The Chase – Elle Kennedy

Will her brother’s best friend ever fall for her?

Title: The Chase
Author: Elle Kennedy
Series: Briar U #1
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because there’s no logical reason why I’m so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don’t usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I’m flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn’t help that he’s buddy-buddy with my brother.

And that his best friend has a crush on me.

And that I just moved in with them.

Oh, did I not mention we’re roommates?

I suppose it doesn’t matter. Fitzy has made it clear he’s not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I’m not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I’m not about to start. I’ve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he’s missing?

He knows where to find me.

Thoughts:
I definitely liked this one! Elle Kennedy has a quick and fun pace in her writing which made it very easy to read and enjoy. I love the chemistry between our two main character’s, and that we get to see the story from both of their perspective.

Summer is my favorite – I love her bubbly personality and sassiness. A girl who loves shopping and clothes, and is smart and has good values – yeah, nothing more to say about that really. I felt in some ways connected to her, and the thoughts she had about herself. She’s had a lot of problems with people dismissing her because of her positive nature, and many has seen her as stupid or/and dumb because she’s a girly girl who likes clothes. Ugh, stereotypes. Unlike Summer, I myself haven’t had quite the same prejudices against me but I’ve always had this feeling that people look and think of you differently if you’re a happy person usually and then one day arrive sad. It’s like you can’t have a bad day in this world 😦

Anywaysssss, like I mentioned quickly before I lovE the CHEMISTRY between these character’s – Summer and Colin. I deffo swooned a couple of times, and although Fitzy ain’t my favorite – because of his broodiness and prejudices honestly – I did feel through the pages (poetic I know) that he really cares about Summer and that in the end of the day he just struggles with expressing his feelings. And yet again, like I mentioned before haha, I really like that Kennedy split the novel into both Summer’s and Colin’s point of view. It made the dynamic better and more understandable. You know as they say, you can never truly understand a person if you haven’t walked in their shoes or something like that. I think it’s from the To Kill a Mockingbird novel.

Like I said before I really like that Kennedy brought up some prejudices people can have. We have both this sleazy professor – who can’t for his life stop flirting with the girls in his class (ew) and then we also have Colin’s potential future boss who can’t understand that a jock can like gaming as well. People, am I right?

A big tip for you all is that this novel, The Chase, is free on Kindle! That’s awesome. And even though this wasn’t my favorite, I have really enjoyed the other novels in this series! I mean, who doesn’t like hot hockey-playing guys and awesome heroines?

Happy Friday to you all! I hope you have a weekend full of reading and relaxing!

Hugs!

The Truth About Heartbreak – B. Celeste

Can she and her brother’s best friend find happily ever after?

Title: The Truth About Heartbreak
Author: B. Celeste
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
I fell in love with him when I was thirteen years old. He was older, mysterious, and unattainable. The guy I could never touch. Then one night changed everything for us. But there was one huge problem. He belonged to her.

Thoughts:
Lmao, so I’m really gonna try to gather by thoughts regarding this novel. Especially since that synopsis is the shortest one I’ve ever read and seen haha.

The Truth About Heartbreak is a novel that centers around River and Everett. The book begins with a scene with the two where it’s evident they’ve slept together, and the chapter ends with River saying “This was a mistake”. The next chapter is 10 years earlier where we get to meet a 13 year old River who’s getting adopted by the James’s family. River’s been in foster care her entire life. She’s struggled a lot, and haven’t meet many people who actually care about her. So she’s very shy and timid, and doesn’t like to take up place – she’s rather quiet. The James’s are a family of 3 with the parent’s and River’s “new brother”, Oliver. Oliver is 17, and happens to have a best friend named Everett, who’s the same age as him. At first River is quite unsure of Everett, although, the more she gets to know him, the closer they grow. Thus, River’s crush evolves. So the beginning of the book we basically get to know River and Everett, since the novel is parted in both’s perspective, but, we get to know them at different ages in their life. It begins when they’re 13 and 17, then they’re 16 and 20, 18 and 22, and lastly 23 and 27. And as you can probably guess, their relationship has grown more over the years, and their chemistry and attraction is palatable.

