Book Review: Together We Caught Fire by Eva B. Gibson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publish Date: February 4th, 2020

Series: Stand Along

Source: E-galley from publisher in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

A forbidden attraction grows even more complicated when the guy Lane Jamison has crushed on for years suddenly becomes her step-brother in this sexy and gorgeously written debut novel about the lines between love, desire, and obsession.

What happens when the boy you want most becomes the one person you can’t have?

Lane Jamison's life is turned upside down the week before her senior year when her father introduces her to his new fiancée: mother of Grey McIntyre, Lane’s secret, longtime crush. Now with Grey living in Lane’s house, there’s only a thin wall separating their rooms, making it harder and harder to deny their growing mutual attraction—an attraction made all the more forbidden by Grey’s long-term girlfriend Sadie Hall, who also happens to be Lane’s friend

Torn between her feelings for Grey and her friendship with Sadie—not to mention her desire to keep the peace at home—Lane befriends Sadie’s older brother, Connor, the black sheep of the strict, evangelical Hall family. Connor, a metal working artist who is all sharp edges, challenges Lane in ways no one else ever has. As the two become closer and start to open up about the traumas in their respective pasts, Lane begins to question her conviction that Connor is just a distraction.

Tensions come to a head after a tragic incident at a party, forcing Lane to untangle her feelings for both boys and face the truth of what—and who—she wants, in this gripping and stunningly romantic debut novel.

My Review:

Lane, Conner, Grey and Sadie are the main characters in Together We Caught Fire, a book about forbidden romance, teen angst, and a lot of other issues that may not be okay for everyone to read. There is definitely a need for trigger warnings with this book - suicide and drug use, among others.

The beginning of this book was extremely confusing, I wasn't sure what was going on. It got better but to be honest, the overall book fell a little flat for me. There were some great parts, I'll give you that. At first I enjoyed the playful friendship between Conner and Lane, and the time they spent together. But then things changed and their relationship changed to this weird back and forth. Sadie was an interesting character that felt out of place to me.

Overall, this just wasn't the book I was expecting. I think people are going to fall into 2 categories with this one, you're either going to love it, or not and it looks like I fall into the latter.

Book Review: Find Your Pleasure: The Art of Living A More Joyful Life by Cynthia Loyst

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publish Date: January 7th, 2020
Series: None
Source: E-Galley from publisher in exchange for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

Find Your Pleasure is a pleasure revolution: where society has told women to feel guilty or ashamed for embracing pleasures, Cynthia Loyst shows you how to get to the heart of what you need and want, in every aspect of life.

Live: Uncover the beauty of everyday moments, celebrate family and friends, find fun and satisfaction in your workdays, and enjoy the immense rewards parenting has to offer—all while being mindful of taking care of yourself.

Love: Cynthia reveals everything from learning to enjoy your body more, ways to feel intimate and communicate effectively with your partner, and the keys to having better sex.
Inspire: Find out how to let your creative self bloom, seek out exciting new pathways in life, and let kindness guide you with Cynthia’s tips and tricks for mastering mindfulness and meditation.

Through her insightful anecdotes, Cynthia empowers women to revel in all of life’s joys, even the messy ones. Filled with beautiful color photographs, Find Your Pleasure is a treat for the soul that you can devour in one go or savor in tiny bites.

My Review:

What a simple thought this is...do what brings you pleasure in life, and don't feel bad about it. But like most people, I find this hard. I don't have time, I don't have the energy, I should do something else instead...etc. But Cynthia Loyst writes that it doesn't need to be super difficult or time consuming (if we choose), and we don't need to feel guilty for taking time to do what we love. I love these movements that have taken over - find a more joyful life, kon-mari your space - I'm not usually one to jump on these so-called "bandwagons", but there's something about simplicity and joyfulness that resonates with me this time around, which is why I wanted to read this book - I also really like Cynthia on The Social! And trust me when I say I'm working on this and decluttering my home, and man it feels great!

While Cynthia is first and foremost a relationship/sexual health columnist/writer, Find Your Pleasure doesn't only focus on those aspects. In this book she talks about finding pleasure with family, friends, in your work life, and home life. Plants make you feel happy? Fill your home with them! Want to lay in a hot bath for hours? Do it and lock the door so no one can bother you!

