“Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.” – 4.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: heavy capes, dark caves, discipline, war, royal guards, sacrifices, family disputes and new territories.

#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Selection series Kiera Cass is back with her most epic novel yet—a sweeping enemies-to-lovers standalone romance.

“Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.”

Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.

Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.

But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.

Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.

I missed this Kiera Cass so much. She has the ability of writing the most perfect romances, and this book was proof of that once again. I’ll even say this is probably my favorite book from her after “The Selection” series – that’s saying a lot coming from me!

This book is filled with elements for a successful book. The romance is amazing, the main characters were very likable, and the story and writing were creative and unique!

I loved both the characters and the romance in this. Nobody writes princesses (and kingdoms) like Kiera Cass! This princess was one of my favorites that she ever wrote, right after America from “The Selection”. She was sweet and sacrificed a lot, and the boy was tough with a good heart – but what they have in common is that they’re both very strong and brave. I truly loved their romance and how they complemented each other perfectly! They made me swoon all the time – plus, I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers stories!

The writing is also amazing! I was super invested in the story and it was hard to put the book down. It’s full of romance and action! The dual point of view is also a great decision for this story and worked wonderfully.

I guess the only reason why I’m not giving this 5 stars is because of the pacing. I understand this is meant to be a standalone book and that means there’s a bit of a limitation with the writing there, but I think it would be better if this was a duology or even a bigger book. The reason why I say this is because some of the moments were a little rushed. For example,(spoiler alert ahead!) I feel like when they left the cave they should maybe have a small doubt about if they like each other or not, instead of already confessing straight up they liked each other. I think things moved on a little too fast and the story would benefit if they had more of a slow burn romance. Other than that I absolutely love this book!

And just as a side note: I’m so glad she stuck to the theme of having a girl on the cover! It’s such a small thing but it truly makes me happy how she is keeping her signature covers! I just wished the publisher put the girl in the spine too.

I can only hope the author continues to write amazing stories like this one! Great job Kiera Cass, this is an A+ for me! I’m very happy with this book, I definitely recommend it.

“(…) when you give people a mask, that’s when they show you what they really are.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: guest lists, room service, bridges, inaugurations, mean owners, VIP guests and a very exclusive club.

Everyone’s Dying to Join…

The Home Group is a glamorous collection of celebrity members’ clubs dotted across the globe, where the rich and famous can party hard and then crash out in its five-star suites, far from the prying eyes of fans and the media.

The most spectacular of all is Island Home—a closely-guarded, ultraluxurious resort, just off the English coast—and its three-day launch party is easily the most coveted A-list invite of the decade.

But behind the scenes, tensions are at breaking point: the ambitious and expensive project has pushed the Home Group’s CEO and his long-suffering team to their absolute limits. All of them have something to hide—and that’s before the beautiful people with their own ugly secrets even set foot on the island.

As tempers fray and behavior worsens, as things get more sinister by the hour and the body count piles up, some of Island Home’s members will begin to wish they’d never made the guest list.

Because at this club, if your name’s on the list, you’re not getting out.

In a few words: fun, but confusing.

This murder mystery happens in a very exclusive celebrity club named “Home”. This club has hotels around the world, but a new one is opening named “Island Home” and the owners Ned and Adam are preparing for the inauguration – that is not doing very well due to the delays and budget issues.

This book is full of twists and surprises! I really liked the plot and the celebrity drama, and the characters were interesting and had depth. The setting was fun and the descriptions of the Club really made the reading experience very atmospheric.

The only negative thing I would point out is that I was lost and confused a lot. It was so confusing since there were too many characters and POVs, and it ended up being a little chaotic! It took me some time until I stopped mixing characters and knew exactly who was who. I understand the purpose of each one of them, but it made reading very confusing.

For a dark thriller, I really liked it. It just wasn’t perfect because I was lost at times.

“A tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: forests, fungi, communication strategies, nutrient exchange, helping neighbors, age, growth and the beautiful canopy of trees.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.

Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

This book is a hidden gem!

As soon as I saw this book existed, I knew I had to get it. It’s not like I’m a tree enthusiast, but I’m very curious about nature and I’m always looking to read and learn more about it.

If you like trees or maybe you’re curious about trees, this is the book for you. In this book you’ll learn about how trees communicate, share nutrients, help their neighbors, grow, reproduce, protect themselves and live peacefully in community. 

It’s true that I learned a lot while reading this amazing book, but one of the best things about it is how you can feel the author’s enthusiasm through his writing. You can feel his excitement through the pages and how much he enjoys what he does. There is no doubt in my mind that this man loves trees and nature.

Even though I enjoy enthusiasm and I like nature myself, I was a little bored at times while reading this. It’s not that the book is boring, but it gets a little monotonous and repetitive. I guess I just don’t love trees to that extent!

At the end of day, I enjoyed this book and I learned a lot. I think this is a great option to pick up if you like to read and learn more about nature. Just keep in mind it’s a deep dive!

“Everyone’s got the potential to do the wrong thing – if we were measured that way, we’d all come up short. It’s about what you do.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: carpool, awkward moments, old lovers, gas stations, breast pumps, weddings and a very long trip.

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.

But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can’t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship…

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly… is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?

This was okay, but it’s definitely not my favorite book from Beth O’Leary. 

