Saturday, February 15, 2020

Blog Tour Review-Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden


Publisher: Atria Books
Published: February 11, 2020
Genre: Fiction
Source: Finished copy
Rating: 3 stars



Blurb:
Roxanna Elden’s satire is a brilliantly entertaining and moving look at our education system.

Each new school year brings familiar challenges to Brae Hill Valley, a struggling high school in one the biggest cities in Texas. But the teachers also face plenty of personal challenges and this year, they may finally spill over into the classroom.

English teacher Lena Wright, a spoken-word poet, can never seem to truly connect with her students. Hernan D. Hernandez is confident in front of his biology classes, but tongue-tied around the woman he most wants to impress. Down the hall, math teacher Maybelline Galang focuses on the numbers as she struggles to parent her daughter, while Coach Ray hustles his troubled football team toward another winning season. Recording it all is idealistic second-year history teacher Kaytee Mahoney, whose anonymous blog gains new readers by the day as it drifts ever further from her in-class reality. And this year, a new superintendent is determined to leave his own mark on the school—even if that means shutting the whole place down.

Review:
Adequate Yearly Progress is not a book I’d normally read. I like my books filled with a whole lot of romance and all it entails. But there are times when I get tired of it and want a normal fictitious book. We follow an array of fellow teachers and school administration as they navigate curriculums dedicated to improving student achievement.

I found it a bit too slow moving for me in the beginning. That’s not to say it wasn’t well-written, I guess I just couldn’t relate. I’m not a teacher and I feel like a lot of the satire in it was meant for those of the profession. If teaching is anything like this, then wow, it makes me a little sad that they have to jump through so many hoops.

This is a very interesting, entertaining, and clever book. I think a lot of people will get so much insight by reading Elden’s words. I enjoyed them as well; but not as much as I thought I originally would. There’s a sad reality in this that I’m glad the author addressed though. She tried to help the bittersweet by writing in the humor and that actually helped so much. The take from this is an important message to all!

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are subjective but my own.


Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

About the author:
Roxanna Elden combines eleven years of experience as a public school teacher with a decade of speaking to audiences around the country about education issues. Her first book, See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers, is a staple in school districts and educator training programs, and her work has been featured on NPR as well as in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Education Week, and many other outlets. You can learn more about her work at www.roxannaelden.com.
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Friday, February 14, 2020

Blog Tour Excerpt + Giveaway—The Borgia Confessions by Alyssa Palombo



Blurb:
Under Palombo’s skillful hand, the entangled world of the Borgias comes vividly to life, exposing the dark facets of class structure and the all-consuming greed that comes with ambition--and love." - Heather Webb, internationally bestselling author of Last Christmas in Paris and Meet Me in Monaco 

During the sweltering Roman summer of 1492, Rodrigo Borgia has risen to power as pope. Rodrigo’s eldest son Cesare, forced to follow his father into the church and newly made the Archbishop of Valencia, chafes at his ecclesiastical role and fumes with jealousy and resentment at the way that his foolish brother has been chosen for the military greatness he desired.

Maddalena Moretti comes from the countryside, where she has seen how the whims of powerful men wreak havoc on the lives of ordinary people. But now, employed as a servant in the Vatican Palace, she cannot help but be entranced by Cesare Borgia’s handsome face and manner and finds her faith and conviction crumbling in her want of him.

As war rages and shifting alliances challenge the pope’s authority, Maddalena and Cesare's lives grow inexplicably entwined. Maddalena becomes a keeper of dangerous Borgia secrets, and must decide if she is willing to be a pawn in the power games of the man she loves. And as jealousy and betrayal threaten to tear apart the Borgia family from within, Cesare is forced to reckon with his seemingly limitless ambition.

Alyssa Palombo's captivating new novel, The Borgia Confessions, is a story of passion, politics, and class, set against the rise and fall of one of Italy's most infamous families--the Borgias.



About the Author:
My name is Alyssa Palombo, and I am a writer living and working in Buffalo, NY. I attended Canisius College in Buffalo, where I majored in English and creative writing with a minor in music. I’m a classically trained mezzo-soprano who also dabbles in playing piano. When not writing, I can usually be found reading, hanging out and laughing way too hard at nonsensical inside jokes with friends, traveling (or dreaming of my next travel destination), at a concert, or planning for next Halloween. I’m a metalhead and a self-proclaimed French fry connoisseur. I also own way too many hoodies, pairs of sunglasses, and pajamas, but never enough books.

I am the author of four historical novels, The Violinist of Venice, The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence, The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel, and the upcoming The Borgia Confessions, all from St. Martin’s Griffin. I am represented by Brianne Johnson of Writer’s House.

