Weekly Wrap-Up June 13th-19th

So I've managed to finish seven books this week. Four of them were e-books. Two physical books. And one audio book.

We'll Always Have Summer(The Summer I Turned Pretty #3) by Jenny Han ***

This book made me crazy. From the second page I knew where it was going and left me feeling frustrated already. This trilogy is centered around a love triangle, but from the first book you know which guy is going to be the chosen one. I never liked that guy. Hell, I don't even like Belly. For this book though Han did something I absolutely despise, she intentionally made the other guy unlikable. Even though he hasn't been up till that point. He did something that should be unforgivable in his relationship with Belly and than his personality just kept becoming too fun and not like previous him. Belly should never have forgiven him. I felt like she did everything to prove a point. Which, UGH! But funnily enough, even knowing I wasn't going to like the outcome, this is actually my most liked book of the trilogy. I think Han did a good job with all the emotional confusion. And for a few small seconds she did make me feel sorry for that one guy.  

Sweet by Emmy Laybourne ***

Okay let's start with the positive and say that Sweet has a really good message to it. Yes, it is about a cruise to specially introduce the world to this miracle weight lost product. But Sweet is very body positive. The MC is not 90lbs. She has curves and loves her body. She also tells her BFF how beautiful she is. Sweet also shows how there is never a quick fix. Good old diet and exercise is the key to being healthy. That being said, Sweet was just fucking weird. It turned horrifying and messed up. Laybourne is a really good story teller. I just think this one missed the mark. I liked the beginning, but by the middle I was just skimming more than not. The ending was also kind of an open ending. I get it. Doesn't mean I like it.

The Offer by Karina Halle ****

Firstly, I wish I'd known that this is technically part of a series. The author says it's a stand alone. Which yes, companion books are. BUT I didn't know that this follows characters introduced in an earlier book, which means I was spoiled for that previous book. Not totally a big deal. But I would have read The Pact first. Anyhow, The Offer is a pretty good romance. I really don't have much to say except it was quick and engaging. I liked Nicola and how she was dealing with being a single mother at a younger age. And how she's trying to learn to accept help without seeing herself as a failure. Bram was funny and manly. I loved seeing him with Ava(Nicola's daughter). He just was a little too crude and alpha male for me to actually fall for him. I've recently discovered Halle's books and I've found her to be a pretty solid romance writer. I'll definitely continue to pick up more of her work.

The Wrath and the Dawn(The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh *****
All the stars. Take all the stars! This is gorgeous. Beautiful. Wonderful. Brilliant. The Wrath and the Dawn is everything. It's one of those books where I love it so much but don't have the words to convey that love properly. Everyone needs to read it and discover how uniquely beautiful everything in this book is. Writing, story, characters are on point. And the romance, HOLY! Can I use breathtaking? I'm going to use breathtaking. I really can't form the proper words here. Just the development of Shazi and Khalid's relationship gave me every feel. Bad decisions were made but those bad decisions made Brittany very very happy. Because they lead to one of the best romances I've read.

"What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?" he whispered.
"If I'm a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed." The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
"No." His hands dropped to her waist. "Destroy me." pg.166/167

Shopaholic to the Stars(Shopaholic #7) by Sophie Kinsella **

This is just getting absurd. Becky was funny the first few books. But now I can't deal with her antics. She's also always been super selfish, self involved and superficial and it's just getting worse and worse. She's not growing with age or even after becoming a mum. Which totally shows in her extremely bratty kid. I don't know how Luke continues to put up with her. He's such a calm and patient person towards her. Becky doesn't deserve it. I know this series is humorous chic-lit, and it's supposed to be more on the absurd side, but it's not funny anymore. I realized that in the last book. Which should have stopped me from continuing on with this unnecessary continuation of too long series. It clearly didn't because I'm a sucker. A sucker who will more than likely read the next book too. I still enjoy a lot of the supporting cast. It's just Becky. She needs to grow the eff up.

Heart & Soul(Lost & Found #5) by Nicole Williams ****
First off, this is a fantastic NA series that flies under the radar. Very little sex. More centered around the characters and romantic relationship development. Both along with the writing are done extremely well. After the little tidbit we found out about in the previous book, I was anxious to get back to and get a close on Jesse and Rowan's story. It was definitely a pretty emotional finish. But still wonderful. Now I'm really hoping Lily and a certain boy get their own book. Fingers crossed!


