How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett

I was originally drawn to this book because of the title, but then when I read the description I immediately thought "yup, gotta read that one". All in all, I liked it, but it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Kinda like ordering a red snowcone thinking it was cherry and getting strawberry instead-- still good just not what you wanted. The premise of the story is that the narrator (who's name we never find out) and three other girls are all texted by the same guy on the same day. One of them goes to meet him, and she gets raped and murdered. As expected, the narrator goes through a ton of survival guilt. She also hooks up with the dead girl's boyfriend, which increased the ick factor for me to about 100%. 

The other part of this that bothered me did so on a completely personal level, and if you're not a big believer in the death penalty, you probably won't feel the same way I did. I hated how she treated Charlie when he said that he wanted revenge for losing his girlfriend, and that he wasn't ever going to forgive her murderer. She essentially told him he was wrong and acted like he was an evil person for feeling this way. After losing someone he loved, he had every right to feel the way he did, to be angry and want to lash out at the person who caused his pain. The author could have done so much more with that and she botched it. To each his own but the narrator's holier than thou "I forgave him so you should too" attitude was a definite turn off for me, and had it not been toward the end of the book anyway I would have DNF'd. 

2/5 stars

The Last Look by Lauren Eckhardt

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.* I finished this book in four hours. I had to. Couldn't put it down. Even still, it took me a bit of time to be able to formulate exactly what I thought about it. I know that I definitely had a Josh of my own (I think most of us do) and while my heart went out to Haleigh, I also wanted to climb through the book and shake her. I don't know why she married him in the first place, because I didn't feel like she really loved him. I think she wanted to, but I don't think she really did. I also thought her reaction to his secret was a bit hypocritical. I am usually a sucker for a happy ending, but I felt like this book needed the ending it got. Sometimes women need to be able to be on their own, and Haleigh was definitely one of them, especially after everything she'd been through. All in all, I enjoyed the book. It wasn't a hard read but it was a difficult one, especially if you've been in Haleigh's place (which I have). It frustrated me a bit when her friend said that she "approved" of Josh, but later on in the relationship she says "I never liked him, I don't understand why you stayed". I know people like that with my own relationships and I don't know if the author intended for that to happen to show how peoples' attitudes can change when a relationship goes sour, or if she just genuinely forgot that she had the character say that. Either way, if you hated him you hated him, if you liked him just own it--keep the same energy! 3/5 Stars

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to read this. I've read a few of Weiner's other novels and enjoyed them, but I don't typically like to read fiction that is similar to my own life. I read to get out of my own head, and so a book about moms isn't exactly that big of a stretch from my own life. I did read it though, and will say that I enjoyed it. I was able to finish this in a day at work, which is typical for me with chick lit books, especially on a slow day. 

I know how hard it is as a new mom to make friends and these girls were lucky to have found each other. Kelly was probably the mom I related to the most, with Becky (and her mother in law issues) coming in a close second. I liked that these women were real, with real problems rather than just being the typical I can do it all I can have it all type of mom we tend to see in chick lit. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels like she's failing sometimes. I like the fact that you see women from different walks of life bonding because sometimes the best of friends don't have anything in common, and it's those differences that allow us to look on someone's situation and give them a different perspective from one that they may not necessarily have had before. 

The storyline itself kept me hooked. I wanted to know what was going to happen with each character although there was so much switching between them I would somewhat forget what I last read about that person because it had been a while since I heard from them. Not a total issue, but maybe the book would have been better had she had one or two of the ladies telling the stories rather than all six of them. Five of them. I don't know. Either way, am I going to read more of Weiner's work? Yep. 

3 out of 5 stars!

Long Live the Beautiful Hearts by Emma Scott

cover art from GoodReads

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

I just want to start out by saying that I devoured this book. After reading the first one, I could NOT put the second one down until I knew what was going to happen to the two boys. And let me tell you, this book did NOT disappoint. I was a bit surprised that it took so long for Autumn to find out that it was Weston who was writing to her, not Connor, but once she did she forgave them both a lot faster than I would have. But I'm the type of person who holds grudges and doesn't give second chances, so there's that. I am a bit sad that there won't be a third book in the series, but I think that Ms. Scott did a good job of wrapping up the duology and giving the characters the futures that they deserved. Once again, the writing was beautiful and the characters were just so heartfelt and real that I couldn't help but feel for them. I also liked that even though this was a spin on the Cyrano story (which I mentioned in my first review) that the "problem" for lack of a better word, with Weston wasn't the fact that he couldn't walk, it was his attitude toward himself that made him feel like he didn't deserve love. His injury was a second thought, which for a lot of veteran's isn't an option. I love that Autumn loved him in spite of it, because a lot of veterans and their significant others struggle with navigating a relationship after life changing injuries. 

