Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date #1)

  A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend...

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

Author: Jasmine Guillory (Website, Facebook, Twitter)
Publisher: Berkley
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
EBook borrowed from the national library
(Actual) Rating: 1.5 of 5 stars

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Stormy Kind of Love by Tia Lee

It’s Rachel’s first day of Sophomore year at Oklahoma State University. The first day of school her biggest problem is getting to class late. Soon she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, only one of the men who is a potential love interest is hiding secrets that put Rachel in danger. Will Rachel make the right choices or put herself in danger for love?

Author: Tia Lee (Goodreads page)
Publisher: -independently published-
Buy online: Amazon
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Meet Me in Outer Space by Melinda Grace

Smart and unflinching, this #OwnVoices debut contemporary novel stars an ambitious college student who refuses to be defined by her central auditory processing disorder.

Edie Kits has a learning disability. Well, not a learning disability exactly, but a disability that impacts her learning. It isn't visible, it isn't obvious, and it isn't something she likes to advertise.

And for three semesters of college, her hard work and perseverance have carried her through. Edie thinks she has her disability under control until she meets her match with a French 102 course and a professor unwilling to help her out.

Edie finds herself caught between getting the help she needs and convincing her professor that she isn't looking for an easy out. Luckily for Edie, she has an amazing best friend, Serena, who is willing to stitch together a plan to ensure Edie's success. And then there's Hudson, the badly dressed but undoubtedly adorable TA in her French class who finds himself pulled into her orbit...

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, Meet Me in Outer Space is a sweet, heartachingly real story of love and college life by debut author Melinda Grace.

Author: Melinda Grace (Website, Twitter, Goodreads page)
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Buy online: Amazon | Book Depository
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Monday, February 11, 2019

Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris

Look up the word “nerd” and you’ll find Lily Cooper’s picture. She’s got one goal: first stop valedictorian, next stop Harvard. Until a stint in the hospital from too much stress lands her in the last place a klutz like her ever expected to be: salsa dance lessons.

Look up the word “popular” and you’ll find Stone Torres’s picture. His life seems perfect—star of the football team, straight-A student, lots of friends. But his family is struggling to make ends meet, so if pitching in at the Torres dance studio helps, he’ll do it.

When Lily’s dad offers Stone extra cash to volunteer as Lily’s permanent dance partner, he can’t refuse. But with each dip and turn, each moment her hand is in his, his side job starts to feel all too real. But in dance, as in life, one wrong move and someone could get hurt.

Author: Rachel Harris (Website, Twitter, Facebook)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Buy online: Amazon | Book Depository
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sunday, January 27, 2019

A Land Apart by Ian Roberts

A gripping story of adventure and courage set in a magnificent wilderness with the French, English, Iroquois and Wendat just starting to do battle for what would become Canada and the US.

“The flintlock releases with a click and then three powerful, exhilarating sensations hit him at once: the kick of the musket hard into his shoulder, the deafening roar, and the dense, acrid smell of burnt powder smoke. As the crashing echo of his shot rolls back from across the lake he knows the blow of the musket ball would be lethal to Wendat flesh. Totiri knew before lifting the musket that he wanted it. Now the desire consumes him.”

It’s 1634 in New France. Etienne BrulĂ© has lived with the Wendat and helped them develop the fur trade with France for 25 years and fought beside them against the Iroquois. When the English sell the Iroquois guns, BrulĂ© is the only one who can get guns for the Wendat. But he knows the price everyone will pay in the end.

Author: Ian Roberts (Goodreads page)
Publisher: Atelier Saint-Luc Press
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Tuesday, December 04, 2018

Valiant by Merrie Destefano

The Valiant was supposed to save us. Instead, it triggered the end of the world.

Earth is in shambles. Everyone, even the poorest among us, invested in the Valiant’s space mining mission in the hopes we’d be saved from ourselves. But the second the ship leaves Earth’s atmosphere, our fate is sealed. The alien invasion begins. They pour into cities around the world through time portals, possessing humans, forcing us to kill one another.

And for whatever reason, my brother is their number one target.

Now the fate of the world lies in the hands of me, a seventeen-year-old girl, but with the help of my best friend, Justin―who’s suddenly starting to feel like more―maybe if we save my brother, we can save us all…

Author: Merrie Destefano (WebsiteFacebookTwitter)
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Toxic by Lydia Kang


Cyclo, the first and largest biological ship of its kind, is dying. A small crew of mercenaries have handed over the rights to their life to document the death of the ship, but the abandoned ship is anything but abandoned—one girl has been left behind.