Hard Knocks(Ultimate #0.5) by Lori Foster ***
I've had this novella for a while. Having just get the second book off Netgalley I figured now was a good time to actually read it. It's definitely a good introduction into Foster's writing and story structure. You get a quick intro to the male leads for the forthcoming books. Plus get to see how Harper and Cage got together. Which I'm assuming(based on my romance reading experience) will be the go to couple for structure and relationship advice for guys in their books as they try to win over their ladies. I'm definitely not into MMA, boxing, etc... But as soon as you add a sport into a romance novel I'm not going to care if I like said sport or not. Romance sports books are pretty much my biggest weakness. Anyhow, I'm excited to see how Foster's Ultimate series plays out.

What did you guys read this week?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Miniviews #23: Velvet & Last Year's Mistake

Velvet by Temple West

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Publication Date: May 12th, 2015

Pages: 416

Series: Velvet Trilogy #1

Source: ARC from publisher**I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Rating: 4/5

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Going into to this one I was expecting to find it entertaining and enjoyably. Probably around a three star read. Velvet is definitely both of those things, but surprisingly I also found it even more than that. Velvet is a vampire book, I don't know the last time I read one of those. You know, kind of moved on from that phase. I think it's really hard not to compare vampire books to Twilight as well. And I'm going to do a bit of that now. I did find Velvet to be a kind of reinventing of Twilight. It has some of the same elements. New girl to a small school. Mysterious hot boy. Velvet has its silly and absurd moments. But where Twilight is pretty much just ridiculous, Velvet tries to be smarter. And I think it succeeds more often than not. Velvet is definitely a light and fluffy read with quite a bit of LOL'ing.
I really liked Caitlin. She's super angry and angsty, but her mom just died and she has every right to be. I'd expect her to be. She was a lot more believable as a character this way, rather than if she'd just shrugged her shoulders and continued on. Adrian was likable as well. I thought he was going to be another Edward, but thank God he wasn't. He immediately comes off as mysterious but as soon as we know him, we learn it's because he's this nerdy shy guy who has been told to not to make friends with the humans. Poor guy just wants some friends. Caitlin and Adrian had more of a slow burn romance. It has got its angsty moments. But no insta-love. No creepy co-dependency. Their just friends for most of the book.
Velvet did fall into quite a bit of the typical paranormal tropes. Had some cheese. The whole vampire reveal saw Caitlin hardly bat an eye. But I was expecting that. I just liked the bit of a spin West created with the vampire demon hybrid. The vampires were a hell of a lot more believable when they don't sparkle and need to eat and sleep. Velvet was certainly a surprise of a read. And I'm really interested to continue on with the trilogy. I think it'll be even more fun. 

Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: June 9th, 2015

Pages: 320

Source: ARC from publisher**I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Rating: 4/5

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Turns out I really felt for the characters in this one. Like totally caught up in the feels. The feelings were real guys. Last Year's Mistake follows Kelsey and David and their friendship. A strong friendship. Where strong feelings are developed. Which unfortunately leads to a lot of misunderstandings and missed opportunities.
I really loved the dual time line going on. We got to see from the start of Kelsey and David's friendship and the other time line is the present, which is after they've had a following out and Kelsey moved away. So the past is working towards the present. Teenagers and their lack of proper communication could really cut back on the hurt feelings by opening their mouths.
I loved both Kelsey and Daivd. Not only is their friendship a really good one but they are both good people that life decided to hand some tough breaks to. Even though the book is from Kelsey's POV it didn't take away from getting a good read on David's feelings. I could just tell he really wanted to tell Kelsey about his deepening feelings for her on multiple occasions, but kept holding back because Kelsey would pull back. And I was like no. She'll kiss you back. So David seeing other girls made my heart hurt for Kelsey but I couldn't fault him. Also Kelsey was feeling lonely as her best friend had found a new set of friends that doesn't include Kelsey. When she moves, getting the chance to re invent herself is of course a great mood lifter. I just was really pulled into the emotions of the book. I will say that Last Year's Mistake walks the fine line on cheating, but I think because the emotions from Kelsey and David's past run so deep it was for me to understand their actions. Even when they were hurting each other it was never malicious. It was just trying to keep themselves from drowning in their own emotions that won't go away. Like I said, the missed opportunities sucked.
As this is Ciocca's debut novel, I think it was a really solid start. The teenage characters had very believable feelings and problems. And their decisions and actions made sense with how 98% of teenagers would react to those situations. Where I was going with that is I think Ciocca has a bright future. I'll definitely be picking up her next book.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Showcase Sunday #82

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme held by Books, Biscuits and Tea. It allows fellow bloggers to show off any books or bookish things they've compiled over the week.