You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at @AlyssInWnderlnd.


Chapter 3
MADDALENA


Not much changed for those of us in service at the Vatican Palace when the new pope took over. There were still the same tasks to see to, the same rooms to be cleaned, the same floors to be scrubbed, and the same laundry to be washed. The Holy Father was to be obeyed whoever he was, and his earthly house was to be kept clean and running smoothly so he could attend to far more lofty matters.

One morning I was returning to the kitchens with an empty tray from one of the cardinals’ rooms—the new Vice-Chancellor, Ascanio Sforza by name—when I passed a man heading for the Holy Father’s audience chamber. He was rather garishly dressed, in brightly colored hose and tunic with a huge codpiece, and wear- ing a hat with a large feather in it. He winked and leered at me as I passed, and I cast my eyes down. Surely such a man was not fit for an audience with the Holy Father?

I caught up with one of the other maids, Fabrizia, at the end of the hallway. “Fabrizia,” I murmured, my voice low so my words would not echo off the marble floors and walls, “who is that man?” I jerked my chin toward the man’s retreating back.

She snickered. “That’s Juan Borgia. The pope’s son,” she confided.

I gasped. All of Rome knew of the existence of Cardinal Borgia’s children—Pope Alexander, I corrected myself. It was no secret that many of the other cardinals had mistresses and bastard children as well. But for a pope to acknowledge such children . . . “He brings his children into the Vatican?” I asked, shocked. “He allows them to be known as such, even now that he has been made pope?”

Fabrizia nodded. “It is unusual, indeed. No referring to them as his nephews or nieces, as popes usually do. And you know he keeps a mistress, yes?”

I gasped again. I had heard the whisperings, but I tried my best to close my ears to such things. Gossip—especially gossip about the Holy Father—was a sin.

Yet my curiosity rose, despite my pangs of guilt. I shall confess this sin after Mass on Sunday, I promised myself. “I . . . he does?” I asked.

Fabrizia’s eyes gleamed, and she drew me into a small alcove. She was well and truly settled in to gossip. “Oh, yes. Honestly, Maddalena, even for a country bumpkin you seem altogether too innocent sometimes—and you a widow, no less. Her name is Giulia Farnese and she is the most beautiful woman in Rome. He keeps her with his cousin, Adriana, and his daughter, Lucrezia. Can you imagine? And La Bella Farnese is married to Adriana’s own son! They were just married when Giulia La Bella caught Cardinal Bor- gia’s eye, and so Donna Adriana banished her son to the country estates to get him out of the way—before the cuckold’s horns were even properly affixed to his head, they say.” She snickered. “If the stories are true, Cardinal Borgia—Pope Alexander—has rewarded Adriana and her family richly, including the poor cuckolded son, which is exactly what she was hoping for.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice further. “He is said to be moving them to the pal- ace of Santa Maria in Portico. He wants La Bella Farnese nearer to him—they say there is a secret passage that connects the Vatican Palace to that one, so he can visit her in secret.”

I crossed myself automatically. “God forgive him,” I said. “He has been led astray by a harlot.” Immediately I regretted my words—he was the Holy Father; he could do no wrong. Who was I to criticize, when I could not understand the ways in which God spoke to His representative on earth? “But that is not for us to say,” I added hastily.

Fabrizia rolled her eyes. “Indeed,” she said. “All I know is men do what they want, whether they wear hose or a cardinal’s robes. Or a pope’s, even. I don’t know that God has much to say about it. But his son, that Juan . . .” She nodded in the direction from which we’d come. “They say Pope Alexander has big plans for him, and for his other son, Cesare. He’ll not let his children fade into the background, not the Borgia pope.”

****

It was some weeks before I saw the other son, Cesare. It was late evening, and he looked to be heading in the direction of the pope’s private rooms. I curtsied to him as he passed in the darkened hall- way in his purple archbishop’s robes. I felt his eyes on me as I curt- sied, and when I rose our eyes met briefly. Goodness, but he was handsome, with his head of thick, dark curls under his cap and his dark eyes and the stubble lining his cheeks and chin, which looked like they belonged on a statue in the Vatican gardens. He was much more handsome than his fop of a brother, that was for certain. His eyes turned away, forward once more.

My cheeks burned with shame as I continued on, back to my cot in the bowels of the palace where I shared a room with three other maids. Cesare Borgia was a man of God, an archbishop, no less—it was not meet that I should think him comely or attractive. I crossed myself, whispering a silent prayer of forgiveness. Back in my room, I bent over the handkerchief I was embroidering, squinting at it in the dim light, and recited a prayer with each few stitches to keep my thoughts from wandering where they did not belong.

