Published: 7th May 2019 (6th June 2019 UK Paperback)
Source: Netgalley/Purchased
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
My Rating:
From the bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient.Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, not big, important emotions - like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better - that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly refuses to consider a relationship, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. So when the opportunity arises to go to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down. This could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go quite as planned. Esme's lessons in love seem to be working... but only on herself. She's hopelessly smitten with a man who's convinced he can never return her affection.As Esme's time in the United States dwindles, will Khai let his head catch up with his heart? Will he find the strength to let go, and let love in?
The Bride Test was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. After reading (and loving) The Kiss Quotient I couldn’t wait to see what Helen Hoang had in store for us next and I am pleased to say this book was so so good. I didn't think Helen Hoang could beat The Kiss Quotient, I was actually scared this may book may suffer from the sophomore slump but it was utterly brilliant. I'd been excited to learn this second book would be Khai's book as he was an utter sweetheart and I wanted his HEA but I don't think anything could have prepared me for this book.
The basic premise is Khai’s mom goes and interviews potential wives for him in Vietnam as he has shown no interest in finding a wife (or even girlfriend) for himself. She luckily comes across My and pays for her to travel to the US and to complete a trial as Khai’s girlfriend and try and convince him to marry her.
I know, it sounds like we shouldn’t like it. That is the premise. But turns out it is genius. My (who changes her name to Esme, short for Esmerelda, when she goes to the US) was someone I was a little uncertain of at first meeting her. I admired how hardworking she was and how she was wary of accepting an offer from a strange, rich lady to travel to the US as a mail-order bride of sorts. She didn’t want to accept something which seemed too easy, so when she changed her name, her outfit, and began to act almost opposite to how she had first appeared I was scared she would lose all sense of self in the US. I was utterly wrong and Esme charmed all over again with how nice and hardworking she was and how she never once judged Khai, maybe because she had no idea others would in her situation. She knew nothing of Khai’s autism and even when she did learn of it not once was she critical of him, she simply acknowledged it as another facet of who he was and I adored that.
Esme was strong-willed and always wished to succeed by herself and it was so believable her path to find her place in the US not defined by Khai but instead for herself. There were so many roadblocks stopping her, even more now with the new administration in place in the US who wish to prevent people from coming in. And although she had a major inferiority complex she did not deserve as she was awe-inspiring at how hard she worked at absolutely everything, she never became downtrodden. It was very interesting how she was comparing herself to people at home and in the US. She had a US father she never met so she was mixed race and this mixed heritage left her very conflicted. She was not like those she grew up with, she viewed herself as having large hands and being ugly, but then when she saw women in the US she was nothing like them either. It was very interesting seeing her look at this new side of her heritage she had never seen and feeling she did not fit there as well. She continually felt out of place and this led to her quest to find her father, which was a brilliant side story which may have not developed quite as I expected but really enjoyed.
I could write pages on my love for Esme and how her character grew and developed. I know I said I was excited about Khai’s story but I couldn’t help but feel that this book was far more Esme’s than anyone else's as she struggled to find her place and a home she belonged to. She broke my heart and made me feel like a total slacker with the amount of work she did each and every day and still she felt like she fell short. I swear, on some pages I wish I could have climbed in and shaken some people. Esme needed protecting!
And now I feel I should talk about Khai as I did say this was his book. I think part i loved most about Khai’s story was how his autism was represented. We had autism written in a new light for The Kiss Quotient as the way women present can be very different to men, but then Khai himself presents differently to how someone else might. I think I really admired how Hoang showed the nuances of it and how he experienced it. He himself knew he was autistic and brushed off many of his personality quirks as just being his autism and as he got to know Esme and explained things to her I think he learnt new things about himself I really admired. Khai was extremely successful in running a company that made money and worked for him. He did not have a massive social circle but he had friends and family and was not incapable of social interaction, he just did not interpret all social cues and tBut it was just as much Esme's. Many might say Khai didn't come across as autistic but then many would have said the same thing about Stella in The Kiss Quotient. I really appreciate how Helen Hoang shows autism is not one set of rules. Each person has a different experience and she shows that here. In many ways, Khai is extremely successful. He uses his intelligence to run a successful company and plays to his strengths. He is not incapable of social interaction he just prefers not to. He processes some emotional things differently and he is adverse to touch. Especially a gentle touch. He has his own boundaries he has when it comes to touch. There was an amazing scene when we first more about his preferences with touch when Esme offers to cut his hair. I knew I was going to adore Esme and Khai together as he made himself vulnerable and explained he was averse to a gentle touch like a soft brush of his hair and she tested different pressures to get it right. It was such a simple scene and could have easily been overlooked but I was a goner then.
