ShayKay's Review of Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

Synopsis from Book

Braden Mack thinks reading romance novels makes him an expert in love, but he'll soon discover that real life is better than fiction.

Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville's hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef-owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she'll need assistance to take on the powerful chef.

Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv's blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He'll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club.

Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they are reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they're just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv's heart.... even though she's determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.

Thoughts Before Reading

I really loved the first book in this series and normally when series change their leads I stop reading them but I've recently started opening my mind up thanks to Abby Jimenez's books. The first book set up the second one really nicely by introducing us to both Mack and Liv. Liv is Thea's sister who was the main female lead of the first book, and at the time she lived with Thea so we got to see her a lot and get glimpses of her life through Thea. Mack on the other hand we had glimpses of through Gavin's perspectives but he was a real pain in the butt. In the first book we also even got to see these two interacts but it was the bare minimum. I'm really curious to see how this one goes. I do want more background on Liv because we got to see her in the first book but I don't think we left her on the best foot, and as for Mack I don't know if there is redemption for him. Mack was definitely that playboy like character that had a jerky attitude so I'm really curious to see how this one is going to play out. 

I even picked this book up before I even got halfway through the second one because I was loving it so much and I was already at the bookstore! This also breaks the fact that I hardly ever read series back to back but this one I was dying to read so I'm jumping into it now. Plus I really love these covers and they are going to be so cute on my shelves. I can't wait for the third one to come out and now that I've read the first one I kind of already know who it's about but I'm curious about how this second one will set up the third one and I really hope it does the same as the first one. 

After Thoughts

OMG! I was excited about this book after reading the first one and I couldn't wait to get into this one! I even picked it up before I wasn't even halfway through the first one when I knew I needed to get the second one and read it immediately after! I flew the second one once I picked it up and I loved it. I loved getting to see Mack and Liv going from barely knowing each other to falling in love! But that being said I can see why a lot of people wouldn't like this book as much as the first one. The first one I feel like had a different feeling towards it since it was all about finding out how to save Gavin and Thea's marriage meanwhile this one was definitely an enemy to lovers with a twist of revenge thrown and a lot of people don't like enemies to lovers trope. I on the other hand can like it if it's done correctly. I feel like this one had a lot of layers and wasn't the typical enemies to lovers because I wouldn't qualify Liv and Mack as enemies in the beginning. Liv just really had her guard up the whole time and its hard for her to trust men, which is something we experienced in the first book. I think I honestly loved this one more than the first one, which is another rarety! Normally the first book is always the best because it sets up the series but this one I feel like had more depth. I also enjoyed that the book scenes weren't in this one like they were in the first one. I feel like that one just kept taking me out of the story. Now there were still sections of their book in this one so it wasn't gone entirely, I just think it ran together more smoothly in this one. I really can't wait for the third one to come out! It comes out in October. The only thing that I'm worried about is the next one follows Alexis and I'm not sure how I feel about her however I loved Noah and he is definitely someone that I want to learn more about.

ShayKay's Review of Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyers

Synopsis from the Book

Thoughts Before Reading

So I think I mentioned how I wasn't thrilled about this book and probably wasn't going to pick it up. This lasted about a week. I heard such great things about this book that I was interested in it and even now as I hold it I'm skeptical. It sounds like its an amazing story and I'm certainly curious. I just don't think I'm going to enjoy it. Normally when the same story is told just in another perspective I hate it. I hate rereading a story like that and would prefer to have a new story with their perspective in that world instead. But I promise I'm going into this open-minded and very curious. I just don't know. If I give it a 4-stars or higher I am going to reread the whole series and do a whole collection on it.  I just don't know how today Shay would rate these books today. But I promise if I love this one as much as everyone is telling me I will I will definitely do a reread of them all. 

Halfway Through Thoughts

I'm about halfway through this massive book and I'm loving it! I'll admit that I was really anxious to pick the book up because I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I didn't know if I would love it like I did back in middle school, over ten years ago! Well let me tell you this book pulls me back into this world so flawlessly and I love it. I think the time away has done really good for this world because I really couldn't remember much of the little things that happen in these books/movies since it's been so long and I've loved being back in this world! I have been thoroughly obsessed since I picked up this new book. The weekend following after getting this book it was really rainy where I live so we spent all day Sunday watching all of the movies! I was reminded of some of the things that happened that I've forgotten about. I really feel like if this book keeps continuing where it's going I'm going to have to reread the whole series again. I really want to do book vs movie comparisons. A lot of people have been mentioning that this one is so good because Meyers has grown a lot and you really see that showcased in this book and I want to agree but I need to reread the series to do that. I think one of the things that I'm going to do is pick up the audiobook so that I can fly through them a lot faster than I would if I try to reread them on my own.  We'll just have to wait and see how this goes. I've been mentioning how much I really want to continue on with my book vs movie comparison series and I just haven't done it since Crazy Rich Asians so it is something that I really need to do as soon as possible. I have a lot of books that I can do that with, plus now that I'm thinking about doing rereads of my favorite books growing up it opens a lot more doors for content that I think will come out really good so I really just need to jump into it, such as Hunger Games, Secret Life of a Hollywood Star, and even the Marked series, There's just so much that I could do with it. 

Anyways back to the book I really love how Edward's book feels like a completely different story. Instead of it starting where the first book started we actually start off when we meet them in the cafeteria which makes a lot of sense. He talks about how he feels which is something that we never got to see and all of his experiences are completely different and really a whole new book in itself. Meyers has announced that she wants to publish two more books but neither of them will be in his perspective again. I really want to see more stories in his perspective but if that isn't an option I think it would be really fun to see how their lives continued, maybe do like a 100-year jump or something really distant in the future to see how the Cullens live and moved on from Forks, it would be cool to see how Renesmee and Jacob's story went too, or maybe even a story focused on the Volturi would be really cool. We've gotten glimpses on how the Volturi was formed but I think an in-depth look would be really interesting plus we would get that backstory and maybe even Carlisle's time with them. It would be a different type of story. Then everyone wants Jacob and Renesmee's story and I really agree with that would be really fun to see and to be honest it would tie in the Cullens' story after Forks since she is growing so fast they would have to relocate soon I would think and it would be a process that I think would be interesting to see. So this a few ideas that I would love to see if we won't get any more views into Edward's perspective. I would also love to see an Alice origin story which is another idea that has been really popular and to be fair we really haven't gotten much of an Alice backstory that I can remember anyway. I don't know I have a lot of ideas and reading this book has really made me want to experience all of them. Well let me go finish this book and we'll see how it ends. But as of right now I really want to give it 5-stars and I can't wait to finish it and see how the rest of the story goes. 

After Thoughts

So technically I finished this book over a week ago but I needed time to process my feelings about it. As soon as I finished this book I instantly wanted to give it 5-stars and I was OBSESSED with it! It was such a fun read and it really was able to take me back to when I was obsessed with Twilight. I was a huge Twilight nerd back when the movies were coming out, I mean hello I was team Jacob! Anyways I was very skeptical of this book when it was announced that it was coming out. I really felt like it was just going to be another money grab, much like what's going on with the Harry Potter series at the moment (totally breaks my heart because HP will forever be my fandom). Especially after I heard about it just being a retelling of the first book but from Edward's point of view. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post I really hate when authors retell the same story but from another point of view because they just get boring to me. I want that suspense of not knowing what is going to happen next in the story and with retellings of the same story we already know everything that is going to happen it just has different ideas behind why they are happening. This isn't what happened with this book. 

