series – Book Dust Magic

I couldn’t ask for a better historical romance to end the year with: A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman (Book Review) @STMRomance #BookLovers #HistoricalRomance

A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I am happy to bring you my review for a book that I have finished recently: A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman. It is a third book in The Ruthless Rivals series but it can be read as standalone. Still, as I enjoyed the book I highly suggest to read all the previous books in the series (which I still have to do myself).

This novel was published on December 27th by St. Martin’s Press and it has 304 pages. I want to say thanks to Sara La Cotti for giving me an early access to read and review this novel.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

If there’s one thing impossible for a Davies to resist, it’s a challenge from a Montgomery. . .

A teasing bet.

Shipwrecked and imprisoned thanks to an incorrect map, Captain Morgan Davies has returned to London to exact sweet revenge on the cartographer responsible for his suffering. He’s also vowed to claim the winner’s prize―three kisses―in the bet he made with his long-time nemesis, the prickly, smart-mouthed Harriet Montgomery. His incarceration has clarified his feelings for her, but convincing the infuriating woman he wants to marry her is going to be his greatest challenge yet. When Harriet’s revealed to be the very mapmaker he seeks, Morgan decides to combine revenge and seduction into one delightful package. . .

A dangerous enemy.

Harriet’s always wanted witty scoundrel Morgan, and now he’s back; as handsome and as taunting as ever. She has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s failing eyesight and a rival mapmaker copying her work to play wicked games with a dastardly Davies―however tempting he might be. But when a threat from Morgan’s past puts them both in danger, Harry discovers that she and Morgan might not be enemies at all . . .

Review:

I feel blessed to had a chance to read A Wicked Game prior it’s release. I loved it so much!

As you might know, this year I rediscovered my love for historical romance and I am going through all the popular authors I haven’t had a chance to read before, Kate Bateman being one of them.

I guess after finishing A Wicked Game I can see where all the hype comes from.
She is just a mastermind when it comes to creating/showing chemistry between main characters.

I could feel it on every single page that included Harry and Morgan together.
This is (fr)enemies to lovers story, but it was obvious from the very first page that the characters have feelings for each other.
One would said, the sexual tension could be cut with a knife.

Also, it helps that the story itself was pretty entertaining and fun.
I like how the author gave us all the informations about cartography and paper places (that I knew something about already from Paper Towns by John Green).
I was never brilliant when it comes to history, but Bateman made sure to pull me right to the historical period our characters live in by throwing some real happenings that took place in that time.
I also appreciate the action that happened closer to the end.

The story is written in third person and it is so easy to read.

This is third book in the series but it can be read as standalone. However, characters from the first two novels make appearance as side characters in this one.

I will definitely read more books by Kate Bateman in the future.

Movie Monday: The School for Good and Evil #MovieMonday #TheSchoolForGoodAndEvil #Netflix

The School for Good and Evil Netflix movie cover

Movie Monday is a feature here on my blog, in which I’m rambling about movies I’ve watched lately.

Today I want to talk about a movie I watched yesterday and was swept away.

The School for Good and Evil

I remember years ago, back when I started to read in English and was religiously watching BookTube videos, The School for Good and Evil book series was pretty popular. It also found it’s place on my tbr, but as time passed I never picked it up and with time it got pushed away by all the other books that were released.
I had no idea Netflix was making an adaptation of the same, but you can imagine my pleasent surprise when I saw it on my homepage (I guess I should keep up with book/movie news more).
As I never read the books, I can’t compare the movie to them, or say if certain things were changed.
However, I can tell you that I really, really liked this motion picture and 2,5 hourst just passed by so quickly, because I was having so much fun.
I guess I needed some fantasy in my life, a magical world that made me daydream how it would be like if those pararel worlds really existed. I caught myself more then a few times daydreaming about crossing that line that parts our world from the different ones we read only in our books.

The cast was very good. Charlize Theron was probably the most noticable, but there are also Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Blanchett (who narrates the story).
Young actresses Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie were both amazing in their performance.

