Review: Love My Way by Kate Sterritt

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This book was surprisingly more angsty than I originally thought. The reoccurring theme of the book was grief. Although it wasn’t as prominent as I felt that it should have been, it was present, lingering in the background.

This was not a bad book. However, the pacing was wrong and everything felt crammed in the book. Readers were not given a chance to analyze the situation and develop an emotional connection to the story, romance, or the characters.

It is hard to explain this book without being overly vague and entering spoiler central.  The book was around 250 pages. The first half is about Emerson’s past. If I’m being honest, this part should have been shortened. I would have enjoyed more time focused on the present. The past felt repetitive and failed to show the emotional connection between Emerson and the other characters. It also felt vague and left me confused. Although, the second part attempted to answer my questions, it was still confusing or presented weak explanations.

The second is in the present. The second half also is about the emotional impact that the past had on Emerson. However, the event that cause such a toll on her isn’t fully revealed until almost the end. The reveal was anti-climactic because of the predictable nature of it and the book’s inability to pause and let things settle.

Characters

In the second chapter, readers are immediately shown that Emerson had a rough life growing up. She had an absent and awful mother and an abusive step-brother. But despite that, Emerson was very kind, and I really enjoyed her determination. The story about how and why she wanted to be an artist was cute and inspiring. It was a little unrealistic, but that can be overlooked.

One issue that I had with the character is that it was too unbelievable that she was an artist. It was commented on several times that she enjoyed creating, but the book never fully deeply explored Emerson’s emotional connection and true feelings about it. Also, I don’t think it was fully explained her reasoning for stopping.

The romance between Emerson and the leading guy was extremely instalove. Everything happened too fast, and the emotional connection between the two was lost. The chemistry was barely there.

Emerson is dealing with some emotional stuff in the second half of the book. And because readers are in dark about most of the events that lead to the present, the romance felt a little odd and rushed.

It is worth mentioning that their meeting was sweet and original. I really enjoyed that, and that scene was a defining moment in Emerson’s character. I wish that she would have interacted with his mother more in the book. They were sort of dealing it the same thing, and I can only imagine the emotional conversation that could have been born because of it.

Final Analysis

Love My Way rushes its way to finish line, without taking the time to let the reader experience the emotions that the book tries to invoke.

Review: When It’s Real by Erin Watt

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This book has potential to be loved. It’s a sweet YA love story featuring an average girl, Vaughn, and a famous rock star, Oakley. And it has fake dating; everyone loves the fake dating trope. Vaughn is recruited to help Oakley’s image, and somewhere down the line they begin to fall in love.

The story is unoriginal, but never seems to feel old. It was always entertaining. I especially loved how the author incorporated the fandom life. Throughout the novel, tweets from fans of Oakley were showed in the narrative. Sometimes they were quite funny.

I must say that the PR campaign was a little weak and unrealistic. How did no one speculate that the relationship was fake at first?

Although, I didn’t love it; I could see how others would enjoy it. It is mostly angst free and is definitely a no commitment, quick summer read. The characters are somewhat likeable. They definitely are not perfect and most of the time act with their emotions instead of their head.

The book does a great job diving into the insane lifestyle of a celebrity, and how the fear of being irrelevant and forgotten impacts them.

There is sort of a love triangle. Vaughn is in a relationship when tasked with the job. I felt like the story could have done without it. As for the romance between Vaughn and Oakley? The chemistry was not there entirely.

The sparks were missing. And I think I felt that way because of Oakley’s behavior towards Vaughn most of the book. Oakley was a brat most of the book, and at times was rude for no reason. Vaughn and Oakley do share a couple of cute moments but they aren’t defining or memorable.

Final Analysis

When It’s Real is a quick summer read that is definitely aimed at a younger target market. The characters tend to be somewhat likable and the story is the dream life of some. Who wouldn’t want to date their favorite celebrity?  

Review: The Foxe & The Hound by R.S. Grey

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R.S. Grey’s books tend to all follow the same formula. The romantic leads tend to lean more towards enemies than friends during the first half, and then events or coincidences (i.e. running into each other a lot, working at the same doctor’s office, etc.…) cause the two individuals to see each other in a new light.

There is a lot of sexual tension, banter, and even a sprinkle of sex in an unconventional place thrown in. The book ends with a nicely tied red bow and sometimes even features a time jump with a glimpse of the lead’s new life together. Spoiler Alert: they are still super in love and there might even be wedding talk.

