BLOG TOUR} ARC Review | Don’t Read the Comments

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Don’t Read the Comments

Author: Eric Smith

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: January 28, 2020

Categories: Gaming, Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Don’t Read the Comments hit home for me because my son, he’s 7, wants to be a YouTuber, gamer, streamer – and I’m trying to learn the lingo. Can you tell? 😂 My hubby is a PC Gamer and my son is already following in his footsteps so the fact that this story is about the gaming world – is awesome.

Divya is an online gamer and she streams herself playing this one popular game. She’s built a big enough following that gaming companies send her product to advertise, which is helpful because she sells it to help pay the bills. Yes she’s a teenager, but her dad left and it’s just her and her mom.

Aaron Jericho loves gaming too but he’s not a pro like Divya, in fact he wants to work in the video game industry writing stories and scripts for the game itself! Of course his parents want him to be a doctor, sounds about right!

These two teens have a moment where their online worlds collide and maybe, just maybe they can actually have a relationship in real life. But first Divya has to help her mom and deal with these trolls trying to ruin her life.

Just this being about the gaming industry was interesting to me because my son and hubby are gamers. I own a Nintendo Switch lite so I’m not big on it – but it’s eye opening to see the problems that are present in the gaming world with the trolls bothering Divya and ruining her reputation to seeing the process of Aaron and his friends creating a game. I like how we see two sides to the gaming industry.
Diversity is a given in this book and I like that.
This book shined a light on girl gamers in this masculine world – it’s amazing what they have to put up with in the online world and the real world. Some real world problems that arose in the book was connected not only to Divya but her best friend, Rebekah, who was assaulted by a group of boys at her college. The fear is there in Divya and Rebekah and I’m glad the story didn’t shy away from what they felt. The story also brought up issues like bullying, trolling and doxing.
Divya and Aaron’s relationship is a slow burn and they don’t meet in real life until late in the book. But their relationship is cute because it starts off as friendship. I enjoyed watching the two of them get to know each other.
Love that no matter how hard it got for Divya, with those trolls harassing her – she kept fighting back. Even though she was scared, she fought back. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Aaron’s family dynamics seems like what most parent/teen relationship would be like when said teen wants a career in gaming. Already I have talks with my son trying to point out that games are made and created, someone takes the time to illustrate the graphics, the story line, the big companies that make them, etc…and he’s 7!! I relate to Aaron’s mom wanting the best for your child and a steady path, a steady career…you know – with benefits and a retirement package. 😂

I was interested in this book because I have gamers in my life. For people not into gaming, I don’t know how much this story would interest them. There is a lot that takes place in a virtual world, the online game that Divya plays. I found it fun and interesting, but I don’t know if that is everyone’s cup of tea.
Triggers: memories of assault, harassment, online trolling/bullying

Like I said earlier, this one hit close to home for me and it made me learn a lot of things I didn’t know about the gaming world. I loved how it show cases the gamer and the game creator. Most importantly it brought up the issues of the toxic online culture that is present in the gaming world and social media and it talks about boundaries too. I enjoyed this one and it was a super quick read for me. I look forward to reading more books from this author!

ARC Review |Echoes Between Us

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Echoes Between Us

Author: Katie McGarry

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication: January 14, 2020

Categories: Grief, Brain Tumor, Addiction, Contemporary, Tuberculosis History, Ghost Hunting, Family, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Veronica sees ghosts. More specifically, her mother’s ghost. The afterimages of blinding migraines caused by the brain tumor that keeps her on the fringes and consumes her whole life haunt her, even as she wonders if it’s something more…

Golden boy Sawyer is handsome and popular, a state champion swimmer, but his adrenaline addiction draws him to Veronica.

A girl with nothing to live for and a boy with everything to lose–can they conquer their demons together?

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eARC.

After I sped through this book last night, I wondered why they didn’t release for October because it was the perfect fall read for me! Why? Because of the ghosts! The creepiness factor of this book was SO unexpected, I literally had some chills reading this late past midnight. I almost stopped but pushed on and I’m glad I did.

This is more than a story of Sawayer, the popular hot guy, who pairs up with Veronica, the quirky weird girl at school to do a project. I mean that’s the gist of it but no, ohhhh nooooo…their Senior project Veronica or V as her friends call her, want to do is to prove ghosts exists. Okay! I love a good paranormal activity story.

But this was more than just a story about hunting down ghosts as well. V has a brain tumor and she a reason for this project. Sawyer doesn’t believe in ghosts because he feels like his real life is scary and messed up already. He has secrets and these two teenager find a way past their first impressions to understand one another and help each other out in ways unexpected.

