Tag: contemporary romance

Book Review: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Abby Jimenez
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: June 11th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kristen Petersen doesn’t do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don’t get her. She’s also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.

Planning her best friend’s wedding is bittersweet for Kristen — especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He’s funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he’d be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it’s harder and harder to keep him at arm’s length.

HMM.

I’ve had a lot of friends read this. And I have heard literally every review under the sun. All things from 1 star rants to 5 star raves. I have decided that I’m smack in the middle. There was some parts I did like (hint: Josh) and some parts I didn’t like (hint: Kristen).

Good stuff first, JOSH. Dude, this guy put up with so much crap throughout this entire book and I feels deserves more praise. He was sweet, funny, attractive and the kind of guy I would enjoy being around. The only thing that happened that I didn’t love was his drunk confession of love. I personally just don’t like those scenes.

Bad stuff next, Kristen. I was really hoping to see a bigger character arc from her. I knew the main subject of the book was infertility and the struggles Kristen was going through involving that. Her despair was palpable and I truly felt for her (and those) in that situation. I thought I would see her come to a better understanding of herself and knowing she is more than whether or not she can have a child. There was no change until the last page of the epilogue where I finally felt she was at peace. I wish this had come sooner. Her sarcasm and wit were on fire and she had me laughing at some point. Yet, Kristen’s CONTINUAL pushing away of Josh instead of just LISTENING for a minute almost annoyed me.

The romance was good. I liked the build up. The only thing that bothered me was the emotional cheating. I know some people don’t consider this cheating, personally I do. After that point I loved watching the banter and heat between Kristen and Josh.

I was emotionally attached to some parts of the book involving Kristen and Josh. I was HIGHLY involved emotionally in Sloan and Brandon’s story. I’m still a bit shaken up over it because I was blind-sided by that whole bit. Makes me curious where Jimenez’s next book will take us (I’ve heard good things about it too!).

Overall audience notes:

  • Adult contemporary romance
  • Language: A LOT of strong language
  • Romance: kisses, make-outs, two love scenes that were too descriptive for me personally (on the very explicit spectrum)
  • Violence: car accidents, discussion of a firefighters life
  • Trigger warnings: infertility

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: April 2020

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Y’all. This month started out so great, then I got really sick for a few weeks (NOT COVID, don’t worry y’all) and the last half just plummeted. I’m not in an awful book slump where I can’t even get myself to read a few pages a day.

I know its not a huge ordeal to stop reading for a bit, and this too shall pass, but it’s still weird not reading so many books. I’m focusing solely on the ARCs I’ve already received and titles that I’ve already pre-ordered so I can try to at least keep up with those.

I dd manage 17 books in the first chunk of April, and some good titles at that!

My favorites this month were: King of the South, Dark Skies, Voyager, Elantris and a A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

My least favorites were: The Kingdom of Back, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird and The Honey-Don’t List.

  • King of the South (Belgrave Dynasty #1) by Calia Reed – (☆☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • [ARC] Dark Skies (Dark Shores #2) by Danielle L. Jensen – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn – (☆☆☆)
  • Elantris (Elantris #1) by Brandon Sanderson – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu – (☆☆☆)
  • Imagine Me (Shatter Me #6) by Tahereh Mafi – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co. #5) by Jonathan Stroud – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab – (☆☆☆☆)
  • A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson – (☆☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver – (☆☆☆)
  • Moment of Truth by Kasie West – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren – (☆☆ 1/2)
  • [ARC] The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler – (☆☆☆☆)
  • You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle – (☆☆☆)

There we have it! My reads for April. Were any of these books you read too? See some favorites? Lets talk in the comments!

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ARC Book Review: The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs, Alaska #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Sarah Morgenthaler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: May 5th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he’s stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless string of resort visitors who couldn’t interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way…

Two weeks in Alaska isn’t just the top item on Zoey Caldwell’s bucket list. It’s the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she’s smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham’s world, she may just find there’s more to the man than meets the eye…and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own!