COMMENT BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY!
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**Happy Valentine's Day**

Today is the day to celebrate everything about LOVE. That's why I put together a little post about some of *MY* personal favorite MOST ROMANTIC books. These are the ones that I can go back to time and time again and they never get old.

The Bronze Horseman is the book that made me sit back and look out into the distance, while I contemplated how boring my life was. It's an intense read full of so much love, heartache, and triumph. I'm thinking that I need to do my annual re-read!

Blurb:
The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler's armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.

Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander's impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.


Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

O.M.G! Sarah MacLean wrote one of my most favorites books ever. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake has ALL THE SWOONS! I finished it in one sitting and was quite sad when I turned the next page. 

Blurb:
A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all—the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love.


Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Things We Know By Heart is a book I read several years ago but have no problem reading it again as if it's the first time. It's equally beautiful as it is emotional.

Blurb:
In this unforgettable novel, Quinn Sullivan falls for the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart. Printz Award winner John Corey Whaley calls it “not just a love story, but one with a ferocious pulse.”

After Quinn’s boyfriend, Trent, dies in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the fragments of her now-unrecognizable life. But whoever received Trent’s heart has chosen to remain silent. The essence of a person, Quinn has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then in a way, she will still have a piece of him.

Risking everything to get closure once and for all, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas, whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into something more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn’t want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they’re connected—but the time Quinn spends with Colton makes her feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, though, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost . . . and all that remains at stake.

Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, this unique and emotional story about an unexpected bond between two strangers will leave no heart untouched.

Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Blue Notes is a story about romance and music. Plus a billionaire playboy...wink, wink. My personal fave type of guy haha!

Blurb:
After being bounced from foster family to foster family, Keeley, a talented pianist, is ready to start over as a junior at Tulane. But when she plays a small concert that attracts the attention of Jude, a brooding playboy and heir to an enormous fortune in the wake of his parents’ tragic death, suddenly Keeley’s life is thrown off balance once again.

Jude is the first person to confront her about the pain behind her music, and she struggles with whether or not to let him into her life, or to keep protecting herself from the hurt that relationships have caused her in the past. But Keeley’s about to learn that the melancholy young billionaire who appears to have everything he wants can open her eyes to exactly what she needs…
 


Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

The Deception SO series is an absolute must read! It's highly addictive in romance and thrills. I would say romantic suspense dashed with a little bit of paranormal splashed in to give it that oomph<3

Blurb:
RUN. It’s all sixteen-year-old Tessa Carson has ever known. Hunted by a telepathic killer, Tessa and her family have fled home after home, hiding behind aliases to survive. Her scars are more than just physical, and as the only one in her family without a psychic ability, she lives a life of secrets, lies, and fear.

After the Carsons flee to a new hideout and take on new identities yet again, Tessa meets confident, carefree Tristan Walker. Their attraction burns fierce, but she runs from him too, knowing their love can never be true when she can’t even tell him her real name.

But Tristan has secrets as well—secrets that will either save Tessa, or destroy her. The only way Tessa can save her family—and uncover the real reason they’ve been hunted all these years—is to forget everything she’s learned from a lifetime of running away, and run straight into danger head-on.
Book One in the YA paranormal thriller Deception So series, Deception So Deadly was originally published as the Run to You serial parts 1 – 3, and is the winner of the prestigious RITA® Award for Best First Book.

Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK 

Sound off in the comments below and tell me what YOUR most romantic reads are. If anything, it will help our ever growing pile of TBR books!
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Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Review-Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2) by Nicki Pau Preto


Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: February 11, 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Print ARC
Rating: 3 stars


Blurb:
Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev must stop the advancing empire from destroying the Phoenix Riders in this fiery sequel to Crown of Feathers, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake calls “absolutely unforgettable!”

You are a daughter of queens.

The world is balanced on the edge of a knife, and war is almost certain between the empire and the Phoenix Riders.

Like Nefyra before you, your life will be a trial by fire.

Veronyka finally got her wish to join the Riders, but while she’s supposed to be in training, all she really wants to do is fly out to defend the villages of Pyra from the advancing empire. Tristan has been promoted to Master Rider, but he has very different ideas about the best way to protect their people than his father, the commander. Sev has been sent to spy on the empire, but maintaining his cover may force him to fight on the wrong side of the war. And Veronyka’s sister, Val, is determined to regain the empire she lost—even if it means inciting the war herself.

Such is your inheritance. A name. A legacy. An empire in ruin.

