Tag Archives: career

2021 Book #5 – Shipped by Angie Hockman

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

Title: Shipped
Author: Angie Hockman
Date finished: 1/7/21
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: January 19, 2021
Pages in book: 335
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:

The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game in this witty, clever, and swoonworthy novel following a workaholic marketing manager who is forced to go on a cruise with her arch-nemesis when they’re up for the same promotion.

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.

The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.

Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands…together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.

With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne, Shipped is a fresh and engaging rom-com that celebrates the power of second chances and the magic of new beginnings.

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.

This book was described as The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game and, not only did that description really interest me because I enjoyed both of those books, but I think that was a really apt description for this book. The description of the travels of the cruise ship and the sites and scenery that Graeme and Henley were able to experience were very transporting. I felt like I was experiencing all of those things myself. I really like the enemy coworkers to lovers trope and this one was pretty good. Henley sounded whiny to me in some parts, but overall I liked her and Graeme’s story and how their relationship was developed. The focus on teamwork in the story was also a really endearing one – it was great to see the supportive crew that Henley was surrounded by. Some pieces of the story were a little slow for me but overall I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it.

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

2020 Book #6 – To Have and to Hold by Lauren Layne

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Romance, Wedding Belles by

41eW9xtmdNLTitle: To Have and to Hold
Author: Lauren Layne
Date finished: 1/19/20
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: July 26, 2016
Pages in book: 385
Stand alone or series: #1 in the Wedding Belles 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:

USA TODAY bestselling author Lauren Layne is the “queen of witty dialogue and sexy scenes” (Rachel Van Dyken)! Now, Sex and the City meets The Wedding Planner in The Wedding Belles, her sizzling brand new contemporary romance series about three ambitious wedding planners who can make any bride’s dream come true…but their own.

Discovering her fiancé is an international con man just moments before they exchange vows devastates celebrity wedding planner Brooke Baldwin’s business—and breaks her heart. Now a pariah in Los Angeles, she seeks a fresh start in New York City and thinks she’s found it with her first bridal client, a sweet—if slightly spoiled—hotel heiress. Then she meets the uptight businessman who’s holding the purse strings.

Seth Tyler wishes he could write a blank check and be done with his sister Maya’s fancy-pants wedding. Unfortunately, micromanaging the event is his only chance at proving Maya’s fiancé is a liar. Standing directly in his way is the stunning blonde wedding planner whose practiced smiles and sassy comebacks both irritate and arouse him. He needs Brooke’s help. But can he persuade a wedding planner on a comeback mission to unplan a wedding? And more importantly, how will he convince her that the wedding she should be planning…is theirs?

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 had read another book in this series awhile ago – To Love and Cherish – and really liked it! And this book has been on my list to be reviewed since back in 2016, but luckily one of my goals this year is to read a book a month from my backlog list! Sinace I’m reading another upcoming Lauren Layne release this month too it seemed like a great time to read one of her backlist books. The characters in this novel were really well drawn out, the relationships came alive for the reader. I didn’t necessarily agree with all the pieces of the plot. There’s a point where Brooke compares Seth to her ex- Clay, and I thought was a little over-dramatic. Seth and Clay were not really comparable, even with their actions at that moment. Other than that though the plot line was interesting and kept me wanting to read throughout. I especially liked the side-plot going on with Maya and Grant. And having already read Logan and Alexis’ book, it was interesting to see them mentioned right at the beginning of the series. I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I enjoyed the later book in the series I’ve read previously. I’d still recommend it as well as the rest of the series.

Link to author website

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

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

510gqX-FQ+LTitle: 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

2017 Book #61 – Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Women's fiction by

51+lRnVc+yLTitle: Fitness Junkie
Author: Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza
Date finished: 7/19/17
Genre: Fiction, women’s fiction
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: July 11, 2017
Pages in book: 304
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:

When Janey Sweet, CEO of a couture wedding dress company, is photographed in the front row of a fashion show eating a bruffin—the delicious lovechild of a brioche and a muffin—her best friend and business partner, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: Lose thirty pounds or lose your job. Sure, Janey has gained some weight since her divorce, and no, her beautifully cut trousers don’t fit like they used to, so Janey throws herself headlong into the world of the fitness revolution, signing up for a shockingly expensive workout pass, baring it all for Free the Nipple yoga, sweating through boot camp classes run by Sri Lankan militants and spinning to the screams of a Lycra-clad instructor with rage issues. At a juice shop she meets Jacob, a cute young guy who takes her dumpster-diving outside Whole Foods on their first date. At a shaman’s tea ceremony she meets Hugh, a silver fox who holds her hand through an ayahuasca hallucination And at a secret exercise studio Janey meets Sara Strong, the wildly popular workout guru whose special dance routine has starlets and wealthy women flocking to her for results that seem too good to be true. As Janey eschews delicious carbs, pays thousands of dollars to charlatans, and is harassed by her very own fitness bracelet, she can’t help but wonder: Did she really need to lose weight in the first place? A hilarious send-up of the health and wellness industry, Fitness Junkie is a glorious romp through the absurd landscape of our weight-obsessed culture.

