The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2) by Emily A. Duncan.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Darkness never works alone…
Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who–and what–he’s become.
As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. They’re pieces on a board, being orchestrated by someone… or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer.
Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) Author: Talia Hibbert Genre: Romance, Contemporary Publisher: Avon Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: November 5, 2019 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out. • Ride a motorcycle. • Go camping. • Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. • Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. • And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
Review:
After almost dying by narrowly missing being hit by a car, Chloe Brown decides to make a list of things she wants to do to help her “get a life.” She lives with a chronic, invisible disability, so she has lived life on the safe side. When she meets the handyman of her new apartment, Redford Morgan, they instantly can’t stand each other. That lasts until Chloe realizes that Redford can help check off things on her list, starting with “ride a motorcycle.” This leads to a steamy romance, where they both have to put their past negative experiences behind them.
Chloe lives with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia. It’s an invisible disability because no one can physically see her pain. Even her doctors and friends didn’t believe she was really suffering, because there wasn’t any proof of her pain other than her word. I liked that the negative sides of this chronic illness were shown, when Chloe couldn’t do things for herself and had to rest. That meant sometimes she didn’t even eat. This story didn’t sugarcoat the illness, by showing Chloe while she was suffering and when she got some occasional relief.
This was a steamy romance. It followed the romance trope of “enemies to lovers,” since Red and Chloe couldn’t stand each other at first but that changed once they got to know each other. Red and Chloe’s relationship took off quickly. It was a whirlwind.
The next book in the series is about Chloe’s sister, Dani Brown, who seemed like quite a character in this book. I’m excited to read it soon.
What to read next:
The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient #1) by Helen Hoang
Well Met (Well Met #1) by Jen DeLuca
Have you read Get a Life, Chloe Brown? What did you think of it?
Title: The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel Author: Pamela Binnings Ewen Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: April 7, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel is revered for her sophisticated style–the iconic little black dress–and famed for her intoxicating perfume Chanel No. 5. Yet behind the public persona is a complicated woman of intrigue, shadowed by mysterious rumors. The Queen of Paris, the new novel from award-winning author Pamela Binnings Ewen, vividly imagines the hidden life of Chanel during the four years of Nazi occupation in Paris in the midst of WWII–as discovered in recently unearthed wartime files.
Coco Chanel could be cheerful, lighthearted, and generous; she also could be ruthless, manipulative, even cruel. Against the winds of war, with the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs-Élysées, Chanel finds herself residing alongside the Reich’s High Command in the Hotel Ritz. Surrounded by the enemy, Chanel wages a private war of her own to wrestle full control of her perfume company from the hands of her Jewish business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. With anti-Semitism on the rise, he has escaped to the United States with the confidential formula for Chanel No. 5. Distrustful of his intentions to set up production on the outskirts of New York City, Chanel fights to seize ownership. The House of Chanel shall not fall.
While Chanel struggles to keep her livelihood intact, Paris sinks under the iron fist of German rule. Chanel–a woman made of sparkling granite–will do anything to survive. She will even agree to collaborate with the Nazis in order to protect her darkest secrets. When she is covertly recruited by Germany to spy for the Reich, she becomes Agent F-7124, code name: Westminster. But why? And to what lengths will she go to keep her stormy past from haunting her future?
Review:
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was one of the founders of Chanel No. 5 perfume. One day, she received a notice that one of her former business partners, who owned 90% of the company, had stolen her perfume formula to create in the United States. She must figure out a way to prevent him from stealing her perfume. At the same time, World War II has started, with Germany taking over Paris. Coco gets involved when a close relative is taken as a prisoner of war. She has to take many dangerous risks to save her company and her family.
There were some flashbacks throughout the first half of the book to when Coco was a young adult. These were the only parts that were told in first person point of view, from Coco’s perspective. She seemed like a different person from the savvy business woman she was in the 1940s. These flashbacks did serve a purpose to show what Coco’s early life, and a life changing romance, were like. However, I didn’t like that she seemed like a completely different character from the woman she became in the 1940s.