This movie is perfect choice for a family movie night, as it is appropriate for younger audience but interesting enough so all generations can enjoy it.
I will admit that I find it to be better than I expected and I highly, highly recommend it.

This book make me crave for more historical romance: Never Rescue a Rogue by Virginia Heath @STMRomance #BookLovers #HistoricalRomance

Never Rescue a Rouge by Virginia Heath book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I am happy to bring you my review for a book that awoke my love for historical romances. I always loved to read that genre but for some time I didn’t pick it up for a while, but this book reminded me why I love it. I really needed this in my life and now, thanks to Never Rescue a Rouge I can’t wait to read more. I crave for it.

Never Rescue a Rogue is a second book in The Merriwell Sisters series and it has 368 pages. It will be published on November 8th 2022 by St. Martin’s Griffin. I want to thank their publicist Sara for inviting me to read and review this book via Netgalley.

About the book:

Diana Merriwell and Giles Sinclair only tolerate one another for the sake of their nearest and dearest. Everyone believes that the two of them are meant to be together, but Diana and Giles know that their constant pithy barbs come from a shared disdain—not a hidden attraction. Diana loves the freedom of working at the newspaper too much to give it up for marriage, and Giles is happily married to his bachelor lifestyle. But they do have one thing in common—the secrets they can’t risk escaping.

When Giles’ father, the curmudgeonly Duke of Harpenden unexpectedly turns up his toes, it’s only a matter of time before someone comes crawling out of the woodwork who knows the true circumstances of his only son’s birth. As the threat of blackmail becomes real, Giles must uncover the truth of his parentage first, or else he and all those who depend upon him will be ruined—and dogged bloodhound Diana is his best hope at sniffing out the truth. As Giles and Diana dive into his family’s past, the attraction that the two of them insisted wasn’t there proves impossible to ignore. Soon, the future of the Sinclair estate isn’t the only thing on the line…

Review:

I wasn’t even aware how much I craved historical romance until I started reading this one. Never Rescue a Rogue reminded me how passionate and fun historical romances can be. For that, I am glad because now I crave even more.

This book was pure fun. It isn’t a comedy, don’t get me wrong. Still, Virginia Heath has the way of writing her words that everything, her descriptions, inner monologues and characters’ conversations are so entertaining.
I guess it isn’t a surprise that I flew through this book so fast.

I haven’t read the first book in the series (I would want to) but I didn’t feel like I was missing out. Never Rescue a Rogue can be read as a standalone.
However, all the characters Heath created were great to read about, so it would be a shame not to read their own books. Therefore, I will continue with the series.

My favourite character was Dalton who is the butler. It seems like every scene that had him in it made a book little bit better, brighter.
I also liked Vee who is Diana‘s (main character) younger sister. At times I hope the two of them would get together but I guess we won’t be seeing that movie since Vee is getting her own happily ever after in the next book, and Dalton isn’t the love interest.

As for our main characters in this book, Diana was the character one can look up to.
She loves her independence, her job and she is like a force that is not afraid of anything.
I have to admit I wasn’t head over hills for Giles at first, but I did enjoy seeing the chemistry between them and it was so obvious how Diana’s company does him good.

This is an example how enemies-to-lovers trope can be done, without unnecessarily drama, hate or going too far.
It was all tastsfully done.

4 stars from me and one big recommendation to you guys!

Book Review: Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey @PRHGlobal #partner #romance

Not like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for a book that I have read some time ago. It is part of the series and my suggestion is to read Waiting for Tom Hanks first. I enjoyed reading Not LIke the Movies so I hope my review will give it some spotlight so more people would give it a chance.

Not Like the Movies was published on July 7th 2020 by Berkley and it has 320 pages. I want to say thank you to Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Chloe Sanderson is an optimist, and not because her life is easy. As the sole caregiver for her father, who has early onset Alzheimer’s, she’s pretty much responsible for everything. She has no time—or interest—in getting swept up in some dazzling romance. Not like her best friend Annie, who literally wrote a rom-com that’s about to premiere in theaters across America…and happens to be inspired by Chloe and Nick Velez, Chloe’s cute but no-nonsense boss.

