Tag: love

Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW] Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW]
Book Review · Books

Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW]

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Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW]

About The Book:

Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 480

Genre: Romance, Fiction

Publisher: HQ Stories

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★


Could romance be waiting in the wings…?

Lucie Hart is a fledgling actress, her confidence having been shattered by her manipulative ex. Making ends meet by performing Shakespearean monologues full of romance she doesn’t believe in, she can see her dreams getting further out of reach.

Theo Larkin has already taken Hollywood by storm and his next conquests are Shakespeare’s greatest works – and his incensed leading lady.

Always short of money, Lucie can’t afford to waste the opportunity to bring crowds to her shows. And when a well-publicised bust-up leaves Theo’s reputation hanging by a thread, he is desperate to prove his worth by taking on the most challenging performance of his life.

As they put aside their differences to save their careers, can our star-crossed lovers take their relationship to the next stage, and find themselves along the way?

My Thoughts:

“Things We Do For Love” was a good romance book and people that love Shakespeare’s work will greatly enjoy it. We have an aspiring actor and actress, both about to meet because of Shakespeare’s works. Although they don’t initially like each other, they will need to get along, and act together on the stage. 

“I was a walking cliché – doubly so, considering I’m striding through a rainstorm carrying the woman of my dreams. But who needs originality when clichés feel this good?”

As time goes on, they will be Miranda and Prospero from “The Tempest”, Petruchio and Katherine from “The Taming of the Shrew” and of course, Romeo and Juliet. During the summer, they will get close to each other and their feelings will continue to grow. As with every romance, there is a big upset and potentially a happy ending. In that respect, the book was very predictable and because of that, slightly disappointing. 

Theo’s character in the end disappointed me specifically, and his behaviour with Amy was the only unexpected bit, but enough to taint my opinion. I couldn’t recover from that. I still warmly recommend it to all romance fans, but expect a bit of predictability, with a Shakespeare flavour added to it. (note – no one will die, don’t worry about that).

“I could find a quote from Shakespeare to explain everything my heart feels right now. I could compare Lucie to a summer’s day, or repeat Hamlet’s declaration that my love for her should never be doubted. But I reckon even the Bard knew that sometimes the best way to describe something is just to experience it:

[they kiss]”

About The Author:

Things We Do For Love by Miranda Dickinson [BOOK REVIEW]

Miranda Dickinson has always had a head full of stories. Coming from a creative family where stories and songs were always present, it was perhaps inevitable that she would end up adoring words.

Miranda began writing in earnest four years ago with her first novel, Coffee at Kowalski’s – a romantic comedy set in New York’s Upper West Side. She has also written several short stories, scripts and novel excerpts.

Website

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It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW] It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW]
Book Review · Books

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW]

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It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW]

Oh, Colleen Hoover! You only went and did it again with “It Ends With Us”. Took my heart, squeezed it gently, and then proceeded to shatter it into a thousand pieces. And I love you for it! 

About The Book:

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 386

Genre: Romance, YA, Young Adult

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

My Thoughts:

“It Ends With Us” is not a light-hearted romance novel. It’s a dark romance tale, with a domestic abuse theme, but it’s ultimately a story about a woman breaking the cycle and being free.

Lily is a floral designer and a survivor of domestic abuse. During her childhood, her father was abusive and her mother never left. Now, she falls in love with Ryle, and after a few blissful months, discovers that Ryle has a dark side to him. The story follows Lily dealing with everything and reuniting with her old love, Atlas, who will help her get free and break the cycle.

During the first half of the book, we read a few chapters of young Lily and Atlas and understand their story better. He was homeless and Lily helped him during the difficult period. He was also aware of the abuse Lily suffered from her father.

“He pulls back to look down at me and when he sees my tears, he brings his hands up to my cheeks. “In the future… if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again… fall in love with me.”

The story is raw, emotional and feels very real. We saw a beautiful love story between Lily and Atlas, until time and circumstances, and Lily’s father pulled them apart. We were also part a beautiful love story between Lily and Ryle, before he started showing his true colours and all the reg flags. It’s very well shown how quickly a situation can escalate, and see Lily’s fears, doubts and dilemmas. It’s very easy for her to take the blame and think she caused it all, but the reality is very different! 

“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen.”

I was always team Atlas, but I was warming up to Ryle in the beginning before everything kicked off. That’s how good Colleen’s writing is. I will need to grab the second book, “It Starts With Us” soon and find out how the story continues. I cannot help but recommend this book, because for all the sadness it brings, it also brings happiness, healing and one woman standing up to abuse and breaking the cycle.

“You can stop swimming now, Lily. We finally reached the shore.”

Side note: Yes, I did see the movie. No, it didn’t do justice to the book. Yes, I will see a sequel if it comes, but I doubt it, with all the drama surrounding it. 🙂 

About The Author:

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover [BOOK REVIEW]

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty four novels and novellas. Hoover’s novels fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as psychological thriller. 

