with a review of Burden by AnnMarie McKenna. I liked it but it was a bit too short.
Please stop by and share your thoughts about whether the instalove can work for you. 🙂
Tag: contemporary (Page 121 of 122)
Why I read it:Â I picked this up for 99c after I saw it in one of Dear Author’s Daily Deals posts (which are hell on my wallet).
What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  Jessica Harper is the epitome of perfection. She’s a good daughter, makes excellent grades, and always strays on the safe side of life. The last thing she thought would ever happen was falling in love with her best friend’s brother. But sometimes fate just has a way of bringing two people together.
Wide receiver for the University of Arizona, Gabe Garcia, seems to have it all. When his feelings for Jessica come to surface, Gabe will give up everything to be with her.
But what happens when a tragedy abruptly changes the course of your life? For Jessica and Gabe, everything they thought they knew about each other will be questioned. Sometimes, there are scars in life that are cut too deep to completely heal.
Will their love prove to be unbreakable, or will it shatter and prove fate is just another lie?
**Warning: Although there is very little graphic/on page violence, those with rape triggers may want to avoid this book.  Also, here be spoilers.**
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Even though I found numerous editing issues (typos, bad grammar, repeated words) in the text, there was something in the story which kept me reading and mostly engaged until the story went off the rails a bit in the second half. But it really needed a good editor.
Shrugging my shoulders, Dad moves in on our hug and wraps himself around both mom and me.
Reading that sentence (which appears later in the book) I was puzzled:Â how does one shrug someone else’s shoulders?
Even with my concerns about the editing issues, I was pretty much entertained but about halfway through the book took a right turn which made it difficult for me to really enjoy the story. I think the author has an engaging voice but this book was a mixed bag, with the mix weighting towards the negative for me.
Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I’m also friendly with Sarah Frantz and the author on Twitter (although those relationships made me want to read the book, they didn’t affect my opinion of it).
What it’s about: (from Goodreads)Â The universe is a glitterball I hold in the palm of my hand.
Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on love, hope, happiness, and—most of all—himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations.
Then a chance encounter at a stag party throws him into the arms of Essex boy Darian Taylor, an aspiring model who lives in a world of hair gel, fake tans, and fashion shows. By his own admission, Darian isn’t the crispest lettuce in the fridge, but he cooks a mean cottage pie and makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of anxiety.
But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can’t see past the glitter to the light. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can a man who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Sometimes, what seems on the surface to be the strangest pairing, is not so strange at all when you really look at it. Ash is bipolar type 1, with an anxiety disorder on top of it. He is a successful author, well off financially and fond of bespoke suits. He is cynical, sharp, articulate, intelligent and, let’s face it, a bit of a snob. He is also… passive. He feels like his life is basically over, his mental illness having robbed him of the life he thought he would have.
Darian, on the other hand, is almost exactly the opposite. He’s an Essex boy who does a bit of “moddlin’” – think Zoolander meets The Only Way is Essex (which, for the US audience, is a British Jersey Shore). That is; exactly the kind of person the reality TV watching audience loves to watch in order to feel superior (sometimes, this has been me). At first, Darian seems like bit of a joke character – his complexion is unashamedly orange from his fake tan, he’s (apparently) not too bright, and has a broad accent which many would perceive as a further reducing his already average IQ. He’s the unsophisticated opposite of Ash. I wondered if Ash would accept him as a romantic hero? I wondered whether I would.
with a review of My Cowboy Heart by ZA Maxfield, the new m/m romance released from Intermix. So happy to see mainstream releases of gay romance.  As for the book, see what I thought here.
Why I read it: Strawberries for Dessert (scroll down after you click the link to see my review) is my favourite of the Coda books (all of which I love) and Cole is my favourite character of the series. I bought this book a while ago and I approached reading with a mixture of nerves and excitement – more Cole (yay!) but would it (could it) live up to Strawberries?
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Families should grow, not shrink. It’s been on Jon Kechter’s mind since before he tied the knot with his millionaire lover, Cole Fenton. Now hoping to adopt, Jon and Cole search for a mother-to-be willing to let them love her baby, but the interminable wait is wearing on them both.
Jon is close to his father, George, but until Cole, he didn’t have anyone else. Now George is pushing Cole to reconcile with his estranged mother. When the three of them spend Christmas with her in Munich, the results are disastrous. Jon and Cole resolve to stay positive, but no hope exists without a tinge of fear. Jon and Cole can’t help but wonder if their dream of being parents just wasn’t meant to be.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): No time spent with Cole Nicholas Fenton Davenport III is ever wasted. That said, this book I thought the book was more of an extended epilogue than anything else. I don’t think a new reader could come in and really understand what makes Cole tick and without that, I don’t think . But it does make a nice endpoint to Strawberries and it was nice to see Cole and Jon so happy together.
Why I read it:Â I received a review copy from the publisher.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads)Â Â Davis always assumed they would wind up back together, until Jack calls and invites Davis to his wedding to Tadd Austin, a prominent architect in Chicago. Jack’s only known Tadd for two weeks, so whatever Jack feels for Tadd couldn’t possibly compare to what he shared with Davis. There’s no way in hell Davis can stand by and watch the life he always expected to get back slip away to some guy Jack barely knows. Tadd Austin, indeed…more like Toad Ass-ton, Davis thinks.
With his best friend, fashion designer Deseree Wildwood in tow, Davis has to shed his sweet, guy-next-door persona, and re-vamp his image into a self-confident, hot piece of eye candy. He’s going to the wedding with only one goal in mind: to do whatever it takes to win back Jack. The Toad is toast!
Once in Chicago, Davis discovers it isn’t going to be as easy as he thought. Not only is Tadd very un-Toad-like, but a mysterious British playboy named Alex Parker manages to interject himself into the mix. Only true love will survive as the tug of war ensues in this Bermuda love triangle from hell.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I read this book during a fairly difficult and busy period in my life and as a result, it took me longer than usual to finish it and the experience was broken up long periods of no time for reading. So, it may well be that had things been a little calmer I would have enjoyed the book more. I did like it but it didn’t wow me. In part, I think that’s because of what’s been going on with me and in part it’s because the story didn’t follow the usual romantic trajectory and I spent a fair bit of the book confused as to who I should be rooting for to end up with Davis.
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