March 2015 - wrap up

Hi booklovers

Apparently I forgot to write my March wrap up, so here goes: 

In March I read 5 books (although, some of the books I read were 3 books in a boxset), so it was a good reading month.

1) Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan.

This was my first TBR-jar pick and the first Colgan I've read and I really enjoyed it. I gave it 3.5 stars on Goodreads. At first I had to get used to the way the story is told. You have two different POV's: Rosie Hopkins', her aunt Lilian's and then you also have flashbacks from Lilian's past. But once you figure this out, it's a really fun story to read. Mind you, the parts about Lilian's past were heart wrenching at times. Being the sweet tooth I am, I really enjoyed reading about the different sweets that used to be sold in Lilian's shop. The only problem was that I didn't know them all. I'll have to look up some of the sweets to really know what they are. And this book made me want to visit old sweetshops :-) I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, because when I picked it from my TBR-jar, I didn't think I was in the mood for it. But it pleasantly surprised me and I will definitely be reading more of her books. I already own 'Meet me at the cupcake cafe' and I'll be picking up the sequels to this story: 'Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' sweetshop' and 'The Christmas surprise'. 

 










2) Exile by Bre Faucheux.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

This mini-review contains spoilers. I you want to read it, just highlight the text.

 bit helpless, but iThis is the second novella in 'The Elder Origins' series and the story picks up where 'The Elder Origins' left of. We meet Madison after having fallen into the river and waking up with a Sioux tribe. During this part of the story we find out more about what Madison and Jayden have become: vampires. They learn how to deal with their new 'life', their abilities and their thirst for blood. They receive help from a healer from a Sioux tribe. The healer knows what happened to Madison and he wants to help her come to terms with her new condition. Jayden is a bit more restless and he wants to return to their homeland and he asks Madison to join him. During this story we get to know all the cool things vampires can do, all the abilities they have along with the characters. I really enjoyed the character development in this book. First I thought that Madison was a bit whiny and she seemed an this story she really grows and she learns to stand up for herself. She has to, considering Jayden is the only one of her homeland left and the only other vampire she knows. And believe it or not, Jayden is actually growing on me. He can still be arrogant and selfish, but you also get to see a different, more compassionate side of him. When I told Bre this, she said that Jayden was such a misunderstood character :-)
When they arrive in England they discover that the plague has been wreaking havoc. And this is where the story takes an interesting twist: they find out that another one of the original 'crew' has survived: Lyndon. And with that cliffhanger, the 2nd book ends.
Like in the first part, Bre manages to combine historical and fantasy elements brilliantly.

3) From the first touch (1 - 4) by Gwendalyn Fox
These novella's are in the romance / erotica genre. They were actually the first erotica stories I've read. In this series we meet Jayme and follow the development of her relationship with actor Lucas Wolfe. They were fun, sexy, steamy reads. Sure, sometimes they're a bit cliche, but that doesn't stop me from reading them. Beware these books contain a lot of sexual content! I gave the whole series 3 stars.

4) From the first kiss (1 - 3) by Gwendalyn Fox
This is a spin-off series of the 'From the first touch' series, focusing on Lauren - Jayme's friend - and her story of finding true love. I really enjoyed these novella's. I appreciate them for what they are: erotica, nothing more, nothing less. I still believe in judging a book by it's genre. You shouldn't expect complex stories from books in this genre, they are meant to be fun, exciting, enticing. If you want to read something more complex, choose a different genre! I gave the series 3.5 stars.

5) From the first sight (1) by Gwendalyn Fox
This is another spin-off series. This time we get to know Lexi's story - Lexi is Lauren's colleague and friend - and I have to admit that this is the most intriguing character so far. I hope that there will be more to her story, because she is a more complex character with a heavier background than Jayme and Lauren. Although I have to admit that Lauren's background isn't all that pleasant either. I also gave this one 3.5 stars.

What have you read in March? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Song title book tag

Hi booklovers

Today I would like to do to another tag for you. This time it's 'The song title book tag'.

I saw this tag on Kassidy's channel and it was created by Alice Reeds.

You have 10 songs by different artists and in different genres and match them with a book.

1 - Guns N' Roses - November Rain - Pick a book with a sad/tragic ending.

I think this one will be picked by a lot of people, but I'm going to choose it anyway: The Fault in Our Stars.

2 - Queen - Another One Bites the Dust - Pick a book which a lot of killing in it.

For this song I'm going to go with Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. This story is about a handmaiden of Death, so it's pretty normal that a lot of characters die.

