Summer in Sorrento by Melissa Hill

Escape into the serene farm house in Sorrento with Summer in Sorrento by Melissa Hill. I managed to grab a free copy of this short story from B&N two weeks ago and finally sat down and finished it. There are actually three different stories in this book based on the different guests of Villa Azalea.

Firstly, we have the handsome New Yorker, Jacob, who seemed to be troubled over his ailing father. Next up we get Amelia, a London girl who is attending the wedding of her ex-fiancé. Lastly we have Lori and Hal, who were revisiting their Honeymoon in Sorrento.

Each of the character had some troubling stuffs with them and Maia, the hostess of Villa Azalea, had managed to talk to them and gave them advices. Everyone managed to leave the farmhouse a happy person.

As this is a short story of about 60 pages, I find that we managed to get a good and clear image of Maia, the main character, in this book. I loved how she used her own experience to open up the heart of her guest and how they became her friend and their lives intertwined with each other during their stay at the farmhouse.

I am hoping that Melissa Hill would continue this short story in a full length novel where we can see more of Villa Azalea and Maia. I would definitely be interested to know if Maia will be able to find her second love in Sorrento.

Books Can Be Deceiving (Library Lover's Mystery #1) by Jenn McKinlay

Being a fan of Jenn McKinlay's Cupcake Bakery Mystery series, I was looking forward to reading another cozy mystery series of hers and furthermore, it has the element that I really loved, The Library.

Unfortunately, this book was a really slow read for me. Each of the Cupcake Bakery Mystery books took me only a few hours to devour them in just one sitting. For this book, I took 4 sittings over a period of 2 weeks to finish it.

The first half of the book was really slow. There wasn't really much interesting element to keep me going on the book. The humor was not so funny, the mystery was not fully developed and the romance was just hit and go. What we learned from the first half of the book is that Rick was dead after Lindsey and Beth discovered that he had plagiarized Beth's work and the fuming duo went to his island to confront him only to find him stabbed and dead. Then we met the crazy chief of police who was very insistent on making Beth the murderer without evidence. A little touch on Lindsey's feeling with Sully but nothing to really make me feel any chemistry between the two of them.

The second half of the book actually saved this read. Lindsey began to investigate the past of Rick and that's when we learned more about the truth and some light touches on the danger posed to Lindsey during her investigation. We don't really see much of Sully anymore in this part of the book until the end. I like the small twist towards the end of the book about the murderer. That was really surprising although I had kind of guessed the motive behind the murder just not the real identity.

Overall, the book was a little disappointing for me since I had really enjoyed Jenn McKinlay's other works. This book lack the fun element and I find that there were too many characters in this book and none of them were well developed. It's like getting bits and pieces of everyone's life here and there and not really understanding them before the book ended. What I like about this book is the warmth and friendship of the Crafternoon members and I am really craving for clam chowder by the end of this read.

Once Upon a Winter's Eve (Spindle Cove #1.5) by Tessa Dare

I am so glad to be coming back to the Spindle Cove series this weekend! I missed reading about the strong willed ladies living in Spindle Cove!

In this novella, we were being introduced to Violet Winterbottom. A wallflower in a ballroom but a talented lady who can speak many different languages. Some of you might not remember Violet from the first book in the series, A Night to Surrender, but Violet was actually introduced in the first Chapter of the book! Here's a quote of her presence in Book 1:

“If Mrs. Highwood examined the young ladies too closely, she might notice that mild Gaelic obscenities occupied the center of Kate Taylor’s sampler. Or that Violet Winterbottom’s needle didn’t even have thread.”

Now back to this book, it's the Spindle Cove Christmas Ball and it's also Violet's last night here. She was to head back to London the very next day as her parents' patience had ran out and they wanted to get her married off. However, a mysterious man came crashing through the ball and fell right before Violet's feet. Who is this mysterious who looked so familiar and had his eyes set only on Violet? I will have to stop here because I will be giving out spoilers if I goes on and on and on.