Although this book was entertaining, it definitely followed the R.S. Grey’s book writing formula. The characters had different occupations; however, too many things felt familiar. The familiarity was both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, I enjoyed the book because she does the enemies-to-lovers trope very well and she writes excellent banter. It was funny, and the romance was actually super cute. It’s a quick read, and it is almost entirely angst free.

However, on the other hand, it would be nice to experience something fresh from this author. Her books are beginning to blend together and her main characters are starting to feel unoriginal. It makes it hard to want to continue to read because you already know how the story is going to turn out.

Characters

There is not really much to discuss about the characters. They’re a little unforgettable and seem too familiar. It is worth mentioning that they are likeable characters.

I will say that Madeleine’s background was seriously lacking. I don’t think it was ever truly explained why she is a Real Estate agent. She said she enjoyed her job, but it was never fully explained why she graduated college and chose that specific career when I don’t believe that was her beginning goal.

Final Analysis

The Foxe & the Hound is a good book, but it’s a book that R.S. Grey has written many times before. It does have a good romance and nice humor, but is frustrating because of the lack of unoriginality, and it isn’t something that truly stands out.

Review: Paid Companion by Nia Forrester

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This wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought it would be an entirely fun and simple read; random family secrets were not figured into my equation. Nevertheless, it was not a bad book. This book depends on coincidence and suspension of disbelief. It does try to highlight family and the challenges that can come with it. Also, there are a couple of funny moments.

It definitely dragged on, and many scenes did not contribute to or move the overall plot. The scenes that should have been featured took place off screen.

Characters would start to reveal a secret and then the chapter would end before the words even left their mouth. The next chapter would start sometime after the reveal, and pages later the audience would finally find out what was revealed. It was frustrating because that happened a lot.

Also, there was a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, the book started at an awkward place. The main character was getting ready to leave for her job. It would have been more interesting to have seen her acquire that job instead of telling her friend how she got it. The dialogue felt unnatural and too much at times.

Characters

Overall, the characters were likeable and decent. There was minimum backstory for Lia. I would have liked to get to know her more. For example, why is she working at a model agency? What about her art?

Because the Morgan family are portrayed as this wealthy and high class family, Lia was supposed to sort of be relatable to the common people. At certain points in the book she was relatable, but at other places she was not.

Out of all the characters, Kevin might have been the most developed. In addition to getting a prominent backstory, he felt the most real.

I was scared that this book was going to have a love triangle. It doesn’t and I’m extremely thankful for it. Paid Companion is only around 200 pages and the main romance lacked important development. If there was a love triangle, it would have felt rushed and unnecessary.

Like mentioned earlier, the main romance is a little under developed at this point in the story. The couple is cute together, and do have the potential to be great, however, with the material given there needs to be a little more development.

They got together within 5 days of knowing one another. It’s a good start to their relationship; but I would have liked to have seen more emotional conversations and them spending time (together) alone and actually bonding. The fact that important conversations between the romantic leads took place off screen was a disadvantage to this couple.

Final Analysis

Paid Companion is a relatively short book that does manage to drag on. It is not completely dissatisfying. There are some funny moments, and it does have a romance that has the potential to be great.

Review: Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don't Belong To by Lillian Daniel

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About the Book

WHEN LILLIAN DANIEL APOLOGIZED to a total stranger for every bad thing that had ever been said or done in the name of Christianity, he was surprised that she was responsible for all that. "The Inquisition? Don't even raise it, I'm way ahead of you. I was mad about it before you even heard of it, that's how open-minded I am. Salem witch trials? I know! So embarrassing. Can I hang out with you anyway? You're too kind." "Religion is responsible for all the wars in history," they would say, and I'd respond, "You're so right. Don't forget imperialism, capitalism, and racism. Religion invented those problems too. You can tell that because religious people can be found at all their meetings." In this book, Daniel argues that it's time for Christians to stop apologizing and realize that how we talk about Christian community matters. With disarming candor laced with just the right amount of humor, Daniel urges open-minded Christians to explore ways to talk about their faith journeys that are reasonable, rigorous, and real.

AFTER THE PUBLICATION of the much talked about When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough: Seeing God In Surprising Places, Even the Church, Lillian Daniel heard from many SBNRs as well as practicing Christians. It was the Christians who scolded her for her forthright, unapologetic stand as one who believes that religious community matters.

