#BookReview The Cinderella Princess by Melissa McClone

The Cinderella Princess by Melissa McClone is an absolutely cute adaption of the “Cinderella” tale.

Oh gosh – a prince falling for a marketing genius/television producer?! I am in! Seriously, I love marketing and love seeing a story that I relate to. I just… uh… need to find the prince now, right guys? Emily loves her job and wants to move towards being a partner, but that darn glass ceiling keeps hitting her in the face. But now, she has created a Bachelor styled show to find Prince Luc a wife! It reminded me of that fake Prince Harry Bachelor styled show to be honest!

Throw in that handsome prince who has a heart of gold (despite being a supposed “bad boy”) and has his own foundation to help kids! Seriously, Melissa knows how to play to my heart! Luc is the dream prince every girl has dreamed of! He seems to lack some real big flaws, but he does let his family throw some dirt on his name.

To literally quote the book: “Sweet. Tender. Oh my.” That was what I felt about this book – it is seriously the perfect quote. It’s a romantic love story that makes your toes curl AND it’s only about PG/PG-13. There’s no erotica, no sex scenes – just some sweet kisses that will make your heart sing.

My biggest complaint about this book was that it was too short. I would have loved a couple of more chapters to flesh out some of the scenes we didn’t see, but it was still good! Melissa McClone is a remarkable romance author and I definitely want to read more by her ASAP!

Side note: BEAUTIFUL cover. Ugh. She looks like a princess!

This book is apart of a series but each book is by a different author. So in my mind, while it is a series… this book totally stands on it’s own. I hope Melissa carries this book out as her own series too, though!

Overall, I think this is a lovely book! It is soft, sweet and all around lovely! If you’re looking for a contemporary read with the right amount of romance then I’d recommend this book.

Four out of five stars!

I found this book for free through Bookbub or iBooks. I can’t quite remember which one I saw it on, but it was a freebie!

 

You can find this book on:
Goodreads
Indigo
Amazon.ca
Kobo

 

If you love romance, fill out your TBR with some of these books:
#BookReview Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
#BookReview Tiny House, Big Love by Olivia Dade
#BookReview Jeep Tour by Gail Ward Olmsted

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#BookReview Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis is a fabulous romance novel.

When three sisters come back to Lucky Harbor to take over their deceased Mother’s former Inn, things go awry. The Inn is in shambles (both physically and financially) and the girls just can’t get along. We follow Maddie, a former L.A. resident who is running far away from her old job and ex, who seriously wants this Inn to get back on it’s feet. When she’s there, she almost runs over one sexy motorcycle rider who turns out to be more than what he says he is…

I really liked Maddie’s arc. She starts out as “The Mouse” and slowly works her way up to being a total bad a**. She has an attitude, knows what she wants and is working on making herself a stronger person. She absolutely deserves it after a trash of an ex. And lucky for her, Jax might be the man to help her realize love isn’t all that bad. Jax is sexy, a former lawyer and good with his hands (I mean carpentry… right?). He’s a character with lots of back story and isn’t the “perfect” man, which is why I loved him.

Oh boy! There is SO much going on in this book and I am SO frustrated it left on a cliffhanger. I need the next books in this series as soon as possible! I need to know what happens with Maddie, Chloe, Jax, Ford and every other kooky character from this series! Will Ford end up with Tara? I feel something heating up there. Will Chloe ever find romance during her asthmatic state (oh man, can I relate. I NEED HER STORY!)? Will Jax and Maddie end up happily ever after?! There’s so much going on and Jill has left me speechless!

If you like romance and drama, then this book is perfect for you! There’s a pinch of Christmas and comedy as well. Honestly, I wasn’t disappointed. I was expecting a boring, old, romance novel but I was left with an addicting, quick read that is making me absolutely desperate for more of Jill’s work. Seriously, it’s worth the read. The title is Simply Irresistible, and that’s just what this book is – irresistible.

Five out of five stars.

P.S. This book is TOTALLY R rated. It has some super sexy scenes that are not suitable for your PG-13 audience. Just an FYI for anyone looking for something totally contemporary – it’s not! This book gets hot and heavy!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

 

Check out this book on:
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Indigo
Kobo

 

Check out some other romance novels you might enjoy:
#BookReview Tiny House, Big Love by Olivia Dade
#BookReview Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
#BookReview The Inside Track by Tamsen Parker

 

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#BookReview Christmas on Mistletoe Lane by Annie Rains

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Christmas on Mistletoe Lane was an absolute GEM!

