Reviewing the Unreviewed: August 2018

I read a lot of books that I don’t end up reviewing for whatever reason. Some because I wasn’t impressed. Some because I didn’t have the time. Some I just wasn’t feeling it on whatever particular day I finished. Reviewing the Unreviewed is my monthly post where I share my few thoughts on all the books I didn’t formally review.

A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay. Read July 30 – August 1. 4 Stars.

I thought this book was a little more psychological suspense than the other books I’ve read by Barclay have been so it was different than I expected, but I liked it. I thought I had absolutely everything figured out, but it turned out I was only partially right. The story took a turn I definitely didn’t expect and while I do wish it had maybe gone a little differently, it was a ballsy move and did serve the story well.

The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton. Read August 2-6. 4 Stars. 

Sharon Bolton has written some of my favorite books and I have been eagerly anticipating The Craftsman for quite awhile. Like I have come to expect from Bolton’s books, it was a well done, suspenseful mystery. It was even a little creepy at times. But it definitely took a departure into the supernatural that I was not expecting. Full review to come.

A Boy Like You (Like Us #2) by Ginger Scott. Read August 7-8. 4 Stars.

I’ve struggled with what to rate this. It’s probably closer to a 3 or 3.5, but I’ve decided to bump it up to 4 for a few reasons. There were parts that were really romantic and sweet. I adored Wes and his family. I also found this pretty compulsively readable. Even though it was super angsty (not really my cup of tea) and I was pretty frustrated with Joss quite often I never really wanted to stop reading it. It did take me over half the book to begin to like Joss and even now I’m not really that big of a fan of her. I also got a weird Twilight vibe at times that I wasn’t really expecting. No review I’ve read mentioned this falling into the magical realism category and the book never actually goes there, but it ends with unanswered questions. I didn’t love the direction the story took in the end, but I am really looking forward to reading the next book.

Tell Me No Lies (Follow Me Back #2) by A.V. Geiger. Read August 8-9. 3 Stars.

I was pleasantly surprised with Follow Me Back and have been looking forward to this one ever since. While it was ok, it kind of disappointed me. I thought what was happening was pretty obvious long before it was revealed and then I kept waiting for another twist or surprise to come at the ending, but nothing did. There were still a few good tense moments here and there, though, and I liked the formatting with the police interviews interspersed throughout the story.

A Kiss in the Dark by Gina Ciocca. Read August 10-12. 3 Stars.

This was a little longer than it needed to be and was pretty predictable, but there were definitely a few cute moments. I thought Macy was pretty likable. I absolutely adored Ben. I liked the alternating timeline and thought it was used well. One thing I never understood though was Macy’s friendship with Meredith. Even in the “Junior Year” chapters Meredith didn’t seem like a very good friend. She was more like a frenemy. She doesn’t seem like someone Macy should want to reconnect with. She kind of redeems herself at the end, but their whole relationship just rubbed me the wrong way.

 

Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. Read August 10-13. 2.5 Stars.

I love that the authors who wrote this are a couple. #RelationshipGoals. I enjoyed some of the bantering, there were some cute moments, and except for a couple of things he handled poorly, I really liked Owen. That’s kind of the end of my “likes” for this book, though. It was super over-dramatic. Megan was a really unlikable main character. She was so, so shallow and then she got really upset that people thought she was shallow. She did have some learning/character development moments, but they honestly just came across a little cheesy. I thought all her problems with her blended family was resolved way too quickly. I also thought her views on sex and intimacy for most of the book were pretty skewed and potentially damaging to young readers. I wish it was handled a little more responsibly.

Lies by T.M. Logan. Read August 22-25. 4 Stars. 

Lies is a well-paced, entertaining thriller that managed to surprise me. My full review will post next week.

A Girl Like Me (Like Us #2) by Ginger Scott. Read August 25-26. 3 Stars. 

It may have just been my mood, but I just wasn’t really into this. I found it kind of boring and things weren’t really explained to my satisfaction. I didn’t really care for the fantasy-like elements. This is probably more like 2 or 2.5 stars for me, but I’m bumping it up to 3 because it was a fast, easy read and there was nothing wrong with the writing. I think it’s just not the book for me.

On Magnolia Lane (Blue Ridge Romance #3) by Denise Hunter. Read August 27-28. 4 Stars. 

I’ve enjoyed the other books in the Blue Ridge Romance series and On Magnolia Lane just might be my favorite of the series. Full review to come closer to release date.

The Similars (The Similars #1) by Rebecca Hanover. Read August 28-30. 2 Stars.

I thought that the concept for The Similars had potential. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to it for me. Full review to come.