There were a lot of things I didn’t love about this book, but the main thing that bothered me was how repetitive it was. It felt like it was too long and the scenes were stretched to the max… and yet, nothing happened.

I also didn’t love the main characters. Addie and Dylan were boring and bland, and I didn’t care about them and their romance. The rest of the characters were okay and more likable. I especially liked Rodney for how mysterious and clueless he was at times! Marcus was an asshole and his attitude annoyed me the entire time, so I didn’t like him as well.

Other than what happened when they finally got to the wedding – which was actually funny -, and the little “Marcus plot twist thing” that happened also near the end, the entire book felt monotonous and boring.

For a romance, I expected a little more. I think this had great potential if the story wasn’t so repetitive and the main couple was a little more likable and had better personalities. But oh well, you win some, you lose some.Like I said, it was an okay read – not great but not unbearable. I personally wouldn’t recommend this book if you’re starting with Beth O’Leary. If I were to recommend one of her books, I would say to pick up “The Flatshare” instead!

“Everyone’s on the cliff edge of normal. Everyone finds life an utter nightmare sometimes, and there’s no ‘normal’ way of dealing with it… There is no normal, Evelyn.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: great friendships, OCD medication, movies, cleaning supplies, being normal, psychiatrist appointments, terrible love interests, washed hands and young spinsters.

All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…

But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

I feel like I’m going through a reading phase where I don’t pick up YA coming of age stories anymore, but I still had this book on my shelf for a long time and I decided to read it before I give it away. So I read it, and surprisingly – I think this is a hidden gem!

Let me start by saying this is not a book centered on romance. I mean, this still has love interests and all, but it’s truly a coming of age story. It follows this girl named Evie who suffers from OCD and is on her path to become “normal” – or her definition of normal, that is.

It was an extremely funny, wholesome and simultaneously sad book. I loved the humor, the characters, the story and how honest it felt. Evie was a likable character and I can only imagine what it is like to be in her shoes. She was always hopeful she would get better and her medication dosage would diminish whenever she visited her psychiatrist, but sometimes it’s hard to get a hold on what we can’t control. It made me think about what people with OCD go through and how it affects their lives.

The other characters were good, but I had a bit of an issue with her parents and psychiatrist. The parents were really insensitive and the way they kept separating Evie from her sister so she wouldn’t “influence her” was absolutely terrible and made me feel icky. Also her psychiatrist had a really questionable way of thinking by forcing her to eat an expired sandwich. That felt super wrong.

Her friends were cool, but I personally didn’t love Amber. She just seemed a little too passive aggressive and manipulative for my taste, but she wasn’t the worst character in this by far. I really liked how they created their own spinster club and how they reinvented what the word meant! I thought that was really cute.

Also, like I said, this is not exactly a romance book but there are three – oh yes, you read that right – three love interests! Unfortunately the story takes a turn and it doesn’t end up like I think most readers would. The love interests were very interesting and different from what we normally see in YA romances, but I liked the role of each one of them and how they contributed to her growth. Again, this is a coming of age story, not a romance.

In the end, I liked this book a lot. And I kind of want to read more about the other girls of the Spinster Club! Maybe I should continue this series? 

Who knew I would enjoy a YA coming of age story again?

“Letting go isn’t about forgetting. It’s balancing moving forward with life, and looking back from time to time, remembering the people in it.”– 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: denim jackets, book ends, memorials, bookstores, short films, bullying, roses, University letters, grief, good friendships, future plans, tragic accidents and unexpected phone calls.

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes.

Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.

And Sam picks up the phone.

In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.

This was such a nice and pleasant surprise! I knew this book was popular, but I admit I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I picked this up. The good thing is that I ended up liking this way more than I thought I would!

In this book we follow this girl named Julie. She found her soulmate Sam when she was in high school and she had her life with him planned out to the detail. They were very happy together and they loved each other very much, but a tragic accident takes Sam’s life and now Julie is struggling and dealing with grief. Sam always told her if she called he would answer, and that’s what she did… the crazy thing is Sam answers! And there’s where I’m going to leave it. Also, don’t worry, this is not a spoiler – it is also mentioned in the synopsis!

But I didn’t know about that. I went into this book blindly and I didn’t know it was part fantasy – well, magical realism, to be exact. I was expecting this to be just a sad YA romance, but these phone calls were such an amazing and special element added to the story.

Needless to say, I loved this book. Grief is a huge part of this story, and the author did an amazing job with these characters and their feelings. Julie was an okay character in the sense that she wasn’t super likable, but I also felt really bad for her because of how badly she was suffering. Still, I liked seeing her grow and starting to overcome her grief. Her calls with Sam warmed my heart and made me wish everyone navigating through grief had the same opportunity.

While I was reading this book, I remember having a lot of moments when I thought “how in the world is this story going to end?”. Part of me was curious, but a bigger part of me just wanted a happy ending. And when I finally reached the last pages, I was happy. I thought the ending was done beautifully and I was satisfied with the resolution of the story. And in case you’re wondering: yes, I cried like a baby!

Apparently this is a debut novel, but it really doesn’t feel like it. It’s very well written and engaging, but most importantly, it was unique and unforgettable! I completely understand why this book is popular, and I admit this is a story that is probably going to follow me for a very long time.

I highly recommend this one, especially if you want a good book to cry to. Keep the tissues close because you’re going to need it.