I love the ghost hunting! I love when they had to research for their project, it even scared me. Yes, I used to binge ghost hunting shows like Paranormal Activity haha and in high school, it was all about going to haunted spots with friends, just to get that thrill of maybe seeing something. But um this book did too good a job at scaring me….🙈👻
We get dual POV in this story. Sawyer is a complex character with his role as caretaker, and swim star. The pressure and depression he feels from every aspect in his life and his dangerous coping mechanism was taking a toll on him. I seriously felt for him, so glad he gets help. I liked seeing him attend the AA meetings and basically just trying his best to be better for himself, and his sister.
Veronica is special and the ones who realize it protect her. I love that she had a protective circle of friends since others in their community just thought she was super weird. She has these horrible migraines because of her tumor and just seeing her go through it, it’s tough. Her grief over her mother though, broke my heart.
Sawyer and Veronica’s love story is beautiful ❤️. At one point I said aloud, “I love you, Sawyer”. 🤣😱 I was like, whoa where did that come from? HAHA…even though Veronica is this shining light and the person who shows him life can be thrilling in a different way…he is the thing that grounds her. They struggle with their relationship and feelings as well…but he was mature enough to make some hard but right decisions and I was like, go Sawyer. I didn’t mind their relationship drama in this, I thought it fit in well and was believable. Their love wasn’t all consuming, it was deep but I liked that family came first too. And V stepped up to the plate too…I love how they decided to be all in. All in.
There are heavy topics in this story like addiction. Sawyer’s mom is clearly an addict, and Sawyer is addicting to adrenaline. Veronica is dealing with grief. Heavy topics all around but it works even as it’s interwoven with this ghost hunting project. It’s written so well.
There is a historical angle as well to this story with the TB Hospital in Kentucky. I googled it and just looking at the photo of the sanatorium scares me! Haha, I would have not been brave like Veronica and her friends to be hanging out that place. But there is a diary that Sawyer reads, a diary of a girl named Evelyn Bellak who was a patient at the hospital back in 1918. According to the author, the diary is real. Sawyer reads the diary and relates to Evelyn in many ways.

Sawyer’s mom… 😔 I know it’s part of Sawyer’s story but wow. It shows his mom spiraling into her addiction and Sawyer cleaning up after her but there is one thing that she does that affects his younger sister and it made me livid. But his mom was hitting rock bottom…and rock bottom is not pretty to see. I was hurting for Sawyer…I mean what’s a kid to do, he was trying so hard.
Sylvia his best friend – she was only trying to help him but at times she frustrated me. But she had her own insecurities too so…🤷🏻‍♀️
Just a few triggers: grief, cancer, chemo, depression, addiction

This story blended ghost hunting, grief, brain tumor, and addiction so seamlessly. I was getting chills from the ghost hunting scenes and Sawyer’s penchant for jumping. I was scared from both things. I was afraid for both Sawyer and Veronica and hoping both would confront their ghosts and make it out okay. But I also fell in love with with Sawyer and V falling in love. ❤️ Overall, it was an emotional rollercoaster and I enjoyed Echoes Between Us very much. Don’t read it in the dark though (I was on my fire tablet lol), because you won’t only be tingling from the love story but getting chills from the ghost stories too! Or maybe it’s because I scare easily…haha.

Book Review | Emergency Contact

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Emergency Contact

Author: Mary H.K. Choi

Format: Paperback (owned)

Pages: 391

Categories: Contemporary, Coming of Age, Young Adult, Romance

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

Emergency Contact is the first book from Mary H.K. Choi. I read Permanent Record first and then saw Emergency Contact on sale and decided to buy it. Don’t be fooled by this gorgeous pink and gold cover, this story gets deep into issues I wasn’t expecting.

Penny is an antisocial, snarky, judgmental freshman in college but underneath she’s got issues. She was raised in a single parent home, with a mom who is very popular in town – which Penny despises.

Sam has a past too, with an alcoholic mom who didn’t do much mothering. He’s barely making ends me, struggling to take college classes and survive while dealing with ex-girlfriend drama.

Penny and Sam become each other’s Emergency Contact in this coming of age story.

