Hello all my fellow readers.
I hope April was a great month for everyone, and that you all have fun things planned for May. :)
Unfortunately for me, April wasn't the greatest reading month. I kind of fell into a bit of a reading slump, after being so disappointed with our Vegas trip (other than the fabulous experience that was RT BookLovers!), and as such, I only ended up finishing 11 books. However, I did really enjoy most of the books I read in April, and I'm here today to do my April 2016 wrap up. I do hope to be back on track with reading in May, but for now, here's what books I loved, and didn't love in April 2016!
One Star Books:
Thankfully, once again April was a month with no one star books for me. :)
Two Star Books:
Frostfire by Amanda Hocking: I always seem to find myself expecting to love Amanda Hocking's novels, and then usually I end up feeling that they fall short of my expectations. I did for the most part enjoy her Watersong series, which were the first books by her that I read, but I didn't care for her Trylle trilogy as much. However, I was completely intrigued by the concept of a spin off series for the Trylle Trilogy, as I really did enjoy reading about the different tribes, plus the covers for this series, The Kanin Chronicles, are absolutely gorgeous. So I did find myself going ahead and picking up this trilogy, and finally reading the first book in April. It was however, unfortunately, a huge disappointment. This was mainly due to the fact that I found Bryn's character to be extremely wishy washy, and it was really hard for me to not dislike her. Also, I found the writing to be all over the place with particular novel, and I was really confused from one scene to the next. Unfortunately, I really found myself not enjoying this particular novel, but hopefully the next two will redeem the series in my eyes.
Before by Anna Todd: Anna Todd's books are highly controversial, and for myself, as a huge fan of one direction, I am not a fan at all of what she did to Harry Styles' character. I had wanted to see what the hype was all about though, and I did read the first two books in the After series on Wattpad. On top of not liking how she portrayed any of the One Direction guys, I really didn't understand how anyone could be a fan of a book that highly glamorizes an abusive relationship. However, I had read quite a few reviews that Before, which is told from Harry, or "Hardin's", point of view, redeems the relationship, and helps the reader see things a lot more clearly. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case. I found this book really told me nothing that the first two books in the series told me hadn't already told me, other than spoiling a few things in the epilogues that I didn't know, since I never finished the series. I also didn't like how there were so many random chapters thrown in from characters that weren't really even a big piece of the story. So sorry to say, but I've learned that this series is just not for me, and I don't see myself continuing to finish it in the future.
One Night Charmer by Maisey Yates: I received an ARC of this book while we were at RT Booklovers, and I fell completely in love with the cover, and the description, and I couldn't wait to pick it up. It sounded so intriguing about how a tall, dark, and brooding bar owner, falls for the optimistic, bouncy, rich girl. Unfortunately, this book largely fell short of my expectations, and I honestly could not stand either of the main characters. I basically got to the point that I could have cared less how this book even ended, cause I literally felt there was no connection between the characters, and I was honestly dreading finishing it. I did read a few other reviews on goodreads, that were saying they felt the same way about this one, but had loved the previous ones in the series, so I may still pick those ones up in the future.
Three Star Books:
Bingo Summer by Dawn Malone: This was a cute, middle grade novel that was one of the featured free books through I Books one day. I ended up reading this on the plane to Vegas, and it was definitely a great read to get me in the vacation spirit. It focuses around Summer Haas, a thirteen year old girl who's family is not what anyone would call well off. Often their budget barely stretches to buy groceries, and their clothes are usually purchased exclusively from secondhand stores. Her life changes forever on the day of her thirteenth birthday, when she scratches a lottery ticket that wins her family ten million dollars. Suddenly, they are local celebrities who can't escape the unwanted attention, and so her mother decides to move them away from all the craziness. Summer finds herself adjusting to a new lifestyle that she's not comfortable in, and trying to make friends among kids who've grown up never knowing the meaning of the word poor. What follows is Summer's journey of self discovery through family, friends, and many obstacles, and I think that Dawn Malone's breakout novel speaks volumes about the amazing things that can be expected from her in the future. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes sweet, middle grade novels, or to anyone looking for a cute read for their young daughters to pick up.