My rating:  5 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. This book tells the story of Janey Sweet, a woman who when we meet her at the beginning of the book is being told by her business partner and best friend of thirty years (Beau) that she is fat. Janey and Beau together own B, a bridal salon featuring Beau’s designs but that was made successful by Janey’s shrewd business acumen.  Beau gives her an ultimatum – she can’t come back to work until she loses 30 lbs. While Janey is deeply hurt and offended, she believes (at first) that being with Beau and working at B is what makes her happy, so she agrees. And so begins a crazy journey of every fad diet imaginable, with the help of her friend CJ, from eating clay to the new super-exclusive and super-secret fad called “The Workout.” But as Janey continues on the path to fitness, she realizes there wasn’t anything wrong with her to begin with. And looking back on her thirty year friendship with Beau, she starts to see things more clearly and questions whether she really wants to go back to her old job and her old life. Add in crazy new friends, not one but two new men in her life, and an intense 8 day wellness retreat in St. Lucia, and Janey sure has her hands full.

Overall I just loved this book. It was funny and engaging, Janey was nice enough to be likeable and naive enough to be frustrating. I personally have also struggled with weight loss and this book hit the nail on the head, the perception of women these days and the lengths that some women will go through to stay fit is insane. I loved that this book was basically a satirical comedy about fitness but it also touched on some important issues like self love and being kind to one another.  I also loved that (as far as I can remember) we never learn Janey’s beginning or ending weight, or her actual clothing size. I hope that the authors did this on purpose because I think this is really important, it doesn’t matter what her actual weight or size is. What matters is how society made her feel, how her friends made her feel, and how she felt about herself. The only thing that I couldn’t really connect to Janey on was how rich she was and the fact that she barely questioned spending $15,000 on an 8 day trip. Be forewarned that may annoy you / drive you mad with jealousy if you are living in the middle or lower class. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized it was really necessary for Janey’s character, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to afford to do pretty much anything she did in the book and then there would be no story. Anyways, this was an awesome, funny book about one woman’s self-discovery through fitness, it is worth the read and I would definitely recommend everyone try this one!!

The bottom line: This was an awesome funny book and I just loved it, I would highly recommend!

Link to author website

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

2017 Book #58 – I Have Never by Camilla Isley

Posted in Blog tour, Book reviews, Contemporary romance by

51FhWUoFAkLTitle: I Have Never
Author: Camilla Isley
Date finished: 7/12/17
Genre: Contemporary romance, romantic comedy
Publisher: Pink Bloom Press
Publication Date: July 13, 2017
Pages in book: 191
Stand alone or series: #2 in the First Comes Love 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:

Have you ever wondered what might have been?

Twenty-nine-year-old Blair Walker is a girl with a plan, or more a girl with a list. A list of dos and don’ts to live the perfect life, land a dream career, and marry Mr. Right.
But when Blair loses her job and gets dumped by her boyfriend all in one day, she starts to wonder if she’s had it all wrong. And what better way to find out than experience everything the list forbade?
*Never Lie
*Never Pick a Fight
*Never Make a Scene
*Never Make the First Move
*Never Make Impulse Decisions
*Never Mix Business and Pleasure…
With hilarious consequences, Blair will discover some items are trickier to tick off than she’d thought…
I Have Never is a wonderful chick lit beach read and a fabulous office romance. A laugh out loud romantic comedy perfect for fans of Lindsey Kelk, Sophie Kinsella, and Mhairi McFarlane.
First Comes Love is a series of interconnected romantic novels. However, each book in the series can be read as a standalone novel.

My rating: 4.75 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. This book tells the story of Blair Walker, who when we first meet her is convinced that today will be the day she not only gets promoted but also gets engaged. Unfortunately for Blair, neither of those are the case. Instead she ends up fired and dumped and unsure where to go from here. Blair has always lived by her own set of “rules,” convinced that if she avoids doing certain things in life (getting arrested, getting drunk, sleeping with a guy on the first date, etc) that everything will work out for her. But now that her life has basically crashed and burned around her, she decides to do everything possible on this list that has betrayed her. Along the way she acquires a new boss, Richard Stratton, who is amazingly handsome but also amazingly commitment-phobic, a new group of work friends and a new lease on life.
Overall I just loved this book. The book immediately draws you in and engages you in Blair’s life and her character. I was hooked right from the very beginning and I didn’t want to put it down. The plot line was just so emotionally satisfying, at each twist along Blair’s road to freedom I found myself rooting for her to win and to come out on top! Plus the book was hilarious, all the hi-jinks that Blair ended up getting herself into were so funny and I loved her work group at her new office. I’m also really interested in Nikki’s story (Blair’s roommate) and can’t wait to hear when that will be released. I liked the plot of this book as well, following along with the list. The premise behind this  reminded me a little of another book I read last year (Thirty Days to Thirty) mostly because of the whole crashing and burning thing at the beginning and the list aspect. I especially liked that with this story, the list was more like a reverse list, it was about Blair breaking through the ceilings that she had set for herself in life for what she (or really her mom) believed was proper.  This was a quick story and an entertaining and engaging read and I would highly recommend!

The bottom line: I just loved this book, Blair was an easy to like character. I was rooting for her through the whole book! The story was a great series of ups and downs of emotions and was extremely satisfying. Just loved this book, I would definitely recommend.

Link to author website

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