This book ended up being really amazing! I wasn't bored with reading about the same story over and over. The retelling really was only a minor guideline for the book, and by that, I mean Midnight sun took the basic storyline that happened in Twilight and then expanded on it. I feel like everything that happened in Twilight happened in this book, at least the parts that involved Edward, and then the book expanded on it to add Edward's thoughts. I really honestly loved this book. I don't feel like it was a retelling. I loved being able to see Edward's thoughts towards Bella because neither the book nor movie really accurately portrayed it. I also really enjoyed the backstories of the rest of the Vampire world. I thought it was really fun and tied all of the books together so well. Even though we got to see the rest of the vampire world grow and evolve throughout the whole series, but it wasn't until the last two that really got to learn about the backstories of our Cullens along with their friends. 

I needed to wait to write this because I really needed to think about my feelings. Was I just in love with this book so much because it been so long since I read the series? It has been over 10 years since I've been in this world and to be honest I don't really obsess over this fandom anymore. I can't sit here and watch the movies over and over like I can with Harry Potter. I haven't even reread the books since at least high school if not middle school, but I still have them on my shelves. They mostly stay on my shelves now due to the sentimental value that they hold for me. So I really wanted to think about whether or not this book meant this much to me because of itself or because it reminded me so much of this world, and since I've gotten to think about it I know I love this book because of how amazing it is on its own. I loved it and I think it did the series a lot of justice because it reopened people's eyes to it as well as brought in a whole new generation with it. I think Meyers has more planned and I'm honestly really excited about it! I really want to reread the series now and see how I feel about the books today. The younger me loved the third book the most because its when we got to see the backstories of the Cullens and I felt like really built onto this world. I loved it, but will today me agree with that? I needed to reread them all. The 4th one had potential and I remember loving parts of it, but I felt like it was too dragged out and I couldn't deal with it. The newest book even though its a retelling felt like a new book and I loved it. I was honestly hooked from the very beginning and I cannot wait for the next books to come out.

ShayKay's Review of The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

Synopsis From Book

The first rule of book club: You don't talk about a book club. 

Nashville's legends' second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in trouble. He's recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife, Thea, has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it's the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he's let his pride and fear get the better of him. 

Welcome to the bromance book club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency novel titled Counting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner-hero and win back the trust of his wife.

Thoughts Before Reading

I've been dying to read this book since it came out but I just have never picked it up! I finally picked it up back in May right before I was leaving for my wedding and I have been really wanting to pick it up. I really think and hope that it is going to be 5-stars because it is something that I really want to continue reading. The book is the first in a series. I just think it's an interesting take on a romance novel because we are following a male lead as he tries to get the girl. Plus it has a book club! I think it's going to be so cute and such a fun read! I know each book follows different people in the club and this one is the build-up for the rest of the books. I just think they are so cute and I need to read it now!

I haven't started it yet and I've been carrying it around for a couple days though. I've just been really pretty with work and I've been really trying to catch my other blog up since I've had a mess over there. A little life update for everyone. Plus September is one of my busiest months of the year since it's my husband's birthday and I'm getting ready for our Halloween festivities, and this year I have some final wedding stuff to finish this month. So let's jump into this read.

After Thoughts

So I just finished this book and I hate that I missed the middle of the book check-in but I really loved it so much. I hate that it has taken me this long to pick it up as well but I'm glad that I finally did. This was hands down a 5-star read for me. I loved the humor in this book and overall it was a fun laid back read. Looking back I feel like some of the things were really rushed but I didn't read this book expecting it was going to be the next Shakespeare I read it for fun and something light and this book delivered I really love it and it was a great read. I even picked up the next book before I was even halfway through this one. The books follow this guy whose marriage is failing and he is fighting to save it and it was amazing because of the humor that the bromance club brought to the book! The next one follows the sister and Mack! I hope it is going to be even more fun and cute because there was a moment in this book between the two and I feel like it would be perfect for them. I really loved Gavin and Thea and this book even had a lot of layers in it but some of the stuff I feel like could've been done better. I feel like the end of the book was really rushed and could've been done better.

ShayKay's Review of The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

 

This review is going to be really different than normal since I picked it up and read it as soon as I got it and didn't make up the template for the post at all so we don't have a before I read, halfway through, or even a synopsis this time around. I got this book through Book of the Month club which has opened my eyes to so many adult books that I would never have found or picked up on my own and honestly is usually a really great deal. This is actually my August pick so you'll see it again in my end of the month book haul. So let's jump into it.

I loved the synopsis of this book and had so much hope for it. To be completely honest the synopsis reminded me a lot of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones books. One I absolutely loved and the other was just okay. So I picked this book with a lot of optimism that it was going to be an amazing book! After I ordered people in the groups I'm in were raving about it too and some were also linking it to Reid's work. I really wanted to love it and expected too. But that's not what happened.

First I feel like the beginning was really good, the middle was good too, but then it took a wrong turn and just failed by the ending for me. I loved how the book started. Throughout the book we go between Cassidy's experiences starting her singing career, during her career, and the downfall of it. We even get to see behind the scenes and at the beginning of the book I lived for these moments because they were so interesting. In the other part of the book, we would alternate between the three other women's points of view. This shifts by the end and we'll talk about that in a minute. This first third of the book was an amazing build-up and definitely leading towards a 5-star read for me. This part really had some curveballs too which just added to my love for this book starting out. Without giving any spoilers we were reading an event really in the beginning that should've gone one way since this was supposed to be Cassidy's prime but then it did the complete opposite and we watch her deal with the disappointments.

So as I said the beginning of the book I really loved Cassidy's point of view more than the others but towards the middle or maybe a little bit before that, I started appreciating these points of view. Their views happen current day so we see the way after their prime and how they are barely even celebrities anymore. All three of them are living completely different lives from one another and even the one they lived with Cassidy. Most of the format of the book we would see them explaining what they thought about what we just read about with Cassidy or foreshadowing what is about to happen in Cassidy's story. I really preferred the foreshadowing. The biggest foreshadowing that I was really thrilled about was about Alex who is a love interest in the book and it made a sound like he was going to die or something catastrophic was going to happen to him really soon in the book. By that point, I was ready for some drama because Cassidy's story was really slow-burning and I loved their story together. But no that didn't happen how I was hoping. There was something that happened to him that was horrible but that doesn't happen until the end of the book! Which took forever because this book is a chunker! The things that happened with Cassidy started to not make sense to me anymore and I started getting really aggravated with her because I wanted more and was hoping for it. Towards the end of the middle of the book, it took a massive 180 that just felt like made no sense whatsoever, and I'm going to have to use spoilers to explain this part so if you want to read this book without spoilers I'll see you next time! If you don't care scroll a little further down and we'll talk some.

***** Spoilers Below *****

Okay, above I mentioned that towards the end of the book something happens with Cassidy that made no sense to me and this is when she starts having feelings for Rose and her for Cassidy. Up until this point, Rose has been horrible to her and obsessed with the fourth member that Cassidy actually replaced in the band. Up until this point, I had vibes that Rose felt that way towards that other member and I loved it but never thought these two had any chemistry. The only interactions we saw was Rose being horrible to Cassidy. Also up until this point, Cassidy was questioning her feelings towards Alex and I got it. He was her best friend that connected her to her old life pre-stardom so she didn't want to let that go even though she wasn't really feeling those feelings towards him anymore, if ever. But she never acted like she was attracted to females ever in this story. If it wasn't Alex she was talking about it was Stephen which I get he was horrible and definitely not good for her. But these were both guys. I get that it is hard to express her feelings completely in a book but would it have been so hard to show her questioning her sexuality somewhere between the beginning of the book and the end of it? I mean it was like a switch flipped and boom she was all about Rose and wanting that relationship and just made 0 sense to me. This really annoyed me but I was already getting annoyed with the book at this point. 