************************Back on the TBR************************

   

Friday Night Brides by Samantha Chase and UNSUB by Meg Gardiner. I feel like I’ve been waiting to read both of these books for a really long time, but I started both of them and just couldn’t get into them. I don’t want to give up on them entirely, though, so I’m putting them back on the TBR for another time instead of marking them as DNF.

************************Re-Read************************

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg. I really loved this book just as much the second time around. It’s so sweet and oh my goodness the banter!

Review: Hard Sell (21 Wall Street #2) by Lauren Layne

Synopsis from Good Reads:

He’s a Wall Street wolf. She’s been hired to tame him. From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne comes a wildly sexy novel of business and pleasure.

Twenty-eight and filthy rich, Matt Cannon is the youngest broker on Wall Street. He may be a “boy wonder,” but he’s every inch a man. Ask any woman—any night. But when Matt’s latest fling makes scandalous headlines, his clients get anxious, and his bosses at Wolfe Investments level an ultimatum: keep his assets zipped, get a “real” girlfriend, and clean up his act. Only one woman can help Matt with something this hard.

For PR genius Sabrina Cross, the best fixer in Manhattan, playing Matt’s steady is going to be a challenge, even if it’s just for show. They already have an explosive history, she can’t stand the cocky party boy, and worse—she can’t stop thinking about him. So who’ll dare to break her “no touching” rule first? Because when that happens, Matt and Sabrina’s game of let’s pretend will get so hot it could set both their reputations on fire.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

Hard Sell will be available September 4, 2018. 

I love Lauren Layne books. They are always the perfect choice to get me out of any reading slump. Hard Sell is the second book in the 21 Wall Street series and I think I enjoyed it even more than the first.

I love both Fake Relationship and Hate-to-Love stories and this book utilized both. In the first book of the series Matt and Sabrina were side characters and I wasn’t really sold on the idea of them being in a relationship, but I did end up really liking them together here. They’ve kind of had this dysfunctional thing for a few years and it was a slow burn to actual love and romance and I was here for it. I thought they were really well suited for each other and I liked how their friendship evolved, along with the romance.

Like all of Layne’s books there were a couple of scenes that were a little more graphic than I like, but other than that I enjoyed pretty much every moment of the book. I like the cast of characters and I am really looking forward to getting a book focusing on Kennedy and Kate. One thing I would’ve liked to have seen a little more, though, is Sabrina’s job. She’s a “fixer” so I felt like there were endless possibilities for a little extra fun or drama, but there’s really not much done with it.

Overall, I really enjoyed Hard Sell. Layne is easily one of my favorite Romance authors and I just love her more with each book I read. I definitely recommend this to Romance fans. While it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone, as well.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Funny Friday

Celebrate the end of the work week with a little book humor.

Review: Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

Synopsis from Good Reads:

The #1 internationally bestselling author returns with a new novel in the vein of her New York Times bestsellers Pretty Girlsand The Good Daughter—a story even more electrifying, provocative, and suspenseful than anything she’s written before.

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?

Andrea Cooper knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . .

I received a copy of this title from the publisher (Thanks William Morrow!). It does not impact my review. 

I always look forward to a new Karin Slaughter book. I used to get a little upset whenever one of her upcoming titles was not a Will Trent book, but I have really enjoyed all of her standalone novels and have learned to appreciate getting something a little different as I wait for more Will. And Pieces of Her was definitely different than anything I’ve read from  Slaughter before. The mystery is not so much a Whodunnit as a Whydunnit. While there are still surprises and suspense, it made the tone of the story different than I expected.

I really liked the use of multiple POVs and timelines. Slaughter utilizes this style so well. It’s one of my favorite things about her writing. I thought the issues were pretty timely, even though one timeline was set 30+ years ago. It shines a light on the corruption of the powerful, as well as the misguided, violent atrocities people commit in the name of social justice. While I liked both of the main characters and timelines, I have to admit I liked the 1980s chapters a little more. While there was maybe a little more action in the present, the real heart of the story happened 30 years before.

She had always believed – vehemently, with great conviction – that the only way to change the world was to destroy it. 

I found the character of Nick fascinating. Horrible, but fascinating. The cult like adoration he managed to manipulate out of people and the  control he was able to hold over them, even when they knew they were being manipulated, was kind of horrifying. Even though they were under his spell (and had an abundance of issues themselves) I really liked Jane and Andrew. In the present chapters, I found Andrea a little hard to understand at times. I am not somebody who should be judging someone for being quiet, but she really took it to extremes. I often wondered if she had some kind of mental disability, but it’s never addressed. However, she was still a sympathetic and interesting character. While the circumstances are different, I really related to the sudden discovery of learning everything you thought you knew about your parent was a lie.

