let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
No title available
ellievsbear
RMH
Keni
Today's Document
Discoholic 🪩
Mike Driver
Cosmic Funnies
Monterey Bay Aquarium
taylor price
trying on a metaphor
Game of Thrones Daily
Sade Olutola
almost home
pixel skylines
#extradirty
AnasAbdin
🪼
dirt enthusiast
seen from Brazil
seen from Türkiye
seen from Croatia
seen from Australia
seen from Canada
seen from Malaysia
seen from Mexico
seen from France
seen from Türkiye
seen from Gabon
seen from Norway
seen from United States
seen from Nicaragua
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
@reviewjewels
Site Overhaul in Progress!
I’m having to make some changes to the site as I’m no longer a part of the Amazon Affiliate program (hopefully only temporarily), which is actually going to require a not-so-minor overhaul to the site. I’ll be updating content soon, but until then, I’ve taken down the posts until they can be fixed. Thanks for your patience!
And don’t worry, I’m still reading, and will have some new reviews to…
View On WordPress
I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting
I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This book was a letdown for me. It definitely did not get off to a good start, with Rian and Pierce’s first meeting in the grocery store. In their first interaction, Pierce comes off as very aggressive, confrontational, and borderline abusive. While the character did settle down later in the book, that initial encounter seriously tainted my view of him for the entire…
View On WordPress
Love Hack by Kimberly Dean
Love Hack by Kimberly Dean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the type of romance novel that I really enjoy. I don’t like mushy romance novels, I prefer when there’s a bit more substance and mystery to them, and for me, this one fit the bill. This is the second book in a series, but it works just fine as a standalone novel.
This story is about Spencer, a new hire at the tech company Afire Industries, who is brought on to…
View On WordPress
Disclaimer by Renée Knight
Disclaimer by Renée Knight
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Content warning: This book contains fairly graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault
Disclaimer, for me, was problematic at best. The premise behind it was good, I think, it was just poorly executed. I really can’t do this review without spoilers, but I promise I will let you know before they start, and let you decide if you want to continue from there 🙂
The first…
View On WordPress
I just started reading a new book, it's political satire, and just a bit over the top. Okay, a lot over the top! I'm 12% in, and I'm currently taking bets for how far I get before I give up and DNF this thing 😛
I Flipping Love You by Helena Hunting
My rating: 1 of 5 stars This book was a letdown for me. It definitely did not get off to a good start, with Rian and Pierce's first meeting in the grocery store. In their first interaction, Pierce comes off as very aggressive, confrontational, and borderline abusive. While the character did settle down later in the book, that initial encounter seriously tainted my view of him for the entire book. I was even talking to a friend about the first chapter, and I mentioned that it would be a great place for the actual male lead to walk around the corner and tell this aggressor to leave the female lead alone! But no, we're stuck with this intimidating man as one of the lead characters. The tension and conflict that is portrayed in the book's description just isn't there. There are a couple very brief issues that come up, but nothing like the blurb would have you believe. The main conflict in the book comes from Rian resisting dating Pierce because he's good-looking, and naturally, a relationship with a good-looking guy is doomed to fail (or so she has convinced herself). Also, the ending is one that can be seen from about 3 miles away, on a dark and foggy night. Finally, the author's choice of wording when referring to the male and female anatomy involved in a romantic encounter were laughable, and often made me roll my eyes and wonder how it's supposed to be romantic at all when it sounds like it's written by a giggly teenager. I give this 1 star instead of none, simply because I did manage to make it to the end without throwing my tablet across the room. If you're looking for a superficial romance novel with little substance and requires no intelligence on the part of the reader, this might be for you. Otherwise, you may want to look elsewhere. Netgalley and the publisher provided me with a complimentary review copy of this book. Um, thanks? **Update**: I was glancing through the book to find some examples of the silly language used to refer to body parts, and I realized how truly awful the writing is. So I'm leaving this review for now, but I may actually do a part 2 at some point, because this really just does not do it justice! Get I Flipping Love You on Amazon! Better yet, try Audible for free for 30 days and listen to some of the other great books I've reviewed! With your 30-day free trial, you will receive credits good for the purchase of 2 audiobooks that are yours to keep, even if you cancel your membership! View all my reviews or Visit my website