Their romance was spectacular. As they grew closer (even when Khai didn't want to) I was cheering as they were so sweet and they had so much chemistry. I was so fully invested in everything that happened. This pair had me cheering when things were going well and broke my heart and had me crying at their lows. It was a complete rollercoaster and didn't even want to put this book down to work.
I didn't think she could beat The Kiss Quotient for me but The Bride Test was just as good if not better. Now I just want to know what Helen Hoang will write next?
Have you read this and did you enjoy it? What were some of your favourite moments?
Teach Me – Olivia Dade
Published: 30th March 2019
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
My Rating:
Their lesson plans didn't include love. But that's about to change...
When Martin Krause arrives at Rose Owens's high school, she's determined to remain chilly with her new colleague. Unfriendly? Maybe. Understandable? Yes, since a loathsome administrator gave Rose's beloved world history classes to Martin, knowing it would hurt her.
But keeping her distance from a man as warm and kind as Martin will prove challenging, even for a stubborn, guarded ice queen. Especially when she begins to see him for what he truly is: a man who's never been taught his own value. Martin could use a good teacher--and luckily, Rose is the best.
Rose has her own lessons--about trust, about vulnerability, about her past--to learn. And over the course of a single school year, the two of them will find out just how hot it can get when an ice queen melts.
I first saw this book on Twitter. I saw this book being talked about by some authors whose books I love on Twitter and so it was on my TBR. And then I saw in Netgalley and thought ‘why not’ I gave it a shot and requested and I got approved like same day! It was insane and decided to instantly start reading.
All I knew going in was that it involved teachers and this fell into the ‘seasoned romance’ category and we all know it’s rare to have a romance with characters outside of their 30s. And I loved seeing these more mature characters have a second chance at love. Both were divorced and each had their issues, but they each deserved a chance to be happy.
Rose is a wonder. She is a teacher at a high school, practically an institution she’s been there for a long while and her long service means she has gotten to know her students and has a system. She has her very own classroom, she has gotten used to the lessons she gets to teach and she is incredibly happy. And Martin puts a wrinkle in that because he is messing with her system and he doesn’t even know it. He just knows he is at a new school hoping to be closer to his daughter and have a chance to teach history, a subject he loves. He is fresh off of a divorce and romance is the last thing on his mind. He arrives and is sharing Rose’s classroom and views her as a bit of an ice queen, but he sees beyond that. He knows there is more to it and he gets he’s interrupting her routine and soon learns he is stopping her from helping students who she loves.
I don’t want to reveal too much because this book is just so wonderful and I want you guys to experience it for yourselves. Martin was such a sweetheart. He is struggling to move on from a divorce where, towards the end, it was continually drilled home that he was boring and had no sense of humour. It brought up old demons and meeting Rose both brings that all back, but also helps him move forward and learn he is hilarious with his dry sense of humour. He is sharp and witty and he is such a good guy and sometimes in romance that can be boring, but he is anything but. And Rose? She is a woman who has been beaten down a lot. She has been told she isn’t good enough and told to change and she has worked harder than most to make it. She is thrown off by the arrival of Martin and some would hate him, but she can’t when it’s not his fault and he is a genuinely nice guy. They have some excellent banter as they get to know each other and when they hit bumps in the road? They talk and they are (mostly) mature.
My only grumble about this book? I didn’t get the US school system! Like, what are honors and AP classes? What’s the difference? Why was it so important Rose teach one to be able to get students onto the other? I didn’t get it and that almost threw me out of the book. But once the school talk was over, I was totally there for this book.
Have you read this book? And have you read any romance with older MCs you want to recommend?
It’s another Sunday Summary I’m writing up late because I’ve had no motivation to blog. Well, no, that’s a lie. I’ve had the motivation to blog, but usually at times when I have no access to my computer. Give me another week I’ll catch up on blog reading/writing/commenting. The whole shebang.
