sexy man with a moral compass who points in the right directions and have great female values. It is hard not to fall in love. My biggest problem often are that I find the books to be to short. 😛

Edison was a lot deeper character than I thought he would be and his story about his life and traveling through Europe was just fantastic. And I loved Lenny. She has walls thicker than the earth’s crust and the way the relationship grew between them was just perfect. And the ending was so fitting to it all that I have nothing more to say.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance

The undomestic goddess – Sophie Kinsella

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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!

 

Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Romance

The read notebook – Antoine Laurain

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23129712| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There’s nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there’s all sorts of other things in it. Laurent feels a strong impulse to find the owner and tries to puzzle together who she might be from the contents of the bag. Especially a red notebook with her jottings, which really makes him want to meet her. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?

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My thoughts: Such a charming and sweet little story. It surprised me how much I loved this book. It is short, sweet and taking place in Paris, France. What can be more romantic than that? It is a easy and funny modern romantic love story and it’s perfect for a hangover cure. I listened on the audiobook and the narrator, Alex Wyndham, was a perfect choice for the task. He did a great job with the french accent and the cadency.

It was a fascinating hobby detective story. It made me think how a total stranger would interpret me by just looking in my handbag. Me among other things, also drags around a book to write in. I use Leuchttrumn and not Moleskin but still. You can probably learn a lot about a person by the content in their bags.

Contemporary · Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

You – Caroline Kepnes

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20821614| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

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My thoughts: This is a highly uncomfortable book about a seemingly normal guy who works in a bookstore. There is however nothing normal about Joe, who is both manically obsessive and manipulative. He is stalking this girl and as a girl myself and also a girl who is somewhat active in social media, this is terrifying. Totally utterly terrifying. Not that I think that I ever will be stalked or ever going to stalk someone, but how easy Kepnes made it seem. It is kind of sick of how I was shifting my focus and who I was rooting for throughout the book. Kudos to you Kepnes who with this book have made me uncertain and question myself.

Well the book is certainly making you think. At first you are on Becks side of the whole thing. But later on it is like this Joe character does not only manipulates Beck but also me as a reader. I’m rooting for him and even feel sorry for him. There was a couple of chapters where Joe was really sad and I just wanted to hug him, until I remembered who he is and what he does. I really did not like Beck for most of the book and could not for my life understand what Joe saw in her, which only made it even more insane and I do not know how I’m supposed to feel. I’m scared, disturbed and feeling all this icky feelings but in the same time I’m also outrageously impressed.

The book is weirdly captivating and addictive. Even though I did not find it that good of a read in total at the end, I still could not stop reading. I needed to know what would happen. It is messed up, highly crude,  gross and appalling, realistic. It is probably the best, worst captivating book, which I don’t even like that much, that I have ever read. How weird is that?

Contemporary · Romance

Rock chick revolution – Kristen Ashley

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15752757| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Ally Nightingale has secrets. Secrets she doesn’t even share with the Rock Chicks. But two men know what she’s up to. One has her back. The other has her heart, but he doesn’t know it.

As Ally rewinds the last year of her life, she knows two things. One, she’s never going to get what every Rock Chick should have—her own Hot Bunch guy. And two, she’s a Nightingale through and through. She just isn’t sure what to do about that.

But as her secrets are revealed, the men in her life react. Darius Tucker, a lifelong friend, as usual takes her back. Ren Zano, the man she loves, isn’t quite so sure. The Rock Chicks, Hot Bunch and the entire gang at Fortnum’s weigh in, and a Rock Chick Revolution starts brewing.

It’s up to Ally to control it and prove what she knows down to her bones.

She’s a Rock Chick, she deserves her hot guy and she’s going to keep the one she wants…

Because she’s a Nightingale.

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My thoughts:I have been waiting and looking forward to Allys story through out the whole series. This is the eight book and since she has been a big part of the Rock Chick buildup and that her character have had pretty big parts in the earlier books, I thought I knew her pretty well. I was however pleased to learn that there was more to her than I first thought. She is probably the deepest character in the whole series. You get to know her on a completely other lever since you get to follow her and her action/reaction to the other Rock Chicks Sh*t going down.