I was craving some Christmas-y goodness during the back to school blues, and this book hit the spot! Annie Rains has written one super cute novel that is a definite must read for romance lovers! Especially if you love those Hallmark Christmas movies like I do!

Christmas on Mistletoe Lane is a soft, sweet novel that moves at a fast enough pace to leave the reader breathless. It’s a PG-13 novel (suggestive sex, no sexy scenes) that is packed full of romance, angst and Christmas delights! There’s also some lovely side plots that give it the Christmas magic we all need (ex. Helping out an ill woman so her family can have a Christmas).

The kooky cast of characters were chalked full of hilarity – The Krespos, Paris (a biker Santa), Kaitlyn and Mitch are just some of the wonderful characters I fell in love with. Annie made them all lovable AND realistic. Each character had their own flaws, but they weren’t depressing. The fact that I could easily read this book and see it totally happening in real life was awesome! It felt real enough and left me hooked to every page.

Let’s get down to business here: Kaitlyn used to live in New York and be a fabulous Interior Designer. When a famous man ruins her career and shatters her, she returns to Mistletoe Lane to her Grandmother’s old bed and breakfast. Her Grandmother recently passed away and left the ownership to her and a former marine, Mitch Hargrove. They work together to get the business back up and running, and slowly fall in love… Obviously, her Grandmother had more in mind for her than she realized!

This matchmaker side of the story was actually really cute! Sure, it’s a trope that is used often but Annie used it well! There were so many little hints along the way that pushed these two lovebirds together, and I’m so glad this book ended WITHOUT a cliffhanger. The story felt finished, but I’m sure Annie will be able to continue their story in part in the sequels.

I really enjoyed this book. Mitch was a “broken” man who slowly finds his way back to his home town (and into a new job, post-Marines). On the other hand, Kaitlyn was a strong-willed woman who’s working on getting stronger. Having these two together, bumping heads a bit, was a fun story! I definitely want to read more by Annie Rains in the future, especially this series! She makes a story full of ups and downs, but still utterly positive!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

 

Check this book out on:
Goodreads
Amazon.ca
Indigo
Kobo

 

Looking for some more romance books? Check out some of my other reviews:
#BookReview Tiny House, Big Love by Olivia Dade
#BookReview The Gaucho’s Lady by Genevieve Turner
#TopBooksList Briar’s Top Romance Novels

 

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#BookReview Kissing Coffins by Ellen Schreiber

Ah, yes. Another throwback from my teen years – Kissing Coffins, the second book in the marvelous Vampire Kisses series.

Just a gentle reminder, these books are Young Adult novels with young, lovely characters who act like immature kids (because, they are YOUNG). If you’re looking for a True Blood or Game of Thrones level of maturity, you’ve come to the wrong place.

As a teen, these books were my LIFE. They were a big part of my high school years and I was madly in love with them. I wanted to find my own Alexander and live in a big, spooky house. I idolized Raven and her style (because, let’s be honest, she was my inner self). At the time, these books made so much sense – young mistakes, young love, lots of young fun! Reading them as my older self, obviously I wouldn’t make the same decisions as Raven because I have life experience. But I believe Ellen did a really good job of making Raven feel like a real teen. Well, a real teen from my timeline.

That being said, this book is a lot of fun, full of goofiness and full of adorable romance. Alexander and Raven are a really cute couple and they really deserved the many books they got in this series. I found this series was a lot more fun to binge read then read alone. I wanted the story to keep going because I was so addicted. Not every reader has found this to be true, but I sure did! I love escaping into a YA like this series, and sinking into a fun, not totally realistic book. Did anyone really expect a vampire romance to be realistic? This series is like a vampire, soap opera for teens! It’s excellent.

My biggest con for this series was at the time of my initial reading, I had to actually WAIT for the next series in the book. Oh man, was it frustrating. I’m glad I can jump back into this series as an adult and read it all in a row like I dreamed of back in the day. Other than that, I found this book to be fun and flawless! I love Ellen and her books!

