Hi guys. Where has this week gone? I feel like it’s flown by in a blur of Legend of Zelda and sleeping. I mean, most weeks are a variation of this, but this one seemed more so somehow.
This week one of my best friends finally returned from her summer holiday (it felt like she had been gone forever) and it was so nice catching up with her Thursday. It felt like we didn’t stop talking and I admit I feel like my throat was getting a bit croaky towards the end. Three hours of solid talking is too much! I also finally managed to pin down some other friends and we’ve planned to catch up over food… in September. We really struggle to arrange a date that four of us can manage. But we have plans finally! Pretty sure we’ve not all met up together since February/March time. We are that bad! I’m excited both for the food, but also for us all to catch up. I foresee another epic chatting session where we’re all talked out by the end and questioning why it even takes us that long to meet up.
I still haven’t found the book to properly get me into the reading spirit. But I have finished a couple of books this week (after picking up and putting down several others). I also learnt one of the libraries I’m a member of has gotten Overdrive for its online lending library. Yep, I said one of them. I am this person who seems to join libraries all over the place just so I can get the online benefits and have the option of borrowing books if I need to. Don’t tell anyone! But I’ve finally got access to ebooks I’m actually interested in! It’s where the single book I’ve finished this week was found. I’ve got a million more books borrowed and let’s not forget audiobooks to entertain me when we’re sat around with very little work to do at work. Because yes I am still employed… but we still have no work. I’m looking at my options and we’ll see guys. We will see.
Like I said, it has been a dull week. I honestly have no stories to tell. I feel like I should but I got nothing.
What I’ve Been Reading
This week’s reading has been all romance (do you really expect anything less from me?) but I did really like both. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie has been on my to-buy list for a while but I just wasn’t willing to pay £6.49 for an ebook copy. Especially when I’d read nothing from the author before. You can imagine my excitement when I found it browsing the romance shelf on Overdrive and it was available. I read it in a single day and stayed up too late finishing it Sunday night. I then didn’t find another book to read until Saturday when I got Desire and the Deep Blue Sea and despite the short length I still took forever for me to finish. It was a book that proved Olivia Dade’s skill and reminded me why I’m glad I’ve discovered her writing.
New To Me
You’d think in a slump I’d be getting fewer books… but I don’t understand such concepts. I mean, I’m not including all the books I’ve borrowed and not read on Overdrive, but there are a few of them too. But I am including the ones I’ve got and read (or definitely plan to read). Obviously, you know I borrowed The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I also borrowed Dreaming of You (I had borrowed the first book in this series but it was part of the put down and couldn't get into it collection) and I plan to read Dreaming of You this weekend. And then there was the Harry Potter audiobook of Philosopher's Stone. I couldn't resist putting a request in just to see what the audio is like. It should be a quick listen at least. Then I purchased Desire and the Deep Blue Sea and The Day of the Duchess. I won’t include my Kindle Unlimited borrows either until I start them. But I have included two new requests on Netgalley… I have no self control and that 80% rating I got has been smashed to pieces by my reading slump anyway.
Have you discovered the wonders of online borrowing and how it’s worse than Netgalley for new impulse book requests? And what are you reading lately?
Don’t You Forget About Me – Mhairi McFarlane
Published: 10th January 2019
Source: Purchased
Genre: Contemporary romance
My Rating:
Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to rise again…
The hilarious new heartbreaker from Mhairi McFarlane!
If there’s one thing worse than being fired from the grottiest restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else.
Reeling from the indignity of a double dumping on the same day, Georgina snatches at the next job that she’s offered – barmaid in a newly opened pub, which just so happens to run by the boy she fell in love with at school: Lucas McCarthy. And whereas Georgina (voted Most Likely to Succeed in her school yearbook) has done nothing but dead-end jobs in the last twelve years, Lucas has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but also has turned into an actual grown-up with a business and a dog along the way.
Meeting Lucas again not only throws Georgina’s rackety present into sharp relief, but also brings a dark secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows the truth about what happened on the last day of school, and why she’s allowed it to chase her all these years…
First up we have a book I was so excited to buy… and then preceded to not read for several weeks. I adore Mhairi McFarlane’s previous books. They aren’t straight-up romance, but I wouldn’t be happy labelling them chick lit or women’s fiction or something. They’re contemporary romance reads, but maybe as they’re British the romance just feels different, you know? I went in with high expectations because McFarlane has yet to let me down with one of her releases and it’s safe to say this was no different.
Like I said, I was so psyched to buy this book. I bought it pretty much as soon as it was released but since my mood took my other places I waited until I was in the mood for excellent friendships, a slow-burn romance, and probably some emotional upheaval before picking this up. Each of her books hits me in the feels and has me adoring each and every character and begging for more story by the end.
