Month: January 2020

Top Ten Favorite Illustrated Book Covers

Posted January 27, 2020 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 27 Comments

Even though I’m the one to write up/select weekly topics all year long for TTT, even I get annoyed when I see that I’ve come to a freebie week. lol. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to think that much! So I took to Twitter and asked for cover suggestions for this week’s cover freebie prompt, and my friend Paige suggested illustrated covers! The thought had entered my mind already, but when she suggested it too I figured it was meant to be! I am so in love with the current illustrated cover trend in romancelandia (that the UK has been doing for eons and I love it), so today I’m sharing my top ten favorite ones!

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
Christina Lauren blurbed this one, so I would have been excited about it even if the cover were covered in refried beans. I finished reading it a few days ago, and it’s a new favorite! PERFECTION. Pre-order it now!

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
One of my favorite books ever, and I’m obsessed with this bright and cheery cover.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
I love the colors and the cute glasses and the font. So fun!

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
I’ve been iffy about this book because I don’t see Tom Hanks as… someone to wait for? lol. But I do love the cover! I love all the hot pink and the cute curvy designs. Has anyone read this one? Is it good?

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Look at the cute little lobster holding on to the “r”!! This book sounds fun, but I’m worried about lack of romance. And too many sads. Anyone read this?

Coming Up Roses by Staci Hart
I love all the roses and the font treatment and the cute little couple. I’ve heard iffy things on this one, so please let me know your thoughts if you’ve read it! It seems to be a gender-swapped Pride & Prejudice retelling, which sounds fun.

Love Like Fire by D.E. Malone
This book is part of 4-book series, and all the covers are adorable. I love this one the most, though, because of the burgundy and the snow-capped evergreen trees. It looks so cozy!

The Northern Lights Lodge by Julie Caplin
Here’s another cozy cover. It’s a dream of mine to see the Northern Lights someday, and this cover is just perfection.

The Summer Getaway by Tilly Tennant
Put a cute illustration of the French Riviera on a cover and I’m yours.

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
I’ve loved this cover since the moment I saw it. I love the bridge and the skyline and the little boat in the water.

Well, there you have it! This was hard, because there are
SO many cute covers out there and I want to own all of them! 

Which one of these is your favorite? Or do you love one I haven’t mentioned today?


The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren | Book Review

Posted January 23, 2020 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 4 Comments

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren | Book ReviewThe Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on May 14, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Edelweiss)
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Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

I read The Unhoneymooners almost a year ago, and I loved it so much that I didn’t want to review it because it’s hard to review a book that you love EVERYTHING about and hate NOTHING. I didn’t even dislike anything. I instantly added this book to my favorites list and put it on my wishlist to own a physical copy for my bookshelves. It was just so perfect. BUT I’m reviewing it because it deserves to be reviewed. And I’ve talked about it so much on Twitter and here on the blog, so it’s time to explain my love of it (or at least list out the reasons why I love it). As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. Right off the bat, that synopsis sold me. I know this author duo well enough to know that they would do this story so well. I mean, the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from a bad seafood buffet at the reception and the ONLY two people who came out of it unscathed (because of an allergy and an aversion to buffets) go on the bride and groom’s honeymoon because why let it go to waste? So, even though they hate each other (or so they think) they dash off to Hawaii together. And hilarity ensues.

2. Why does hilarity ensue? Because they have to PRETEND they’re the bride and groom because the trip was non-transferable. Enter the fauxmance, which is my favorite trope as I’m sure you know. So these two people who hate each other have to be all mushy and lovey dovey and do all these coupley things (like a couples massage) in order to not get in trouble. It’s so perfect and hilarious, because there’s definitely tension there and a mutual attraction but they avoid it all costs because they hate each other.

3. Olive is amazing. She’s spunky and smart and capable. She’s also totally comfortable with herself and has so much confidence. She also has the worst luck ever. I want to be her friend and I want her to teach me how to not care about what anyone thinks.

4. Ethan is pretty swoony. Where Olive is high-strung and emotional Ethan is level-headed and soothing. He’s also pretty snarky and never calls Olive by the right name. They’re such a great match!

5. Their chemistry is explosive, and they can argue like nobody else. There is so much snark and contempt between the two of them, but as they spend more time together they realize there’s something more there.

6. Olive’s family is wonderful. I love her twin sister, Ami (the bride), and their bond. They are so devoted to each other. The entire family is awesome.

7. The writing *Italian chef finger kiss*. I hope these two never quit writing, Their rom-coms give me life.

All in all, read this. Read. This. Book. It’s the perfect romantic comedy with all the tropes I love. Christina Lauren can do no wrong.


The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf (January 2020 Edition)

Posted January 20, 2020 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 30 Comments

I love doing this topic in January, right after the holiday book haul and right at the beginning of the new year when lots of new releases come out! Today I’m highlighting the ten most recent books I’ve either purchased, been gifted, or received for review. I’m not including books I already had e-galleys of and got finished copies for my personal collection. Get excited about all of these! I sure am!

1. One Summer’s Night by Kiley Dunbar
I really, really loved Christmas at Frozen Falls and absolutely had to order Kiley’s first novel.

2. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
My TBTB Secret Santa sent me this for Christmas this year, and I’m so excited to read it! I love books about bookish characters.

3. Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
Also from my TBTB Secret Santa! This one has been on my TBR forever and it sounds really funny.