Hey! How's it going friends? Being raining a lot here lately. We definitely need it, but it's hard to spend time outside. I've been spending time watching the Women's World Cup. I love that it's happening here. Unfortunately though because of the Pan Am Games taking place in Toronto, none of the games are being played here. But I did get to see Canada play a friendly against England right before the Cup started. 

Got some excellent books these past few weeks. Some I've been waiting impatiently for. I finally decided that I needed Will Sumner(Beautiful Player) in the print because it's Will. So I did that. Echo Boy was finally released in paperback, so I will be reading that soon. Of course I had Nowhere But Here pre-ordered. And The Summer of Chasing Mermaids is a Little Mermaid re-telling. Eeee!

Purchased

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Nowhere But Here(Thunder Road #1) by Katie McGarry

Moonlight on Nightingale Way(On Dublin Street #6) by Samantha Young
Beautiful Player(Beautiful Bastard #3) by Christina Lauren

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius
Echo Boy by Matt Haig

Nantucket Red(Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Kindle Freebies

E-Books Purchased

Gifted

The Novice(The Summoner #1) by Taran Matharu

**Thanks so much to Giselle for passing this on**

What did you guys get this week?

Happy reading!

Brittany

Weekly Wrap-Up June 6th-12th

This week I managed to finish fsix books. Three physical books, one audio and two e-books. One was also a re-read.



Dire(The Dire Wolves Chronicles #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy ***

Samantha got me this one for my birthday because we were looking for NA paranormal/fantasy books. Which are really hard to find. Dire has quite a bit of cheese and eye-rolly moments. It is a romance centered around werewolves, so really it was to expected. You tend to see a lot of alpha male behaviour, which is tiring but again I was expected it and thought the book was fun enough to keep me reading. The writing was more on the juvenile side but again, it didn't stop me from reading. I'll definitely be continuing on with the sequel sometime soon.


Beautiful Player(Beautiful Bastard #3) by Christina Lauren *****(re-read)
I finally got myself Will Sumner in the print. So of course I had to give him a re-read. I just adore this book. It's funny and swoony. Which can actually be said for the whole series. Just a really solid romance series.


The Witch Hunter(The Witch Hunter #1) by Virginia Boecker ****
Since this is a review book I should write a more in depth review, but I don't have a lot to say. Although The Witch Hunter is far from original, it's still a really good story. I found the plot was pretty predictable. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. I flew through it. I liked the magical world Boecker has created. It's kind of fun and not particularly dark. The writing flowed really well. Made it easy to read and become engrossed. What really kept me reading was the characters. Great bunch of them. Elizabeth is kick ass and strong, but also relatable and likable. I empathized with all her decisions and emotions. Especially when it came to the romance. Totally ship it! So hard. I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel, which unfortunately is at least a year away.


Her Dark Curiosity(The Madman's Daughter #2) by Megan Shepherd ****

First off, I highly recommend the audio books for this trilogy. The narrator is fantastic. She gets the Gothic tone of these books. I did switch off and read the last 100 pages, and still thoroughly enjoyed the book. But the audio really gets me in the mood. With Juliet being back in London I thought the creepiness factor would decrease. But nope. Still extremely creepy. Juliet was a bit indecisive which frustrated me at points. And I'm kinda of scared of where her mind is going(in both the romantic and mental well being way). I also really enjoyed the thrilling mystery story line. Although knowing who the killer was didn't take away from the story for me. Because I also knew there was more to it, and I was fully invested in Juliet and the gang getting to the bottom of it. It still surprises me how much I'm enjoying such a dark, Gothic horror type book. It's pretty raw and gross at times. But that's what makes it so fantastic. I'm really intrigued to see how the last book plays out.


Velvet(The Velvet Trilogy #1) by Temple West ****
Review to come. 