This time the book centres on Georgina. She is a thirty-year-old woman who gets unceremoniously fired from her waitress job and somehow gets lucky and finds herself offered a job (and decent pay) as a barwoman at a new pub. The only problem is her ex-boyfriend (that no one knew about because they kept it all hush hush as teens) is the part owner and he is pretending he has no idea who she is despite them having History (yep, it's so significant it is capitalised). She is fumbling through with the awkwardness of knowing he was her first love and also that something serious went down to break them apart at the tender age of eighteen.
Anyway, the romantic trauma of youth is not the main focus of this book, it's actually Georgina's quest to figure herself out and make a path for her future. She is continually labelled an underachiever going nowhere as she has worked in the service industry since leaving school and dropped out of uni after less than a year. She feels like a disappointment to her mom and her sister like they feel like she is hard work and always making a new drama of things. Especially as she feels like she continually needs to shine up and make a joke out of the lows of her life. But I loved Georgina for trying to make light of things that would get people down. Yes, she could be too lighthearted, but she was such a brilliant character. I was there crying for her when things were bad and laughing with her at the funny bits. I was invested! She probably used this humour as a defence mechanism for the things that went down in her past (no spoilers, don’t worry) but I loved that. If shit happens you can get yourself down and wallow about it, or you can try and brush yourself off and make it a funny story to tell your mates at the pub. I know which option I’d prefer.
I think the romance was a quieter part of the story. It was there and it wasn’t ignored, but I was more focused on Georgina’s path to figuring out where she wanted to be in life than her romantic life (but damn, I was in love with Lucas). Lucas is the ex pretending to not know Georgina and he was a sullen, Irish bloke who had a dry sense of humour I loved and he had a dog! The dog was the best and I fully loved the story behind him. I love any story that involves pets (see my love for every Jennifer Crusie book because I don’t think any of her stories are without a pet featuring in there somewhere). The romance was slow, I mean, there was history to overcome and misunderstandings to clear up. It was easy to get behind the romance, though, because this was not Georgina finding a new man to fix her life, but instead finding an old one she missed out on and reminding herself that she was passionate about things and having him help her realise what she wants.
Just everything about this book worked for me. I had no doubt it would. I loved every page and am determined to buy a paperback version because I need this book on my shelf to read again and again.
Have you read this book yet? And have you read any of McFarlane’s previous books because I need an author like her?
When you’re all reading this I’ll probably be playing on my shiny new Nintendo Switch. I blame my brother completely, I was meant to be saving that money… but he tempted me by playing Zelda and Breath of the Wild just looked so good! And then Youtube videos happened… and well the rest was history. I made a special trip to the store and walked out poorer but I had a blast playing for a few hours Saturday afternoon. And I found there was a reason I have Amazon Prime and that was to get Twitch prime (no, I don’t understand Twitch, I’m not that kind of gamer, please enlighten me) and one of the benefits was free Nintendo Online for my Switch so I get to remember how impossibly hard those old NES games are (if you don’t know what I’m talking about you either didn’t play videogames or you’re going to make me feel old because you’re too young to remember the NES. I mean, it was released before I was born but I remember having one in the house). Have I even mentioned I’m a gamer on here? I’m not hardcore and actually hate playing online because I am so painfully shy and hate the thought of interacting with strangers online. But yeah, I basically grew up playing one game another (not well, but I’ve always enjoyed myself).
Now, I’m not going to sugar coat it. This week at work has been tough! Nothing has gone particularly wrong but there is a very obvious decline in the workload we have and that is never a good sign. This might be the push which I need, but I kind of hoped it would be my decision. I’ll keep you posted. But if you find me asking for CV tips you know why.
But on to cheerier things…. I got nothing. This has actually been the slowest week. Work is dead. I’ve done nothing interesting in my free time. And I come home from work and I’m just knackered. I’m trying to get back into the blogging routine, though. I’m not pushing myself but I’m trying to turn my laptop on a couple of nights a week when I can to try and free up my weekends for other things. I’m just struggling to get into a routine for writing new posts. I’m also struggling with reading, when I find a good book there is nothing better than reading but I’m like a lost puppy once I finish a good book. I’m there picking up all the other books like ‘are you going to be my next read?’ and that’s never fun. I’m probably putting too much pressure on myself to read but it’s hard not to. I’m almost tempted to do a Julia Quinn reread since the internet has blown up with the casting news (I love the casting of everyone, have you seen Simon and Anthony? I mean damn, I need to fan myself looking at pictures of them).
What I’ve Been Reading
Like I said, I’ve been struggling with figuring out what to read next. I started Tessa Dare's latest release as soon it was delivered onto my Kindle pretty much and then was stuck on what to read next. I’ve picked up and put down so many books but nothing has clicked for me. I picked up Lauren Layne's latest release with high hopes it would be the perfect book for me... and then had to DNF at 20% because I just couldn't with the MC. I just found her annoying and wanted to slap her and her privilege. She was a walking stereotype trying to pretend she wasn't but she really was. She just needed a tiny dog carried around in her handbag and I'd have been having flashbacks to White Chicks.