The Christians ranted that Christians, by definition, tend to be judgmental, condemning hypocrites, which is why people hate them. By saying religion matters, she was judging those who disagree, they said, proving the stereotype of Christians. Better to acknowledge all that's wrong with Christianity and its history, then apologize.

In this book, Daniel shows why it matters how we talk about Christian community while urging open-minded Christians to learn better ways to talk about their faith.

Review

Well, judging the book based solely on it's title, I thought the book was going to go in another direction. In that regard, I had different expections but it definitely ignited many thoughts that have left me wanting to chat about. The book definitely touched on thought provoking areas of potential discussion that I find the believer, as she describes the “spiritual but not religious” and the non believer can really have some constructive dialogue. There is certain aspects that I didn't agree with but really appreciate her open mindedness to embracing the positive and the negative towards perceptions of those who believe and those who don't. 

There were two thoughts that defined her commentary in the book that I absolutely loved. She based it upon “spirituality without stereotypes” and “religion without ranting.” Depending on which side of the belief situation you fall into, there is such a large spectrum of where Christianity falls into and how so fitting those two thoughts embrace many of the problems that lie with the perceptions and actions of it. The breakdown of the Nones, really gets to the heart of where the rooted divisiveness in perception comes from. This book was honest, real and touched upon all the problems churches face today as well as the struggles of those who were given voice that have made to feel unheard or accepted. Her candid openmindness is one that many will find refreshing and hopefully open dialogue for Christians to be more open minded about communicating their faith.

Review: Can't Fight This Feeling by Miranda Liasson

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I'm always on the edge of my seat when I finish reading the start of a series that I absolutely love, anticipating the second book, just hoping to meet my high expectations. Well, I'm so excited that Can't Stop This Feeling, the second book in Miranda Liasson's Spikonos series kept that awesomeness going with us diving more in the quirky Maggie and that delicious Drew.

I'm on the fence with telling you that this could be a stand alone. I guess it could but you wouldn't get everything you need that would appreciate it as much as you would've had you read the first book. For those of you who are new to the series, Maggie is definitely a one of a kind personality. As much as Maggie says she wants to move on, the one person that truly will always make her heart skip a beat is her late husband, who tragically died. She is making it through life with her young son but definitely could use a little love to brighten her days. There hasn't been anyone that came close to even igniting a spark until that rugged billionaire Drew came to town and changed her outlook from single lady to potential future.

Drew has had his share of heart break. First his brother gets involved with his girlfriend and then his father convinces him for the sake of business to get involved with a gal that wasn't right for him, he goes AWOL and ends up laying low trying to piece his life together. Seeing Maggie as only a friend, by the way who is also friends with his brother and his wife, needs a date to his brother's wedding. This is the brother who is getting married to his former love. So, you know that will be definitely awkward. Seeing that she has a calming way about her, invites her to an opportunity to be sort of mediator/date to keep the family calm. Maggie, being a psychologist, has a great way of putting people at ease which to Drew's surprise has an effect on him.

As the family drama unravels, Maggie and Drew find their broken hearts bonding in ways that neither one of them would've thought of. Drew doesn't exactly trust women and Maggie well, wants love but is afraid to jump in too deep. They say some people come into your life for a reason, will this two mend each other's broken hearts? I know the answer but I will let you enjoy the journal to find out.

Overall, Can't Fight This Feeling is just simply awesome. Miranda is such an awesome author who knows how to tell a story well. For this book in particular, I love second chance romances but both these characters had deep rooted pain that their journey was so compelling to follow. I love how she gets to their core but more important have struggles that will resonate with her readers. I love how these two were paired together because they both had stories that needed to be told. 

We always see women getting cheated on but here's a guy who got his heart broken that left him unable to trust. We see his pain and  his walls come down to not let their fear get in the way of trying to love. Maggie, who has a child and lost her husband, not seeing that there there is so much more of life to live and true love is possible, a second time around. She'd rather find someone that she can't really love because it is too painful but seeing her break down her walls to see her pain dissipate is something many women can connect with. The guilt of letting go and letting love in, really makes you find excited for her life transition.

I love how there is an authenticity to their relationships and find them to easy to connect with. You can't help but fall in love with them and want to know what's going to happen next. I have to say towards the end I thought the book was going to go another way but was very satisfied with the hea. I can't help raving about Miranda and this book. I'm excited to see what comes next. I definitely recommend if you haven't read the first book, grab it and then read this one.