I was really impressed with the fact that Ms. Scott brought up the way we treat people with physical disabilities. It is a very uncomfortable topic for a lot of people because no one wants to be the one to say something offensive or to hurt anyone's feelings. In doing so, however, we can make people that are differently abled feel like they are less than. It is something I work on every day in my own personal life. Even though I like my cheesy romances to be just that, it's kinda surprising and nice when one of them makes me think a little bit more.

I also did a little research into Ms. Scott's personal life after reading her note about why she wasn't continuing with the series, and my heart absolutely goes out to her. To be able to face such tragedy and create something so absolutely amazing makes this series a little more heartbreaking and a whole lot more special. I applaud her for continuing to create. 

5 out of 5 stars!

Bring Down the Stars by Emma Scott

cover art from GoodReads

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

Oh. My. God. I haven't really fallen for a book character since Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, but Weston Turner could not have been more perfect. He was just the right amount of broody, handsome and athletic, AND he has a way with words and loves literature? *Swoons in librarian.*

I even found myself drawn to Connor Drake, so I can understand why Autumn fell for both of those boys, even if she didn't realize she had done so. I stayed up reading last night until I couldn't see anymore, because I just had to find out what was going to happen to these characters. I am forever grateful that I received this book and the sequel, Long Live the Beautiful Hearts as ARCs because if I had to wait after that cliffhanger to find out what happened I would be a very upset reader. The story really drew me in, and having been an Army wife to an infantryman for a while, I can relate to the tension and the struggle of loving someone who is deployed. I haven't read a book that made me so emotional in a while. I think it was what I needed since my life has been a series of thriller after thriller. Sometimes you gotta break your own heart just to remember that it still works, and that's what reading this book did to me. 

I know that this book was inspired by the tale of Cyrano de Bergerac and at first I thought that was going to be a turn off for me because it's not one of my favorite stories ever, but honestly had I not known that tidbit (it was in the description) I would have never guessed at it. I don't know what that says about my generation and catfishing being such a common thing now a days that this could occur so easily, but it worked in the story. 

I am working on the second book now, and will most likely be finishing it up tonight. I can say that if it is anywhere as amazing as this book was, I will definitely be checking out more of Ms. Scott's work. 

5 out of 5 stars! 

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Cover Image From Goodreads

Elyse moves to America from Tobago after an accident that caused her to lose her voice. She meets and befriends Christian Kane, resident playboy, and agrees to help him win a sailing contest in order to save the town they live in. 

This was a perfect beach read, if only I was at the beach! I absolutely loved the main character, Elyse, and had a bit of a crush on Christian as well. I also enjoyed the mermaid lore within the story, because I've always been fascinated with the ideas of mermaids. I liked that there was a bit of mystery behind how Elyse lost her voice, and until she explains why (toward the end of the book) I wouldn't have figured it out. I read so many thrillers that I've put together halfway through the book that it was nice to not have to think about the mystery and just be told the answer. I wasn't overly enthused with the instalove (never am) but the relationship between the couple was believable enough. The descriptions of the beach and the way the main character feels about her home island, Tobago, made me want to visit there someday. I could feel the love she had for her home and her family, despite being separated from them and despite the pain she felt from her accident. It really made me think about what I would do if I ever lost my voice. Honestly I don't know how I would function on a daily basis. I hated that the ending was so open, because I tend to like my books wrapped up in a pretty little bow, but I'd like to think that she and her twin sister made up and that she and Christian got their HEA. 

4/5 Stars

Where Have All Our Daughters Gone by Julie McAlpin Richmond

Cover Art from Goodreads

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

This book. This book. This book. Messed me up for a bit. I finished it in a few hours because I could NOT put it down. And when I did, I looked at my husband and wanted to slap him, just to make myself feel better about what the main character, Kate, and her three children went through. It was a tough read for me, having been through a bad marriage myself, and now having a daughter. I cannot imagine what I would do if I knew someone was abusing her and still had to let it go and deliver her to him. Well, I can, but it's probably best to not write about it (premeditation and all that). Reading it at midnight, I was falling asleep and still couldn't pull myself away from it without reaching the ending. 

