REVIEW: Me, Cinderella?

One kind deed can change your life forever...

Brynn Tomlin could never afford to follow her heart. But when she sees a stranger shivering in the snow outside of the college library, an inexplicable urge leads her to buy him a hot cup of coffee. It's just a small act of kindness, a few words of conversation. Brynn should be focusing on her finals, after all, not on the man who looked up at her gratefully with piercing blue eyes. 

He could have been anyone - a janitor on break, a graduate student, a bum. But the man standing outside in the cold turns out to be Dr. Eliot Herceg, one of the most brilliant minds in mathematics and heir to a fortune. After years of reclusive isolation, he now finds his heart awakening to the kind girl whose name he does not know. 

Brynn has spent her life trying to forget her desires, and Eliot's deep wounds have taken nearly a decade to heal. After so much hurt, will either of them be able to open their hearts again?

Published: June 24 2014 by CreateSpace
Source: Goodreads

Thoughts:  I enjoyed reading this book, I thought it was going to be more Cinderella-y than it was. Personally it seemed more Beauty and The Beast to me but what do I know, its called Me, Cinderella?  I really enjoy reading books where there is a POV from both parties. I hate not knowing what the other is thinking, especially in a romance. I think it puts too much pressure on the reader, knowing a secret that you don't know if the other party knows or not.

Maybe its been a while since I've read a book with foreshadowing or even noticed, but I noticed in this one. I really liked the math angle. I'm not a big math person myself but the author made Math seem almost interesting. I was still way in over my head just reading it but it was a cool angle. Usually YA/NA books that take place in college center around easy to understand majors, mainly because they aren't vital to the story. In this, there was a difference. To Brynn, Math is orderly, numbers don't lie and they can be controlled. I can see the appeal that subject would give someone who's had a very chaotic life, more so than English or Psychology.

The correlation between real life and Cinderella makes this book ironic and quirky not cheesy and obvious. I.e. Wicked step-mother and sister, treated like a slave. Which is arguably the only Cinderella like quality I thought this book had, I stand by my Beauty and The Beast reference though.

The only thing I had to complain about was the main characters image. You get bits and pieces of what she's been told she looks like by her step-family and how that's affected how she perceives herself, and then there's the Beasts perception of her which is still not clear. I really don't know what she looks like and that is really frustrating, seeing as how I know exactly what Eliot looks like and the dead woman he sees more than the main character.

4 STARS

REVIEW: Running on Empty (Mending Hearts #1)

I had the perfect life. 

Beautiful and loving husband.Three gorgeous little girls. 
Successful career. 

The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence. 

Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse. 

But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.

There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down.Absolutely no way. 

The question is…

How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?

Published: January 4th by L.B. Simmons
Source: Goodreads

Thoughts: Usually when reading you pick sides. You're either rooting for the protagonist or the lover: wishing the protagonist would get her sh*t straightened out be with him already. Not this book. I found myself rooting for neither. Her for being thoughtless and him for being a spineless wimp, putting his life on hold for "the one that got away" *cue eye roll*

To be honest the reason I chose to read this book was because there was a sequel and I can never seem to find sequels with this kind of story line. 

Lately I've been drawn to romantic single mom stories, and for some reason they're really hard to come by, at least the well-written ones. 

Running on Empty was a prime candidate for what I was looking for. Single mom with three daughters, husbands unexpected demise. It had all the makings of what I was looking for, except when I started reading I just didn't like it. It wasn't really the story was the problem but how it was written: I felt as if I was reading a book and I did not like that. Most (avid) readers know that when a book is truly good/great you don't feel like you're reading it but experiencing it. It's like watching a movie through words. Which I believe is why we have such high hopes for castings when our favorite book turns into a movie; but I digress. 

I'm all for fun family life, but for a thirty-something mother of three to come off as a tad immature and with the fact that I kept questioning her parenting skills, I found that couldn't get behind the main character or the story.
It was too one-dimensional. Everything was focused on the main character, I felt as if there was a lot of talk about her children and what's best for them but we didn't get any insight into their feelings. I mean what kid likes a guy their mom is seeing after day one? These children were obsessed with Blake. It just didn't seem real. 
Alex's best friend Harlow seemed like a really interesting character. I wanted to know more about her, all we got were a few rampant thoughts about her from Alex that didn't seem like they should be in the book in the first place but I guess was the authors way of gearing us up for a Harlow book in the "Mending Hearts" series...book 2. 