I hated how the today perspective warned me about how some horrible thing was going to happen to Alex, which it did don't get me wrong and it was Cassidy's fault sort of. But it took the whole book for this to happen, and I felt like the foreshadow should've been faster since it was all really one thing was talked about and then boom it would've happened. I just felt like this was all really problematic and now every time Alex showed up in the book I was expecting something was going to happen and kill him off and when it happened it was disappointing. 

When I finished with the book I decided that it was more like Daisy Jones since it was about a band, the start of it, and the demise of it. But I feel like Daisy Jones did it better and we all know that wasn't my favorite Reid book. Since I really loved the beginning of this book I ended up giving it 3-stars. I just didn't love it like I thought I was going too and it really was more of a let down than anything.

ShayKay's Review of The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Synopsis from Book

Two truths and a lie.  The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she - or anyone - saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, gushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings - massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover shortly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees.

Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager but soon discovers a security camera - the only one on the property - pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins being surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to her friends, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.

Thoughts Before Reading

I've been obsessed with Riley Sager and dying to read another book by him ever since I read Final Girls so this month I was able to pick up his second book, The Last Time I Lied! This one sounds so interesting and the only reason I have waited to pick it up until today is that I was in The Royal We bubble that i couldn't escape. Now I'm jumping back into Sager's world and I can't be more thrilled. This one in the beginning I think sounded the most interesting to me when I first started looking at Riley Sager books but I never picked it up. The fact that it starts at a cabin over the summer I think is perfect for the time of the year that it is now. I'm hoping for another can't put down the book, a new obsession, and I'm so thrilled! 

After Thoughts

So I started this book like forever ago but then I stopped after maybe 20 pages. I was in a reading slump and this just wasn't pulling me in. There's nothing against this book I just wasn't feeling it. There was nothing wrong with this book it was purely me, and even though this wasn't the first book I read this month I'm posting this before a couple other books because I started it first. I actually ended up really loving this book I gave it 5 out of 5 stars, and even though I loved it the book doesn't beat Final Girls for me. 

One of my favorite things that happened in this book was that it really had a duel perspective since it went between today Emma and teenager Emma. I loved seeing what she was thinking and how she experienced it. Reading Sager's books I've realized that thrillers really aren't for me but mysteries are right up my ally. I love how he writes these things and they pull me in completely. Which I kind of knew since my all-time favorite series is In Death which is mystery heavy. Shockingly my biggest complaint is that I wanted more romance a little bit. Now let me explain a little. The main book genres I read are kind of romance/contemporary/chick-lit and they are all really romance heavy. For Sager's books, at least this one, I really didn't need romance I mean I loved the book and gave it 5 out of 5 stars. But I've noticed that Sager throws in innuendos between a male and female character but doesn't really deliver. In the first book, I think it was done perfectly because yes I was wanting something to alleviate the tension however I feel like we got it with that twist! Now with this book, I feel like we had the same tension but we didn't have anything alleviating it. At the end of the book, we kind of got a glimpse of what happened to Emma after everything that happened and I was left really wanting to see more of her and Theo not necessarily romantic but just that freaking dinner they talked about! 

With The Last Time I Lied I did have a rough time getting into it, even when I was in a reading mood. So I actually started this book the second time with audiobook and I definitely recommend the audiobook it is really interesting and a really good experience. Once the story started going and we were past Emma building up the story (about 50 pages) I was fully hooked! I couldn't put it down and I loved it so much that I was even reading my physical copy and listening to it at home! So it was a rough beginning at least it was for me. I also think it was a bit slower-paced than how Final Girls was. I just think that story was just boom, boom, boom but Last Time had a really slow burn. I'm really hesitant to pick up the next one, Lock Every Door. Lock Every Door is definitely the book that I'm the least thrilled to read because the synopsis just doesn't sound good to me. But I'm definitely going to pick it up before I read Home Before Dark, so hopefully really soon!

P.S. I know I'm really sucking with Bookstagram posts I've just been super busy between work, school, and also my other blog so something had to give. However, I am working on something for it and I think it is going to come out really cool and something I've honestly should've done from the beginning of this year. I'm also working really hard to have a post every Sunday so in real-time I may have finished a book a little bit ago and the post comes out a couple days or weeks later. But I'll always have them all come out within the same month of me reading it if that makes any sense. That reading slump really just killed my momentum I had going but I love to read for fun and when I'm in a reading slump it just means that I'm not enjoying what I'm reading so I have to step aside for a little bit and come back to it which is what happened in July. However, August is looking like a very promising month and I've just so happened to be really busy as well. Any well see you next week with a new review.

ShayKay's Reviews of The Royal We and The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

This review is going to be very different than my usual outline mostly because I already read both of these books! The Royal We was a book that I picked up on a whim because I've been in a little reading slump since Riley Sager's The Final Girls. I've been trying to read The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver but I really can't get into it right now, and I just think I'm not in the mood for it quite yet so I went on pure instinct and bought The Royal We by Heather Cocsk and Jessica Morgan. This is the first book in a series, and I honestly don't know if they meant for it to be a series since there is such a huge gap between releases. The Royal We were originally published back in 2015 and the newest book just came out this past week. This is so great because I finished reading the Royal We on the same day the second book came out and thank goodness since the first book leaves off on a big cliffhanger! 

I got this as an eBook and I don't typically do reviews on them like I normally do because my eBooks I just start reading whenever I feel like it and a lot of time I drop them for something else or forget about it so I don't try to put a lot of effort in books that I don't know if I'm going to finish, physical books are harder for me to forget about when I get bored with them since they are right in my face. But I flew through The Royal We. The Royal We follows a girl named Bex who is an American and a twin that goes to Oxford for a study abroad semester. While she is there it turns out that part of the floor she is living on is the royal prince and his friends. She is instantly sucked into this world by becoming friends with his friends and even kind of dating one of his friends. Throughout the book, you know that she and the prince are getting married because the whole thing is written in her perspective and she is telling us what happened that led up to her wedding, which was a disaster. We are literally introduced to them at the wedding and everything is going wrong, but we don't know any specifics which is why she is telling us their whole story (AKA the first book). I loved this book I could not put it down. But that being said it was still problematic. There are things in this first book that I wish were done a little differently, such as the drama that happens between Bex, Nick, and Freddie. I really don't think the stuff that happened between Bex and Nick needed to go on for as long as it did. I love Bex but she is so annoying. The whole time we are learning about her as a person she was this fearless, tomboy who typically did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. But the version we got of her was completely different. She didn't like sticking up for herself, she let her sister walk all over her, and even Nick walked all over her. By the end of the book, after all of the twists and turns of it were finally over, we get to the wedding and it is pure chaos. I love how it ended because it left us with so many questions but at the same time, I hated it because of how Nick acted, how Clive's story went, and Bex. If Bex would've learned from her past at the beginning of the book all of this mess could've been avoided. I love Clive's storyline overall it was something that you kind of saw coming but at the same time it was shocking when it finally happened but I don't like how it just ended. So even with all of those critiques I personally still adored this book and couldn't get enough of it. It ended up being a 4-star read for me and the only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because of the drama. Yes, the drama was needed but I think it went overboard towards the end. I don't really think of this book as an instalove between Nick and Bex because the book spans multiple years and we watch the rollercoaster of them build. It was a bit of a chunker but since I was reading it as an eBook I didn't think of it being that big but it turns out the book is over 450 pages long! I didn't even really talk about this book on Instagram until after I finished it. I was literally so consumed by this book. I was staying up until 4-5 in the morning just reading. I was all consumed by it so of course, this book to me had to have a high rating. 

