Monthly Archives: October 2020

2020 Book #77 – The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Fiction, Young Adult by

Title: The Code for Love and Heartbreak
Author: Jillian Cantor
Date finished: 10/25/20
Genre: Young adult
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Pages in book: 215
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

In this contemporary romcom retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma by USA TODAY bestselling author Jillian Cantor, there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.

When math genius Emma and her coding club co-president, George, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born.

George disapproves of Emma’s idea of creating a matchmaking app, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.

Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other, and Emma’s own feelings defy any algorithm?

My rating:  3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I was very interested in reading this book based on the description, and I haven’t read as much young adult lately. This book was the perfect amount of nerdy for me, I loved Emma’s character. I was a little worried it might end up being too angsty (young adult can be hit or miss for me), and while it was a little angst-ridden it was just a reasonable amount for me. I think part of the reason it worked so well is that Emma’s character is doesn’t connect to her emotions in the same way as others. She seemed like she might be autistic since she was very literal, didn’t really understand social interactions, and had trouble identifying emotions in others. I thought the author’s portrayal of her was really well done and genuine. I loved all the nerd talk with coding (which I’m not familiar with the terminology on but could still get in the spirit) and the competitiveness of the competition. The romance plot line was a bit of a miss for me but I know it was kind of following along the lines of a classic plot line.  It just felt confusing with the switch on who liked who all the time. The other characters in the book didn’t feel as fleshed out to me as they could have but I did really like to varied cast of characters. It was a cute read and I enjoyed it though I wouldn’t say it was my favorite. I’d still recommend it though – it was a good book!

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

2020 Book #72 – In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Romance by

Title: In a Holidaze
Author: Christina Lauren
Date finished: 10/11/20
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Pages in book: 334
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

My rating:  4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I absolutely love these authors – I’ve just loved so many of the books they’ve written in the last few years. And this one was no exception, it was so enjoyable! A mix of the movie Groundhog Day and the Christmas holiday, this book has so much to enjoy. An extremely zany cast of characters really brings this book to life and gives the reader lots of feelings about family traditions and spending holidays with loved ones. There was a lot of emotion evident in the text, which is characteristic of a CL novel, but the characters felt a little immature to me for the ages they actually were (26 and 30). There were so many things I liked about the book but there were some pieces of the plot that just didn’t work for me. The whole “fight” at the end of the book felt a little melodramatic to me. And the “grand romantic gestures” didn’t necessarily seem that grand. But it was still a great read and one that I really enjoyed. The authors really brought to life the heady feeling of new love / new relationships. This was a great read and I would recommend it! Perfect holiday read – and I really hope they make it into a Christmas movie!

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

2020 Book #70 – Mirror Image by Sandra Brown

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Fiction, Romance, Romantic suspense by

Title: Mirror Image
Author: Sandra Brown
Date finished: 10/5/20
Genre: Romantic suspense
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: January 7, 2020 (re-published; originally published in 1989)
Pages in book: 442
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Publisher
NOTE: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

The crash of a Dallas-bound jet isn’t just a tragedy for TV reporter Avery Daniels; it’s an act of fate that hands her a golden opportunity to further her career. But it also makes her the crucial player in a drama of violent passions and deadly desires.

After plastic surgery transforms her face, Avery is mistaken for the glamorous, selfish wife of Tate Rutledge, the famous senatorial candidate and member of a powerful Texas dynasty.

As she lays helpless in the hospital, Avery makes a shattering discovery: someone close to Tate planned to assassinate him. Now, to save him, she must live another woman’s life — and risk her own.

My rating:  3.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I have been a big fan of Sandra Brown for awhile now. As many know, I loved her book Deadline (great plot twists!) and have enjoyed others too. I was excited to read one of her older backlog novels that was being republished. This one was a little outlandish. Plane crash, mistaken identity, reconstructive facial surgery to the wrong person’s face, political assassination, family secrets, etc. There’s just so much going on in this book it’s crazy. And there were some problematic things because it was an older novel, but honestly not as many problematic things as I expected there to be. Romance novels from older time periods sometimes can have some cringe-worthy items but this seemed to hold up pretty well considering it’s been 30 years since it was written. The ending also happened kind of fast for me, for how long it took us to get through the majority of the plot it felt a little disappointing to have it wrap up so quickly. I still enjoyed the novel but it wasn’t my favorite of this author’s (which will likely always be Deadline).

Author’s Website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

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2020 Monthly Status Update: September

Posted in For the love of books by

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What a great month September was! It was my birthday month and a great month of reading. I was able to take a couple days off work even though we’re pretty busy right now. I found time here and there to read and I read some GREAT books! In addition to some of my scheduled books I was able to read a few fairy-tale retelling stories for my birthday month. Here are some reading highlights from September for me:

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 9
# pages read this month: 3,483
# books read year-to-date: 68
# pages read year-to-date: 22,896

Other Posts this month:

No other posts this month!

Favorite books from this month:

Man I read some GREAT books this month!

Thick as Thieves by Sandra Brown – 4.75 stars
The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter – 4.75 stars
Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey – 5.0 stars

Next Month TBR List:

  • Mirror Image by Sandra Brown
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
  • Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor
  • Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Hopefully October continues to be a productive reading month! It will definitely will be busy at work but if I manage my time I should be able to fit it in. Hope you all have a spooky October! Happy reading everyone!