The book is only about 100 pages so it's a really quick and fun read for me. Despite the short length, the story was paced perfectly. We get to read about Violet's exciting and adventurous last night in Spindle Cove. An alpha male and an independent woman who can made up her own mind and say no when she really mean it. Unlike most historical romance, Spindle Cove always gave us strong women who can protect themselves against the bad guys. This is what set this series apart from other historical romance series.

The love between the two main characters was very touching and I like how we were told about their past and how their love survived through the long wait....TWICE!

This book is highly recommended to all historical romance lovers, but if you have not read the first book, go read that first!

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What happened if you knocked your head and woke up only to realise that you have just lost 10 years of memory? Everyone around you had changed and people were talking about things and people whom you didn't even know. Will you feel panicky? Will you think that it's just a dream?

In this book, Alice lost her memory right from the start of the book. She thought that she was 29 years old and pregnant with her first baby and has a loving husband, a doting sister and a shy mother. When her 39 years old self woke up in the hospital with only memories of her life up to 29, she was in a shocked to realise that everything had changed. She couldn't even recognise herself anymore. Her mother had remarried and was a completely changed woman who spoke out her thoughts and is a social butterfly. Her attractive sister no longer spoke to her and she looked so depressed and dejected ever so frequently. Her husband was angry at her and they were getting a divorce. And she didn't even remember how she had given birth to 3 children.

The above all sounds like a huge disaster, however, the book is not. In the first half of the book, we mainly read about Alice trying to overcome her fear and glimpse of past memories. It sounded like nobody liked her future self and she didn't understand why. Everybody kept mentioning the name Gina but she had no idea who this woman is. Towards the middle of the book, we finally get to know more about Gina and how she played an important part in Alice's life. Although I have read reviews about people finding the first half of the book draggy and long winded, I actually enjoyed it. I felt that all the details were necessary to build up the story and prepare us for what was to come in the second half of the book.

As Alice slowly blended into her 'new' life, I really like how she made things right with Nick, Libby and Madison. They were people she treasured in the past and somehow events had ruined their relationship over the years. I think we can really see how things improved and the people coming back into her life. To be honest, I like the 29 years old Alice much more than the 39 years old one. Gina definitely didn't have a positive impact in her life.

The book is written in the POV of Alice but we get to read from the POV of Elisabeth and Frannie through their writing to their doctor and lover respectively. Elisabeth's story had somehow blended in perfectly to the book where Frannie's was a little more out of the main story but was both fun and sad to read.

I really like how the book ended. The Epilogue was awesome! I have known what Alice's decision will be once she got back her memories and the glimpse into her life few years down the road was a pleasant read. I simply love happy ending.

I highly recommend this book to everyone out there. This book really got me thinking what my 10 years ago self would think of my life at this moment. Have my dreams and goals been achieved? If not, what had happened in this 10 years. Can I do something now to salvage it? And from this book, I've learned that everything is possible if I am willing to take the first step to make the change.

True Love (Nantucket Brides Trilogy #1) by Jude Deveraux

The Nantucket series is about a new generation of the old Montgomery/Taggert family. If you are a huge fan of Jude Deveraux, you would be familiar with the Montgomery series where we get to read about the different member of the family all the way from the 1200s to 2000s.

In this new instalment of the Montgomery, we meet Jared Montgomery Kingsley VII and Alixandra Madsen. Both are talented architect and even though Alix might not be aware, she actually shared many secrets with Jared.

Now, I am usually not a fan of paranormal stuffs but the part where Jared's great(x5)-grandfather lurked around the old Kingsley House for the past 200 years had me hooked. Right from the beginning, we were drawn into the mystery about the missing lover of Caleb, Valentina. Furthermore, Alix had been to the Kingsley House only when she was four but yet she seemed to remember where everything was placed in the house as if she had lived there all her life.