Since the second book came out the same day that I finished the first one I instantly bought it and started reading it right away. I needed to know what happened between Nick and Bex now that they were married and the Duke and Duchess. Well, this one took a wrong turn a lot throughout the book. First off we start the book with Bex and Nick in disguise hiding from the world, living a life that they kind of secretly wish they had. They were even working in a bookstore in a tiny town. They start to decide it is time to go back when they get a frightening call that forces them back, which turns out to be a lie just to force their hand. But looking back now after reading the whole book I think that part really makes more sense now because they really come full circle and by the end of the book, Nick and Bex are both choosing this world where they are the Duke and Duchess versus Nick feeling like it is forced to be this thing that he was groomed to be his whole entire life. 

The biggest thing I think that really aggravated me about this second book is that it kind of lost the thing I loved so much about it. We are still in Bex's perspective and she is telling us all about her life with Nick and learning to be this new thing but I missed the foreshadowing we had in the first book. In the first book, we started at this crazy scene at her wedding and the whole book is her explaining to us what got her to this point during the wedding and it oddly worked so well for that book. The whole time I couldn't figure out how they were even getting married since they weren't even together most of the book. But by the end of it, everything, for the most part, was all tied up well, for the most part. This book we kind of stay with Bex in current time, so I really missed her little comments she would make about how she wishes she would've done this instead of that or how things got better or worse. I just missed that foreshadowing aspect we had in the first book. So that was one big thing that I really missed. 

Another thing I really hated in this book was the way Freddie was treated. If you read the first book you know the crazy stuff that went down with Freddie, which I think was totally unnecessary and wish was never there because I loved this friendship so much, I loved how close the three of them were, and the fact that Freddie was basically Nick's only family! So the things that went down with him was in my opinion totally unnecessary. By the end of the book, I get that Nick might still need some time to process what he learned at the wedding because that was a big bomb to get thrown at the moment and still have to go through with everything without really processing it. But to hold that grudge so long in the second book really drove me nuts. I was at the point where I screaming at him in real life that he needed to either get over it or let Bex figure out how to move on. I know being royal would make the whole divorce thing hard but if he loves her the way he kept claiming he did I don't think he would torture her the way he did, and especially not do this whole tic for tac thing that he did at New Years. I do like that he started going to counseling because he saw that this was something bad for him and his relationships and he wanted to work on himself. This is something that I never really see in books and really loved seeing it. But I hated that Freddie had to suffer so much through this book and I really hate how his storyline ended because I think he deserved more, and I really missed this trio! 

One more thing I kind of wish we had more of was Clive. I know Clive became the villain in the story and I get that but I wanted him to have a storyline. I feel like he was just thrown in here and there because he was a reporter now. Most of the time you see Clive in this book it is through his articles which yeah they are awful but I wanted some revenge or something, instead, they would just happen sporadically through the story and everyone just ignored them. He had no repercussions for the things that he did and I think there should've been something. Joss is only mentioned like once and I would've liked to know what happened to her too. I just think these were missed opportunities. I know Clive isn't a big part of the second story but I feel like he should've had some part where we got to see a little revenge on him for the things he did. I honestly think I would've liked to see that more than everything they did with Freddie, and Freddie is one of my favorite characters! I just feel like he was done really wrong in this book. I know he and Nick wouldn't just become best friends again but I would've liked to watch them work through it and get back to that place versus Nick holding it over their heads all the time. 

For the most part, this second book was still good, but not as good as the first. The first book to me was like 4-4.5 stars while this one is more like 3.5-4 stars. So I ended up giving this one 4-stars as well which is unusual since I typically go lower instead of higher. I just really loved these books and I haven't had an all-night binge read like this since the After series by Anna Todd so it was nice. I kind of describe these books as my guilty pleasure books because they weren't the greatest books of all time. They didn't do anything completely new and world-changing. They were just books about royals which I'm a sucker for books like this or even about celebrities, and I always have been. This all really fascinates me. I said the first book reminded me of Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, but that is only because it is set in the UK and we are dealing with the prince again. And it was a romance like a book. I think its more because my obsession with this series is the same that I have for McQuiston's book. I can reread it all day long I love it so much and I can't wait for the next one. With this series, I really hope there is a third one. I think it would be interesting to see how they move on now. By the end of the second book, we see a lot of changes in Nick and Bex and I think it would be interesting to see how they move on now that they both agree that even though this world is crazy it is that they are choosing to be apart of instead of Nick feeling he is forced to live it. I just hope there isn't a big-time between these two books, like real-time. Like I mentioned earlier the first book came out five years ago. I think the book itself can do a time jump because I would like to see how the princesses are doing but I still want the focus to be on Bex. I don't know I just haven't had enough of this world and I think one more book will do it for me. 

ShayKay's Review of One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Goodreads: One to Watch by Kate Staman-London

Synopsis from Book

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers - and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising number of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition: Under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a gree hot-air balloon ride. That's it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes that things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale. In this joyful, razor-sharp debut, Bea has to decide whether it might just be worth trusting these men - and herself - for a chance to live happily ever after.

Thoughts Before Reading

First off I'm in love with this cover! This is one of June's Book of the Month books that I got and I'm actually picking it up in June!? I am so thrilled! Anyways back to the cover, I love the blue and pink, with Bea standing in the middle of all of these cameras in pink with a ring behind her back. Based on the synopsis this cover really sums up what the book is supposed to be about and overall I love this cover! It pulls me in and makes me want to read the synopsis and see if I will like it. Bright colors are my favorite, especially pink and blue so the colors alone are really calling to me. 

Now looking into the actual synopsis of this book really pulls me in too. It sounds like it is going to be cute and fun, even though the book is a little on the chunky side I feel like I can really fly through the book. Let me just tell you I've already read some of it and I could not put it down! My husband actually had to take it from me so I could sleep since I was up when he got up for work. So I feel a little like crap today since I'm running on no sleep. I couldn't put this book down! Just from flipping through the pages, I see that there are tons of mixed media in it! I don't know if they are texts in the book or articles or what yet but I'm already so thrilled and can't wait to really jump into the book! I have a feeling I'm really going to fly through this book since it sounds like so much fun and I'm already in love with it. I'm planning on doing a float down the river this weekend too so I'll be able to just lay in the sun and read for a while this weekend. Hopefully, I'll get it done before I start my second class next week.

On a side note, I think this book could be used for the readathon for the Burrows, which is a cozy book. I'm really loving the way HouseCupAThon is set up because I love the teams and point system. It makes reading into a game and I love challenges like this. 

I love the dedication that's in this book! It's so cute!

Halfway Thoughts

I'm now a little bit past the halfway mark and I'm obsessed! I have a really hard time putting this book down! Well, let's first start with the sad part. I went on a float down the river expedition and I thought I was just gonna relax, work on a tan, and really spend most of the time reading my book. Umm, that's not exactly what happened. I had my book and I thought it would be safe in my bag. I didn't get to read any, and to add to the disaster my book got trashed! I had to let it dry out for a few days and I really wanted to go buy a new copy but where this book doesn't come out for a few more weeks I couldn't wait! My book is readable and now that it is mostly been dried out I've been plowing through it. Now that I'm reading it I don't think I'm going to get a new copy and if I do I'll buy it from the bookstore. But I love it when my books get some character like this, just not to this degree. Here's a picture of it. It doesn't even show how bad it is now that it is pretty much fully dried out. But it is a good thing that Book of the Month really makes their book sturdy!

It's really ballooned up now that it is dried

Good news I didn't have the dust jacket with me so it's still in its pristine condition. I haven't tried putting it on the book yet so maybe after I'm done reading it I'll put it on the book and take another picture at the end!

