Book Review: Me Before You (Me Before You, #1) by Jojo Moyes

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

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Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository

Format: Paperback

Publishers: Penguin Books

Published: 5th January 2012

Pages: 512

Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Main Characters: Lou, Will
Date Read: 8th June - 21st July 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

This book only came across my radar this year as I saw the trailer for the film and thought that I would love to read it before I watch it and now that I've read it I don't know whether I will bother with the film.

There's so many covers for this one book and I think this one that I got was my favourite. You can't really tell in this picture but most of the book is like brown paper which is different to what I've seen on any cover before. I like the simplicity of the cover with the main focus being the title.

I'm actually struggling to find words to how I feel about this book without spoiling anything so I'm going to try my best but some of my issues with the book may be considered as spoilers. This was something completely different to what I have read before so I really wanted to fall in love with this book as it sounded like something I could like but I just couldn't get into it. I was very disappointed with the romance side of the story as to me it didn't feel like a romantic book and the tiny bit that there was I didn't believe in what they where feeling. I think in their own way you could tell they cared for one another but as for love well who would say "If you love me you'll come with me" Will that's who, which bugged me to no end it's just something I couldn't get over and still think about it a couple of weeks later. I didn't like the ending as I just didn't like how it all played out but even after all that I find myself wanting to read the next book just to see what happens next.

I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters but what I'm pleased about is that Lou grew into a much better person through out the book. I felt she started of a little childish and I actually thought that she was the younger sister however, she was the eldest. Lou did change throughout the book into a much stronger and wiser person. Will I liked at the very beginning before anything happened to him but then obviously he changed into a more difficult person which I could understand. What I didn't like was how he treated Lou for most of the book. I really didn't like Lou's sister I felt she was so selfish and just not likeable enough for me.

Overall, I was expecting so much from this book but unfortunately it felt flat for my liking.

The Aftermath Release Day Blitz + Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Aftermath

Author: R.J. Prescott

Series: The Hurricane, #2

On Sale: August 2, 2016

Publisher: Forever

Formats: Trade Paperback & eBook

Price: $14.99 USD (TP) / $3.99 USD (eBook) 

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Now available in Trade Paperback!

Cormac "The Hurricane" O'Connell's star is on the rise. Billed as the most promising young boxer of his generation, his new career is taking him to places he never dreamed. But O'Connell only needs one thing in life: his wife.

In her final year of college, Em cannot follow him around the world but together they make it work. Just when everything they ever wanted is on the horizon, the past resurfaces to haunt them, and O'Connell realizes that justice might not be a part of his happy ever after. He couldn't protect Em once before, but in the aftermath of the hurricane, he will make sure that never happens again.

THE HURRICANE SERIES

The Hurricane, #1

The Aftermath, #2

Series Page on Goodreads

BUY THE BOOK HERE

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today bestselling author R.J. Prescott was born in Cardiff, South Wales, and studied law at the University of Bristol, England. Four weeks before graduation she fell in love, and stayed. Ten years later, she convinced her crazy, wonderful firefighter husband to move back to Cardiff where they now live with their two equally crazy sons.

