Lizzy and Jane never saw eye to eye. But when illness brings them together, they discover they may be more like Austen’s famous sisters after all.
Lizzy was only a teenager when her mother died of cancer. Shortly after, Lizzy fled from her home, her family, and her cherished nickname. After working tirelessly to hone her gift of creating magic in the kitchen, Elizabeth has climbed the culinary ladder to become the head chef of her own New York restaurant, Feast. But as her magic begins to elude her, Paul, Feast’s financial backer, brings in someone to share her responsibilities and her kitchen. So Elizabeth flees again. In a desperate attempt to reconnect with her gift, Elizabeth returns home. But her plans are derailed when she learns that her estranged sister, Jane, is battling cancer. Elizabeth surprises everyone—including herself—when she decides to stay in Seattle and work to prepare healthy, sustaining meals for Jane as she undergoes chemotherapy. She also meets Nick and his winsome son, Matt, who, like Elizabeth, are trying to heal from the wounds of the past. As she tends to Jane's needs, Elizabeth's powers begin to return to her, along with the family she left behind so long ago. Then Paul tries to entice her back to New York, and she is faced with a hard decision: stay and become Lizzy to her sister’s Jane, or return to New York and the life she worked so hard to create? 339 pages Published October 28th 2014 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.81 stars My Review: Cancer is a sore subject for me so it hit a soft spot with me in a bad time. Also I didn't particularly enjoy the references to several other novels with references to characters, tones, and plots. I've started getting into books in the past two years but I started with contemporary so all those classic references where as if they were speaking a different language through a lot of the book, then to have to plot of this book trying to go almost parallel with a classic lost me completely. There was also a heavy influence of cooking which I couldn't relate to with references to the smells and tastes of spices and methods of cooking. The underlying plot was a positive, inspiring one but it seemed to be lacking a sense of depth for me although that might have been all my missing references that never clicked for me. I felt like there could have been more depth added to the other cancer patients, especially the one pair that was having meals cooked for them. They never confronted the issue of someone reporting Lizzy for cooking in a private kitchen. I gave this book three stars. As for boyfriend material, I don't think the author put enough focus on the the love interest to get a good rating on him. Even Jane's husband I was a little nervous about his faithfulness which would have pissed me off. The main relationship in this story is between the two sisters and so for that relationship I'd as well maybe rate that with three stars because they didn't have a very absorbing relationship that you were rooting for and even at the end when they were just starting to figure each other out which was just a hint at the beginning of a friendship forming. Throughout the book was not a relationship I'd want to even try and relate to and by the end they were finally going in the right direction, but still not exactly in the best of standings. Sometimes opposites don't just attract - they catch fire and ignite
Jennifer is a middle school teacher with an eye for metrosexual men. Her last boyfriend had more shoes than her. Having no interest in tatted up, pierced, and rough looking Rocket she dances with him anyway, since it's only a dance. Wild Rocket has just come back from a binge of drinking, fighting, and sleeping around. Finally deciding to get serious, he falls for pretty Jennifer and the hot way she shakes her butt on the dance floor. In a moment of weakness Jennifer agrees to join Rocket on a visit to an art gallery, where she learns that maybe the book is deeper than the cover and love can be found in the least obvious places. Of course Jennifer has her band of college friends supporting her the whole way; dubbed The Princesses from their freshman year Halloween costumes. Told in alternating POV. This is a stand-alone book, but much more fun if read along with the rest of the Princesses of Silicon Valley books Expected publication: June 1st 2015 Current GoodReads Rating: 4.60 Stars My Review: Oh this sweet, tatted up Rocket of hers. I'd rate this man with a MINE stamp and five big stars for boyfriend material. I love a male who is not full of himself and is humble, down to Earth, and gets excited about your hobbies almost more than you do yourself. The likability of these characters earned this book a star all by itself. I'm not sure if I'd be okay with all those piercing of Rocket, but maybe all I need is some one-on-one time with him like Jennifer needed to realize looks are not everything. This story changed up things a little with the crazy families and the different ways they influenced their kids. The Hawaiian and the family full of traditions that we learned a few of, which at first I wasn't sure if it was a section that needed to be in the book at all, till that twist. That twist added an unexpected edge to the story that drew the reader back in and complimented the original story nicely. The character develop is top notch and I love that these can be read as a stand alone, but if you read through the series you'll get snapshots in the past and present of other couples that act as a teaser as you get to their story. Well written, love this book, love this series. I am a little bias to this author because I love her story so much and how it intertwines with her characters which makes me fall in love more with both her and her books. It feels like you are getting to know the author as you read through her stories. I thank her for giving me a preview right from the editor to review and will be waiting for all there is to come from her. I'd recommend this book to all. It has a few explicit scenes, but not nearly as graphic as I've read in others and it's focused mostly on the relationship which is a refreshing story between Jennifer and Rocket. I gave this book five stars. I would recommend going to Anita Claire's website and reading her About Me section to get to know how and it might just guarantee you fall in love even faster with her characters. http://www.anitaclaire.com/ I finally finished the book I started on my ride up to the RT Convention. It's been a crazy week since starting the book of meeting authors, and sorting through my hundreds of new books. I rented this one from the library so in most cases I did have a deadline to keep my reading to a certain pace. I have one more book after this that an author sent me to read before I start diving into my mountain of books and start the giveaways. Happy Reading!