 

3 - Britney Spears - Oops!... I did it again - Pick a book you read more than twice.

I've reread the first four Harry Potter books multiple times for a paper I wrote for my English class and my dissertation. I have reread books 5 and 6 twice but I've only read the last book once. I really want to reread the entire series soon :-)

 

4 - Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - Your currently most anticipated book.

For this I'm going with three books:

A Court of Thorns and Roses

P.S. I still love you

And last but not least: Nowhere But Here

5 - Florence + the Machine - No light, no light - Pick a book that was just so bad you'd like to lock it away in a dark corner and never look at it ever again.

I didn't have to think very hard on this one: Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble. Actually, I'm going with the whole series. That's why I got rid of them in my unhaul. I kind of enjoyed the first two books, but I really didn't like the third one and it's affecting the whole series.

6 - Skylar Grey - Final Warning - Pick a book with a kick ass protagonist you'd not want to piss off.

I think a lot of people are going to say this, but I'm picking Throne of Glass. I wouldn't want to piss off Calaena. 

Come to think of it, I might also add Ismae from Grave Mercy because she is handmaiden of Death, so I think I would want to stay in her good books :-)

7 - My Chemical Romance - I'm not Okay - Pick a book that deals with a hard topic like loss or bullying.

I read Wonder for the Anti-Bully Readathon hosted by Sarah Churchill. This book is about a young boy who was born with a facial deformity. Since he is only just starting school, he has to deal with bullying because of his appearance. 

8 - Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit - Pick a book you read which was outside of your usual comfort zone yet you still enjoyed reading.

I'm not going to choose a specific book for this one, but rather a genre. I only started reading (YA) contemporary last year, because I always thought that contemporary stories were fluffy love stories. But I have to admit this isn't the case at all - or I should say: all the time.

9 - Troye Sivan - Happy little Pill - Pick a book that makes you happy.

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams. I've always been kind of a sweet tooth and when I saw this book I immediately felt intrigued by the storyline. It's so nice to read about the different sweets and how they intertwine with the story - both in the present and the past. I really enjoyed this book and it made me happy. (I have to admit that I didn't know all the sweets that are mentioned in this book and I still need to look them up.)

10 - Ladyhawk - Dusk Till Dawn - Pick a book you read in one night/sitting.

Eleanor and Park. I started reading this book at 7.30 a.m. and finished it at around 1 p.m. This book was so good and captivating, I just couldn't put it down.

I'm going to tag Bre and Caitlin :-)

Let me know in the comments if you've read any of these books or what your most anticipated release is.

Bye for now

Annelies

Addicted to you - non- spoiler review

Hi booklovers

After watching Jillian's NA recommends video I decided to pick up 'Addicted to you' by twin sisters Krista and Becca Ritchie on my e-reader (it was free at the time, I'm not sure if it still is). 

Title: Addicted to you

Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Genre: contemporary, NA

Publication Date: June 13th 2013

I you want to know the synopsis, you can click on the title in the introduction.

What first attracted me to this story was that the female character is the one with the sex addiction. Sex addiction is still a taboo and to read a story about a female sex addict sounded 'refreshing'. This addiction is not the only one in the book. Loren - the male protagonist - is an alcoholic, what they refer to as 'a functioning alcoholic'. He can go through almost every day without people realising he has a drinking problem. Lily and Loren have known each other since they were little and this allows them to cover for each other. They pretend to be in a relationship so they can help each other out. This is important for them, because they don't want their families to find out about their problems.

From the start of this book, you really feel for the characters. Even though the protagonists are both addicted, you immediately sympathise with them. Throughout the story new characters are introduced and you follow the evolution of the relationships. You have front row seats to everything that happens with the characters and you get sucked into the story.

I really liked Lily and Loren's characters. I didn't care much for Lily's sister Rose as she seems a stuck-up little thing at first, but as the story evolves so does her character and she becomes a person you can rely on. 

Connor and Ryke are two boys who come into their lives for very different reasons and even though Lily and Loren aren't used to people being friendly to them and they have a hard time accepting them as friends. At first Connor is really pretentious and Ryke can drive you up the wall, but they turn out to be good guys that stick with Lily and Loren through the rough patches. (I was glad to learn that they have their own stories in the spin-off series. You can find the reading order for the whole series here.)