I found this novel after watching one of Steph Bohrer’s book recommendations on Youtube. Her description of the novel gained my interest, thus me buying it a Saturday morning and finishing it on the same day at the afternoon. B. Celeste has a way with words and story-telling. I quickly found it interesting since the beginning gave a glimpse of what was to come. I really enjoyed getting to know River and Everett, they both, but especially River, had an interesting story to tell. Getting to see River opening up to the people around her really touched me, and my heart broke, and breaks, over the kids stuck in foster care getting the kind of treatment she got. It’s horrible, and my heart aches. I’m really happy that River got this new family, as well as friends, who adores and loves her.

My favorite of River’s relationships was with Everett. I did really enjoy to read how her relationship with him grew and flourished, he’s very cute and protective of her. Although, it did broke me when Everett got together with a girl named Isabel – I did not like her, like at all. She was very rude towards River, and acted very possessive over Everett every time River was in the same room. I get it, her jealousy was in the ending justified, but the way she treated Riv was not okay. Feeling threatened doesn’t mean you can be mean. During this entire sequence where Everett and Isabel dated, I just felt – EVERETT MAKE UP YOUR MIND! It was painfully obvious he had feelings for River as well, but as the vague (lol) synopsis tells there is a problem. I understand that you can feel obligated by the promises you make – but this was rIDICULOUS. I don’t want to spoil too much, but to all you people who read this, you deserve TRUE LOVE and not a person that treats you like garbage. In this case it went to both sides, and their relationship was just very toxic. And gawd, I just felt while reading the novel that everyone deserves someone who loves them wholeheartedly and treats you with respect.

Some of you may have guessed that this novel has cheating in it. And I do not condone it at all, it’s something I’m very against. So my wish would’ve been for this, River and Everett’s relationship, to be done in a different way, but I suppose this is what needed to happen for them to finally figure things out amongst themselves and their lives. B. Celeste is one heck of a writer since I could NOT put this novel down. She really succeeded in the angst, emotions, heart ache, story lines etc. I loved reading about River and Everett’s story, and I found it very “sweet” to see these two people that have similar backgrounds, both tragic, falling head over heels for each other.

This novel is a stand alone, although, B. Celeste happens to have a somewhat “sequel” which is named The Truth About Tomorrow. It seems to be connected to part two of the epilogue’s in The Truth About Heartbreak – which was very cute in its entirety, however, I do have some comments about the eNDING. I read up on the “sequel” on Goodreads, and it does seem to be like I feared lol. I’m not sure whether I will read it, but let me just tell you that B. Celeste has away of writing about topics that are taboo – which, let’s be honest, is quite interesting and entertaining. Most people seem to have enjoyed it, so perhaps I will one day pick it up – I guess we’ll see.

Anyways, the sum of the cardamom is that I definitely recommend you to read this novel. It was entertaining, and although it did take me almost the entire day to finish, it was quite a quick read. I also feel the need to mention that the novel has been shelved by some as “Dark” on Goodreads. The novel is definitely on the darker path, however it wasn’t too dark in my opinion. But I just wanted to mention this, and that this is a New Adult novel so it has some mature themes in it.

Sorry for the really long rant! I do hope though that you can add another book to your TBR, and that you have a wonderful day! Thanks for reading!

Hugs!

Swear on This Life – Renée Carlino

Can two childhood best friends overcome their past?

Title: Swear on This Life
Author: Renée Carlino
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J. Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.

Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.

That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.

The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

Thoughts:
I really liked Swear on This Life by Carlino. She certainly has a way with words that will definitely keep you hooked, grasping for more. Carlino has succeeded in writing a book within a book. Confusing, right? Although it’s quite easy to understand if you’ve read the synopsis. Basically we as readers also get to read the novel this J. Colby has published – which means that we get to hear about Emiline’s childhood story. A tragic and heartfelt story at that.

So I’m really trying to gather my thoughts around this book haha, but it’s kind of hard, however I’ll try my best. So I thought perhaps that the ending was a bit too fast for my liking. I sort of felt like the beginning and the middle was so well-done and really explored in an interesting and not too fast way, however the ending felt a little rushed. Another thing I thought of the novel was that it was cute that Jase wrote a book about their childhood love story, although since it’s written in hers, Emiline’s, point of view I got the feeling that he put words in her mouth and mind. Not something I’m particularly fond of. They do speak about this topic, but I’m not sure I completely understood. Although I did like Jase quite a bit – I mean who doesn’t take a liking to a hot author? However, I’m not gonna lie, he felt a little too confident in himself as an adult. He was more caring when he was younger, and now I felt like he just was a bit too sassy. I have a thing for not being completely sold on guys who knows they look good – they annoy me haha.

