Two for the Road (Stories in Pairs, Set 3) By Ekta Garg

The First Story, “Excess Baggage”: Allison has just come home from a grueling business trip. All she wants to do is spend a quiet weekend at home parked in front of the TV or maybe curled up with a blanket. When a friend calls to ask her for a favor, though, all of Allison’s plans hit rough air.The Second Story, “Wrong Way”: With one daughter married and another in college, Rachel and Jim should be enjoying their time as a couple again. But Jim’s worries about his widowed mother force Rachel into a spur-of-the-moment road trip to check on the old bat. When Jim catches Rachel complaining to a friend, tension will ride with them in the car. Can Rachel make an apology stick?- Goodreads

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I don't really know how to start this review but I've been following this series since the beginning of the year when Ekta approached me with the first book. From then on, I've been following the series and reading each book as it's come out.

This book was different from the first two because the characters were different and it was generally more on the American side instead of the Asian side that Ekta was pushing in her first two books. I didn't mind that too much except for the fact that I was rather enjoying her bold take. I think it takes courage to write about Asians considering that the world is predominately Western and most books are written with a Western context. So I did miss that.

Each of her stories ended rather abruptly in my opinion and I would have very much liked to hear more of the stories though I have a feeling like the fourth book might have more elaboration. I don't know. Just a feeling.

Otherwise, it was a very lovey and short read. I read it in one sitting actually. I absolutely adore this series and I can't wait to read more.

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My Rating: 4/5 Stars
*A copy of this book was provided to me by the author to read and review*

Feng Shui & Charlotte Nightingale By Pam Ferderbar

Feng Shui and Charlotte Nightingale' is an uplifting and hilarious fable about empowerment and perception, and the magical things that happen when we begin to see the glass as half full. 

Charlotte Nightingale has the worst luck in the world. Her cluttered apartment is the poster child for *shar chi* - poison luck in the realm of feng shui. Her boyfriend s a jerk, her job sucks, she's broke and her own family seems to hate her. Kwan, a handsome Chinese food delivery man and aspiring feng shui practitioner, takes pity on Charlotte. While Charlotte searches for the money to pay for the Emperors cashew chicken Kwan has delivered, he surreptitiously begins to move things around in Charlotte s apartment in accordance with the ancient art of placement - hoping to improve her life. 

Charlotte's luck subsequently appears to change in a big way. It goes from bad to worse - or so it seems.  Charlotte is free to embark on a great adventure that will awaken in her a world of possibility where nothing is as simple as it seems. Until, in the end, Charlotte realizes that everything she ever wanted was right under her hose the whole time.  -Goodreads

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This book was everything that I wouldn't normally read. If I saw it in a bookshop, I would let my gaze slip right over it. But I guess that is why it's good to be a reviewer. You get exposed to books and genres that you would normally glean over. 

When I started reading this, I found it a little bit hard to get into. I just couldn't understand how one person could be that unlucky. It seemed almost over exaggerated. But after a few chapters, the words and the storyline became smoother and I was able to settle comfortably into the story. I have always said that the one thing about reading that I find most special is the fact that you can live a thousand lives through the pages of a book. Through this book, I was able to live the life of an extremely poor woman who was miserable and who had nothing much going for her. I was able to see her rise up from her troubles and decide to make the most of her life. I was able to learn more about feng shui which I previously knew very little of.

I found the book to be very uplifting. Initially I worried that it might be preachy and it was slightly at the end but it was very relevant to the storyline and I could forgive her ending because the rest of the book was just really good. I loved how three stories  merged into one. I also loved how funny Charlotte was. In fact, I thought she reminded me a lot of the brunette girl in 2 Broke Girls.

I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts and shaking my head at some parts and rolling my eyes at some parts (especially after that doctor boyfriend got involved). It was a very feel-good book. Just a very lovely, sweet read.

Overall, I'm really glad that Pam approached me to review this book. I really enjoyed it and I think Pam personally deserves all the success that this book is going to garner. If you want to watch the book trailer and see the cover reveal that I did a short while back, click here.

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My Rating: 4/5 Stars
*The book was given to me to read and review by the author*

Feng Shui & Charlotte Nightingale By Pam Ferderbar (Cover Reveal)

Hey guys! So a month ago, I got a very quirky email asking me to review a new book. Now I'm quite careful about the books I accept for review because I don't want to end up not reading a book I agree to read. So against my better judgement, I said yes to this book. And it's been one of the best experiences I've ever had regarding advanced reading. Pam and I quickly became friends through our regular exchange of emails and I read her book and I loved it. I personally gave the book 4/5 stars and a full review will be posted very soon. Pam clued me in to every stage and it was just a wonderful process to watch everything take shape.