The romance portion of this book was very well written. I can practically feel the sparks flying between Jared and Alix throughout the book. I loved the unspoken attraction between the two of them and I was shrieking away when they finally understood each other's feeling. I can't put my book down at all for those few chapters.

However, I felt that the mystery portion of this book was somehow disappointing. I was expecting twists or even huge revelation about Caleb and Valentina but in the end, I was facing an almost unbelievable ending to the mystery of Caleb's last day on earth. The tension was built up throughout the book and yet it just ended flat.

If I were to rate this book under the romance genre, it will be a straight 5 stars read for me. However, considering that the mystery element was featured in the synopsis of the book, I was expecting something better and had to take one start off my rating for the disappointment I've faced.

This book is still highly recommended to Jude Deveraux's fan who loved the romance but if you are looking for an old mystery revelation, this is not the book for you.

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Back in January 2014, I had a glimpse of a prequel short-story, Waking Kate, that Ms Allen had put up for fan of hers. It was enjoyable to get a feel of her upcoming Lost Lake and I was so excited that I grabbed this book days after its launch.

Lost Lake tells us the story after Kate's husband had passed away and how she decided to visit Lost Lake, a place where she held her childhood memories, to get away from her mother-in-law. In this place, she met up with her Aunt Eby and a boy, Wes,  who she almost lost her first kiss to. The sparks between them flew almost immediately after reuniting with each other. When Kate realised that Aunt Eby was going to give up Lost Lake to Wes's uncle as she could no longer upkeep this place and was hoping to return to Paris to relief her memory of her dead husband, Kate decided that she wanted to save this place. For herself and for her daughter, Devin. However, her mother-in-law had better ideas of how she wanted to make us of Kate for own her political benefits so things are definitely not going as smoothly as Kate hoped.

With her aggressive mother-in-law, a man she loved but with a dark secret and her daughter who kept talking about a mysterious alligator, how was she going to save Lost Lake and bring it back to how it was to be when she had first visited.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and it was a pretty good read but I was very disappointed in it. Unlike other books by Ms Allen, the magical feel is just not in this book. Ghost and Alligator does't impress me nor spoke out to me. I had a hard time trying to blend the alligator into the story. What's worse was just days after finishing this book, I almost couldn't remember the characters in it.

For a book that was listed under the magical realism genre, this book definitely did not contains any magic in it. As I knew that Ms Allen is in remission of her cancer and this is her first release since her illness, I am hoping that this is just a book to get her back into writing. Although I have to say that this is my least favourite of her book (Oh yes, I have read every single book of hers and I loved almost everyone of them), I am still looking forward to her future work.

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux (Montgomery Series)

Well it has been a long time since I posted a review! I have been so busy with life that I haven't been reading much in the last 2 months but I am finally picking my books up again!

This time, I choose a book that I know I will devoured in a short time and I did! A Knight in Shining Armor is an all time classic historical romance book that my friends had been recommending and I just didn't managed to pick it up. Few months ago, I made used of a Kobo discount and finally bought the book for myself.

A Knight in Shining Armor tells the story of a woman, Dougless Montgomery, in modern England (1980s) who was ditched by her boyfriend (who happens to be a jerk!) in a church in Ashburton. Just when she was crying her heart out over the grave of Sir Nicholas Stafford, the Earl appeared out of nowhere before her. She had wished for a Knight in Shining Armor and indeed her wish came true. However, things were not as simple as it sounded. The Earl had came from 1564, Elizabethan England, to the modern world to find out what could prove his innocence. He was trailed for treason which he did not committed and he was to be executed in 3 days time when he fell dead on his desk while writing a letter to his mother for help. The couple travelled to places where history recorded nothing about Nicholas except for his womanising traits.

Of course, the two of them will fell in love (this is a romance novel...) and just when we thought Nicholas decided not to return to 1564, he did. And the next thing we know, Dougless travelled back to 1560! Now, this is what I loved about this book. Most of the time travel books that I have read only tell how one character travel to one time. However in this book, both our main characters time travelled.

