“Still bad at blog post titles" –a sequel

No, listen, how do you people come up with catchy post titles because I have nada.

Anyway, hi everybody! How is your week so far? School officially reopens for me this week, and I’m starting the final semester of my Master’s degree! Honestly I feel so burned out right now, I can’t wait for everything to be over, get my degree, and go make money with it, LOL.

In a bookish-related news, have you seen the cover for Lisa Kleypas’ Hello Stranger? Nick tweeted it to me when I was about to sleep last night. Personally I’m not a big fan of the dress; the black and white assemble looks weird, but I love the pink colours. Nick made a point last night in the GC about how it would be much more awesome if the model was wearing some sort of doctor attire, since the protagonist is a doctor. Talking about missed opportunities!

Also, Alisha Rai recently revealed the cover for Hurts to Love You, and it’s just as sexy as the first two covers in the Forbidden Hearts series.  I still haven’t started Hate to Want You, but I’m planning to read it as soon as I finish my current reads.

More reading updates? Onwards!

CURRENTLY READING

A Kiss in Lavender (La Vie en Roses #4) 

by Laura Florand | Amazon

This book is one of my most anticipated reads this year, and I was so excited when it finally came out. I’m halfway through with it right now and I’m loving it so much. 

If you’re unfamiliar about this series, La Vie en Roses follows the lives of five male cousins who are a part of a French perfume dynasty. Every book in this series is centred around flowers: roses, jasmines, orange blossoms, and now lavenders. 

What appeals to me the most about this series is the great family dynamics; Laura Florand writes great characters that are very family-oriented, complete with their own family drama. A Kiss in Lavender is about Lucien, who cut ties with the Rosier family after a revelation that changed his life and ran away to join the Foreign Legion, an elite French military division. I’ve been hearing about the enigmatic Lucien since Book 1. In fact, in every book in this series the cousins seem to think about him constantly and missing him strongly, and it’s just heart-breaking to read. 

In this book, he’s finally returned home after fifteen years (15!) and I’m still so emotional about it.

East in Paradise (Journey to the Heart #2) 

by Tif Marcelo | Amazon  

I’ve heard raves about the first book in the series, North to You. I still haven’t started that one, but I requested this one because the fake-relationship-for-cameras thing seems up my alley. 

Unfortunately I’m having trouble with this one because I really dislike the main character Brynn. Her brashness irritates me, and sometimes she’s annoyingly snappish. Mitchell is an okay guy; I'm actually surprised that I didn't like him more since military men in romance are totally my thing. 

Romance-wise, I'm not feeling Brynn and Mitchell together, but I'm still early in the book for them to show romantic signs. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll love the romance because plot-wise, the story is not engaging me so far. I’ve actually restarted this book twice now because I got bored and put it down to read other books. 

Right now I’m only at 35% and I sincerely hope the story will pick up soon or else it’s going in my DNF pile because life is too short to keep reading books you don’t like.

FINISHED

Break of Day (One Night in South Beach #3) 

by Andie J. Christopher | Amazon

[★★1/2]

E-ARC is received thanks to the publisher via Netgalley.

Well, this book is a let-down. I requested the ARC because it had a surprise-baby plot, and I had a vision of how the story was supposed to go, and I was ready for all the angst…and then I got a different story, LOL. The surprise baby felt more of an afterthought to me (it started at 70%) I even wondered why it was even included.

Now, the different plot would have been fine but unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with the characters at all. Carla and Jonah both annoyed me. It was promising when the story opened with them meeting and then hating each other on sight; I was ready for the hate-to-love trope, but alas that too fell flat in this book. The dialogue at times felt to me like it’s trying too hard to be witty and funny. Also I found myself side-eyeing some of the stuff Carla said, especially the bit about priests and Jonah having sex with some guy. 

Plus points: Carla’s relationship with her sister and sister-in-law, Carla’s mom (I love her; she should have more screen time), and the adorable epilogue.

Overall, I’m sad this book didn’t work out for me, but I’m game if Ms. Christopher wants to write Charlie’s book. Also I’m 8/10 going to check out Javier’s book. 

ARC HAUL

  

Burn for You by J.T. Geissinger

Playing with Danger (Desire Bay #2) by Joya Ryan

Burn for You has fake marriage between a chef and a billionaire. Fake relationships? It's a yes from me! 

Playing with Danger has a runaway wife and a husband who comes to claim her. I'm a couple of chapters in and it seems like it has a potential to be an angsty read. Second chance romance, woo!

Take the Lead (Dance Off #1) by Alexis Daria

Necessary Roughness (Love and Football #7) by Julie Brannagh

I'm currently two chapters in with Take the Lead and I'm liking it a lot! Look at all the colours in the cover, I love it so much. The abs didn't hurt either. The characters are both reality TV stars; the heroine, Gina, is a professional dancer and the hero, Stone, is a mountain man (not a great description, but he and his family has a TV show about living in the Alaskan wilderness, so...) Catnip: they need to fake a romance for the dance TV show they're competing in. Fake relationships? Sign. Me. Up. 

Necessary Roughness sounds like a fun romance between a grouchy, injured ex-NFL player and the massage therapist he's saddled with. There's a dog on the cover, which I will without shame admit that it's one of the main reasons I requested the ARC. (Also, I found out that the author recently passed away.)

What have you been reading this week?
Tell me in the comments!