Tag: romance

Book Reviews

Book Review: Bringing Down The Duke by Evie Dunmore

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Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you the book review for Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. I read this book on the train while on the way home from Londond.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Bringing Down The Duke Plot:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

This story is about a woman who is not only a women at Oxford in a period when women weren’t accepted as intelligent, free-thinking people, but she also becomes part of the suffragist movement. First of all, I loved this take on historical fiction, it gave me a lovely sense of conflict and tension from the very beginning. Because of this involvement she gets mixed up with the Duke of Montgomery. So, this plot is a bit too far on the romance side for me, I enjoyed it don’t get me wrong but I thought the plot itself lacked a little and was used as a catalyst to bring the romance in as the main element. I would have liked more of an overall story but it was okay for a quick, calm read on the train home.

Bringing Down the Duke Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have to say the characters were what made this book enjoyable for me. Annabelle is such a strong female lead character and although she does some things in the book I didn’t agree with her personality makes up for it, I liked her and I cared about whether or not she was going to get the life she deserved.

Then there’s the Duke of Montgomery and I also liked his character, up to a point. To begin with he seems moody and he makes assumptions to quickly but you see this is a miscommunication then a bit later on there is one scene that ruined his character for me, the way he acts towards Annabelle instantly says to me that I would not like this man at all.

Bringing Down the Duke Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I think the writing in this book is okay, it is smooth and clear and it does paint the picture, especially for the setting but it’s not my favourite style of writing, this could be because of the genre as well.

Bringing Down the Duke Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because at the time of reading it, I did enjoy it but thinking about it later I am not as sure on my enjoyment of it.

Blurb/Synopsis:

England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain’s politics at the Queen’s command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can’t deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn’t be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn’t claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring… or could he?

Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke….

A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford suffragists in which a fiercely independent vicar’s daughter takes on a powerful duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I am bringing you a book review for one of the books that I read in March, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

The Love Hypothesis Plot:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I went into this book with a lot of opinions, which isn’t brilliant because I usually like to start reading with no preconceptions for the story, one being that I am not a huge fan of romance books but I thought I would give this one a go and the other opinion was that a lot of people love this book. It’s all over my bookstagram pages, twitter and BookTube.
This book appealed to me because of it featuring a PhD student and being set in a school, especially as the one romance book I do like so far was also set in a school.

Of course without spoiling anything I will say that there were scenes that I enjoyed, such as the scene where they start up their fake relationship and also the sports themed scene. The build up in this book was great, it spent a lot of time creating characters to root for and a story with multiple layers, I liked that there was a deeper substance to this book, although towards the middle it started to drag a little bit for me because I felt like I knew where the story was going. There was a twist, a very shocking event that I felt was a topic that needed to be addressed more in the book, it seemed to happen and then be solved far too quickly.

The Love Hypothesis Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really liked Olive as a protagonist, I felt that she and I shared some personality traits, and while I wouldn’t do some of the things that Olive does in the book this made me very interested in what happened to her throughout the story.

Dr Adam is also an intriguing character, he is intelligent, charming, caring – to the people he likes- and his character is built up with a backstory that is slowly revealed. Although I still find the element of teacher and student a little creepy, even though there are only a few years between them.

The Love Hypothesis Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Ali Hazelwood’s writing is very conversational and modern which I really liked for this story and the dialogue was one of my favourite elements. The conversations between Olive and Adam are where you really see the characters developing, in themselves and in their relationship.

The Love Hypothesis Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because I can see why other people have enjoyed it so much. I personally don’t think I will ever read this book again, just because I already know the story and the surprises won’t be surprises anymore and without them I don’t think I would have enjoyed the book as much.

Blurb/Synopsis:

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

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Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you another book review of a book that is outside of my usual genre – Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review!

Take A Hint, Dani Brown Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I read the first book in the Brown Sisters trilogy, Get A Life, Chloe Brown, earlier this year and I was surprised how much I ended up enjoying it. It is rare for me to enjoy a romance book, I sometimes don’t mind romance in books but a romance book isn’t a genre I gravitate towards. However, as I said I enjoyed Get A Life Chloe Brown and so I was excited to continue the series. I have to be honest, after reading the synopsis of Take A Hint Dani Brown, I wasn’t sure if I would like the book because it features fake dating and that isn’t a trope I usually like. In this book, I didn’t love the fake dating aspect but I understood why it was there and it did add to the overall book. I enjoyed the story, less than the first in the series, but I still enjoyed it.

One thing I would like to mention that I liked a lot about this book was how anxiety and panic attacks were portrayed. I don’t talk a lot about my own mental health on here but I do have panic attacks and anxiety, I had two years where every time I tried to sleep I would have panic attacks and it took a lot to get through them, I’m not free of them now, I still get them daily, but I am much better at dealing with them. It was something that I struggled to see that I didn’t need to go through them alone and seeing one of the main characters in this book struggle with it too and see them start to accept help and support was a really nice thing for me.

