Month: January 2019

Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare | Book Review

Posted January 11, 2019 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare
Series: Spindle Cove #3.5
Also in this series: Once Upon a Winter's Eve, A Night to Surrender
Published by Avon Impulse on April 30, 2013
Genres: Historical Romance, Romance
Pages: 148
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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At last, Diana gets a romance of her own! But with the last man anyone in Spindle Cove expects...

Beautiful and elegant, Miss Diana Highwood is destined to marry a wealthy, well-placed nobleman. At least, that's what her mother has loudly declared to everyone in Spindle Cove.

But Diana's not excited by dukes and lords. The only man who makes her heart pound is the village blacksmith, Aaron Dawes. By birth and fortune, they couldn't be more wrong for each other...but during stolen, steamy moments in his forge, his strong hands feel so right.

Is their love forged strong enough to last, or are they just playing with fire?

I always love returning to Spindle Cove, and I was so excited to see Diana get her own love story this time even though it was super short and left me wanting more. I’ve loved Diana from the other books in the series, and it was fun to lean more about her and watch her sand up for herself. Her mom wants her to marry a nobleman, but she’s got her eyes set on the village blacksmith, Aaron. And why would she NOT!? Why go for a wimpy, wiry nobleman with no strength or grit when she can have a muscly blacksmith!? Aaron is a swoony hunk of man, but so sweet and caring as well. He’s so concerned about making his relationship with Diana work because they’re from different social classes. I love forbidden romances, and this one is filled with sneaking around and tension. SO much fun and so cute! Tessa Dare never ever disappoints me. This novella is crammed full of so much heart and love, and while I wish there had been more it was perfectly satisfying just the way it was.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang | Mini Book Review

Posted January 10, 2019 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 9 Comments

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Published by Berkley on June 5, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

I had been so SO excited to read this book when I’d heard people compare it to The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I went into it very excited for a similar, swoony, romantic story and it just didn’t work for me at all. I’m leaving my very tiny review here to inform my readers of my overall thoughts, but I wasn’t in the mood to go into more detail than this.

Things started out great and I loved the characters (I still just adore Michael in particular), but things changed for me at about 50% when the story shifted to a very strong focus on sex. I did not enjoy the countless numbers of graphic scenes. I don’t mind sex scenes at all, but these went on and on and were described in way more detail than I was comfortable reading. I started skimming past them to try and find more actual story, but there wasn’t much else that I could find. By about 86% I got to see how everything ended for each of these characters, and I did love that. The ending was sweet and deeper than the bulk of the book. I’m glad I read the end, and wish that there had been more substance throughout the middle.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2019

Posted January 7, 2019 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 31 Comments

I don’t know about you, but 2019 is shaping up to look like a great year of books for me! I guess I say that every year, and it’s really bad for my TBR, but oh well! Here’s a list of the ten I’m most excited about that are releasing through June of this year.

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (January 29, 2019)

I LOVED The Hating Game, and I cannot wait to read this next book by Sally Thorne! I received an ARC for this one, and I think I’m going to start it as soon as I finish my current read.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (January 29, 2019)

Nikolai is probably my favorite character from the Grisha trilogy, and I’m so excited that he’s getting his own duology now!

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West (February 5, 2019)

Kasie West writes some of the cutest YA contemporary romance, and even though I don’t love Hollywood/actor/famous people romances I’m hoping Kasie does me proud on this one!

Field Notes On Love by Jennifer E. Smith (March 5, 2019)

I was slightly iffy on this one because Jennifer E. Smith is kind of hit or miss for me, but a few things about the synopsis signed the deal for me. 1. College train trip across the United States. This sounds so fun!! 2. The companion ticket is booked in his ex-girlfriend’s name, so he lists the ticket online looking for other girls named Margaret to go on this trip with him. Sounds like such a fun unique premise!

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner (March 19, 2019)

I love Meagan Spooner’s writing, and a female Robin Hood sounds very interesting to me. The clincher, though, was when I found out the audiobook is narrated by Fiona Hardingham (one of my favorite narrators). I pre-ordered it immediately at that point!