As the buzz for the movie grows, Chloe reads one too many listicles about why Nick is the perfect man, and now she can’t see him as anything but Reason #2: The Scruffy-Bearded Hunk Who’s Always There When You Need Him. But unlike the romance Annie has written for them, Chloe isn’t so sure her own story will end in a Happily Ever After.

Review:

I got into Not Like the Movie without knowing it was a part of the series. How foolish of me for not doing my research.
When it comes to romance genre, with every book following different main characters, they can usually all be read as standalones.
This one can also be considered as easy to understand on it’s own, to some point, but since main characters from the first book appear more then few times, and it is constantly mentioned what happened in that story, bringing and creating problems for characters in this, second novel, I would suggest to read the first book first.
I felt like I was missing out and it kind of ruined my reading experience.

The story follows a woman who has hots for her boss. And while I usually like that trope (or the idea of it because I haven’t read many books following it) in this novel Chloe acted too unprofessional to me with her constant comments but then when Nick would try something she would be all like “Oh no, we can’t. Bla bla bla, but you still have cute but and strong muscles and also, you smell like an old hot grampa”. Yes, I know.
I guess this is also age gap romance because Chloe had some comments about Nick being old, but it was never stated how old was he.

I didn’t like all the drama and characters finding excuses not to be with each other just so we can rute for them to finally get together.

Chloe’s relationahip with her bestie was also strange and it didn’t sound too healthy.

I could relate to Chloe who took care of her dementing father and having to deal with her absent brother. Their relationship with their mother was so complicated and I totally understand how it would scar them both.

The writing style was solid and the book reads quikly.

I would recommend Not Like the Movie but I would also advice to start with Waiting on Tom Hanks first.

The one I expected more from: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Book Review) #MyBrilliantFriend #BookReview #Blogtober

Today I am bringing you a book that is very popular and it feels like everyone around me and their mothers loved it. I read this together with my friend Amanda.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante was first published on October 19th 2011. It was originally written in Italian and has been translated to many languages over the years. I have read an English translation.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.

Review:

This was a buddy read with my dear friend Amanda.
After we finished our buddy read for a brilliant book Where The Crawdads Sing we decided to read another book from Literary Fiction genre.

As My Brilliant Friend is so many people’s favourite, and it is about friendship, we decided to go with it.

I will be first to admit I went into the story with high, huge expectations.
So many people around me loved it and recommended it, so it was obvious I expected to like it too. In fact, I expected to fall in love with the story and it’s characters, and to be completely engrossed with the series.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happened.
I found the story boring, didn’t get attached to any of the characters and therefore didn’t care about them at all.
The only character that kept some of my attention was Lenu, the main character.
The friendship between Lenu and Lila wasn’t the healthiest and I would call them frenemies instead of friends.

Lila was okay at first, but as they got older it bothered me that every single guy except her own brother was in love with her and wanted to marry her.
I never liked the stories about one perfect girl every guy can’t stop looking at, so I didn’t like this one either.

The writing style was also not my cup of tea. It was passive and colorless, never wowed me with beautiful sentences like it usually happens when I read literary fiction.

Most of the time I was bored and at 80% mark I wanted to dnf it, which the old me would certainly do.

I won’t continue with the series because it obviously isn’t for me. I simply don’t care what will happen with the characters.
I don’t think I’ll even ask my friends who read the whole series to tell me important bits in few sentences. That is how uninterested in the continuation I am.

My two cents on The Summer I Turned Pretty – season 1 #TheSummerITurnedPretty #Blogtober #SeriesReview

This summer I spent some of my free time watching The Summer I Turned Pretty. I liked the books (well, I liked the first two books and hated how the trilogy ended) so giving an adaptation a go wasn’t questionable to me.
It took me most of the summer to finish the whole season, but that says more about me and less about the series. You see, I never binge watch anything. Even when I had more free time on my hands (in my previous life) it was never my thing. I like to take time with series and I admit, I rarely ever finish them.