So my thoughts on the actual book so far. I really feel like I resonate with this book because the way Bea talks and feels about her body is both how I feel and how I wish to feel because when she talks about body positivity and how she has learned to love how she looks is how I want to feel, but when she starts having negative feelings and feeling self-conscious that's how I feel all the time about me. So I really get how Bea feels! Ray is a douchebag! I feel so bad for Bea and wish she could move on! I really hope that she doesn't give him another moment of her time, but I feel like she is going to at least consider it once she sees that he has been messaging her! I just want her to be happy and I don't see how this book could possibly not end with 5-stars! It has to really mess up somewhere between here and the end for that because I'm completely obsessed and I love it! 

*****Spoilerish*****

(Talking a little bit about the guys below)

Now for the guys, since she is technically their bachelorette. I'm so conflicted! I love Sam, but I get how she feels about a younger man. I want to like Asher since she does but I don't see the chemistry of him except that's what I'm told that's how she feels. Luc isn't bad but I agree I need more substance for him before I can really decide on my feelings for him. But I really think these are the front runners. I know Wyatt is super sweet and should be considered but at this point, I don't think she is really considering him and the same for Jefferson. I'm to the point where she just now started really trying to participate so I'm curious what's going to happen now. She is about to go on a date with Luc! I need to know what is happening here. Can you see why I can't put this thing down!? I'm obsessed and I need to know more stat!

So I gotta go and finish this book! 

After Thoughts

So I stayed up until about 5 in the morning to finish this book because I just could not put it down! I love how Bea kind of went full circle in this book and I really feel the same way Bea did and I just wish I get to the point where I love me for me. So the whole entire time I was reading this book I was really connecting with Bea. I thought this book was a for sure 5-star read! Well, then the ending happened. The ending wasn't terrible. It just got super predictable, like I knew Ray and Bea's story wasn't over, I just didn't know how it was going to finish. I will say that I do like how that part of the story ended and I was screaming at Bea the whole time after he popped up because I did not want her to go back to him or end up with him! I do like how he came back into the story I think it really fit the storyline. There was never a dull moment with Bea while she was on the show! She literally had every drama that happened in the Bachelor/Bachelorette thrown at her and it really kept me as reader super involved in it. But like I said the ending really made me question what  I was going to rate this book. The whole entire time I was in love with this book, I could not put it down! However, the ending fell really flat for me. I loved how she ended the show, it was perfect for her situation. At the end of the book, it does like a time jump and looked back on the popular contestants to see where they are now and I loved that too! I just honestly did not like the drama that went down in the final scene in I think Paris? I feel like it was unnecessary and even the characters explained that they didn't feel that way right after. So I was just more aggravated with it. So let's try a rating thing with this book:

Characters - 5 stars for sure! 

The Beginning of the Book/Book Set-Up - again definitely 5 stars, it's what really hooked me in

Main Squeeze - Umm I think this would be 3.5-4 stars for me, I got really aggravated with some of the drama that happened here. Some of it just wasn't necessary! I got super aggravated with Lauren because of the things she threw Bea into without any idea of what was going to happen all for the sake of ratings. 

Mixed Media - 4 stars, you all know I'm a freaking sucker when a book has things like text messages, interviews, emails, and so on that is typed in a different font and made to stand out in the book. I don't know why but I've always loved it! And boy did I get a heck of a lot of it in this book between the text messages, interviews, emails, contracts, and chat rooms. Even though I adore this and I loved it so much I got a little flustered with it. There were some scenes in the book that were done in this format as a reaction to the scene (usually the kissing ceremony) and I would've rather have been in the book seeing it from Bea's perspective. Later in the book, it kind of does half and half. This book is a chunker so I see why there was so much of it, and it really fits in with the book's story so I think 4 stars are really good here. 

Ending/Bea's Finale - I think this is the hardest part to rate! The whole point of the book is Bea sharing her body positivity and finding love! I get it and I saw a lot of it. Even though Bea had a lot of issues while being on the show I can really relate to it because your on a show that millions of people are watching, and at least a third of those people aren't nice to you. So those scenes are very relatable for me, even though I'm not on TV or anything like that but I do feel like that all the time just on a super smaller scale, and it happened a lot. These scenes even when they sometimes got a little annoying or repetitious I still give them a 5-star, BUT the finale/ending of the book I think is possibly a 3-star for me! It's hard to explain because when I say I hated the ending it doesn't really explain it. I hated what went down with Ray, but I like how it happened, I love how the show ended, but I hated how Bea got to her happily ever after. I feel like it was meaningless because, in the end, they ended up together, they should've just talked it out. I just feel like this couple is super problematic because I didn't really see the guy she saw I guess. The guy she ended up with I didn't think she had much chemistry with or even worked well together since they were always having issues. Then the actual ending of the book does a time jump and does a where are they now thing and I loved it because it touched on all of the huge players in the book. It was a good way to end. So I don't think the ending deserves a 3-star, but it isn't a 5-star. I don't even know about 4-stars here. see this is why it is so difficult to figure out my rating for this book! 

So I know all of that above is a little confusing but that is how I've been having to think when I came to rating this book. I loved it don't get me wrong, but it had its problems and those were hard for me to explain, so I thought to list it out and show where I was having issues. I honestly had no clue how I was going to write this review because I didn't know how to explain my opinions for it. So I had to do this. Sorry if it was a little frustrating or confusing.

Ultimately I ended up giving this book a 5 star. I couldn't pass up how much I loved most of this book and I really relate to Bea which is something I don't do really often. I had so much reading about her journey even though after a while it did get kind of repetitious. I struggling between a 4-star and a 5-star for this thing. The whole time I was writing this, rating it on Goodreads, and posting on Instagram about it I was struggling with that. I don't like doing half stars and it's super rare for me to do it, and this to me wasn't in need of a half star. It was either going to be 4-stars or 5-stars. Since I was so sure it was a 5-star read for so much of the book I decided that is how I was going to rate it. 

Since it is still June I was able to fit this into my HouseCupAThon, I think this is perfect for the Burrow's Challenge! So here is an updated HouseCupaThon bracket so far! I'm having a blast right now. I plan on for sure completing Tom Riddle's Journal (Final Girls by Riley Sager) and Mandrakes (You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen) since I'm currently reading and listening to them both. I think I might be able to find something for Dobby, Lockhart, Fawkes, and De-Gnome the Garden. Now can I actually read them and get them done in June, I don't know but I would love to read 4 more books plus the two I'm working on! This would be a record for me so I'm going to try to make it happen. I also need to finish my Harry Potter reread that I have been working on for far too long!

ShayKay's Review of Saga Vol. 1-9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

I've recently just finished Saga Vol. 4-9 and I wanted to do a review of them but since I didn't do 1-3 review we are just going to wrap them all up into one review! So what is Saga?

Saga is a comic that is written by Brian K. Vaughn and then illustrated by Fiona Staples. The main focal point of the whole series is Hazel. Hazel is actually the main narrator throughout the whole series and they are set up in her point of view. She's retelling the story of her family and how she came to be. Hazel is a product of her parents' love for each other regardless of their species. One key thing to mention is that this is set in space and Hazel's parents are from two different worlds, her mom is from a planet and her father is from the planet's moon. They two species have been at war with one another for centuries and Hazel's parents were actually in their respective armies. Her mom, Alana, was a soldier that was guarding her father, Marko, after he was captured. Long story short they fall in love and ended up pregnant with Hazel. Throughout the course of these 9 volumes, we see how this couple struggles with regular family problems plus the additional problems of being wanted fugitives. They go through everything and we don't just get their perspectives we also see the perspectives of the people who are trying to capture them as well as each of their governments and war. As time goes by the family grows and also loses people. The comics span over years so we really get to watch Hazel grow up. This is the bare synopsis of the whole series, and there's so much that happens in these books that I'm intentionally leaving out because I don't want to spoil how amazing these comics are!