The cover is so pretty but the story itself has more going on beneath the surface.
Penny is an interesting character and even can be described as “unlikable” – but I think that’s what I liked about her! She’s snarky, judgmental about others and herself, and antisocial. But she also judges herself due to life experiences – a few of them traumatic. Penny doesn’t even feel like there is anything about her to like and that made me sad. I LOVE that she had an emergency pack on her at all times! And she is passionate about writing. When she gets into college and lives with a roommate, we see her open up little by little – she’s awkward and fakes it sometimes but that’s real.
Sam, on the other hand, I just wanted to reach in the book and help him out. He cries a lot, but it’s because he’s not in good shape, he had a horrible childhood, he’s addicted to his ex-girlfriend and maybe he’s an alcoholic too though he’s quit since he quit her. Sam is barely making it on his own but he doesn’t give up, because he finally is texting someone, his emergency contact, Penny. Sam has panic attacks, he’s depressed, he’s stressed but texting Penny is a lifeline for him.
Like her other book, Permanent Record, anxiety is present in Emergency Contact. We see Sam go through a panic attack to the point he thinks he is dying. I love that the author brings up anxiety in young people, especially in college aged students because they are adults but learning how to adult. And for kids like Sam who totally get off track and try to get back on…it’s hard.
Penny and Sam’s relationship is a slow burn romance. Clearly she’s crushing over him badly, but he has an ex-girlfriend that he’s trying to cut off ties with so they keep it safe with the texting friendship. I liked seeing how their relationship develops in a safe space and then finally taking the next step at the end.

Triggers: Rape, anxiety, panic attacks, toxic relationships, depression
I wish Sam could have reached out to Jude more since they are or was, semi-related. But I get it, that’s a complicated relationship too but I definitely felt for Jude. By the end of the book, I kind of want to know more of Jude’s story and hope she gets her own book.
The mom/daughter relationship really hit me in this book. Penny comes off like a brat to her mom, but it goes way back for Penny, she has abandonment issues! Mallory of all people gives her insight into moms and the way they act. I’m a mom now, my daughter is only three but that moment Celeste (Penny’s mom) says she was dreading the day her daughter would hate her…😞. Ugh, my fear.

I love this book because I think it’s characters and situations are so real and messy. I felt like I knew these people, and in my life yes I’ve known people just like them in identical situations! It shines a light on the anxiety those eighteen and over can feel as they become “adults” but still need help from their parents and for those who have no help? 😞 It’s a hard road. On top of that dealing with family problems, self-esteem issues, trauma and everything else? We ALL need an emergency contact. I’m so glad Penny and Sam had each other, in their safe spaces on their phones, even if it was just to say hi or just nonsense. Just knowing someone is there on the other side willing to respond sometimes feels like everything at that moment. I’m definitely glad I bought this one.

ARC Review | A Love Hate Thing

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: A Love Hate Thing

Author: Whitney D. Grandison

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 448

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

When they’re stuck under one roof, the house may not be big enough for their hate…or their love.

When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the wealthy coastal community of Pacific Hills, he’s ready for the questions, the stares and the feeling of not belonging. Not that he cares. After recovering from being shot and surviving the rough streets of Lindenwood, he doesn’t care about anyone or anything, much less how the rest of his life will play out.

Golden girl Nandy Smith has spent most of her life building the pristine image that it takes to fit in when it comes to her hometown Pacific Hills where image is everything. After learning that her parents are taking in a troubled teen boy, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames.

Now with Trice living under the same roof, the wall between their bedrooms feels as thin as the line between love and hate. Beneath the angst, their growing attraction won’t be denied. Through time, Trice brings Nandy out of her shell, and Nandy attempts to melt the ice that’s taken Trice’s heart and being. Only, with the ever-present pull back to the Lindenwood streets, it’ll be a wonder if Trice makes it through this summer at all.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Nandy is the most popular girl in town and she’s preparing for her big cotillion debut when a boy name Trice comes to live with her and her family. Trice is from a rougher neighborhood, one that Nandy and the rest of her crew looks down upon. Trice has pretty much lost everything and now lives in an affluent town where he stands out like a sore thumb. Will Nandy keep her cool when Trice threatens to throw her off her game? Think of The O.C. or Laguna Beach, because A Love Hate Thing is drama-filled.

Trice’s story is emotional and I felt for him. How do you go from having your whole family killed to moving to a rich neighborhood and having a completely new life? I liked the glimpse we get of his Lindenwood life. Trice as a character is a cool kid, it doesn’t seem like much phases him about the lifestyle in Pacific Hills. He is a very interesting character – he is smart and has a talent for writing yet the dark side of his Lindenwood past haunts him.
The difference between Pacific Hills and Lindenwood is magnified in this story. Nothing in Nandy’s perfect life in Pacific Hills comes close to being anything as significant as what Trice has had to go through. The author did a good job with depicting the two different towns and how Nandy and Trice represented their neighborhoods. Nandy is the queen of her group and Trice comes in reminding her sometimes appearances does not matter at all.
The Smiths are good people with big hearts. I’m glad Trice had someone to take him in even though Nandy was so inhospitable at first. As for his past in Lindenwood, I’m glad Prophet set him straight about making most of his second chance in life.

