Category: Romance

‘Starcrossed’ – Josephine Angelini

When Helen hears the news of a new family coming to live in their small Nantucket home she thinks it might herald a new experience…talk about an understatement!

From the off we can see that there’s something unusual about Helen. It’s not until she meets the new family and attacks Lucas at school that she comes to see there’s more to the odd experiences she’s had over time. For reasons she doesn’t know straight away she is both irresistibly drawn to Lucas at the same time as wanting to kill him. Nobody can see a way out of this but, eventually, they end up reconciling their obvious differences.

What follows is unusual to say the least!

We see to have an awful lot of things going on here. We have: a mysterious family; unexpected skills; unusual situations that some know about but not others; weird dreams; unexplained nighttime activity and descendants of Greek gods with special skills.

Breaking the story into separate components it’s beyond ridiculous. The love-story is clearly doomed from the start, and we don’t ever get any hints that it’ll be anything other than a disaster. Helen is more than a little reckless with her safety and new friendships, but with everyone hiding details it’s perhaps inevitable that problems will arise.

While it may be far-fetched the story was relatively engaging. The nods to Greek mythology kept it entertaining and it was certainly left in an exciting place for the next phase.

 

‘A Heart So Fierce and Broken’ – Brigid Kemmerer

With rumours circulating about the rightful heir to Emberfall and his magic, there’s a palpable tension to the opening. Grey has gone, and nobody knows where he is, and Rhen is left with growing dissent among his people. Action is needed, but it’s hard to know what course of action is for the best.
Having spent so much time with Rhen and Harper it felt odd to have so little focus on them at first. We jump from their concern to our new character, Lia Mara (the daughter of Karis Luran who is not destined to be queen) and follow Grey in his attempts to hide. Intriguing stuff, but not really what we were expecting.
Before too long we start to see more of what’s going on. We are privy to some key information before other characters, but the real focus is the development of new alliances and certain characters coming to accept who they are and the role they will play in the future.
There’s no denying that some of the actions of key characters felt rather dictated by the plot. It was hard to reconcile certain actions with what we had already been told of them. That gripe aside, we learn a little more about some characters and the potential for where this might go has definitely got me curious. While we were left with a lot of positives I was rather taken aback by the reveal at the end regarding someone we thought would have little future influence. It doesn’t bode well for the future, but I am keen to see where this goes.

 

‘Regretting You’ – Colleen Hoover

One of those books in which you can pretty accurately predict what’s going to happen, but it’s still quite good fun to read.

We first meet Morgan at seventeen, when she is essentially acting as mum to her younger sister, Jenny. She has dreams for the future, but when she learns she’s pregnant things head in a slightly different direction.

Sixteen years later we see Morgan still with her teenage boyfriend, now her husband, and their daughter is almost an adult. Everything seems pretty cosy. Her younger sister is back together with her boyfriend, Jonah, and they have a young son together. All seems great…which is why it’s no surprise to have a tragic accident that uncovers some very dark secrets.

What follows is a bit of a car-crash and all completely avoidable if people had just spoken to each other. There’s a number of episodes that could go into a ‘how not to deal with grief’ book and the rather inevitable issues that arise from Megan trying not to hurt her daughter are uncomfortable.

Naturally, there’s a series of issues but, deep down, it’s obvious that things are going to be resolved. They are, exactly as we expect. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there was a part of me that was hoping for something less obvious.

 

‘Amelia Westlake Was Never Here’ – Erin Gough

 

It seems this book was simply published as ‘Amelia Westlake’ everywhere but the US, but I have to say that I love my bright pink cover…it’s the kind of cover that jumps out at you and immediately screams ‘pick me up’…so when I read the summary I was so excited to try this.

Our story centres around two very different students at Rosemead School, Harriet Price (top grade student and all-rounder) and Will Everhart (trouble-causer), and the way they find themselves colluding in a potentially life-changing scheme. I was rather surprised to see this had an Australian setting as the depiction of the characters was quite generic.

The girls find themselves in trouble for making comments about the sexist behaviour of the swimming coach. Together they come up with a plan to raise awareness of this issue, without putting their names to it, by inventing a student who voices the views that many share but nobody has the courage to articulate.

Before they know it the mystery student – Amelia Westlake – has got herself involved in a number of incidents. The staff are desperate to out our erstwhile student, and the other girls are desperate to see what she’ll do next.

Harriet and Will were totally unprepared for the effects Amelia’s presence has on them. How far will they go to maintain this deception? How far can they push their attempts to change the status quo? And, perhaps the one thing readers will be most keen to find out, how long until they realise their feelings for each other are not quite as simple as they each believe?

‘The Sight of You’ – Holly Miller

I was given access to this via Secret Readers…and I’m so pleased I chose this title. I’m pretty sure that upon its release (scheduled for June 2020) this will become a much talked-about read, and I’m pretty convinced it will be turned into a film before long.

The Sight of You is a romance of epic proportions, but not quite in the way you might expect.

Joel has always had startlingly accurate dreams about people he loves. As a result he has vowed never to fall in love, because the pressure of seeing something you cannot change is too much. Yet when he meets Callie, it seems inevitable they’ll end up together.