Overall, I really enjoyed Pieces of Her. While it was different than I’ve come to expect from Slaughter, it still had the excellent writing, clever twists, and compelling characters she’s known for. My only struggle with it was how long the chapters were (there are close to 500 pages and there are only 15 chapters, plus an epilogue) which is not my favorite thing, but I’m sure many other won’t be bothered by it. I still definitely recommend this one to mystery/thriller fans and am eagerly anticipating more from Slaughter.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Review: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Synopsis from Good Reads:

Most men can’t handle Hazel. With the energy of a toddler and the mouth of a sailor, they’re often too timid to recognize her heart of gold. New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Roomies, Beautiful Bastard) tells the story of two people who are definitely not dating, no matter how often they end up in bed together.

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them…right?

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review. 

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating will be available September 4, 2018. 

I’ve had some mixed reviews with the Christina Lauren books I’ve read so I’m never really sure what to expect when I pick one up. However, I do know that there will be some addicting writing that will make the book hard to put down and Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating was exactly that.

Hazel. I’m having a hard time deciding on my feelings towards her. Since I have recently been binging old New Girl episodes on Netflix, I’m going to compare her to Season 1 Jess. They really leaned into the whole “adorkable” angle and sometimes she was a little unbearable. In later seasons she was still quirky, but in a more endearing way. In some parts of this book Hazel was kind of aggressively quirky in a Season 1 Jess kind of way. But in others, she was just a little odd and cute. I didn’t find her character all that consistent throughout the story. Even though she often stated that she knew she was a lot to handle and she wasn’t going to change for anybody, I also got the feeling that she felt kind of sorry for herself about it and wished she could? There were times I felt like she was trying to be different for the sake of being different. Then there were other times where she seemed pretty normal. As you can see, I still feel a little conflicted about it. Overall, I think she could be a little unbearable at times, but I mostly enjoyed her.

I was a much bigger fan of Josh. He was so funny and sweet and I just adored him. I liked how protective he was of Hazel. Even though he could come off uptight about a lot of things, he seemed to be the perfect amount of laid back to be able to go with the flow with Hazel. I liked his relationship with his sister and his parents, as well. We get a little bit of information on Korean culture from him, but I would’ve liked a little more.

I’m a fan of the Friends-to-More trope so I shipped Josh and Hazel. However, I wish it would’ve taken a little longer for them to really fall for each other. We get both their POVs which means we find out basically right away that Hazel has always had a thing for Josh and then Josh pretty quickly starts to like her, too. However, they both think they’re wrong for each other and they’re both unsure how the other feels and by getting both POVs it kind of takes away all the tension. It just kind of made me annoyed with both of them. There were still some really cute and romantic scenes, though (and several graphic scenes I could’ve done without, but I’m sure other readers will appreciate).

Overall, I enjoyed Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating. It was cute, funny, and I shipped the romance. However, Hazel was kind of hard to take at times and there wasn’t a moment where I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen next. While the story utilized one of my favorite romantic tropes, Friends-to-More, it also employs one of my least favorites (I’m not going to say which since it’s too spoiler-y) and I have to say that dampened my overall enjoyment a bit. I do definitely recommend this one to Romance fans, though, especially Christina Lauren fans.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3.5 Stars

Funny Friday

Celebrate the end of the work week with a little book humor.

Top 5 Wednesday: Biggest Disappointments of 2018 (So Far)

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday is a freebie, so I decided to go with my Biggest Disappointments of 2018 (So Far).

1. My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. I absolutely loved My Lady Jane and I had such high expectations for My Plain Jane. However, I thought the humor was forced, I was not at all into the Jane Eyre-Ghostbusters mash-up, and didn’t really care for any of the characters.

2. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi. I had really enjoyed the original trilogy when I first read them and always felt there was potential for more story there. However, instead of moving the story forward very much, Mafi just retreads old ground and took away almost all the progress Juliette and Warner made.

3. Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin. Black-Eyed Susans is one of my favorite books and I’ve been looking forward to more from Heaberlin ever since reading it. Unfortunately, Paper Ghosts didn’t come close to meeting my expectations. The main character was not only unlikable, but her total ineptitude after constantly talking about how well trained she was was baffling.

4. The Isaac Project by Sarah Monzon. I hyped myself on this book years ago after one really great review. Earlier this year it finally was offered free for a limited time on Kindle and I was so excited to snatch it up. Unfortunately, lackluster writing and a really unlikable main character kept it from living up to it’s potential.