Hana has known nothing but the isolation of a single room and the secret that has kept her there for seventeen years. When she meets Fennec, the boy assigned to watch her, she realizes that there is a world she has yet to experience but she is doomed to never meet.

When crew members begin mysteriously dying, Hana and Fenn realize that they are racing against the death of the ship to find a way to survive—unless someone kills them even before Hana’s truly had a chance to live.

Author: Lydia Kang (Website, Goodreads author page, Twitter)
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Saturday, October 13, 2018

My Fake Valentine (Holiday High #1)

Mia's star desperately needs polishing. Can a fake relationship make her shine?

Mia Black “aka” Black Sheep, is the slightly geeky, kind of smart, but otherwise lusterless middle daughter of a family full of shining stars. Literally, like, movie stars.

Austin is the super cute, uber-popular, basketball phenom whose athletic career just took a nosedive when his failing grades landed him in academic probation. Basically Mia’s polar opposite.

When Austin impulsively kisses Mia in the hallway in front of everyone, pretending he’s moved on from the girl who just dumped him, he begs Mia to play along and promises he’ll make it worth her while. Mia knows her reputation could use some help, and Austin is the perfect guy to elevate her from not to hot. All she has to do is help him get his grades up, and Austin will pretend to be madly in love with her. Sounds like a win-win for both of them, right?

Fake it till you make it, the saying goes, and Mia and Austin soon realize that opposites do attract. But can their relationship, and their reputations, survive when the whole school finds out they were only faking?

If you like fun and flirty teen contemporary romance books by authors such as Kelly Oram, Jessica Park, Amy Sparling, or Nicola Yoon, you'll love My Fake Valentine!

Author: Kellie McAllen (Website, Facebook, Twitter)
Publisher: Lounge Chair Literature
Buy online: Amazon
Kindle Edition of the book purchased on Amazon
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Restore Me

Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

Author: Tahereh Mafi (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)
Publisher: HarperCollins
Buy online: Amazon
EBook borrowed from the national library
(Actual) Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Always and Forever, Lara Jean


“Sweetly funny.” —Entertainment Weekly

New York Times bestselling author

Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

Author: Jenny Han (WebsiteTwitterGoodreads)
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Buy online: Barnes & Noble
EBook borrowed from the national library
(Actual) Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tuesday, July 03, 2018

P.S. I Still Love You

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

Author: Jenny Han (WebsiteTwitterGoodreads)
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Buy online: Amazon | Kobo
Physical copy of the book was purchased at Popular Singapore bookstore
(Actual) Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Monday, July 02, 2018

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them...all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved--five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Author: Jenny Han (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Physical copy of the book was purchased at Popular Singapore bookstore
(Actual) Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Falling for Mr. Wright

After being dumped two weeks before his wedding, civil engineer Ryan Wright’s not interested in love. Been there, done that, had the wedding deposits to prove it. Still, he can’t help lusting after the fiery redheaded executive assistant who’s stirring up feelings that aren’t exactly appropriate for the office.

Sarah Leonard is determined to make the CEO fall in love with her. To execute her plan, she’s going to need a little help in the form of her lunch buddy, the 6’2” office hottie who just so happens to be their boss’s best friend. Who better to tell Sarah everything she needs to know to win the other man’s heart?

Ryan agrees to help Sarah put her plan in motion, but he has no intention of helping her win anything. In fact, it’s time to show his office crush that he’s the guy she should be falling for…

Author: Robyn Neeley (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Lovestruck)
Buy online: Apple iBooks
Kindle Edition of the book purchased on Amazon
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Friday, April 13, 2018

The Outsiders

Ponyboy can count on his brothers and his friends, but not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids who get away with everything, including beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect--until the night someone takes things too far.

Written forty-five years ago, S. E. Hinton's classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was written.

Author: S.E. Hinton (Website)
Publisher: Speak
Buy online: Amazon
EBook borrowed from the national library
(Actual) Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Murder on the Orient Express

Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one passenger less. A 'respectable American gentleman' lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside... Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-class compartment -- and the most astounding case of his illustrious career.

Author: Agatha Christie (Website, Facebook, Twitter)
Publisher: Harper
Buy online: Amazon
EBook borrowed from the national library
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Monday, January 22, 2018

The Theatre by Marsha R. West

Forty-year-old, never been married stage and TV actress Kelly Lawson returns to her Texas home to choreograph and star in the Glenview Theatre summer season. Kelly’s mother has made a hobby of trailing out every new man in town for Kelly’s inspection, hoping she’ll fall in love and use Glenview as her home base, especially now that Kelly’s father has entered the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s .

Two years ago, Kelly broke off an engagement shortly before she discovered her former fiancé dead, a gun in his hand and a hole in his head. Reason enough to guard her heart.