Now I will say these are definitely not comics that you want to give to kids because there's a lot of explicit scenes and language so it is definitely an adult comic. 

There's never really a dull moment in any of these books because you have them trying to survive with a newborn baby while being on the run from both of their governments, you see people chasing them and their whole dramas, we see bits and pieces of the war, and so on. Things keep getting added on in each comic too, so you never have any moments that are just hard to get through. My lowest rating for one of these volumes was a 4-star, most of them are all 5-stars in my eyes. Even the average ratings for each comic are 4-stars and they each have thousands of reviews. I want a more in this world and I honestly don't know if we will get any more. The last one left off on a huge cliff hanger and it was released years ago. I've found an article saying that the authors wanted to take a hiatus after that cliff hanger but this has been years ago so I'm truly curious about whether or not if there will be more because there is potential to be a lot more. But at the same time the way the last one ended it could be the finale, I just think there could have been more if this was the finale such as a time jump to see how Hazel grew up. 

I was lucky to finish this series today because I was able to buy the six volumes I was missing the other day, and as soon as we got back from our little adventure I binge-read them all. I plan on keeping these on my shelves and if there is ever anymore that comes out I'll binge read them all over again. They are just fun to read and packed with so much. I really want to know more about the characters! Since this is June I was also able to count these towards my HouseCupAThon, and even put them on the Flying Car challenge. As always Instagram gets first to look at everything because it's easier for me to keep it updated in real-time and over here I don't want to publish everything right as I read it because I want to spread my content over time and have more. Which is why this post has come out basically a week after I've read them. Anyways I'm working on getting through One to Watch, which that is going to be an interesting post hopefully coming out soon, I try to keep something published every Sunday and Wednesday over here. Wednesday is sometimes skippable but we'll see. Book reviews tend to be on Sundays and random or book reviews on Wednesday. Sometimes fun things here and there when I can fit it in.

ShayKay's Review of Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Goodreads: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

    DON'T READ THE SYNOPSIS!

Synopsis from the Book

The one guy Bailey Rydell can't stand is actually the boy of her dreams - she just doesn't know it yet.

Classic movie fan Bailey "Mink" Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surging town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he's a creep in real life - or worse?), Bailey doesn't tell Alex she's moved to his hometown. Or that she's landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she's been heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth - a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than in the movies, especially when Bailey discovers those tricky fine lines dividing hate, love, and whatever it is she's starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realized, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex.... Approximately.

Thoughts Before Reading

Well first off this is one of those synopses that I hate! Like why tell me Porter and Alex are the same person already? That is something that I should've learned as I'm reading. Maybe there is some sort of twist in the book that makes it interesting as to why the book already spoiled itself.

Anyways I picked this book up because I've been seeing it a lot online through BookTube, Facebook groups, and other places. It sounds like it is going to be a light, fun read and I'm in the mood for this stuff. I devoured Beach Read and I need to read an ARC that I have but this one was just screaming at me. Plus it is a new to me author and I got it mostly because I saw it on the clearance rack. As we all know I'm always wary of new authors and paying full price for them because I have no clue if I will like them, and I've been burned in the past for doing that (ahem Evie Drake). But it sounds so cute and my bookstore had it on sale so here we are. I've been wanting to read it for at least a year now because I know I've been seeing it around a lot and it sounds so cute! So we'll see how this goes.

As for my HouseCupAThon that I'm doing this month, I think this book might fall under the 'Burrow' challenge and it is 390 pages so it'll be 100 points altogether. A great thing about this readathon is you don't have to stick within the same challenges to get points. Just reading a book will get you points, such as this one I would've gotten 50 points regardless of reading it and I love it. I haven't posted an official TBR for this readathon because I'm a mood reader and I want to have the opportunity to just pick up a book. The only stipulation that I gave myself is that it has to come off my own shelves so I have PLENTY to work with. I try to use only books I already have for readathons because they help me work through my piled up books. I'm getting ready to do an unhaul too I think.

Halfway Through Thoughts

So I'm not hating this book, but I'm definitely annoyed with it! Since the beginning of the book, I've kept wondering when Bailey would find out Porter's background, especially since the synopsis gave everything away I usually assume when that happens we will find out really soon in the book. Well, let me tell you I've been asking myself when she realizes this since Chapter 6. The chapters aren't that short and since she has been in California interacting with Porter I've been screaming at the book it's Porter! I'm shocked that I've been reading this book so fast but since my husband and dad are currently working on the floor I have some free time and have been plowing through this book. If I wasn't determined to see if there are any big revelations throughout the book or just curious about when she will figure out this book I think I would DNF it. Like I said I don't hate it, I'm just very frustrated with it. I'm now currently in chapter 15 and Bailey still does not know who Alex is in real life, has been working with Porter every day almost, AND SEARCHING THE BOARDWALK FOR ALEX BASED OFF OF HER CLUES SHE'S ACCUMULATED. It's just so frustrating. If the book was going to take so long for her to figure out who he is then the synopsis really shouldn't have just thrown all of the secrets out there.

After Thoughts

Well, I finished the book. Overall I think the book is 2-3 stars, at best. First off no one figures out who is who until chapter 24 and even then it is because Porter is at the house for family game night and her father called her Mink and he just storms out! Okay first I thought it would be so cute/funny for him to out her secret to Porter but she never expected Porter and Alex to be the same person so I could see how funny it would be for him to be like at the museum checking up on her at her new job and calls her Mink! That would've been perfect! But then his reaction is so irritating. I don't know if I got so irritated with this book because it is a YA book or what but I just could not get over my frustration of the fact that the reader goes into this book already knowing that Porter is Alex! I think the synopsis should've have said that, heck it could've not mentioned Porter at all and the book would've already been so much better! Another thing that I found interesting was the backstory of why she's called Mink. I was expecting it to have something to do with her shyness or something but the fact that it had to deal with her wanting a fur when she's a child!? It was just so annoying.

I wanted to love this book! It had some really interesting things such as the mixed writing styles, the overall story sounded really cute, and even some of the characters were really fun to read. Now thinking back to my rating I posted on GoodReads it is definitely two stars. I've gone back to update it. I just can't give it anymore because the synopsis giving everything away, the fact that it took the whole entire book for them to figure out their online relationship, and then the cringiness! The book had really awkward sex scenes! Like why even put them in this book? I get that they had that relationship but it didn't need to be so cringy and just coming out of nowhere. I also felt like the important things were being overlooked while the book focused on the side stuff, like the whole thing with her mom! How do you go all summer without talking to someone you were just living with, and on top of it your parent? It was just like the book kept adding a lot of weird stuff trying to have a lot of things in it when the book really didn't need it. I didn't even add it to my HouseCupAThon chart. I did make an aesthetic for it though. 

Hopefully, my next book is better!

ShayKay's Review of Beach Read by Emily Henry

GoodReads: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Synopsis from Book

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a Happily Ever After, he kills of 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 they're living in neighboring each houses, broke and bogged down with writer's block.

Then one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of heir 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 worth 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. 

Thoughts Before Reading

I've been thinking about reading a Book of the Month book since I'm getting a pile going and I've kept getting add-ons lately so I need to tackle this pile soon. Since everyone in the Book of the Month groups I'm in over on Facebook has been talking about how amazing Beach Read is I've decided that it's time to give it a try. It sounds so interesting and I've been wanting to read it ever since I got it and now is finally that time. I usually don't read the synopsis until I'm typing it up here and it sounds really interesting and I see why I was instantly drawn to it. I really was hoping to get to while I was at the beach and really wanted to get a picture of it on the beach but I got married instead so it was a really hectic weekend, but so fun! I've heard that it isn't really as romantic as it sounds so I'm really curious to see how it goes. I've already read the first chapter and OMG IT HAS CHAPTER TITLES! I am a sucker for chapter titles! I cannot wait to really jump into this book.

