....And Then The Fandoms Came

So, this was another book I was able to get in my a book buy. I've had for a minute but sat down and finished it a few days ago. The story basically continues off where So Sweet left off. Michael and Kayla are in New Relationship Bliss. Kayla has started a new company with her friend and her friend's cousin, I believe but I can't exactly remember, and it's going well. Things are looking great and go smoothly until Kayla finds out that Michael has a little bigger present besides the puppies that he has for her. And that surprise as well as the ramifications of everyone's actions that went with it end up being the crux. I don't want to give too much away. I kind of come across this kind of storyline very rarely, and it was refreshing to read. Also I felt like all of Kayla's concerns were warranted and Michael was still redeemable/likable. Both of which are good, at least for me, especially the last part. Once again, it was just another nice sweet, cute, romantic comedy-esque book that was highly enjoyable, and I highly recommend it honestly. All of the characters are most definitely lovable and likable and even able to be relate to. And yes, it was hot to read. Haha. Two thumbs-WAY-WAY-UP.

Okay, so, I picked up the whole trilogy for this book, and I'll probably be starting on Book 3 ASAP. But right now, let's talk about this book. Okay, so, our main character is Nailah and after her current personal trainer gets caught up in a scandal, her father finds someone else to train her and help her work out. And this time, he obviously wants it to remain fully and completely professionally. Um....yeah, nope. There isn't that actually kicks off between them (other than the attraction naturally) until Nailah does some investigating and finds out about Armando's side activities and becomes interested. And that is when the story really, really gets good. This was another fun, sexy book by an author I love. It was funny. It made me laugh, and it was much and highly needed. Read it, just trust me. 

 I didn't have time to actually put a review for this, due to just how busy and tied with stuff I was. But I'm a bit more free to talk now. I love this series so much. This book told the story of Six & Bren, a story which I was highly looking forward to reading. Just because with this series, the next couple may interact but a lot of the time it's just huge, HUGE amounts of tensions until it's gets to their specific book. I liked Bren and Six because even though of both of them have bad (and that's stating it lightly) pasts and traumas due to their pasts and even though they help each other work through their issues and problems, you don't ever really get a sense of that highly problematic "I'm kissing her/his scars" type of love. It's not that "I'm loving you because you're broken and I need to fix you" type of thing. At least for me. They do still have that "I'm helping you work through this" but it's not overreaching (and when it does get overreaching, it's called out). And well, of course, and I shouldn't have to say it, the sex was awesome. 

Okay, so this book is the second of the "Pleasure" series by Alisha Rai. The first book follows the youngest sister, Devi. This book follows Rana, the eldest sister. Rana is kind of seen as the "one who can't get their stuff together", at least by their mother. Rana can be impulsive, she likes to dress any way she wants, loves to wear make up, loves sex and men and sex with men, all things with which her mother has an issues with. Mostly because she wants Rana to settle down and marry, and feels these qualities hurt her chances of finding a "good man". While this did previously bother Rana, she didn't kind of start realizing that she did, indeed, want more until after she sees her sister Devi talk about(or interact with) her boyfriends (she's in a polyamorous relationship). So, Rana starts to change and try to become of a more "marriageable quality" as well as going out on countless dates trying to find a "good man". However, there's one small wrench in her plan to curb her behavior, her neighbor. Enter Micah. He's a artist who's kind of been a bit of recluse after a horrible incident and is trying to get himself back onto the art scene (not really of his own will). He and Rana meet in a slightly.... I'll say less conventional way: by looking at each through their windows. After each of them figure out their attraction is mutual, they decide to have one night together to get each other out of their systems. But, of course, it doesn't end at one night. 

I really liked Rana. In fact, I like all of the sisters for different reasons. My reasons for liking Rana is that she is unapologetic (when not interacting with her mother or sisters or, naturally, feeling like she actually hurt someone's feelings), she says what comes to mind, I like that she admits that she likes make up, I like she admits she likes sex and men, I like that she likes men but won't conform to their standards to please them. She's just a bunch of awesome rolled into one. 

I like Micah a lot too. He did take a minute to warm up too (again, due to his trauma) but once he started to warm up to Rana, I just got all -insert heart eyes here- about him. He did show that he was willing to work for them at the end, which I definitely liked. I also liked his big "grand gesture"; I felt it was fitting. He's not necessarily a sweetheart but he isn't a jerk either. He fits in right well in the middle. 

I think he and Rana compliment each other well. They bring out something in each other, or rather, I think they bring themselves out in each other. Which I think is a great thing to have with someone. Sex scenes were well written and hot. So, again, that was great. 

Again, I liked this book so much over all and I can't wait to see the next installment of the series. (Also, if you want to read about a interracial relationship not involving a white person but two POC, I really, really suggest this one.)