A Christmas Code by Jacki Delecki: This was a cute, short, read about espionage, and undercover operations in the regency era. I honestly adored this story, and thought that Gwyneth and Ash were both really likable characters, and I also thought the chemistry between them was exciting to read, and extremely believable. I also loved the addition of it occurring at a grand resort at Christmas time, as I think this really added to the overall cozy feeling of the story. My only complaint is it was honestly way too short, and I would have loved to have seen the mystery go into a bit more depth. It was pretty easy to pinpoint who was behind everything, and I think this was largely in part due to how short the book was. Still a really satisfying read though, and I may pick up the rest of the series in the future.
Four Star Books:
So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti: This was my first experience with a Susane Colasanti book, and it will definitely not be my last. I loved this cute story, about a girl (Brooke), who decides to move from her comfortable home with her mom in New Jersey, to New York with her father, strictly for the purpose of following her crush (Scott), there. You could really see Susane's love for New York shine through in how this novel was written, and I loved how the story was more about a girl discovering who she really was, then a typical, sweet contemporary like I was originally expecting. I also really really really loved John's character, and his parts were my favorite bits of the entire story. I found his character to be so different from what I was originally expecting when he was first introduced, and I highly recommend this book to anyone, as I really enjoyed it.
Holiday Homecoming by Jean C. Gordon: Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of Love Inspired novels, and this one was no exception. It was a sweet, adorable read about a woman who feels she's not good enough to reconnect with her high school sweetheart, after she turned down his proposal years ago, and got her life onto a rocky track, while he followed the plan he'd set out for his life, and became a pastor. I often enjoy stories about couples reuniting years later, and this was a really enjoyable read, made even more so by the fact the it takes place during the Christmas season.
A Tale Of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris: Rachel Harris is one of the sweetest people I've met in my entire life, and this definitely shines through in her amazing, yet adorable books. I adored the first book in this series, My Super Sweet 16th Century, and I finally had a chance to read the second book, right before we left for Vegas. I personally liked this one even more than the first, as I really enjoyed Less' character, and also enjoyed how this one takes place in modern times. The romance between Less and Austin was adorable, but also the perfect amount of intense, and it's definitely one of those books that made me swoon. And as always, with a series like this, I loved getting a glimpse into the previous characters lives, Cat and Lucas. I adore Rachel Harris' writing style, and I can't wait to read the third and final book in this series. I also can't wait for my Indigo order to arrive this week, as I went ahead and ordered her brand new book, and I honestly am so excited to get to read it. Please do yourself a favor, and read Rachel Harris if you haven't yet done so, as her books are amazing, and I can't recommend them enough.
Map Of Fates by Maggie Hall: The Conspiracy of Us was easily one of my favorite books I read in 2015, and I've been anxiously awaiting the second book ever since. This series really reminds me of Ally Carter's Embassy Row series with the addition of politics, undercover operations, and the foreign country angle, and I've been honestly loving it. I actually enjoy Avery, Jack, and Stellan all as characters, and find that this is a series that honestly keeps me guessing at every turn. The plot twist in this novel is mind blowing, and I've come to really love Maggie Hall's writing style. I can honestly see great things from this amazing author in the future, as her debut series is explosive, and I love it!
Just Plain Sadie by Amy Lillard: For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed reading books about the Amish culture, and honestly I think this is partly due to how much I love Beverly Lewis' books, and have since I was a young teenager. This book was no exception to this rule, it was a sweet romance, but also deals with the issues of religious differences, and I found it to be a really interesting, and compelling read. I'm not gonna say to much more about it, since I did post a full review on it earlier this month.
Five Star Books:
Lastly we come to the best book I read the entire month of April, and this is:
See How They Run by Ally Carter: Wow words cannot even begin to describe the book hangover I experienced after reading the last chapter of this book. I honestly found the first book to be a little confusing, and I ended up not enjoying it quite as much as I expected to, but this one completely blew my expectations right out of the water. Grace's character is honestly one of those characters you don't know whether to love or hate, and there's so much mystery, suspense and intrigue tied to everything surrounding her life, that you honestly have no clue what's going on half the time, but then, neither does Grace. I honestly don't want to say to much more about this one, as the way it's written I feel like I would be giving away plot points if I say almost anything about it. Ally Carter wove the whole novel together so easily, that saying anything could ruin a part of the story. So I will just say this, Ally Carter is amazing, and has definitely hit the ball out of the park with this hot new series, just like she did with her previous series, Heist Society and Gallagher Girls.
That is it for my April 2016 wrap up guys! I hope you all had a great weekend, and I'd love to hear what books you were reading over it!