Chapter 1 of Beach Read

Thoughts Halfway Through

I am so obsessed with this book! I love the way Henry writes and I definitely need to lookup more of her books! Right now I'm currently renovating my bedroom, hallway, and living room so most of my day is spent up working on those. Right now I currently have the base color down and the flooring should start soon. But for the most part, my bedroom is getting a full remodel almost, but that carpet needed to go. Dogs plus carpet equals disaster, at least for us. I picked this book for Book of the Month without really thinking about it too much. It sounded like something that I would like and I needed a book because I got an add-on, but I currently couldn't tell you which add-on I got that month. Then I kept seeing people raving about it on my BOTM groups on Facebook and so I picked it up. But to be completely fair when a book gets a lot of hype its always 50/50 with me being on the same page. Sometimes they just don't click with me. To be honest I really wanted to start it while I was at the beach because I wanted a picture of it on the beach but I got married instead so it was a hectic weekend.

Another thing a lot of people are saying is that this book isn't really a romance novel like it is being sold as, and I can see that but at the same time there are lot of romantic moments. I just don't think it is romance-driven so I kind of agree with them. So far the romance is very slow burning and not the focus of the book, which I really like. So far the book overall is 5 stars for me, it is light and cute, and really reminds me of books like Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center and Well Met by Jen DeLuca. It has the potential to be one of my favorite 2020 Book of the Month books so let's see how this finishes out!

After Thoughts

Well, I flew through this book. I hit the halfway point yesterday (6/3) and then finished later that night. I just could not put the book down once I started it. Luckily for me, I finished most of the stuff I needed to do for my bedroom earlier in the day and my husband and dad have been working on the floor. Just as I thought this book ended on a high note with 5 stars from me. I really enjoyed all the whole book! I am a sucker for books that use different fonts throughout the book, usually when there is a text message or email, so they stand out from the rest. Then the chapter headings too! How could I not have given this book such a high rating? I really enjoyed the whole book and there was never really a dull moment for me. I actually have no notes in my annoying column for it either which is a shocker! Usually, I am really lenient with new books and new authors and on a reread I get more analytical but since I started taking notes on my phone for my blog I've stayed pretty consistent with writing everything down, most since I always have my phone or iPad so it's super easy just to notate something. 

January is probably one of my all-time favorite characters now. She was so fun to read about and follow her story because it wasn't your usual romance book. She was dealing with so much in the book and you follow her grieving, learning how to forgive someone who's dead, figure out who she is, and even find love again. The book overall came full circle and tied everything up. I saw one GoodReads how someone mentioned how this book is the perfect mix of chick-lit and romance and I totally agree because I wouldn't label this as a romance book. I just think it was a perfect summer read and I have no complaints about the book. I really want to read more Emily Henry books now to see if she has the same type of writing style. 

I had a little fun with making pictures for this book this time around I did the picture above first because the town that January and Gus live in is called North Bear Shores and I thought that would be an adorable play on the words! I don't think anyone else got it but it's my own cute little thing and it came out perfect. I had to make that first then I added it to book aesthetic this time.

Some other fun things that I did with this book took some pictures around the house with it. I don't like my Instagram to look all the same I like to see books in the wild so I've been taking pictures around the house when I feel like it or when I'm out and about. So since my wall was dry I took this cute little picture (below) of the naked book with my naked wall. You can still see the painters tape everywhere because I was still doing touch-ups and the floor hasn't started yet. I still have some more touch-ups to do. Then I while I was sitting outside I took a picture of a stack of books that I had on my table. If I was smart I would've pulled my book I was read out and let it sit in front of the stack, but for now, this is okay. 

If you guys have a better format for me adding pictures please let me know because I'm always so stumped when I place pictures throughout the blogs so sometimes they look like I just threw them in. Plus if you want me to make a different type of format. I've been thinking about adopting the rating system that Audible uses so like a rating for characters, the story overall, and maybe writing style. I don't know, just something I've been thinking about. Until next time my beautiful fellow readers! 

ShayKay's Review of Hideaway by Nora Roberts

Goodreads: Hideaway by Nora Roberts

Synopsis From Book

A family ranch in Big Sur country and a legacy of Hollywood royalty set the stage for Nora Roberts's emotional new suspense novel.

Caitlyn Sullivan came from a long line of Hollywood royalty, stretching back to her Irish immigrant great-grandfather. At nine, she was already a star - yet still, an innocent child who loved to play hide-and-seek with her cousins at the family home in Big Sur. It was during one of those games that she disappeared.

Some may have considered her a pampered princess, but Cate was in fact a smart, scrappy fighter, and she managed to escape her abductors. Callan Cooper was shocked to find the bloodied, exhausted girl huddled in his house - but when the teenager and his family heard her story, they provided refuge, reuniting her with her loved ones. 

Cate's ordeal, though, was far from over. First came the discovery of a shocking betrayal that would send someone she'd trusted to prison. Then there were years spent away in western Ireland, peaceful and protected but with restlessness growing in her soul.

Finally, she would return to Los Angeles, gathering the courage to act again and get past the trauma that had derailed her life. What she didn't yet know was that two seeds had been planted that long-ago right - one of a great love, and one of terrible vengeance.

My Book Aesthetic for Hideaway by Nora Roberts, I'll explain each picture at the end of the post along with a spoiler tag so if you don't want to know why some these things are on here you don't have too.

Thoughts Before Reading

I cannot wait to jump into this book. Roberts/Robb has become one of my all-time favorite authors and I have been dying to go to one of her book signings at Turn the Page Bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland but the last few times I've tried to go something comes up causing me not able to go or I just don't have the money. It's only a four-hour drive from where I live and eventually, I'll make it there for a book signing in person but for now, I was able to preorder my book and when you preorder a book from Roberts on Turn the Page's website you can get her autograph! I'm in love with my book. I actually just got back from the beach and I was hoping that I would've had the book to take with me to the beach but it got here the day after I left. But it's okay it was a bonus for when I got to the house!  Here is a picture of what the signature looks like! I'm in love with it I cannot wait to jump into the book! I plan on it being my next read and even though it is a chunker I usually fly through her books. This one sounds like an amazing read! I'm going to try to do a book aesthetic for it. I'm trying to get a little more in my Instagram posts instead of just my BOTM reading challenges. I should be able to do the middle of the booked check-in too along with final thoughts! So let's see what happens! As always I'll try to stay spoiler-free and I'll make sure to post spoiler alerts if anything comes up that I can't avoid talking about.

 Halfway Through Thoughts

I'm obsessed with this book! I love the characters and the suspense that keeps getting thrown at me! It reminds me of a lot of Shelter in Place, which is my all-time favorite Nora Roberts book! Keep in mind I said Nora Roberts because Naked in Death is my all-time favorite JD Robb book and if the two were in a competing ring against each other I'd have to go with Naked in Death since it started my obsession for Robb/Roberts and this series is tied with Harry Potter in my book as all-time favorite series. Anyways I tend to really love celebrity books like Hideaway because they just open up a world that I personally find so fascinating and this book is no different. I kind of think it takes a new look at this aspect because we are looking at a celebrity dynasty and you aren't watching Cate get famous if anything we are watching her learn how to be just Cate and its refreshing take on the whole celebrity trope. The Sullivans and the Coopers are amazing! It's like they are their own two stories and I love how they merge together so seamlessly. I feel like every time I think the book is going to do one thing it does the completely opposite thing. I'm so curious to know what happens with Dillon Cooper because I was so freaking sure that they were going to end up together but how are they going to do that now!? 

