artsy musings of a bibliophile

contemporary romance

Review: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

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SMDATSAB

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
adult contemporary romance published by Berkley on June 5th, 2018
first book in The Kiss Quotient companion series

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…

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Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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SPAATFK

ABOUT THE BOOK

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
young adult contemporary romance published by Dutton on December 2nd, 2010
first book in Anna and the French Kiss companion series

Anna can’t wait for her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she’s not too thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Étienne St. Clair, the perfect boy. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. Will a year of romantic near-misses end in the French kiss Anna awaits?

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Review: Sweet On You by Kate Perry Blog Tour

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Title: Sweet On You (Laurel Heights, #6)
Author: Kate Perry
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Phoenix Rising Enterprises, Inc
Release Date: 20 December 2012
Pages: 122 (eBook)


Synopsis
Sugar and spice and everything…naughty?
Pastry-chef-to-the-stars Daniela Rossi wants one thing: the abandoned building South of Market. Turning it into a soup kitchen for the homeless is the only thing that’s excited her in months. And Daniella needs to feel again. Until she finds herself feeling too much – for the man who’s competition for the property.
Ruthless entrepreneur Nico Cruz wants one thing: the abandoned SOMA building he grew up in, where his brother was killed. Destroying it is the only thing that will set his brother’s soul at peace. And Nico always gets what he wants. But Daniela’s sweet temptation makes him question what it will take to soothe his own soul.
Fortunately, in this bidding war, all’s fair…
My Rating
* * *
The Review

It’s been a long time since I last picked up an adult contemporary romance so when I came across Sweet On You, it sounded just what I needed to get back into the genre. And it was. Sweet On You begins with Danielle who is all but had it with her choice of career. She might have been the best at being a pastry chef but lately, it’s been all work. She’s had enough of people treating her more like a pastry chef and less like a person.
Call it a pre-midlife crisis or call it a change of heart, Danielle knows she won’t be ever going back to her former glamorous life once she spots a kid giving her sister a teddy bear from the trash bin. She’s never known life on the other side of the tracks but she does know she needs to feed the homeless kids. And maybe buy the building they’re living in so that she could turn it in a soup kitchen. It sounds perfect. However, that’s where Nico comes in, he’s had his sights set on the building just so he could buy and have it demolished in order to fulfill the promise he made to his brother. Thus, starts a battle between Danielle and Nico.
Despite what started as a surprising first chance meeting, the instant attraction and the heavy flirtation kind of felt off. Still, it was easier to see how Danielle and Nico fit together and hot to read about. I could see where both of them were coming from and it was easy to predict how it would all end, but it was fun reading about it. Sweet On You is definitely all it promised to be, sugary, spicy and naughty.
Even though I wasn’t expecting Danielle’s assistant Marley to have a story of her own, it was nice reading it. It definitely gave a much clearer insight inside the world of Danielle. What I really liked about Sweet On You is how much Danielle and Marley grow in just over a hundred pages. The pace is fast and the chapters are arranged in multiple perspectives of Nico, Danielle and Marley. It’s refreshing to read them because you get the know-how of what’s everyone thinking and doing but it also leaves space for the reader to be left guessing a little.
Sweet On You is the sixth book in the Laurel Heights series but it can be read as a stand alone. I would totally recommend it as a light read which can be finished in a single sitting. A guilty pleasure read, if you must. I would definitely be reading more from Kate Perry. Also I think I can guess who the next book in the series will be about!


Best Quotes:

“Love doesn’t cause catastrophes and death.“ 
“No, those are just parts of living.” She cupped his face. “Love dictates how we react to them though.” 
About the Author
As a little girl, Kate dreamt of many things. Like becoming a ninja. Dressing up in black and carrying a big sword? Seemed like a no brainer.

However, Fate had other plans for her, and she studied Kung Fu San Soo instead. A Kung Fu Master, Kate now has more weapons than she ever imagined—including several swords.

She lives in San Francisco. Voted by her friends as the woman they’d most want to stroll with down a dark alley, Kate’s as likely to be spotted at the opera as she is doing tai chi in Golden Gate Park. The rest of the time, she’s in her favorite cafe, working on her next novel.

Kate Perry can be found at 
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Buy Sweet On You (Laurel Heights, #6)
Thanks to Kate Perry and ATOMR for providing me a copy of Sweet On You for review.

Review: Derailed by Alyssa Rose Ivy Blog Tour + Giveaway

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Derailed | Clayton Falls | #1 | Alyssa Rose Ivy | NA, Contemporary Romance | Self | 24 September 2012 | 199 (eARC)
ABOUT THE BOOK
When you’re lost, sometimes the only place you can go is home.
Broken over the death of her fiancé, Molly leaves law school to return to her childhood home in North Carolina. Expecting to lay low until she can figure out what else to do with her life, she finds herself in the arms of her high school sweetheart, the boy who represents everything from the past she tried to leave behind.
Looking for an escape, she instead finds a way back to the girl she almost forgot existed and a future she never dreamed possible.

