Originally posted on Goodreads.

I couldn’t connect at all with any of the characters. Oh, I tried. The chapters were so short and by the time I started to have any form of investment in the character that section focused on, it would switch to someone else. Everyone was forgettable and I just couldn’t get into it at all.

The premise of this book and the "meet cute" were absolutely intriguing and fun, but unfortunately the execution just didn't do it for me.  There were a lot of run on sentences and errors that should have been picked up by a good editor, and they were glaring enough to distract from the story.  I am not a fan of books where a couple see each other one time and then OMG I'M IN LOVE AND CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU EVER.  It's unrealistic and boring.  DNF.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

Valinda Lacy has come to New Orleans with a mission – to held to teach the Freedmen and their families to read and write. She is beloved by her students of all ages, until a group of ruffians break in and destroy everything she has worked on. Unfortunately for her, they are still nearby as she is assessing the damage. She fights them off as best she can, but she is more than relieved when Drake LeVeq intervenes on her behalf. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s so handsome. 

This was the time I ever audibly squealed when getting approved for an ARC. I was a big fan of the Old West series, and I felt so honored to get my hands on Rebel (thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins!). I was not disappointed. Jenkins has a special talent for both teaching me actual history that far too many public schools ignore, while also serving me a steamy romance that I become emotionally invested in. I loved this book, as expected, and will be picking up more of her books ASAP!

Originally posted to Goodreads.

The short version – at 85% I wanted to DNF. 

Mallory (a textbook Mary Sue) is a sheltered, judgmental, “good” girl. She’s been homeschooled her entire life by her overprotective mother, and plans her entire day around spying out the window at her sexy next door neighbor, Troy. She’s got his schedule memorized and makes a point to be looking out her window at him at every opportunity. When she convinces her parents to let her go to public school for the rest of her senior year, she’s face to face with the guy she’s been creeping on. 

It’s hard not to compare this book to Beautiful Disaster after the outright mention of Travis Maddox in the beginning. Troy is an underground boxer with tattoos that rides a motorcycle. Mallory is a good-girl with not much personality outside of her obsession with Troy. Even the tertiary characters lined up, like Jamie, the gay best friend. 

This book to me was borderline toxic. Mallory was full on creepy with her obsession with Troy, both before and after meeting him. The whole romantic storyline seemed so unnatural, one second he won’t look at her and the next they’re in love forever? Not likely. She was obsessed with needing him, and it was unhealthy and creepy.

Up until about 85% through, this is the entire plot. There’s zero conflict and the romance isn’t even steamy or compelling enough to make it worth it. Towards the end, there’s a rushed, illogical plot point that just boiled my blood. I won’t give away any spoilers, but let’s just say I just skipped around to get to the end of the book. 

This book was predictable, boring, and unrealistic. I’m typically not this harsh with my reviews but something about this just really bothered me. 

Originally posted on Goodreads.

2.5 stars, rounded up. Lark has a way with boys, getting what she wants and then convincing them to “break up” with her, thus keeping her hands clean. It’s easy and simple and she never gets hurt. When her two BFFs challenge her to have a real, difficult break up with Undateable Ardy Tate, everything changes.  This book was pretty disappointing. The plot twists were all completely predictable or anti-climactic. Several plot points and story lines just served a quick purpose, but there were still so many questions and things felt very unfinished. It seemed disingenuous and took a lot away from the story. It was definitely a readable book and I liked the “will they” “won’t they” kind of feel, but otherwise this book just didn’t do it for me.

Originally posted on Goodreads. This book was highly disappointing to me. It sounded like it would hit all my buzzwords: mennonite, feminist, based on a true story, told through meeting minutes? I had to have it. Well, after getting 36% through, I can say it is both Mennonite and based on a true story, but the other two not as much.  It’s strange to me that this is being sold as told through meeting minutes, when I have never seen minutes look like this. The story is more narrative and told from the point of view of the notetaker, and I was highly disappointed by this.  Moreover, I have a hard time grappling with the fact that the narrator is a man. We learn more about his backstory than any of the women, and he often interjects his own opinions into the notes. I’m not sure why this is being advertised as a feminist work, when it’s more religious introspection.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

After five days of trying, I could not get into this book. My rule is usually to give a book 100 pages before giving it a DNF, but I just could not get there with this book. I was not very enamored by the writing style and language. The shifting perspectives were erratic and confusing, and often hard to keep up with. I found all of the characters to be hard to related to and illogical. After the police officer finds Nick with his car smashed into the cowgirl statue with two bodies in the back, he doesn’t think he’s guilty? Where does that come from??

To be fair, I did not get very far into it. I made it until Nick is telling the story of why he limps. He explains two his two new friends about the snowmobile accident that happened when he was 16 and how it kept him basically immobile for almost a year. When asked about if he had gone to school, he tells the girls that he had a tutor and got his GRE. Now, for anyone like me who has studied for the GRE, you would know that this is a standardized test to get into graduate school. This is very different than a GED, which I believe is what the author was referring to. Things like this, and this wasn’t the first case, keep me from being able to emerge myself into the story, so for that reason I give this a DNF. 

Originally posted on Goodreads. I could not finish Gone by Michael Grant. It’s not that I didn’t like the story. The premise is fascinating and I was enjoying reading it. It’s the blatantly racist and ableist and hateful things that the characters, and in fact the author, said.  It started with Edilio. Poor Edilio. I enjoyed him and reading his kind, interesting character. What I didn’t enjoy was the openly racist and hateful language that was directed at him. The other characters, even Sam “the hero”, stood by and let this happen. They said nothing. I understand that this is a character, that Quinn is a bad person so he says things that are just plain terrible. I get that. What I think is unnecessary is all the slurs and derogatory language that is used. It made me uncomfortable and it was hard to read. There are many ways to portray that this character is bad or that he is racist, but this was not sitting well with me.  What really drew the line was the overuse of the “R-word”. This is not a word I am comfortable with hearing in my every day language. I tried to justify it, thinking that this book was written back in 2008 and a lot of people still used that word then. When I read the author’s comments about autistic children being a burden, I knew I was done. I don’t care enough about these characters to power through the racist and awful and offensive language and author and I am upset that I ever paid money for this.

Originally posted on Goodreads.

If you read the description of this book and get all excited by the potential lady loving lady vibe, do not pick up this book. I feel like I’ve been queer-baited into reading this, and it made me super angry.

***SPOILERS BELOW***

Yes, one of the girls does fall for the other, but it is not reciprocated and she has her heart broken. Poor little lesbian with her misplaced affections. I felt like there was so much build up to this as a storyline, but the author backed down within the last 50 pages.

I gave two stars because I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling and I absolutely loved Sam as a character. Mental and physical disabilities were portrayed really well and I was impressed by that. The queer-baiting is something I just couldn’t get over, though. 

Originally posted on Goodreads.

Oh boy, did I love this book. I’m a recent convert to romance novels, and this one had me rapt. I could not put the book down and even was reading until I couldn’t stay awake any longer. 

Sylvie is an Everton Lady – one to be hired for assistance with domestic responsibilities. Tony is a new Earl, and American at that. The last thing he expected when he hired an Everton lady to redecorate his home was to fall in love. Sylvie’s quick wit and fiery passion have him hypnotized, and both of their lives have changed.

I absolutely loved these characters and the writing was exactly what I wanted. Shifting perspectives done right! I will absolutely be going back to read the first two books in this series.