Personally, for me – this story had too much Pacific Hills drama. I felt like Trice’s story was so strong, but when it came to Nandy and her friends I had to skip a lot of it because it seemed so trivial. It was like night and day in the book and though Trice’s story drew me in – Nandy’s turned me off.
Nandy is so unwelcoming towards Trice in the beginning. Can we say two-faced? She’s miss popular, queen of Pacific Hills, and supposedly so nice to everyone…except Trice, because he cramped her style? 🙄 When she finally realized she’s being a Queen B towards Trice and decides to be nice to him – I was so over it.
The enemies to lovers trope in this story was a love hate thing. But Nandy has a boyfriend and it’s a relationship for status basically so I was not feeling her and Trice getting together.
Triggers/Warnings: Violence, and lots of cursing in this book- but it’s real-talk especially when Trice is around his boys in Lindenwood.

Sadly, this book wasn’t for me. I loved getting to know Trice and see his character grow while dealing with the changes in his life, but I did not connect to Nandy at all. I skimmed a lot of the book after I was forty percent in because I thought a lot of the high school drama was so silly compared to what Trice was going through. I’m pretty sure there will be many people that would enjoy this book, but for me it fell a little flat.

Book Review | American Royals

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: American Royals

Author: Katharine McGee

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 440

Categories: Contemporary, Alternate History, Romance, Drama

What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.

And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

American Royals is a story of what would America be like if we had a monarchy dating back to George Washington. The concept definitely peaked my curiosity and the story held my attention for sure.

Princess Beatrice will be America’s first Queen, thanks to her grandfather changing the rules. She has two other siblings, twins, Samantha and Jefferson, but the royal duty falls mostly on her shoulders because she is the heir.

The story is told through four perspectives: Beatrice, Samantha, Nina (Samantha’s best friend) and Daphne (Jefferson’s ex girlfriend). There is a lot of drama in the life of royal young adults and sometimes I felt this story would make a good tv series – it was almost like a soap opera. But what is the life of a royal if there wasn’t any drama, right? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I liked the perspectives told through the four girls but I mostly enjoyed Princess Beatrice’s story. Samantha gives us insight how it is to be the spare and sister with no real purpose for the crown. Nina’s perspective showed us what happens when a commoner falls in love with a Prince (and no, she gets no Cinderella ending…yet!). Then there is Daphne, isn’t there always a Daphne? She is scheming her way to a Princess-dom. No one will stand in her way and she wants the Prince.
I was living for the drama of these girls’ lives. I mean yes there were some parts where it was a bit too dramatic but they are young adults, coming of age. It’s hard being royal with all these emotions raging. Like I said, I could see this as a tv series!
There are a few romance storylines in this book, and yes they were all pretty cliche. Princess Bea’s romance was my favorite though, I just hope something works out for her in the sequel! 😕
Princess Beatrice had so much to deal with, especially at the end. I was sad and frustrated for her. But honestly, I’m looking forward to the sequel to see what she does next!

There is major drama in this book and one thing that kind of bugged me and made my eyes roll was Jefferson and Nina – I understood why she had problems being with him but she KNOWS his life and knew him since she was six. You are telling me she didn’t know the media would jump on her if she dated the prince and everyone found out? How was she not prepared for that?! 🙄 I did sympathize with her because she was not about that life, but come on…you are dating a prince!
Drama would a capital D. Haha…none of the relationships end in happily ever after – it’s on to the sequel for that but what a predicament they all have. And drama with a capital DAPHNE…that girl is evil but…I will admit she is really good at scheming and deceiving people! I mean she’s a villain for sure.
There is no happy ending to this except Beatrice and Samantha finally strengthening or finding their sisterly bond.
Triggers: death

I read this in one day so it kept my interest because I was into their crazy drama. I think I connected to Beatrice the most because I could feel the pressure she felt from wanting to please everyone. I also sympathized with Samantha though because she felt unwanted. I’m happy the sisters finally opened themselves up to one another. As for the drama with the love lives, it’s a soap opera that I would definitely watch on tv! So am I going to read the sequel? Probably! I need to know what happens to Beatrice. 🤔 If you like royal drama and frustrating romance storylines, you may enjoy this one.