New To Me
Just two new additions to the shelf this week (although, some might say that’s two too many). I ordered A Scot in the Dark last week on impulse when browsing Better World Books. It’s a used library copy so it’s got stickers on it and a slightly battered cover but it’s got character. Also, I have committed to buying US editions of all of Sarah MacLean’s books so I’ll work with what’s available to me. And The Prenup was an impulse buy after seeing the newest Lauren Layne release over on Rowena’s blog. It didn't work out so that'll teach me and my impulse buying ways but what can you do?
What have you been reading lately? And since I got onto the topic of gaming, are there any games you like to play/have played?
Published: 6th February 2018
Source: Purchased
Genre: Romance, Paranormal
My Rating:
For three days out of thirty, when the moon is full and her law is iron, the Great North Pack must be wild.
If she returns to her Pack, the stranger will die.
But if she stays…
Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate and a better life. Until the day a stranger stumbles into their territory, wounded and beaten, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all he seems, and in the fragile balance of the Pack and wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves…
Welcome to a review of another book I got from New York (turns out my reviews for the past few books on the blog have been New York acquisitions but I was totally on to some winners so I’m not complaining). And what a surprising read this one was! I think I only picked up this because I’d been following the @JenReadsRitas account and saw her make a couple of comments about this being a good romance about wolves and it had good world-building and I had it on the radar. When I stumbled across it in a Barnes and Noble it snuck into my hand on the way to the till and I figured it was a cheap easy buy, easy to justify to myself.
Honestly, I was uncertain when I first began reading. The writing felt stilted and oddly formal for the modern day setting it had and I continually felt lost with names and the language and terminology used by the wolves. I did find that as the book progressed I found my footing with these things and I stopped having to flick back and refresh myself and instead stayed in the moment with the story. As I learnt more about the world of these wolves and how things worked I did get it. I think how much I loved the MCs Ti and Silver helped too. I wanted to know more about them so I made the effort to figure out the hierarchy and pack system. I admit I was glad Ti was as much of a newbie to the wolf pack as I was otherwise I’d have been totally lost.
I think it was probably Silver who really made me love this book. I was utterly intrigued by her as the wolves in this book are far more drawn to their animal nature than you see a lot of the time in paranormal and urban fantasy. And Silver was even more drawn to her animal nature. You could tell she saw herself as more of a wolf than a human a lot of the time and she saw that aspect in many of those around her. I think this was probably because all of the pack turn for three days a month and they live as wolves in the land they own. She couldn’t ignore her animal side as it was how she lived for part of her time each month and in high-stress situations, she became a wolf, probably partially due to the ease of processing information in that form. I really respected her character, though, because she has spent her whole life seeing herself as less. When she changed to a wolf her one leg came out of joint and she was not as strong and agile as the other wolves which led to her landing at the bottom of the pack hierarchy. As such, she knew to cherish what she had and appreciated what she was going as she was so used to being thought of last. When this stranger, Ti, comes along and offers to be paired with her she knows it could lead to her losing everything, but she also cannot risk falling even lower in the pack and she can see the strength Ti possessed. She just has to show him everything involved with being a wolf and part of the pack to get her position and help him be welcomed as well. Which would be fine if he was a wolf but he’s a shifter, something hated by so many wolves. I won’t go into the ins and outs as it’s explained far better in the book, but seeing Silver try and get Ti to understand the pack and want to be part of it was brilliant. This was probably the genius part of making this the first book in the series. You learn the world of the wolves right along with Ti and it’s brilliant. This book truly does have excellent world-building and such an original concept of werewolves.
One thing I do want to grumble about is the pacing. A few times I found myself flicking back because I thought I’d missed a scene. Not all scene changes were fluid and between chapters, there was occasionally a big jump in time and it made me think I’d missed reading something. I understand why time shifted rapidly because those middle parts would probably have been really boring, but I feel like it could have been done a little better. And I found the time jumps stopped the book from dragging. I just wanted to spend a little bit more time with the characters and their journey rather than the story as a whole. The pacing didn’t ruin the book for me, I just noticed it and I don’t want to notice these things.
Overall, this was a great book and one which I really enjoyed. I plan on buying the next two books in the series soon because this really was a great take on werewolves and the world-building was genius. I want to explore this world from other characters perspectives and see what will happen next with this pack.
Have you had a good impulse buy lately? And what was the last book a chance comment on Twitter made you buy? And most importantly, if you’ve read this what did you think?
