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!

Blog Tour: You Are The Everything by Karen Rivers

Publish Date: October 30th, 2018
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Series: None
Source: ARC from publisher for honest review

Synopsis:

Can you want something—or someone—so badly that it changes your destiny?

Elyse Schmidt never would have thought so, until it happened to her. When Elyse and her not-so-secret crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, tragedy binds them together. It’s as if their love story is meant to be. Everything is perfect, as perfect as it can be when you’ve literally fallen out of the sky and landed hard on the side of a mountain—until suddenly it isn’t.
When the pieces of Elyse’s life stop fitting together, what’s left?
You Are the Everything is a story about the fates we yearn for, the fates we choose, and the fates that are chosen for us.

My Review:
I've been struggling with this review for days! I want to say so much about it, yet I can't seem to find the right things to say without giving away too much. I feel like the people who have read this already need to get together and chat about it!I will say that from the start to the very end, my emotions took center stage with this book. Each and every page I felt something. Pain during the beginning, sadness and hurt throughout the middle, and angst, mixed with everything else at the end - I couldn't believe the end! I've only read one other book by Karen Rivers and I remember thinking that she had such a unique way of storytelling, and this book almost outshines in the storytelling category. Wow.
Elyse is young, has a best friend who is mad at her, a crush with whom she constantly draws and thinks about, and the need to feel true love at such a young age. She's a lot like us in that aspect. But the things she struggles with throughout You Are The Everything will have you feeling so sad for her. She's clearly going through a lot.
Again, I don't want to say too much about this book because I think it's one you need to read for yourself, and lucky you, if you've stuck around this long and continue sticking around, there's a giveaway at the end of this post!

//Happy Reading!//

Get Your Copy Today!

* Indigo * Amazon.ca * Amazon.com *

Q & A WITH KAREN RIVERS

Question: Was there anyone in your life in particular you were thinking of when writing the characters Elyse and Josh Harris?

Answer: I was thinking about intense crushes, the kind I believe only exist in high school and earlier, the love you feel for someone who you don’t know very well yet, before you know what relationships are truly like, an idealized infatuation type of love.   I had a crush like this on someone who may or may not have looked similar to Josh Harris – I’m still loathe to say who it was!   Even typing this makes me blush! – and I definitely tried to channel that yearning, that intensity of feeling, and the warmth and safety of loving someone unattainable, someone who has never even really noticed you.

Q: If the book were to be adapted as a film, who would you cast as Elyse and Josh Harris?

A: I’d also have to freeze time because both of these actors are probably aging out of playing teens, but Lamar Johnson (also a Canadian!) would be perfect as Josh Harris and Elle Fanning as Elyse Schmidt.

Q. Did you always want to become an author?

A: No, absolutely not.  I don’t think it occurred to me that this was even a possibility, growing up.  I wanted to be a veterinarian, an actor, a doctor, a lawyer, all kinds of other things, but I always gravitated back to writing again.   It’s where I belong.  It’s where my heart is.  There is nothing I would rather do than write, even if it weren’t my job I would do it all the time.  

About the author:

Karen Rivers’s books have been nominated for a wide range of literary awards and have been published in multiple languages. When she’s not writing, reading, or visiting schools, she can usually be found hiking in the forest that flourishes behind her tiny old house in Victoria, British Columbia, where she lives with her two kids, two dogs, and two birds. Find her online at karenrivers.com and on Twitter: @karenrivers.

Follow Karen:
* Website * Twitter * Goodreads * 

Tour-wide Giveaway

The winner will receive 1 copy of You Are the Everything(HC) by Karen Rivers.

Giveaway Details: 

- Canada Only (full rules found in the T&C on Rafflecopter)

- Giveaway ends on Wednesday Nov. 28th @ 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

-

You Are the Everything Blog Tour Schedule:

Nov. 12 – RemarkablyLisa

Nov. 13 – TurningPageBooks

Nov. 14 – FabBookReviews

Nov. 15 – StellarBookBlog

Nov. 16 – TrishaJennReads

Nov. 19 – AdventuresinYAFiction

Nov. 20 – MickeyReads

Nov. 21 – AllThingsChristine

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Book Review: (Don't) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health by Kelly Jensen

Publish Date: October 2nd 2018
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Series: None
Source: ARC from publisher in exchange for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:

Who’s Crazy? What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when such a label gets attached to your everyday experiences?In order to understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people.(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is a conversation starter and guide to better understanding how our mental health affects us every day. Thirty-three writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy.If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages, and let’s get talking.

My Review:

(Don’t) Call Me Crazy is an anthology written by so many people. People who are famous and whose names you’ve probably heard of (Libba Bray, Kristen Bell etc). It’s written by people who have been told they are crazy and need help. It’s written by people who have gotten help professionally or just through friends and family support. It’s written by people like you and I.


Mental health is everywhere and it used to have such a stigma attached to it (it still does but it’s getting better). We need to continue talking about all of the different ways people struggle with mental health. We need to encourage everyone that you are not alone. And it’s books like this one right here that can help!

I would say that my mental health for the most part is in good shape but I had a bit of an eye opener reading this book, because my husband suffers from (self-diagnoses) OCD, and to be honest I never really thought of it as a mental health issue. I thought it was just an annoying trait that was hard for me to deal with some days. But there’s a really good piece in this book about Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and it made me realize that it’s more than just “an annoying trait”. It really made me stand back and look a little harder at everything that goes on in a daily basis. It also made me think about what he goes through on a daily basis and now I try to help him out (and support) as much as I can. That’s the thing with mental health, it can affect anyone and there may or may not be obvious signs. The struggle can be internal or hidden with smiles and laughter and what most would call “normal behaviour”.

We need to continue to show awareness about mental health and even if you just pick up this book, read it, talk about it, and /or pass it on you’ll be doing something. This isn’t a “self-help” book that will feel dry and boring, it’s more than that! I cried and laughed throughout it. I was able to learn a bit about mental health and I encourage everyone to read this!