October 16, 2015 – My Tiny Obsessions

I’m in Japan!!! Wow, yesterday was crazy!!! we traveled from Seoul to Tokyo and then we got on the train to central Tokyo, so we could then catch a train to Kyoto. Everything would have gone smoothly it it wasn’t for the heavy luggage we were lagging with us. But it all worked out quite well, and we arrived at Kyoto around 10 p.m.. Needless to say that we were totally beat!

Today we had an early morning, and at 7 a.m. we were already waiting for the breakfast to open. Speaking of which, wow, amazing! Starting the day with Miso Soup and beef stew was something that I didn’t even consider until today.

We had a day tour booked, so it started with a trip to Nijō Castle. The tours are controlled to the minute… This castle is amazing, the interior panels are so gorgeous, unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures on the inside.

Then, Kinkaku-ji, officially named Rokuon-ji, which is a Zen Buddhist temple, and home to the Golden Pavilion. This is so gorgeous.

Before lunch, we went to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, but no photos allowed 😉 .

And then we ate, and oh my… it was so freaking amazing! I don’t even know exactly what it was, but it was divine.

Temples were in the afternoon route. Heian Jingu Shrine, a Shinto Shrine; Sanjūsangen-dō is a Buddhist temple,known as “Rengeō-in” or Hall of the Lotus King; and Kiyomizu-dera, officially Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera, an independent Buddhist temple.

This was my first day, tomorrow we’ll be heading to Osaka for the day 🙂 and I can’t wait.

Seventeen-year-old ballerina Emilia Moretti is tired of always being second best. And she’s going to prove the world she deserves to be first. In her upcoming School of the Performing Arts showcase. In the eyes of her birth parents. And in the heart of the guy she loves. She spends hours rehearsing, hours dreaming about becoming number one, hours imagining how her entire life is about to change. But when nothing goes the way she planned, she’ll need to realize what it really means to be first.

Eighteen-year-old Nick Grawski doesn’t want to follow Daddy Dearest’s rules any longer. He’s going to prove he’s meant to be a dancer—not a lawyer—and he is not going to stay away from Em just because his father demands it. He needs to show Em that—this time around—he’s there to stay and that he won’t break her heart again. Even when her world goes down to shit, even when he finds out his dad may have been trying to protect him all along, even if being there for one another is harder than falling in love.

ALWAYS SECOND BEST is a novel of hope and heartbreak and broken dreams. It’s a novel about falling in love and discovering that being first isn’t always what matters.

Pub Date: October 13th 2015 by Victory Editing

I received an eArc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I was done with A Summer Like No Other, I started with this novel, which I was glad to have received from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you!). I was glad to read more about Em and Nick, I really like them!

This book picks up several months after their failed relationship in the summer and I was pleasantly surprised that although the romance is a big part of the book, it is not the main theme. Instead, what they both want out of life takes central stage and they both have to decide what they want to do for themselves.

I really liked that there wasn’t that much angst between them, they were both very clear about what they wanted and once they got back together, there wasn’t any hint of jealousy or lack of devotion to each other, and that is fantastically fresh in YA romance.

The family aspect was so good, I loved to see more of Nick and his parents and to finally understand what was going on with Em’s dad. Although I did find an inconsistency about Em’s birth mother – SPOILER!!! In A Summer Like No Other, it is mentioned that Claire worked for Em’s dad until Em was 8 years old, however in this book, Claire says that she just talked to Em’s dad a couple of times after she was born, and that he had no idea about her twin until a few time after… I felt like something escaped me or that I didn’t understand something. Have you read this? Have you understood what was going on?

All in all, I really liked this book, I was so happy about Nick and Em, and even their zombie killings… 😉

Rating: 3.8 Stars