Hi all and I have returned to a Sunday! or at least, I’m attempting to occasionally pop in on a Sunday because I like our little catch ups. I planned to pop back last weekend but life… the world… good books got in the way. It’s the eternal struggle of a blogger I suppose.
Anyway, how have you all been? You can fill me in on any excitement in the comments. I wish I could say I’ve got excitement to fill you guys in but I’m stuck in the January slump of not wanting to spend money after the excessive spending in the run-up to Christmas. I’m also attempting to get organised and be a proper grown up this year which means making plans, not spending like crazy and trying to plan for the future. It’s all very boring and all I really want to think about is where to go on holiday this year? I feel like all I want to do is shop and eat on this holiday so suggestions for good locations will always be appreciated. I’m sort of tempted to convince my mom to go back to NYC with me but is it too soon to return? I didn’t see whole chunks of the city after all.
The theme of the past week has been the boredom of work, trying to catch up with friends and making plans for cocktails. It’s been exciting, and I think the talk of cocktails has probably been the thing which has been getting me through the week and I don’t even get rewarded with them until next weekend! They will be homemade cocktails so wish me luck because that could go horribly wrong. It’ll be fun though because I feel like the past few times I’ve seen friends it’s been way too serious, it’ll be nice just be silly and have a laugh and curl up in my bed afterwards with a slightly sore head the next day.
I’ve been struck with the lurgy this week. It came on all of a sudden with a cough, a blocked nose and a sore throat so I’ve also been roaming around feeling sorry for myself as I wake myself up each night coughing. It came on all of a sudden though so I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll shift it just as fast. I am not very good at not being well and then I start complaining worse than folks with man flu. It’s embarrassing really but you know I don’t actually feel that bad if I’m complaining, it’s when I’m quiet folks should get concerned.
The only other exciting thing happening lately is I’ve started watching Luther and I don’t know why I waited so long to start this series. I am in love with Idris Elba already and I am loving all the shades of grey this show is putting me through. I love morally grey characters it seems.
What I’ve Been Reading
These are the reads from the beginning of the year. I have to say, my reading year has been pretty good although I tried to pick up one ARC twice and didn’t make it past the first page which I’m taking as a sign that it may need to be DNF-ed but I know I’ve not given it a fair chance so third time will either be the charm or the last nail in the coffin for that.
Anyway, I began my year continuing my reread of Act Like It because I did not finish before the end of 2018 and I adored every page. I read a physical copy which I always feel a little awkward over because I bought it used (why were more copies of that book not publisher?) but my copy is signed with a personalised message which is not to me. I feel a little sad for whoever it belonged to every time. I then read Trust the Wolf which I was sent by the lovely Zoe Ashwood and I’ve spent a lot of time stewing on my thoughts after finishing and I can now safely say I enjoyed it a lot and cannot wait for the next book. I’ll write a full review on that soon. I had another hit in the form of Next Year in Havana (why were you not throwing that book at me to read?) and then I read The One You Fight For which was also amazing and now I’m reading a freebie read of Last Good Man. It’s a little OTT and I’ve noticed one continuity issue as I swear a ring was put on the right hand but I’ve just read that it’s now on the left but I really am enjoying it all the same. It’s some serious hate to love going on.
The star of the last two weeks is definitely Next Year in Havana but damn I’ve had an excellent start to the year.
New To Me
I’ve been quite strict with myself on the book buying front. I mean, one of these books was a preorder and two were freebies. That is not bad really. I’m also attempting to do a new thing of reading the first few pages if there’s a sampler for a book before buying because I never do that and sometimes I end up with a book where the writing style is totally not me and I question what on earth I was thinking. Smoke & Summons was my Kindle First book and I joined the Romance Read-of-the-Month Club which was emailed about in Sarina Bowen’s newsletter last month, but the first freebie was The Beach Wedding which is only a short read so I figured why not? As for the other three? Well they were obviously on the must buy list, I had The One You Fight For preordered and I thought I’d pre-ordered Best of Luck but obviously hadn’t so picked up a copy.
I also got a couple of ARCs and free copies. I was thrilled to get a finished copy of The Wicked King but I kind of want to reread The Cruel Prince before starting it. I also got approved for a copy of Serious Moonlight (I actually prefer the UK cover on this one) and way back when I saw Nick talk about Appetites & Vices so I requested an arc and I got approved like a month later. Go me!