This was a fun show aimed for teenagers, but if you ask me, it is totally enjoyable to adults too. It all depends on your taste. I am one of adults who will always appreciate teens and teen stories appeal to me, so I guess I was the perfect audience for this.
I will just make a quick note that my sister in law who is 42 recommended this to me because she devoured it and can’t wait for the next season.

So what are my thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty?
It was definitely good and entertaining, and well done. You can see much effort was put together to make it a high quality. The actors were good. Most of them were new to me. The one who stood out the most with her talent (at least to me) was the actress Rain Spencer who plays Bella’s friend Taylor. She plays in only few episodes, but whenever she’s on the screen she surely takes the spot. I am looking forward to see her in some other projects.
I would also want to mention how the main actress Lola Tung reminds me of my cousin and also how pretty actors Sean Kaufman and Minnie Mills are.

The music was amazing. It was gave that perfect feeling to the series. I was familiar with all of the songs as they are ones I listen to in my every day life.

Overall, I think the book to series adaptation was well done and I will definitely watch season 2 when it comes out.
Although the summer is behind us and spooky season just started, I still recommend you to watch The Summer I Turned Pretty because it was good, fun, entertaining and emotional at times.

Escepism to Ireland in a novel: A Cosy Cottage in Ireland by Julie Caplin (Book Review) #SummerRead #Books #Ireland

The Cosy Cottage in Ireland by Julie Caplin book cover

GIFTED / Today I want to talk about a book that was on my tbr ever since it came out, back in 2021. It takes place in a small town in Ireland and it is presented as a nice book to get away with. The cover is cute and the story inside is the to relax with.
The Cosy Cottage in Ireland was published on Semtember 21st and it has 373 pages.
I want to thank the publisher One More Chapter for providing me a copy for review.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Talented lawyer Hannah Campbell is after a change in her workaholic Manchester life – so on an uncharacteristic whim she books herself a place at the world-renowned Killorgally Cookery School in County Kerry. But on her first night In Ireland, sampling the delights of Dublin, Hannah can’t resist falling for the charms of handsome stranger Conor. It’s only when Hannah arrives at her postcard-pretty home at Killorgally for the next twelve weeks that she discovers what happens in Dublin doesn’t quite stay in Dublin…

Nestled amongst rolling green hills and breath taking countryside, the cookery school throws Hannah and Conor together again–for better or worse.

Review:

The Cosy Cottage in Ireland is the second book by the author that I have read, and it will probably be the last one.
I don’t think her books are particularly bad, I just don’t think they are for me.

This was a buddy read with Amanda. Last year (or maybe in 2020) we read Julie Caplin’s novel set in Croatia (my country) and although we didn’t really enjoy it, we knew we wanted to try her other work.

Just to give you an example how forgettable this story was, I will mention that while we were reading and discussing it, I surely favorited one before the other, and now I don’t even know which one I thought was better: the one set in Croatia or this one set in Ireland (but my bet is on this one).

The writing style was simple but still it wasn’t as easy to read as one would assume.
It felt like we were reading 500+ pages when the book has 373 pages (which is still too long in my opinion).

I didn’t like the guy who was the love interest (and whose name I have already forgot) nor his mother.
He was a sexist full of himself (ok, he had some sexist comments but I don’t think he was a man schwain or anything similar to that) and his mother was cold bitch who didn’t even realize it (and I am not sure the author did either).
If I was Hannah I would ask for money refund and run away.

As for the setting, it was good. Also, it was nice to read about the smaller town from that country.
Do I think I’ve learned something new about Ireland? Not really, but it was still a good escape and I appreciate it.

New book in a new series to me: How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan #bookreview @STMRomance #BookLovers #Romance

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan book cover US edition

GIFTED / Today I would like to talk about a romance I read twice this year. I enjoyed it the both times I read it, and think it is a series worth checking. However, I would like to warn you to start with the first book in the series, called Ten Rules for Faking It, as the characters and some happenings from that book were mentioned in this novel.
How to Love Your Neighbor was published on January 22nd 2022 and it has 352 pages. I want to say thank you to Sara from St. Martin’s Griffin for inviting me to read and review this book via Netgalley.