As tensions reach a boiling point, the characters all find themselves drawn together into a fight that will shape the course of the empire—and determine the future of the Phoenix Riders. Each must decide how far they’re willing to go—and what they’re willing to lose in the process.

I pray you are able to pass through the flames.


Review:
I’ll admit that the size of this book intimidated me a lot. The paperback arc is over 600 pages! I feel like I haven’t read a book like this since the Harry Potter days. Sure, I read big books, but sometimes I’m just left feeling overwhelmed with it all.

The first book, Crown of Feathers, started off very slow for me. But it ended with a bang—good thing I had the second book nearby to help with the anticipation I didn’t have to feel waiting for it to come out. Being back with  Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev is a delight. They have really grown emotionally and physically from the first book.

I always like it when a book can surprise me in all kinds of ways. Overall, this is a solid book that I enjoyed a lot. I think readers will be happy to see that this could be their next favorite read!

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are subjective but my own.


Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

About the author:
Nicki is a YA fantasy author living just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicki discovered two things: she loves to escape the real world, and she isn’t interested in a regular 9-5 life. Luckily, her chosen career covers both.

Her YA fantasy debut CROWN OF FEATHERS is out now from Simon Pulse, and the sequel HEART OF FLAMES is coming February 11, 2020.
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Monday, February 10, 2020

Have you read The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanan

I listened to The Wife Between US last year on audio. It was trippy, thrilling, and absolutely bonkers! It had everything you could want in a thriller and more. That ending… If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading it, I recommend doing so now. Then come back and comment what you thought about the whole thing in the comments below.


Published: January 9, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Mystery Thriller

Check out what reviewers are saying here!

Blurb:
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.
You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.
You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.
Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies. 

Buy the book:

About the authors:
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are the co-authors of the blockbuster New York Times bestseller, THE WIFE BETWEEN US, as well as the forthcoming, AN ANONYMOUS GIRL. AN ANONYMOUS GIRL has been optioned for a television series by eOne, with Sarah and Greer executive producing. THE WIFE BETWEEN US has been optioned for film by Amblin Entertainment, with Sarah and Greer screenwriting the adaptation.

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Saturday, February 8, 2020

Books next on my TBR...

There are so many books that I have on my TBR list. For those that have no idea what a TBR is, it means To Be Read. I legit have THOUSANDS of books on my list, yet I still feel like there are times that I have nothing to read. Nothing calling out to me. This year for one of my reading goals, I want to bring up the list some books that have been on my list for a very long time.

Up first.


Published: September 3, 2019
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Check out what reviewers are saying HERE!

Blurb:
What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.

And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.




Published: June 11, 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction/Women's Fiction

Check out what reviewers are saying here!

Blurb:
Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.

Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?


Yes, yes, I know that this next one will make me a bad bookworm, but better late than never!



Published: July 21, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Check out what reviewers are saying here!

Blurb:
From the NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, & USA TODAY bestselling series

Beards, brothers, and bikers! Oh my!

Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James, recent college graduate and perpetual level-headed good girl, has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life.

His friendly smiles make her tongue-tied and weak-kneed, and she’s never been able to move beyond her childhood crush. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can’t stand him, and she’s pretty sure he can’t stand the sight of her…

But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain; therefore she’s unprepared for the reality that is Duane’s insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. Not helping Jessica’s muddled mind and good girl sensibilities, Duane seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the local biker gang, the Iron Order.

Certainly, Beau’s magic spell is broken. Yet when Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, now more dangerous than ever, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?


Published: August 9, 2016
Genre: Psychological Thriller

Check out what reviewers are saying here!
Blurb:
Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do.

You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realise Jack and Grace are never apart.

Some might call this true love. Others might ask why Grace never answers the phone. Or how she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. And why there are bars on one of the bedroom windows.

Sometimes, the perfect marriage is the perfect lie.

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I think this is a good start to knocking out the thousands of books :) 
Please let me know in the comments below, what books you have on your tbr?
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Friday, February 7, 2020

Bad Reputation Duet by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Both books are available now. This is a good girl/bad boy classic romance. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest book store to pick up a copy!




 Published: January 21, 2020
Genre: New Adult Romance

Check out what reviewers are saying here!

I HAVE A BAD REPUTATION.

Call me what you want: Bad Boy Next Door. Trouble. That Kid Who Can’t Do Anything Right.

When Willow moves into my neighborhood, nothing should have happened. She’s geeky. Shy. A true wallflower.

Willow is a good girl.
Too good for me.

And how the hell was I supposed to know that she’s related to Loren Hale—yeah, that douchebag celebrity that lives on my street. The same guy I've been pranking by spray painting vulgar words on his mailbox and worse. Much worse.