THE RATING

THE REVIEW

The combination of the eye-catching cover and the intriguing synopsis of Derailed pulled me in and I knew I had to read it. What I loved about Derailed is the setting; Clayton Falls sounds like a perfect little town with a beachfront. The story is written in such a way that there are little revelations along the way as to why Molly is so lost and what made her so cautious in life.
Guilt is a feeling Molly can quite relate to on a significant level. It surfaced ever since before she left North Carolina to pursue her dreams to become a lawyer. She finds a home in Boston with Adam as her fiancé and Becca as her friend. But when Adam dies, Molly is again guilt-ridden and loses meaning. In order to escape the memories of Adam, Molly abruptly decides to leave Boston and revisit her hometown. 
Clayton Falls calls to her and overwhelmed with feelings of loneliness and numbness from grieving, she falls back on Kelly and eventually Ben, for support. Kelly is her best friend from high school who is getting married soon so a large part of the story revolves around her wedding. Molly is worse than she lets on; she is slowly inching away from her mother and sister and finds it hard to block out dark emotions.
Despite breaking up with Ben because of the events that followed after graduation, it is clear that Molly never stopped loving him. So while Ben feels familiar, for him having Molly back is a chance he is not going to let go at any rate. What Molly needs is to battle her inner demons instead of drowning in them and shutting everyone off.
Things start looking up when she opens up to Ben about her Dad and consequently about her past with Adam. It’s revealing to see where she is coming from and why was she holding back but she does get closure. It is actually inspiring to see her survive through a tough time in life. 
I would have liked it if there was more to Ben’s story of how he pulled himself together. Also, Gavin’s persistence made him unlikable to me but what was lacking in Gavin’s character was made up by Jack’s spunk. In all, Derailed is an enjoyable and a bittersweet romantic story of love lost and found.

THE QUOTES

“The message was only three words, but his failure to respond had changed everything.”
“I felt a surge of guilt—the only thing I seemed to feel anymore.”

“The light was brighter than I’d expected, and I froze for a second, shivering as I realized how little stood between me and that train—or really how nothing did. Kind of how nothing stood between life and death.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alyssa Rose Ivy is a Young Adult and New Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after moving to New Orleans for college. After years as a perpetual student, she turned back to her creative side and decided to write. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two young children, and she can usually be found with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Alyssa Rose Ivy can be found at 

| Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |
Buy Derailed (Clayton Falls, #1)
| Amazon | Amazon (Kindle) | B&N |

THE GIVEAWAY
As part of the blog tour, there will be six winners and one of them will be winning a print copy of each Derailed and Veer, the second book in the Clayton Falls series. So enter away! It’s international.

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Thanks to Alyssa Rose Ivy and ATOMR for providing me a copy of Derailed for review.

Review: Always You by Shilpa Mudiganti

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Title: Always You
Author: Shilpa Mudiganti
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: InkSpell
Release Date: 6 March 2012
Pages: 112 (eARC)


Synopsis
Lyla had to move on. With Nick, her fiancé. So, what if she cannot seem to either forget or forgive Alex, the modern day Casanova who broke her heart. She will try again. Just as she had done for the last 5 years.

What Lyla did not know was all that Alex wanted in those five years was her. Because the Casanova had fallen in love. Five years back, when Alex met a grieving Lyla at his friend Andrew’s grave, the world had blurred in the background. He fell deeply in love. Yet, Alex was harboring a secret that, if known, would destroy his relationship with Lyla and it did.
But now, fate brought them together in such a way that they had no option but to remain dangerously close – dangerous enough for Lyla to fall in love with him again. How can she?, she argues. Not after what she knows about Alex? What he did to Andrew?

It is true Alex seemed different. Changed. And attractive enough to defeat her defense against their dark past. But is it enough? What will happen when two broken people with a past come together? Can they forgive or heal?
My Rating
* * * 
The Review

Always You is a short entertaining read and I finished it in a few hours. What attracted me to Always You is the awesome cover with Eiffel Tower in the background which I just love! Moreover, the cover fits the story perfectly which I think is an important thing for any book.
From the beginning of Always You, it dives into the heart of the matter. Lyla has been hurt and deceived by Alex five years ago, but she still is unable to move on despite being engaged to another. She has decided to move back to Spain after her current project. But little did she know that she was to meet Alex again and what it would do to her. She wanted her last project to be memorable and boy, was it! Needless to say, she still has feelings for Alex as do Alex himself. But stubborn as she is, Lyla chooses to ignore those.
I fell in love with the character of Alex because he had so much to offer to the reader! Sensitive and down to earth, Alexander Knight is a character who is hot and caring at the same time. A Casanova for sure!
From then on, as Alex her boss and a business trip to New York and Paris on the schedule, it is a whirlwind ride into the world of second chances and how much damage can misunderstandings initiate. I really loved how the author has managed to integrate the whole concept by writing such a thought-provoking story.
I really enjoyed Always You and it is a really good debut by Shilpa Mudiganti. I will surely be looking forward to more books by the author!

Best Quote:
“She hated him more than anything else. But why couldn’t she find anyone who could replace him? As night fell over her window, she wondered if she really had tried or was it that she didn’t want to forgive and forget.”