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all on Wednesday for a new Top 5 Wednesday Post. :)
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
I hope April was a great month for everyone, and that you all have fun things planned for May. :)
Unfortunately for me, April wasn't the greatest reading month. I kind of fell into a bit of a reading slump, after being so disappointed with our Vegas trip (other than the fabulous experience that was RT BookLovers!), and as such, I only ended up finishing 11 books. However, I did really enjoy most of the books I read in April, and I'm here today to do my April 2016 wrap up. I do hope to be back on track with reading in May, but for now, here's what books I loved, and didn't love in April 2016!
One Star Books:
Thankfully, once again April was a month with no one star books for me. :)
Two Star Books:
Frostfire by Amanda Hocking: I always seem to find myself expecting to love Amanda Hocking's novels, and then usually I end up feeling that they fall short of my expectations. I did for the most part enjoy her Watersong series, which were the first books by her that I read, but I didn't care for her Trylle trilogy as much. However, I was completely intrigued by the concept of a spin off series for the Trylle Trilogy, as I really did enjoy reading about the different tribes, plus the covers for this series, The Kanin Chronicles, are absolutely gorgeous. So I did find myself going ahead and picking up this trilogy, and finally reading the first book in April. It was however, unfortunately, a huge disappointment. This was mainly due to the fact that I found Bryn's character to be extremely wishy washy, and it was really hard for me to not dislike her. Also, I found the writing to be all over the place with particular novel, and I was really confused from one scene to the next. Unfortunately, I really found myself not enjoying this particular novel, but hopefully the next two will redeem the series in my eyes.
Before by Anna Todd: Anna Todd's books are highly controversial, and for myself, as a huge fan of one direction, I am not a fan at all of what she did to Harry Styles' character. I had wanted to see what the hype was all about though, and I did read the first two books in the After series on Wattpad. On top of not liking how she portrayed any of the One Direction guys, I really didn't understand how anyone could be a fan of a book that highly glamorizes an abusive relationship. However, I had read quite a few reviews that Before, which is told from Harry, or "Hardin's", point of view, redeems the relationship, and helps the reader see things a lot more clearly. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case. I found this book really told me nothing that the first two books in the series told me hadn't already told me, other than spoiling a few things in the epilogues that I didn't know, since I never finished the series. I also didn't like how there were so many random chapters thrown in from characters that weren't really even a big piece of the story. So sorry to say, but I've learned that this series is just not for me, and I don't see myself continuing to finish it in the future.
One Night Charmer by Maisey Yates: I received an ARC of this book while we were at RT Booklovers, and I fell completely in love with the cover, and the description, and I couldn't wait to pick it up. It sounded so intriguing about how a tall, dark, and brooding bar owner, falls for the optimistic, bouncy, rich girl. Unfortunately, this book largely fell short of my expectations, and I honestly could not stand either of the main characters. I basically got to the point that I could have cared less how this book even ended, cause I literally felt there was no connection between the characters, and I was honestly dreading finishing it. I did read a few other reviews on goodreads, that were saying they felt the same way about this one, but had loved the previous ones in the series, so I may still pick those ones up in the future.
Three Star Books:
Bingo Summer by Dawn Malone: This was a cute, middle grade novel that was one of the featured free books through I Books one day. I ended up reading this on the plane to Vegas, and it was definitely a great read to get me in the vacation spirit. It focuses around Summer Haas, a thirteen year old girl who's family is not what anyone would call well off. Often their budget barely stretches to buy groceries, and their clothes are usually purchased exclusively from secondhand stores. Her life changes forever on the day of her thirteenth birthday, when she scratches a lottery ticket that wins her family ten million dollars. Suddenly, they are local celebrities who can't escape the unwanted attention, and so her mother decides to move them away from all the craziness. Summer finds herself adjusting to a new lifestyle that she's not comfortable in, and trying to make friends among kids who've grown up never knowing the meaning of the word poor. What follows is Summer's journey of self discovery through family, friends, and many obstacles, and I think that Dawn Malone's breakout novel speaks volumes about the amazing things that can be expected from her in the future. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes sweet, middle grade novels, or to anyone looking for a cute read for their young daughters to pick up.
