Lisa's Sunday Update (2)

Hi guys!

I haven't done a proper reading update in a while, welp. I have been sharing Can't Wait Wednesdays just to post something but I'm going to try and do better from now on. 

It's the weekend and I have a new appreciation for it now, because I just started my full-time job on Wednesday! That's right, your girl is no longer funemployed and is now a working professional. The job isn't my first choice and isn't something I ever imagine myself doing in a million years, but it pays well and should be a good experience. I need to fund my book-buying habits and hopefully save some money for travel, LOL.

Today I'll be sharing some mini reviews of the books I read...a week ago? Two weeks ago? I can't remember the last time I finished a book because I've been in a weird headspace since I was confirmed for the job. I told my sister that I haven't touched my iPad since I started working and she was like, "Are you okay?"

Onwards!

Cris' Reading Update

Hey people. I've been kind of missing from this blog, and for that I'm very very sorry. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I'm changing jobs inside my company, and I've been in a gruesome training for 6 weeks now. It's been amazing, but exhausting, and I haven't had much time to prepare any post. Again, sorry!

I thought about doing something different this time, and do a little update of what I've been reading this past month, and what I'll be reading during the month of October - kind of like a September wrap-up and an October TBR. Very original, I know... =P

During the month of September I heard a bunch of audiobooks, because of my commute to my training place (and the fact that for most of the month, I didn't have my car). I read some fantastic ones, and I was finally able to finish the Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid, and I LOVED the books, and they all work amazingly on audio. I also started the Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare, also on audio, and I'm enjoying that so much too. I also read Professor Feelgood (Masters of Love, #2) by Leisa Rayven, and really liked it, though I need to write the review for the book ASAP.

I also read Once Upon a Real Good Time (Heartbreakers, #1) by Lauren Blakely, though I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. The writing somehow didn't quite feel like Blakely, but I still want to get my hands on the other 2 books of the series, but I might give them a try in audio format, because Lauren Blakely's books usually work wonderfully in audio.

Finally, I gave Let's Get Textual by Teagan Hunter a chance, and I absolutely loved it.

I didn't read as many books in September as I had on the previous month, but I was still happy with the ones I read.

Now, for October, I plan to continue my Tessa Dare saga, as soon as Scribd allows me to listen to her books again. Here's what I'm reading:

The first book I already read this month was Love Sincerely Yours by Meghan Quinn and Sara Ney, and I'm sorry to say that it didn't blow me away... but my review will be out on the 13th. Then I'm about to finish the Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare, but I need to read the Castles Ever After series, because one book is related to both series.

Then, because Scribd was mean to mean and temporarily took out most of my saved list, I'm listening to Falling from the Sky by Sarina Bowen, let's see if I like this one better than the first book in the series. Afterwards, I'll probably read The Jerk Duet by Max Monroe, which will most likely be hilarious. And finally, I want to read I Wanna Text You Up by Teagan Hunter, and see if I like it as much as the first book, which I'm betting I will.

Have you guys read any of these books? Any thoughts?!

Girl Meets Duke... Again: The Governess Game by Tessa Dare

THE GOVERNESS GAME
by Tessa Dare
Series: Girl Meets Duke #2

Genres: Historical Romance
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: August 28th 2018
Source: eARC received through Edelweiss for an honest review
Rating: ★★★★1/2

Amazon | Google Books | B&N | Audible 

He’s been a bad, bad rake — and it takes a governess to teach him a lesson
The accidental governess.
After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried — and failed — to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart... without risking her own.
The infamous rake.
Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education — in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling... and he’s in danger of falling, hard.

I Read My 1st Historical Romance: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare

The Duchess Deal
by Tessa Dare
Series: Girl Meets Duke #1

Genres: Historical Romance
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: August 22nd 2017
Source: eBook
Rating: ★★★★★

When girl meets Duke, their marriage breaks all the rules…

Since his return from war, the Duke of Ashbury’s to-do list has been short and anything but sweet: brooding, glowering, menacing London ne’er-do-wells by night. Now there’s a new item on the list. He needs an heir — which means he needs a wife. When Emma Gladstone, a vicar’s daughter turned seamstress, appears in his library wearing a wedding gown, he decides on the spot that she’ll do.

His terms are simple:
- They will be husband and wife by night only.
- No lights, no kissing.
- No questions about his battle scars.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she’s pregnant with his heir, they need never share a bed again.

But Emma is no pushover. She has a few rules of her own:
- They will have dinner together every evening.
- With conversation.
- And unlimited teasing.
- Last, and most importantly… Once she’s seen the man beneath the scars, he can’t stop her from falling in love…

Amazon | Kobo | Audible | Nook | Indie Bound

Do you need more romance books in your TBR piles? Of course, you do!

Hello friends!

I'm still in more of a mystery/suspense/phase at the moment, so that's what I have mostly been reading. But like always I was able to sneak in some romance novels that I'm happy to share with you all. I have to say, I haven't been overly impressed by any romance novel in particular lately. The ones I've read have been fun to read, but most also weren't memorable. I want something to completely sweep me off my feet! So if you have any recommendations, feel free to let me know in the comments below!

I'm also sharing with you all 6 books I've recently added to my TBR at the bottom of this post. Hope you guys find something to add to your TBRs too! :)

Let's take a look at the books I read since last week!