However I feel the need to mention that the love interest’s name is Jase… JASE. I love that name so much. It could be because it reminds me of JaCe in City of Bones written by Cassandra Clare – but nevertheless it’s a really cool (& kind of sexy lol) name. It made this book a ton better, I’m not gonna lie. Another thing I really liked about this novel was that there’s a best-friends-to-lovers trope in this novel. Or at least best-friends-to-lovers-to-strangers-to-friends-to-lovers lmao. Sounds complicated probably but the way it’s written is beautifully done.

I have rated this book as New Adult simply because that’s what most other reader’s have rated it as on Goodreads. I myself wouldn’t rate it New Adult, however, since I don’t wish to mislead anyone, I have put it under that category. I would, though, recommend it from 16+. I also just realized I forgot to mention that Em has a boyfriend in her adult life *GASP* which causes a bit of a predicament with her and Jase. However, since this is the world of books, things have a way of sorting themselves out… or do they? I guess you’ll have to find out! *shrugs and smiles*

I hope you all have a beautiful and wonderful Friday! & hopefully I’ve added a book to your to-read-list! 😀

Hugs!

Something Borrowed – Catherine Hapka

She’s ready to catch the bouquet, not steal the guy!

Title: Something Borrowed
Author: Catherine Hapka
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):
When Ava gets dumped by her boyfriend, she’s pretty upset. He wasn’t the love of her life or anything, but with her sister’s wedding – a.k.a. the social event of the season – just two weeks away, Ava’s got to save face by finding someone cute and fun to bring as a new date.

With the clock ticking and no dates in sight, Ava asks her best friend if she can “borrow” her boyfriend, Jason, for the night. Ava’s never been a big Jason fan, but he’ll look great in a tux, and at least she’ll have someone to dance with. But it doesn’t take long for Ava to realize she’s got him all wrong…

What do you do when Mr. Right is wrapped up in a package that belongs to your best friend?

Thoughts:
First things first. I liked this novel, although this is something I’d normally not read. Like at all, haha. Sure it has the romantic elements and contemporary vibes, but it’s just not something that’s “me” usually. Although this could be because it’s a chick lit from 2008 *shrugs*, however chick lits can be good.

Anyway to the actual review. Based on the synopsis one would think this is a sweet little romance with a lot of things going on. Sure, it has a lot of things going on but let me just tell you – the synopsis is wayyy off. The things they’re describing doesn’t happen until the last 30 something pages… huh? When I began the novel I’d read some of the reviews before (just to make sure that it was something worth reading lol), so I had a hum about that things weren’t like they should be. And it definitely wasn’t.

Ava got dumped by her boyfriend of 3 months (i think) two weeks before her sister’s wedding. Surely this created a lot of panic in Ava since she’d expected to have a date. So the entire novel is about her going on dates, asking boys out and trying to find the one to take to the wedding. It’s the entire plot. Jason, her best friend’s boyfriend, is in the novel from the start, and yes I suppose there’s some tension – but the synopsis here makes it seem like it’s a love triangle thing. It’s not. And there is not much best friend drama either. However, there is something happening between the besties, but it doesn’t regard Jason as much.

I will say though that Something Borrowed was a fun and cute read, and although it isn’t the best thing I’ve read I did like it. Not sure if I’d recommend it to everyone though. The writing was a bit “meh”, but the storyline was some-what interesting. I mean it’s always fun to follow along on dates, especially Ava’s since she finds boys from the left to the right – basically all the time. I liked Ava, although I felt like she was a wee bit desperate. I can understand that she wanted a date, but to this extent? Dude. I liked Jason as well, and the best friend (I think lol – it was some time ago I read it).

To sum it up, basically if you like chick lits from the 2000s I think this is something for you. If not, not so sure, haha.

Hope you have a nice Friday!

Hugs!