It's Not Summer Without You(The Summer I Turned Pretty #2) by Jenny Han **
I don't like Belly. I really don't like Conrad. I feel sorry for Jeremiah. I see all the emotions floating around the book. But I'm just not feeling them. I was pretty bored. Did a lot of skimming. Unfortunately for me the last few chapters were enough to make me download the last book.

What did you guys read this week?

Happy reading!

Brittany

After We Collided by Anna Todd

After We Collided by Anna Todd

Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: September 7th, 2013
Pages: 688
Series: After #2
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 0/5
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Tessa has everything to lose. Hardin has nothing to lose…except her.AFTER WE COLLIDED…Life will never be the same.

After a tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Tessa and Hardin were on the path to making things work. Tessa knew Hardin could be cruel, but when a bombshell revelation is dropped about the origins of their relationship—and Hardin’s mysterious past—Tessa is beside herself.

Hardin will always be…Hardin. But is he really the deep, thoughtful guy Tessa fell madly in love with despite his angry exterior—or has he been a stranger all along? She wishes she could walk away. It’s just not that easy. Not with the memory of passionate nights spent in his arms. His electric touch. His hungry kisses.

Still, Tessa’s not sure she can endure one more broken promise. She put so much on hold for Hardin—school, friends, her mom, a relationship with a guy who really loved her, and now possibly even a promising new career. She needs to move forward with her life.

Hardin knows he made a mistake, possibly the biggest one of his life. He’s not going down without a fight. But can he change?Will he change…for love?

I know what you guys are thinking, and yes I lost my effing mind. Obviously my review of After was anything but positive. I cannot tell you what possessed me to continue the series except curiosity. And well my adoring fans told me to. Lol. It's like I have a disturbing fascination with torturing my mind with this inane garbage. 

After reading After it's not like I went into this one with any illusions. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. For a first book to be so blatantly terrible there's no way a sequel could see a 100% turn around(spoiler this shit actually got worse). Unfortunately these books are exactly like a train wreck. I can't look away. I'm clearly as insane as the characters for wasting my time on such ridiculousness. After we Collided still continued to show it's reader what a toxic relationship looks like. I get unhealthy. I've loved my fair share of books featuring an unhealthy relationship. The thing is these books don't show growth. They don't portray this relationship, these characters in any way that shows there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hardin is clearly mentally ill. And rather than show what is a very serious topic in any sort of responsible way, Todd pretty much has the characters being rude, disrespectful and totally inappropriate towards it. In fact it made me pretty uncomfortable. I'm all for smut. I read plenty of it. But as soon as something I'm reading for fun and enjoyment disregards all social responsibility for something as prominent as mental illness I can't deal. Whether inadvertently or not. Even when this started as free fan-fic. Awareness should always be a factor. Clearly it was not here.

Let's talk about the plot. Or lack there of. I liken this book to a cow; 700 pages of regurgitation. It is literally the same four chapters rewritten with some minor rewording. Tessa and Hardin fight over Hardin's inability to say or do the right things. Tessa grows a pair of balls and walks away from Hardin. They both go totally emo for a few hours. Hardin punches someone. Tessa steps in. Hardin says he'll change. Tessa says she doesn't believe him but she can't stay away. They have a terrible sex scene. And repeat. For 700 fucking pages. 

The story is continually getting worse. The characters are awful. There is not one character that doesn't have a secret agenda or is socially inept. I could go on and on about Tessa and Hardin for days. But I did that in my review of After and absolutely nothing has changed. Let's go with Landon. He's a prominent supporting character. Tessa's bff. Hardin's step-brother. Landon doesn't think many good things about Hardin. Thinks Tessa should be staying the hell away from him. For obvious reasons. Yet he continues to subtly push them together. For the thousandth time Tessa is crying on his shoulder about Hardin hurting her. But when Hardin(rudely) asks for his help Landon gives it. All the time. What the mother fuck? Award for worst best friend right there. If I was to blind to see the mess I was involved in, I'd hope to God I could count on my loved ones to open my eyes not keep them closed. 

It's not just Landon. Hardin punches his dad just because he's an angry guy. Uncontrollably angry. Dad is mad for 2.5 seconds. Than says it's okay that's just Hardin. No! It's fucking not. He needs professional help. 

Zed, Zayne, some other guy from One Direction I don't care to remember the name of is of course in love with Tessa even though she's playing him for a fool. Anyhow, Hardin beats him into oblivion but some how doesn't end up in jail. He pushes an old professor over. Yells profanities and threatens people for keeping him in a holding cell for nearly killing someone. But you know Tessa is able to bat her eyelashes and tell Zayne, Zed, whatever that he can't press charges. He can't do that to Hardin. So he says fine. What in the actual fuck? It's okay, Hardin nearly murdered you, but because he can't control himself you pressing charges is not right. This book is beyond infuriating. Actually the amount of times that Tessa thinks to herself that Hardin would never hurt her physically well they're having a raging argument is also frightening. That thought should never even cross your mind. The fact that it does speaks volumes. Not only that you should be no where near this guy. But also that your subconscious is sending you a pretty heavy message. Your subconscious is smart enough to be scared that there's an astronomical possibility that your boyfriend could physically hurt you. I don't even care if he means to or not. That's far beyond the point. Hardin goes completely blind to the outside world when he's angry enough to hurt someone(this is every time he's angry). He is not a safe person to be around. At any time.

I wasn't all over the Goodreads updates this time around. Mostly because the whole regurgitation thing going on. But I still jumped in there every once and a while to point out some awesomeness going down or being said. Status updates can be checked out here if you so please. 

I need to stop myself here before I literally rip this book apart page by page. And believe you and me that wouldn't be hard. These books take toxic and unhealthy to a whole different level. If there was even the small probability of Hardin getting the help he needs I'd hold on to a small glimmer of hope. But when the only time that Hardin's "craziness" is brought up in a disrespectfully joking manner I know that the only outcome of this story will make me go crazy. I don't know guys, is this just me? I feel like there's an influx of books focusing on romanticizing abusive relationships hitting the shelves and best seller lists these days. It's really disheartening.

Happy reading!

Brittany

Weekly Wrap-Up May 30th-June 5th

This week I managed to finish nine books. Seven on them were physical copies, two were e-books(one of them a novella).

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave ****.5

Full review here

After We Collided(After #2) by Anna Todd *

There is a very ranty review to come.

Earth & Sky(Earth & Sky #1) by Megan Crewe **

I've started a review but I don't really have a lot to say. This book started out promising. For the first 30ish pages I was thinking this is going to be good. But than everything turned really confusing and I was having a really hard time believing what Win was spewing out. I understand with time traveling that you should suspend your belief but when the author is grasping at straws trying to explain the time traveling aspect, why the aliens are screwing around with earth and the plot well it's pretty much a mess of a story. I skimmed 50% of the book. I was bored for all it. Everything was given to the MC on a silver platter. Earth & Sky was a pretty big let down. Especially when I heard it compared to the Lux series. Lies. Very big lies.

Nantucket Blue(Nantucket #1) by Leila Howland ***

Cute-sh contemp in a great setting. I enjoyed it. Super quick and light. But not really memorable. I only read it a few days ago and already I'm scratching my head trying to remember plot points or the MC's name... I will say that the paperback is really well made. So well done Disney.

Valentine(On Dublin Street #5.5) by Samantha Young *****

Just a really quick novella featuring all the couples from the series, in separate short stories about their valentines day. I just loved it. Anything Young wants to throw my way featuring this series I was eat right up.

Magnolia by Kristi Cook ****

What a fun take on Romeo & Juliet. It's kind of subtle play on the, well, play. Jemma is an awesome kick-ass southern belle. Ryder is the popular, nice guy. Their families have been pushing them together since they were born. Which turns into one of my favourite romance tropes(okay, I have a lot of favourites); childhood friends and hate to love relationship. Add in them being stuck together through a storm and I was not putting the book down. Seriously I read it in a sitting. Super quick, fun summery read. 

Moonlight on Nightingale Way(On Dublin Street #6) by Samantha Young *****

Review to come.

Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby *****

Fantastic. You know going in that it's going to be a really sad and heart breaking start. So I was kind of prepared. I think Kirby did a really good job showing how we deal with loss. Quinn was still finding it hard to let go, even though more than a year had passed. I loved her journey to figuring out how to do that. Colton was a big part in that. The romance was so super sweet. Colton was such a good guy(new book boyfriend alert). Although the story was predictable it didn't take away from the emotional journey I experienced in just 300 pages. Onto my re-read shelf Things We Know by Heart goes.

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle ***

I literally just finished this and I'm still rolling my eyes. I will mention that this should not be classified as YA. It is definitely NA based on the sex scenes and the words used. It's pretty juvenile NA though. I think this book tried to hard to be a more grown up version of Forever by Judy Blume(I didn't like that book either). You've got the coming of age, first love, young love going on which wasn't executed all that well. The writing was to simple. The characters one dimensional. I get what Myracle was trying for. But for me, that just didn't come through. In the end it was still an enjoyable read. And that cover, yo.

What did you guys read this week?

Happy reading!

Brittany 

Review: Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

Eight Hundred Grapes: A Novel by Laura Dave

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: June 2nd, 2015
Pages: 272
Source: ARC from publisher**I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Rating: 4.5/5
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There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

When the email landed in my inbox pitching Eight Hundred Grapes I'll admit to not really reading the synopsis. All I saw was the words, "for fans of Jojo Moyes." Sold. Done. Give me the book. In my opinion that comparison is pretty telling. Like Moyes does, Dave created a pretty gripping and dynamic story about family, relationships and learning to step outside the safe zone.

We catch Georgia as she's fleeing to her families vineyard in her wedding dress. She wasn't running from her wedding day. Georgia was actually in the midst of getting her final fitting when she was confronted with a secret her fiance had yet to share with her. Confused and heart broken, Georgia is unsure if she can move on over this hump and continue forward with her planned life with Ben. Hoping that the secret about what she should do lies with her family and the beloved vineyard she grew up on. Except the comfort she was seeking is shattered with even more secrets. Seems everyone in Georgia's life is full of them. Including herself.

Wine drinkers, actually anyone, will find the vivid descriptions of the vineyard and its workings so interesting. I think that's what really pulled me in. I'm not a wine drinker, but all I could imagine was this northern California landscape filled with beautiful vineyards and a small quaint town that I was about packing my bags itching to go. I don't know if Dave has experience on a vineyard or just did her research really well, but I think someone would be hard pressed to tell her she got the details and inner workings of how wine is produced wrong. Just the perfect setting. One I didn't know I wanted until I was reading about it.

I don't really want to give the reason why Georgia felt she had to run from her fiance, but it wasn't something that is an automatic cancel the wedding reason. It was more a shock and a "this will change everything" reveal. One where like Georgia, I would have needed to just process it and that includes being in my head going over how I feel. Georgia was right not automatically let Ben off the hook. For months he was keeping a big secret from her, that's not alright. This is your wife to be, saying you didn't want to hurt her is a weak excuse. Like Georgia, Ben not talking to her right away is more of a betrayal of trust than anything else. Honesty and communication is the basis of a healthy relationship. Ben never felt sincere in his weak apologies. It was like he choose Georgia, he loves her so that should be enough to forgo all emotions and just move forward like nothing happened. I was not a Ben fan. Georgia though, all her thoughts, confusion and the feeling like how can our relationship survive this were real. She clearly loved Ben, but in the end she didn't know if that was going to be enough. Georgia was easy to relate to and I was very happy with her decision making.

Georgia and her family was what really made this book for me. Her parents and twin older brothers were all so close, but there's still things being left unsaid or going through the cracks. Georgia was surprised by what was going on at home well she was living her life in L.A. It's hard when life is busy and gets in the way of keeping up with your family. Like with Ben, Georgia is shocked to come home and find out what's been going on with her parents and brothers. Georgia is a fixer and she thinks she can just step in and she'll fix everything. When really it doesn't work that way. The lesson of not taking the important people in your life for granted is a strong one throughout Eight Hundred Grapes. Or being comfortable and safe is not always the way to happiness. Dave does an excellent job of keeping Georgia and her family down to earth well showing the complexity of their lives.

Eight Hundred Grapes is a pretty short book, but the story told within is anything but lacking or rushed. Keeping secrets for the sake of hurting someone you love doesn't always mean you're doing the right thing. When that secret eventually is revealed(and if it's big enough it will be) it can be more disorienting and hurtful than if it was never a secret to begin with. I really loved how Dave explored that and even how the strongest relationships still need the hard work to keep them at their best. I look forward to picking up more of Daves books.

Happy reading!

Brittany