Anyway, you’ll all be thrilled to hear the kitchen is finished… or the building part of it is. It still needs to be painted but that will be easy compared to everything else. We have a washing machine and a sink and a cooker! I’m excited and I can’t wait to be doing proper food again. I’ve even felt inspired to start doing overnight oats for my breakfast again (not that they involve any cooking, but it’s better than some of the breakfasts I have for work). I’m also contemplating doing me a tasty breakfast this fine Sunday morning… but I also might just eat cereal and have a cup of coffee instead.
Anyway, it was back to work this week for me. Sad times, but it felt like I hadn't seen people in ages! It was good to catch up and remember why some of the people I work with are just the best. It’s nice to actually be (mostly) happy to be at work. But that could just be in comparison to last week I’m not bored out of my mind and am actually doing something.
I wish I could say I’ve had an exciting week… but honestly, I haven’t. I have been so boring. I did get my haircut, though! I am so impressed with myself, I didn’t wait six months like I usually do. I still hate the hairdressers, but this time around the woman remembered me, which was nice. I could kind of understand why people don’t mind the hairdressers.
I’ve spent this week being determined to clear my shelves. I’ve become brutal with DNF-ing books and even ones I finish are going to the giveaway pile. Also, I need to get rid of my pile of books I don’t want anymore. I keep thinking maybe I should put them on twitter but I didn’t have the best luck when I did that last time. I was going to put them in the charity bag but seems like too many books and I can’t send my ARCS. And what about the signed books? Someone might want those! So I’m stuck with what to do because I’m too lazy to become a book selling genius.
What I’ve Been Reading
I’ve had a mixed bag of a reading week this week. I really enjoyed A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, it was a good YA mystery that had me hooked from the very first page. Definitely check it out if that’s your kind of thing. I DNF-ed Sisters Red after a couple of chapters. Empress of all Seasons was a decent read, I liked the final message of the book… but definitely wasn’t for me. I’ve now got a signed Illumicrate copy to send off to a good home. I closed the week with Vicious and it was a definite favourite. It was so good, I forgot how good it was.
New To Me
Just one book purchased this week. I told you I was being good. I am conquering the TBR guys! I even resisted some Netgalley requests because my will is strong and I can treat myself to more book in NYC this way. And this is a tome, so when it was going cheap (under £2) on Kindle for one day only, I jumped at the chance to have a kindle copy. I’d appreciate the arm exercises but not lifting that much weight.
And that is my week. Any hints or tips for either conquering my TBR or ridding myself of my no longer wanted books?
Source: Purchased
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
My Rating:
A contemporary young adult novel by Emma Mills about a girl whose high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dreamleads her to new friends--and maybe even new love.
When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year.
Smart, funny, and thoroughly, wonderfully flawed, Claudia navigates a world of intense friendships and tentative romance in Foolish Hearts, a YA novel about expanding your horizons, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and accepting--and loving--people for who they really are.
Is it too soon to count an author as a favourite after reading just two books from them? No? Cool, then Emma Mills is a favourite. I just need to get to rest of her releases… which is basically her first and last book. I visited the middle children first.
Anyone who follows my blog will know that I don’t read as much YA anymore. Like with all book lately I have to be in exactly the right mood otherwise I hate it. The life of a mood reader is hard. It’s fine, though, it just means that whilst I’ve been in the YA mood I’ve totally been loving those books I have been reading. Anyway, Foolish Hearts was brilliant, and Emma Mills just gets what I want to read. She writes characters I connected with almost immediately and this is a firm favourite.
The book opens with Claudia at a party thrown by a rich girl at her school (because all the girls she goes to school with are from rich families) and she is feeling out of place. She is not rich and she is not really friends with any of them and I could totally relate. I hate going to things where I don’t have a close friend with me and, like Claudia, I end up disappearing off and spending a lot of time on the phone. Unfortunately for her, she ends up being in a bathroom and on the other side of the door she hears a couple breaking up. The cutest couple of her school and neither girl in the breakup is happy to have been overheard in such a personal moment, especially when one half of that couple is Iris, an angry girl who everyone is a little scared of. Obviously, Claudia is thrown together with Iris at school and the best story happens.
Anyway, this book is all about character growth and appearances not being everything. Claudia found the girls she had gone to school with weren’t who she thought they were from a distance. But neither was her best friend and family. She had to learn to grow and move forward.