In 2015, Colleen’s novel CONFESS won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance. That was followed up in 2016 with her latest title, It Ends With Us, also winning the Choice Award for Best Romance. In 2017, her title WITHOUT MERIT won best romance.

Author Website

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I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW] I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW]
Book Review · Books

I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW]

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I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW]

“I Wish You Would” was the perfect teenage love angst romance with a friends to lovers trope, that I didn’t know I needed.

About The Book:

I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW]

Pages: 273

Genre: Romance, YA, Young Adult

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

In this drama-filled love story, private confessions are scattered on the beach during a senior class overnight and explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan.

It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom―when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.

When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves―what they wish they would do this year if they were braver―Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed―especially their own.

Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.

“Fame is proof that the people are gullible.”

My Thoughts:

Firstly, I have to admit, the cover was what made me start the book. I had other books I started reading and I immediately dropped them to make room for this one. And I am glad I did, because I devoured it in days! There is so much tension from the very start from both sides. I loved the double POV, so we knew how both Ethan and Natalia felt. But there were so many times where I shouted at the book: “Will you two just bloody talk to each other!” 🙂

“I try not to stare at her, but it’s an effort. The moody sky brings out the dark blue of her eyes, and the wind keeps lifting the tumble of her long hair away from her face. I realise with a significant gut drop that I could look at her forever and never get bored.”

The other part that really annoyed me was when Natalia would believe everything Claire says… 

“Thank you for helping me understand that no matter how good the education, some people are doomed to be ignorant. You’re such a lost cause, I bet your parents change the subject when their friends ask about you.”

I really liked the idea of the ritual for kicking off senior year. Pouring your heart out into a piece of paper and letting it go. The whole message of the book was bravery, and it made me think of what I would do if I was braver.

“I don’t want to be the kind of person who has to live up to everyone else’s opinions of me. Who even are you, then, if you’re constantly giving pieces of yourself away.”

Very short and sweet, it was a lovely novel to read. It has a great potential to be made into a movie, and I hope to one day see it on the big screen, and take credit for the idea. (just kidding) 🙂

“Akira Kurosawa was the first director to use slow motion as a turning point in his movie Seven Samurai. Somehow, he figured out before anyone else that there are moments in life when time slows down just long enough for you to realise that nothing will be the same once it speeds up again.”

It gave me a Nicholas Sparks vibe from “The Last Song”. I would definitely recommend it if you are a teen/YA romance fan, and especially if you are a fan of the “friends to lovers” trope.

About The Author:

I Wish You Would by Eva Des Louriers [BOOK REVIEW]

Eva Des Lauriers is a California girl who became a diehard romantic when she married her best friend, the boy she sat next to in eleventh grade Calculus. She holds both an MSW and BA in Psychology. As a clinical social worker, she had the privilege of working with the vibrant and complicated teens for whom she now writes. When she isn’t writing, you can find her wandering through the redwoods, staring at the sea, or pretending she’s in a music video. She lives with her husband, their two children, and her collection of kissing books in Northern California.

Author Website

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January 2021 - Monthly Book Wrap Up January 2021 – Monthly Book Wrap Up
Books · Monthly Tags

January 2021 – Monthly Book Wrap Up

innah9610 Comments
January 2021 - Monthly Book Wrap Up

Welcome to the January Book Wrap Up!

I can’t believe that January is gone and it’s time for a January Wrap Up. To be quite honest, it doesn’t feel like 2020 is over yet. I don’t feel like we are now in a new year. However, I’m quite excited to see what February has to bring.

Rating Stats

I read 7 books in total. I ended up giving 1 5-star rating, 5 4-star ratings and 1 3-star rating.

Books I read in January:

~ To read my book reviews – click on the book titles! 🙂

✨ 1. Last One to Die by Cynthia Murphy – ★★★★★

A girl moves to London, and some girls she meets end up attacked and murdered. When she realises that they all look a lot like her, she knows she’s in danger as well.

If you love YA thrillers, with horror elements and supernatural moments, don’t miss this one. This trope is now on my books. It might even be my favorite genre if my next reads are good as well. Cynthia Murphy as an author is also now on my list. I will make sure to read the next book she writes! I couldn’t recommend it enough!

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 2. Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent – ★★★★

Three brothers, and one of them is now dead. Through the years they were all rivals, and now we get to know their secrets, and why one of them was murdered.

Our Little Cruelties is the perfect thriller to make you wonder how dysfunctional your family is. It is gripping and dark from the very first pages, and keeps this atmosphere until the very end. I loved it and I definitely suggest you pick it up.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 3. Keeper by Jessica Moor – ★★★★

When a body of a woman is found dead in a river, the police assumes it’s a suicide. But the women from the refuge center where she worked think it’s a murder. A thriller about a crime investigation, and domestic violence victims.