4. The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda
I love a good thriller, and I hear Megan Miranda writes some great ones. I was very excited when I got this one for review. (Review copy)

5. Make or Break at the Lighthouse B & B by Portia MacIntosh
Doesn’t this cover just scream leisurely summer day? It looks so perfect. (Review copy)

6. 500 Miles from You by Jenny Colgan
A nurse and an “all-purpose medical man” switch jobs for a time, and communicate back and forth through email about the patients they’ve traded. These emails form a kinship and then I’m thinking a bit of a love story. Sounds fun! (Review copy)

7. The Move by Whitney Dineen
When the heroine is 12, a fortune teller tells her that when she’s 30 a dog will jump over her and her life will change. Weird, right? one day… it happens. I’m intrigued! (Review copy)

8. If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane
I’ve never read a book by this author, but I’ve heard good things! This is a fauxmance played out on social media… sounds awesome. Fauxmances get me weak in the knees. I don’t care about much else when there’s a fake relationship going on! (Review copy)

9. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
I got the audiobook for Christmas, and I can’t wait to read it! It’s got so much of what I love in the synopsis.

10. Faking It by K. Bromberg
Another fauxmance! I got this one for Christmas. Rich Australian guy makes the heroine miss her job interview because he thinks she’s his dog walker… so he makes it up to her by hiring her to play his girlfriend to help promote his dating website. She has to go on tour with him… sounds like fun to me!

What books have you added to your shelf recently?


Top Ten Bookish Discoveries I Made In 2019

Posted January 13, 2020 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 24 Comments

This topic seemed easy until I started writing my list and then I realized that it’s actually very hard. lol. As I’ve mentioned before, 2019 was not the best year for me. I’d just as soon erase it from my existence and move on. BUT I did discover some new authors I love and some other fun bookish things, so here we go!

New-to-Me-Authors

1. Annette Marie 
I really loved listening to Annette’s Guild Codex: Spellbound series!

2. Riley Sager
I read ALL of Riley’s books last year after loving Lock Every Door so much. He’s an amazing author, who writes the kind of creepy that I love.

Different Genre Interests

3. Urban Fantasy
WHAT!? I like urban fantasy now? Who am I?

4. Historical Fiction
I’ve always been a lover of historical romance, but I’ve all of a sudden really fallen in love with historical mysteries or alternative history kinds of books.

5. Adult in general…

6. Therefore… I’ve officially fallen out of love with YA. 
I know… how did this happen? But I’m ok with it! There’s a few authors I love that I’ll still keep tabs on, and I’m sure there will be a YA title here or there that piques my interest, but I’ve been reading significantly less YA over the last year or two, and that’s ok.

Apps

7. Hoopla
I finally fell in love with Hoopla and utilized it way more than I ever have. This is the kind of library service I like… no germs in my bed from gross physical books (the germs, you guys). Digital files on my own devices is so much better.

Products

8. Classical Music for the Reader Album Series
I love classical music, but sometimes the dynamics are so all over the place that the music is super quiet and then crescendos SO quickly that it scares the crap out of me and throws me out of my book. These albums are great, and I’ve made a playlist of all of them on Amazon Music Unlimited to I can stream them anywhere.

Personal Preferences

9. I don’t actually like owning lots of books.
I know this seems counter-intuitive, but hear me out. I love owning books, but only the books I love. When I was younger, I wanted shelves full of books. All the books. I wanted to look like a reader, but I wasn’t. lol. So I got books with pretty covers and then never read them. When my love of reading reignited, and I became a book blogger I wanted to own all the books and ARCs because I thought it made me look cool and like a good blogger. lol. Now, I just want to look at my shelves and smile because I love the books I see. I like having tons of empty space on my shelves for new books that I’ll love in the future. I’m fine with no longer owning all of them, and that dawned on me last year. I did a huge cull/purge and got rid of so many books that I’d lost interest in or didn’t love enough to want to read again. It was amazing, and I felt so light.

10. Book formats don’t mean a ton to me anymore.
I used to want all the hardcovers, but now I’m happy with books in all formats. Although, sometimes I want Kindle because the cover embarrasses me or I want to read the book on vacation and not have to drag a physical copy with me. Sometimes I also want a copy for my shelves because I loved it so much.

What bookish discoveries did you make in 2019?


Roman Crazy by Alice Clayton & Nina Bocci | Book Review

Posted January 8, 2020 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Book Review / 1 Comment

Roman Crazy by Alice Clayton & Nina Bocci | Book ReviewRoman Crazy by Alice Clayton, Nina Bocci
Published by Gallery Books on November 13, 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Avery Bardot steps off the plane in Rome, looking for a fresh start. She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.

Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…

Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?

Anytime I find a book that’s set in Italy, I get excited. I hear bells and I light up because Italy is my favorite place on this earth and I love returning there through books. I’d heard good things about these authors individually, so I was also excited to read a book written by the two of them. I really liked all the characters, but I particularly liked the friendship between Avery and Daisy. It would be seriously so nice to have a best friend like Daisy, who is always there and will support you no matter what. Marcello was also super swoony and quintessentially Italian, so I was falling for him pretty quickly! I love second chance romances, and I love that Marcello and Avery fall right back into old feelings nine years after having a summer fling. It brought so much validity and depth to their love story.

Eve though the book can be called a romance, there’s more going on. This story was largely about Avery finding herself after finding her husband cheating on her with his secretary. She flew to Italy heal and to fall in love with art (again) and herself, and it was so much fun getting to see her come to terms with her life, learn from it, and move on to better things. If only we all had the chance to heal from a breakup in Italy! I loved the descriptions of the food and the scenery. I also loved the mix of funny and deep moments, not to mention super romantic moments. This book was the whole package for me, and I’m excited to read more from these authors.