The exquisite details of the Elizabethan people's clothing, food and lifestyle were well written and researched. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

This books tells about the wonderful romance that crossed between times. I loved how the book was split into two parts where we get a modern tale weaved together with a historical tale. I loved how the author gave us a happy ending despite me crying my heart out when I thought it was going to be a sad one. I am pleased to see characters coming together in different periods and how one could changed easily just because history has changed. Although at times, I find some of the stuffs almost impossible to believe, I just had to remind myself that this is a fiction book and reading it is for my pleasure and not straining my brain to spot out the unrealistic portion.

This is going to be a book that I would want to read again and again and I highly recommend it for people who enjoyed Historical Romance and Time Traveling books.

Silk Is For Seduction by Loretta Chase (The Dressmakers #1)

This is my first book by Loretta Chase even though I have heard so much about her books from historical romance lovers. I had always wanted to pick up this book but it seems I never made time for it until now.

A lovely book with steamy scenes between the protagonists. I loved how this book revolves around dresses. I love dresses! Reading about the details of dresses in historical period excites me. Of course the unusual 'courtship' between Marcelline and the Duke of Clevedon made the book even better.

Marcelline is a strong lady who kept her passion for her work throughout the whole book and I loved how she felt when Clevedon protected her from mishaps that happened along the way.

All the characters in this book are likeable and none of them were bitchy to make me hate them. Surprisingly, I like Lady Clara even though she wasn't featured enough in this book. I hope that we could get to read a side story about her. She was so understanding and stood up for what is right. She would definitely grew up to be a wonderful lady. And it is so true that just the right clothing could make a woman felt more confident and changes them forever.

With the small and tiny bits about Sophy and Longmore, I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series, Scandal Wears Satin.

Last Day of Love: A Teardrop Story by Lauren Kate (Teardrop #0.5)

When I first saw this book, the impression that I've got was that I am in for a teary romantic short story. The cover is beautiful and it attracted me immediately.

After I have read the book, I actually felt cheated. There wasn't any tears nor was it a beautiful love story. There were too many characters to start with and since I have not read the first book in this series, I have completely no idea who they were. The book then tell us about how a guy named Ander had to give up a girl called Eureka. Again, no background about them that I know of.

This is definitely not a book that one should read if you have no idea what the main story is about. Reading the prequel, it is assumed that one already have the understanding of the main story.

I honestly did not enjoy this book but it wasn't bad either. At the very least, it made me curious about the real story between Ander and Eureka.

The Divorced Not Dead Workshop by CeCe Osgood

The book title is the first thing that caught my attention. The Divorced Not Dead Workshop. I was excited to read this book.

In this book, we got to know Dorsey who founded the Divorced Not Dead Workshop with the help of her girl friends, Pilar and Mimi. Of course things didn't go well for the start and there were hiccups throughout the workshop but Dorsey always managed to think of something to resolve it and got everyone together. The workshop is definitely not the only thing that will be happening in this book. The sparks and romance between Dorsey and Finn, the nephew of her step-father's bride-to-be, makes up a majority part of the book.

The book started out slow and I was really not into the writing style. I felt that the story was kind of rushed and it moves from one scene to another before I had a grasp of what it was all about.

Things got better when the workshop finally got started. The story flows much better and I loved reading about the problem of each of the participants of the workshop. Finn is definitely another great addition at this point of the book, although his mother is a pain in the ass. I loved reading the interactions before him and Dorsey but I felt that there are way too many misunderstandings between them that I started to lose interest in it towards the end of the book. And of course like what Ralph said in the book "we were divorced not dead, and it was time to move on with life."

The premises of the story is interesting and I was intrigued by the workshop carried out in the book. It is a light and easy read for me as there wasn't too many heavy content which would bore me to death. However, the flow of the story wasn't really smooth and I had problem trying to know who Melissa is and that wasn't explained until halfway through the book, although her names came up various times.