Love Hack by Kimberly Dean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the type of romance novel that I really enjoy. I don't like mushy romance novels, I prefer when there's a bit more substance and mystery to them, and for me, this one fit the bill. This is the second book in a series, but it works just fine as a standalone novel. This story is about Spencer, a new hire at the tech company Afire Industries, who is brought on to work as a security analyst after a recent hack to the company's systems. On his first day, he is introduced to program manager Josie, who he'll be working closely with. Unfortunately, Spencer is your typical tech geek with social skills that are somewhat lacking, and he has trouble functioning when he's around Josie, which I found quite endearing. Josie begins to have trouble with an ex posting photos of her online, and this is where Spencer is able to shine, working behind the scenes to thwart her ex's attempts at blackmail. I enjoyed the storyline, it was suspenseful, and as a bit of a computer geek myself, I found it interesting. The book didn't go into too much detail about the hacking side of things, but I think that is actually a good thing; it's a complex topic, and just brushing over the surface reduces the possibility of factual mistakes that would annoy me and/or jar me out of the story. I didn't find the plot to be overly predictable, and it held my attention until the end. I thought the romance aspect of it was very good and...well, exciting. There were a couple things that could have been better...I did find myself rolling my eyes a few times in the first few pages (like this gem, as Spencer's being showed around the offices of Afire Industries: "We're not 'you guys' anymore," Luke said. "You're one of us now, 'a fireman.'"), but it improved greatly after that. Of course there were some details that weren't quite so believable, but it's a romance/erotic novel, not a guidebook or instruction manual, and the details were small enough for me to overlook. I'm normally very easily irritated by errors, so the fact that I'm able to overlook them is not something to scoff at. Overall, I had fun reading this book. If you're looking to have a cozy evening with a good romance novel and you're a slight techie geek like myself (or even if you're not), I'd definitely recommend Love Hack. This is the first book I've read by this author, and I am looking forward to reading more! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book for review. Get Love Hack on Amazon! View all my reviews or Visit my website
Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Are You Sleeping starts out with an excerpt of a transcription of the fictional podcast, Reconsidered. It is a podcast that promises to delve into the 13-year-old case of the murder of beloved father, history professor, and member of the Elm Park community, Chuck Buhrman. The thing is, it's not a cold case, far from it; it's a case that went to trial, and the killer is now serving out a life sentence in prison. It is a solved case. Or is it? Next, we're introduced to Josie Buhrman, daughter of Chuck Buhrman, who has spent the last 10 years of her life trying to get away from her past: her father's murder, her mother's abandonment Josie and her twin sister (Lanie) by joining a cult, and her sister's betrayal. In that time, she traveledlk;p the world, and she met her boyfriend Caleb. Not expecting to have a future with Caleb, she gave him the standard lie she told everyone she met in her travels: her parents had died in a car crash, and she didn't even mention her sister. But now, five years into the relationship, the podcast is released and it looks like the lies she has built her new life on are going to fall down around her. When she is called by her cousin to let her know her mother has died, that possibility becomes much more of a certainty. In my opinion, this book was very well-written. I started reading it when I was listening to podcasts almost constantly, and went into it thinking it was going to be more about the podcast. I was initially a bit disappointed when it ended up being more about the story behind the podcast; that is, the effect that the murder had on Mr. Buhrman's family. Once I got over myself and settled into the story, I found I really enjoyed the book. As I mentioned, the focus is on Josie, who has a twin sister, Lanie. Josie has spent the better part of a decade trying to forget (or at least avoid) her past, and had done so pretty successfully. But when her mom died, she had to return to her hometown and confront her past head-on. The podcast just adds to the complexity of the story, because it casts doubt on the original case, which was heavily dependent on Lanie's testimony that she saw the guy next door pull the trigger. The author does an excellent job of mixing in excerpts from the podcast, Twitter feeds, and posts from reddit to tell the story in a rather unique way. Not only do we get to see the story from the perspective of the Buhrman family (through both current events and flashbacks), but we get to see it from a journalist's perspective, and also the point of view of fans of the podcast. I felt like the characters were developed very well, the contrast between Josie and Lanie was very clear and interesting. I absolutely hated the podcaster/journalist Poppy Parnell, but considering that was kinda the point, I thought the author handled her character excellently. The only part of the book that frustrated me was that I knew from the beginning that Josie had a major issue with Lanie, that her sister had betrayed her in some unforgivable way, but it wasn't until about a third of the way through that the actual betrayal was made clear. Even then, it was a little while longer before the effect it had on Josie was thoroughly explained. Overall, this was a good book, maybe even a great book. Once things really started to pick up about halfway through, I had a very hard time putting the book down, I just had to know what would happen next. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes psychological thrillers and who is tired of always reading books with the same basic storyline and the same predictable ending. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book for review. Get Are You Sleeping on Amazon! View all my reviews or Visit my website