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.

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.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Breakfast at Tiffany's. The first thing that comes to the mind of most people would be Audrey Hepburn. The movie was a hit and until today, even the younger generation had heard of it. I have never watched the movie even though I owned it but I have watched the trailer and the movie is something that I want to start on in the next 1 month.

What some people did not know is that the movie is just loosely inspired by the book and Truman Capote actually did not approve the story nor Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. The Holly Golightly in his mind was Marilyn Monroe.

What prompted me to pick up this book is definitely because of the movie. I always like to read a book before watching the movie adaption as I find that the book has more details and would have helped me understand the movie better.

In the novel, Holly Golightly is a country girl turned New York café society girl. What is a café society girl? Café society is actually a real nightclub in New York back in the 1930s to 1940s. Holly Golightly is a girl who mingled in nightclub, having men pick up her tabs, showering her with luxury gifts. You may think that she sounds like a hooker but that's not the impression that I've got when I was reading the book. She did not just invite any men into her room despite them paying her expenses. She was faithful to Rusty Trawler for a while (though I don't think she really loved him), and she was willing to marry José if not for her incident with the law.

Despite her friendship with 'Fred', her neighbor, I find that she had never really open herself to anyone except her real brother, Fred, and Doc Golightly. I loved her character but the novella was too short to really cover much about her. It's like we are just getting short glimpse through her life without really going into depth.

For this classic read, although I like it, it isn't something that I would re-read over the years. However, I would recommend everyone to read it at least once to get a glimpse of Holly Golightly's life.

I shall end my post with 2 favorite quotes from the book:

“I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Excerpt From: Truman Capote. “Breakfast at Tiffany's.” 

“Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away.”
Excerpt From: Truman Capote. “Breakfast at Tiffany's.” 

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

I have been a fan of Sarah Addison Allen since I first picked up The Peach Keeper (I need to put up a review of this soon! I still can remember the story even after 1 year!). Garden Spells is the debut novel of Sarah Addison Allen and after I have read it, I can really tell that her writing had improved over the years. The sentences in Garden Spells wasn't as smooth as it was in The Girl Who Chased The Moon and The Peach Keeper. Nevertheless, the story is great and I loved the magic in it.

In this book, we have Claire and Sydney who are half-sisters with two different personality. Both of them had magic in them to change someone else's day. Claire could cook up magical dishes with the herbs and flowers she grew in her garden and Sydney could do wonder to people's hair with her magical touch. Both of them found love after going through tough time trying to get over what it is to be a Waverley.

My favorite character in this book would have to be Bay and Evanelle. Bay for her matured character despite her young age and how she hope for peace and harmony to come. I loved her interaction with The Apple Tree. The tree is so lively and although Claire and Sydney did not like it, I found that the tree was actually protecting them. Those moments where the tree wanted to be a part of their family is just so funny. Evanelle gifts of gifting the right thing to someone which they would need it was great. I would have loved to have someone like her as my friend or relative. This would helped in many situation where I was forgetful and didn't prepare something in advance.

My only complain about this novel is that I couldn't really understand to how the Emma/Hunter John and Fred story contribute to the main storyline. They did not directly affect nor change the story at all. Even without their part in this book, the main plot wouldn't have been affected at all, so I felt that it was a waste to include their story. I would rather read more about Claire and Sydney without the somehow-seems-to-be-quick ending.

This is definitely not my favorite book by Sarah Addison Allen but I would be looking forward to reading her new releases in future.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I am always a fan of stories about World War I and II. Before I picked up this book, I had thought I was in for a romance novel but halfway through the book, I knew I was wrong.

This is a book about how World War II had affected the people in Guernsey. I have never even heard of this place prior to this book and after reading it, I have an urge to visit Guernsey one day. This is how huge an impact the book had on me.

One could get confused with the many characters in this book. At one point of time, I actually felt irritated when another new character wrote to Juliet. I was like "What? Another one?" Then after some thoughts about it, I felt that these characters are actually a good contribution to Juliet's understanding of Guernsey.

The happiness and sadness of those who went through the hardship and losing loved ones touched me deeply. Unlike other WW1/2 books which depicts lots of sadness and harsh words about the Germans, this book told me that there are still humanity in the Germans when they first invaded Guernsey. It was when things turned worse, the Germans started to treat them with cruelty. The people in this book had found a way to live through war and I felt lots of positive vibes from them. The witty writing also made this an easy book to read despite the war subject. It wasn't a depressing read at all.

When I was done with the book, I have felt like I've know Juliet, Isola, Kit, Amelia, Sidney and Elizabeth personally. It is truly a wonderful read.