Category Archives: 2019

Bout of Books 25 Update – Day 4

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

This week is going well so far! I didn’t get to meet my hours goal every day so far but have been for the most part and am getting some good reading done. And looking forward to Goal Day tomorrow for lots of concentrated reading time! So anyways my Thursday’s progress is below:

Update

Thursday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 1.5 hour
Number of pages I’ve read today: 142 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 736 pages
Books read: Finished The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (Hopefully will have the review post up sometime this weekend)
Challenges: I participated in the challenge yesterday, If You Like This, Try That – it was fun!!

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Friday update!!

If You Like This, Try That – Bout of Books 25

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

Today’s challenge for Bout of Books 25 is “If You Like This, Try That.” This can be a really fun challenge (if I have enough time to put two thoughts together and type up the post). The organizers of Bout of Books 25 have provided the additional instruction for this challenge:

Put your recommendations hat on, #boutofbooks-ers. For this challenge, pick a book, author, or trope (or whatever!) from your TBR and suggest similar books.

Example 1: If you like Sarah McLean, try Lenora Bell.

Example 2: If you like a modern day, romantic twist on Greek mythology, try Staci Hart’s Hearts and Arrows series.

My examples that I’ve gathered are a mix of different categories and examples, hopefully it helps someone find a new and interesting read!

If you like Crazy Rich Asians, Try The Bride Test

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If you liked First Frost or Glass Kitchen, Try The Simplicity of Cider

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If you like An Anonymous Girl, Try Believe Me

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If you like Fairy-tale retellings genre, Try the Winternight Trilogy

If you like a good revenge story, Try Jane Doe

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If you’ve ever had self-esteem issues or issues with being overweight, Try Good Luck With That

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If you like Wicked the Musical, Try All the Ever Afters

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If you liked those choose your own adventure novels as a kid, Try My Lady’s Choosing

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Bout of Books 25 Update – Day 3

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

Still trucking along. I got home from work late again last night so I meant to read only a short amount of time before bed but I should’ve known with reading the new Christina Lauren book that I wouldn’t be able to stop after a half hour. I LOVE the book I’m reading right now – this is the third book by Christina Lauren that I’ve read and they’re addictive. I enjoy them so much and I can’t put them down once I get into them. I also hate for them to end because I just want to keep enjoying the story! So anyways my Wednesday’s progress is below:

Update

Wednesday

Time spent reading: 2 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 212 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 594 pages
Books read: Continued reading The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish this one today! I’m enjoying this one so much I’m trying not to rush through it)
Challenges: I did not participate in yesterday’s challenge – Although this prompt was my idea from BoB 23 and I did do it then!

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Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Thursday update!!

Bout of Books 25 Update – Day 2

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

Tuesday didn’t go super well reading wise. I was at work until pretty late and by the time I got home and ready for bed it was almost midnight so I limited my reading time to a half hour. Luckily I had read a bunch Monday so I’m still feeling on track, and looking forward to more reading time this weekend. So anyways my Tuesday’s progress is below:

Update

Tuesday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 0.5 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 62 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 382 pages
Books read: Started reading The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Challenges: I was interested in the challenge today and would’ve liked to participate but I just didn’t have the time.

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Wednesday update!!

Bout of Books 25 Update – Day 1

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

Started out strong yesterday for the first day of the read-a-thon! I had yesterday off to go to the spa with my Momma for Mother’s Day, and we got some reading done there. And then when I got home I kept reading more! I didn’t want to put this book down so I ended up reading the whole thing in one day yesterday. So anyways my Monday’s progress is below:

Update

Monday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 5.5 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 320 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 320 pages (Day one! Ha)
Books read: Started and finished The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Review to be posted today!)
Challenges: I did not do the introduce yourself in six words challenge for Monday, I’ve done it for a couple of the previous Bout of Books challenges already and didn’t have time to post yesterday since I was so focused on reading.

Stay tuned for continued progress (maybe) made in tomorrow’s post on my Tuesday update!!

Bout of Books 25 – Sign Up Post!

Posted in 2019, Bout of Books 25, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

oJKtz8s

So for one of my goals this year to help me focus more on reading and having more fun with my reading schedule, I am participating in two of the Bout of Books reading challenges (plus a handful of other challenges) this year! I’ve participated in the Bout of Books reading challenges in the past couple years and I’m usually able to get a good amount of reading done – I’ve found it’s a great way to help me focus on reading and have concentrated reading time.