Cate has been a character that I have found really interesting, she's not the hard to love character. She's so far been really interesting and hard to NOT love. She's so likable and you really are rooting for her the whole entire time so far. So far whenever she tries to settle down and live her life that is when everything goes bonkers and poor Cate is just always stuck in the middle of it all. As of right now, I don't know how this book wouldn't be a 5-star read! I mean I just said that I think this is going to beat Shelter in Place which is my favorite Roberts book! I just have to wait and see what happens! I should be done soon because I CANNOT PUT THIS THING DOWN!

Final Thoughts 

*****SPOILERS BELOW*****

Umm, so it got rough! I hate looking back at how I felt in the middle of the book and now looking at it I can't understand what went wrong. I was so in love with this book and could not put it down because it was so intense and such a good read but then it just blew up! So let's start with what has been annoying me with this book since our last check-in. First, the bad guys are so aggravating in this book. They are definitely characters that were written to hate them, which works out perfectly since they are the bad guys. But I mean they got to the point where they were out for revenge and was blaming Cate for doing everything that they chose to do to her. Since finishing this book I've come to realize that they weren't blaming Cate, he was actually trying to get revenge on the mother and that makes more sense but it was so hard to get through everything that they were doing to Cate because they were either power-hungry or fame-hungry. Now that could just annoy me but it is an annoyance that I could live with, it didn't even bother me until it got so repetitious and I just started seeing it coming instead of being shocking and suspenseful. Another thing that started to get really annoying for me is that the point of view started getting really hard to tell apart. Now, this is something that is very typical of Roberts writing and the POVs change rapidly all the time. It's just how she writes, at least these books. I've always had issues figuring out which POV I'm in but it usually gets really easy to tell who is who apart as the book goes along and it becomes not an issue. But this book wasn't the case. Instead, it just got really hard to tell who was whose point of view. But again it's an annoyance that I could've lived with because I was really enjoying the book regardless of whose point of view I was in and eventually I always figured it out. But it also became really prevalent towards the end of the book and at this point, I was just really annoyed with the book in general, and that is when everything that wouldn't normally bother me started bothering me. The biggest thing that really got to me is the fact that the book felt like it was trying to fit so much in and it tried rushing to get it all in but at the same time I was missing things that I would've loved to read about. For example, Cate was in New York and she had a serious boyfriend and when that relationship ends we did a time jump to her living in Big Sur now which is fine. But while reading it felt like she came to that conclusion pretty fast after the breakup and they even had a little moment of closure where they were able to run into each other and talk about everything that happened. But in reality, it turned out that Cate even dated another guy after that break up who was abusive plus dated another actor! But we only learn about it when she was talking to Dillon about their past dating history. I get that we wouldn't have seen Dillon's past since he wasn't the main character and that's fine. But the fact that Cate was the main character and we didn't get to see key moments in her life and just told about it after the fact got really annoying and this happened a lot towards the end. These time jumps just got too overwhelming in the end! I personally got so aggravated with it. Then the cherry on top I hated the ending of the book. I felt like we built up so much of Cate's life just for the ending to be thrown together in the last 10 pages. I felt like Cate deserved more of an ending than what she got and I really wanted more of Catelyn and Dillon's lives. I wanted to see how their lives ended. I know that they get married but give me a piece of it. Then all the suspense for that ending, I just felt let down some.

Anyways this last half of the book was probably three stars, and that's really pushing it. I just really struggled at the end but I needed to know how it ended and I finished it and I was just so disappointed. I just wanted more of Cate and Dillon or even be more suspenseful because I don't feel like the book's suspense ended the way it could have. It just really felt rush in the end. Before this book, I always found half stars annoying because I didn't get the point of them. I would always either round up or down depending on the book but this book I figured out the need for a half star. I gave this book a 4-stars on GoodReads, it really wasn't horrible like the paragraph makes it sound, but in reality, I think it really is a 3.5-star book. I LOVED the first half of this book. It was amazing and I was hooked onto every single word of it. But the second half of the book was rough.

Book Aesthetic Explanation

Starting at the top row on the right (All pictures including the background came from Pinterest)

• Cows in Big Sur by the Ocean (Pg. 33) - The cows are what Cate first sees when she is running up to the house and it is mentioned a couple times how the cows have some of the best views on the ranch.
• Gambit and Jubilee (Pg. 117) - Both of these characters come from X-Men and they are the names of the dogs that Hugh gets for Dillon after the Coopers help Catelyn after she escapes from her captors. I knew I needed a picture of these two because I'm obsessed with X-Men and whenever a book has any X-Men characters I will include them in the book aesthetic. Plus this was the cutest picture ever!
• Statue of Liberty (Pg. 4) - The statue is the first thing immigrants to the United States used to see, she welcomed people to the states and this is what Liam Sullivan first sees when he arrived here from Ireland.
• A Border Collie (Pg. 117) - technically this should've been a border collie like a dog because Dillon's dogs were only half border collie and they had brown on them, but I just went ahead and added a border collie.
• Ireland (All throughout the book) - I had to add something that represented Ireland since it had so much significance in the book. First off Liam immigrated to the States from Ireland, he started the whole Sullivan legacy. Then Rosemary and Aidan took Cate back to Ireland after she was kidnapped to keep her away from the public's eye.
• Hollywoodland Sign (Pg. 5) - First we never think of Hollywoodland since the sign today only says Hollywood, but I knew as soon as I read about Liam seeing it as soon as he got to LA I needed to see if I could find that sign to add. It's an amazing start to the Sullivan legacy.
• Pile of Playbills (Move to NYC) - I needed something to represent Cate and Lilly's move to NYC since it played such a big role in Cate's life and Lilly moved because she was starring in a play so I thought a pile of playbill would be perfect for it.
• Cop Lights (UMM THE WHOLE BOOK) - This is a suspense book and there were so many times all throughout the book that the cops were involved but I mean the book starts off with a kidnapping so you know the cops are going to be involved.
• Two People and Dogs Walking on the Beach (Cate and Dillon's Walk) - Even though it is a suspenseful book there are was a lot of romance in it too. The house on Big Sur had its own beach and Dillon and Cate would walk on it with the dogs and this picture represents them so perfectly.
• Marvel Logo (Pg. 249) - I couldn't add pictures of all of the animal's that Dillon had or the character that they were named after so I thought it would be perfect to throw Marvel's logo out there since his two dogs after Gambit and Jubilee were named Natasha and Stark and there were other animals with Marvel names too.
• Prison Cells (Catelyn's Mom and Her Captures) - There were 3 characters in the book that went to prison and two of them never left their cells.
• 'Silence, Recording in Progress' Sign (Cate's Job) - Although acting is in Cate's blood she ends up doing voiceover work for a living and stops being in front of the camera. But she always used her acting skills, even to save her life in the end.
• Both the Pictures of the Horse and the Comet are because of Dillon's horse that he helped become born when he was a child, he named him Comet. 
• Surfboard (Red's Surfboard) - Red was the Sheriff when Cate was kidnapped and he was an avid surfer
• Big Sur is where Cate ends up living, where she was kidnapped, the Coopers' ranch is there, and the Sullivan's house is there
• Coca Cola Cap all throughout the book the characters are drinking Coke!
• Lilly, there needed to be a picture that represents Cate's family and her G-Lil was named Lilly, she was Hugh's second wife and very prominent in Cate's life.
• Dark Woods because Cate ran through the woods during the dark after she escaped from the house she was being held captive in.