Välkommen hem – Johanna Lindbäck

 Titel: Välkommen hem
 Författare: Johanna Lindbäck
 Sidantal: 344
 Förlag: Rabén & Sjögren
 Bandtyp: Inbunden
 Språk: Svenska
 Utgivningsår: 2011
 Betyg: 4/5

 Handling:
Att bo 1 år i London helt själv kanske inte var världens smartaste idé, men Sara gjorde det ändå. Hon lämnade sin pojkvän – Mattias, sina bästa vänner och sin familj i Luleå, och bodde i helt år själv där nere hos en värdfamilj och gick i skolan där. Hon träffade nya människor och lärde känna London bättre, men nu är hon hemma igen och allt blev inte riktigt som hon tänkt sig. Hennes expojkvän pratar knappt med henne och vägrar ens titta åt hennes håll, en av hennes bästa vänner som är hans tvillingsyster gör precis samma sak, och nämnde hon att en av hennes grannar är otroligt irriterande? Men när hon lär känna Adrian på jujutsun, inser hon att han kanske inte var så illa som han trodde. Men att välja mellan Mattias och Adrian blir inte så lätt som hon trodde, och hon vet inte hur hon ska göra.

Favoritkaraktär: Sara

Min åsikt:
Jag gillar Johanna Lindbäcks böcker, speciellt efter att jag läste Min typ brorsa som hon har skrivit. Och eftersom att den här har fått många bra kommentarer tänkte jag ge den en chans, och besviken blev jag inte.

Den kanske inte är lika bra som Min typ brorsa, men den är värd sitt betyg. Jag tyckte Sara var en bra huvudperson och hon kändes som en äkta tonårstjej. En som är osäker, men ändå modig och vågar ibland stå upp för vad hon tycker och står för. Men jag tyckte att hennes ångest runt Mattias var lite för mycket, det var ju hon som gjorde slut och då får väl han ta det. Mattias var ju lite vek och så där, tog nog mest föregivet att Sara och han aldrig mer skulle bli vänner igen eftersom att hon förmodligen skulle åka iväg någon annanstans. Men eftersom att hon stannade kvar orkade han nog inte mer och blev vän med henne igen. Adrian gillade jag från första början, han kändes som en bad boy och vi alla vet att jag har svagheter för dem… Hehe.

Men sen under tiden blev han lite mjukare och kändes inte alls som den där arroganta personen längre, men konstigt nog, brydde jag mig inte. Jag tyckte att han var kul och jag gillade verkligen han och Saras relation, speciellt när hur dem först träffades och så.

Så det här är en läsvärd bok, jag tyckte om den och om ni nu skulle vilja läsa den så hoppas jag att ni gillar den också. För jag har märkt nu med tiden att jag börjat gilla mer och mer böcker som inte har paranormala grejer och fantasy i sig, men jag älskar dem ändå…

Åsikter som kan innehålla spoilers:

• Var det bara jag, eller märktes det rätt mycket att Adrian flirtade med henne. Jag vet ju att hon inte fattade någonting, men jag tyckte det verkade som att han gillade henne från första början.

• OKEJ. En sak jag inte gillar speciellt mycket med killar är att de blir så sjukt arroganta ibland, som att det är tjejens fel om han gör något fel eller att de alltid stöter bort en men kommer sedan tillbaka? I dem flesta böcker är det så att killar stöter bort tjejer och sedan när de ser tjejen dem gillar med en anna kille blir dem skit sura. Not a good behavior.

• Alltså, jag gillade Mattias rätt så mycket fast han var lite så här vek, men jag tyckte det gjorde han gullig. Sue me if I’m wrong 🙂

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Finns att köpa på: Bokus och CDON

Skrivet av: Pal

Don’t Look Back – Jennifer. L Armentrout

 Titel: Don’t Look Back
Författare: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Sidantal: 369
Förlag: Hyperion Books
Språk: Engelska
Utgivningsår: 2014
Betyg: 4,5/5