FROM GOODREADS /

Interior Design School? Check. Cute house to fix up? Check.

Sexy, grumpy neighbor who is going to get in the way of your plans? Check. Unfortunately.

Grace Travis has it all figured out. In between finishing school and working a million odd jobs, she’ll get her degree and her dream job. Most importantly, she’ll have a place to belong, something her harsh mother could never make. When an opportunity to fix up—and live in—a little house on the beach comes along, Grace is all in. Until her biggest roadblock moves in next door.

Noah Jansen knows how to make a deal. As a real estate developer, he knows when he’s found something special. Something he could even call home. Provided he can expand by taking over the house next door–the house with the combative and beautiful woman living in it.

With the rules for being neighborly going out the window, Grace and Noah are in an all-out feud. But sometimes, your nemesis can show you that home is always where the heart is.

Review:

So… I read How to Love Your Neighbor twice this year and even though I forgot so much from the first time I was reading it, I still stand by my rating of 3,5 stars.

The reason I decided to reread this novel was because I realized I forgot too many things and it didn’t feel appropriate to write a review on something I just briefly remember.
How I forgot it so fast and was even surprised I didn’t remember important side characters is a whole another problem and I will call my cards on post covid instead of on book itself.

Still, my main impressions stayed the same: at the beginning I couldn’t stand Noah (the love interest) for the love of me, with his arrogance and expectations to get whatever he wants however he wants. He reminded me of one political party (from Croatia), fathers’ sons who get everything they want in life without ever having to make an effort, that never look back on people they cross over on their way.

Even when Noah had his change of heart (which was purely bc he fell in love with MC, not because he had some epiphany or character development) I still didn’t like him, and if this was a real life and not a romance book, I wouldn’t trust him.

On the other side, our MC Grace was easy to like and to understand.
I even identified with her when it comes to her relationship with her mother in a way (but here I have to stress out our situations are very different).
Side characters were amazing and scenes that involved them were my favourites.

The writing style was good and easy to follow.
The book was entertaining enough to make me want to check other work written by Sophie Sullivan.

If you are looking for a relaxing summer read to pass time and be entertained How to Love Your Neighbor is a good choice.

New book in a series I adore: Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee #bookreview @STMRomance #BookLovers #Romance

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee book cover

GIFTED / Recently I have read the third book in A Sweet Mess series. As some of you know, I love that series. It is cozy and I always enjoy reading about the small town Weldon and it’s characters, and I hope the series will have many sequels in the future.
Booked on a Feeling has 320 pages and it was published on July 26th 2022. I want to say thank you to Sara from St. Martin’s Griffin for inviting me to read and review this book via Netgalley.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Jayci Lee’s romcom Booked on a Feeling features an overachieving lawyer. A failing bookstore. A childhood friend. And the chance of a lifetime…

Lizzy “Overachiever” Chung, Esq. has her life mapped out neatly:
* Become a lawyer. Check.
* Join a prestigious law firm. Check.
* Make partner. In progress.

If all goes to plan, she will check off that last box in a couple years, make her parents proud, and live a successful, fulfilled life in L.A. What was not in her plans was passing out from a panic attack during a pivotal moment in her career. A few deep breaths and a four hour drive later, Lizzy is in Weldon for three weeks to shed the burnout and figure out what went wrong. And what better place to recharge than the small California town where she spent her childhood summers with her best friend, Jack Park.

Jack Park didn’t expect to see Lizzy back in Weldon, but now he’s got three weeks to spend with the girl of his dreams. Except she doesn’t know of his decades-long crush on her–and he intends to keep it that way. She’s a high-powered attorney who lives in L.A. and he’s a bookkeeper at his family’s brewery who never left his hometown. He can’t risk their friendship on a long shot. Can he? When Lizzy decides that the local bookstore needs a little revamp, of course, Jack is going to help her bring it back to life. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to ignore there might be more than just friendship among the dusty shelves and books…

Sometimes the path to the rest of your life has been in front of you all along.