And that is my time lately. What have you been up to? Any good books? And seriously, suggestions for holiday destinations would be appreciated because I am a terrible decision maker.
Ruthless King (Kings of Rittenhouse #3) – Maya Hughes
Published: 10th January 2019Source: Review Copy Author
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
My Rating:
My dick never got me in half as much trouble as my heart...
We were high school sweethearts. I was head over heels for her and no one could tell me we weren’t going to last forever. College? Going pro? My family’s money? None of it mattered. She was all I needed.
Then she ripped my heart out. But I’m not going to let that happen again.
She’s back. Invading my life and acting like she was the wronged one. The pain is still there, but I can’t keep my eyes off her. I can’t stop thinking about her and how much was left unsaid between us. Being this close is making me question everything I thought I knew about her.
This time everything will be on my terms. Everything…
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I received an email about this book and it is rather different to my romance reading of late, but as soon as I read the summary I was tempted. That alone has me thinking of books I’ve read in the past and I couldn’t help but accept and agree to review. I haven’t read a new adult book like this one in a good long while. I started with new adult romance when I was making my entrance into the romance world because I was fed up of reading about YA characters who felt immature to me and could relate to NA characters far more. I still have such a soft spot for them because really you don’t forget your first romances, do you? Sure, I’d read the chick lit which used to be popular in the UK but I’d never classed myself as a romance reader until I began reading NA and sports romance a while back. The rest, they say, is history.
From the first page, this book had me feeling nostalgic. It opens with Emmett, our male lead, kicking someone out of his apartment showcasing all the signs of being a rich boy with no feelings. I mean, he should come across utterly unlikable because he obviously sounds like he gets through many women and he’s overly privileged but then he reveals his inner man pain and boy do I want to know how some girl broke his heart from there. (Also, as a side note I would like it known that in real life it is never acceptable to treat people badly because you had your heart broken, he would get a strong talking to and get told not to be a dickhead if this was reality.) Basically, Emmett acts like a massive dickhead through a lot of this book and I did question how he was even allowed and wanted to punch him several times… but I also wanted him to find out the truth and get back with Avery because in the flashbacks to the best he seemed pretty adorable. I did also want to take all of this money away because the dude seriously tried to control folks with money without even realising it. Not in a bad way… but he tried to pay for everything to kind of make his friends owe him… which also sounds bad when I put it like that. Honestly, the last part of the book (apart from a couple of times when I shouted use your words at him) he wasn’t all that bad and he became a total sweetheart again. He was going through a dickhead recovery period.
And then there is Avery who is obviously the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who dated the rich, popular guy in school before a thing happened which made him hate her for years. Seriously, this book is hella dramatic and I loved it! Anyway, I’m sure you can guess some of the things which occurred when I say the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, right? Obviously, family was involved on both sides to create added drama which was fun to read. Avery is your typical good, kind, hardworking woman who has spent her years since high school ended working all hours (which she also did whilst at school too, the girl had a work ethic we could all do with having). She has worked hard to make sure her sister is well fed and can have any opportunity she wished for so she didn’t have to struggle as Avery did and finally her sister has graduated and the book starts with Avery looking to her future… except she doesn’t know what she wants in life. She inevitably ends up going to the summer cottage Emmett and his friends have rented because Emmett was meant to have pulled out. All kinds of fun things happen with those two stuck in the same house together and seriously have to read for all the drama. Avery could be frustrating because none of this book would have happened if the girl hadn’t used her words from the very start, but I liked her all the same. She still hadn’t learnt the lesson in using her words, though. Why do folks in romance struggle with this?
This book was not original and the storyline has been seen before. I’m not going to lie to you on that. I mean the rich guy with a trust fund who used to be in love with the girl from the wrong side of the tracks? Yeah, we’ve all seen it before. And we all know the misunderstandings which will occur when they’re stuck together somewhere like a rented cottage at the beach with friends. It did have its moments of not necessarily surprising me, but it takes an unexpected turn. Maya Hughes took some well-known tropes and plot devices and made it so even when you can see the next turn in the story coming you don’t care because you’re having so much fun on the journey. Sure, I wanted to slap Avery upside the head for not being honest and Emmett was a massive dickhead at times using money to get his friends to do as he wanted them to and letting his parents act as they did, but I still liked both of them despite their flaws. They were flawed but I was fully invested in Emmett finally finding out the truth and realising that Avery’s only fault was she couldn’t be honest and trust him as much as she should and that he can be far too quick to jump to conclusions.
