One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend, but when he doesn't show up, she leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand, but following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.
352 pages Published July 29th 2014 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.78 Stars My Review: I listened to this as an audio book and enjoyed the English accents, but when I realized the setting of the story was in Chicago and northern U.S. I got a bit confused. The story was not a constant high did not hold my attention throughout. There were some intriguing parts at the beginning and a few scenarios during the middle, then I think the Epilogue was the most exciting part of the book. The biggest thing that through my attention out from the beginning was a thought it would be a mystery with the audience holding on to their seats about if they were caught, how it ended, and who got away with the crimes. It was not. The book was written with a Before and After the kidnapping perspective. You would get to hear in the Before perspective about the kidnapping and its progress then in the next After perspective chapter hear about the mom trying to console her rescued child. I was so confused the first few chapters about the Mia/Chloe who couldn't remember her name if she was kidnapped by one family to be taken to her past long-lost family and was being reminded of her true identity, that the Judge and his family had brainwashed her for so long into believing. The twist in the Epilogue should have had a bigger role in the story and maybe had an inter dialogue somehow to keep the plot thicker. In my opinion this was a pretty surface book and I craved more depth from everyone and less confusion. I gave this story three stars. I love the twist, but I wish it would have been more involved and now I have to read the book again with the Epilogue in mind. Every twenty-something needs a little black book of secrets. Our twenties are filled with confusion, terrible jobs, anticipation, disappointment, cubicles, break-ups, transition, quarter-life crisis, loneliness, post-college what the heck, moderate success sandwiched in-between complete failure, and we need a worn, weathered guide stashed somewhere close by to help shed some light on this defining decade.
This is that book. Expanded from the blog post, "21 Secrets for Your 20s" that spread like Internet wildfire with nearly a million readers in 190 countries,101 Secrets for Your Twenties will encourage, inspire, prompt a plethora of LOLs, and kick-start your life forward with its witty, honest, and hilarious wisdom-stuffed-pearls to help you rock life in your twenties. "Wow, may I just say how freakishly applicable these "secrets" are to my life in my 20s?" @ABsport19 208 pages Published July 1st 2013 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.82 Stars My Review: This was a fun read with a lot of humor and clever catch-lines mixed in with some more serious advice. It was written with the advice to start each secret off with and the majority of the time the author would go into further detail with examples to include further explanations. I shared some of the secrets with family and friends that were embarrassing to admit but true and marked a few pages of good advice that I'm planning to reference back to. I love his relatable struggles with Craigslist job postings, his journey as he is figuring out what marriage means, his struggles to find a purpose and never quit, and referencing everyone's struggle with Obsessive Comparison Disorder. I'm still debating if I should share the wealth and knowledge of this author and pass the book along or keep it all to myself, so I can enjoy it again. Two of the reasons I loved this book: The authors vivid comparisons... "I check my phone more times than a frantic smoker takes puffs after a six-hour flight." "This turbulent season in your 20s where you feel like you're getting the insides ripped out of you like crab legs at a Las Vegas buffet." His humorous approach at bringing up advice we all need. - You learned a lot about life from the game Oregon Trail. - You can figure out compatibility with your mate by seeing what kind of Karaoke personality they are. - What things everyone needs in their first cubicle. - As well as teaching about the different personalities and awkward scenarios you'll run into with coworkers. I would highly recommend this book to a twentysomething individual. It's humorous as well as versatile in it's variety of topics. It will act like a stepping stone into deeper conversation and get them thinking and asking more questions about life. 6/26/2015 Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace, and Joy by Mallika ChopraRead NowAs a mom, wife, and social media entrepreneur, Mallika Chopra frequently wondered how she could possibly do one more thing. Like so many, she was taking lousy care of herself and having a difficult time finding richer meaning and purpose in each day, even though that was her business's mission. Living with Intent is a practical yet deeply personal look at her year-long journey to discover some workable answers. Along the way, she sat down with Andrew Weil, Eckhart Tolle, Gretchen Rubin, Marianne Williamson, Daniel Siegel, and others, who shared their valuable input and insight.