So I'm super stoked today to be finally revealing not just the book cover of Pam Ferderbar's new novel, Feng Shui & Charlotte Nightingale, but also her website and book trailer! So without further ado, here's the cover for Pam's new book!

Feng Shui and Charlotte Nightingale' is an uplifting and hilarious fable about empowerment and perception, and the magical things that happen when we begin to see the glass as half full. 

Charlotte Nightingale has the worst luck in the world. Her cluttered apartment is the poster child for *shar chi* - poison luck in the realm of feng shui. Her boyfriend s a jerk, her job sucks, she s broke and her own family seems to hate her. Every day is a bad hair day. Kwan, a handsome Chinese food delivery man and aspiring feng shui practitioner, takes pity on Charlotte. While Charlotte searches for the money to pay for the Emperors cashew chicken Kwan has delivered, he surreptitiously begins to move things around in Charlotte s apartment in accordance with the ancient art of placement - hoping to improve her life. 

Charlotte's luck subsequently appears to change in a big way. It goes from bad to worse - or so it seems. Charlotte finds a photo of her boyfriend with another woman, her car dies, she is fired from her job, the plumbing in her apartment explodes, and making matters worse, Charlotte s perfect, perky, designer-obsessed, blonde sister is about to marry a square-jawed, richer-than-god, insanely handsome plastic surgeon from Beverly Hills and the entire family loves nothing more than to rub Charlotte*s nose in it. Is it bad luck that sends Charlotte careening through calamity after calamity, or is it merely a matter of perspective? 

Without a loser boyfriend, beater car and an awful job, Charlotte is free to embark on a great adventure that will awaken in her a world of possibility where nothing is as simple as it seems. Until, in the end, Charlotte realizes that everything she ever wanted was right under her hose the whole time. The reader might ask whether feng shui, luck, voodoo, prayer or magic can effect change in a person s life, or whether an about-face is purely a function of attitude. Or better yet, whether perhaps it is a combination of all these things. -Goodreads

And as promised, here is the link to the hilarious book trailer:

For more information on her book, you can visit her website here.

Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries #11) by Meg Cabot

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, comes the very first adult installment, which follows Princess Mia and her Prince Charming as they plan their fairy tale wedding--but a few poisoned apples could turn this happily-ever-after into a royal nightmare.

For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community center, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements. Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn't need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui.

But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone--especially herself--that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well? -Goodreads

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Okay so let's get this out of the way. I haven't read any of the Princess Diaries books before this. But I love Meg Cabot so when I found out that she was coming up with a new book in her Princess Diaries series after 7 years, I just had to read it. So I got early access to this book and I was so so happy. 

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was hilarious at all the right places and that it was relatable yet not over the top. You know how some annoying authors try too hard to be relatable  and they shove pop culture references every which way? Meg Cabot is one of the few authors that can do that and still make her book flow and be not annoying.

I loved the humour here. I found myself actually laughing out loud and grinning at so many points in the book. It was such a happy book. It made me happy. It was quirky, sassy and clumsy but it was beautiful.

This one can most certainly be read as a stand alone but much like the Shopaholic series, you would feel closer to the characters if you had read the previous 10 books. But I mean, I managed it. In fact, if I wasn't worried that I might be too old for it, I might consider picking up the previous 10 books. Though let's face it. I'll never be too old for Meg Cabot.  As it is I'm going to be rewatching the movies for sure.

The book releases today so go get your copy and enjoy the genius that is Meg Cabot!

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My Rating: 5/5 Stars
*An ARC was provided to me by the publishers to read and review*

The Boy Next Door By Katie Van Ark

Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she’s also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls.  

Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So, he’s determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he’s never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy’s been hoping for or the big breakup that Gabe has always feared? -Goodreads

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This is my first book review in about a month and of course it has to start on a negative note. Welp. Great way to get back into reviewing. Just fantastic.

Okay let's start at the beginning. I read the summary and I was immediately drawn in. When I was 13 and 14, I did figure skating. Yup. I had a trainer and I went every Monday. I could do jumps and spins and it was great. Until it wasn't. My workload from school made it such that keeping up with skating was impossible. So I stopped. But I've still always loved the sport. 

So when I heard that there was this book about figure skating partners who fall in love, I was like , 'Hell yes. I need this in my life right now.". I mean, you know how I feel about a good 'ole romance where the pair are friends before and then they fall in love. Anyway, thankfully, Swoon Reads hooked me up and very soon the book was sitting in my lap.

I got into it and I really really really wanted to love it. But I didn't.

