Monday, July 27, 2020

My Thoughts: Beach Read by Emily Henry

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387-beach-read
Beach Read
by Emily Henry
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Publication Date: May 19th 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 361
ISBN: 9781984806734
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Women's Fiction
Source: Netgalley Review Copy / Own

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A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really. (Goodreads)


Beach Read by Emily Henry was at the very top of my list of books I wanted to read this summer. I am all about summer books, (even though summer is probably my least favorite season), and I am always on the lookout for new summer-themed books. As soon as I saw the cover for Beach Read, I knew I would have to check it out!

Let me start this by saying that I went into this expecting a cute, romantic, beach read, and that’s… not exactly what this book is. While the book did have a lot of cutesy moments, it definitely had a lot of darker moments as well. (i.e., death, cults, etc.) And while the setting was at the beach, there was not the type of beach reading that I was expecting. This did not put me off of reading the book, but it definitely wasn’t what I had anticipated going into this book, so I just wanted to put that out there for someone else that I may go into the books with similar expectations.

That being said, I did really enjoy this book. January and Gus were adorable, and I enjoyed watching their relationship grow over the course of the book. (Enemies-to-lovers trope here, which happens to be my fave!) Also, there were a lot of fun secondary characters as well. The storyline was interesting, with lots of cutesy moments and steamy romance. (I probably could have done without the cult parts of the book, but I get while they were in there.) And I loved the setting for the book. I am a sucker for books set at the beach. So fun!

Overall; Beach Read was not at all what I expected, but was an interesting read none-the-less. It’s the second book I have read so far by Emily Henry, but I am definitely curious to check out some of her other books soon!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTFbzfpU18/

Monday, July 13, 2020

My Thoughts: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (Audiobook)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52090948-take-a-hint-dani-brown
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
(The Brown Sisters #2)
by Talia Hibbert
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Publication Date: June 23rd 2020
Publisher: Avon Books / Harper Audio
Pages: 361
ISBN: 9780062941237
Genre: Romance

Narrated By: Ione Butler
Audio Length: 10 hours
ISBN: 9780062941268
Source: Own

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Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral...

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his... um, thighs.

Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint? (Goodreads)


Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert was at the top of my list of most anticipated reads to check out this summer, and I, of course, dropped everything and started reading the book the moment it was in my hands. I have absolutely no regrets – this book was fantastic!

I was admittedly super late to the party when it came to reading Get a Life, Chloe Brown, the first book in the Brown Sisters trilogy, but once I finally read it, I was HOOKED, and I knew this was a book series that I was going to love. I adored Chloe and Red from the first book, and I was so excited to get started on Dani and Zafir’s story!

There are so many things that I loved about this book, but one of the main things were the characters. Dani is brilliant, and confident, and curvy, and SO much fun! (She’s also a vegetarian, like me, AND struggles with anxiety, also like me!) And then there’s Zafir, the romance reading, audiobook listening, emotions feeling Zafir. (Yes friends, he’s super dreamy.) Zafir has definitely earned a spot of my favorite fictional men list. When you put Dani and Zafir together, wonderful things happen!

I also really, really loved the storyline for the book as well. It’s the fake dating trope, and I don’t read nearly enough of those! Dani and Zafir are *really* good at fake dating, you’ll have a hard time believing that it’s fake. (Seriously, adorable!) I definitely need to read more books with this kind of storyline!

And while I own the physical copy of the book, I opted to listen to the audiobook for Take a Hint, Dani Brown, since I listened to the first book on audio. Both audiobooks are fantastic! The narrator for this book, Ione Butler, has a beautiful voice! Not only was her accent completely charming, but her voices for the characters were fabulous as well! I could definitely listen to her narrate books all day long, and I will for sure be checking out more audiobooks narrated by her soon!

Overall; If you couldn’t tell by this super gushy review above, I really, REALLY loved Take a Hint, Dani Brown! The characters were so much fun, and the storyline completely captivating, and I loved every minute of it. Now I will be over here patiently waiting for the third, (and final), book in this sister series, Act Your Age, Eve Brown, which is currently set to release March 2021. I am so excited for Eve’s story!

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

My July '20 TBR

Happy First Day of July, Bookworms!

I hope you all had a great reading month in June! Unfortunately, I did not. Life was busy, and in between taking care of the family, and being in a massive book slump, AND 2020 being all kinds of exhausting... I only managed to read a few books. (But they were all pretty awesome books!)

This month I am hoping to do a bit better, in as many ways as I can. I would love to get back into reading again, as well as updating the blog, and keeping up with social media, and so much more. If life and 2020 would just be a little nicer...

:)

Moving on... Here's some of what I am hoping to read this month!
Books I'm Reading:

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
(Just got this one in the mail recently! It sounds so good!)

A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley
(This book just arrived yesterday, and I can't wait to dive into it!)

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
(Very excited for this newest book in the series!)

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
(Started my re-read of this series last month!)

The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan
(And this series as well!)

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
(Super excited to start my re-read of this series! I love it so much!)

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
(This is another new arrival that I can't wait to read!)

A Song of Wraith and Ruin by Rosanne A. Brown
(I read a little bit of this in June, and I can't wait to dive back into it!)

I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman
(I really enjoyed the last book I read by this author. I hope this one is great as well!)

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
(This book sounds so cute! I can't wait to read it!)

The View from Here by Hannah McKinnon
(So excited for a new book by Hannah!)

•     •     •

So those are just a few of the books I am hoping to tackle in July! Fingers crossed that my reading mojo comes back this month so I can read all of these, and a few other books I'm behind on this year. (Send along some reading vibes if you have any!)

What books are you excited to read it July??

July Bookstagram Challenge • #AlltheBooksJuly20


July is here! Are you ready for a fun new book challenge?
If so, join @Loriimagination and me over on Instagram for
#AlltheBooksJuly20!!

•   •   •

Why join a book challenge??

It's a great way to fill your feed with ALL the Bookish Things!!

The daily prompts give you ideas for daily posts!

You get to meet awesome fellow bookworms!

You will discover SO MANY new books!

It's so much fun!

I hope to see you on Monday when we officially start #AlltheBooksJuly20!!