5 stars out 5

Okay, so, I've read about two novellas by this author (and I have two more on my kindle that I'm itching to get to), and I really like her a lot. She's a great writer. She tends to tackle serious topics, or at least topics that you wouldn't necessarily think could be tackled in the way that she does. By that I mean, she does discuss characters who may have mental illness or mental health issues but the story still contains a few moments worth laughing at and there isn't this underlying thought of "is the romantic interest 'fixing' the main character" type of thing. Like, you'll get tasteful jokes alongside of these characters having this tender, sweet moment.

So Sweet is no different than that. It really is...actually sweet. Kayla and Michael meet through a dating service (of which Michael is the owner). However, the particular dating service that they meet on is for people who are trying to develop a sugar baby/daddy relationship. Kayla was convinced to sign up for this site by her Adler due to the fact that they were down on their luck with cash and needed money quickly. But Adler makes it clear that sex doesn't have to be involved if she doesn't want it. Kayla is still a little skeptical of the whole thing but goes anyway, and decides to attend a mixer held by the service...and here is where she meets Michael. And so it begins. 

I'm not even going to comment on hot it was. That's a given. (It was smokin'!!!!). But my favorite thing I would say was Michael and Kayla. While they did move kind of fast, it at the same time didn't feel like it. They were really just cute together and how they interacted with each other. This really was a romantic comedy for me. (Of course, with much, much more sex). 

This is going to sound sad but I like how Michael respected Kayla and her wishes. While he showed that he wasn't opposed to helping her out, he also tried not overstep her boundaries and listen to what she comfortable with (and what she wasn't). Given the fact that he was so much older than her (and even though I know CLEARLY this author wouldn't write a character like that), I kept myself braced for him saying something(or doing something) that would be gross (sexist/racist/etc., etc.). I AM THRILLED that wasn't there. Again, even though there is a large age gap between the two of them, I didn't really feel like they were taking advantage of each other. While Kayla was compensated, it came across really clear that they just like to hang out and kick it with each other. That was great. 

I LOVED that they trusted each other so deeply. I felt that was so important. While there was still some thing they kind of had to establish with their relationship, there wasn't a constant, repetitive reminder of doubts and being warm then cold to this person over and over ad nauseum until they decide they love each at the end of the book 

It was a quick read. It's actually a novella. But it is worth the read, especially if you're like me, and you like reading short stuff anyway or in the first place. I highly, highly recommend this to you. Trust me. It's really, really sweet and cute. I laughed and I can't wait to read from her. 

5 stars out of 5

Okay, so this is the second book in the Beyond series. It tells Lex and Dallas' story. I was a bit worried about liking this, just because it did involve areas of BDSM. I tend to have a mixed bag feeling with those. Thankfully, this was done really, really well, and I did enjoy it a lot. I do like when Dallas(or in some cases Lex) would mess up, and they would apologize and get called out for it. There was sexy and there was relationship, which made me happy. I also liked how we got a "taste" of "what was to come" (no pun intended) much like in the first book as far as couples go. 

So, like I said, this story does fit Dallas and Lex, and I'm glad. I didn't know how I felt about Dallas at first, but after this book, I think I understand him more and even like him more. He's also a lot younger than I thought he was, as is Lex. I also like how there was that element of "they're both afraid of being in this" but they kind of twisted it and made it new and a bit inventive. 

I also liked how they learned to work with each other (again, no pun intended), and be in each other's lives both romantically and publicly(or rather what being in a relationship romantically would mean publicly). 

Either way, all around enjoyable, and definitely kept my attention. 

5 stars out of 5

So, I won this book via BookLikes. It took me so long to read due to school/college obligations so, I apologize for that. I wanted to get this up SO much sooner than I did. 

Get Real 's world is both magical and un-magical. Unlike Harry Potter, where the worlds are mostly separate, here everyone knows about each other(that doesn't mean they like each other though). The story focuses on Francesca (a girl who wants to be a boiler/cop but her family wants her go into the family business of healing), Rafael (a guy who really great abilities but his father makes him keep them hidden for the sake of missions; he also has a bad reputation), and Minna (a little girl who has very special abilities that no know really can quite figure and who has anti-magical parents). The romance is between Francesca and Rafael (sometimes called Rafa). 

While I did enjoy the plot and thought it was interesting, the characters as well as the romance gave me a lot of problems. Like, Rafa was the typical "bad boy"/bad personality/a****** character. And for me, I couldn't really make him seem redeemable. In fact, I kind of sort of questioned why Francesca would want to be with him and vice versa even. There's a point where Rafa and Francesca do sexual stuff and the next morning Rafael goes through all of this lamenting that she's in love with him and how it shouldn't be serious and they can't be together. You get the gist. With this scene, or rather the scene before it, I do like how the author didn't have them have PIV sex because they didn't have any type of condoms or protection. Granted there was still unprotected oral sex and hand stuff but I'm still glad they had that convo and stopped rather than soldiering on. He also did a lot of other stuff that annoyed me. For example, going to her mother without her permission and demand that she lets Francesca do what she wants to do (even going so far as threatening to go to his dad--her mom's "boss"--to do it). Like, it's just....ugh.