Overall, I would recommend this book to chick-lit lovers who wants to take their mind off heavy books.

This book is retailing on Amazon at US$3.99. Prices accurate as at 18 Jan 2014. 

Note: I have received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3) by Julia Quinn

The third book in the Bridgertons series is about the second son of Lady Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton. I have grew to really enjoyed reading about the Bridgerton family and I loved how interesting their names were in alphabetical order according to their age.

The book started off almost completely similar to our very well known tale about Cinderella. Sophie Beckett is the bastard child of the Earl of Penwood. She had a stepmother and two stepsisters, at least one wasn't wicked here. She was forbidden to attend all social event but the housekeeper (her fairy godmother here), dressed her up and sent her off to the ball and instructed her to leave by midnight. At the ball, of course she would meet her prince charming, Benedict Bridgerton, and just when things were getting great, the clock struck twelve and she had to leave. Instead of a glass slipper, she left behind a glove with the Penwood crest.

The similarities ended here because Benedict did not managed to track her down with the glove and Sophie was found out and booted out of the house. Up to this point, I wasn't really liking the book that much because of how much it seems like a ripped off of Cinderella.

Things got better after that when we finally get to see Julia Quinn's own ideas kicking in. I loved the interaction between the couple and how they grew closer together despite the difference in their status.

However, my favourite character in this book is definitely Lady Bridgerton. I would die to have someone like her as my mother. Her caring nature and cunningness when it comes to helping Sophie and Benedict are things I really loved reading about. We also get to know more about the other children in the family who weren't told much in the earlier two books of the series.

It is also funny how Sophie like being mentioned in Lady Whistledown's paper and counting the times she was mentioned in oppose to Benedict's irritation at it.

This is a series I really enjoyed and I am so glad to have discovered Julia Quinn through these books. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and if you are a fan of historical romance, you must not missed this series!

Vision in White (Bride Quartet #1) by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is one of my favourite author. Her writing always made her book an easy read.

I have been reading mostly her In Death novels and this is the first time I am picking up a contemporary romance novel of hers. Personally I loved books about bride and wedding. There are always bliss and happiness in them.

Vision in White tells about four best friend who formed a wedding company called The Vows. Each of them had their own skills set. Parker is good in business management, Laurel bakes great cakes, Emma is an expert in flowers and Mac takes care of all the photography involved in a wedding. Throughout the book, I envied their friendship and how they care for each other and forgave each other whenever one of them had a Bitch Day.

I loved reading about the wedding and how disasters could happened whether it's the bride's problem or Maid of Honor or even the parents. It's pretty realistic and I loved how witty they are and how the four women handled these problems and gave their clients the best wedding.

Aside from the wedding theme, this book is mainly about Mac and her life. Her mother is a bitch (imo) and how she could tolerate and forked out those thousands of money for her unreasonable request is beyond my beliefs. Thank god for the great friends around her who helped her and listened to her whenever she turned cranky because of her mum.

And there is Carter, the perfect guy who had been in love with Mac since high school. He sounds like a nerdy guy and all in the book but yet he gave great kisses and is good in bed. This actually sounds too perfect for me to accept.

The romance between Carter and Mac didn't really interest me as much as the other details in the book about the ups and downs of wedding events and of course the friendship between the girls. I am looking forward to reading about the romance and life of the remaining 3 partners of The Vows. I hope Jack and Del would be paired up with either 2 of them! It would be something to read about.

I recommend this book for all Nora Roberts fans out there and anyone who loves reading about weddings.

Happy New Year! Hello 2014!

Happy New Year to everyone!

2013 has been a fulfilling year for me. I had rediscovered my passion for reading in May 2012 and 2013 is a year where I committed myself wholly into books. I managed to keep track and rate and review every book I've read.

Here's a quick view of what I have read and rated in 2013!

I'm hoping for a better 2014! Hoping to hit 120 books this year!