I was surprised at some of the twists in the story. I didn’t think it was true because some things were quite scandalous and outrageous. At the end of the novel, there was an author’s note that talks about the parts of the story that were based on historical documents. Coco Chanel was a spy during WWII, though her exact missions aren’t clear. I had no idea that this famous designer had lived such a wild life.
This was a fascinating novel about Coco Chanel’s life
Thank you Blackstone Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly
The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham
Have you read The Queen of Paris? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Laurie Reads and Niffler Reads. Every Friday, they post a list of bookish things based on the prompt they provided. The prompts for Feb to May can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Fictional Worlds. Here’s my list:
Title: Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1 Author: Tomohito Oda Genre: Young Adult, Manga Publisher: VIZ Media Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: June 11, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that’s just the way he likes it. But all that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn’t aloof—she’s just super awkward. Now he’s made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!
Review:
Tadano meets Komi when he starts attending an elite prep school. Komi is the most adored girl in school, but she can’t talk to others. Tadano makes an effort to try to communicate with Komi, and he learns that she wants to make friends. Her goal is to make 100 friends. Tadano helps introduce her to people and encourages her as she makes new friends.
This story had a unique school dynamic, with Komi being very popular but also socially awkward. Everyone at school adored her and thought she was the prettiest girl, yet they didn’t realize she couldn’t communicate with them. They all thought she was just too cool to talk to them, which elevated her status even higher. This was a unique way of showing how someone’s appearance may give off one feeling, yet inside they feel very uncomfortable.
This was a great manga graphic novel. I’m excited to read the rest of the series.
Thank you VIZ Media for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2 by Tomohito Oda
My Hero Academia, Vol. 1 by Kohei Horikoshi
Have you read Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: What I Like About You Author: Marisa Kanter Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: April 7, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Can a love triangle have only two people in it? Online, it can… but in the real world, it’s more complicated. In this debut novel Marisa Kanter explores what happens when internet friends turn into IRL crushes.
There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.
He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…
Except who she really is.
Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.
That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.
Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.
If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels.
Review:
Halle’s parents are documentary directors who travel around the world making films. Halle and her brother move in with her recently widowed grandfather while her parents film a documentary for a year in Israel. Halle is also a famous teen book blogger, but she goes by the pen name Kels on her cupcake book blog. Halle discovers that her online best friend Nash also lives in the same town as she has just moved to when she runs into him at a library. However, Nash doesn’t know what Kels looks like, so he doesn’t know that Halle and Kels are the same person. Kels’s online persona is growing as she gets more opportunities but she has to keep up the division between her online life as Kels and her reality of Halle.
The book blogging community was really well portrayed in this book. There was one incident where an author insulted her teen community by saying that her books are meant for adults. This is a common argument, since many adults read young adult fiction. I think that’s because the young adult or teenage experience is so relatable because every adult was a teenager first. Even if you had different experiences as the characters in the book, most of the themes are relatable.
I found this book so tense. Halle was frustrating me because she wouldn’t tell Nash that she was really Kels. I kept holding my breath when he came close to discovering her identity. I wanted to yell at Halle to tell him the truth, yet at the same time, if she did tell him, it would be the end of the tension in the story.
I loved this book!
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith
Have you read What I Like About You? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Just a Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe by Sarah Mlynowski. The expected publication date is May 19, 2020.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Sam’s summer isn’t off to a great start. Her boyfriend, Eli, ditched her for a European backpacking trip, and now she’s a counselor at Camp Blue Springs: the summer camp her eleven-year-old self swore never to return to. Sam expects the next seven weeks to be a total disaster.
That is, until she meets Gavin, the camp’s sailing instructor, who turns her expectations upside down. Gavin may have gotten the job just for his abs. Or that smile. Or the way he fills Sam’s free time with thrilling encounters—swimming under a cascade of stars, whispering secrets over s’mores, embarking on one (very precarious) canoe ride after dark.
It’s absurd. After all, Sam loves Eli. But one totally absurd, completely off-the-wall summer may be just what Sam needs. And maybe, just maybe, it will teach her something about what she really wants.
Perfect for fans of 99 Days and Anna and the French Kiss, this unforgettable, sun-drenched summer romance from one of YA’s bestselling and most beloved authors, Sarah Mlynowski, is an irresistible dive into the joys of seizing the day and embracing the unexpected.
