“The lady had a rapier for a tongue. She jabbed with nouns, riposted with verbs.” – 3.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: word battles, sharp tongues, schemes, promises, marriage proposals, funny banter, war trauma, letters, injuries, balconies and dances.

Is there any greater surprise than falling deeply, madly in love?

In This Battle of Wits

Lady Lucy Upton’s tongue may be too sharp to attract suitors but her heart is good, and when her painfully shy friend Cassandra needs help she devises a brilliant scheme to help her discourage an unwanted suitor, the Duke of Claringdon. Lucy will hide behind the hedgerow and tell Cass just what to say to discourage the duke…but it turns out that he’s made of sterner stuff than either of them anticipated. And Lucy is shocked to discover that tangling with the tenacious man is the most fun she’s had in ages.

Kisses Are the Best Weapon

Lord Derek Hunt made a promise to his dying friend to marry the demure Cassandra, and for a man who wants nothing more than peace and quiet after the horrors of war, she’ll make the perfect bride. If only the impudent Miss Upton will let him court the girl! Doing battle is the last thing on his mind, but bantering with Lucy behind the bushes is too tempting to resist. And the spoils of this war just may be true love…

I don’t know why but I have never picked up an actual historical romance – which is weird because I love romance books! I wanted to change that and I found out the three first books of this series were translated and published in Portuguese… so I bought them. Needless to say I was very excited to dive into this new genre, but unfortunately I was left a bit underwhelmed with the start of this series. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this book is terrible – I certainly have read way worse -, but I genuinely think it had the potential to be an amazing romance.

If you’re a fan of the “enemies-to-lovers” trope like I am, the premise of this book may seem captivating and exciting, but the romance was a bit two superficial for my own taste. There was something about the main characters that didn’t work well for me. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but I think it’s related to them being superficial and immature – Lucy lacked depth and maturity and Derek was irrational and shallow. And not only the characters and romance were superficial, but the story was too. The entire thing is mostly empty dialogs, a lot of flirting and the MC keeping Derek away from her best friend… and that’s about it. I understand that Derek’s war story was meant to give depth to the plot, but the execution was not the best so it ended out working the opposite way. As a whole, the combination of dialog choices, scenarios and situations the characters were put in felt unrealistic and it made it difficult for me to take them “seriously”.

On a positive side, I loved how this book is full of lovely female friendships. We love women supporting women! That I don’t mind having more of, and I’m hoping we’ll have more of it in the next books!

I’m continuing the series because I’m still hoping I will find a gemstone in this series – and also because I already bought some of the next books *nervous laughter*So would I recommend this book? Since I don’t have a lot of experience with historical romances, I can’t recommend you other books. But I will say that you can probably find a better historical romance with a stronger plot – I’ve heard great things about Tessa Dare’s books, and that’s where I’m heading next when it comes to historical romance!

xoxo,

“Our stuff isn’t going missing – someone is stealing it. And there are exactly four people who could be responsible. I take a sharp breath and look at my fellow travelers with new wariness. Someone in this car is lying.”– 2/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: missing items, snow storms, cancelled layovers, college kids, creepy letters, yellow baseball caps and disaster after disaster.

A hitched ride home in a snow storm turns sinister when one of the passengers is plotting for the ride to end in disaster.

When Mira flies home to spend Christmas with her mother in Pittsburgh, a record-breaking blizzard results in a cancelled layover. Desperate to get to her grief-ridden mother in the wake of a family death, Mira hitches a ride with a group of friendly college kids who were on her initial flight.

As the drive progresses and weather conditions become more treacherous, Mira realizes that the four other passengers she’s stuck in the car with don’t actually know one another.

Soon, they’re not just dealing with heavy snowfall and ice-slick roads, but the fact that somebody will stop at nothing to ensure their trip ends in a deadly disaster.

My thoughts on this book are pretty simple: this was just plain boring and uninteresting. I already dislike books with road trips as it is, but even looking over that, there wasn’t much I liked about this book. The mystery was boring and underwhelming, the characters were bland – Mira was an incredibly weak and unmemorable main character -, and the story was very slow paced and it felt like nothing interesting happened.