Five out of five stars!

 

Check out this book on:
Goodreads
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Indigo (Canadian Retailer)

 

If you enjoyed this book, check out another book or review you might enjoy!
#BookReview The Coffin Club by Ellen Schreiber
#BookReview Peter Green and the Unliving Academy by Angelina Allsop
#BookReview The Water War by Kevin Miller

 

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#BookReview Rogue Ever After Anthology Collection by Tamsen Parker, Hudson Lin, et al.

This final collection in the Rogue series has proven to be another lovely addition!

This LGBTQ+ book is full of sweet (and sometimes sexy!) stories. F/F, M/M, poly and more, with each having a different focus. Some of the stories center around politics, Hollywood and even just good, old-fashioned relationships.

I can’t get enough of these short stories, because they are so easy to slip into. They aren’t difficult to follow, they make me smile, and I just love these authors. Since every story is different, you get a really good mix of romance and erotica.

I focused on three stories from the collection, but all of them were marvelous.

Hudson Lin’s Ipso Facto ILU follows Jonny and Brandon, who are OMG levels of cuteness. Brandon is a political science PhD candidate and Jonny is a famous podcaster. Following their super sweet love story was such a treat! Brandon’s shyness and adorable nature made me love this couple oh so much! Throw in some funny lines about Zest body soap and Canadian references and you’ve got me totally engaged in this story. Honestly, it felt like a fan girl’s heaven. This story was definitely a 5 out of 5 stars for me!

Ainsley Booth’s Love Your Love was a lovely poly romance which following Win and Penny (and Tanya, you can’t forget about Tanya). Cute crushes, spooning and fun quotes about beaming and blooming flowers fill this little story up. I like Ainsley’s way with words – it somehow felt so elegant yet so natural! This story moved very quickly and felt a little shorter to me, but it was still super sweet. 5 out of 5 stars!

And to top it off, Tamsen Parker’s Starlet Struck shed some light on causes AND included some super sexy F/F romance. Archer and Hadley make one wild pair – an activist and a Hollywood actress. The characters bring up causes dear to their heart, like the Rivera House which helps homeless LGBTQ teens, and I have to say that made me respect this book even more! At the end, we get the hottest ending that will rock most erotica fan’s socks off. The tension that built up to that part made it even better than I expected! Five out of five stars!

Overall, this is a great anthology for romance and erotica lovers. It’s definitely an R rated book, but it’s worth the read if you love some sexy scenes.

Five out of five stars.

Thank you to Tamsen Parker for providing me a copy of this book to review.

 

Check out this anthology on:
Goodreads
Kobo
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Indigo / Chapters / Coles – Canadian Retailer

 

Check out my other reviews from this series:
#BookReview Rogue Hearts (Anthology) by Tamsen Parker, Amy Jo Cousins, and more
#BookReview Rogue Affair by Adriana Anders, Tamsen Parker and more!
#BookReview Rogue Desires by Tamsen Parker, Adriana Anders, Amy Jo Cousins and more!

 

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#BookReview Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

 

Crazy Rich Asians is a fun, comedic romance that opened my eyes to a whole new world!

Before anyone asks, yes, I read this book because I saw the movie and loved it. Was the movie identical to the book? No. Was it still super cute and a great adaption? Yes. So, now that we’re past the point that the movie introduced me to the book, onto my book review!

I found this book to be the perfect mix of romance, comedy and knowledge! I absolutely loved being introduced to a variety of Asian words and concepts in this book. There aren’t many books out there (that I have read, anyways) that make me feel like I’ve learned so much while having a good time!

The book did feel soap opera-y, but I loved every second of it! I’m at the point that I’m desperate for the sequel, and can’t wait to get my hands on it! The characters were interesting and all had crazy backgrounds, the drama was high, and the family values were intriguing.

I have no idea how honest/true the Asian side of the story is, but it did make me more interested in Asian cultures. I love when books can open your eyes to a world you haven’t thought about looking at before, so I give lots of praise to Kevin Kwan! Books like these truly deserve attention, because not only are they well written but they pull the minorities out of the background. Even if it’s not totally accurate, I’m sure at least a few more readers can appreciate the Asian culture!