ARC Review | The Map From Here to There

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Map From Here to There

Author: Emery Lord

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Acclaimed author Emery Lord crafts a gorgeous story of friendship and identity, daring to ask: What happens afterhappily ever after?

It’s senior year, and Paige Hancock is finally living her best life. She has a fun summer job, great friends, and a super charming boyfriend who totally gets her. But senior year also means big decisions. Weighing “the rest of her life,” Paige feels her anxiety begin to pervade every decision she makes. Everything is exactly how she always wanted it to be–how can she leave it all behind next year? In her head, she knows there is so much more to experience after high school. But in her heart, is it so terrible to want everything to stay the same forever?

Emery Lord’s award-winning storytelling shines with lovable characters and heartfelt exploration of life’s most important questions.

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

This book encompasses everything about senior year in high school, from boy problems, making memories, college choices anxiety, family dynamics and just about everything that could happen before graduating from high school. Apparently there is a book before this one where Paige and Max are featured and unfortunately I never read that book, but that’s okay! I think this book stood on it’s own pretty good, only a few parts got me confused. Paige and Max are dating, and trying to figure out their futures as their last year in high school comes to a close. What will happen after high school? That is THE question every senior in high school asks themselves and this book addresses a lot of the options that could happen.

The friendship between Paige and her friends is what friendship is all about! They were there for her as she was there for them and that made me miss my own high school days when all my friends were together in one state.
Paige’s friendship with Hunter!! Not gonna lie, I was kind of hoping they would hook up. 😅 Hunter was just so fun and Paige was fun around him. I liked her a lot when she was talking to him!
Paige and Max’s relationship got tested a few times but they stuck it out. I was in her shoes during my Senior year and I was in the majority where the relationship ended two months after we went to college. Those that stick it out – it’s admirable, just not for everyone and that’s okay too.
Showcasing anxiety!!! Everyone has their fair share of anxiety but now I have a 7 year old who is just like Paige, highly sensitive, stomach problems when he gets super nervous and I’ve only noticed the signs now. He is just like Paige where he worries about the safety of our family, or he’s such a good student in class because he’s afraid of getting scoldings, it was kind of a relief to get to know Paige’s character because of my son. But it’s not only my son…Paige’s past with her ex-boyfriend’s death caused her anxiety, same with me when I lost my first husband in an accident. So this book really was weirdly reminiscent of things in my own life.

Not a fault of the book, but I was lost about Paige’s past. So I need to read The Start of Me and You and that’s on me, not the book or author.
I got a little impatient with Paige and Max’s relationship drama, but that’s because I’m older. Haha…but this seriously was like my senior year and some parts made me cringe, remembering how I was with my own boyfriend as senior year came to an end. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Oh the back and forth of deciding to break up or not, to make it last or not, to leave the state or not. Again, not a fault of the book! Maybe the book is that good that it made me remember my past! LOL
I wanted Paige to date Hunter. Again…not a mark against the book at all! 🤣

This book is SO young adult, like it is perfect for teenagers, especially those in their Senior year trying to hang on to their friends, the life they know, going hard at making their last high school memories! Paige’s anxieties about her relationship with Max, her choices for college and how to make the right choice is everyone when they are eighteen. Everything Paige and her friends go through is so real and I appreciated that. The Map From Here to There is an emotional journey about life and deciding what will happen after high school.

BLOG TOUR } The Little Bookshop on the Seine by. Rebecca Raisin

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Little Bookshop on the Seine

Author: Rebecca Raisin

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 232

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Categories: Romance, Contemporary Adult Fiction, Christmas

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Le Vie En Rose

Bookshop owner Sarah Smith has been offered the opportunity to exchange bookshops with her new Parisian friend for 6 months! And saying yes is a no-brainer – after all, what kind of a romantic would turn down a trip to Paris? Even if it does mean leaving the irresistible Ridge Warner behind, Sarah’s sure she’s in for the holiday of a lifetime – complete with all the books she can read!

Picturing days wandering around Shakespeare & Co, munching on croissants, sipping café au laits and people-watching on the Champs-Elysees Sarah boards the plane. But will her dream of a Parisian Happily-Ever-After come true? Or will Sarah realise that the dream isn’t quite as rosy in reality…

Thank you to HQN and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC and for Harlequin for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

This book is made to be a Hallmark Christmas movie, it has a bookshop, a little romance, and Paris! A bookshop in Paris during the holidays is a treat and a dream.

