naceprettub's reviews
799 reviews

I was fortunate enough to win a copy in a goodreads giveaway. I was super excited when it arrived a couple of days ago. I'd planned on buying a copy but I don't know if I'd have managed to read it any time soon. Thankfully, it's arrival and wanting to review it as a thanks for winning gave me even more incentive to start.

I immediately dove in and haven't wanted to put it down (work is such a distraction when wanting to read a good book). I laughed. And laughed. And really, laughed out loud, so loudly that I had other people asking what was so funny.

It's such an amazing book. Full of wit and sarcasm, charm and sexy times. I love the style of Alice Clayton's writing, the fun breezy characters with heart, the sometimes mushy Grace and Jack and but mostly the way it made me happy and light while reading it.

I find myself wanting to run out and buy it for every one I know. I can't rave about it enough. It's perfect for summer reading.

Now, I need more Gracie and George!

Where to start? Can I just...leave a lot of swoony words and nonsense? A whole lot of *flails* *spins* *twirls* *sighs*? Y'all will understand that, right? Especially if I throw in a little "alksjga;skl alkjsd;igufwalkj," right? No? Ok ok. I'll give it a go then.

Season of Second Chances is a holiday novella and there is not much I love more. Yeah, I'm one of those "omg I have to watch every Hallmark Holiday Movie" people. In general, I love novellas and holiday stories but combine them and I'm in h-e-a-v-e-n. Holiday themed stories are always so full of joy, hope and love and sweetness. Novellas give me just what I want, when I want it, a quick story that grabs me from the start and gets right to the falling in love. This little story did not disappoint when it came to that. I mean, two former loves coming back together at the holidays? *grabby hands*

Claire is stuck in the airport, of all places, on Christmas Eve. Not only is that terrible for most people, but the city she's in is the last place she wants to be. When your ex fiancee lives in said city, it's pretty much the last place you want to be stuck in during the holidays. Especially when you were on your way to see your family. Ugh and omg 'what might have been's and unrequited-ish loves and reconnection always always always get to me. They are my favorite ever.

The last thing Claire expects is to come face to face with her ex. And for him to offer her a place to crash, seriously no. Dude. It's like she's thrown back two years, before things ended between them. The glimpse of the two of them together, the what could have been, is so touching. Logan is a great guy and it's easy to see that he wishes things could have been different. I just wanted to shove him and Claire together and scream OPEN YOUR EYES.

They spend Christmas together, including Logan's young daughter, who Claire had been close with previously. Their time together filled me with squishy love and joy. It gave Logan and Claire hope. Heck, it gave ME hope. Then Logan disappoints Claire when she goes out on a limb for him. There's a lot of miscommuniation between the pair, from their past, to their present. That causes a lot of frustration on both sides of the fence. I wanted to climb inside the book and tell them to talk to one another for goodness sake!! siiiiiigh

SO. I won't spoil it for you but Logan breaks down and goes after Claire (AS HE SHOULD HAVE DONE BEFORE ahem) and I cheered. A lot. It was the ultimate gesture. As if I didn't have reason to like Logan before, this was icing on the cake when it came to him. Claire is one of those characters you feel like you can be besties with so for her to get her happy ending is the best.

I can't say how much I enjoyed Season of Second Chances Brighton is my favorite! Such a joyful and sexy story. I suggest you give it a try.

The thing about Mr. 365 that caught my attention was the premise. It was different than anything I've read or heard about. I found myself intrigued and bumped Will's story up on my list of things to read. I'm writing this review long after I read the book and my heart still goes out to him and what he went through.

It's not often I say I wasn't wild about the female lead in a book but there were times Sophia rubbed me wrong. She was incredibly sweet, but I almost felt like she was manipulating Will at times. It wasn't even that I thought she was doing it on purpose because I don't think she was. That aside, I loved the writing and the characters had many redeeming qualities.

When Sophia and Will first meet sparks fly immediately. The only thing is, she's not suppose to get involved with her subjects. It's obvious though, that it'll be impossible for the two to stay away from one another. The description of Will's house really pulls the reader into the story. Once it becomes obvious why he is so into Christmas, it gives Will's character a lot more dimension. At first, everyone assumes he's just a little crazy to be into the holiday year round but it's clearly not true. Sadly, he often gets taken advantage of because of this.

Sophia's dream is to be a producer of documentaries. A reality tv show is just a stepping stone to her goal. Little does Sophia know, not everyone she works with has the same thoughts as she. The project she's shooting is a little different than what she's expecting. Will trusts Sophia, which is hard for him given his past so she's determined to make their time together a success. Things get sticky though, especially with them becoming involved.

Their friendship grows, as does their love for one another. Hearts and trust get broken when things get a little bit twisted. I found myself feeling more sympathy for Will than Sophia. I sort of felt like she should have realized something weird was going on, though that may seem silly. I blamed Sophia a good bit for what happened between the pair. BUT I enjoyed the story, so I guess it's not always a bad thing when a character does things that don't make sense to you. Ruth has a great way with words and I can't wait to read more of her stories.

The Lucky One was another one of those "I've watched this movie a million times how is it I've not read the book?" books. I know a lot of people eye roll Nicholas Sparks because he has the same type of story every time. But I don't care! I'm a sucker for a romance of any kind and Sparks always gets to me with his.

I loved that The Lucky One was modern day and a touch military (also one of my favorite things). Sometimes it's hard to read a book after watching the movie, because you have these characters and scenes from the screen stuck in your head. I don't think it distracted me this time though, if anything it was helpful while I read.

Logan and Elizabeth were both great characters. I really enjoyed the setting of the story as well as the pace.

3.5 stars for me!

I'd been anticipating this series for a while! I read it as Twilight fanfiction many many books and stories ago and it has remained a favorite for me.

Cupcakes and Ink is a bit of a prequel novella type thing to whet the whistle until Clipped Wings release. It's a peek into what Hayden and Tinley's lives were like before meeting.

I don't necessarily think it has to be read before starting book 1 of the series but it doesn't hurt. Cupcakes and Ink is beautifully written and tugs at the heart strings -- two things I love when reading a good book.

Beautiful. Haunting. Heartbreaking. I haven't been touched by a book like this in a long while. Maybe it's because of the things happening in my life currently. Maybe it's because it's just beautifully written and raw and real. I'm so thankful someone convinced me to read this here and now. Everyone needs to read this book. It's a reminder that life is short, precious, sometimes painful, but there's always hope if you just look for it.

This was a really quick read for me, as I'd heard it would be. If I Stay was beautifully written. Normally I'd have gotten bored with a book that spent most of it's time in one location, only giving me random bits about Mia's life before. But not with this one. My only "complaint" is I would have liked more scenes with Mia and her family. But otherwise, absolutely stunning. The character development was lovely. I felt as if I was seeing everything through Mia's eyes and that kept me entranced. I laughed, I swooned, I cried (a lot). Great read!

I didn't love this as much as I'd hoped. It was slow in parts and I got bored or confused. I enjoyed the characters but I felt like some of the plot was unnecessary. I spent a good bit of time wondering about a few certain aspects of the story and how they were believable. I felt like Fiona's parents being unreachable the entire book, and that the family couldn't stop Tye from doing his fathers bidding was a little less believable.

As I said, I did enjoy the characters, Tiberius was intriguing, Hester was caring, Fiona was precocious, Aunt was hilarious ...but I wasn't fully engaged with the emotions. I didn't feel the chemistry between Hester and Tiberius the way I'd have liked. I felt like I was waiting on the story to begin through the entire book. It never picked up for me, sadly.