harper – Book Dust Magic

Waiting On Wednesday (#20): By Your Side by Kasie West

wow

Waiting on Wendesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It spotlights upcoming releases we can’t wait to read.

This week I am eagerly anticipating:

by-your-side

By Your Side by Kasie West

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: January 31st, 2017

Summary:

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

Why am I waiting?

As you probably already know, Kasie West is my favorite ya contemporary writer, and I want to read everything she writes.
By Your Side already has amazing ratings from bloggers and book reviewers who were lucky enough to receive an early review copy.
I have no doubt this will be another stunning novel and I can’t wait to read it myself!

Tell me, what book are you eagerly anticipating this week?
Feel free to leave your links so I could visit you.

Novella Review: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson

christmas-at-the-comfort

Title: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe

Series: Comfort Food Cafe #2

Author: Debbie Johnson

Publisher: HarperImpulse

Date: September 23rd, 2016

Pages: 187

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

‘My new favourite author’ – Holly Martin

‘A lovely, emotion-filled, giggle-inducing story’ – Sunday Times bestselling author Milly Johnson

The brand new Christmas romance from best-selling author Debbie Johnson and the follow up to ‘Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe’.

The Comfort Food Cafe is perched on a windswept clifftop at what feels like the edge of the world, serving up the most delicious cream teas; beautifully baked breads, and carefully crafted cupcakes. For tourists and locals alike, the ramshackle cafe overlooking the beach is a beacon of laughter, companionship, and security – a place like no other; a place that offers friendship as a daily special, and where a hearty welcome is always on the menu.

vrpca

Review:

This summer I read Debbie Johnson’s Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe and, even though I had a hard time connecting with the main character Lauren, I ended up liking it.
When I heard about festive novella Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe, I knew I wanted to read it because:

a) I liked Johnson’s full time novel, the setting and characters she created so I was glad I had a chance to revisit that imaginary cafe full of positive vibes;
b) Festive stories are my favorite reads so, of course, the curiosity won me over;
c) The novella follows a different narrator. This time we have a chance to read about Laura’s sister Becca, who we didn’t get a chance to meet properly in the book one;
d) The cover is just plain gorgeous and I am weak when it comes to beautiful covers, especially christmassy ones.

Revisiting Dorset and „exploring“ it during winter was a pure pleasure. It was so nice to see how Laura‘s life is going after the Summer is over and how her relationship, but also the lives of all the side characters I already knew improved.

This novella has 187 pages, so it is on a longer side. Honestly, it felt like a novel to me.
Nevertheless, I think it is just about perfect leight because it reads like a complete standalone story that left me satisfied. I wouldn’t want it to be longer or shorter.

Becca was a narrator I found to be easy to connect with. Because of that, I enjoyed Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe so much more then it’s predecessor.

This is a standalone novella and you can it read even if you haven’t read Summer at the Comort Food Caffe. The writer explained everything that happened before and the story is easy to follow.
However, you should be warned that going into this novella you will be spoiled for the book one, so if you plan to read both stories, I suggest you to read them in order they were published.

The writing style is simple and easy to read.
The story is written in first person from Becca’s POV.
Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe consists of three parts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future.
The first part is written in third person.

Some parts of the story were little rushed (ex. the wedding), some were a bit predictable (ex. a big thing that happend to Becca closer to the end), but overall it was a good festive read that I would suggest if you’re in the mood for something quick that will put you into Christmas Spirit.

3,75

Book Review: The Fire Child by S.K.Tremayne

Title: The Fire Child

Author: S.K. Tremayne

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Date: June 16th, 2016

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

Synopsis (from Goodreads): The chilling new psychological thriller by S. K. Tremayne, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller, THE ICE TWINS.

When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie’s behaviour changes, and Rachel’s perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother – David’s previous wife. Is this Jamie’s way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie’s outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife’s untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie’s words:

‘You will be dead by Christmas.’

Review:

„The doubting the doubt is the beginning of faith.“

In the blurb for this book, they said it was chilling.
And it was.
I got chills multiple times as I was reading this brilliant, in a good way disturbing novel.

The story follows Rachel, a thirty years old woman who marries David, a rich widower, and moves into his big, beautiful house called Carnhallow, in Cornwall.

Cornwall is the place I read about in so many books, I can’t even count. But you know what? This was the first time I was reading a dark tale that was settled in that admirable place I’d like to visit one day.

I liked the atmosphere in this book. Nothing was perfectly clear and, often, it felt like I could picture the mist over the Cornwall and the whole story that S.K. Tremayne so talentedly presented to us.

What I liked the most was the fact that all characters, main and impotant side ones, were unreliable.
Jamie, Rachel, David, David’s mother Julie – they were all unpredictable and I couldn’t trust anyone.
Even the dead character, David’s first wife Nina, was untrustworthy.

This book messed with my head bigtime, and I welcomed it wholeheartedly.
It kept me on the edge of my seat, made me want to read faster and then made me feel angry I couldn’t.
It made me emotional, it made me scared for characters, it made me question my logic.
And those, in my opinion, are the signs of a well-done psychological thriller.

The story is written in two POVs: Rachel’s and David’s.
Rachel POV was written in first person and it had that power to pull you into the story. Majority of The Fire Child is written in Rachel’s POV, as she is the main character.
David’s POV was written in third person and even though there were only few chapters that told his perspective, they were important ones.

The writing style was pretty amazing. It was fast paced with some bigger words used from time to time.
S.K. Tremayne is one skilled writer who knows how to capture the intension and compel his readers.

This was my first time reading his work but it surely won’t be the last.
I already have his Ice Twins on my tbr and am happy to give it a go when I’ll be in a mood for something extremely thought provoking.