So first of all, Maddie and Gabe are completely all over the damn place. One minute they were complaining about how they couldn't be together and the next they were practically having sex in a theatre. Following the story was seriously so hard because they were everywhere. There was absolutely no proper chain of events or even a coherent flow of thinking. The way they handled their transition from friends to lovers was horrific. I would expect that kind of uncertainty and confusion from perhaps 15 year olds. Or maybe even 13 year olds. Certainly not young adults.

And then there was the fact that there was no proper reason why they couldn't be together. Or maybe there was but it just wasn't properly brought across. I get that they couldn't be together because they didn't want to jeopardise their skating and that Maddie didn't like what a womaniser Gabe was. I get that. But again, one second they are crying about how much they want to be together and the next, Maddie is performing a freaking strip tease for him. I MEAN COME ON.

BUT

I gave this book 3 stars. Why would I do that when I only have bad things to say? Well that's because I actually liked it. It was one of those weird books that really suck but that you kind of like anyway and you're not sure what to do with it because you liked it but you also didn't. I honestly don't know. I guess certain parts were nice and it helped that it was a romance novel so the mushy parts helped to balance out the bad writing.

ANYWAY

To conclude, it was just a very haphazard book. Half the time I didn't know what was going on. One second they would be okay and the next they would just be not okay. It was like the author wrote the book in parts and just forgot where she left off so she decided to start from the top. The other characters, like the parents, were just as weird and pretentious. it would have been nice to see some conflict with the parents. I mean no one puts themselves so completely into the debt of someone and then doesn't have the occasional flare up. It was so superficial. I really wanted to like it and I kind of did but I also didn't which is sad because this book had so much potential.

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My Rating: 3/5 stars
*A copy of this book was sent to me to read and review*
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here. 

Margaret Fletcher: Gallop Girl: A Fall From Grace at Forty Miles an Hour By Genevieve Dutil

Poise, class, confidence, fantastic thighs and an even better ass: these are the spoils of an equestrian lifestyle. And Margaret Fletcher has them all. 

But then suddenly, she doesn't. Broke and horseless for the first time in her pampered life, Margaret is lost in a sea of tangled hairnets until a cranky old horseman introduces her to the not-so-glamorous world of exercising young racehorses. Margaret knows she can jump a five foot fence with style. But can she gallop forty miles an hour on a two-year-old rocket launcher with sticky brakes? Enter Emily Morris, a working class eventer who’s spent her whole life eating the dust of rich girls like Margaret. Now, charged with the task of turning this clueless Hunter Princess into a fully-functional Gallop Girl, Emily will have to teach her the basics of horsemanship from the ground up ― mud, manure and all. Can a former Hunter Princess and a scrappy kid from the wrong side of the racetrack team up to conquer the “Sport of Kings?” -Goodreads

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Hmm... I feel like I can't really decide if I want to rave about this book or point out its flaws. Because there are flaws. But in my mind it's also a 4 star book. Which is pretty good.

Okay let's start from the beginning. First of all, the book reads like an adult version of Enid Blyton. The chapter have titles like, 'Margaret get's her hair messed up' and 'Emily gets a spirit guide'. But that's really okay because I liked that the book had some sort of organisation that books seem to rarely have nowadays. I don't know if that made sense but basically I'm trying to say that I was okay with the Enid Blyton like chapter names.

Secondly, I really enjoyed this book. I could tell immediately that it was one of those books that would strongly resonate with a horse lover or rider. I've read books like that about figure skating and since I used to do it, it made me feel all warm and happy inside. Like I was part of some special club that could understand the funny words. That's how I felt this book would be to someone who was in that world. I'm not in that world obviously so it was a little strange. I didn't understand a lot of the words and google became my best friend with this book.

But that was okay with me because I ended up learning so much more then I ever would have known about horse riding and show horses if I hadn't read this book. So it was a win win here. And it's obvious that the author is passionate about horses. That's very important in a book like this.

The book was a lot less funny then it originally promised to be and often it seemed just a tab unrealistic. But it wasn't anything too bad. Though I must say that the author's insistence with saying that horses go at 40 miles an hour irked me. Certainly horses that are being galloped don't have speedometers on them. 

My favourite part of the book was when Emily finally stopped whining about her lack of money being the reason why she wasn't a fabulous rider and actually started to do something about it. She was starting to get on my nerves so I'm glad she salvaged herself. That was a rather good life lesson in there too which I liked.

Overall I really loved this book. I thought it was interesting, cute and passionate. Even if you aren't a rider, let me tell you that you will still love this book. And if you are a rider, what are you waiting for??

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My Rating: 4/5 
*This book was given to me to review by the author*
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here.