“What do you call a thirteen-year-old mermaid?” I shake my head and Layla shrugs. “What?” “A merteenie!” He slaps his knee and wipes a fake tear from the corner of his eye.” ― Zoraida Córdova, The Vicious Deep Synopsis: For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave. He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he's heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he's suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods. Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea...and now it wants him back. 372 pages Published May 1st 2012 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.72 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12246929-the-vicious-deep My Review: It turned into to more of a confusing love story than the adventure that I thought it would. I was left with so many questions at the end but interested to read what comes next and what and who he will decide to be with. It is refreshing to have some suspense and action around a love story, especially with a plot so unique. This quest reminded me a bit of the Hunger Games with the different "districts" all competing against each other to the death if needed. I can't wait to read more about the rest of his journey. I gave the book four stars. I like to rate boyfriend material and as far as Tristan goes I'm liking the direction he's heading. He started off a little stuck up, but his experiences are humbling him. Also he must have a good body being one of the top members of the swim team and a lifeguard so of course that's a plus. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to like the dual flowering relationship, but for now I'll appreciate his admiration for the history he's built with one of them. I'll give the man in this book three stars out of five with an almost guaranteed likelihood of improving throughout the series.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XtYFba2s2rE
I just watched the trailer for Colleen Hoover's Ugly Love movie coming out next year and I needed to share it with everyone I knew. Once you watch it you'll realize why this post is so short… Because the trailer speaks for itself. I will tell you that I'll be reading the book just a few more times because it was so good the first time and I will definitely be at the premiere of the movie at least once.
Also Colleen Hoover is doing a giveaway to celebrate the release of the trailer so go check out her blog and enter soon. The winner will be released on Memorial Day, this Monday. http://colleenhoover.com/2015/05/22/ugly-love-movie-teaser/#comment-106764 I'm still recovering from @RT_Convention. I'm in a book hangover or you could say a feeling of whiplash from bouncing back and forth between all the new books I brought home. This weekend at the Convention was packed full of so much fun, but it made for some long, exhausting days. I promise though I'm almost done with my next book. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep and barely making it through the work days this week. Thank goodness this is a long Memorial Day weekend coming up so I have an extra day to catch up on both sleep and reading. I'll be heading back out of town for another five weeks following Memorial Day, so my reviewing and reading will be back to normal. I promise to have my review of The Vicious Deep by @zlikeinzorro by the end of this week.
Check me out on twitter @bookfix_blog. I'm becoming obsessed with Twitter, mostly because all the authors are so nice and retweet and like all my pictures and things with them in it. It's my first time ever on Twitter and I might just go over to the dark side and make myself a personal account as well. I don't think I've ever smiled more for an entire weekend. I got to visit with almost every author I love, get some of their new books, and got them to sign my bag (which I'll post a picture of later). I was on cloud nine the whole weekend and came away with hundreds of books. I might be more in love with books after the chaos of books and book lovers everywhere. I met so many amazing individuals as I waited in all the different lines ranging from authors, to bloggers, to librarians, and all the obsessed readers like myself. I've never been able to talk so much about authors and books and everyone actually know what I'm talking about. I'm in love with book lover conventions now. I will save the pictures from my second and third day of authors and fun while I read and post about their books.