She writes about how women feel guilty taking time for themselves and how we stop doing the things we love for us becuase we've been engrained to feel this way from society. On Instagram I follow a lot of advocates (body positivity, equality, etc) and I'd say it's people like them and Cynthia Loyst that are paving way for a more accepting world a little each day, and I applaud them. Now excuse me while I go drink my coffee, and listen to Justin Bieber, because right now that's what brings me pleasure!

Blog Tour: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Montlake
Publish Date: December 10th, 2019
Series: Stand alone
Source: Finished copy from publisher in exchange for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

**Spoilers (in my opinion) in synopsis, read at your own risk!**

Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

My Review:

This was the first book by Collen Hoover that I've read and it definitely will not be the last! I seriously could not get enough of it! I went into this knowing nothing about this book. I didn't read the book blurb and to be honest, I'm glad I didn't because I feel like there are huge spoilers there and I liked not knowing. 

Morgan and Clara - mother and daughter - are two if the main characters in this book, and we switch between their point of views which I really liked. I liked seeing the perspective of a predictable, comfortable mother, and her teenage daughter, and I think Colleen Hoover nailed it! (Being the mother of a teenage daughter myself, I probably enjoyed this more than some others) I loved seeing their relationship change throughout Regretting You. The two of them go through so much, and instead of leaning on each other, they find support in the ways of a and old friend and a new friend. And watching each of these relationships unfold was exciting and intoxicating at times. 

This is definitely a book review that I want to keep simple and without any spoilers, but I also want to get across to you how amazing this book is! Colleen Hoover has a way with words for sure. Regretting You was raw, intense, funny, sad, you name it, at some point, you will probably feel it. Each character is written with so much...character. They unravelled throughout the pages until the very end. 

Get Your Copy Today!
* Indigo * Amazon (CA) * Amazon (US) *

Also available to order through your local independent bookstore. 

About Colleen Hoover: 

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including the bestselling women’s fiction novel It Ends with Us and the bestselling psychological thriller Verity. She has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance three years in a row—for Confess (2015), It Ends with Us (2016), and Without Merit (2017). Confess was adapted into a seven-episode online series. In 2015, Hoover and her family founded the Bookworm Box, a bookstore and monthly subscription service that offers signed novels donated by authors. All profits go to various charities each month to help those in need. Hoover lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. Visit www.colleenhoover.com.

Follow Colleen:  

Twitter * Facebook * Facebook Readers’ Group * Instagram *Goodreads

Giveaway Details:  -Canada Only (excl. Quebec—full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter -Giveaway begins on December 9th and ends on January 5th, 2020 at 11:59 pm EST -Winner will be drawn randomly through Rafflecopter, contacted via email & will have 48 hours to claim their prize

a Rafflecopter giveaway
A huge thank you to Colleen for writing such an amazing book, and the publishers for sending this one to me! Now I'm off to find some other books from CoHo that I can get my hands on!

\\Happy Reading\\

Book Review: Twice In A Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: October 22nd, 2019
Series: Stand Alone
Source: E-galley from publisher in exchange for honest review

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.
Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

My Review:

First off, HAPPY PUBLISH DAY!!!

This was my first ever Christina Lauren book, and it will not be the last! Fun fact that I just found out - Christina Lauren is actually 2 people; best friends who write together which is phenomenal! I think that's so cool, and definitely makes me want to read more of their books.
Twice In A Blue Moon was a great read, it starts off with a before narrative in Tate's POV. She meets handsome Sam and they instantly connect. Some could even say it was love at first sight. The two of them have plans for after London, and then abruptly, it all ends. Flash forward 14 years, and Tate has it all. She's an up and coming actress who's about to film the movie that will win her awards. But as you might guess, Sam comes back into the picture and Tate wonders, can once in a blue moon actually turn into twice in a blue moon?

The writing was great, and the story was told very well. It reminded me of Emily Giffin and K.A. Tucker. The fluid story telling made it so I could pick up the book wherever I left off and continue reading without having to backtrack a few paragraphs (or pages!). Also, isn't the cover of Twice In  A Blue Moon so pretty? Now go and read this book while I check my local library for The Unhoneymooners written by this duo!