Sarah Smith is an introvert, with a gorgeous reporter boyfriend who is chasing the next big story and a small bookshop in Connecticut that she owns. When an opportunity to take over her friend’s bookshop in Paris comes along, Sarah jumps at the chance, because she’s wishing for a little adventure. She gets all that and more when she arrives in Paris, but will this long distance romance with her boyfriend survive all the changes they are going through?

PARIS. I loved the setting of Paris! I visited only once and for barely three days but seeing Paris through the eyes of Sarah Smith brought me back. It’s such a magical place and I love everything that was featured in the story from the bookshop, Notre Dame, the restaurants and secret places.
I enjoyed the characters in Sarah meets in Paris like Oceane, Luiz, and TJ. Beatrice eventually grew on me at the end, but her relationship with Oceane, Luiz and TJ was pretty great. I’m glad she found her niche and didn’t give up on Paris when times got rough but it’s because of her new friends.
Sarah is coming into her own in this book. Her boyfriend is away from her, she’s running a bookshop in a foreign country, she’s usually timid and quiet, but she had to come out of her shell and I was proud of her by the end!
It gave me the giddy feelings of the holidays and it didn’t come from the romance story. It came from the story of Sarah finding and making a little family in Paris. She overcame a lot in Paris and got the adventure she was looking for. 🥰

It’s a romance novel and though I felt the love on Sarah’s side of her relationship with Ridge, I was distrustful of him. In the end, they have their happily ever after, but most of the book was about them being apart and Sarah finding her way on her own. Sarah’s love story with Paris was more interesting to me than her romance with Ridge. 🤷🏻‍♀️
There were some passages in the book, more so in the end that threw me off, like they were just thrown into the story and didn’t flow well with the book! Some paragraphs didn’t transition well and I don’t know if that’s just an error because this IS an arc, o it’s not a corrected copy. But it made me pause and reread paragraphs to try and make sense of what was happening. It felt a bit rushed.
I was getting frustrated with Sarah letting people run her over in the french bookshop but I’m glad things worked out in the end and she earned their respect and even friendship.

The Little Bookshop on the Seine was more about Sarah Smith falling with Paris and herself. She was already in love with her boyfriend Ridge but trying to manage a long distance relationship did have many challenges. Despite some of the issues I found with the story with the story not flowing in some parts, it still left me feeling happy and full of holiday joy. If you like Christmas, books and Paris, this is a great book to curl up with this winter.

About the Author:

Rebecca Raisin is the author of several novels, including the beloved Little Paris series and the Gingerbread Café trilogy, and her short stories have been published in various anthologies and fiction magazines. You can follow Rebecca on Facebook, and at
www.rebeccaraisin.com

Twitter: @JaxandWillsMum
Facebook: @RebeccaRaisinAuthor
Instagram: @RebeccaRaisinWrites

Purchase Link: Amazon

BLOG TOUR } Husband Material by. Emily Belden

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Husband Material

Author: Emily Belden

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: December 30, 2019

Categories: Grief, Dating, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A young widow must face the grief she’s always set aside when an unexpected delivery throws her life into disarray

Twenty-nine-year-old Charlotte Rosen has a secret: she’s a widow. Ever since the fateful day that leveled her world, Charlotte has worked hard to move forward. Great job at a hot social media analytics company? Check. Roommate with no knowledge of her past? Check. Adorable dog? Check. All the while, she’s faithfully data-crunched her way through life, calculating the probability of risk—so she can avoid it.

Yet Charlotte’s algorithms could never have predicted that her late husband’s ashes would land squarely on her doorstep five years later. Stunned but determined, Charlotte sets out to find meaning in this sudden twist of fate, even if that includes facing her perfectly coiffed, and perfectly difficult, ex-mother-in-law—and her husband’s best friend, who seems to become a fixture at her side whether she likes it or not.

But when her quest reveals a shocking secret, Charlotte is forced to answer questions she never knew to ask and to consider the possibility of forgiveness. And when a chance at a new life arises, she’ll have to decide once and for all whether to follow the numbers or trust her heart.

Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I will say off the bat that if you are looking for a light-hearted rom-com story, this is not it. The cover of this book is misleading, you think it’s going to be cute and fun. Well…stop right there, because this story about a widow, Charlotte, is at times heavy with grief themes. Oh she comes off as so put together, working in L.A. for a social media company and she’s smart too. She made a career being a coder and is developing her own dating app. Charlotte is driven, analytical and doesn’t come off as very nice but she’s hiding a secret. She’s a widow and barely anyone in Los Angeles knows this except her ex in-laws. So what happens when one day the urn of her late husband makes it to her apartment and the past comes back to haunt her? Will Charlotte stay in her controlled, put together life, or will she shatter?