The book is build a little different than the others. Here, Ren is already in her life and Ally is not in that kind of trouble as the other Rock Chicks have been in there own books. The plus with this is that the whole relationship buildup and fights, is pretty short, done and over with. Then certainly gets old after seven books so I was pleased. When the story really starts (after highlights of the last 13 months) it is more steady, calm but not in any other way less hot than what you are used to in the other books. The story is also a little more personal than what I would expect and it was nice. Refreshing. But in no other way bad.

The biggest problem I have is that is is a little to slow. There is to many things going on, but no one is really deep or action filled. I missed the suspense. I missed the nail biting, sitting on the edge, shaking my knees feeling that I was expected. I can certainly understand why it took KA 5 years to resume the Rock Chick series, since this was like an ending. It was done and the action is over with. No more hot bunch and no more Denver kickass. Since KA has a lot of other books and the few I have read, I have loved I do not see that as bad thing. But now, after this one I do understand why she never tried to continue it, until earlier this year.

I fair warning, this book did produce a lot of tears from me. Good tears, but still tears and there was a lot of different feelings in a lot of different levels. Just so you know. 😉

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Known – Kendra Elliot

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25596593| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: After a brutal snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains, Chris Jacobs discovers two things he never expected to see: the charred shell of a cabin, and Gianna Trask and her sixteen-year-old daughter huddled in an SUV, having barely escaped from their burning vacation rental.

Still scarred from a childhood ordeal, Chris knows there’s something sinister about the scene—it’s the stench of burned flesh.

Forced to wait out the blizzard in their rescuer’s retreat, medical examiner Gianna Trask wonders if her hidden past has finally caught up with her. When a body is found in the destroyed cabin’s ashes and a forest ranger is brutally murdered, both Gianna and Chris must confront their secrets if they want to escape the violent threat lurking outside.

In the fifth book in the Bone Secrets series, Kendra Elliot leads readers on a dangerous, twisting journey of two lives forever changed by a fiery snowstorm in the mountains.

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My thoughts: Out of the five books in this series, this one is certainly the weakest. Off course I’m happy for Chris, since he is the character who have suffered the most and certainly deserves a HEA. We met Chris for the first time in the third book “Buried” which is also my favorite in the series. Known however, I found predictable, with halfhearted twists and somewhat stupid plot. I like medical thrillers but this is nothing like that. It is more or less some bad stuff happening to good people and together with the police, they are waiting it out until the bad guy does something wrong and messes the whole thing up. Somewhat dull, gray and fleeting. No real depth. A meek try on a heavy, hard to predict, mystery.

There is no real suspense either and it is pretty boring actually. I think it is my connection to Chris that made me actually read the whole thing and in the end find it “okay” but not so much more. And the bad guy in the book was so stupid and embarrassing that I’m surprised Elliot let it go on for as long as she did in the book. There was not ONE smart decision buy either crook or author through out these 348 pages. Just saying.

This was for now the last book in the Bone secrets series and I don’t know if Elliot is going to publish more. If so, I will probably read them to. The series as a whole is really good and I don’t want to let this bad apple destroy a potential fantastic follow up.

Contemporary · Romance

The Gamble – Kristen Ashley

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18246040| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Love is the greatest gamble of all…

Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fiancé who can’t even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. Flying halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina’s cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.

The owner of the house, Holden “Max” Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded lovebirds think about taking a chance on a relationship, a dangerous secret from Max’s past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.

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My thoughts: O my heart, please calm down! This book was all kinds of sweet and adorable. Right into your heart, knock you on the ass, wonderful. What it is with Kristen Ashley and her books that leaves you with this warm, fuzzy feelings when you are done. She is certainly a great storyteller and even though I felt this one was somewhat predictable, I didn’t mind. Because I was lost and cozy deep in the story and loved my journey to the end even though I had pretty much figured it all out.