Now, with Francesca, something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. I can't really call it honestly. But something was nagging me about her. There were two things that kind of happened that I didn't like either. One, after Rafa goes to her mother to say all of this stuff about boiler school and whatnot, Francesca says that he's not telling the truth and that she does want to go into the family business. My problem arose with this was because Francesca takes it further by saying that Rafa tried to get with her and she said no and is now punishing her for this. You should see why I have a problem with this. It was never corrected or righted. Francesca never told Rafa that she apologized for this. Granted, he didn't know. So, maybe it gets resolved later. She never even goes to her parents to say that she didn't tell the truth. They just do the "We see how you look at each other. Forgive him but fight for it" or something similar it seems to me. Which I really, really hate.

And lastly, with their resolution and them getting together, I don't feel right saying too much, just because of how I felt about them and being together in the first place. So, it did come off as rush but I know that's due to how I felt.

The other problems: one of their friends makes a highly transphobic joke. I can't remember the details but I do know it involved "being surprised" and how the friend had a "funny story" that he'd tell later.

There was also the sexism and other things like (see: "boys like"/"boys like him like or want", etc., etc.). And then the other little bits and pieces of sexism.

If you enjoy that typical type of romance hero and heroine, I think you'd like this. But this didn't sit well with me. I've never really liked the "a**hole romances", and I liked them even less the more and more problems that I started to realize where there.

1.5 stars of 5  

Neverending Beginnings basically takes that idea of "What if you got a do-over?" to an extreme. This book follows Kate (not Katherine) as she gets a chance, for who knows what reason, to re-do the previous two weeks of her best friend's wedding. Kate and Amy, before the wedding, were actually quite fine as far as friendship goes. However, you'll find out quite quickly what kind of lead to their fight and why things are tense between them (as well as why Amy in just tense in general). And at first, as with most thing, getting a do-over(or a few do-overs) for a completely idiotic moment seems like an awesome beyond awesome idea. But you find out soon why this can equally be a bad thing. 

This book follows Kate as she tries to fix her relationship with her friend, Amy, her love interest, Ben, her ex, Jack, and come to a bit of, I suppose, resolve about the passing of her mother. It was interesting to see how she had to go about fixing certain things or how you would think that what she did fixed things but really made them worse. 

I did find this funny and cute. It was definitely on the lighter side of the women's fiction/chick-lit scale I'd say. While there was a small bit of a dark theme with the passing of her mother, it wasn't on the lines of reading Jojo Moyes, Dorothy Koomson, or Liane Moriarty. Most of the book had a real lightness to it, and I think that did help a lot. It did make it really, really fun to read because of that. 

My only flaw or criticism of it I guess would have been to get a bit more clarity or knowledge on why Kate got to repeat that time, especially for the amount of do-overs that she got. I felt kind of having a bit of an explanation would be have been nice for that. 

Other than that, I really liked it, and if you want something light and fun to read, go for it. :)

4 stars out of 5

Clementine von Radics was another poet I cam across through Tumblr(and later Twitter and other parts of the internet). I was shocked by how deep her poetry touched me and how I related to it, from subjects like loss, sadness, depression, and so on. There are certain poems she wrote that just sort of spoke to me and put into words what I felt I couldn't yet. She was another person or poet that helped me reach a somewhat place of healing and acceptance of certain parts of myself--the good, the bad, the ugly, and the uglier.

Radics's collection is a bit longer than most that I've seen but that's obviously not a bad thing. No space is wasted and even if you can't directly relate to a poem, she makes you feel a deep empathy for the words she wrote. Her poems can sometimes really make you face a truth about yourself that you haven't thought about or just haven't come to. I think that's what make her poetry so good and so wonderful to read.

I enjoyed this collection, and I definitely look forward to any other work that she has coming later.

5 stars out of 5 

Okay, so, this book I picked up for that "If you liked Gone Girl, you'll like.." reason. And I think because I went in thinking this would be like Gone Girl, and I was expecting that same magic and feeling I felt from reading about Amy and Nick (I'm not saying they're great people; they're terrible people but I loved that book a lot I'd say), I was kind of slightly disappointed with this. I'm guessing maybe the only similarity are the kind of horrible parents and the twist that you find out (which I won't say for spoiler-y reasons). Other than that, I didn't really see any similarities. 

I went back and forth with my feelings toward this book. On the one hand, I didn't agree with what a character did. At the same time, bad decisions, horrible decisions happen a lot more than people really, really want to let on. So, it was kind of two-sided there. As far as actually liking the characters, I wouldn't say they necessarily resonated with me too much. They were interesting to read but I know more of the story(and it's twist) will stick with me than the actual characters. This isn't to say they're bad but they just didn't stick with me. 

This book was on the shorter side and I did like that. I finished it in a few days. Some of it due to the length, some to figure out what the twist was. While I was somewhat disappointed, I wasn't so disappointed that I wouldn't read it. It was a good novel. However, I wouldn't compare it to Gone Girl; doing that kind of hurts it more than helps it, if that makes sense. 

Either way, pretty good. Enjoyed it. 

3.5 stars out of 5