Review: From Lukov With Love

Hello, hello, my lovely readers! I hope you’re all doing very well! ❤
This morning, I’m bringing you a review of a book that was supposed to be a wonderful enemies-to-lovers romance between two figure skating partners, but the story was not at all what I had in mind. I was beyond excited to pick up this book, as the synopsis reminded me very much of the show Spinning Out, but I was terribly disappointed by With Lukov With Love. I disliked the writing style, I was displeased by the romance, and the book dragged on at a painfully slow pace. 
Happy reading!

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From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
Genre: Adult – Contemporary, Romance, Sports
Pages: 493
Publication Date: February 2018
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Read June 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.
After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.
But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
Including Ivan Lukov.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read From Lukov With Love? What were your thoughts on it?
Have you read any of this author’s other works?

Thank you so much for hanging with me today! I hope you enjoyed. See you next time! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Review: We’ll Always Have Summer (Summer #3)

Hello, hello!! I hope you’re all enjoying your day so far. ❤
Today I’m bringing you a review of the final installment of the Summer trilogy, We’ll Always Have Summer. This trilogy certainly pales in comparison to Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series, which I love, but this one was quick and kinda fun. Although I did have a number of issues with this series, it made for the PERFECT binge read, and it was entertaining, even when it frustrated the heck out of me.
I hope you enjoy!

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We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Series: Summer #3
Pages: 291
Publication Date: April 2011
My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Read May 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college—only, their relationship hasn’t exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It’s time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read this series? What were your thoughts on the ending?
What’s your favourite contemporary series?
I’d love to chat about it in the comments down below!

Thanks for hanging with me today! I hope you have a truly wonderful day!!
See you again next time! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

ARC Review: If This Gets Out

Hello, hello, my lovely readers!!I hope you’re having a beautiful week! ❤
This morning, I’m bringing you a review of If This Gets Out, a YA story about a romance between two members of a boy band. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley, but unfortunately, I did not love it as much as I had hoped I would. The first half of the book was promising, and I was so sure that I was going to adore the story, but it did not go in the direction that I had expected or wanted it to. With that being said, I did enjoy the book as a whole. This book is not published until December, so you still have plenty time to add it to your TBR!!
Happy reading!

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If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance, LGBTQ+, Music
Pages: 352
Publication Date: December 7, 2021
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read June 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.
On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?
“If This Gets Out is an absolute showstopper! Equal parts edgy and adorable, this bright, joyful book has everything I look for in a queer YA romance.” —Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Is If This Gets Out on your TBR?
Do you like boybands? I was personally never a One Direction fangirl, but I have always really enjoyed some of their music.
What are your thoughts on books that discuss fan culture?
I’d love to chat about it in the comments down below!! 🙂

Thanks so much for reading!! I hope you all have an excellent night! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Review: It’s Not Summer Without You (Summer #2)

Good morning!! I hope you’re all having a magnificent day so far!
Today I’m returning with a review of the second installment of Jenny Han’s Summer series, It’s Not Summer Without You. 
Happy reading! ❤

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It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Series: Summer #2
Pages: 275
Publication Date: April 2010
My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Read May 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Belly finds out what comes after falling in love in this follow-up to The Summer I Turned Pretty from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (soon to be a major motion picture!), Jenny Han.
Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?
It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.
But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started—at Cousins Beach.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read this series? Are you Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?
Let me know in the comments down below!!

As always, thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope you have a wonderful evening!

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

The Birthday Book Tag: I’m Turning 20!

Happy Sunday, my lovely readers! I hope you’re all having a beautiful weekend!

This morning I’m here with a super fun Book Tag to celebrate my 20th birthday this week!
Ahh, I still can’t believe that I’m entering my twenties. This is my last weekend as a teenager!
To celebrate, I’m going to do The Birthday Book Tag, which was originally created a few years ago by Antonia @ Always Books.

I hope you enjoy! If your birthday is coming up (or you just want a fun tag), then I encourage you to join in!

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Birthday Cake – A book with a plot that seems cliché but you adore it anyway

That’s a fun question! I’m going to choose Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Lux series definitely has a strong cheese factor and some clichés, but it is without a doubt one of my favourite series!
Click here to see my review of Obsidian (Lux #1).

Party Guests — Your most anticipated book release for this year

My most anticipated release for 2021 actually already came out, and that was Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle. After how much I loved her debut novel, I couldn’t have possibly been more excited for Twice Shy. I was lucky enough to read the book a couple of months ago, and while I did enjoy it, the book was not quite everything I dreamed it would be.
Click here to see my review of Twice Shy.

Review: A Touch of Darkness (Hades and Persephone #1)

Good morning, my lovely readers!! I hope you are all having a beautiful day!
Today I’m back with a review of my first fantasy novel of the year, A Touch of Darkness. As a big fan of both Greek mythology and retellings, I was super excited for this book, especially because of the countless positive reviews that I’ve seen. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed by it in pretty much every aspect.
I hope you enjoy!! 😉

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A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
Genre: New Adult – Romance, Fantasy, Retellings
Series: Hades and Persephone #1
Pages: 299
Publication Date: May 2019
My Rating: 1 of 5 stars
Read May 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
A Modern Hades and Persephone Retelling
Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.
Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.
After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.
The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows—and it’s forbidden.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read this book or series? How did you feel about it?
What’s your favourite book with Greek mythology? What’s your favourite retelling?
I’d love to chat about it in the comments down below!! 😀

Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed and have a fantastic day!
See you again soon! 