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Excerpt

It never occurred to me that mail was something to fear. Not until the day I came home and found Em sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees, and a ripped open white envelope on the bed behind her.
“Sunshine, what’s wrong?” I asked. She swallowed hard and sniffed a few times like she was trying to hold back tears long enough to talk to me. I reached for the envelope, thinking it would give me some clue as to why she was so clearly freaked out.
“Don’t,” Em croaked. “Please,” she added pleadingly. I knew then, as a tear rolled down her cheek, that whatever was inside had to be bad. Contained within a folded sheet of plain white paper were about a dozen or so photos. They were different sizes and all taken at different times, but Em was in every one of them. The earliest photo was of a smiling happy nine year old. Just a normal kid out riding her bike. When the next one showed the same kid, fast asleep in her bed, I felt sick to my fucking stomach. The older that Em was in the pictures, the more invasive they became and none of them looked like they were taken with her knowledge. The last photo was really grainy, like it had been through a window maybe, or within a really bad camera, but it showed in intimate detail, her frail, bruised body taking a shower.
“Mother fucker,” I yelled, wanting to fucking hit something. Anything. I grabbed the envelope looking for some clue who’d sent it, like I didn’t fucking know. Frank was still in prison, pending trial, so someone on the outside must have sent this for him. The postmark on the envelope read London, which didn’t tell me much. The knuckles on Em’s hand were white where she gripping hold of her legs so hard.
“Shit love. You okay?” I said, hating that she looked so fucking scared. She nodded unconvincingly, but didn’t answer. I gathered up the pictures and stuffed them back into the envelope, not wanting her to see them anymore, but I knew we’d need to give them to police as evidence. The idea of her being on display like that to the police and the prosecution lawyers was as bad as knowing what she’d been through. Sitting down next to her, I wrapped my arm around her tiny body and pulled her into my chest. She was stiff as a board and shaking slightly. Rubbing up and down her arms, trying to get her warm I waited for her to talk to me. That was the way of it sometimes with Sunshine. She needed to think shit over before she could get it off her chest.
“I didn’t know about any of them. He’s been taking pictures of me for years. How could I not know? How could I let that happen?” she asked me.
“You didn’t let anything happen. He’s a violent, abusive rapist who’s sick in the fucking head. He did what he did because he’s a fucking whack job. Nothing you said or did gave him permission to do this.” I could see by her face that the pictures shamed her. Fuck that. There wasn’t a single fucking thing for her to be ashamed of.
“It was bad enough dealing with what happened, but he could have hundreds of these pictures and God only knows what he does with them. As if that’s not bad enough he knows where we live. Even in prison he can get to me. I’ll never be free of him will I?”
“Sunshine, even if it means killing him, I swear he will never touch you again. This is just a sign of desperation. In a few more months he’ll be too concerned about how to pick up the soap in the shower without getting arse raped to worry about getting you
back. He’s going away for a very long time and there’s fuck all he can do about it. This kind of shit just gives the barristers more ammunition against him.” I did my best to reassure her, but as I was as freaked out as she was. The fact that he could get hold of the pictures and post them from prison had me worried about what else he could do from the inside.
She wiped her eyes and leant across to give me a quick kiss.
“You’re right,” she told me. “A few more months and this will all be over.” It had to be, because I hadn’t been exaggerating. If Frank came after her again, I’d kill to keep her safe.

Books of July

Books Read in July
Another slow month of reading and not all of them that I did read I loved although I didn't DNF a book this month so that's a plus.

Here's what I read in July:

• Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac - 2/5
• Charged (Saints of Denver, #2) by Jay Crownover - 5/5
• Me Before You (Me Before You, #1) by Jojo Moyes - 2/5
• A Fine Mess (Over the Top, #2) by Kelly Siskind - 2.5/5
• The Secret Fire (The Alchemist Chronicles, #1) by C.J. Daugherty & Carina Rozenfeld - 3.5/5

And the book of the month goes too...

Charged (Saints of Denver, #2) by Jay Crownover

Synopsis:

The next book in the smoking hot SAINTS OF DENVER series from NYT bestselling author of the MARKED MEN series, Jay Crownover

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome, and Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is this insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on a man who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance, yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her. Quaid never takes on clients like Avett. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. But keeping their relationship strictly business is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.

They have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other – because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

In the same series as my book of the month in June and what's even better is that this was a lot better than the first. This one was so addictive and I can't wait to continue on with this series.

Books Received in July

From now on in my Book of the Month post I'm going to also let you also know the books that I was either bought or was given for review that I am excited to read.

  

These three book were available on Amazon UK for free so I just had to get them as they sound really good.

  

  

These are just a few of my books I got for review from netgalley/publishers. These are the ones that I was very excited about getting accepted and I am even more excited to read them all.

What's your book of the month?

Also what books did you receive this month?

Book Review: Charged (Saints of Denver, #2) by Jay Crownover

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Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository

Format: Kindle

Publishers: Harper

Published: 24th May 2016

Pages: 400

Genre: Adult, New Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Main Characters: Avett, Quaid
Date Read: 10th July - 15th July 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:The next book in the smoking hot SAINTS OF DENVER series from NYT bestselling author of the MARKED MEN series, Jay Crownover
Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome, and Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.
When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is this insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on a man who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance, yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her. Quaid never takes on clients like Avett. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. But keeping their relationship strictly business is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.
They have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other – because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not a huge fan of the cover and normally I would most likely look past this kind of cover as there's nothing that grabs me. The only thing I like about this cover is the girl that's been used does remind me of Avett especially with that pink hair. I think what spoils this cover for me would be the colour used for the title as I don't think it really works well with all the other colours used.