5. The Date by Louise Jensen. I have seen nothing by wonderful things about Louise Jensen books and I was excited to finally read one. I was so sad this one didn’t live up to the hype at all for me. A pretty cliched storyline and a “twist” I saw coming a mile away is going to make me think twice before picking up another book by her.

What are some of your biggest disappointments of 2018?

Review: The Other Woman by Sandie Jones

Synopsis from Good Reads:

A deliciously disturbing, compulsively readable debut domestic suspense–prepare to meet The Other Woman: there’s nothing she won’t do to keep you away from her son …

Emily thinks Adam’s perfect; the man she thought she’d never meet.

But lurking in the shadows is a rival; a woman who shares a deep bond with the man she loves.

Emily chose Adam, but she didn’t choose his mother Pammie. There’s nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she wants: Emily gone forever.

The Other Woman is an addictive, fast-paced psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between Emily, her boyfriend Adam, and his manipulative mother Pammie.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

The Other Woman will be available August 21, 2018. 

I thought the synopsis of The Other Woman sounded kind of like a Lifetime movie and I was expecting a really fun, guilty-pleasure type of read. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

I was really looking forward to seeing what a psycho Pammie would be. Even her name is perfect for the frustrating, overbearing mother-in-law. While she definitely did some underhanded things, she just never got as over-the-top as I wanted her to be. I think for this type of book you really have to go big and it never really got there for me.

I also found Emily, the main character, to be exasperating. She was one of those characters that just always made the wrong choice. She was also pretty spineless. She rarely stood up for herself and when she did she went about it in the wrong way. There were so many times I just wanted to slap her and tell her just to be HONEST and maybe she wouldn’t have all these problems. In addition to not liking Emily, I really didn’t like Adam. I expected him to be a sweet, yet clueless mama’s boy, however he was actually just not a very nice person. I thought he could be abusive and controlling and there were definite red flags – besides Pammie – that Emily just ignored. Their relationship was far more frustrating to me than Emily’s relationship with Pammie.

There was a bit of a twist at the ending, but I wasn’t really a fan of it. It was something I had begun to suspect, so it wasn’t very surprising. I also thought the epilogue left a lot to be desired. I didn’t really see the point in it.

Overall, I found The Other Woman to be underwhelming. I really liked the idea of it, but it just never lived up to my expectations. I thought it was pretty slow-paced and drawn out and Pammie never got as crazy as I wanted her to be. My biggest complaint, though, is with Emily’s character. If she could have been just a little less annoying I think I would’ve enjoyed the book a lot more. However, almost every other review I’ve read of this has been very positive, so it might be worth checking out.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Funny Friday

Celebrate the end of the work week with a little book humor.

Review: Catch Him If You Can (Accidentally Yours #2) by Jennifer Shirk

Synopsis from Good Reads:

Veterinarian Wade Roberts is done with love. But try convincing the elderly folk of Cape Harmony who are determined to play matchmaker. Now the young single women in town are bombarding him with baked goods and love notes, and being “taken” is the only way to stop the meddling grannies—which is why he needs a fake fiancée. Fast.

Arden Pearson loves planning weddings. Other people’s weddings, that is. After her own engagement ended in disaster, she prefers to live vicariously through her work. But when she needs to persuade a big client that she’s capable of planning the celebrity wedding of the year, she’s willing to go as far as pretending to be engaged herself to her best friend’s older brother.

Soon their ruse has everyone in town believing they make the perfect couple—including Arden. She’s always been nothing more than a kid sister to Wade, and it might take a village to convince him otherwise…

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley. It does not impact my review.

Catch Him If You Can will be available August 13, 2018. 

This book was so cute! After reading a number of mysteries/thrillers lately I was really in the mood for something light and sweet and Catch Him If You Can was exactly what I needed. I found myself smiling through the whole book.

I love a good fake relationship story and Jennifer Shirk always does a good job with them. I thought the circumstances leading up to the relationship were humorous, especially the small town matchmakers that were driving Wade crazy. I would’ve like maybe a couple more awkward, fake-dating moments before the relationship started to become more real, but overall I thought it developed at a good pace.

I thought Wade and Arden were both really likable characters. They both had a good sense of humor and I enjoyed all their scenes together. The secondary cast of characters were all likable, if not exactly memorable. I also really liked seeing Kinsley and Damon from the previous book.

Overall, I really enjoyed Catch Him If You Can. I always enjoy fake relationship stories and this one was so cute and exactly what I wanted it to be. It was humorous and sweet and the perfect weekend read. I definitely recommend it to fans of Sweet Romances.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars