Month: July 2016

July Book Haul

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Hey guys, so this month I got a few eARCs and a few eBooks, but I only got one physical book, Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley, which I won in a giveaway from Dani @Dani Reviews Things.

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No Breaking My Heart (Kate Angell)

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Relationship Status: Complicated

Professional baseball player Halo Todd doesn’t like failure, but he can never turn down a challenge. Especially when there’s a pretty woman involved. How else would he end up dressed as a rooster, helping a complete stranger compete on a wacky game show? Even when they’re eliminated after the first round, Halo isn’t about to lose the girl…

Alyn is stunned when gorgeous, generous Halo whisks her off for a dream vacation to the beach–she’s been let down by friends and even family so many times, she’s lost count. Later, he offers to lend a hand getting her vintage shop up and running. But his constant–and ridiculous–purchases are the last thing she needs. How can she convince the stubborn man that she doesn’t need his help–not when all she wants is his heart…

What is happening this month? Once again, I read this book with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much, as a buddy read, so check out her blog in the next few days to read her review of this book, ok?

So, people, let me start by saying that this book combined 2 of my least favorite thing: a writing I couldn’t get into, and a pace that was too slow… some might call this book boring, and I’m one of them.

The writing did nothing for me. I know a lot of people love the third person, contemplative narrator, I’m not one of them. I don’t like it one bit. Then the author did what I thought was a really weird choice in this book, she had 4 perspectives! This is unusual in a romance, especially because this turned out to be 2 romances in one book, with one of them being slightly more prominent than other.

The main story follows Alyn and Halo, and it started out good, with them meeting randomly on the street and participating in a contest show, which was funny. It went downhill from there. I liked the inclusion of her little brother, Danny, and her disabled dog, which were the only characters in the book that I actually liked. What I really hated was the lack of character development and the lack of relationship build-up. I finished the book and I haven’t got a clue why they liked each other so much, because they barely talked. Also, that blurb is so misleading… so so misleading… their relationship is stupid – sorry – and the way it goes about is even worse. Guys, I do love a fake relationship trope, but why was it used here? I couldn’t tell you… STUPID!

The second couple was maybe slightly better… maybe?! They did have stuff in common and all, but it all happened way too quickly. I mean WAY TOO QUICKLY! But they had their funny bits, and even though I don’t understand why they were even in this book, I’ll give their story a pass.

In the end this could have been a meh book, but some of the author’s choices brought the book down for me. I would have liked to see more development from both main characters, and the building of their relationship instead of what we got. I couldn’t really recommend this romance to anyone, the characters and plot are weird, and the pacing is glacial slow, and in the end, nothing really happens… so yeah… sorry =/

Pokémon Go Book Tag

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Hey guys!! Are you as into Pokemon Go as I am right now??? This is so addicting :D. So Aentee @Read At Midnight created the Pokémon Go Book Tag and Kat @Life and Other Disasters  and Ari @The Daydreaming Bookworm tagged me to do it 😀 😀 :D. Thank you so much Kat and Ari 🙂 !

I’m gonna use Aentee’s graphics, because they’re truly awesome :D.

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There’s no way around this one… the book that really got me into reading was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Yeah, I know, I know… But I really don’t care. This book and series will always have a special place in my heart, because it ignited my love for reading, it got me reading in English, and I think it made a lot of other people to pick up a book too, and that’s never ever bad.

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Hmmm, I’m going for a classic classic, and a portuguese one at that, and saying Os Lusíadas by Luis Vaz de Camões. I read this at school and I loved it, and I even got a kindle version a few months back, and I really want to re-read it sometime. I love epic poems, and this one is about the portuguese people and the portuguese discoveries during the 15th and 16th centuries… awesome!

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This is not an easy question. A while back, I was really interested in reading Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, but when it came out almost a year ago, it was everywhere! And the ratings are good, so I think I’ll get to it at some point, but I’m not in any hurry.

Have you guys read this book? What did you think? Is it worth it?

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Smut by Karina Halle reminds me a lot of other books, not really because it uses that many tropes, but because it pokes so fun at a lot of them, while using them all the same. It’s brilliant!