ALL GOOD THINGS.

This was a gem. I had such a good time reading this that I went through it even fast than I expected. When I saw the setting for Alaska my mind immediately goes to The Simple Wild. That’s a lot to live up to in my bookish brain. No, this isn’t TSW, but it IS another great book set in the Alaskan wilderness I would easily recommend this to others.

With a time period of about two weeks you would think I’d be shouting about insta-love. NOPE. Morgenthaler wrote this romance beautifully. It felt honest, cute, and like they were actually into each other. Graham is the trope-ish grump who meets his sunshine in Zoey. I found myself laughing at their antics and the different situations that kept them colliding. Yet swooning when it was clear that Graham was into Zoey. Resistance was completely futile. Not to mention that utterly wonderful rom-com ending was what dreams are made of.

The only issue I had was wanting more depth from Graham. I felt very surface level with him (and most of the other characters). He spent most of the time in one state. A goofy grump who never divulged too much information. If I had gotten just a bit more from him it would have sent this off the charts.

I liked the rotating point-of-view. I love those in romances. It gives insight to both mindsets and decision making. The setting [of course] played a big part in how this book played out. I loooove the wilderness setting and all it entails. Getting a feel of both sides of tourism vs. those who live there.

Cute, low on the steam (huge plus in for me!), and an easy read that will make you smile. And can’t we all use that sometimes? I can’t wait to read Morgenthaler’s next book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: a little throughout
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; a love scene with little detail that fades out quickly
  • Violence: drunk driving (not by either MC, a side character in a small scene)

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Book Review: The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Cameron Lund
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: April 7th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It seemed like a good plan at first.

When the only other virgin in her group of friends loses it at Keely’s own eighteenth birthday party, she’s inspired to take things into her own hands. She wants to have that experience too (well, not exactly like that–but with someone she trusts and actually likes), so she’s going to need to find the guy, and fast. Problem is, she’s known all the boys in her small high school forever, and it’s kinda hard to be into a guy when you watched him eat crayons in kindergarten.

So she can’t believe her luck when she meets a ridiculously hot new guy named Dean. Not only does he look like he’s fallen out of a classic movie poster, but he drives a motorcycle, flirts with ease, and might actually be into her.

But Dean’s already in college, and Keely is convinced he’ll drop her if he finds out how inexperienced she is. That’s when she talks herself into a new plan: her lifelong best friend, Andrew, would never hurt or betray her, and he’s clearly been with enough girls that he can show her the ropes before she goes all the way with Dean. Of course, the plan only works if Andrew and Keely stay friends–just friends–so things are about to get complicated.

Cameron Lund’s delightful debut is a hilarious and heartfelt story of first loves, first friends, and first times–and how making them your own is all that really matters.

ADORBS.

This was a cute and heartfelt debut. I devoured it in practically one sitting and was all for this friends to lovers trope. And while that’s usually not my favorite trope, this one hit all the marks for a great book. I’m so happy I picked it up!

I absolutely couldn’t get over how adorable Keely and Andrew were. Utterly enchanted by the banter and flirtations between them. And they clearly had some chemistry. I felt like I already knew both of them and the intensity at which the protected and cared for one another made me care for them too.

Hannah and Keely had such a fantastic friendship. It’s something I love seeing in YA contemporaries. One where they actually want the best for each other and ever after a squabble know that their friendship is more important than a argument. The other side characters? Ugh, the worst. They felt overly high school. I get it, that’s the way it is sometimes, depending on what circle you run in, during school. But seriously, it was too much at times and they were incredibly awful to one another. The drama was turned up too high for me.

The ending was just like a cheesy rom-com and I was so invested in it. I thought it was precious and I’m so happy that Andrew and Keely got it all out there. Watching teens learning to have real and forward-moving conversations is always a wonderful bonus. What a beautiful debut and I can’t wait for more from this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; a lot of general discussion about sex and partners, a few almost scenes (moderately descriptive) and one scene that’s very little descriptive
  • Trigger warnings: slut-shaming, bullying

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