#minavesguerra

[thealiquijano-blog]

My obsession 📚 #minavesguerra #vscocam #vscogood #vscoasia #vscoph #vscodaily #vscogood #vscoshot

[minavesguerra]

So episode 2 of our podcast? Is an excerpt from one of my books. Never Just Friends is available in Philippine bookstores via an Anvil Spark Books edition. It’s on Amazon right now under Flirt Publishing, released under the title Fallen Again. (But it’s the same book.)

I chose this book and excerpt because…well, to be frank, I wanted Gio to read more. I briefly entertained the thought of having Gio Gahol and Rachel Coates read from my new book, which I knew would be out by the time the podcast went live. But one of the tricky things we discovered when we produced this was that as a community, we “romance in English” authors don’t write a lot of male POV. And I wanted Gio to, throughout the season, read as much as Rachel did, or close to it. So since I wrote some male POV I knew I’d probably need to use my own books to balance out the rest.

Not that this was a bad choice, no no no. I love Never Just Friends the book, and I love the Jake and Lindsay characters, for a very personal reason. I modeled their careers after the ones I had, or could have had. In fact I hold them both too close that it was a special kind of torture hearing Gio and Rachel perform them, my Jake and my Lindsay, for the first time.

This scene has Jake confessing his feelings to Lindsay, but don’t worry about spoilers; this is actually an early chapter. Gio read Jake a bit differently from what I had in mind when I was writing him, but I didn’t go and make him change anything. So I experienced Jake’s thoughts filtered through someone else and…well it was exciting. Slightly embarrassing. And kind of hot. It’s hard to explain. Rachel meanwhile is note-perfect as Lindsay, and her line delivery right after the kiss is just…perfect.

Enjoy the episode, and join our giveaway? You could win the featured books in print, or the entire podcast season in mp3, or an event pass to the next live reading, and more.

Go to minavesguerra.com to join the giveaway!

[ultra-violet-heart]

Learning to Fall (Mina V. Esguerra) - A Review. Of Sorts.

My rating should have been 3.5 stars, but a four is nice enough. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher (I think). Cross-posted at Goodreads and in my FB wall.

Synopsis:  The story was about Steph Bennett, an arts major who is a graduating student. Or she was supposed to be. She should be finishing her studies, but Steph wonders what her life would be after college. Also, her book blogging takes a lot of time. To proceed with the static of her academic life, she means to finish a sort-of-a-last-challenge for her book blog… and that’s where the hunk ex-captain of her uni's rugby team comes in. Grayson Price is, as the book says, “a stereotypical romance novel hero”, an heir (to a P.I. company), a good rugby coach, and a hot “player”. For Steph’s book blog challenge, he offers Steph not only modelling services, but also a pretend-relationship. However, both of them starts becoming comfortable with each other, and each of them have been seeing how real life cracks beneath the facade. Will they still live like fiction? Or will everything between them become a reality after all?

The actual review:

Actually, I have never liked sports-based romances that much (except probably those by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and future romances that might have judo in them), so I never expected to like this book. Steph is a character easy to empathize with, especially for me, as we were both in the limbo of graduation: she wasn’t able to finish her studies (as I haven’t finished my thesis yet) because of a lot of things. Her fear of not knowing what to do after college, and at the same time not getting her life back in order is something a lot of people have experienced. The way she tries to face everything though is still brave, and for that she is the reason I loved this book. Grayson is someone I didn’t like so much, though. Rugby is a sport that didn’t interest me at all, and all the technical-sports-stuff-scenes (where Grayson was featured in) were a downer for me. At the same time, Grayson seems to be forcing everything, and because of this (and an injury) everything in his life is messed up, one way or another. Being an overachiever is one thing, but trying to get everything is too much, not only for Grayson, but also for me as I read about him. As both Steph and Grayson learn how their lives have fallen apart, they also fall for each other. Their relationship, while a pretend one at first, were very natural and at the same time makes a reader squeal like a fangirl, a testament to Ms. Mina’s cleverness in writing romantic interactions. However, the sex scenes, even though they were the steamiest from Ms. Mina’s works, were somehow like Grayson himself: for me they felt like a bit forced and a little flat. Learning to Fall is the first one I’ve read from the Addison Hill series, and if I’ve the time after finishing my thesis, I’ll read them all in one go. I would like a judo-themed book (or at least something which has mixed martial arts) from the series though *I’m crossing my fingers, Ma’am Mina* All in all, it was an excellent book.

[alizzauy07]

“But now I know why I hated you so much back then. I didn't realize it back then but now I know," I said quietly "Zack, I love you.” He blinked at me. And then swore in several languages, pushing himself off the bed. “Jasmine, you better not be playing with me.” “I just opened up my soul to you and that’s what you say?!” “You don’t know how much I've wanted to hear you tell me that.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. Standing, he towered above me. “I love you.”

-My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra

[sweetdelusion]

Medyo upside down. FREEBIES!! Yey! New friends! #summitbooks #chicklitfest #minavesguerra #inesbyao #abiaquino #marlaminiano #chinggaylabrador (at national bookstore, glorietta 1)

[mirachan]

My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra Nabitin ako. :( Wala kasing pages 97-112. T_____T but anyway, connected nga to sa #LoveYourFrenemies. Hahaha. Pero ang galing ng concept ng MIE kasi di naman talaga sila naging mag-ex but they ended up together! Nagpapakiramdan lang sina Jasmine at Zack kaya nauwi pa sa heartbreaks pero atleast naging sila. Mehehehe. PS. Sana lahat ng ex concern sa previous ex nila. :P #books #minavesguerra #summit #summitbooks #myimaginaryex #mie