Monique S.'s Blog, page 10

Not quite a five star.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I devoured this in a day and a half, so that sais a lot. I really enjoyed the story, even though having counselled with astrology since 1986 what it described here as related to astrology made me smile, if not laugh outright. Thank heavens the writing was almost perfect, both Elle and Darcy always recovering and grounding themselves, someting that pleased me a lot, since for me this is certainly a comedy. Just that black moment, so shortly before the end and much over the top by comparison to the rest ... it took the fifth star away for me.

If I wanted to list all the misconceptions about astrology here, I would have to write a book pretty much twice the length of this one. But this is a review on a romantic comedy, not a book about astrology.




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Close, but not quite what I hoped for

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I have been looking forwad to reading this book I still could not help comparing it to "Tell Me How You Really Feel" because there are soo many similarities. In both one main character is of Indian (India) descent and a cheerleader, both have a kind of enemies to lovers plot.

While I enjoyed the read, it did not satisfy me as deeply as "Tell Me ...", because the focus of the story was not as deep and the struggle between a different culture in another country and descendancy with its hereditary values not as controversial. The characters here, Irene and Scottie, are relatable, but didn't make me love them as much as Sana and Rachel.

I accept, that High School romances must more often than not finish open ended due to the general situation, but I found the end here kind of lacking promise for a future together, which was exactly what I really liked about "Tell Me ..." the promise of a real possibility for a future together. So I only gave this 4 stars,
even though the actual qality of the writing is similarly good.



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A nice quick read.

Deal-Breaker by Siri Caldwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Really 3.5 stars ...
This was a nice satisfying read, even though I was a bit annoyed at Rae's irresponsible treatment of her body.
Tori, too, was a bit irresponsible in the way she let her ****ole ex and father of her daughter blackmail her.

In the end both did some growing up and decided for each other when it truly mattered, so that saved the 4star rating



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Sweet, hot and fabulous!

Up Against Her by Lisa Elliot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is by far the best romance I have read in a while. It starts off as an enemies to lovers thing, but turns very quickly into a sweet, toughtfully created slow burn yet sizzling hot romance with a lot of emotional and personal development in both characters.

There is, of course (rolling eyes), a black moment towards the end but is isn't even dark grey really, which helped me decide for the fifth star.

I will finish with quoting one of my own reader commenting one of my books "It left me with a smile on my face, one of my favourite reads."



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Nothing to write home about.

Nashville: Roman Lesbien by Clara Ann Simons

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Une lecture plaisante, mais un peu décevant aussi, j'ai aimé Karen et Katya, les personnages secondaires, plus que Jackie et Mary.

Le développement de la relation entre les deux n’était pas assez élaboré autre que la passion sexuelle. Pendant Jackie avance avec sa musique en écrivant pour Mary et ses sœurs, Mary ne fait aucun effort pour faire le même, elle se contente chanter.

Aussi les histoires d'enfance pour les deux sont un peu trop des clichés.



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An unpolished jewel.

Revelry is a Decadence by Sydney Gibson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fascinating book, that would have got a solid five stars and made my top favourite list if:

1) It would have been made clear, that it is book one of at least a two part series.
2) Editig would have been done better, there are too many instances in which you find words or small phrases doubled up in the same sentence, missing letters or whole words and finally phrases, that make it look like the author's first language isn't English.
3) The internal argumentation of both ladies wasn't so repetitive to make the slow burn romance a snail pace romance.

Otherwise the idea for the plot, the world building, the characterisations and the writing apart from that are very good, which is why I still gave it four stars.

I stopped reading a couple of times for reasons two and three, but always came back to it and it was worth the time, but if things like those really bug you ...

I'll nevertheless look out for and read volume two.



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A nice feel-good read.

Night & Day by Lily Seabrooke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If ever thre was a textbook Grumpy Parker definitely gets the cake. Cassie on the other hand is the bubbly sunshine in her private life just like her reputation is as an influencer. There also is a host of absolutely lovely side characters, that add to the sweetness and funny dialogues.

This is a nice feel-good read with an unlikely room-mates romance, employment trouble, a nasty villain and some coming out, so there is plenty of story around the sugar-sweet romance, just what I needed.



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An excellent fun read.

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Two things made me go for this book, my friend Leah's review and the fact, that here I found a rather rare graphical cover image (title) that actually portrays the two heroines exactly as I imagined them, once I had read the first 70 something pages. The cover art is absolutely stunning, so I bought the paperback right away and I am glad I did.

Why are there so many graphics on a lot of books these days, that look so terribly generic and more often than not don't even connect to the story?

But back to this wonderful book. It has everything I could possibly want, two heroines I could easily fall in love with, good character development, lovely side characters, funny dialogues driving the plot between narrated history and a plot that twists and turns like the best of snakes.

This is a very, very entertaining read with an absolutely cute, yet hot romance. It has joined my top favourites shelf and will be one of my go-to re-reads, if I need a feel good boost.



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un de mes plus favorisés

Rencontre accidentielle: Roman lesbien by Kadyan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


J’ai découvert Kadyan avec "Qui Est Florence Vermeer?", un de mes plus favorisés titres dans ma bibliothèque. Néanmoins c’est un de ses plus récentes et donc après "Une Vallée Si Tranquille", écrit un an avant n’était pas si bon de mon avis.

De tout façon "à l’Abordage" après et maintenant "Rencontre Accidentelle" montrent comment l’écriture de Kadyan a avance, couvrant plus de genres aussi.

Ici j’ai trouvé des personnages bien travaillés et une aventure sans pareille avec des développements des caractères des deux, Allison et Mike (Michelle), si bien croyables comme étonnants. La douce romance entre elles m’a fait surir, même en face des dangers de leur chemin vers la civilisation dans le Yukon automnale, leur lutte contre le souvenir de l’expérience vécu, la neige et le froid et la manque de nourriture, ne pas parlant de la difficulté du terrain.

Ce livre m’a touché au plus profond et cinq étoiles ne sont vraiment pas assez!




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A good read.

The Flaw in Our Design by Monica McCallan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a lovely YA romance about realising sexual preference and coming out as well as grieving, family dynamics and life choices. The characters all are interesting and the dialogues more often then not hilarious, if you have left that awkward phase behind yourself.



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