Well this is a measly wrap-up for a two week period. But I was in Europe, which is as far from a beach vacation as possible. So I didn't have the time to read. But I did get five books read these past two weeks. One was an audio. One an e-ARC. Two were library e-books. And the other a physical ARC. I also had one DNF, which was a ARC.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling ****
Any celebrity memoir I want to read I always get the audio because I feel it makes it that much better. Mindy is so funny and down to earth. Her stories are very relatable for the average women. We all have the same concerns and hang ups as her. Mindy is just very comfortable in her own body and it's one of the things I love about her. My favourite bits were her stories and facts about her relationship with B.J. Novak. The only reason I can't give this a 5* is because I feel like the stories are all over the place. There's no flow or rhythm. But they're still wonderful nonetheless.
Focus on Me(Focus #2) by Megan Erickson ***.5
Not much to say here. Definitely a cute M/M romance. I was surprised that the story took such a turn with one of the characters depression. But it was handled really well. The road trip aspect was fun, like they always are. The insta-love was super insta and a bit off putting. But otherwise I've been enjoying Erickson's books these past few months.
Forever With You(Wait For You #5) by Jennifer L Armentrout ****
It's a wonderful life when your favourite author pretty much publishes a book a month. My queen. No secret I love this NA series. Forever With You perhaps didn't totally live up to expectations, doesn't mean I didn't blaze through it. Steph is an awesome lady. Close to my favourite of JLA's leading ladies. She's sassy with no filter. She likes sex and isn't scared of what people with think. Nick was a dick. And even though he had some redeeming moments he was never going to live up to Jax or Cam(which I know is near impossible). Unfortunately the story and their relationship was missing that spark. From the get go I guessed where the plot was going to go. Which is unfortunate. Their relationship was hot at times it just wasn't all consuming and swoony. The ending with a certain wedding definitely had me tearing up a bit.
Madly(Potion #1) by Amy Alward ****
Review to come next week.
Winter Wonderland(Minnesota Christmas #3) by Heidi Cullinan **.5
As I have not so quietly been mentioning, Carry the Ocean is a new favourite of mine. So when this popped up on Netgalley I snatched it up. Unfortunately Winter Wonderland is no where close to being in the same league as Carry the Ocean. It was a sweet and tender M/M romance with that whole snowy, Christmas like setting. The characters feel really flat. Both Kyle and Paul were really weak. I expected more from how their personalities were shown to be. But what pissed me off was all the side characters, they're such freakin' busy bodies. Kyle and Paul don't really seem to keep their relationship private, which didn't help. Is this a small town thing? Like everyone is right up in their business. I'm talking all the details. And even dictating how their relationship should go. Ummm... right. That was too annoying for me to find even remotely funny. But no fear, this miss hasn't thrown me off of reading all of Cullinan's books.
The Scorpion Rules(Prisoners of Peace #1) by Erin Bow: DNF @ page 99
There was just too much holding me back from enjoying this book. The world building is super confusing. Actually I'd say there's really a lack of world building. This is some dystopian world and all I can gather is that the world is constantly at war. Some country/state seems to always be on the brink of declaring war on its neighbour. And for some reason these kids of the heads of states are sent away and will be killed if their state goes to war. So that's supposed to be the prevention. Which clearly it isn't. Who cares if your child dies? Not these people. And I don't even know the reason behind it because in 100 pages nothing is flushed out or explained. Being a 100 pages in and not understanding even a little bit of the world is not alright.
Add in that the MC is smart and obedient until the new, intriguing and rebel like boy shows up and I already know where this one is going. Absolutely nothing new with that plot point.
The icing on the cake was spending a whole chapter on goats mating. Really? That's how we're going to progress the plot? Nope. What that made me do is close the book and know I'll never open it again.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling ****
Any celebrity memoir I want to read I always get the audio because I feel it makes it that much better. Mindy is so funny and down to earth. Her stories are very relatable for the average women. We all have the same concerns and hang ups as her. Mindy is just very comfortable in her own body and it's one of the things I love about her. My favourite bits were her stories and facts about her relationship with B.J. Novak. The only reason I can't give this a 5* is because I feel like the stories are all over the place. There's no flow or rhythm. But they're still wonderful nonetheless.
Focus on Me(Focus #2) by Megan Erickson ***.5
Not much to say here. Definitely a cute M/M romance. I was surprised that the story took such a turn with one of the characters depression. But it was handled really well. The road trip aspect was fun, like they always are. The insta-love was super insta and a bit off putting. But otherwise I've been enjoying Erickson's books these past few months.
Forever With You(Wait For You #5) by Jennifer L Armentrout ****
It's a wonderful life when your favourite author pretty much publishes a book a month. My queen. No secret I love this NA series. Forever With You perhaps didn't totally live up to expectations, doesn't mean I didn't blaze through it. Steph is an awesome lady. Close to my favourite of JLA's leading ladies. She's sassy with no filter. She likes sex and isn't scared of what people with think. Nick was a dick. And even though he had some redeeming moments he was never going to live up to Jax or Cam(which I know is near impossible). Unfortunately the story and their relationship was missing that spark. From the get go I guessed where the plot was going to go. Which is unfortunate. Their relationship was hot at times it just wasn't all consuming and swoony. The ending with a certain wedding definitely had me tearing up a bit.
Madly(Potion #1) by Amy Alward ****
Review to come next week.
Winter Wonderland(Minnesota Christmas #3) by Heidi Cullinan **.5
As I have not so quietly been mentioning, Carry the Ocean is a new favourite of mine. So when this popped up on Netgalley I snatched it up. Unfortunately Winter Wonderland is no where close to being in the same league as Carry the Ocean. It was a sweet and tender M/M romance with that whole snowy, Christmas like setting. The characters feel really flat. Both Kyle and Paul were really weak. I expected more from how their personalities were shown to be. But what pissed me off was all the side characters, they're such freakin' busy bodies. Kyle and Paul don't really seem to keep their relationship private, which didn't help. Is this a small town thing? Like everyone is right up in their business. I'm talking all the details. And even dictating how their relationship should go. Ummm... right. That was too annoying for me to find even remotely funny. But no fear, this miss hasn't thrown me off of reading all of Cullinan's books.
The Scorpion Rules(Prisoners of Peace #1) by Erin Bow: DNF @ page 99
There was just too much holding me back from enjoying this book. The world building is super confusing. Actually I'd say there's really a lack of world building. This is some dystopian world and all I can gather is that the world is constantly at war. Some country/state seems to always be on the brink of declaring war on its neighbour. And for some reason these kids of the heads of states are sent away and will be killed if their state goes to war. So that's supposed to be the prevention. Which clearly it isn't. Who cares if your child dies? Not these people. And I don't even know the reason behind it because in 100 pages nothing is flushed out or explained. Being a 100 pages in and not understanding even a little bit of the world is not alright.
Add in that the MC is smart and obedient until the new, intriguing and rebel like boy shows up and I already know where this one is going. Absolutely nothing new with that plot point.
The icing on the cake was spending a whole chapter on goats mating. Really? That's how we're going to progress the plot? Nope. What that made me do is close the book and know I'll never open it again.
**As my Instagram has been busy the last few weeks, I figured I'd just pick some of the photos from my travels and all the book ones. Feel free to check out my account to see all of the ones from Prague**
What did you guys read this week?
Happy reading!
Brittany
I've enjoyed living vicariously through your vacation! It looks fantastic and I'd enjoy that more than a beach vacation. I can't wait to read/listen to the Mindy Kaling book. I read her first book and loved it though I'd love to reread it in audio form.
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