I can’t forget to talk about Gideon, our love interest either. He was Claudia’s friend before anything else, but he was also the love interest. He was utterly adorable. I just wanted to pop him into my pocket and keep him safe from the world. He was so cute and charming and his determination to win Claudia over (even though she was pretty oblivious a lot of the time) was so good.
And I haven’t even mentioned how Claudia plays an MMORPG with her BFF and family! Look, I love when any book involves gaming and fan type things in it and we actually get both in this because Iris is a total fangirl for a boyband as well. But I thought it so cute that Claudia gets her family time by game playing. And it was totally cool how much the game was important in the book. I love gaming and I love characters who game too!
Look, I loved this book. It had so much going on considering it’s not that long when you think about it. There was so much going on and honestly, you should just check it out because this hot mess of a review is going to convince no one.
Source: Purchased
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
My Rating:
Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best-friends-turned-worst-enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern-day version of the Montagues and Capulets. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to try to make their way to safety. But as the two travel deeper into the rugged Californian countryside, secrets and hidden feelings surface. Soon it's not simply a matter of enduring each other’s company, but taming their growing feelings for each other.
Whenever I read a Jenn Bennett book I'm filled with utter joy. She writes such utterly fantastic books and I enjoyed every page.
I don't know why I waited to read this book. It's been on my shelf since the book was released and to my shame, I did not read it sooner (I know, I literally always do this). It was an absolutely stunning journey. I was filled with some doubts at first, Zorie was so regimented and a little judgey and I questioned if I was going to like her. She grew on me, though, as I got to know her and everything that had happened in the past year.
She ends up camping with Reagan, a girl I hated from the first time I met her. Although maybe hate is a strong word. I disliked Reagan because I knew she was shady. Anyway, Zorie gets roped into a camping trip with Reagan thinking it would be glamping and a girls trip. Turns out Reagan invited a few guys and it wasn't all going to be at the crazy expensive glamping compound, but they planned a trek to some secret falls. Zorie isn't happy about going off plan (and maybe missing out on a star party with her friends) but going off plan for a summer adventure can't be bad, right? And she has a plan to get from the camping to the star party so she doesn't miss the Perseid meteor shower. She has it all planned out... and then her enemy (and former best friend) Lennon ends up being on the trip too and everything goes to pot.
Lennon was a strange one. I knew I was going to like him, he had a wry sense of humour and he was a little hot-headed. And he seemed like a genuinely nice kid so I knew there was more to the great divide between former BFFs Lennon and Zorie. I was excited for him to be the surprise extra guest on this camping trip. And really everything got crazy from there. Secrets came out and arguments were had. Teens made bad decisions (although, bad decisions are not always exclusive to teenagers) and it led Zorie on the most unexpected adventures. Abandoned in the woods Zorie and Lennon have to figure out how to get back to civilisation... or the place where Zorie was meant to meet with her friend anyway. It's at this point the book got really good.
I won't reveal any more but it's safe to say they had quite an adventure and many secrets were revealed. And it's during their hiking/camping journey that I had the most fun. I actually really wanted to go camping after reading this and if you know me that is saying a lot, I hate the outdoors. Like, a lot. And I loved seeing why Zorie and Lennon were friends in the first place. They had so much history and that's not easy to forget. And once everything was out in the open and they could be honest with each other? Well, they had a whole heap of chemistry that never truly got to be seen until then and damn it was good.
I liked that there was a whole lot of other story going on in this book too. The biggest one being what makes someone a parent? Zorie's parents are going through some troubles and the things she's found out? Well, that's going to have a lot of fallout. But her mom? She calls her mom, anyway, and she is her parent for all intents and purposes but she is actually her dad's second wife as her bio mom died when she was young. And if anything happens, what happens to Zorie? It was very intense and I was nervous for her, I really was.
Basically, this book was awesome. I loved it and am so glad I read it when I did.
Source: Purchased
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
My Rating:
Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait—for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster—all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.
The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster.
There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.
There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo.
Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractingly…cute.
Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.
The final book for this is probably the one I rated the lowest… but that’s still only 4 stars so not all that low. It was different from the other two. It took place over a couple of days and I usually hate books like that… but it worked. This also wasn’t a romance. This was all about family and I loved it for that, but definitely not what I expected. It was so much fun seeing this large group of siblings all gathered together for their sister's wedding.