This was a book which shouldn’t have worked for me because I hate this level of drama and miscommunication but for some reason, I didn’t even care. I think half was the sense of nostalgia and the other half was that it was a well-written romance which I enjoyed reading. I do wish I’d read the other books in this series because the secondary characters were great and I feel like I would have appreciated their presence even more if I knew the backstory to the couples. The small glimpse you get into the next book in the series certainly has me excited to read that too. This was a lesson that sometimes reading a book in a genre you used to love can be the best thing because there is a reason you read so many of them.
Anyone else read this or any of the other book in the series? Have I missed out on a good story I need to go back and explore? And have you returned to a genre/category of book you used to love before?
It’s a well-established fact 2018 was a bad year for reading and blogging for me. I mean, it wasn’t terrible but it’s definitely not been the best year. So I made the decision that 2019’s goal would be simple.
2019 = No Pressure
I refuse to put too much stress or pressure on myself to do things a certain way in 2019. Blogging has always been a fun, easy, slightly creative outlet for me and it became really not fun towards the middle to end of 2018 when I was continually worrying I wasn’t blogging enough and felt like I was dropping the ball with blog hopping to replying to comments. That wasn’t fun and I think my time away has helped me remember that is the important part: having fun.
In keeping with my no pressure plan of blogging, I am not going to join a bunch of challenges. I have a few simple plans instead.
ARCS: Conquer the Backlist
Look, I have two pages of unread ARCs on Netgalley. Along with others I have received in the post and I want to read them already. They make me sad to look at and I wish my Netgalley feedback was higher so I am making a concerted effort to give each one a try within the first few months of this year. I will not necessarily commit to finishing them all but I am reading them to see if I am even interested in reading them and either way I will give polite feedback on there and show willing.
Embrace the DNF
I have never been hesitant about DNF-ing a book I’ve not been enjoying but, like a lot of readers I have seen, I seem to convince myself it’s me and maybe another day I’ll enjoy it more and never get rid of the damned thing. No more! I know me best, some books can be put aside due to mood but I know there are plenty of books which just don’t work for me and so I am going to stop lying to myself and admit defeat. Some books don’t work for me and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s sad but I know me best and DNF-ing is ok. I will let no one tell me otherwise.
No Reading/Blogging Challenges
I found reading challenges I wanted to join. There was a really cool one called All About the Trope where I was going to read all the fake dating romances… but I’m going to do that anyway so why join a challenge to add pressure on myself? And I wanted to try and do the Popsugar challenge because it looks really interesting this year, I mean one of the categories is reading a choose-your-own-adventure book which is awesome! And sure, I might see how far I can get in my own time but I’m not going to announce a commitment to doing it because I know my attention span. I’ll be bored of it in a week and it won’t get mentioned for the rest of the year. So down with the challenge!
That being said, I will be doing the Goodreads challenge.
Goodreads: 12 books
Yes, I have made my Goodreads goal as 12 because my theory is a book a month. Totally achievable and low pressure. It leaves me with the opportunity to DNF as much as I want and reread to my heart’s desire whilst still reading new books too.
Bullet Journal
On a personal note, I want to stick with bullet journaling. Mine got forgotten about in 2018 right around the third or so month of the year because I was in a slump and didn’t set aside 10 minutes to jot things down in there each day. I want to make a better effort of being organised with it. I enjoyed writing lists and keeping track of things like my reading and that in there. I’m hoping I can do that again this year and do it right.
***
And those are my goals for the new year. They aren’t grand plans and they aren’t overly challenging but they are mine. Do you have any goals and resolutions for this New Year? And are you pushing yourself to do something new or are yours more lowkey goals like mine?
I think it is well established that 2018 was the year of the slump. From reading slumps to blogging slumps and everything in between. So much like the Oxford English Dictionary has a word of the year, I am having a word of the year for blogging.