I don't know why but I was a bit nervous about reading this book but I needn't have been as from the very beginning to the last page I loved it there was nothing that didn't have me annoyed. What I thought was going to bug me was that this one overlapped with the first book as I thought that I wanted it to start from the end of Built but thankfully it never bother me one bit as I was too involved in Avett and Quaid's story to care about the previous couple. I loved the chemistry between Avett and Quaid as they were meant to be together and you could tell how much they cared about one another. They had smoking hot moments but what I loved the most was the sweet and tender moments as it made it feel real. I loved that it wasn't just about the romance but also about learning to love themselves wart and all. There was never a dull moment with something always happening. I loved the ending as it felt realistic.

I loved all the characters in this book well maybe not the ones that we were supposed to hate as they where just evil as for the rest I loved them. Avett was a great character and what I loved the most about her was she wasn't perfect like all female characters are in other books that I've read. Avett had her issues that she had to work through but even with all those issues you could tell she wanted to better herself. Quaid another great character that had a difficult past that he hadn't quite got over but I still loved him especially the way he was with Avett. There was some appearances from Marked Men series which I still haven't read but it still has me excited about reading their stories as well as some future Saints of Denver main characters.

Overall, this has to be my favourite Jay Crownover book that I have read so far and I can't wait to read more from her if this one is anything to go by her books are just going to improve the further I go into her series.

Book Review: Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac

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Format: Kindle

Publishers: Howard Books

Published: 11th October 2016

Pages: 384

Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Main Characters: Emelia, Peter
Date Read: 1st July - 9th July 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:A funny, heartfelt romance about how an antique shop, a wardrobe, and a mysterious tea cup bring two C.S. Lewis fans together in a snowy and picturesque Oxford, England.
Emelia Mason has spent her career finding the dirt on the rich and famous. But deep down past this fearless tabloid-reporter façade, there’s a nerdy Narnia-obsessed girl who still can’t resist climbing into wardrobes to check for the magical land on the other side. When a story she writes produces tragic results, she flees to Oxford, England—home to C.S. Lewis—to try and make amends for the damage she has caused.
Peter Carlisle was on his way to become one of Great Britain’s best rowers—until he injured his shoulder and lost his chance at glory. He’s determined to fight his way back to the top even if it means risking permanent disability to do so. It’s the only way he can find his way past failing the one person who never stopped believing in his Olympic dream.
When Peter and Emelia cross paths on her first night in Oxford, the attraction is instant and they find common ground in their shared love of Narnia. But can the lessons from a fantasyland be enough to hold them together when secrets of the real world threaten to tear them apart? Cobblestone streets, an aristocratic estate, and an antique shop with curious a wardrobe bring the world of Narnia to life in Kara Isaac’s inspiring and romantic story about second chances.

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really like the cover for this book as I love the use autumn/winter colours and weather which I feel is in keeping with the story. It also gives off a romantic feel and was probably the reason why I wanted to read this book as I do like a romance novel.

I felt really bad for giving this book such a low rating as every review I've seen seems to love this book but I just never felt it. Can't Help Falling was very hard to get into, there was only a few moments when I thought I was going to start to love it but it never lasted long enough. I never believed in the romance between Emelia and Peter as it never felt genuine and very cheesy which I don't usually mind but with this book it felt too much. They also never felt like they went well together as a couple as there was too many obstacles. I felt that this book was far too predictable for my liking as I always knew what was going to happen and when it was going to unfold. What I did like was the Narnia involvement as it made this book a bit different from other contemporary romance novels. The ending would've been cute but in the end it all wrapped up a bit too quickly so for me not realistic enough.

I think that maybe it was the characters that made me disinterested in this book as I never warmed too any of them as they where all hypocrites and very annoying. I think if any of the characters that had the most potential to be a likeable character was Emelia as she was quirky and she was trying to redeem her past mistakes which is always commendable. Peter was nice enough in the beginning and I did feel sorry for him but the character just fell flat.

Overall, this just wasn't my cup of tea and for me it just never picked up enough for me to fall in love with it.