I’m hoping to be able to find enough time for this reading challenge to get a couple of books read. Things have been consistently busy at work all the time, so it my be a little tougher during the week, but I have GOAL DAY next Saturday and I should be able to make up some time then.

For those of you who don’t really know much about Bout of Books, it is basically a week-long, no pressure read-a-thon that has been going strong since 2011! Here is a description directly from the Bout of Books blog:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon was created by Amanda @ On a Book Bender on a complete whim in August 2011. It took on a life of its own and was such a hit that Amanda decided to do it again and turn it into a somewhat regular occurrence.

  • Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, usually from 12:01am on a Monday through 11:59pm on a Sunday in whatever time zone you are in.
  • It is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
  • How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
  • Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required.
  • Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

I’ve been reading pretty close to on schedule lately and I’m hoping to continue that trend over the next week!

Time Devoted to Reading

I plan to read at least 1.5 hours each day during the week, with hopefully additional hours on Saturday and Sunday. Monday I’ll be at the spa with my Mom for Mother’s Day but hopefully can find time to read during the day while we’re there.

My Goals

My goals for this read-a-thon are that I’d like to participate in as much as I can: the daily posts plus reading every day. I’d really like to just focus on getting back into reading. My traditional busy season at work goes from January to April and it was a killer this year. I gave up on reading for April since all I was doing was making myself more tired. I’ve just recently picked up reading again and it’s been going well but I need to get back on board with my reading schedule in a big way.

Books to Read

  • Read The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
  • Read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
  • Read Next Girl to Die by Dea Poirier
  • Read a book for my Bookish Reading Challenge
  • Read The Suspect by Fiona Burton

List is a little ambitious but with Friday and Saturday focused a little more on reading who knows how much I’ll get accomplished! I would’ve loved to take the whole week off and just read non-stop but there are just too many things to get done at work. I am lucky that I was able to get one day off and then I also have a half day Friday and Goal Day Saturday so those items  Anyways, I’m really looking forward to this week-long reading challenge devoted to reading ! If you do want to join make sure to add yourself to the page’s Sign Up Post by Tuesday, May 14th at 11:59pm CST! Happy reading!

2019 Book #16 – The Duke of Distraction by Darcy Burke

Posted in 2019, Book reviews, February Book Bingo, Fiction, Historical Romance, Reading Challenges, Romance by

51ZE6ziLGxL (1)Title: The Duke of Distraction
Author: Darcy Burke
Date finished: 2/28/19
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: February 26, 2019
Pages in book: 270
Stand alone or series:  The Untouchables series Book #12
Where I got the book from: Social Butterfly PR
NOTE: I received this book for free from Social Butterfly PR 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:

After witnessing how love embittered his uncle and broke his father, Felix Havers, Earl of Ware vows never to love. He conceals his emotions behind a wall of wit and charm, and is celebrated as the master of entertainments—parties, picnics, races. When his best friend’s wallflower sister needs to find a husband, he promises to make her the toast of London… without losing his heart.

Miss Sarah Colton has given up on the pursuit of marriage. When her parents learn she intends to open a millinery shop, they give her an ultimatum: choose a husband or they’ll do it for her. She accepts Felix’s help, never imagining their scheme will ignite a mutual attraction neither of them dare indulge. But when tragedy strikes, can they heal each other or will the demons of Felix’s past consume them both?

My rating:  4.25 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’ve been following this series for a little while now and I do enjoy each of the new stories that come out.  I think this has been one of my favorites from the series this far – I really loved Sarah and Felix’s story. Their chemistry was very well developed and felt so natural. Plus each of their characters alone were great – Sarah was fierce and independent and I just loved her character. And Felix was the perfect amount of brooding and mysterious, and at the same time he was such a genuinely loving character even though he tried to fight that side of himself. Also, I thought the author did a great job of developing a critical event mid-story that created additional tension and emotions between the hero and heroine. I think that has been one of my favorite things about reading the series thus far has been seeing the author’s development and the differences in the plots of the stories in the series. I’ve enjoyed both this book and the series overall, I would recommend reading this series if you enjoy historical romances.

Link to author website

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

2019 Monthly Status Update: February

Posted in 2019, February Book Bingo, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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February was a fun month for the most part but also involved a lot of work time. I tried to read as much as I could, and I really enjoyed being able to participate in the bookish bingo challenge this month! So anyways, here are some highlights from February for me:

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 9
# pages read this month: 3,059
# books read year-to-date: 16
# pages read year-to-date: 5,176

Favorite Books I Read this Month:

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Was a re-read but this is one of my all-time faves! Now You See Her by Linda Howard 4.75 stars

Other Posts this month:

Romance Novel Bookish Bingo
The Duke of Distraction BLOG TOUR!!
It’s Getting Scot In Here BLOG TOUR!!