Don't ask me why I do the things I do.
Don't ask me why it had to be her.

I'm cursed. Simple as that. But here's the thing about people who are cursed—they break everything they touch.

And yet. . .I still want to touch her.



Whatever It Takes is the first book in the Bad Reputation Duet and can be read and enjoyed without reading any of Krista & Becca's other novels.




Published: January 28, 2020

Genre: New Adult Romance

Check out what reviewers are saying here!


I WILL RUIN HER.

You know that old saying “opposites attract” — well, no one ever tells you what 

happens after the attraction part.

Do opposites stick together forever?

Or do they just self-combust?

And then there’s the third option: someone or something forces them apart.

Look, the third option isn’t happening to us. I will end the bastard who thinks he can 

keep me from her. I only need to worry about one thing. . .

Epic, soul-crushing self-destruction.

Because I screw up everything I touch.

Even her.


About the authors:

NYT & USA Today Bestselling Authors Krista & Becca Ritchie are identical twins—one a

science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Now in their twenties, they write about other twenty-somethings navigating through life, college, and romance. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

To stay up to date on new releases, bonus content, and more, sign up for Krista & 

Becca's 


Quick note: We're not on Goodreads often, so we don't respond to messages 

here. But if you 

want to connect with Becca or me, you can reach out to us on our social medias or at 

our 


Fans of Krista & Becca's Books:

♥ Join Krista & Becca's Fizzle Force 
Facebook group.

♥ Inspiration for the Addicted series can be found on their 
Pinterest boards.

♥ Find playlists for all of their books on 
Spotify

♥ Check out all of their extras! Including: bonus scenes, character interviews, fun posts 

and more on their Extras page. 

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Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Review-The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa


Publisher: Avon
Published: February 4,2020
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Source: Finished copy
Rating: 4.5 stars


Blurb:
Critically acclaimed author Mia Sosa delivers a sassy, steamy enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy about a woman whose new job requires her to work side-by-side with the best man who ruined her wedding: her ex-fiancé's infuriating, irritating, annoyingly handsome brother. Perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Helen Hoang, and Sally Thorne!

A wedding planner left at the altar. Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s managed to make other people’s dreams come true as a top-tier wedding coordinator in DC. After impressing an influential guest, she’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch… she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.

Tired of living in his older brother’s shadow, marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.

If they can survive the next few weeks and nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.

But even the best laid plans can go awry, and soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...

Review:
I’m a sucker when it comes to wedding books. An even bigger sucker when the bride is jilted at the alter. Why do I love to be punished so? Probably because after the fallout, it’s always worth all the pain in the end. Yep...I’m totally a glutton for punishment. But I do love my HEAs fiercely.

“I’ll never again be that woman who made a blubbering fool of herself over a guy.”

Immediately, The Worst Best Man hooked me within the first  five minutes of reading it. I was instantly starry-eyed with anticipation on the yumminess I knew would be happening between Lina and Max. The two had this petty prank war thing going on between them. It was fun watching them flirt and deny feelings. Heh heh.

Our hardworking and amazing female lead is a wedding planner. Yes, the same wedding planner who was left at the alter and wasn’t even properly broken up with. Not only was it through text, but the groom’s best man/brother was the one to bear the bad news. Shhh, it was totally his fault!

A spectacular opportunity presents itself to Lina and it would behoove her to turn that opportunity down. No matter the consequences. Even if those consequences involve the very man who she deems the best (worst) man.

The opportunity will have her working very closely with Max. A lot is riding on this work proposal and Lina isn’t going to have her ex-fiancés brother ruin those chances for her. Come to think of it, she won’t have the ex fiancé, Andrew, ruin it either.

Overall, I thought this was a lighthearted, fun, and romantic read. I can’t wait for the next book from Mia Sosa!


*Thank you to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are subjective but my own.

Buy the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

About the Author:
Mia Sosa is a critically acclaimed contemporary romance author and 2015 Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® Finalist. Her books have received praise and recognition from Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Library Journal, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and more.

Book Riot included her debut, Unbuttoning the CEO, in its list of 100 Must-Read Romantic Comedies, and Booklist recently called her “the new go-to author for fans of sassy and sexy contemporary romances.”

A former First Amendment and media lawyer, Mia practiced for more than a decade before trading her suits for loungewear (read: sweatpants). Now she writes fun, flirty, and moderately dirty stories about imperfect characters finding their perfect match.

Mia lives in Maryland with her husband, their two bookaholic daughters, and one dog that rules them all.

For more information about Mia and her books, visit www.miasosa.com.
 
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