The reason I love this book is purely personal. I felt like I was reading about my life. I was Charlotte but just shy of my 30th birthday when I lost my first husband. So the more I was reading this book, it kind of scared me…I had red flags in me waving “TRIGGER!” But you know what, the author wrote about Charlotte and her grief so well and respectfully. I saw in the Author’s note section in the back that she thanked a few women she interviewed about grief and losing their spouse. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I love that she did research because I felt it-way deep inside me. For me this book was a like a friend who knew me.
Though Charlotte doesn’t come off likable, I understood her. And I liked her strong voice. Her trying to control things in her life, I got it! She’s developing a dating app but she’s only used herself to test the app. She takes all these elements of dating and put them into an algorithm so she can predict the outcome. It’s scary to want normalcy again knowing at any moment you can get a phone call and have to be making a serious decision, especially when you marry someone thinking it’s forever and finding the ugly truth that it’s not. But Charlotte has lots of dreams about the future and she has focus, sometimes obsessively so. Charlotte is strong, sometimes too strong but I get it. I get Charlotte.
I loved Charlotte’s roommate Casey who is so different from her with her artistic style, and tell it to your face attitude because Charlotte was spiraling and needed a reality check. Thank you Casey for stepping up and being unique and snarky. ☺️
This is a mild romance story, the romance isn’t a focus, it’s about Charlotte and the past haunting her. She needs to come to terms with some secrets that are revealed to move forward again and I will say there is a happy ending and I was relieved for her and everyone involved. But this story is deeper than a romance novel so keep that in mind if you are looking for something that is all romance. This is not.
Speaking of romance, I liked her relationship with Brian, it felt non-threatening and easy going, from like a friendship than anything else. It’s a slow burn, for sure.
Grief therapy scene was really good. I never did go to one but I wish many times I did but I also wanted to be alone too…so…it’s a great scene and glad it was in the book.

This story is more of Charlotte’s self journey to letting go and moving on than a romance novel. Did I want more romance? Yes…totally because the title said Husband Material, I wish they would change the title to something else, it’s misleading.
Brian Jackson is her late husband’s best friend. Now…I’m not usually into that trope, but I know that happens, so I rolled with it.
Charlotte isn’t super likable. I liked her because I understood her but I can see how she’s not the most pleasant person, defense and coping mechanisms maybe? We don’t get to know how she used to be before she became a young widow.
Triggers: grief, losing a spouse, memories of the day of death — this book took me to a lot of closed places in my mind. But thank God I can say…I was okay, it’s why I kept reading.

Was I expecting more romance in this? YES. Obviously there was an attraction to Brian and I wanted more of that but it’s a slow burn because Charlotte has a lot going on in her head. I was misled by the cutesy cover and the title of the book. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall the writing was great, I got a sense for Charlotte right away and her journey was emotional. This is more of a heartfelt and heart-breaking story through a widow’s grief than just a regular rom-com.

Author Bio:

EMILY BELDEN is a journalist, social media marketer, and storyteller. She is the author of the novel Hot Mess and Eightysixed: A Memoir about Unforgettable Men, Mistakes, and Meals. She lives in Chicago. Visit her website at www.emilybelden.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram, @emilybelden.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Husband-Material-Emily-Belden/dp/1525805983

ARC Review | Tweet Cute

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Tweet Cute

Author: Emma Lord

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Categories: Rom-Com, Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Pepper is the over achieving good girl from Nashville and her family owns Big League Burgers, a franchise that is basically found all over the world. Jack is the class clown, born and raised New Yorker, who’s family owns a deli. And the two companies are in a war…a twitter war.

And who is coming up with these tweets in this twitter war? The teens, Pepper and Jack who are both attending the same private school and trying to get into Ivy League colleges. They have lives filled with school activities, and so much homework, but they help the family business by attacking one another on social media! And it’s overtaking their lives.

But with this twitter war, Pepper and Jack, actually get to know each other, they actually become friends and maybe even something more.