This book is fun and funny, and romantic and hot, and if you like NA romance, you HAVE to read this one.

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All the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan.

I think I would probably read them if there weren’t so many of them… and so many series…

I mean, how is it possible to start now?! o_O

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A while back I was up all night reading The Deal, from the Off-Campus series, by Elle Kennedy. This book was addicting, and yep, now I want to re-read all the series and gush all over again about it… SO GOOD!

I miss Garrett, Hannah and the boys…

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How am I supposed to pick just one?! This is madness!!! Ok ok, I can totally do this…

I’m saying Feyre and Rhysand from A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, because I read recently, I loved it, but I haven’t even wrote my review of it. I loved Feyre and Rhys in this book, they’re so so perfect for each other. Oh, my heart…

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Again, I have so many!!!! Hmmm, ok, My Perfect Mistake by Kelly Siskind was fast paced, a fast read and hot as all hell. Damn, there’s a certain bathroom scene that I still can’t put out of my mind completely.

   

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I think I’ll be happy with everything in the Shadowhunter’s Chronicles universe by Cassandra Clare. I think the books keep getting better, and Lady Midnight was seriously awesome. I can’t wait to see The Last Hours and the rest of The Dark Artifices.

   

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One book that really surprised me this past month was Life After Juliet by Shannon Lee Alexander.

It was a great read, funny, emotional, and an amazing story. It might have made me cry a bit… (a lot), and now I really want to read the first book of this series, even though I know it will break my heart.

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I think The Selection series by Kiera Cass might be highly overrated… I’m assuming it is, because the opinions on it are a bit divergent.

I still want to read it though, but probably only the first 3 books.

  

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NO CLUE!!! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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I’m kind of excited by The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch. I got an eARC from Netgalley and I adore the cover.

This just sounds like a good and fun read… I really hope it doesn’t disappoint.

   

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Hmmmm, Rainbow Rowell, Becky Albertalli, Elle Kennedy, Sarina Bowen, Cassandra Clare, Sarah J. Maas, ….

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Oh wow… hmmmm, maybe The Goal by Elle Kennedy? Though “forever” is a weird thought, given that I haven’t read the series that long ago.

That’s it. Do you guys play it? Then please go ahead and consider yourselves tagged to do this one ;).

Book Traveling Thursdays: A Book Where Friendship Matters

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Hello, welcome back to another Book Traveling 168709Thursdays, which a weekly meme created by Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle @Danielle’s Book Blog. The goal is to share the covers of a book related to that week’s theme, which you can see at the Goodreads group, indicating the original cover, the one of your country, your favorite and least favorite.

This week’s theme is “International Day of Friendship is in two days. Choose a book where friendship matters“. After thinking for a long long time, I’ve settled on Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, which mainly deals with friendship.

Original COver:

I quite like this cover, this is the one I own after all ;-).

COVER FROM MY COUNTRY (PORTUGAL) & COVER FROM THE COUNTRY I LIVE IN (SPAIN):

                                              

I like the portuguese cover, because I kind of like this movie tie-in, but it’s not my favorite for sure. I like that the initial spanish cover had the original cover, though the title is a bit meh.

Favorite COVER(s):

                                           

I really like this US movie tie-in cover, and I also love the US revised cover.

LEAST FAVORITE COVER(s):

        

So many bad covers for this book… in order: Dutch, Finnish, French, Bulgarian and Romanian.

WWW Wednesday: July 27th 2016

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WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @Taking On A World Of Words, where you have to answer these questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

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I’ve started two books today: No Breaking My Heart by Kate Angell and The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson.

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Since last week I finished  Defying Gravity (Finding Perfect, #2) by Kendra C. Highley, Connection Error (#gaymers #3) by Annabeth Albert and  Resisting the Rebel by Lisa Brown Roberts.

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Next I’ll probably read Highly Illogical Behaviour by John Corey Whaley, Daemoneum (The Primordial Principles #2) by Laney McMann and Tyson Caine by Aleya Michelle.     

Resisting the Rebel (Lisa Brown Roberts)

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Disclaimer: This book contains a villain pretending to be a hero, a hero pretending to be a villain, a disco-dancing heroine, two overprotective sidekicks, a little bit of bad language, and a whole lot of swoony kissing. 