Book Review: Frozen by L.A. Casey

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Format: Kindle

Publishers: Montlake Romance

Published: 19th April 2016

Pages: 274

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Main Characters: Neala, Darcy
Date Read: 26th June - 30th June 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:
There’s one must-have toy this Christmas, and Neala Clarke has told her niece Charli she’ll get it for her. Never mind that she’s got less than a week and it looks like everywhere is sold out. She’s promised Charli a Fire Princess doll—and Neala is a woman of her word.
Darcy Hart is a people-pleaser. So when his adorable six-year-old nephew, Dustin, asks for a particular doll at the last minute, he says yes. Luckily for Darcy, there’s one left in stock at the local toy store. Unluckily for Darcy, he’s not the only person who wants it—and his rival is the one woman who’s immune to his charms.
Neala and Darcy have loved to hate each other since they were kids, and they’re both willing to do whatever it takes to get that doll. This can’t possibly end well for both of them…can it?

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I kind of like this cover as the body language could be from the story. Even though I like the colours used I would have preferred it if the girl was wearing a blue dress as Neala doesn't wear a red dress so then it would have felt even more in keeping with the actual story.

I was drawn to this book because of that blurb it sounded like something new and different to what I've read before so I was very excited about reading it and for parts of the book I really enjoyed it the rest not so much. The beginning was so funny and had me laughing out loud I just couldn't believe some of the things that those pair got up to. Once I got about halfway through I felt like it started to go down and I got bored at times plus I think they went a bit too far in some of the things they got up to before they where snowed in. They hated each other for most of the book and even though you could tell they both had hidden feelings for one another I felt everything changed for too quickly and was unrealistic. Neala and Darcy where never really together so I never really felt any kind of connection between the pair. The ending was cute but I felt as though there was no real ending as for me I wanted more from that ending.

I wasn't a huge fan of any of the characters as they all had there moments when I just wanted to slap them. For the most part I liked Neala as she was very funny and not just the things she said but also the things she did. There was one thing that she did that really annoyed me but by the end I felt so sorry for her. Where the things Neala did I found funny but with Darcy he annoyed me with the things that he did especially with how all the hate began with in the first place was just awful and she had every right to be angry with him. Both Neala and Darcy's family where funny at times but in the end they where very pushy and took things too far. The only characters that I liked throughout was Charli and Dustin they where so cute.

Overall, it was a funny book at times but then the other times it just annoyed me but it was an okay first book that I have read from L.A. Casey and I will most likely try more of her books.

Book Review: Sunset in Central Park (From Manhattan with Love, #2) by Sarah Morgan

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Buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository

Format: Kindle

Publishers: HQN Books

Published: 30th August 2016

Pages: 384

Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance, 

Main Characters: Frankie, Matt
Date Read: 20th June - 26th June 2016

Rating Given:

Synopsis:
In the chaos of New York, true love can be hard to find, even when it's been right under your nose all along… 
Love has never been a priority for garden designer Frankie Cole. After witnessing the fallout of her parents' divorce, she's seen the devastation an overload of emotion can cause. The only man she feels comfortable with is her friend Matt—but that's strictly platonic. If only she found it easier to ignore the way he makes her heart race… 
Matt Walker has loved Frankie for years but, sensing how fragile she is beneath her feisty exterior, has always played it cool. But then he uncovers new depths to the girl he's known forever and doesn't want to wait a moment longer. He knows Frankie has secrets and has buried them deep, but can Matt persuade her to trust him with her heart and kiss him under the Manhattan sunset?

I received a review copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I like this cover more than I did the first cover in this series as I love the same colour in different shades. I do wish there was more to it as for me it's a bit too simple but it is different which is a plus.

I was a bit dubious about reading Frankie and Matt's book as I didn't really warm to Frankie but I did end up liking it just not as much as the first book. It did take a long while to actually get going so for the beginning I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it. It was the middle part of the book that I really enjoyed to the point where I could have easily given it the full 4 stars. The chemistry between Frankie and Matt was there throughout it was just because of all of Frankie's issues that made me feel as though I didn't even want them together. I liked the garden/flowers used in the story which is surprising as I hate anything to do with the garden but the way it was interweaved with story was great. With most of the book being drawn out you would think that the end would also be drawn out but no it felt a little bit too rushed for my liking.

I kind of liked all of the characters but some of them also annoyed me at times. Frankie was the one character that for the most part I just didn't get yes her parents had a bad break-up but I still don't get why she didn't want any relationship because of them as she was also surrounded by her friends family. I loved Matt even more in this book than the first one as he was just so sweet and would do anything for anyone. It was also nice to see more from Paige and Jake but I was surprised that they weren't in it even more since they are best friends and family with the couple. I am really looking forward to Eva's book as she seems like such a sweet girl who just wants to be in love.

Overall, it was a good book I just wished it was a great book.