book review

Hidden Book Gems You Need in Your Life

I have a suuuper soft spot for these six lovelies. Some of them are older and therefore mostly forgotten, what with all the shiny new stuff coming out every year. A few are newer, but might not have had the best marketing. Whatever the reason, they’re the underdog and we all know I’m a complete sucker for the underdog. (Book descriptions come from Goodreads and let’s face it; I’m totally trying to suck you into reading them) Beauty Robin McKinley –Of…

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Top Ten Awful Books I’m Glad I Read

To preface this list: I try hard to stay away from bashing bad books. In the first place, I wouldn’t like it done to my books. That shit hurts. Second, I might meet the actual author some day, and that would be awkward AF. Can you picture it at a convention? Me: “Oh, hi, you’re [author]? You must be the one who wrote [this book, which I totally trashed in a review].” Poor Author: “Yep, that’s me. So you’ve read…

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5 Tips for Writing a Book Review That Readers Will Enjoy – Guest Post by Desiree Villena

Today I’m welcoming freelance writer Desiree Villena to the blog. Desiree is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories, as well as the occasional book review! In the dim and distant past, book lovers scoured the pages of newspapers and magazines for reading recommendations. Today, when they want to discuss the latest page-turner or need…

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Friday Favorites Will Set You Up on a Date*

* A virtual date, with a fictional character. I mean date in the metaphorical sense here. Sorry. Didn’t want to get your hopes up to Match.com standards here. Look, I can barely people on the best days and setting other humans up with dates is WAY out of my skillset. I’m incredibly lucky to have a man who not only gets but encourages my crazy. (Give a mechanic a shot, they make pretty awesome partners, is my best real-life advice.)…

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Friday Favorites will Mentor You

Friday Favorites is a new weekly blog hop from Something of the Book.com. Come join in! Today’s favorite: Teacher/Mentor Characters Dimitri Belikov–Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead Let’s go ahead and lead off with my (probably inappropriate) love of May/December romances. Dimitri is EXACTLY what I want in my mentor characters. Grumpy, older, hot, with a sexy Russian accent, and an efficient killer instinct. YAS, PLEASE. There are some good vampires, Moroi, and bad vampires, Strigoi, in the book and a whole plot about…

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Reading Wrap-Up of 2018

In the grand tradition of December, let’s do some wrapping up. Wrap some presents. Wrap-up your holiday shopping. Write lots of wrap-up lists. Wrap-up small, misbehaving children Krampus style to mail to . . . haha . . . ooops. Don’t do that. Got carried away there. But seriously kids, I’m watching you. The tip of Argentina is always a postal-service option. BEHAVE. ANYWAY. We were doing a grand book wrap-up for the year 2018. Let’s get down to business.…

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Seeking Sensitivity

Representation in romance is very important to me. Even (especially?) in the realm of erotic romance. Humans come in infinite variety, so why not include that variety in books which are about humans? Sounds like a good idea to me. So the fact that my MC, Colton, is dealing with bipolar disorder and falling in love at the same time is something I’m proud of. Poor Colton, I put him through the wringer. He’s taking care of his mental health,…

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Books That Lived Up to Their Hype

Watching a book get smeared all over popular culture is a bit anxiety-inducing for me. When a book has legions of adoring fans, I want to trust them. I really do. They must like it for a reason, right? It’s popular and everyone seems to love it. But will I love it? Is it too hyped? Does it deserve all the praise? Wait, did yet another person just rate it five stars on Goodreads? Every bookworm knows this feeling. It’s anticipation, mixed…

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Top Ten Tuesday With a Lovely Yellow Hue

Top Ten Tuesdays started in 2010 on The Broke and the Bookish  and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. Make fun lists about literary things using the topics provided, or go rogue and make up your own. Basically, if you’re a bookworm, come booknerd with us! My favorite color is yellow. It’s the color of sunshine, hope, happiness. It’s an energetic color and it makes me feel positive. Also, I’m pretty laid back, really value loyalty, and live for sweet buttery…

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Springing Into Action

This is an Insecure Writer’s Support Group Post post. (Sorry, got a bit carried away with my proper nouns there.) The IWSG meets up on the first Wednesday of every month to exchange judgment-free anecdotes about author life. To check out the other blogs participating or sign up for the group yourself head here. If you’re hopping don’t forget to stop by the co-host’s pages and say thanks. May’s co-hosts are E.M.A. Timar, J.Q. Rose, C. Lee McKenzie, and our own Raimey Gallant who also runs the…

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