Spirit committee leader Mandy Pennington is secretly in love with her best friend, Gus, but when he hooks up with her archenemy at a party, she decides to win him over once and for all. She just doesn’t know how. But who better to help than hot loner Caleb Torrs?

Caleb’s got his own problems, but when he sees Mandy pining over Gus at a party, he thinks she’s finally smoked the spirit stick and lost her mind. Maybe he has, too, because he just asked Mandy to be his fake girlfriend.She’ll get her loser friend’s attention, and he’ll get his stalker ex off his back.It’s a win-win.

But soon one fake date blends into the next and before he knows it, he actually wants to kiss Mandy. For real. Too bad their plan is working, and Gus is finally noticing the one girl Caleb just might be falling for…

Hello guys. Once again I read this book with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much, as a buddy read. Go to her blog on the next couple of days to read her take on this book.

The story of this one, once again, revolves around a fake-relationship, but this book had probably the most unique group of characters and protagonists of all. Also guys, you know I’m a sucker for this trope, right?

In all its Entangled glory, this romance is told in dual POV, third person narration, and it’s done super well here. Mandy and Caleb had very distinct voices and personalities, and I thought the writing showcased their personalities perfectly.

I loved both main characters. Loved them. I wasn’t really sure at first when this book started, how I would feel about peppy/hippy Mandy and dark and broody Caleb, but they were wonderful, and their personalities complemented each other quite nicely. I loved that each of them had depth and various layers to them, because that made them very interesting.

I could identify with parts of both of them, and I think that’s why I loved them so much. I really liked that the author included a character with ADHD and dysgraphia, and her difficulties were a big part of the plot, and she explored how that affected her day to day. And I really liked how low key and misunderstood Caleb really was, and his love for books and literature.

The plot followed the usual “fake turned real relationship”, but it had a few twists, especially because of who the guys apparently were. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Caleb and Mandy, and that it was clear from very early on how they brought up the best in each other.

I was overall super happy with this book, though I sometimes wanted to slap Mandy out of her fantasy – even though I quite understood why she liked to live in it. I do wish she had believed her friends and everyone else warning her about her crush, Gus, and that she had realized earlier the truth, because seeing Caleb hurt wasn’t fun at all. I also wanted to know more about Caleb’s mom, and all of their friends, because they were seriously awesome…. especially Blue Ranger :D.

I highly recommend this YA romance, it was fun, unique and heartwarming. Give it a read.

Connection Error (Annabeth Albert)

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It’s typical of video game programmer Josiah Simmons to be the last one on the plane on the way to the biggest meeting of his career. Though he’s (mostly) coping with his ADHD, he can’t handle another distraction. But he also can’t ignore his rugged seatmate — especially once he learns the military man’s a fan of his game. 

Ryan Orson refuses to let his severe injuries pause his career as a navy SEAL. He’s got hours of grueling physical therapy ahead of him, and no time for anything that might get in the way of his return to active duty. But that doesn’t mean he’s above a little first-class flirtation with geeky-cute Josiah. 

When a delay strands the pair in St. Louis, they agree to share a hotel room and a night of gaming. Neither expects their new connection to move to the next level in the light of day. Opposites may attract, but is this game over before it’s even begun? 

Book Three of the #gaymers series

This book was a treat. I wasn’t expecting the depth that I got, and I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did.

This book is told in the third person, with dual POV, but the “problem” is that the POVs are not clearly indicated. This wasn’t a huge drawback or anything, but sometimes, especially when the characters were together, it was hard to tell which POV it was from the start. With that said, I did enjoy the writing.

Both characters were like nothing I read before, and I absolutely loved that. Josiah was a young guy, struggling with his ADHD. This was completely unique, because having a little experience with people with this disorder, it was great to read about his challenges, and the difficulties he found in such simple tasks as paying the bills, or even remembering to eat. He’s growth was tremendous, because he has to go from “one of the guys” to a real project manager, and while it took him a while to get a hang of it, he does get there.