Next Month TBR List:

-It’s Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch
-The Time Traveler’s Guide to Modern Romance by Madeline J. Reynolds
-This Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan
-Kingdom Cold by Brittni Chenelle
-Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

February Reading Challenge – Romance Novel Bookish Bingo – Wrap Up Post!

Posted in 2019, February Book Bingo, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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Here’s how I did on my February Bookish Bingo Reading Challenge! I can’t post the titles of all the books since some of them were ones I’m judging for the New England Readers’ Choice Awards and I can’t talk about them until after the finalists are announced. I was still trying to stick with my reading schedule and tried to fit them into the bingo card where I could, so I didn’t end up getting bingo unfortunately. If I’d had a little more time for reading I might have been able to manage but it’s a busy time at work right now! I still had fun participating in the reading challenge though, I can’t wait for the next one!

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2019 Book #15 – Just Friends: Friends to Lovers series box set by Camilla Isley

Posted in 2019, Book reviews, February Book Bingo, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Romance, Women's fiction by

5160JaNqjuLI’ve read a few books by Camilla in the past and really enjoyed them, so I was excited when she gave me the opportunity to read this boxed set of her Friends to Lovers Series. I decided to read the whole thing in one full sweep so I wouldn’t lose track of which character was which. I decided to rate the series as a whole but I also discussed each of the separate books below. I’d probably recommend reading them as a series since they’re fairly connected (mostly the last 3 in the set) and might end up being confusing when read as a stand alone, though I’m sure you’d still enjoy it.

Series Title: Just Friends: A Friends to Lovers Series
Author: Camilla Isley
Date finished: 2/25/19
Genre: Contemporary romance, romantic comedy
Publisher: Pink Bloom Press
Publication Date: June 28, 2018
Pages in book: 694
Stand alone or series: Full Just Friends series
Where I got the book from: Author/publisher NOTE: I received this book for free from the author/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:

Love and friendship mix in the Just Friends series… the books follow the misadventures and exploits of a group of college students in Boston.

For Rose being in love with her best friend has never been easy, but now that she’s moved in with Tyler her feelings have become impossible to ignore.

Tyler has bitten more than he can chew, torn between two girls he must decide where his heart stands.

Georgiana is determined to do everything in her power to keep Tyler and Rose apart. After all, all is fair in love and war.

Alice fell in love with Jack the day she moved into her freshman dorm. Problem is, she’s been stuck in the friend zone ever since. After another meaningless breakup, she’s ready to confess her feelings to Jack.

Jack has mistaken friendship for love once before and has vowed never to do it again. A varsity sports player, he’s determined to enjoy college with no strings attached.

Peter is Jack’s best wingman. He enjoys his popularity as team captain and when he meets Alice, he’s ready to steal her heart.

David and Scott Williams are in love with the same girl, again.

Haley has never been happier than in her relationship with Scott. But she can no longer deny bad-boy David has gotten under her skin.

Madison has always been insecure in love. The only satisfying romances in her life come from the many books she reads. Book-boyfriends are easy to fall for, but the real world seems short of swoon-worthy heroes. And just when she thought she might’ve found one, he fell in love with her best friend…

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of these books in exchange for an honest and fair review. I read this book as part of the Bookish Romance Novel Bookish Bingo Reading Challenge. This book will be checking off my “Indie Publisher” box, since it was published by a smaller publishing company!

I enjoyed this series, though there were some of the books that I liked more than others. I think my favorite story of the couples was Jack and Alice’s. Madison’s story was a little too quick for me, and Haley’s was a little too sad. And honestly Georgianna and Tyler’s story was just heart-breaking for me and made me so angry. Georgianna was a horrible person and I really hoped that she would get more of a “lesson learned” than what she did. Rose’s story was definitely not what I expected it to be! I kept expecting it to take a hard left and turn around and it never happened. And then I got to the end and was just surprised that was where it ended! There were a lot of characters in this story and many of them were interesting, though I was a little put off by the obsession with “boys” in the story lines. I can certainly understand it but I think being so far removed from that period of my life has made me forget what it feels like to be “boy-crazy.” It reminded me a lot of my youth though, and I didn’t want to put it down. The story line was interesting and I felt involved enough with the characters that I felt engaged in their stories. I’d recommend the series! Thought maybe space it out a little, I think if I had even a tiny bit of room between the books I would’ve been more patient with some of the characters.

Link to author website

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