 Handling:
När Samantha hittas 4 dagar efter att hon tydligen försvunnit, minns hon ingenting. Hon kommer inte ihåg vad hon heter, vad hennes vanliga kaffe order är för något, vem hon är – hon kommer inte ihåg några minnen av sin barndom och det är många eftersom hon är 17. Allt hon vet är vad andra säger runt omkring henne. Att hon hade ett toppen liv med en snygg kille till pojkvän, pengar och populäritet. Sam försvann med sin bästa vän, Cassie, som ännu inte har hittats – och sakta börjar folk undra om Sam har något med det att göra. Men Sam minns ingenting och livet är svårt att leva när man inte vet om någon talar sanning eller lögn om sitt tidigare liv, allt hon vet är att hon tog elak till en helt ny nivå tillsammans med Cassie. Sam börjar äcklas av sitt förflutna, hon kan inte förstå att det där var hon – en person som sa elaka saker medan man var vid fullt medvetande. Den enda personen som inte brydde sig om att Sams personlighet ändrades efter hon träffade Cassie är Carson. Killen hon faller hårt för och som har alltid varit där för henne, trots att hon aldrig riktigt sett det. Men Cassie är fortfarande försvunnen, och någon vet vad som har hänt och försöker få Sam att inte komma ihåg. Sam har minnet inom sig, men det vill inte komma fram – men tänk om sanningen kommer fram och det som är sanningen kommer förstöra hennes liv?

Favoritkaraktär: CARSON ❤

Min åsikt:
Jag älskar den hääär boken!!! Så sjukt bra! Ännu en gång har Armentrout lyckats och den här boken var så spännande och bra att jag blir så ledsen att det är en ensamstående bok, men i alla fall…

Karaktärerna var så awesome och jag tyckte att man lärde känna dem väldigt bra trots att det här är en ensamstående bok, för många författare kan ha problem med att få fram personligheterna runt karaktärerna och göra så att man inte lär känna dem, och då känns hela boken betydelselös eftersom att man vill ha en connection med karaktären för då blir det en bättre bok.

Samantha var väldigt lost i början och det var mycket med att hon inte kom ihåg någonting från sitt liv – hon kom ju inte ens ihåg vad hon hette. Och jag blev lite irriterad över att hennes föräldrar försökte bestämma över henne, de vet ju inte hur det känns att få amnesi (minnesförlust) – alltså tänk hur det skulle vara att inte minnas NÅGONTING. Jag hade också fått panikattacker och trott att jag blivit galen, det var därför jag älskade att Carson fanns! I´m seriously falling in love with those bad boys ❤ Han och Sams relation är så gullig och fin och rolig – precis en sådan relation man själv vill ha med en kille. Och jag älskade att Carson inte hade problem med att berätta sina känslor för Sam, för många killar i böcker är så fega och veka och vill att tjejen ska ta första steget – men Carson var absolut inte så, han ville bara göra saker rätt.

Den här boken fick lätt en 4,5 stjärna eftersom att den var så underbar. Varför den inte fick en 5 kommer diskuteras i spoilers sektionen. Men jag tycker att den här är så läsvärd och om ni gillar Jennifer L. Armentrouts böcker så är det här en must read!

Åsikter som kan innehålla spoilers:

• Gud, jag hatade hennes föräldrar! Båda var så irriterande att jag blev sur när de var med i bilden. Speciellt med att de försökte bestämma över hennes liv och försöka få henne tillbaka till hennes vanliga liv. Hon får väl ta allt i sin egen takt om hon vill! De är inte de som har fått amnesi!

• Och Del? Han var seriöst den värsta karaktären i boken. Lurade henne att tro att de hade världens perfekta förhållande och tro att han skulle komma undan med det? Och lite överdrivet vad det väl att Veronica sa att alla ville vara tillsammans med Del? Hallå, om nu Carson var skitsnygg och Del söt, varför är inte Carson också med i inneklicken. Kan väl ändå inte bara bero på att han inte har så sjukt mycket pengar som alla andra?

• Tyckte så synd om Sam som var tvungen att ta all skit och sådant i skolan, tyckte hon skulle stått upp lite bättre och sagt emot om någon var dum i huvudet och sa något elakt mot henne. För hon var ju the queen i deras skola innan så hade väl förväntat mig att hon skulle ha lite bättre självkänsla. Men jag förstår att hennes självkänsla inte var på topp eftersom att hon inte kom ihåg någonting av sitt tidigare liv, och inte visste vad som var sant och vad som var falskt.

• Scott, oh, Scott… Om inte Carson hade funnits hade jag avundats Julie för att hon fick vara tillsammans med någon så underbar och gullig som han. Bästa tvillingbrorsan ever liksom. Han fanns ju där för Sam fast hon hade varit elak mot honom i sitt tidigare liv. Scott är den där gulliga och charmiga brorsan som är väldigt beskyddande av sig när det gäller hans syster – UNDERBAR!

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Finns att köpa på: Bokus och CDON

Skrivet av: Pal