288 pages Published April 7th 2015 Curent GoodReads Rating: 3.92 Stars My Review: How can you say something negative about something so positive? My husband can tell when I love a book because I tell him all the details and I start reading sections to him or make him participate if its an interactive book. I enjoyed sharing tips about being positive, living in the present, and live with even micro intents. My first intent after reading this book is to sit down with my husband and have us both complete our priorities of intent circle and see if we can help each other out in making them a reality. I have been considering meditation to help with my stress and that will become my number one priority and my first intent to turn into a long term habit. I enjoyed reading a real woman who struggles with a lot of the same things I need to overcome. I have the same connection with sugary food reminding me of good times and eating them for comfort just to feel horrible afterwards, I struggle with guilt daily about things I can't control, and live everywhere in everyones life but in mine and in the present. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. It's a light educational read compared to some that are so packed full instructions that you become overwhelmed and end up more stressed and with the thoughts that nothing is going to change after this book. I'm interested now in participating in Intent.com for accountability purposes and to keep myself on top of my intents and also I've already downloaded the app her father and Oprah put out together to help me get started in my meditation process. Thank you. I gave this five stars and look forward to my journey to purpose and intent beginning. On the heels of Dirty Secret, here is a sizzling hot romance featuring another Burke brother and the girl he can’t resist, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Game series.
Walking out on my wedding wasn’t my best idea. Neither was throwing my cell in the lake and taking a job as PA for Dirty B, America’s favorite rock band, complete with every teen girl’s dream man, the eldest of the Burke brothers. Tate Burke is pure sex. Women actually throw their panties at him during shows. And Ella Dawson is the lucky little thing that gets to escort their fangirling butts out when he’s done with them. Yay. He’s a cocky son of a bitch, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Every now and then Ella gets a rare glimpse of the Tate behind the “bad boy” act, and it attracts her in the most annoying way. The most annoying, heart-thumping, panty-wetting way. When her abusive ex turns up at the hotel room Ella and Tate are sharing, raging mad, she knows she’ll need more than just a little protection. Tate sees red, and Ella can’t help but lean on him, despite his bad-boy ways. And now? Now, he’s in a whole lot of trouble. 264 pages Published May 4th 2015 Current GoodReads Rating: 4.17 Stars My Review: There was a lot of turn offs about this plot. First an abused woman who runs away picks not only a public job that will get her in the news and tabloids (which is the farthest thing from hiding you could get), but her public job is being surrounded by sexist men. There is everything wrong with her past and how she was introduced with the boys. It would have been a five star review if she had a different background which wouldn't have be calling her stupid the entire book. The only smart decision in the whole situation is that the band has security guards that she can hide behind, but then again they don't serve their purpose very well, so that was a fail. I enjoyed the characters and how well the previous book aligned with this one, showing Sophie just starting out travelling with the band as well. It picked up right where it left off. The second thing that was a major turn-off was all the dang cussing. I don't mind a little when something bad happens but when it's almost everything that comes out of his mouth, it becomes distracting. An example, that might have missed some words since I listened to it as an audio book. F*** the grasp of concerts past, F*** the desperation of weeks past, F***everything that wasn't Ella Dawson and her magnetic pull, F***everything that wasn't her, F***everything that wasn't her belief, her pull, and her desire, F***everything that wasn't always more than forever, F***everything that could never look beyond the dirtiness of my past F***everything that depended on that shit, F***everything, F*** every F***ing thing that never saw Ella Dawson waiting at the other end, with my dick buried deep inside her. That entire inter-monologue did not need to be in there and it left for a bad taste in my mouth as it was in the last chapter. I was so distracted by the cussing I had to listen to it multiple times and still didn't care to understand it. I gave this three stars because I enjoyed the love story and character development, but the language and the backstory distracted and took away from the story for me. This guy, no offense, but like I said I don't mind if you stub your toe or something of the sort and slip out a cuss word, but I might just slap you if every sentence you speak contains a cuss word. I'd have to pass on this man, even if he's in a band. I'm more of a book nerd than a band fan-girl. Congratulations to @Amy_Garvie and @sleepyhollowkid the Winners of the Birthday Giveaway! I will be sending out details shortly with the code in order to download your free eBook.
Thank you to all who participated and started following me on Twitter. You won't be disappointed. Since I'm just starting out there will be as many giveaways as I can fit in to draw a crowd. I have a few more eBooks I'll be giving away in the next few weeks before I start sending out hard copies of books as I finish reviewing them. If you haven't seen my cover photo on Twitter (and that was only one of five suitcases full), my bookshelves are overflowing with books after I came back from my first book convention, so I decided to give them away as I read them so others can enjoy as well. It's a rainy day in Bartlesville, Oklahoma where I'm having to work out of town on my birthday. A giveaway seems to be a good opportunity to lighten my mood and get this Monday rolling.