I didn’t really like the end of the book, I can’t say too much without spoiling what happens but the way the end scene goes didn’t sit very well with me. It isn’t the last last scene of the book but it is near the end.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I loved Dani as a main character. I liked how confident in herself she is, which is completely the opposite to the way I am. I also liked how the character grows throughout the book and she becomes a great character, she has strong family values and I liked the way she interacted with other characters.

Zaf is the very charming love interest in this book. I really liked that this book switches around the stereotypical ideas of a romance. In this book the man is the overly romantic one and I thought this fit Zaf so well.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I already knew I liked Talia Hibbert’s effortless writing style from reading Get A Life Chloe Brown and reading Take A Hint Dani Brown only reinforced my opinion that I love her writing.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because although I liked it less than the first book I still was surprised by how much I did enjoy this book. I think it is down to the way that Talia Hibbert writes her books, both the writing style and the plot.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral…

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs.

Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

blog tours, Book Reviews

Book Review: No Number Nine by F J Campbell

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Happy Friday bookish people! I’m so happy that today is my spot on the book tour for No Number Nine by F J Campbell. Thank you to Literally PR for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

No Number Nine Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This book was very different to books that I usually read, I loved how the backstory of Pip gets revealed throughout the story. It kept the tension throughout the story about what would happen next and what secrets are people hiding. This book had intriguing character relationships and a plot that both flowed and constantly changed. I thought it was the perfect timing to read this book, especially with it’s links to Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics about to start. Although there was a dramatic undertone to this book I liked that the romance subplot was well developed and fit into the plot seamlessly. It also gave the book points for tension, which I think it is quite obvious I like in books.

No Number Nine Characters:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I really felt for Pip throughout this book, there were things she could have done differently but still it seemed like nothing could go right for her. When the book begins we know she has lost her sister and this gives Pip an interesting character dynamic because it is the catalyst for some of the events throughout the book. I’m not going to talk about any of the other characters in particular because I don’t feel I can without giving some spoilers but I will say that they each added layers to the story.

No Number Nine Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

For the most part the writing style of this book was something I enjoyed, it was clear and well written. The part I didn’t enjoy was that some sections are written in the style of a drama script. This confused me as I didn’t feel there was any need for it to be written in this way and it disconnected me from the characters in the scene.

No Number Nine Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed the reading of it and I would be interested in reading other books by this author.

Blurb/Synopsis:

What do you do when your amazing, beloved sister dies?

Hide in your room for two years.

Sleep with a very, very wrong man.

Leave home and start a new life, lying to everyone you meet including your kind employer, your curious friends and the man you love?

Pip Mitchell’s an expert at making seriously bad decisions. But when her past, present and future collide at the Sydney Olympic Games, she’s going to have to decide whose side she’s on – or she’ll lose everyone she loves.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

blog tours, Book Reviews

Book Review: Instructions For Dancing by Nicola Yoon

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope everyone has had a great weekend. I’m so excited that today is my spot on the book tour for Instructions For Dancing by Nicola Yoon! This was a great read and I’m very happy to share my thoughts about it. Thank you to TheWriteReads tours for having me as a part of this.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Instructions For Dancing Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I surprised myself by enjoying this book. Contemporary Romance novels are way out of my comfort zone and I haven’t read very many of them. I really enjoyed that this plot didn’t feel like the typical contemporary plot line, I mean it was because it has the love story in it, but there were some unusual elements that made the story something else. I think that’s the main reason I enjoyed it more than I expected. I saw quite a few reviews before I read this book which said the story is heartbreaking and that a few of them have cried at this book. I have to say I agree, there are heartbreaking moments throughout this book and although didn’t cry myself I was very close. After I finished the book I was left feeling very calm and content, I enjoyed this book a lot.

Instructions For Dancing Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There wasn’t one character in this book that I didn’t like. The friendship group were great to read about and the love interest was funny and intriguing. But my favourite character was Evie, the protagonist, I loved her personality and how she developed throughout the story.

Instructions For Dancing Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I found the writing style difficult to get into at first but once I got used to it I began to enjoy the way Nicola Yoon writes. The dialogue is one of the best parts of this novel, there’s a lot of witty remarks and ‘banter’ between the characters in this novel and I thought this was a brilliant feature.

Instructions For dancing Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because I enjoyed it more than I expected to and it has made me think that I should try books out of my comfort zone more often.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.

As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met.

Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Love By Design by Effie Kammenou

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Happy Monday Bookish people! What is everyone doing this bank holiday Monday? I have some University work and some job work to do later but hopefully that won’t take long and then I can spend the rest of the day reading.

Today is my stop on the book tour for Love by Design by Effie Kammenou. Thank you to Love Books Tours for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Love By Design Plot:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I will say, this is not my usual genre. At all. I don’t read much romance so I don’t have much to compare this book to. I did enjoy the story overall, I thought the setting and career of the main character was interesting and not common in books that I have read before, or books that I have heard about from other people. This book has frequent changes of location throughout it and I did find myself getting confused with where I was and who was in the scene. This did take away a bit of my enjoyment of this book. I read the first book in the series a little while ago, Love Is What You Bake It, and I felt that the first book had a clearer structure and I enjoyed that one more than this one but there were still elements in this one I enjoyed, particularly the characters.