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1)

Hello, hello, my lovely readers, and happy first day of June!! I hope you’re all doing well! ❤ I cannot, and I repeat CAN NOT believe that it is already June. Where is this year going?! 
This morning, I am here with a review of The Summer I Turned Pretty, which as the title implies, is a summery story to fit with the beginning of the summery months! This book is one of the first that I added to my Goodreads TBR when I joined over six years ago, and I only just finally picked it up! I was a little disappointed by it, especially considering how much I adore Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, but it was a cute and very summery story.
Happy reading!!

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The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Series: Summer #1
Pages: 276
Publication Date: May 2009
My Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Read May 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read The Summer I Turned Pretty? What about the other books in the series?
Have you read any of Jenny Han’s other books? Are they on your TBR?
What is your favourite summery contemporary romance?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments down below!!

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed!
See you next time! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

I Spy Book Challenge

Good morning, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well! ❤
I stumbled upon this really fun book challenge, which is essentially a scavenger hunt of your bookshelves!! It looked like too much fun not to participate in it!! I had a blast doing it!
This challenge was creating by Kayla @ Books and Lala on Youtube.
I hope you enjoy! 🙂

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Rules:
Find a book on your bookshelves that contains (either on the cover or in the title) an example for each of twenty categories.
You must have a separate book for all 20, get as creative as you want and do it within five minutes!! (or longer if you have way too many books on way too many overcrowded shelves!)

#1 Food – Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

(see my review here)

#2 Transportation – Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

(see my review here)

#3 Weapon – A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

#4 Animal – Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

#5 Number – 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

(see my review here)

#6 Something You Read – A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

(see my review here)

#7 Body of Water – We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

#8 Product of Fire – The Way We Bared Our Souls by Willa Strayhorn

(see my review here)

#9 Royalty – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J. K. Rowling

#10 Architecture – Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

(see my review here)

#11 Item of Clothing – Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

#12 Family Member – The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2) by Rick Riordan

#13 Time of Day – Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

#14 Music – This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

#15 Paranormal Being – Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

#16 Occupation – Kill The Boy Band by Goldy Moldovsky
(Being in a boy band counts as an occupation, right?)

(see my review here)

#17 Season – Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

#18 Colour – Red Queen by Victoira Aveyard

#19 Celestial Body – Written in the Stars by Aisha Saheed

(see my review here)

#20 Something that Grows – The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith

(see my review here)

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Do you have any of these books on your shelves?
Have you read any of them? Which one is your favourite?
Let me know in the comments down below!! 😉

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you had as much fun as I did!
See you again soon! ❤

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Review: Tempting the Best Man (Gamble Brothers #1)

Good morning! I hope you’re all doing well. ❤
Today I’m back with a review of what is quite possibly one of my least favourite books that I have EVER read. As a pretty big of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s work, as well as a good older brother’s best friend romance trope, I had high hopes for this one. I listened to the audiobook, and I very much regret it.
Happy reading!

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Tempting the Best Man by J. Lynn / Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Series: Gamble Brothers #1
Pages: 172
Publication Date: April 2012
My Rating: 1 of 5 stars
Read April 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Madison Daniels has worshiped her brother’s best friend since they were kids. Everyone thinks she and Chase Gamble would make the perfect couple, but there are two major flaws in their logic. 1) Chase has sworn off relationships of any kind and 2) after blurring the line between friends and lovers for one night four years ago, they can’t stop bickering.
Forced together for her brother’s wedding getaway, Chase and Madison decide to call a truce for the happy couple. Except all bets are off when they’re forced to shack up in a tacky ’70s honeymoon suite and survive a multitude of “accidents” as the family tries to prove their “spark” can be used for more than fighting. That is, if they don’t strangle each other first…

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts on it?
What is your least favourite book that you’ve ever read?
Let me know in the comments down below!

Thanks so much for joining me today!!
Have a wonderful day, and I hope to see you again soon!! 🙂

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.

Review: Twice Shy

Hello, hello! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day! ❤
This morning I’m here with a review of Sarah Hogle’s second novel, Twice Shy, which was my most anticipated read of 2021! Unfortunately, I did not end up loving the book as much as I had hoped to, but it was cute and fun. 
Happy reading!! 

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Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
Genre: Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 320
Publication Date: April 2021
My Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Read April 2021

Goodreads Synopsis:
Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?
Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.
Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous—and it turns out he has very different vision for the property’s future.
Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

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Click here to read my thoughts/review on Goodreads!

Have you read Twice Shy? Did you read Sarah Hogle’s debut, You Deserve Each Other?
Have you read any of 2021 releases? Which one was your favourite? What is your most anticipated release of the year?

Thank you so much for reading; I hope you enjoyed!!
Wishing you all a wonderful night! Until next time! 😉

Find me on Goodreads here.

See my Bookstagram here.