An easy giveaway that you can enter by following @bookfix_blog on Twitter and retweeting my contest by midnight today, June 15th, and I will pick from the retweets my 2 Winners and send out the eBooks tomorrow morning. This contest is open Internationally.These are two eBooks and all you'll need is to be able to download the HarperCollins app on Android, Iphone/Ipad and I'll email you the code to enter in to receive the free download. Comment and let me know which of these two books you'd like to read or if you've read either and let me know how they are. These are my next two books to read and review so watch out for my review. Let the dead stay dead…
Despite a traumatic childhood in Cold Creek, Ohio, the Lockwood sisters have reunited there for the wedding of youngest sister Tess to the town's sheriff. Maid of honor Kate Lockwood is determined to break through best man Grant Mason's defences. An anthropologist, Kate makes her living studying the dead. She is particularly interested in the prehistoric Adena civilization that once called the area home. A large burial mound sits on Mason family land, and Kate wants permission to excavate. But Grant refuses and tells Kate to stay away from the mound. Kate respects Grant's desire to honor his grandfather's belief that the dead should not be disturbed. However, the more she researches the more it becomes clear that Grant is hiding something. When one of Grant's friends is killed—and the sheriff is away on his honeymoon—the couple joins forces to assist the deputy in the investigation. When Kate comes under attack she is certain it is connected to the burial mound. Grant seems concerned for Kate's safety, but despite their explosive attraction she can't help but be suspicious of his motives. Can Kate trust the man she's come to love, or will the wrong decision be her final act? 352 pages Published October 28th 2014 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.72 Stars My Review: I'm usually caught reading romances, but this was a new title at my library as an audio book so I decided to give it a try. It started off a little slow and with my dirty mind all that mentioning of "getting her hands on his mound" made me smile (I guess that's what I get for reading so many romance books). After overcoming that phrase being the topic of discussion so many times the story started building along with the characters and their connections with one another as well as the twists with characters. The only thing that took it down a star was the delayed delve into the story at first with the wedding that really could have been taken out besides the fact it was her excuse why she had come down into the small town. The relationship between her and Carson was a little messed up for me, with the innuendos and how he carried the inappropriate relationships through his years of students and manipulated young adults. I also was frustrated a little with how much of the story was bickering about the exact same topic about the mound. It seemed like that was half the dialogue and took away from more development that could have happened elsewhere. So many ancient mentions that I got a little lost, but the ending made up for it finally having some tipping point with the suspense and some action on all sides of the story. That poor sheriff that was on his honeymoon is going to have a lot of overtime and cleaning up to do now that he's back home after all that mess. I gave this read 3.5 stars. 6/10/2015 Your Beautiful Heart: 31 Reflections on Love, Faith, Friendship, and Becoming a Girl Who Shines by Lauren Scruggs, Lisa VelthouseRead Now"Beauty is on the inside." We know it's true . . . yet sometimes it seems tough to fully believe it. What would your world be like if you truly felt beautiful and lived every day full of that confidence and joy? Fashion journalist Lauren Scruggs knows how it feels to search for beauty. She grew up knowing of God's love, but never fully understood what that love meant, or how it extended to the deepest parts of her soul--until a horrible accident that resulted in the loss of both her left eye and hand. In her darkest hours, everything Lauren believed was tested. Yet it was there that God showed her where real beauty comes from: the unfailing love of the Creator. God's love is what truly makes us lovely.Using stories from Lauren's accident, recovery, and experiences in the fashion world, "Your Beautiful Heart" explores issues that teen girls face every day: body image, self-worth, peer pressure, and much more. Whether you read the book on your own or with a group of friends, Lauren's personal message of love, faith, and value will show you what it means to be a girl who radiates with true beauty.
288 pages Published March 1st 2015 Current GoodReads Rating: 4.10 Stars Received a Review Copy from NetGalley I mostly focus on romance, with the bias towards Young Adult and New Adult authors, if you haven't noticed scrolling through my reviews, but I enjoy at least once a month picking up other genres. For instance at least once a month I will read a spiritual book and a self-help book (usually about how to be happy or get myself out of depression), and then maybe once every other month I'll choose a book that will teach me a new trick of the trade like Blogging for Dummies, German Catch Phrases, or a How-To do anything book. I know it might look like some of these romance reviews should not be on the same page as the spiritual reviews, but this is my life right now. I'm getting lost in books because I enjoy keeping reality away,and I'm trying to figure out where I stand with God and how one person matters with how big this world is. My Review: After the brief introduction into the author's background I was nervous the book was going to be 31 chapters on different angles on her one accident, but I was pleasantly surprised. She dove into her experiences and fears as well as reaching out to others for stories that we could all relate to. I loved that each chapter had a real-life struggle, that she would connect each to a certain passage of scripture that tied it to how God tells us to face that certain struggle, and finally each chapter ended with a sort of action statement that summed up the chapter lessons. That was my favorite part because now I have written down each chapter summary, which might have been a sentence or two long, and I'll be able to reflect back on those and remember the passages that went with them as well as the people from the stories that might have suffered and overcome what I'm going through. The author seems extremely humble and ready to offer herself through her writing and struggles, so I was open from the beginning and ready to absorb the message she was giving. She seems like a strong, beautiful woman who I strive to be like. Thank you for this book. This book brought up an important point that I need to remember that having beauty does not equal fullness. An excerpt I enjoyed "A gigantic problem in our world and in ourselves is that we don't see that beauty and fullness go together. Beauty plus full: You have both parts to get to beautiful. Our culture and our hearts seem convinced that beauty equals fullness. We behave as if the two words mean the same things. Even worse, we behave as if the shallowest and most fleeting kind off beauty, a person's appearance, guarantees fullness. Our obsession with the mirror and our near-constant, pit-of-the-stomach, I'm-never-pretty-enough feelings prove this. But feeling even deeply, despairingly displeased about our appearance doesn't actually say anything about our looks. It doesn't actually prove we're not pretty. What it says instead is that inside each one of us, we ache for something. We believe that a pleasing physical appearance can take that ache away. In other words, we have a cosmic emptiness, and we've bought into the idea that being "good-looking" is what will fill us. It won't. It can't."
There will be five winners or I might just give everyone that participates something since I'm so excited to be hosting my first competition. So Enjoy and help me start off my blog right!
This competition will end Wednesday, June 10th at midnight and the winners will be announced the next day. Thank you for visiting! It was nothing personal, just a business arrangement. Ryan McKay is a multi-millionaire with a problem. He needs a bride to fulfill the terms of his grandfathers will. Unfortunately, the one he chose just bailed on him and hes hours away from losing his company. Enter Faith Lewis his demure, devoted assistant. Ryan convinces Faith to step in and marry him, assuring her their marriage is merely a business deal. Ryan is certain he can keep this strictly impersonal. After all, hes the product of a loveless marriage and for years has sealed his own heart in an icy stone. Despite Faiths warmth, compassion and allure, hes convinced hes immune to her charms. Faith will do anything for her boss, but marry him? The shy virgin sees herself as plain and unattractive, a product of a bitter mother who drummed into her head that she wasn't worthy of a mans love. But she agrees to help Ryan fulfill the terms of his grandfathers will, hoping she doesn't lose her heart to him in the process. But love rarely listens to logic, and what follows is anything but business.
208 pages Published June 1st 2008 Current GoodReads Rating: 3.69 Stars My Review: I got lost in the story, which means it was a great catch of a book. I listened to it as an audio book during my daunting tasks at work and caught myself pausing because I was into parts that I wanted to listen to more closely. It had some clever lines that I wanted to rewind and hear again like: "Reverend, there's been a slight change in brides." "The last thing he needed was to fall in love with his wife." This is the first I've read out of my last dozen or so books that is a third person POV, which made me listen to it more carefully. It was constantly giving insight from the main characters thoughts instead of having to wait until the next chapter to catch the other's POV. I don't know if I'd ever believe that a man cares so much about what a woman is thinking because it's to scary most of the time to find out. I can believe that a man would have a plan to try to persuade you into his pants. His motion that finally worked would have won me over to, so that was understanding. She did seem a lot naive, but I could see myself if put next to such a head strong character, turning into a shy, confused girl. As the story went on you began to fall in love with this man that was kind of an ass and so closed off at the beginning. I definitely wouldn't mind him as boyfriend material or hell husband material since he was looking so desperately for a bride. I'd rate him all mine. I have read a lot of marriage pact books as well as even seen movies involving staged marriages in order for one of both to receive benefits or uphold to a contract, or a will with a catch, but this one I'll remember above them all. It felt like their little dates could have been a montage in a movie as I imagined two adults swirling around on a merry-go-round acting with the heart of kids with this new found love they never thought they'd find. Even know the cover might look pretty dark, mysterious, and sexy, this book focused on two characters who evolved into two better people and two hearts that merged as one. I smiled quite a bit, laughed once or twice, and fell in love this these two characters, more than got embarrassed with how constantly they were having hot, steamy sex. Although sex was a part and had a steamy scene or two I liked that he teasingly would mention her as a sex addict and would just allude to what you could imagine a normal newlywed couple might be like. One of my longest reviews to date so I bet you could assume that I gave this book a whooping five stars and have added this author to my To Read list. |