This book could easily be binged (if you have time to read a 500+ page book). I seriously wanted to continue reading it, but I just didn’t have time! That being said, every chance I got I was instantly glued to the pages.

I loved Nick and Rachel, I loved Kerry, I loved Peik Lin, I loved Astrid and I loved every little description that Kevin Kwan had woven into this tale. I seriously felt for these characters all along the way (even the “bad guys”…sometimes…). I really hope the drama between certain characters (like Astrid’s story) are expanded in the next books, because they were all so interesting! There wasn’t enough pages to really see all of the characters! Luckily there are at least two more books to devour to learn a little bit more about my fave characters…

There are some cons about this book, but for me it wasn’t to hard to fly past them. The story jumps a lot between chapters (point of view, time changes, etc.). Also, some of the characters felt very… stereotypical (that’s the best word I have for them right now). Is that necessarily a bad thing? No. But many other reviewers are complaining about parts of this book. To me, I didn’t really care. It didn’t take away from the fun of the story.

Would I recommend this book to other readers? HECK YES! If you love romance, a splash of comedy, and Asian representation, then get on it! The movie just makes this book more in the spotlight, which should help it’s sales. The book is dramatic, but it’s a fun and wild ride!

Also, I loved the cover. It’s simplistic and yet perfectly summarizes the story in a weird way.

Five out of five stars!

 

Check out this book on:

Goodreads

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Kobo

Coles/Indigo/Chapters

Barnes & Noble

 

Find out more about the author, Kevin Kwan, on:

http://www.kevinkwanbooks.com/

Goodreads – Kevin Kwan

 

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#BookReview Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

 

Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule is a riveting drama that follows the lives of Julia, a young and wealthy woman, and Jule, her slave.

If I had to limit this book’s description to two words, I would call it a historical drama. Typically, I am not a fan of books like this but somehow Jennifer Chiaverini made me feel attached to these characters. I lost my drive partway through this novel, but I couldn’t help myself to jump back in to know the ending of this story.

I felt this book followed Julia more than Jule, but somehow it felt right that there was one star of the show. I would have liked to follow Jule and Gabriel’s story a lot more (because I truly felt more attached to those characters than Mr. and Mrs. Grant), but Jennifer decided to follow Julia and her life more actively in the novel. Julia definitely had her flaws since Jennifer made sure to have the character not be the perfect, rich girl. I did appreciate that sentiment, because I’m a little tired of historical novels where the leads are utterly perfect and do no wrong. At times, I did find Julia to be the antagonist more than the protagonist, but that’s merely because of her view of the world (which was very typical of the time).

I did not have much background on this book, so it amazed me that Julia and Ulysses Grant were real people! This story is a fictionalized version of their life, but it felt almost real. Due to this book being as interesting as it was, I decided to look up more about Julia and Ulysses Grant. To me, as a reader, I love when a book can open my eyes to a world I didn’t realize existed or happened. I am not well versed in American history (since I am Canadian, and my schooling did not involve much of the USA’s history), so I’m glad a book like this exists! In my opinion, this book does what I want a book to do – make readers more interested in the topic.

Is this book perfect? No. I felt there was some really slow parts of the book that drove me away from it. That being said, I like constant movement of the plot so the book isn’t intended for an audience like me. It’s a slow paced book that is about history. I also would have liked to see Julia and Jule interacting more as adults, since the book suggests it is about their relationship. If anything, the misleading title and synopsis are the worst parts of this book. Although, it’s a fantastic read and I’d highly recommend it if you love historical fiction, fictionalized stories of real life events, a heartfelt drama, a splash of romance, civil war era books, or American history.

Overall, this book is well written and a nice story. I’d love to read more by Jennifer Chiaverini just to see if she can open my eyes to more historical stories.

Three out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

 

 

 

Find out more about the author, Jennifer Chiaverini, on her website:

http://jenniferchiaverini.com/

Or check her out on Goodreads: Goodreads – Jennifer Chiaverini

 

Find Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule on:

Goodreads

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

 

If you read this review, give me a shout out on Twitter @ReviewAlholic and recommend a book for me to read!

Also, if you enjoyed this review, why not check out another book you might enjoy? Quick Book Review: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah