Links of Interest

Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label romance. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green




About The Book

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

My Thoughts

This is the first and only book that I've read by John Green. Some people might be astounded by that fact, and I can now see why. The Fault in Our Stars is beautifully written and I've fallen in love with Hazel and Gus. I even like Gus's friend Isaac. These characters are teenagers afflicted with a horrible thing called cancer, but they don't let that stop them from living or loving. They enjoy their lives even though they know that their days are numbered... because they know their days are numbered. I think that's what I like most about this book. The characters just keep living the best way they can and that's all you can ask of anyone. It was refreshing to read a book about people with cancer that isn't all about the fact that they have cancer. I do understand why a few people have said that they didn't really like the characters of this book. They said that Hazel and Gus were too pretentious and didn't act like any teenager they knew. I disagree with that assessment. Hazel and Gus are lovers of words. They love to read books and it would make sense that they'd love to use the words that they've learned from books. They aren't like other teenagers because they're more interested in books written by older people with more sophisticated vocabulary than most teenagers possess. I believe that Hazel and Gus would love reading the books that a lot of teenagers hate to read these days such as classics by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA romance novels and to anyone who is a lover of words.



Overall, I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars. 

You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.

E-book Version










Print Hardcover Version


Friday, February 28, 2014

Book Review : The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)




About The Book

Mary lives in a world ravaged by the Return. A world that is inhabited by flesh-hungry undead that she and the people of her village call Unconsecrated. Mary's village is governed by the Sisterhood and what the Sisterhood says, goes. She knows that she must stay away from the fence that guards them from the Unconsecrated and she knows that Guardians will protect the village by watching these fences day and night. The Unconsecrated are relentless in their quest to satiate their hunger for human flesh. But something begins to happen to Mary after a traumatic event involving her mother, she begins to see that the Sisterhood and the Guardians are keeping secrets from their people and when the fence that protects them is breached, chaos ensues all around. Mary must choose to leave her village or to be eaten by the Unconsecrated. She must choose between the one she loves and her betrothed. She must face the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Is there life outside of all this death?


My Thoughts

I'm a huge fan of zombies and I watch The Walking Dead every Sunday night, but I must admit that this book made me have nightmares when that show did not. This book has made me terrified that one day I'll wake up and find that my world has been taken over by these undead beings and that I'll have to figure out a way to survive and to protect my loved ones. There were parts of this book that made me cry and parts that made me laugh as well. I was expecting this novel to have characters in it that were stronger than the average person, physically and could take down these Unconsecrated with no problem, but these characters are like every-day people. They could easily be me with their fears, uncertainties, sadness, and dreams. Mary is like any other girl and I can relate to her. She did say that everyone in the village were trained to fight against the Unconsecrated, but they've lived in the village for so long with the fence around them, that they really weren't as prepared as they probably should have been because the village was quickly overtaken by the Unconsecrated.

I was in suspense in many parts of this book, almost too afraid to keep reading because I was so terrified of what would happen to these characters next. Yet, this is definitely one of those books that I just couldn't put down, at least not for very long, because I just HAD to know what would happen. I definitely can not wait to read the next books in this series... I will most definitely be checking them out from the library very soon!


Overall, I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars. 

You can purchase this book by clicking the links below.



E-book Version        Print Paperback Version

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Book Review: Innkeeper's Daughter by Marie Ferrarella

About the Book:

Wyatt Taylor is a screenwriter whose father has died. His father was writing a book on his best friend's family-owned inn, Ladera Inn by the Sea. The inn is about 100 years old and Wyatt promised to finish the book for his father and for Richard, the inn's owner, because they were like family.

The only person that would cause any problems for him would be Richard's daughter, Alexandra Roman or Alex for short. They've been adversaries since childhood. He doesn't expect her to be as caring as she is when he arrives to arrange his father's funeral at the inn.

Alex just wants Wyatt to get his book done and to be gone and out of her hair, but she does hold some sympathy for him since she knows what it's like to have a parent die. Her mother had died twelve years ago.

One surprising thing happened though, Wyatt and Alex shared a kiss and then everything changed.