Charlie was the youngest, and the only child in the Grant family left at home. She is heading to college at the end of the year and hasn't had all of her siblings gathered together in one house for a long while so it's safe to say she was excited. She had her own ideas of how the weekend of her sister’s wedding weekend would go with her family all gathered together for the first time in ages. So you know it all goes wrong and in the best way to make it fun to read.
Over the course of the book, you get to know her siblings, Danny, JJ, Mike and Linnie, and the rest of her family too. It was a chaotic weekend of endings and new beginnings and over the course of the book, Charlie opens her eyes to her family. It's so easy to not see your family as they truly are, especially as the youngest sibling. When you're younger sometimes family feels like they need to protect you and then you have rose coloured glasses on when it comes to your family. Finally, Charlie begins to truly see some of her family and not all of the revelations are welcome, but they are necessary
This book is all about growing up really and it was nice to see that even though Charlie's siblings were older than her, they also needed to do some growing up, but also were young at heart. From late night capture the flag to giggling fits (which we all know are catching) on live TV. They all were still young at heart and being in the family home brought at the side that Charlie can still remember from when she was young. I liked that they all of them they had growing up to do and some of them did it in the book, and others you know had that growth to come.
I won't reveal all as they are some surprises (which aren't all that surprising) but it was such a good book all about family and how family changes with time but they are always there for you. I really enjoyed it and it reminded me that Morgan Matson always writes books which touch you.
Have you read any of these? Isn’t it great when you find some awesome books you weren’t expecting to read any time soon?
It’s Sunday already? My days have blurred this past week. I’ve had the week off to sit around waiting for the builders to do the kitchen and so I have been so confused about what day we’re on. It’s partially why this post is up late, I’m writing this up on a Sunday which I never do. But I didn’t even totally realise it was Sunday. I both love and hate that feeling of your days blurring together and losing what day you’re on when you’re on holiday. It reminds me of school when you'd have the summer holidays and you would totally lose track and then suddenly it was time to go back to school.
Anyway, enough of that. This week has been a slow one. Like I said, I’ve been at home with the builders doing our kitchen. We know have cupboards in our kitchen! But still no electric and no oven in sight. It should all be over next week and they don’t have that much work left to do. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for mid-week next week but I could also see it being Friday. Sadly, I won’t be here for the last part, I’m back off to work next week and there is a small feeling of dread there, I’m not going to lie.
I’ve liked how relaxing it’s been, even if I’ve done a whole heap of nothing this week. I’ve barely left the house and it’s pretty extreme for me to say I was going a little stir crazy but I have been. I saw a friend Thursday night and we were literally hanging out at her house catching up and I decided a full face of makeup was needed because it had been days since I’d been out. And Friday someone else was home so I was so excited about getting to leave the house! I went shopping to our local shopping centre so I could feel like I’d done stuff. It was so nice but I probably spent a little too much money. Oh well.
What I’ve Been Reading
I got approved for Teach Me on Netgalley and pretty much immediately started reading and I have no regrets, a definite favourite of this week. I ended up DNF-ing A Girl Like Her straight after, though. I got 20% of the way in and was just confused where the story was. The characters were ok but there was no plot developing. I am determined to try again with another book by Talia Hibbert, but sadly A Girl Like Her didn’t work for me. I did love Luna and the Lie, though. I’ve had the latest Mariana Zapata on my Kindle for a little while so very excited to finally have a week off of work and the chance to just read all day if I wanted to. So I did. After reading Teach Me I’d done some hunting for more so-called ‘seasoned romance’ and came across Love Game. I was trying not to buy new books but after the sample, I wanted to read and let me say it was definitely good. I’ll need to continue the series. And finally, I am now reading Lethal White. Yes, very different from the romance run I’ve just had but I figured might as well read a heavy hardback while I’m not at work and I figured I should try and catch up on the series.
New To Me
I’ve already talked about two of these books, but A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was an impulse supermarket buy when I was all excited at the chance to leave the house. I think that book was the sign I wanted something a little different, the mystery element made me want to buy and I couldn’t resist. I’ll try and read in the next couple of weeks and then I can always send it on to a better home.
And that was my week, have you done anything exciting? What good books are you buying and reading lately?
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