Welcome to the first tag I’ve done in a while, and this one is the Mid-Year Freakout Tag which I believe was created by Chami & Ely (at least some Googling tells me that so please feel free to correct me). I got tagged by Tania at The Lovely Secret and she gave me the perfect excuse to look back at the past six months and think about those books that I’ve loved. Also, this is a tag I feel like I’ve seen everyone doing and I want to join in on the fun too!
Before we get on with the tag I figure why not look at what I’ve read so far? Up to today, I have read 69 books including rereads and DNFs.
I mean, my genre breakdowns will surprise no one. I’ve read primarily contemporary romance with a few other genres thrown in (but even then a lot of these will crossover with romance).
And finally, here is the breakdown of my ratings. 1 and 2 stars aren’t included because I’ve had none and 0 stars are actually DNFs (the eagle-eyed few might have spotted that). I am utterly unsurprised by the number of 5 and 4 star reads, I am a very generous rater. Also, I haven’t kept track of half stars here so there is probably more variation,
What is the best book you've read so far in 2019?
Just one? Don’t be silly. I managed to narrow down my choices simply by not including books that I’ve featured on other questions but honestly, it was difficult! I’ve made a shelf with my favourites on Goodreads just to make it easier. I aspire to have all of the shelves and be insanely organised I think,
What has been your favourite sequel in the first half of the year?
And I’ll also include The Austen Playbook because Lucy Parker always deserves some recognition. I adore that book and I will happily talk about it to anyone I meet.
Is there a new release that you haven't read yet but you're really excited about?
What is your most anticipated release for the second half of the year?
I am sure I have forgotten a few titles but these are some that immediately sprang to mind so they must be the ones I’m most excited for, right?
What is your biggest disappointment so far?
I will be forever sad I DNF-ed this one. I so wanted to like my first read from Talia Hibbert but this book I just could not get into it. Everything about it did not work for me. I am not giving up on her work, though. The next book I read from her will be the one.
What is your biggest surprise so far?
Honestly, this was an impulse buy for me. I had seen it on Twitter but I hadn’t read the reviews and knew little about it but after reading the back cover I thought it could work. As I’ve mentioned before, I almost left this on the shelf but ran back for it before I got to the till and I have absolutely no regrets.
Who is your favourite new to you, or debut author?
I feel like I’ve discovered some truly brilliant authors this year but these are three authors I know will be on my favourites list for a long time. Mia Vincy was a surprise with her debut A Wicked Kind of Husband and I have been checking back constantly to find out when I can get my hands on her next book. Olivia Dade came out of nowhere with Teach Me for me and I’ve never been so happy at a Twitter book discovery. And then there’s Therese Beharrie who wrote an absolutely brilliant book and who was an author I could have easily missed on the Mills and Boon shelf so I am glad Nick started talking about her books.
A book that made you cry?
I had to think long on hard about a book which made me cry. I cry so very easily and thought it would be easy to pick a book that made me cry but looking back I struggled to think of one which had me really emotional until I saw Next Year in Havana. This book had me feeling all of the emotions.
A book that made you happy?
It is difficult to choose different books each time! But this book did leave me feeling warm and fuzzy at the end. Jenn Bennett truly is a genius giving my joy with each new release (and don’t think I’ve forgotten about her old releases that I want to read too).
Your favourite book to film/TV show that you've seen so far?
Have I told you guys about my love for the book Good Omens? I feel like I haven’t, but I read a few years ago and loved it and convinced my brother to read it too (by buying a copy as a gift, obviously) and have found no one else to read it since. When I heard they were doing a TV series I was excited, and then when I saw who was starring in it I was even more excited. And then I watched it and it’s such a good adaptation and it was so much fun to watch. It kept to the book so well. I was truly impressed by it.
What is your favourite post that you've written so far this year?
Honestly? I have liked most of the posts that I’ve done but I really don’t have a favourite. There hasn’t been a discussion post that stood out as a favourite and although I’ve enjoyed writing my reviews I wouldn’t be able to say one of those either. I think every post I’ve managed to get up this year has been a favourite since I’ve been in and out of a blogging funk. Any post which goes live is a small miracle and I’m just happy folks are still stopping by.
What is the most beautiful book that you've bought?
I mean, I’ve not bought that many books lately. At least not physical books, and they really are what I think of when I think of pretty books since I rarely see the cover of ebooks. I did buy The Austen Playbook recently and there is nothing prettier than seeing a series on your shelf together. So maybe that?
What are six books you want to read by the end of the year?
I mean, there are definitely more than six books I want to read by the end of the year. But I looked at my recent purchases and the books I can see on my shelf and these are 6 books I hope to get to soon. They are a mix and I already think The Rest of the Story and Famous in a Small Town will be making a beach trip with me next month but I thought these are the books I currently want to read.
Have you looked back at the year so far? What have been some of your favourite reads? And what are you most looking forward to reading next?
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