A Christmas Code by Jacki Delecki: This was a cute, short, read about espionage, and undercover operations in the regency era. I honestly adored this story, and thought that Gwyneth and Ash were both really likable characters, and I also thought the chemistry between them was exciting to read, and extremely believable. I also loved the addition of it occurring at a grand resort at Christmas time, as I think this really added to the overall cozy feeling of the story. My only complaint is it was honestly way too short, and I would have loved to have seen the mystery go into a bit more depth. It was pretty easy to pinpoint who was behind everything, and I think this was largely in part due to how short the book was. Still a really satisfying read though, and I may pick up the rest of the series in the future.
Four Star Books:
So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti: This was my first experience with a Susane Colasanti book, and it will definitely not be my last. I loved this cute story, about a girl (Brooke), who decides to move from her comfortable home with her mom in New Jersey, to New York with her father, strictly for the purpose of following her crush (Scott), there. You could really see Susane's love for New York shine through in how this novel was written, and I loved how the story was more about a girl discovering who she really was, then a typical, sweet contemporary like I was originally expecting. I also really really really loved John's character, and his parts were my favorite bits of the entire story. I found his character to be so different from what I was originally expecting when he was first introduced, and I highly recommend this book to anyone, as I really enjoyed it.
Holiday Homecoming by Jean C. Gordon: Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of Love Inspired novels, and this one was no exception. It was a sweet, adorable read about a woman who feels she's not good enough to reconnect with her high school sweetheart, after she turned down his proposal years ago, and got her life onto a rocky track, while he followed the plan he'd set out for his life, and became a pastor. I often enjoy stories about couples reuniting years later, and this was a really enjoyable read, made even more so by the fact the it takes place during the Christmas season.
A Tale Of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris: Rachel Harris is one of the sweetest people I've met in my entire life, and this definitely shines through in her amazing, yet adorable books. I adored the first book in this series, My Super Sweet 16th Century, and I finally had a chance to read the second book, right before we left for Vegas. I personally liked this one even more than the first, as I really enjoyed Less' character, and also enjoyed how this one takes place in modern times. The romance between Less and Austin was adorable, but also the perfect amount of intense, and it's definitely one of those books that made me swoon. And as always, with a series like this, I loved getting a glimpse into the previous characters lives, Cat and Lucas. I adore Rachel Harris' writing style, and I can't wait to read the third and final book in this series. I also can't wait for my Indigo order to arrive this week, as I went ahead and ordered her brand new book, and I honestly am so excited to get to read it. Please do yourself a favor, and read Rachel Harris if you haven't yet done so, as her books are amazing, and I can't recommend them enough.
Map Of Fates by Maggie Hall: The Conspiracy of Us was easily one of my favorite books I read in 2015, and I've been anxiously awaiting the second book ever since. This series really reminds me of Ally Carter's Embassy Row series with the addition of politics, undercover operations, and the foreign country angle, and I've been honestly loving it. I actually enjoy Avery, Jack, and Stellan all as characters, and find that this is a series that honestly keeps me guessing at every turn. The plot twist in this novel is mind blowing, and I've come to really love Maggie Hall's writing style. I can honestly see great things from this amazing author in the future, as her debut series is explosive, and I love it!
Just Plain Sadie by Amy Lillard: For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed reading books about the Amish culture, and honestly I think this is partly due to how much I love Beverly Lewis' books, and have since I was a young teenager. This book was no exception to this rule, it was a sweet romance, but also deals with the issues of religious differences, and I found it to be a really interesting, and compelling read. I'm not gonna say to much more about it, since I did post a full review on it earlier this month.
Five Star Books:
Lastly we come to the best book I read the entire month of April, and this is:
See How They Run by Ally Carter: Wow words cannot even begin to describe the book hangover I experienced after reading the last chapter of this book. I honestly found the first book to be a little confusing, and I ended up not enjoying it quite as much as I expected to, but this one completely blew my expectations right out of the water. Grace's character is honestly one of those characters you don't know whether to love or hate, and there's so much mystery, suspense and intrigue tied to everything surrounding her life, that you honestly have no clue what's going on half the time, but then, neither does Grace. I honestly don't want to say to much more about this one, as the way it's written I feel like I would be giving away plot points if I say almost anything about it. Ally Carter wove the whole novel together so easily, that saying anything could ruin a part of the story. So I will just say this, Ally Carter is amazing, and has definitely hit the ball out of the park with this hot new series, just like she did with her previous series, Heist Society and Gallagher Girls.
That is it for my April 2016 wrap up guys! I hope you all had a great weekend, and I'd love to hear what books you were reading over it!
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all on Wednesday for a new Top 5 Wednesday Post. :)
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
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