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves (April 2, 2019)

I actually got a VERY early review copy of this book last April because I was Tracey’s subject matter expert for the book, but it is AMAZING you guys! It’s so, so good. I cannot wait to own a finished copy for my personal library, but I also can’t wait to see what the world thinks of a book I’ve loved for a long time!

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (April 16, 2019)

I’m reading this one right now, and it’s so wonderful so far! I love Jenn’s contemporary romances because they are always so unique and have the best swoony boys! I love the diner in Serious Moonlight, and Birdie’s hilarious Aunt Mona is perfect. I love the slight mystery aspect and swoony Daniel. Do yourself a favor and pre-order this one!

The Unhonymooners by Christina Lauren (May 14, 2019)

There’s no cover for this one yet, but I might be unreasonably excited about The Unhoneymooners. It sounds like it was written for me. And it doesn’t help that I love everything these two ladies write. Two enemies are the only survivors of a wedding food poisoning debacle and end up going on the honeymoon together because someone has to! This just sounds like it’s going to be amazing.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (May 28, 2019)

Listen. This book is about two strangers sharing an apartment. “Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.” They develop a friendship by communicating through notes they leave around the apartment for each other!!! When does a friendship ever not turn into more than a friendship? This sounds GOLDEN.

The Beholder by Anna Bright (June 4, 2019)

The Beholder has been pitched as The Odyssey mets Cinderella or Once Upon a Time meets The Bachelorette. Color me intrigued. Selah must cross the Atlantic to find a suitor or just never bother coming home. “From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime.”

Which books are you looking forward to over the next few months?
Do we have any picks in common?

A Tale of Beauty and Beast by Melanie Cellier | Book Review

Posted January 4, 2019 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 2 Comments

A Tale of Beauty and Beast by Melanie Cellier
Series: Beyond the Four Kingdoms #2
Also in this series: A Dance of Silver and Shadow
on November 26, 2017
Genres: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance
Pages: 295
Format: Audiobook
Source: Gift
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Lily has managed to save the duchy of Marin, with the help of her twin, Sophie. But now Sophie faces an even greater threat. Can she save the cursed kingdom of Palinor from its beastly prince?

I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, and after really loving the first book in this series I was even more excited to get to this one because I knew it would be amazing. Be careful reading any further, as this review will spoil who won the Princess Tourney in A Dance of Silver and Shadow!

The Princess Tourney is over and, as its winner, Sophie sets off on a curious and magical journey to Palinor to meet her betrothed: the beast (aka Prince Dominic). Since she’s the narrator this time, readers get to finally know Sophie better. I really liked her, and I felt I identified more with her than I did with Lily in the first book. Sophie arrives at the castle after a long journey in a carriage driven by an invisible force through a wintry wilderness, and finds it to be empty of people even though it looks taken care of. After some exploring she begins hearing voices of people she cannot see. She calls out to them, startling a whole staff of people who work there. They were not expecting her to be able to hear them. Dominic is not invisible, but he cannot speak to her and communicates through abrasive notes. It’s pretty obvious the kingdom has been placed under a curse and, of course, Sophie is going to try to break it and save the people she’s begun to form strong bonds with. The romance also begins to blossom and thrive as time goes on and we learn more about our tortured beast.

There are numerous ties to the original tale of Beauty & the Beast, as well as the Disney version. Melanie Cellier does find unique ways to make the story her own, however. Lily is still a part of the story, although the kingdom is quite isolated. I loved the secondary characters (the wait staff), and their interactions with Sophie. They look out for their master even though he’s kind of a jerk, but they also validate Sophie’s concerns and sympathize with her plight. I loved the relationships she formed with them. I really loved Melanie’s writing, too. Really my only complaint is that the female narrator did a pretty awful job portraying Prince Dominic’s voice. I felt the same with her portrayal of the male characters in the first book, too.

All in all, this was a very nice retelling of Beauty & the Beast! I love the writing, and I enjoy listening to these books even though the narrator bugs me a bit at times. I’m excited to read more from Melanie.

Month: January 2019

Which books are you looking forward to over the next few months? Do we have any picks in common?

Which books are you looking forward to over the next few months?
Do we have any picks in common?