When Kelly accuses a Glenview police officer of harassing two of their gay actors, Police Chief Josh Kincaid, her mother’s candidate for this trip, becomes involved in the investigation. Incidents pile up, making it clear someone has it in, not only for the theatre, but for Kelly as well. Josh searches for clues to the person behind the attacks and the reason for them, all the while trying to ignore his developing feelings. How could he trust his heart to a New York actress?

Author: Marsha R. West (Website, Goodreads author page)
Publisher: MRW Press LLC
**The ebook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
(Actual) Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Saturday, January 06, 2018

Haunted by Heather Beck

When darkness falls and the air turns cold, ghosts come out to play.

Heather Beck presents Haunted, an anthology of ghostly encounters and paranormal events.


Ghost Park
After discovering a mysterious playground in the woods, Chase is stalked by angry ghost children.

A Haunting Past
Truce’s class trip to an old native reserve turns deadly when Bear, an infamous chief who died two hundred years ago, blames him for the tribe’s extinction.

The Manor On The Rocks
Grey, damp and surrounded by jagged rocks, Calla Lily’s new home isn’t only unpleasant, it’s also haunted by the world’s most evil boy.

A Medieval Nightmare
When Ellie and Brandon get trapped in a medieval museum that’s a bit too real, they fall under a spell and become pivotal players in a ghostly regime.

A Watery Grave
A camping trip becomes a heart-pounding race for survival when Justine meets a ghost who’s determined to change her fate by trading bodies with a living entity.

Author: Heather Beck (Website, Goodreads author page)
Publisher: Treasure Cove Books
**The ebook was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Monday, January 01, 2018

Note to Self

In his New York Times bestselling memoir, A Work in Progress, Connor Franta shared his journey from small-town Midwestern boy to full-fledged Internet sensation. Exploring his past with humor and astounding insight, Connor reminded his fans of why they first fell in love with him on YouTube—and revealed to newcomers how he relates to his millions of dedicated followers.

Now, two years later, Connor is ready to bring to light a side of himself he’s rarely shown on or off camera. In this diary-like look at his life since A Work In Progress, Connor talks about his battles with clinical depression, social anxiety, self-love, and acceptance; his desire to maintain an authentic self in a world that values shares and likes over true connections; his struggles with love and loss; and his renewed efforts to be in the moment—with others and himself.

Told through short essays, letters to his past and future selves, poetry, and original photography, Note to Self is a raw, in-the-moment look at the fascinating interior life of a young creator turning inward in order to move forward.

Author: Connor Franta (Website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter)
Publisher: Atria/Keywords Press
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Physical copy of the book was purchased at Kinokuniya Singapore bookstore
(Actual) Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Until You're Mine by Cindi Madsen

You might’ve heard of me, Shane Knox, the guy who rose quickly through the MMA fighter ranks, only to crash just as fast. No one cares about personal reasons when it comes to losing fights and money. I’m determined to get back to where I was. For you to hear my name again. I’ve finally convinced the owner of Team Domination to take a chance and get me back in fighting—and winning—shape. What I didn’t bargain for is the guy’s spitfire of a daughter. Factor in her two professional-fighter brothers who are acting as my coaches and the fact that my career hangs in the balance, and Brooklyn’s the last girl I should be fantasizing about.

The closer we get, the more I want Brooklyn. The stakes are high, and I know there’s a big chance of both of us getting hurt, but I won’t stop until she’s mine.

Author: Cindi Madsen (Website, Goodreads author page, Twitter)
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Embrace)
Buy online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
**The ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
(Actual) Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Dead Over Heels

The end of the world just might be their perfect beginning... Glenview, North Carolina. Also known-at least to sixteen-year-old Ava Pegg-as the Land of Incredibly Boring Vacations. 

What exactly were her parents thinking when they bought a summer home here? Then the cute-but-really-annoying boy next door shows up at her place in a panic...hollering something about flesh-eating zombies attacking the town. At first, Ava's certain that Cole spent a little too much time with his head in the moonshine barrel. But when someone-or something-rotted and terrifying emerges from behind the woodpile, Ava realizes this is no hooch hallucination. 

The undead are walking in Glenview, and they are hungry. Panicked, Ava and Cole flee into the national forest. No supplies, no weapons. Just two teenagers who don't even like each other fighting for their lives. But that's the funny thing about the Zombpocalypse. You never know when you'll meet your undead end. Or when you'll fall dead over heels for a boy...

Author: Alison Kemper (Twitter)
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Buy online: Amazon | Kobo
Kindle Edition of the book purchased on Amazon
(Actual) Rating: 4 of 5 stars