My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's not a very long book with only 360 pages. It's a Harlequin novel from the Heartwarming series and it's a large print book. It's a wholesome, tender romance with a great story. I feel as if I really got to know Alex and Wyatt. They were really in-depth characters. The only thing that I take issue with is that the novel didn't seem like it had a complete ending. At least, it wasn't really all that satisfying to me. For a couple of people who had animosity built up since childhood, it would seem like it would have a much more profound ending than it actually did. That did not make the reading of the novel any less enjoyable, thankfully.

Overall, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.


You can purchase Innkeeper's Daughter by clicking below:

E-book version




Print version


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Book Review: Pretending He's Mine by Lauren Blakely

Pretending He's Mine by Lauren Blakely is about an actor named Reeve who's trying to make it big. He's not having much luck with that and  his day job has cut him off. His luck turns around when he meets Sutton Brenner, a casting director who's in need of a pretend fiance. In order for Sutton to get a job for the hit new movie called Escorted Lives, she's made the producer's wife believe that she's engaged. The producer's wife doesn't want her philandering husband working so closely with a sexy, single lady such as Sutton. Sutton and Reeve partner up in the hopes of them both landing a job with the film. As the two play make-believe, there seems to be more than just acting involved in their love affair.


This is a sweet and steamy romance that's second in Lauren Blakely's Caught Up In Us series. You don't have to read the first one to enjoy this one by any means. There were some moments where I wanted to shake the both of them and tell them that they should get together RIGHT NOW, but of course, what kind of romance novel is without some sort of conflict, right? I enjoyed reading this book, but I kind of wished there was more romantic type moments. Sex is great and all that, I get it, but I like some actual romance in a romance novel. There were some really cute moments, I just wish there was a lot more of those moments.

The characters were truly believable. I could relate to them and I could really believe in them. I could picture how they would act and what they looked like, perfectly. Reeve could have had a little more depth to him though. I liked him anyway because the author made him seem like a very nice guy. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and a good romantic story.


Overall, I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.



To purchase this book for free on Amazon, click the link below!


Also, you can purchase the first book in the series:


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Review of Immortal Desires by Laura Eno


What if your soul mate lived in an entirely different century? That's exactly what happens in Laura Eno's book called Immortal Desires. It's a fantasy/paranormal romance novel. The theme of the book is about finding the one person that is especially made for you and a little bit about saving the human race.

The main female character, Deanna is a woman of the 21st century and is heart broken when the man she thought she loved calls off the wedding. As you would think any person might do when their heart is broken, she mopes around for awhile until a year later when she gets a job opportunity from a huge corporate office.

She thinks it's all a joke until she's actually on her way to the place in Boulder, Colorado. That's where the story really kicks off. There, she encounters a strange man in her dreams named Ian Mackay, a 16th century Scottish warrior. Unbeknownst to her he's the one creating the dreams for her because he knows the two of them are soul mates. He's an immortal who works for her boss.

What Deanna doesn't know about the strange job opportunity is that she isn't there to really DO anything. Her boss, Robert Thornton, plans to have her recycled into the well of souls. He, Ian, and the Aeneas Council are against another set of immortal beings called the Conri who are trying to take the souls for themselves because they think that what Robert and the Aeneas are doing is stopping the existence of the human race.

Ian doesn't want Deanna's soul to be recycled and convinces Robert to send her back to him in the 16th century.

The question that's on their minds is what kind of effect will their action have on the project and what things will change for Ian and his clan who were known to have all died out after he ceased to exist because he had had no children? Also, how does this action impact the whole of humanity?

This story made me feel all the warm tinglies of a great romance novel and the suspense of an awesome paranormal experience. In a strange way, I felt as if the book also tried to explain the answer to the question of what humanity really is all about. Is it moral for an immortal to have say over a human's own life? Is it necessary to kill off someone just so that humans will not go extinct? That's my personal take from the book, of course, it may speak to you in a whole entirely different way.

 I loved the way the story  flowed and how the point of view would change between Ian, Deanna, and Robert so that there is no missing out on a single idea of the story. When I started reading, I just couldn't put it down until I'd finished it from cover to cover.

The story of 16th century Scotland was amazing as well. I was intrigued with the comparison of the 1500s to the present and it got me to thinking about my own culture and where I come from. Over all, it's such an amazing read and I do not regret a single word of it! It's worth your time, trust me.


You can buy the book here: Amazon: Kindle Version
                                       Amazon Paperback
                                     
Of course, there may be other places to buy this book, but I included these two links.

Also, be sure to check out Laura Eno on Goodreads!