Love By Design Characters:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

First, I loved that this book continued with the themes of family that it had in the first book of the series and that Mia, the main character in this book, had many scenes throughout the book where she interacted with her family and particularly two of sisters. I really enjoyed having chapters in this book from both Mia and Nicholas, the main male character of this novel, because it gave both of their points of view keeping my opinions on the characters balanced nicely. I understood what was driving both of them, their motivations and desires. Nicholas is an intriguing character, he made me feel many emotions – irritation, sadness, always wanting to know more about his character and what he is going to do next.

Love By Design Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

As with the first book in this series I enjoyed this author’s writing style and how she integrates the dialogue into the story. As I said above I did keep getting confused with this book but I don’t think that’s because of the writing style I think it’s because of my inability to change setting in my head quickly…

Love By Design Overall:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I gave this book three stars overall because it’s not my typical genre and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would after reading the first book in the series, but I also didn’t not enjoy it if that makes sense.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Mia Andarakis just landed her dream job at a luxury magazine. And even better, her boss is the handsome and enigmatic Nicholas Aristedis, a man she has crushed on from afar. But Nicholas isn’t who she imagined. Irascible and mercurial, his instant dislike for Mia makes it almost impossible for her to work with him.

Nicholas has faced many losses and heartaches in his thirty-two years. Determined to avoid heartbreak, he has closed his heart to love. But Mia awakens feelings in him he had long since denied. And soon he discovers their connection is deeper than he realized.

Mia and Nicholas embark on an adventure across picturesque locations as they launch a new publication and uncover the mystery behind her grandfather’s disappearance. But perhaps the greatest challenge is in learning to set aside their insecurities and fears. Can the two forget the traumas of their past? And will they ever learn to trust in the possibility of love? Find out in the second novel of The Meraki Series.

That’s it for this book review, sorry that it’s shorter than usual, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Love is What You Bake It by Effie Kammenou

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Happy Friday bookish people! Today is my stop on the blog tour for the book Love Is What You Bake It by Effie Kammenou. Thank you to Love Book Tours for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Love is What You Bake It Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I don’t read many books that can be classed as part of the romance genre so I can’t say how this book sits amongst them, however, I surprised myself because I actually enjoyed my reading of this book. I thought the plot was simple enough for me to understand everything that was happening while still complicated and filled with layers of back story that gave the story the ‘will they, won’t they’ that it needed.

I enjoyed the themes of family and friendship that were one of the main features of this book, it gave it more of a story in my opinion. I also liked that there were actual recipes sprinkled throughout the book – I definitely want to make some of these!

For me the romance element felt a little rushed, it is a short book to begin with, but I like my romance (even though it’s usually only a tiny sub-plot) to be a slow burn, and when I say slow I mean a snails pace – I like it to be very dragged out.

Love Is What You Bake It Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The main characters Kally and Max were interesting and complex. The way their back stories were slowly shown to the reader was good at playing with your perceptions of the characters. My favourite character in the book has to be Athena, I don’t think it’s a spoiler by saying she is Max’s daughter – if it is sorry! – and she is great. I like children generally, in life and in fiction, but she was very well written and acted her age.

The only part I didn’t enjoy about the characters was there was one, who I won’t name because that would be a spoiler, who in my opinion was coming across a bit dangerous and a bit too controlling and then at the end they almost had a redemption arc which was for a specific reason to further the plot but I did feel that wasn’t the best way to present that character at the end.

Love Is What You Bake It Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I don’t have a lot to say about this section. I thought the writing flowed easily and kept my interest in the story well. The dialogue, although at times too much information was given at once, was well written and matched the characters and their personalities.

Love Is What You Bake It Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have given this book four stars because I was surprised how much I actually ended up enjoying the story. It was light-hearted and fun and influenced by Greek culture which was very interesting to learn about.

Blurb/synopsis:

The only love Kally Andarakis is baking is in the form of the sweet treats she whips up in her café, The Coffee Klatch.

Kally never believed herself to be a person worthy of love, but when an intoxicating man she considered out of her league pursues her, she risks everything to be with him. Later, when tragedy strikes, truths are revealed that leave Kally brokenhearted and untrusting.

Eight years later, Kally is a successful pastry chef running the café she’d always dreamed of owning. With a home of her own, a profession she’s passionate about, and the support and love of friends and family, Kally is content with the life she has carved out for herself.

Until the day Max Vardaxis walks into her café…

With arguing parents, meddling relatives, an overly energetic grandmother, a man-crazy best friend, and the long ago, mysterious disappearance of a grandfather, this new man in town is just one more complication in Kally’s life, if not the main one.

Kally must now decide whether to keep her heart safe or to once again take a ‘whisk on love.’

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!