The truth is that I felt like a lot of things were lacking: a plot, character depth and development, and engagement. Not only that, but there were also a lot of loose ends that I wish were explained in the book, like for example the yellow baseball guy situation, or how the responsible person could even possibly plan what happened – if you read it, you know what I’m talking about… there’s a lot of coincidences that make zero sense.

I will say I liked the atmosphere of the book. I liked the images the author tried to create throughout the book of the blizzard and snow. The book is placed around Christmas, but it’s not a strongly themed holiday book. Still, if you’re interested in the book, I would recommend you to pick up the book in the wintertime! Grab a blanket and a hot beverage and you’ll have the perfect set.

I have to be completely honest: I think you should find yourself a better thriller to spend your time on… but that’s just my opinion. Proceed at your own risk!

xoxo,

“What my mind needed to know was that someone was there to make it all better. That summer, through gritted teeth, I’d decided that person was me, not a man or a family, and it would only ever be me. I had to stop hoping for someone to come along and love me. I had to do it myself, ducking my head and barreling through anything life brought.” – 2/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: cabbage patch kids, Ariel dolls, car accidents, food stamps, landscapes, cleaning supplies, dirty toilets and a lot of complaining.

At 28, Stephanie Land’s plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. “I’d become a nameless ghost,” Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients’ lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her writing as a journalist gives voice to the “servant” worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie’s story, but it’s not her alone…

Wow… I never thought in a million years I would give this book a negative review. I wanted to read this for the longest time because I knew in my heart I would find here an inspiring story from a strong woman who beat the odds. Yeah, well, my heart was wrong.

When I was younger, we had a neighbor that was constantly talking about her own life (even when no one asked), and she was constantly complaining of how miserable her life was compared to others. Stephanie reminded me a lot of her.

I think the biggest turn off for me was her attitude towards life. I just couldn’t feel sorry for her (and trust me, I REALLY tried). I don’t want to come across as insensitive, but the truth is: this was a sob story. There was a lot of “poor me” and “I don’t have nice things”, and I wasn’t having it. She was constantly talking about all the things she didn’t have and all the things her employers had – makeup, clothes, forniture, meals, hobbies, homes… you name it and she would want it. She was extremely unlikeable, but still I tried to give her a chance and I tried to put myself in her shoes… but I couldn’t connect to her. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen my own mother’s struggle while growing up or maybe it’s because I know a lot of single mothers who went through hell to raise their children and never complained. Either way, the book felt very entitled and privileged – which is even weirder, considering that’s exactly the opposite of what she wanted the book to be about.

Not only that, but I was bored the entire time and I considered DNFing this five times. It was a cycle of cleaning scenes, self-pity, more cleaning, jealousy for the employer’s possessions and more cleaning.

I’m sorry for writing such a negative review, but I was disappointed with this book. I find people fascinating and I love to learn from their experiences and perspectives, but this story didn’t feel inspirational at all. There are so many inspirational women out there with great books, and this one is just about a woman complaining non-stop. I would skip it.

xoxo,

“Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn’t.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: biology assignments, pool tables, part-time jobs, baseball games, roller coasters, tacos, ripped wings, nephilims, snow globes and assault.

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

I love these gems from the late 00s. For me this pub time has been very iconic in terms of young adult books! I know I’m super late for the party, but Hush, Hush has been on my to-be-read list for a very long time and now I finally read the first book! So what did I think? I liked it a lot!

The romance is very intriguing. I don’t know how the author was able to create a romance that felt both tamed and at the same time very in-your-face. It seems very direct because there’s a lot of tension between the main characters when they’re together, but at the same time the romance itself felt almost non-existent. This was not a bad thing for me because there are three books left in the series, and I know the romance is probably going to develop very soon.

I really liked both of the main characters, but I especially loved Patch. Well, he’s not exactly a human being, but I really liked his energy and overall personality. I can tell this series is going to be a wild ride just from the characters!

The plot itself seems a bit confusing, but maybe it’s because I don’t usually read books with angels and nephilims… I think I’ll get the hang of it soon though (I hope).I’m curious to see where the story is headed next. I’ll be reading Crescendo in the near future!

xoxo,