New Addition: I'm going to start a boyfriend rating on each review from now on. Since most of what I read is romance I'll rate the main guy character on how hot or sweet he seems and if he could be boyfriend material and I'll do some research and post who I think they'd look like as an actor portraying them. Let me know what you think of the idea or if you have something better in mind. Thank you for reading.
In a world divided by prejudice and hatred, only love can bridge the chasm.
Tensions are rising in the Gladium Province. The boundary between humans and Morgons has begun to blur. While the human aristocracy strives to maintain distance between their daughters and the dragon-hybrid race, fate has other plans. As the daughter of the corporate king, Jessen Cade is duty-bound to honor her arranged marriage to a man she detests. Feeling trapped by family duty and a loveless future, she longs for more, straying to the Morgon side of the city. Lucius Nightwing is the eldest son of the powerful Morgon clan, and the greatest enemy of Jessen’s father. When a bar-room brawl thrusts Jessen into his arms, his dragon roars to the surface, craving to sate his carnal hunger in the brown-eyed beauty. The beast in Lucius recognizes her as his own, even if the man refuses to admit the truth. 109 pages Published October 20th 2014 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.85 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20640241-soulfire My Review: Too many starts things that should have been explored deeper. It was not a story but a middle of a book that had so many chapters and sections torn from it. You can't introduce all those friends, family members, and species then not go deep enough into any of them. The surface was barely scratched, the story should have excluded the introduction of her mom and sister, her friends, and his friends if it was planning to be such an abbreviated story. I gave it two stars. Unique story line but far too little detail. New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy begins a sexy new contemporary romance series—perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Emma Chase—that introduces three sisters born to wealth, raised to succeed, ready to love, destined to make waves.
I've moved through life doing what’s expected of me. I’m the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and survived. The one who devoted herself to her family’s business empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I. Until he got a promotion and left me in the dust. Maybe it’s for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me. He too has an overwhelming thirst for success, just like Zachary—perhaps even more so. He’s also ruthless. And mysterious. I know nothing about Ryder McKay beyond that he makes me feel things I've never felt before. One stolen moment, a kiss, a touch . . . and I’m hooked. Ryder’s like a powerful drug, and I’m an addict who doesn't want to be cured. He tells me his intentions aren't pure, and I believe him. For once, I don’t care. I’m willing to risk everything just to be with him. Including my heart. My soul. My everything. 400 pages Published December 2nd 2014 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.74 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21965297-owning-violet My Review: It was contradicting and left a lot of empty story lines that would have enriched the plot. You shouldn't have someone that is made to have such a fragile past and have her enjoy getting bruised and beaten during sex. Also there was nothing besides sex and I can't stand when authors try to make that into a love story...it's not. It was a whirlwind lust fest with no depth for a relationship to form. They introduced so many characters that had so much potential to develop into back story and wind around the main plot to make it more interesting but instead they were introduced and teased into the plot then left hanging that just left us with more questions. They made a deal about a character getting out of jail, then left him to be a boring random paragraph and didn't involve him further into a twist or a rescue scene that could have formed. I think my imagination after the characters were introduced is what made this so disappointing. They could have done so much more. It had great potential, but fell short. Another thing is it started with two main villains but only partial explained the backstory of the male and I was more curious about the girl who was really the main villain. Finally it seemed that the people that were all fighting to go overseas for the promotion had very different job functions so how could they possibly be fighting for the same position. Then it ends and you really don't know who went where and did what which was the fight behind the whole book. I gave this book one star. Fate Buchanan is about to marry her college sweetheart. That is until a last minute change of plans leads her straight into the arms of a sexy stranger.
Sometimes the worst things that happen to us put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us. *This is the prequel novella to Falling for Fate and can be read as a stand alone. **New Adult romance contains mature adult language and sexual situations. 66 pages Published February 1st 2015 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.84 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24806704-falling-for-you My Review: It's a teaser all right. It packs so much information that you hang on the edge of the cliff waiting for what's next to be left there. It did its job of getting me excited for what's next and it was such a drama filled entrance. It got your mind dreaming of how it will end and wanting to know what road they would take. In its short few chapters it held the good, the bad, and the ugly the characters would go through. I gave this book five stars. |