2020 Book #46 – Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: Beautiful Bad
Author: Annie Ward
Date finished: 6/9/21
Genre: Psychological thriller, suspense
Publisher: Park Row
Publication Date: March 5, 2019
Pages in book: 317
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 the tradition of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train comes a riveting psychological thriller about a devoted wife, a loving husband, and a chilling crime that will stun even the cleverest readers.

It seemed like such a beautiful marriage…

Maddie and Ian’s love story began at a party overseas, while she was visiting her best friend, Jo. Now, almost two decades later, they are married with a beautiful son and living the perfect American life. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian, her concerns for her safety, and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the electric streets of the Balkans to a quiet suburb in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion, culminate in the Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime. Twisty and utterly original, Beautiful Bad shows that appearances are deceptive and even the most seemingly perfect couples have something to hide.

My rating: 3.25 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 am pretty excited to say that this is the last of my 2019 backlog books! I had originally requested this book because it sounded pretty interesting. And I was interested in the story – I liked the structure of the book and how it switched between the past and the present to tell the story. Maddie as a character was.. interesting. She was a little bat-shit crazy, but then again it seemed like a lot of the characters were kind of crazy. I just felt bad for Charlie with having to grow up with all these kooks. I was pretty on board with the story line I guess until the plot twist towards the end. It was a good plot twist, don’t get me wrong. It definitely wasn’t one that I was fully expecting. But at the same time it was not one that I was really excited about, to be honest I found it pretty depressing. It left me feeling unsettled even after the book’s ending was resolved. This one wasn’t exactly for me but overall it was still a good book and I would recommend it, especially if you like thrillers / suspense books.

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

10Jan2021

2021 Book #5 – Shipped by Angie Hockman

Posted in Book Genre, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Romance by rebeccabook17

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

9May2019

2019 Book #24 – Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson

Posted in Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance, Fiction, For the love of books, Romance, Sometimes in Love series by rebeccabook17

Title: Getting Hot with the Scot
Author: Melonie Johnson
Date finished: 5/5/19
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 30, 2019
Pages in book: 368
Stand alone or series: #1 in the Sometimes in Love 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:

SINGLE LADY SEEKS DUKE

IT’S TIME TO FLIRT WITH A MAN IN A KILT

Cassie Crow, a pop-culture reporter for a TV talk show, is focused on becoming a “serious” journalist. But when she stumbles into a kilted Highlander with a killer accent, Cassie decides that taking one night off from work and spending it with a sexy Scot couldn’t hurt. . .

Logan Reid has built a career on his charm, hosting a series of off-the-wall hijinks on the Web. But when the Scottish prankster meets the all-American, equal parts intelligent and irresistible Cassie, Logan realizes that one night of fun won’t be enough. Could it be that this career-focused, commitment-phobic couple is finally ready to take a chance at true and lasting love?

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. Also make sure to check out my Blog Tour post on this book!

I haven’t read anything by this author before, but the books in this series sounded cute and I wanted to give them a try! I’m glad I did as I ended up really enjoying this novel! Cassie and Logan’s chemistry fairly leapt off the page and I didn’t want to put the book down. There were definitely some cheesy parts but the ending was very romantic. Logan was a little thick-headed but I loved how much he was swept off his feet with his feelings for Cassie. I’ve already read it at this point but while reading this novel I was drawn into the connected story of Bonnie and Theo and just couldn’t wait to read the next one in the series. As a reader I especially liked the tie in with literacy in this book and that Cassie advocated for women to be able to read whatever they want, whether it be romance or something else. People shouldn’t be shamed for reading what they enjoy, any form of reading and creativity should be encouraged and enjoyed! Reading this book made me smile and while it wasn’t an overly complex or thought-provoking read, I enjoyed it and that’s what should matter.

Link to author website

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

21Mar2018

2018 Book #21 – The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: The Flight Attendant
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Date finished: 3/20/18
Genre: Fiction, thriller
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Pages in book: 345
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:

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police – she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home – Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?

Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendantunveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home.

My rating: 3.0 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.

This book was hard for me to get into, I didn’t find that there was a lot that really reached out and grabbed me. Elena’s character didn’t evolve for me as I expected it to and Cassie’s character really was just a portrayal of an awful person and it made it hard for me to connect with her. She was extremely self-destructive and flawed, and I had trouble understanding a lot of her decisions throughout the book. I found it especially unfortunate that I struggled with some of the book because the ending ROCKED. I literally gasped, I never saw it coming. There aren’t many books I can say that for, if I had been more engaged through the rest of the novel this one would have probably been a home run for me. As it is though I would still really very much recommend it because my struggle was probably just based on my current attention span and even if it wasn’t the ending still was worth it!

Link to author website

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