Beautiful fast-paced thriller that you can’t put down, with amazing plot twists and topics so unfortunately common and infuriating! I definitely recommend it, you won’t be able to forget Keeper easily.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 4. The Push by Ashley Audrain – ★★★★

When Blythe has her first child, she hopes history won’t repeat itself and she gives Violet all the love! But something is not right and Blythe is the only one that can notice. When even her husband doesn’t believe her, and awful things start happening, her whole life is in jeopardy. Blythe will try anything to save her marriage, and get Violet to love her…

I stayed up all night, flipping pages and I loved that! The short chapters and the many plot twists are what made The Push unputdownable for me. The Push was a very interesting and dark psychological thriller. Extremely fast-paced and full of plot twists. If you are looking for something to keep you on your toes, look no further.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 5. The Glass House by Eve Chase – ★★★

The Glass House tells a lovely tale about how secrets can connect two completely different families. And also how fate can reunite them. Written in two different timelines and different characters, we slowly uncover all the secrets people have kept over the years.

The Glass House was a very good book, and I enjoyed it a lot. However, it lacked some mystery elements, which was the main reason I picked it up. I still enjoyed the family drama and secrets element, but it lacked suspense, and I could predict all the plot twists. The writing was beautiful though, and it kept me entertained until I finished it.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 6. Badass Habits by Jen Sincero – ★★★★

If you want to form new badass habits, or replace your old bad habits, this is definitely the book you need! Through a step-by-step guide over 21 days, you will be in a completely different mindset and will be ready to tackle anything coming your way.

I only went in with the intention to start drinking water more consistently, and I managed to achieve so much more! I feel like a completely different person and a much healthier one.

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

✨ 7. We Played With Fire by Catherine Barter – ★★★★

Maggie has witnessed impossible things. But no one believes her, and now her family has taken her away to spend the winter upstate in a remote, freezing farmhouse.

Bored and angry, Maggie and her younger sister Kate start to play tricks: rapping on the floorboards above their parents’ bedroom, cracking their toes under the table, and telling tales about noises in the night. Then the house starts to make sounds of its own. Neither Maggie nor Kate can explain it, but it seems as though someone – or something – is trying to speak to them…

The perfect eerie book to give you the shivers and transport you to a 19th century. Imagine an old house full of candles and knocking sounds coming out of nowhere. If you love horror and ghost stories of the past, pick up We Played With Fire today!

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK | Amazon US

And that is my January Wrap up! How was your January Wrap Up? How many books did you read? Let me know! I love reading your comments! 

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www wednesdays tag www wednesday blog book blog diary of difference WWW Wednesday – 4th November 2020
Books · WWW Wednesday Tag

WWW Wednesday – 4th November 2020

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WWW Wednesdays (3)

WWW Wednesday – 4th November edition. The first week of November is going well for me, and hoping for even better one next week.

WWW Wednesday is a weekly tag revived by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. It’s quite simple. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to this week’s edition – the first Wednesday in November!

The Three W’s are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?


I am currently reading Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley. This week, I am part of the TandemCollective bookstagram readalong, and it’s ending tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, I am currently enjoying it a lot – it’s very eerie and spooky, but in a very slow, but intense way. I keep having that feeling when your stomach slowly twirls. It’s amazing, and I can’t wait to see how it finally ends!

Synopsis:

The worst thing possible has happened. Richard and Juliette Willoughby’s son, Ewan, has died suddenly at the age of five. Starve Acre, their house by the moors, was to be full of life, but is now a haunted place.

Juliette, convinced Ewan still lives there in some form, seeks the help of the Beacons, a seemingly benevolent group of occultists. Richard, to try and keep the boy out of his mind, has turned his attention to the field opposite the house, where he patiently digs the barren dirt in search of a legendary oak tree.

Starve Acre is a devastating new novel by the author of the prize-winning bestseller The Loney. It is a novel about the way in which grief splits the world in two and how, in searching for hope, we can so easily unearth horror. 

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

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What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke and wow, this book is so emotional and wholesome! My full review will be up in a few days on the blog, so keep an eye out for it. I read this book so fast, and I loved it so much!

Synopsis:

The secret a mother was forbidden to share . . . the consequences a daughter could not redeem—but will risk everything in her attempt.

All her life, Hannah Sterling longed for a close relationship with her estranged mother. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah unlocks secrets of her mother’s mysterious past, including the discovery of a grandfather living in Germany.

Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father, ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, demands a marriage for his daughter to help advance his career. But Lieselotte is in love—and her beloved Lukas secretly works against the Reich. How far will her father go to achieve his goal?

Both Hannah’s and Lieselotte’s stories unfold as Hannah travels to Germany to meet her grandfather, who hides wartime secrets of his own. Longing for connection, yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family’s tragic past, and how their legacy will shape her future.

Purchase Links:
| Amazon UK |Amazon US |

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What do you think you’ll read next?

I think I’ll be starting The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls next. It is a book I really want to read, and it came alongside some goodies, that I have to admit, I am very eager to open and see what they will unravel. I will be sharing this experience on my Instagram Stories, so keep an eye for that.

Purchase Links:
 Amazon UK

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How does your WWW Wednesday looks like? Was your first Wednesday in November productive?

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