2019 Book #47 – How To Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: How To Hack a Heartbreak
Author: Kristin Rockaway
Date finished: 7/19/19
Genre: Contemporary romance, women’s fiction
Publisher: Graydon House
Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Pages in book: 352
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:

Swipe right for love. Swipe left for disaster.

By day, Mel Strickland is an underemployed helpdesk tech at a startup incubator, Hatch, where she helps entitled brogrammers–“Hatchlings”–who can’t even fix their own laptops, but are apparently the next wave of startup geniuses. And by night, she goes on bad dates with misbehaving dudes she’s matched with on the ubiquitous dating app, Fluttr.

But after one dick pic too many, Mel has had it. Using her brilliant coding skills, she designs an app of her own, one that allows users to log harrassers and abusers in online dating space. It’s called JerkAlert, and it goes viral overnight.

Mel is suddenly in way over her head. Worse still, her almost-boyfriend, the dreamy Alex Hernandez–the only non-douchey guy at Hatch–has no idea she’s the brains behind the app. Soon, Mel is faced with a terrible choice: one that could destroy her career, love life, and friendships, or change her life forever.

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 haven’t read anything by this author before, I was intrigued enough by the description and the cover to give this a read! This was a really cute book a good story. I love how modern it was with all the creative ideas on website creation, dating sites, and some of the hazards women face in the modern world. There were some pieces of this modernity within the book that I found frustrating though – specifically how Melanie has to put up with blatant sexual harassment at her office with absolutely no form of recourse. I understood that the “Hatchlings” were important to the owner but at the same time that kind of flagrant disrespect for someone shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere in a professional working environment. That being said, it was an interesting plot line and definitely different from other books I’ve read lately. I liked the varied cast of characters and how supportive Melanie’s friends were with helping her realize her full potential. I also loved how talented Melanie was and her journey to becoming a confident business woman at the end was a wonderful character arc. I would recommend this book, I enjoyed it!

Link to author website

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

17Aug2018

2018 Book #71 – Maybe For You by Nicole McLaughlin

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: Maybe For You
Author: Nicole McLaughlin
Date finished: 8/16/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Pages in book: 320
Stand alone or series: #3 in Whiskey and Weddings series
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:

She’s never had a no-strings fling. He’s never had anything else. But maybe this time will be an exception?

After a year of mourning her fiancé, Alexis Parker has worked hard to rediscover what she wants out of life. Fresh out of the military and back stateside, her brother offers her a marketing job at the Stag Distillery. Ready for a new challenge, Alexis agrees to accompany her new co-worker Jake Cooper on a Stag cross-country promotional tour. He may have an infamous playboy reputation, but Alexis is surprised to find out that there is more to him than meets the eye. And she likes what she sees. . .

Jake promised Alexis’s brother that he’d be an absolute gentleman. Of course, that was before he and Alexis hit the road, and they both agree that what Alexis’s big brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him. The plan: to keep their fling confined to the RV, and everything will go back to normal once they head home. Things progress in ways neither of them could have imagined, and Jake realizes that he and Alexis make a perfect mix. Can he convince her that he’s ready to shake things up and give true love a shot in Maybe for You?

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 finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “Friends to Lovers” box, since that was kind of the point of the story.

I am glad that I got to read Alex’s story after being introduced to her in the last book in the series. Alex had a rough journey in life, and I thought that the author actually did a really great job of detailing what it feels like to have to fall in love again after losing a loved one. The grief and guilt that Alex had to work through was tough and though I’ve never gone through that, it seemed really true to what anyone would feel in that situation. That being said, it did get a little repetitive, Alex had a lot of trouble with her feelings of guilt and the reader is presented with some of her journal entries and she tended to talk about the same things. I did like the book though, it was a really sweet story and I like Jake’s character a lot. I thought Alex was kind of rude to him though, and I felt like some of their relationship issues that were presented early on were kind of glossed over and never resolved. Overall though this was a quick read and was a pretty solid romance. There were some exciting plot developments and I was interested to keep reading and follow Alex and Jake’s story through to the end.

Link to author website

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

18Jul2015

2015 Book #73 – The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake
Author: Amy E. Reichert
Date finished: 7/18/15
Genre: Fiction, romance
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: July 21, 2015
Pages in book: 336
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:

You’ve Got Mail meets How to Eat a Cupcake in this delightful novel about a talented chef and the food critic who brings down her restaurant—whose chance meeting turns into a delectable romance of mistaken identities.
In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lou works tirelessly to build her beloved yet struggling French restaurant, Luella’s, into a success. She cheerfully balances her demanding business and even more demanding fiancé…until the morning she discovers him in the buff—with an intern.
Witty yet gruff British transplant Al is keeping himself employed and entertained by writing scathing reviews of local restaurants in the Milwaukee newspaper under a pseudonym. When an anonymous tip sends him to Luella’s, little does he know he’s arrived on the worst day of the chef’s life. The review practically writes itself: underdone fish, scorched sauce, distracted service—he unleashes his worst.
The day that Al’s mean-spirited review of Luella’s runs, the two cross paths in a pub: Lou drowning her sorrows, and Al celebrating his latest publication. As they chat, Al playfully challenges Lou to show him the best of Milwaukee and she’s game—but only if they never discuss work, which Al readily agrees to. As they explore the city’s local delicacies and their mutual attraction, Lou’s restaurant faces closure, while Al’s column gains popularity. It’s only a matter of time before the two fall in love…but when the truth comes out, can Lou overlook the past to chase her future?
Set in the lovely, quirky heart of Wisconsin, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake is a charming love story of misunderstandings, mistaken identity, and the power of food to bring two people together.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I have seen this book in a lot of different places, most recently on PopSugar’s listing of Perfect Poolside Reads. Since I’ve seen it around so much lately, when I saw it was available on NetGalley I had to grab it. And I am very happy I did. This story was lighthearted and fun and makes a wonderful summer read. Lou is a great heroine and Al’s character evolved wonderfully through the story. I have to say though I think one of my favorite parts of the book is the older couple, Otto and Gertrude. I just loved them. Also watching Lou and Al’s friendship blossom into a romance was entrancing.

While the budding romance between Lou and Al certainly made for an entertaining reading, I felt that it was really the love of food and cooking that are the main focus of this book. I don’t know if any of you readers have seen the movie Chef but there is one scene where the main guy in the movie (the chef) is making a grilled cheese for is son and when he cuts the sandwich in half and you hear the crunch and see the cheese oozing out (I would suggest turning the volume up on the video for the crunch).

My gosh I’m drooling right now just thinking about it. Well that is how I felt while reading most of this book, drooling and hungry. The descriptions of the food are just astounding and make you wish that his book was in fact not fiction so that you could go and taste the exact same foods for yourself. I’m sure that many of the landmarks discussed in the book actually do exist, but what I really want is for Lou to make that pork she made at the barbeque. Anyways, this book is perfect for anyone who lives with a love of food!
This book was an easy read and I think it is perfect for summer. All of the characters were great and the story kept me interested throughout. A great read!

The bottom line: I very much liked this book. I found the characters interesting and liked that they evolved through the story. Great book for foodies, the descriptions of the food will make you drool.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page