 

Since this story deals with pretty severe addictions, it's nice that nothing is sugar-coated, so you get a pretty realistic image. (Be advised: like almost every NA story, this contains sexual content, but it also talks a lot about alcohol) That's what appealed to me so much: you actually start to believe in these characters, they are so unbelievably realistic. You can tell that even though they want to help each other out so badly, they aren't good for each other at the moment. But you still want them to be there for each other and be together. They are trying to deal with their problems and I really really want them to be able to work through them. For me that means it's a very good story: I consider them to be real characters. That's why I'm both scared and excited to continue with this series! I want the characters to be okay, but I'm scared they still have a long way to go before they can become better.

The story also shows you that even though your family is loaded, that doesn't mean that you're happy or that nothing is wrong!

It's been a while since I was sucked into a story and felt so much for the characters! That's why I gave it 4.5 stars on Goodreads. (This is the highest rating I've ever given an NA book and even the highest rating I've given any book this year!)

Hope you liked this review and if you're interested be sure to pick up this book, it's worth it.

If you've read this book or are interested in reading it, let me know in the comments! 

Bye for now

Annelies

Auto buy authors

Hi booklovers

I think every (avid) reader has some authors they'll buy every book they publish and I'm no exception.

Here are two of my auto buy authors:

1. Katie McGarry. Ever since reading Pushing the Limits I fell in love with her writing style, her characters, the stories...

Katie writes YA contemporary companion stories that have a bite to them. Granted, the structure of the PTL books are pretty similar: boy meets girl (or vice versa) and they usually come from different backgrounds, they have their problems and together they try to work through them. But that's okay, it doesn't bother me. I only recently discovered contemporary because I always thought that contemporary books have fluffy love stories and I don't like those. (Or rather, I didn't like them, I warming up to them.) But reading the PTL series proved me wrong. Sure, they are love stories, but they are not always lovey dovy. I really hope Katie will carry on with the PTL series because it was really nice to read more about Echo and Noah in Breaking the Rules. Also, BTR really shows how much Katie's writing style is evolving. This story was a bit more mature (not NA) without being too explicit. I truly hope that one day she'll write a sequel to Crash Into You because Rachel and Isaiah are one of my favourite YA couples. We already learn a bit more about them in Take Me On since that story centres around Rachel's brother West, but we don't get to see them nearly enough :-s

 

I currently own the complete Pushing the Limits-series: Pushing The Limits - Dare You To - Crash Into You - Take Me On - Breaking The Rules (I own the e-book, but I want to own the physical copy)

I'm going to pre-order her upcoming book Nowhere but here, the first in a new series. This is actually one of my most anticipated Spring releases. I'm so curious to see what this series will be about. This comes out May 26th.

2. Cora Carmack. Another author I discovered last year. Cora writes NA stories, both contemporary and paranormal. I started by reading her Losing it companion series and I really really liked them. Little warning, these books do contain sex scenes - as do most NA stories - but they fit the stories. It's not like it's one sex scene after another, it's just part of the story. NA stories focus more on characters in the age group of those graduating high school and making their life whether it's by going to college or finding jobs and all the issues that go with that. Usually, these are fun, exciting, sexy, quick reads and I really enjoy them. Sometimes, NA stories tend to be a bit 'more of the same', but I don't find that's the case with Cora's stories. 

She currently has three series out and some novella's. 

I own the Losing it series: Losing it - Keeping Her (novella) - Faking it - Finding it - Seeking Her (novella).

I also have the two current books in the Rusk University series: All Lined Up and All Broke Down.

I'm going to pre-order the next one, which is All Played Out. This one comes out May 12th.

 I also own Inspire, the first book in her Muse series, but I haven't read it yet. But being on an NA kick lately, I'm sure it won't be long before I do.

Since I'm not a big fan of the covers (except for Inspire) I own these books on my e-reader.

Let me know in the comments what some of your auto buy authors are.

Bye for now

Annelies

Continuing series: update

Hi booklovers

I thought I'd do a little update on the series I want to continue or finish this year.

Since posting my first article I have finished a series - at least, I've read the books that have already been released.

I have read the three current books of the Falling Kingdoms series. I've already posted a non-spoiler and spoiler review of FK and Rebel Springs. I'm still going to write a review of Gathering Darkness. I really like the books and I'm looking forward to the other books and the spin-off series.

I'm working my way through the 'His Fair Assassin's' trilogy. I'm currently reading Mortal Heart. 

If you've seen my Book Unhaul you already know that I've gotten rid of 'The Dwarves' series because I decided I wasn't going to read it anyway.

 As you can tell, I'm slowly making my way through my huge TBR pile :-)

Bye for now

Annelies