KA is a fantastic writer with the ability to write great Heroes and Heroines you can not do other than love. Specially the guys. I loved Max. I loved how real he was. With his history, life and courage. I’m not a big fan on the the dead spouse plot, but it did work in this book. It didn’t get a lot of focus which I believe is the reason for that it worked. I really liked Nina too, though she was a little to immature for a grown woman in the middle of her thirties and with the bad history and experience as she had, I feel she should have been able to handle some stuff a lot better than she did. But I could ignore it for the most part and just enjoy her and Max and the story unfolding. There is also some great second characters and side plot unfolding beside the main one. There is also another small love story at the side and it is just wonderful to take part of it.

This is a book that sucks you in. You do not have a choice. And when done, you also want your own A-frame in a Colorado mountain with your own Mountain main. I do not have a A-frame in the Colorado mountain and will probably never have since I then have to move to the other side of the world. Fortunately, I already have my Mountain man so i’m okay with that.

Adult fiction/Erotica · Contemporary · Romance

Badd Motherf*cker – Jasinda Wilder

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32757849| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, right? That’s what they say, at least. I went into that day hoping I’d get the happiest day of my life. What I got? The worst. I mean, you really can’t get any worse of a day without someone actually dying. So…I may have gotten just a little drunk, and maybe just a tad impetuous… And landed myself in a dive bar somewhere in Alaska, alone, still in my wedding dress, half-wasted and heart-broken.

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Eight brothers, one bar. Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke, yeah? I kinda think so. Wanna hear another joke? A girl walks into a bar, soaking wet and wearing a wedding dress. I knew I shouldn’t have touched her. She was hammered, for one thing, and heartbroken for another. I’ve chased enough tail to know better. That kinda thing only leads to clinginess, and a clingy female is the last thing on this earth I need. I got a bar needs running, and only me to run it—at least until my seven wayward brothers decide to show their asses up… Then this chick walks in, fine as hell, wearing a soaked wedding dress that leaves little enough to the imagination—and I’ve got a hell of an imagination. I knew I shouldn’t have touched her. Not so much as a finger, not even innocently. But I did.

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My thoughts: Reading is subjective and since this one has as high rating as it has, clearly it is a likable book. It just didn’t work for me. I do not see my self as a prude or in any other way abashed when it comes so sex. But when the sex scenes actually bore me out, which is clearly suppose to be the highlight of the book, I just can’t take it.

To be honest, the story around the sex-scenes is just weird. It started of good and I can understand the reaction when you find out that your fiance is sleeping with the bridesmaid on the day of the weeding. But it is the rest that irks me. It is the same thing in another cover. The Hero is an total asshole who suppose to be the most grownup and the oldest of 8 brothers. The heroin is suppose to be this strong, kick ass girl, no one piss on, and she does the complete opposite. It is to cheesy, to blah and to over the top for my taste. It is more like a porn-video, where the story is just to give you some time before the sex starts. But we all know that it is not the story that matters. As same as we know men do not read naked magazines “for the articles”.

Maybe i’m greedy that way, but I do need more in the books I read. I need some real depth, some real character development, some real story and something that is believable if it is in the genre Contemporary Romance Erotic. I’m an emotional person and to find the erotic part of a book interesting or enjoyable, I need a connection to the characters or the story it self. Otherwise I just get bored.

Oh and one last thing. The books is written in a neck breaking speed. Everything that is happening, is happening in just three days. THREE DAYS! It is rushed and there is more introduction to the other 7 brothers, than the main characters actually talk to each other. It is like an introduction book on the next 7 character/books that will be released. And the explanation in the end! WHAT? I do not get it. How can that even be an alternative? It is just weird and wrong and not suitable. If I had any hope for a good ending, that totally trashed it for me.

So, No. Nope. Not happening! This is not a series for me to continue. The whole thing was just a bad experience. And if Wilders books are all like this, she is not an author for me.