Ryan was a real surprise… I wasn’t quite expecting him. It’s the first book I’ve ever read with his kind of injuries, and I not only loved that, but also how the book dealt with the psychological effects of it. He also has an amazing growth during this book, going from someone who loses his whole identity and needs to be needed, to someone who learns more about himself and what he can still be and do with his life.

The relationship between Josiah and Ryan was great, and I particularly liked how Jos always looked at Ryan – you’ll get what I mean. They were really there for each other, and even though their attraction is there from the start, their feelings develop through time, even with them living always far apart. They truly become each other’s best friends before becoming boyfriends, and that’s the goal, a relationship based on friendship.

This book is very character driven, and even the conflicts and plot points have to do with the growth that both characters need to do. And I liked this.

All in all, this was a great book, and I loved this couple, though I honestly couldn’t identify with either of them… and maybe that’s why I only gave this story 4 stars. I do recommend it big time, and it now made me curious to read the rest of this series.

Have you read this book? Would you be interested in it? Have you read any book in which a character had war injuries?

3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge (9): Day 3

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Hello! I was tagged, for the 9th time to to the 3 Days 3 Quotes Challenge. Thanks to Percy @PERCY READS for tagging me.

THE RULES:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
  3. Nominate three new bloggers each day. (consider yourself tagged!)

The first day I posted a quote from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, yesterday one from Like Candy by Debra Doxer. Today I’m posting a quote from an amazing and heartbreaking book: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, check out my review here.

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Defying Gravity (Kendra C. Highley)

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Disclaimer: This book contains enough sexual tension to melt snow, the hottest near-kiss in the history of near-kisses, and a sexy snowboarder determined to win the heart of the girl he loves.

Zoey Miller lives for her holidays in Aspen. Her time up on the mountain with the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke, is everything. But for the first time, it’s not enough. This time, she’s determined to win one of the brothers’ hearts.

But the brother she has in mind is a renowned player, with hordes of snow-bunnies following him around Snowmass resort. And the other…well, he’s her best friend and knows she deserves better. Namely him. And he’s going to win her heart.

Once again, I read this book as a buddy read with  Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much, so check out her blog in the next few days to get her take on it.

This was my second book by Kendra C. Highley, as I read the first book of this series, Finding Perfect, last year and really enjoyed it – you can check out my review of it here. And once again, I really liked this one :).

The book is told in dual POV, from Zoey and Parker’s points of view, and told in the third person. Though this is not my favorite type of writing, I still enjoyed it a lot, and the 2 voices were clearly distinct. Also, damn, they were funny.

I had liked Zoey by the end of book 1, because she was an awesome friend to Paige, and I liked her even more here. Zoey is always put together while at school, and mostly hides her true self most of the time, except when she’s in Aspen, with her best friend. I really liked that although she was the typical Queen-Bee at school, she was not really like that, and she grows a lot during this book and learns that while she’s hiding stuff, she won’t ever be truly happy.

Parker was dreamy dreamy. He has always lived in the shadow of his older brother, not really having an opportunity to shine himself, but he won’t let Luke get the one thing he loves most of all, his BFF and the girl he loves. I thought it was amazing how each brother had their strongest fields, and that they could both be AMAZING at slightly different things. And it was amazing to see Parker finally get his time to shine.

I loved Zoey’s relationship with Parker. They have been best friends since forever, and they’re always themselves around each other, with no pretense or bullshit (or makeup). The progression from friendship to more had been a long time coming, and they were truly two halves of the same whole – according to their moms… Yeah… their moms were their biggest shippers. It bothered me a bit that Zoey was so adamant to pursuit Luke, though I understood her fear: Luke was just easier, because if it didn’t work out, she wouldn’t lose her best friend. But I still could have done with a little less indecision from her front. I’m still not sure how I feel about Luke, because while I do think he’s not a bad guy, I really didn’t like some of his actions during this book.

The inclusion of Paige and Ben, from book 1, in the story was perfect, and it was so great to see where they stood.

The plot was fun and lighthearted, but with a good message: you have to be yourself to be complete. The dialogues and interactions between the main characters were awesome, and charged. It was a really enjoyable read, and I have to recommend this YA series… it’s so much fun.