While this was a fast read, a lot of it seemed too incredible to be believed, but sadly enough I know that Kate's situation while fictional, is all too real for some women. Where Have All Our Daughters Gone  does a good job at portraying what life is like when you marry someone that you don't really know, and how even once you're separated from them, there are still times where they control everything in your life. I feel like it could use a little tightening up, I would have liked to know where the kids ended up (maybe a epilogue of sorts) and I would have liked to see a bit more personality from Clay. I liked him, and after being married to someone like Mitchell, I was glad that Kate found someone to treat her right, but there is not a man on this Earth who is that patient and forgiving and never loses his temper. He was almost too perfect, which didn't come off as real. 

All in all, I could definitely see this in our library, and possibly even as a women's book club read. It would certainly lead to some very open and honest discussions. 

4 out of 5 stars

Dumped, Actually by Nick Spalding

Cover Art From GoodReads

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

Not gonna lie, when I first started this book I was NOT impressed with it. I almost DNF'd it because I wasn't sure I would have anything good to say. The main character, Ollie, gets dumped by his girlfriend and complains about not understanding why because he is such a "nice guy". I HATE the nice guy routine, and I sort of thought he was a wimp, rather than being a romantic hero. I also knew going in that there were going to be a few cringe worthy moments (he writes a column asking how to get over his ex and follows people's advice and of course hilarity ensues), and I don't necessarily like reading/watching things where people get embarrassed. I always feel second hand embarrassment for them rather than enjoying it. I was surprised the further in that I got into the book though, I was enjoying Ollie's story and found him to be a rather pleasant and lovable character, a genuine "nice" guy if not a bit too needy for my own tastes. Toward the end I couldn't put the book down and stayed up late last night in order to finish it. It sort of reminded me of a "Shopaholic" era Sophie Kinsella novel; entertaining and just plain CUTE. 

The Dead Queen's Club by Hannah Capin

Cover Art From Goodreads

I picked this one up off of the "NEW" display shelf in the Teen department at work. I am a sucker for anything Tudor related, and this did NOT disappoint. It is essentially a retelling of Henry VII and his six wives, but they're all in high school, and they're girlfriends, not wives. It's also set in modern times. It was interesting to see the way the characters were set up and to recognize some of the historical places in today's world. For example, they live in the town of Lancaster. Henry is the Prom King, and his girlfriends are all his "queens", and Anna (Anne Boelyn) dies from blowing up the Tower (instead of being beheaded after being imprisoned in the tower). I enjoyed that the story was told from Anne of Cleves' point of view, because she is one of the lesser known wives (at least to me). It took me a lot longer to finish this book than it should have, not because it wasn't interesting but because I don't have the time to sit down with a print format of a book anymore and read it. Had this been in ebook form, it would have been a day's read tops. All in all it was a cute story and I would read more of Capin's work. 

4/5 Stars

Happily and Madly By Alexis Bass

Cover Art From Goodreads.com

*I am grateful to have been given this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are mine.*

While reading this book, I went back and forth between loving and loathing the main character, Maris. I empathized with her frictional relationship with her dad, because I have one of those myself, but I didn't like her relationship with her step sister's boyfriend at all. I didn't trust Edison and I honestly thought he was manipulating her the way he was manipulating her sister, Chelsea. I was eventually proven somewhat wrong, because he wasn't trustworthy but he really did have feelings for Maris, and eventually stops two timing her sister to be specifically with her. 

As I've seen others mention, this book gave me serious We Were Liars  vibes, but I think I enjoyed that one more than I did this one. It wasn't a horrible book, it just took a while for things to build up and actually happen. Once the story started to move, I was more interested and couldn't put it down. I actually finished it in one day! 

If I would change one thing, it would probably be the blurb and the whole "fortune teller told me I was going to die before I turned 18" bit. It is mentioned in the blurb and the beginning of the story when the lady tells her that she is going to fall happily and madly in love, but that she might not live to see 18. It seems like the author almost forgot she included that in there, because it isn't really brought up again until closer to the end of the book when Maris thinks she's dying (but she isn't). I don't feel like that added anything to the story, and I think putting it in the blurb makes the reader think they're getting into a completely different story-- I know I did. 

All in all it was a pretty fast read that I enjoyed. 

4 out of 5 stars!