Pepper and Jack are two teens in NYC just trying to survive high school and get into ivy league colleges while both trying to help with their family businesses. Pepper is over-achieving, and Jack is the opposite which makes this an opposites attract story. Jack helps Pepper lighten up and I think Pepper grounds Jack. Their characters are fleshed and we see them deal with expectations from their families. Pepper is dealing with a broken family, Jack is dealing with feeling inadequate and in competition with his twin brother – they have a lot of common but they don’t know that until secrets are revealed. Pepper is also top of her class and a swimmer. Jack is a diver but the class clown.
There was a lot going on in this story but it worked. I was never overwhelmed with the drama of school and family life in Pepper and Jack’s life. I was invested in Pepper’s story and was hoping she’d stand up to her mother. As for Jack, I felt for him and wish he didn’t feel like he was disappointing his family because they did seem like cool parents. This story gives us family drama, teenage drama, lots of food and a little romance too!
The romance is an opposites-attract, slow burn, which was nice, you could see the growing attraction between Pepper and Jack during their twitter war. When they finally do make a move it’s so sweet an awkward but totally how I’d have imagine their first kiss because of who they are.
Pepper’s talent for baking made me hungry for all the desserts she baked in the story. I LOVED all the dessert names she and sister came up with. It felt so much more genuine than Big League Burger and their food empire. Honestly when the book ended, I wished for a sequel about Pepper and her sister Paige opening up their own bakery, because that would make a fun story! Maybe a sequel but this time about Paige? 🤔 I’d read it for sure!

Pepper’s mom was a little much. She really expected her daughter to put time and effort helping the social media side of their family business AND keep up her grades and be the best daughter ever? Like give Pepper a break! Her mom also had a secret and one that was a surprise. I wondered how it would be resolved in the end, and like I said it’s happily ever after but it makes me wonder how her mom got over that hurdle of forgiveness because that twitter war got pretty petty quick. The way Pepper’s mom is…well she doesn’t seem like someone who would let that go. She was not my favorite character.

I really enjoyed Tweet Cute. The romance is slow building and super cute. By the end of the story I was cheering Pepper and Jack on! It’s also a story about family, loving them (with all their flaws) and trying so hard not to disappoint them. Pepper and Jack are juggling so much and I was impressed at how they pretty much kept it together, with a breakdown here and there. It’s a feel good story that made me laugh and filled my heart with happiness at the end. This is great debut from Emma Lord and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Book Review | Rules For Vanishing

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Rules For Vanishing

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 416

Categories: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult, Supernatural, Horror

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister–at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods?

It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca–before she’s lost forever. And even though she’s hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends–and their cameras–following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

I finally got my hands on this book and it totally reminded me of The Blair Witch Project, which I saw on opening back in…1999. 🤭

So there is an urban legend about Lucy Gallows who went into the woods and never came out. When Sara’s sister Becca goes on this search to find Lucy, she goes missing as well. One year later, text messages are sent, to play the game to find Lucy Gallows. Sara wants to do it so she can find her sister and her old friends join her.

This was definitely like The Blair Witch Project, but with cell phones and them seeing actual ghosts! Because we all know there was like nothing to see in BWP. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I like the urban legend of Lucy Gallows – I get a kick out of stories like that. I love the ghost hunting and I’m glad the kids thought to capture video of their journey on the road because hello yes, in this day and age we need video evidence!
The road was very fascinating. I thought the gates were interesting and for the horror fans there are a lot of gruesome descriptions of people who tried to walk the road and…never made it off the road basically. 👀
The story is told in alternating between interviews with Sara (after the events of the road) and during the trip on the road. I thought it helped build up the suspense and at some points I wondered if this was all some psychological twist in Sara’s mind. It also included text messages between the group of friends and video evidence. I just like how the author used a whole mix of things to tell the story.
My favorite scene is when all of the characters are lost in a house, which s still part of the road. But it gets kind of crazy in there and that’s the part where I felt was the most creepiest in the book.

I connected to no character. ☹️ How is that possible? Maybe too many characters? And some characters going missing and honestly…at some points I didn’t remember who was supposed to be on this Lucy Gallows search party. There was a Miranda and Mel (Melanie) and I kept confusing the two. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Without spoiling – and it’s hard…there is something other than Lucy Gallows that haunts the road and it’s a big part of the story but it emerges in the middle of the story. It took me too long to hook me, plus with the confusing ending I had to process this book for a minute – okay it took me all weekend because my my brain burned out due to catching the flu. Anyway I googled this legend of Dahut and Ys and it exists! Okay why didn’t the legend just start with that instead? I guess it added layers to the story but I think at times it threw me off, maybe that was the purpose but it made me impatient.
The ending was abrupt and confusing.

I found Rules for Vanishing entertaining until the ending which confused me. It was fun following this group of teens walking down this mysterious road that shows up but the ending left me underwhelmed. On a scary scale, and I usually can’t tolerate a whole lot of scary…this one did not scare me at all. It did have the creepy factor so I’m glad about that.