“How to regain blogging mojo?” –a Google search

Hey, guys!

Boy, blogging is hard once you break the momentum. I had to skip posting last week because I had too much on my plate re: school, and BAM! Suddenly writing a post this week feels so damn hard. Reading wise, I can feel myself slowly descending into The Reading Rut again. I finished a few books last weekend and while some of them were great, they weren’t exactly jumping-on-the-couch amazing, you get me? 

Bookish-related news: last weekend I found out that I got approved for a few ARCs on Edelweiss (which literally never happened to me) and suddenly I have a lot of galleys to read! Exciting stuff. I’m listing them down (plus some ARC mini reviews!) under the cut. 

Now, onwards!

BEAUTIFUL LAWMAN [★★★]

When I saw this book on EW, I realized that I never did finish Fury on Fire (book #3), LOL. I immediately started it after I downloaded the ARC. 

I love Piper, the heroine. She has to raise her younger sister while her older brother is incarcerated, and I admire her grit and resilience, trying to make a living in a town that hates her because of her last name. Hale, the hero, didn’t really impress me at first since he was such a stick in the mud, annoying older brother in Book #3 and I wasn’t ready to forgive him for annoying me just yet. He managed to grow on me in this book, mainly because he’s hot (ha) and he’s ready to ride or die for Piper, so… 

I just wish the romance in this book was more developed; Piper and Hale spent the first 70% of the book straddling the hate-lust line, and when they truly got together in probably the 75-80% mark, the race to the Love line was pretty fast. The whole secret Piper's been keeping also feels a bit odd and underdeveloped to me. It wasn't seamlessly integrated in the plot, and it felt more like an afterthought just to create a conflict between Piper and Hale. It's weird to be focusing on Piper and Hale throughout the book and then having The Thing coming out of nowhere in the last 10% of the book. 

Overall, Beautiful Lawman has been an entertaining read despite the issues I mentioned. Now I feel like going back and reread Book 1 and 2, and then finally finishing Book 3.

TIES THAT BIND + ANIMAL ATTRACTION [★★★1/2]

Katee Robert's books are all winners lately for me; I love it so much. I'm a huge fan of the sleek covers of both books (look at all the colours!). I read both books in this duology back to back. I was more keen to read the first one since I'm a huge second chance romance fan, but I ended up loving the second book more. In Ties That Bind, Jack and Cora had intense chemistry with each other. Jack is a famous Hollywood director now, and Cora is a former child star who is now allergic to fame and the shitty things that come with it. They connected instantly even after a decade of not seeing each other since their sex tape leaked and their lives took on different paths. Now, I personally prefer more angst with my second chance romance. There wasn't much angst and conflict in this book, but Jack and Cora were so obviously meant to be so I rolled with it, haha.

Animal Attraction was so much fun OMG (!!!!) and the major reason was Levi Turnbull. I love him so much; he now shares the throne of my Ultimate Fav Katee Robert hero alongside James Halloran. He is a family guy, he unapologetically loves Britney Spears (he wears Britney concert tees, bless him), and he LOVES animals. Nick shared a video that perfectly summed up Levi on Katee’s Facebook group I haz all the feels. Brooke, the heroine, is great too but Levi completely outshined her in this book I just don’t care about anything else. The only complaint I have about these two books is that they're too short! I would love them to be full-length and have epilogues. We are deprived of epilogues! I want more these characters. 

HIS PERFECT PARTNER  [★★★★]

For a debut novel, this is pretty much A+. 

I love Yazmine and her family; I love her relationship with her father and two sisters, I love how tight they are with each other. It took a while for me to warm up to Tomas, but his kid Maria is so adorable I want to adopt her. The pacing of the novel is slow but I didn't mind it much because we get to see more buildup in the relationships between Tomas and Yazmine's family, and Yazmine and Maria, and Tomas and Yazmine themselves. I love that the story is rich in culture; I 89% understood the Spanish in the dialogues without having to look them up, which I'm very proud of myself. 

The romance? SLOW BURN. I love seeing Tomas and Yazmine's relationship progressed from professional (Yaz is Maria's dance teacher) to friends to hey, I think I might love you. The only complaint from me about the romance is there is no sex???? I've been expecting it because their kisses are hot??? WHY DID YOU DEPRIVE ME OF THE SEX, MS. OLIVERAS??? 

Overall, it's a great read. I couldn't put it down! Super excited for Rosa and Jeremy's book next! Also, is it me or did the cover guy look a bit like Diego Boneta from the side?

MORE ARC HAUL

WRONG TO NEED YOU by Alisha Rai

ACTING ON IMPULSE by Mia Sosa

IF EVER I SHOULD LOVE YOU by Cathy Maxwell

THE SEA KING by C.L. Wilson

Have you been reading anything good this past week?
Tell me in the comments!