Slumping is horrible and I have definitely noticed it seems to be catching. Maybe it’s growing older (I’m 27, I’m not old! Don’t even try and claim it. I will fight you) or maybe it’s that my reading habits have changed. no longer do I stay up all hours getting that really good book in. Or maybe I have found those ‘omg don’t make me put it down’ books recently so I am reading differently. I don’t know what it is but the slump has ruled 2018 and I for one am glad to see the back of this year. I know 2017 ended on a way worse note for me personally but I really feel like 2018 kicked my ass and maybe it suffered in the aftermath of 2017. And don’t even get me started on what’s happened in the real world. Honestly, Brexit can suck it, I think politically the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I’d be concerned but honestly, I’ve lost all energy for it.
But now I’ve sat here all doom and gloom about it why don’t we look back on the good stuff of this year? Because 2018 has had plenty of good points. Honestly, when I’ve been slumping like mad I’ve not been sat at home miserable. I’ve been out having some fun stuff so it’s always good to remember this. I’m going to try and spend a few posts recapping it (whilst wishing I did a better job of using my bullet journal because it would have made this whole process so much easier) and let’s hope 2019 has a better theme to it.
Let's begin with a playlist for you guys. My 2018 music has been all over the place and the songs aren’t all new songs.
Non-Bookish Highlights
As you can see from the photo mix there were plenty of fun things going on. From an insane holiday to New York City (I want to go back so much) to finally going on the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I did things which are out of my comfort zone (I’m looking at you Monster bouncy castle obstacle course). I did something different had fun and honestly am so glad that 2018 wasn’t all bad. It’s always good to remember those little moments and this year had plenty of them. I laughed and I cried and this year kicked my ass with emotions (almost as bad as 2017 did) but it was a good year and there were a lot of laughs. Here’s hoping the same is true of 2019.
Film Highlights
There is quite a mix of films here and I feel like I’ve forgotten a few but these are the films I’ve been loving this year. I think 2018 was definitely the year where Hollywood got YA book films right. Fingers crossed the trend carries on and maybe a few romance books will get an equally good adaptation because romance in all it’s forms is what I need in my life.
TV Highlights
I’ve not been watching as much TV lately.. or I have but it’s been a case of me rewatching old favourites like Hart of Dixie and Bones. I do think these were the shows I most enjoyed though. Good Girls was so much fun watching this group of friends attempt a life of crime (and it was far more successful than if my friends and I attempted the same thing). The Haunting of Hill House had me on the edge of my seat the entire time because it was so addictive and way more emotional than you’d expect from a horror show. Happy was seriously trippy but hilarious. Like, it is mental. I don’t know if I can even really describe it but I loved this little 8 episode treasure. And finally, Jack Ryan. I mean, I watched for John Krasinski but I stayed because I was interested in the storyline. I am glad it’s been renewed because sometimes you just need a good action/thriller type show.
Gaming Highlights
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy gaming. I am terrible at most games and my short attention span means I have so many unfinished games lurking about but I don’t even care. I still enjoy playing them, though. The games which made my year are Detroit Become Human (because I love games where you can influence the ending). I finally moved on from Sims 2 and began playing Sims 4 and may now own all the expansions (because I can’t resist!) but I am loving it. From fame-hungry characters to my alien character which is trying to stealth his spawn into the human population. It’s awesome. Stardew Valley is a game I’d heard of long ago and never bought but then it came out on PS4 and I kind of convinced myself I needed it. I am now so invested in my little farm! From treasure hunting to raising animals. It’s amazing and weirdly addictive. And finally, there is the Spyro remake. They updated the graphics from the ground up and I am loving playing these games which I remember from my youth. Don't think of new games, remake old classics. Now I just need the Final Fantasy VII remake to have a release date already.
Bookish Highlights
As any reader will know, it’s hard to choose just one favourite, especially when this year I have managed to read so many good books. Sure, I feel like I’ve DNF-ed more than ever, but the books I have read and finished definitely felt like it included more of the good stuff. I suppose I finally embraced the concept of quality of quantity (although I would always be happy to read more, I’ve simply not been in that mindset lately).
As you can see, I’ve read a whole heap of romance this year and I’m totally cool with that. but I do have some other genres are thrown in, a couple of YA books and some fantasy. I’m hoping I can keep this mix of reading up and maybe even get rid of a few books on my shelves which are gathering dust because I’ve found some of my favourite books have been those I’ve owned for far too long without reading.
I’m not totally sure I’ve not forgotten something but if I have it’s too late now. This was my 2018 and I am pretty damn happy with it. What have some of your favourites this year been?
Source: Netgalley (But also purchased)
Genre: Historical Romance
My Rating:
She’s beautiful, rich, and reckless…
When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp’s entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honorable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England. Or the fact that he disapproves of everything she holds dear.
He’s supposedly the most boring politician in the House of Lords...
Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he’s always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he’s secretly in love confesses she’s at fault, it isn’t just his life that is shattered: it’s his heart.
They have a month to clear his name and convince society they are madly in love…
But when Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye—not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness—she finds herself falling for him.
There’s only one problem: he can’t forgive her for breaking his heart.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I decided to come out of hibernation to review this release (late). Please forgive me if it’s a terrible review but I both struggled to figure out how to explain why this book was so awesome (because what are words?) but also my review skills are a bit rusty, I’m brushing off cobwebs here.
I really enjoyed the debut release from Scarlett Peckham but had some grumbles (namely the big change in tone for the two halves of the book and a big is it cheating situation which occurred) but that being said I simply knew I /had to/ read the sequel, The Earl I Ruined. Not only because I'd liked the character of Constance in the first book (you just knew her mouth would get her in trouble one day) but also because fake relationships are absolute favourite romance trope ever seen. I cannot get enough of it and I most definitely wanted to see Constance meet her match with the likes of straight-laced Julian Haywood.
Constance is a bit of a gossip (I can totally relate to that because working in an office has ruined me and made me a total sucker for gossip) and although she promised her brother she would not gossip and spread rumours again (it did cause a little drama for her brother) she cannot help herself as she feels she is doing a favour for others. I did appreciate her sentiments. Women in this age have so little control over their lives. They must simply hope that they chaperoned meetings with a man mean he is who he pretends to be. It's only right and fair that she let others know when she finds that a man is not all that he appears. Her reasoning for it is sound as she herself had a terrible experience with a certain man I shall not name. Anyway, I digress, Constance is a gossip who gets herself into a touch of trouble when the gossip she has given to a few close friends falls into the wrong hands and ends up in a gossip column all can see and ruins the reputation of Julian Haywood. And she feels so guilty she proposes she redeem him by pretending to be engaged to him to enable him to claw back his good name and get everything he wanted (like his bill through parliament).
She though Julian was boring as he was always correcting her on her behaviour and actions and always seemed right and proper. And when she discovered he was a member of Charlotte Street even that she got the wrong impression on as well. Julian has been in love with Constance forever and so when he discovers that she is the one who ruined his rep his dreams are shattered as Constance was never interested in him and now he knows she doesn't care if she had no thought for how her gossip could ruin things for him. He acknowledges her help may be the only way to redeem his rep and get his plans through parliament to finally enable him to achieve his aims. Although he realises Constance may not be by his side as he had originally planned.
The pair fall into a false engagement to convince friends, family and parliament. They pretend they've had a long secret engagement and that the rumours are laughable. Sadly, the rumours are false but there is certainly more to Julian's story. I loved seeing this hate to love fake relationship develop. Julian was in love and now hates Constance and cannot stand this fake show they must out on when this is all he ever wanted. And for Constance Lord Bore is nothing like she expected and I loved her gradually learning more about what a kind and wonderful man he is.
Sparks flew throughout this romance and who can help but love Julian when he gifts Constance a dog who gets called Shrimpy (cute right) but not only that the man gifted her a dildo! And helped guide her to an orgasm. A man who cares for female pleasure above his own is always a win in my book. So I was utterly charmed by Julian as snippets of him came out. I already loved Constance but Julian was a slow burn love and I adored him.
This book did not suffer from the sophomore slump. It was more sophomore smashed it out the park. It was addictive and sexy and a stand out in the historical romance genre. Definitely check this out and I'll be sat here hoping we'll be seeing more of Charlotte Street soon.
Have you read Scarlett Peckham’s books? Aren’t they just lovely? And if you haven’t read them have I successfully enticed you to give this one a shot?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
Social Icons