Book Review: Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

Publish Date: July 30th, 2019
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Series: Shatter the Sky #1
Source: ARC from publisher in exchange for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:


Raised among the ruins of a conquered mountain nation, Maren dreams only of sharing a quiet life with her girlfriend Kaia—until the day Kaia is abducted by the Aurati, prophetic agents of the emperor, and forced to join their ranks. Desperate to save her, Maren hatches a plan to steal one of the emperor’s coveted dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold.
If Maren is to have any hope of succeeding, she must become an apprentice to the Aromatory—the emperor’s mysterious dragon trainer. But Maren is unprepared for the dangerous secrets she uncovers: rumors of a lost prince, a brewing rebellion, and a prophecy that threatens to shatter the empire itself. Not to mention the strange dreams she’s been having about a beast deep underground…
With time running out, can Maren survive long enough to rescue Kaia from impending death? Or could it be that Maren is destined for something greater than she could have ever imagined?

My Review:

I struggled to get into this book for some reason. I'm not too sure why, it just didn't hook me immediately. But I was not willing to give up, I knew there was something to Shatter the Sky and I'm glad that I kept to it. I don't actually read a lot of fantasy books like this so that may explain the lack of interest right away. 

Maren and Kaia, two girls in love are separated and Maren sets out in a world unknown to her to find and rescue Kaia and along the way learns so much about herself and the world she lives in. I wouldn't say that there was anything that made Maren stand out as a main character, I think I preferred Kaia and her carefree, exotic ways, but seeing as Maren was on the rescue mission, we got to follow along with her. 

I will say that once the dragons entered the picture, the story became more enjoyable and we'll see what Storm the Earth (book #2) brings us in 2020. I think overall, Shatter the Sky was a good debut but I have so many unanswered questions and a need to know more. 

Book Review: Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Publish Date: April 16th, 2019
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: Stand Alone
Source: e-galley from publisher in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.


My Review:

I couldn't stop staring at this book cover! Seriously, isn't it beautiful!? Unfortunately, I spent more time looking at the book than actually reading it. I had such a hard time getting into this one, and I have no idea why. The reviews have been great, as of today (release day!!) on Goodreads, its a 4.14 star book but I struggled! I think it was Birdie - I had a hard time connecting, in fact, I just didn't like her! Daniel, on the other hand was likable. I found that I was reading for him. About halfway through I was a little more invested and was able to fly through the second half. The story was interesting, and fun! But I felt like there could have been a better focus on one or 2 story lines - I still have a few unanswered questions. 

In the end, I finished Serious Moonlight and a few people were intrigued while I was reading my ARC so I know that at least one person was eager to get their hands on this one thanks to me! By the quick look on Goodreads, if you've loved Jenn Bennetts other books, then chances are you'll love this one too, it just wasn't for me. Instead, I'll showcase the cover and take a quick look at it when I need all the feels that it gives me.

Book Review: Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: November 20th, 2018
Series: Stand alone
Source: e-galley from publisher in exchange for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

My Review:

The cover is gorgeous. That's what first got my attention I must say. Then it was the movie trailer that piqued my intrigue and one day, an e-galley showed up in my inbox and I was so excited.

Five Feet Apart is a heart-warming YA love story. We meet Stella, who basically lives in the hospital because of CF. She's been on this journey for as long as she can remember, and for as long as she can remember, she's been in control. She makes lists, crosses off lists, takes her medicine and everything else with care and routine. It's not until Will shows up at the same hospital, with CF that things start to get out of control. He's reckless, and cute, and not willing to let his illness control anything. Stella and Will share the same sickness but not much else. But friendship blossoms with Will's carefree attitude and Stella finds herself doing and feeling things she's never felt before. 

I must admit, there was a bit of medical jargon that had to do with CF that I had to Google. I needed to know what B. Cepacia is and how the medical vest worked and so much more before continuing so I will say that reading Five Feet Apart has made me a hell of a lot more aware of what cystic fibrosis is. So I got awareness of this awful disease if nothing else. But there is so much more to Five Feet Apart. It's definitely a book that will make the reader smile and then cry, and smile all over again. It is worth the read! And I cannot wait to see the movie! 

If you haven't already watched the teaser trailer, you can now!