Review:

If you keep up with my reading (which isn’t too hard to do since it has been pretty slow this year but I am on a mission to change that) you know I loved The Dating Dare and A Sweet Mess. In matter of fact, I pronounced myself a fan of the series, so when Booked on a Feeling was about to come out I was as happy as one romance lover can be.

I was looking forward to get back to a small town Weldon as I missed that cozy feeling this series provides.

In the third installment, when it comes to that cozy feeling, the author didn’t disappoint.
However, the sense of humour lacked and after I finished the book I realized I didn’t laugh out loud. Not even once, and that realization turned into disappointment.

The writing style was good and I flew through the pages.
Still, even if the chemistry between the two MCs was good and their reasoning for not acting on their feelings made sense at time, after a while all the miscommunication (or the lack of it) and “will they or won’t they” agenda started to get on my nerves, and I just wanted them to find the way to each other and be over with.

The obvious story development without any surprises or the fact that the main “bad guy” was countries away didn’t help either.

Overall, I did like the book but it isn’t even comparable to it’s ancestors.
Yet, I am happy I read Booked on a Feeling and will gladely continue with the series if the author decides to write more books (which I hope she will).

Sweet, fun and foody: A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee (book review) @STMRomance #BookLovers #Romance

a sweet mess by jayci lee book cover us edition

GIFTED / Today I am so happy to bring you my review for the first book in the series I fell in love with. A Sweet Mess came out long ago (actually, it was last year, but when you are a reviewer who should review books prior their release, a year is like a decade), and although I do feel sorry for being late when it comes to reviewing it, I am also glad I waited (even though I can’t call it a choice) because I could read the sequel right away.

A Sweet Mess came out on July 14th 2020 and it has 306 pages. I want to thank St. Martin Griffin and Netgalley for my copy.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

Bake a chance on love.

Aubrey Choi loves living in her small town nestled in the foothills of California, running her highly successful bakery away from the watch of her strict Korean parents. When a cake mix-up and a harsh review threaten all of her hard work and her livelihood, she never thought the jaded food critic would turn out to be her one-night stand. And she sure as hell never thought she’d see her gorgeous Korean unicorn again. But when Landon Kim waltzes into her bakery trying to clean up the mess he had a huge hand in making, Aubrey is torn between throwing and hearing him out.

When she hears his plan to help save her business, Aubrey knows that spending three weeks in California wine country working with Landon is a sure recipe for disaster. Her head is telling her to take the chance to save her bakery while her heart—and her hormones—are at war on whether to give him a second chance. And it just so happens that Landon’s meddling friends want them to spend those three weeks as close as possible…by sharing a villa.

When things start heating up, both in and out of the kitchen, Aubrey will have to make a choice—to stick it out or risk her heart.

Review:

I think it’s a good thing to go into books with low expectations, because then you might end up really liking it.

Let me tell you a story about my reading experience with A Sweet Mess.
Months and months ago, I saw it on Netgalley as READ NOW. Then life got in a way and blablabla, and I picked it up a year after it’s release (feel free to judge me, I don’t mind) when the reviews were already out there, and many of them weren’t so generous.
I picked up the book with low expectations, thinking I would be bored most of the time, and boom, I was having an awesome time, fell in love with the writing style (especially with dialogues between characters which I found meaningful and deep at times, but more often just entertaining) and I got attached to characters whom stories made me understand where they came from.

This is a romance in which characters get together and then separate because if conflicts and miss communication (or lack of it to be fair) so I do understand why it wouldn’t be appealing to a part of romance audience. To me, it was done right and I enjoyed following their journey to each other.

There were some smut scenes but they weren’t too explicit. However, I wouldn’t recommend this to minors.

Right after finishing A Sweet Mess I went into The Dating Dare, and guess what: I loved that one even more!
I guess Jayci Lee should find her spot on my list of authors who’s work I am eagerly anticipating.