P.S. 
Words like "evidently" and "giggle" should no longer be in this authors dictionary of words to use for the next book or two in this series. 

2.5 STARS

Read it and Review it

Finally I got the read it and review copy of Me, Cinderella, all for an honest review! I can't wait! But first I must finish Running on Empty and its counterpart Recovery :(

REVIEW: Trophy Husband

Sometimes you can't help falling in love, even when you try to do the opposite...

Successful fashion blogger McKenna Bell has spent far too long protecting herself after the way her ex-fiancé left her at the altar for a college chick he met the night of his bachelor party. Loving again, trusting again, well, that's just not in the cards. Especially now that her ex is back in town with his new woman, demanding custody of McKenna's favorite creature in the whole world--her dog.

No effing way. McKenna's had enough of him, and she decides to even the score by finding her own hot young thing -- a Trophy Husband. Sure, she's only twenty-seven, but doesn't that make it even more fun -- and infuriating to her ex -- to pursue a younger man?

When she declares her intentions on her daily blog, her quest quickly skyrockets in popularity, and that's when Chris enters the picture, and he’s got all the assets. He's handsome, successful, and turns her inside out with a kiss to end all kisses, the kind that makes you feel like a shooting star.

But loving again could mean losing again, and it's so much easier to focus on getting even, isn't it? Unless, you just can't help falling in love. Which means McKenna will have to come face to face with what she really wants in life -- protecting her heart from hurt, or letting go of her fears of a new beginning.

Published: May 21st 2013  by Lauren Blakely Books
Source: Goodreads

Thoughts:                                                 

This book made me laugh out loud and gave me the warm fuzzies. It was not at all what I expected; which was absymal writing and a so-so story line.  If you just got jilted at the alter and looking for revenge ideas look no further. It was quirky and fun following McKenna in her search for a trophy husband, you have to admit the idea is pretty ingenious; especially since we women are always saying that we can do whatever men can do but better. 

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading Trophy Husband  and found myself at times unable to put it down in favor of sleep, there were a few things that just did not sit well with me:

SPOILER! 

• McKenna's ex-fiance jilted her at his bacholer party in Vegas no less for a gymnast -- ok predictable
• He doesn't care -- also predictable. Except there are two kinds of callousness. 1) jilt and just don't care, no more contact. 2) jilt and preceed to make ex-fiancee's life a living hell, coming off as a cold-hearted SOB. He was the latter. 

 I wonder if I'd still be saying things like babe and hot chick when I'm 27, even though I don't say them now.
Minus those two points it was a typical chick lit, filled with the requisite bffs that will stand by you and cheer you on for even the dumbest of ideas; the nerdy but hot looking man, the big showy signs of affection and lovey-dovey song playlist; and I must say pretty decent sex scenes. 

Curl up with your golden retriever and a steamy mug of hot chocolate and enjoy uber retro McKenna on her quest for the perfect Trophy Husband

4 STARS

REVIEW: Hopeless

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

Published: December 19, 2012
Source: Goodreads

Thoughts:                                                        
I am trying to think of words that could help describe this book and how it made me feel. It was slow but intense and real.

 I think what I love about this new genre of NA fiction is how real everything is, and by real I mean relatable to the average 20-something. This genre is not afraid to get into sticky topics such as sex and drug abuse or anything remotely dark.

The characters age range is older end of young adult or the blossoming 20-something more so than actual YA books. While their struggles may not be relatable to all that read their stories, their pain, their suffering and their joy is ours.
Whether their specific pain is different from that which we have experienced first-hand the reality of it isn't any less real.
While reading Hopeless we know what it feels like at this age to be afraid and alone -- without hope.

I enjoyed the slow pace at the beginning of this book because I could tell it was gearing me up for something-bigger, and before the something-bigger happened I had time to regroup in the form of a "chapter break" (i.e. a Part 2). When the something-bigger came it came hard and it came fast -- not fast in the sense that I had the impression the author wanted to get it over with--fast in the sense that there was so much to take in, so much revelation. It was mind-blowing. Your eyes couldn't read fast enough, your fingers couldn't turn the page fast enough, and your mind couldn't grasp all there was quick enough to satisfy you.

Hopeless is about bravery, forgiveness, love, justice, and acceptance. It is a story filled with laughter, sorrow and intense pain. I tip my hat to you Colleen Hoover for an incredibly well written story.

5 STARS