HEAD OVER HEELS by Jennifer Dawson [★★★]

Received for review purposes. This does not affect my opinion of the book.

I have had ups and downs with the Something New series, but for the most part it's been an enjoyable series. I had no idea the author was continuing on with the books, but I was eager to learn of Head Over Heels' existence. To be honest I couldn't remember the two main characters here from the previous books. Even after I was done reading Head Over Heels I couldn't remember them! I know I have a very poor book memory but usually I'll remember as I read the book. Anyways, back to talking about the book. This is the story of Sophie and Ryder. Sophie is caught in the middle of a scandal that she had nothing to do with, but that ultimately leaves her jobless and her reputation in Chicago destroyed. She accepts a temporary short-term job in Revival, a small town, where a couple of her best friends live. Sophie is a smart woman who possesses a lot of drive and determination. She puts all her efforts into whatever task she is responsible for, and that's a quality I admired and loved about her. After being burned by love, she is also a little reserved emotionally, and is afraid to risk her heart. Enter her landlord Ryder, a handsome bad boy who also happens to be a sheriff in town. On their first meeting, Sophie decides that even though she's wildly attracted to Ryder, she dislikes him for some unknown unexplained reason. This dislike she has for him really confused me, and actually bothered me. It felt like it was done to sort of manufacture a hate-to-love romance, and it didn't work all that well for me. So even though there were qualities I liked about Sophie, her reaction to Ryder left me annoyed. I wasn't entirely keen on Ryder either. I mean he's a typical alpha her, with not a lot of anything else going on for him. The other male characters in this series have had more defining qualities to them, so I found Ryder to be very underwhelming. The romance between the two certainly had a lot of sexual chemistry. There's no doubt that Jennifer Dawson knows her way around tension between her couples. I can't exactly pinpoint why though, but even though Sophie and Ryder had a ton of chemistry together, I wasn't feeling them 100%. Maybe it's because a lot of time is spent on the actual physical aspects of the relationship over building an emotional connection? After a while, I got real tired of hearing about their sexy shenanigans, and wanted to see them connect on a more intimate level. What I loved in Head Over Heels though was seeing all the previous couples. They are all so cute, and I loved the glimpses into their lives. Head Over Heels is a very readable book because Jennifer Dawson has such a great addicting writing style, but I'm not overly impressed by Head Over Heels.

Of dukes, a magistrate, and happily ever afters.

Hello, everyone! How is your reading this week?

Honestly, I’m having a blah week. Academic-wise, I need to submit the complete draft of my Master’s thesis to my supervisor in a week, and wrapping up my writing is the single, most hardest thing to do right now.

Boring stuff aside, I finally created a shelf for single parents on my Goodreads, and because I love multiple shelves, I decided to split them into separate shelves for single mothers and single fathers. I’m also reorganizing books in my age gap shelf. For some reason, I’ve been shelving books with minimum age difference of five years and above into that shelf, and I now realized that it didn’t really make sense; five years aren’t that big of a gap, right?

On a bookish-related note, the first book in one of my all-time favourite series, the All Souls trilogy, is getting a TV adaptation! I thought I was over books with vampires in them, but then I got hooked on A Discovery of Witches and proved myself wrong. The author, Deborah Harkness, announced on Monday that the main characters Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont will be played by Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode. 

Granted, they aren’t how I pictured Diana and Matthew, but I’m excited nonetheless. Now onwards for some mini reviews!

Review: Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare

DO YOU WANT TO START A SCANDAL
by Tessa Dare
Series: Spindle Cove #5
Genres: Historical Romance
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: September 27th 2016
Source: ARC received for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Amazon - Barnes & Noble

On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. •Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? •Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? •Perhaps the butler did it.

All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: it wasn’t her. But rumors to the contrary are buzzing. Unless she can discover the lovers’ true identity, she’ll be forced to marry Piers Brandon, Lord Granville—the coldest, most arrogantly handsome gentleman she’s ever had the misfortune to embrace. When it comes to emotion, the man hasn’t got a clue.

But as they set about finding the mystery lovers, Piers reveals a few secrets of his own. The oh-so-proper marquess can pick locks, land punches, tease with sly wit … and melt a woman’s knees with a single kiss. The only thing he guards more fiercely than Charlotte’s safety is the truth about his dark past.

Their passion is intense. The danger is real. Soon Charlotte’s feeling torn. Will she risk all to prove her innocence? Or surrender it to a man who’s sworn to never love?

Week in Review #7

Hi guys!

I hope you all had a wonderful week. Mine was rather low-key. It was a rather dusty week at my house because a bunch of our tiles popped up and we had to get those repaired. I'm still finding dust everywhere!

I was able to read 4 romance novels this week. Sadly, two were duds. :( Here's my recap:

Upcoming 2016 Swoony Books I'm Dying To Read

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I hope your weeks are going well so far. I'll be low-key taking part in Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, as from today because it's my favorite meme out there, but oddly, I've never participated myself.

Today's topic is one I'm very excited about: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of 2016. Because this is an adult romance book blog, I decided to add my twist to it and make it about all the swoony releases I'm dying to read coming out this year. I did fail at just sticking to 10 though and ended up with 14, but I couldn't narrow it down because I'm so so excited for ALL of these!

I hope you guys are able to find some books to add to your TBRs! :)