The initial stages of the book had me entranced, but in a mildly curious way as I wondered just where this would go. Their fledgling relationship is cute, and having both perspectives definitely took this out of the standard romance vein I was expecting.

However, once we see how things pan out and see the depth of Joel’s love for Callie I am not afraid to admit to being totally emotionally overcome by this. Much as it didn’t follow the path you might have thought you wanted it to, it ended on such a positively life-affirming tone.

A testimony to love, in its truest form.

 

’10 Blind Dates’ – Ashley Elston

 

Very different from the other Ashley Elston I’d read, but I was in the mood for feel-good predictable seasonal fare and this was spot-on.

When she’s left at home as her parents are visiting her sister (in the latter stages of pregnancy and quite ill) Sophie has a great plan to spend some time with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, when she arrives at a mutual friend’s party (which should have been the first clue as he knows she’s home alone) she overheard him telling a friend he wants to break up. Ouch!

So Sophie drives to her grandma’s where she is immediately fallen upon by her crazy warm-hearted family. They decide to brighten up her Christmas by making her go on ten blind dates.

Yes, this is totally predictable (there’s an inevitable romance and the dates are a mixed bag) and will probably irritate and amuse in equal measures. However, it was just what was needed today…and it will make a perfect Sunday afternoon movie.

‘Tower of Dawn’ – Sarah J. Maas

There’s no excuse for having taken so long to get round to reading this, and now I’ve finished it I can say it seems a fitting interlude.

Chaol may not be a character many feel much investment in, but in this we can see a most intriguing man. For so much of the series he’s been there, in the thick of things, but we never really see beneath the surface. Tower of Dawn allows Maas to really show us the man.

We follow Chaol and Nesryn as they journey to try and garner support for Aelin. We hear rumours of what is happening elsewhere (which I’m hoping will be the focus of Kingdom of Ashes), and there’s a clear sense of a people teetering on the edge of destruction.

Much of the story centres on Chaol and the attempts by the healer Yren to cure his paralysis. A number of stories merge here, and nothing happens smoothly.
Learning a little more of the Valg and just what horrors might be to come didn’t make for a book full of excitement. It wasn’t dull, but it felt like a necessary story to develop our understanding and shape things in anticipation of what is to come. The inevitable romances kept things entertaining, and it certainly got me back in the mood for tackling the last instalment.

 

‘Mix Tape’ – Jane Sanderson

 

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an unexpectedly entertaining read.
Alison Connor has a pretty miserable life as a student in Sheffield. She finds herself a boyfriend, Dan Lawrence, and their shared love of music is just one thing they have in common.

Unfortunately Alison’s life is far from good, and on the day some of the worst things you could imagine happening take place she leaves Sheffield.

Years later she’s married, a successful author and living in Australia. Dan is a music journalist and happy. Then they get in touch…and their fondness for sharing music reawakens something they thought was lost.

I don’t begin to understand why they act as they do, but in the context of the novel it’s plausible. The love of music was a definite bonus, and it certainly gets you wondering what if.

‘Love, Secret Santa’ – S.A. Domingo

A heart warming, Christmas-themed romance that will not fail to have you smiling.

Angel Green is a serious young lady. Determined to become a doctor, she is about to sit an exam to get a scholarship to study further, but she can’t help but worry that things may not be so simple.

Angel is busy with school and helping to fundraise for her school committee. They decide to raise funds for the Bluebell Hospice, the place Angel’s mum works. Unfortunately, Angel is paired to work with her old friend Caspar Johnson – publicly charming and talented at pretty much everything he turns his hand to, but notoriously unreliable.

Though this infuriates Angel, she is keen to try and reestablish their friendship. She doesn’t want to admit it, but there’s sparks between her and Caspar. So it’s lucky that she has her mysterious Secret Santa gifts to keep her occupied.

Whoever her Secret Santa is, they know her well. The home-made Advent Calendar pushes Angel to try new experiences and just open herself to thinking in a different way. This mystery person clearly knows her well, but as the gifts become more thoughtful Angel starts to wonder whether there might be more to it…

For a clever girl, Angel is a little short-sighted. Key details are rather obvious from early on, and yet she’s the kind of character you find yourself rooting for things to go as we predict. For things not to have worked out as you predict them to would have totally ruined the Christmas spirit here.

On occasion there’s just a little too much going on, but it all adds up to a quite entertaining read. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts.

 

‘Call It What You Want’ – Brigid Kemmerer

A tough lesson to learn here for so many characters.

Maegan was caught cheating on her SATs last year, and now spends her school day being ignored by people. Rob was the star lacrosse player, but is now ostracised because his father stole money from many people in the town.

Both teens are struggling to deal with their circumstances. They have to accept what others dole out to them. Rob can’t tell anyone about how his life has changed after his father tried to kill himself. Maegan has to keep the secret that her sister has left college as she’s pregnant with her tutor’s child.

When they’re paired for a calculus project, Rob and Maegan start a tentative friendship. Slowly, and falteringly, they break down some of their self-imposed barriers.

This was a thought-provoking and emotional read. Highly recommended.