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 Magician's Lie By Greer Macallister

Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in The Magician’s Lie, a debut novel in which the country’s most notorious female illusionist stands accused of her husband's murder --and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence.

The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden’s husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear.But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless—and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free… and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors. -Goodreads

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When I first read the blurb of this book, I was pretty skeptical. I was curious though because I rarely read circus and magician related books so I decided to dive in as soon as I could. I was pleasantly surprised by just how lovely the book was.

So the books starts out with Officer Vigil and his partner at an Amazing Arden magic show. Later that evening, after the performance, the two officers hear that there was a murder at the very theater that Arden had just performed in. They both go to see what happened and declare that Arden, who has gone missing, should be the main suspect. Later, Virgil leaves his partner at the crime scene and heads out. He intends to go home but stops at a place to grab a bite. There, he finds Arden and arrests her without calling it in. He brings her to a small police station where no one goes really and begins to question her. Arden weaves a beautiful and tragic story from the time when she was a unseen and frightened child all the way up to the day of the murder as Officer Virgil decides if she is innocent or if she should be hanged.

The first thing I found to be pretty interesting was the era it was set in. The story is set around the Victorian era I suppose. It's a time when policemen rode around on horses and women were still thought of as being well beneath men.  At first that didn't sit too well with me but the era grew on me. Much like the story really.

When it started, I wasn't sure if I liked the direction it was taking but very soon I found myself completely immersed in Arden's story and I just kept wanting to hear more. I found myself feeling every emotion that Arden explained strongly. Rage at Ray, anger, love, romance and sadness.

There isn't much more for me to say but that you really need to read this book when it hits the shelves. I predict that this book is going to be huge. And you heard that here first!

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My Rating: 4/5
Publication Date: 13th January 2015
*An advanced copy of this book was given to me to review by the publishers*
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here. 

When You Leave By Monica Ropel

Cass is positive that the people she cares about most will eventually leave her. Her father is gone, her mother doesn’t notice Cass exists, and her best friend’s battle with cancer was too close of a call. So when she begins her year at a wealthy new private school, Cass’s plan is to suffer through it in anonymity.

However, when her cute locker neighbor, Cooper, shows an undeniable attraction toward Cass, keeping him at a safe distance isn’t easy. Even though her Frogtown skater world and his do-gooder preppy one are so different, Cass and Cooper somehow mesh. And once Cass lets her guard down, Cooper is mysteriously murdered—thus proving her original theory.

When Cass’s close friend is suspected as the killer, she isn’t sure who she can trust anymore. Between investigating Cooper’s murder and trying to understand what she really meant to him, will Cass even find what she is looking for? -Goodreads

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You guys know I hate giving bad reviews. Especially when I'm reviewing an advanced copy of a book. I hate forming a negative impression of a book that hasn't even come out yet. But I need to be honest with you guys so yes. The book wasn't that great.

'When You Leave' is about a girl called Cass who attends a private school by day and then after, joins her friends from the rougher side of the neighbourhood to skateboard together. One day, the boy she has been dating for 2 weeks, Cooper, gets murdered and one of her best friends, Gav, is taken in as the main suspect.

Cass decides to become Nancy Drew and find out who really killed Gav because she believes that he was wrongly accused and she decides that only she (and not the highly qualified police officers) can solve the case and bring Cooper's killer to justice.

I didn't like the book firstly because I felt that it was very pretentious. I thought that the way Cass and her friends talked and acted was just too over the top. I mean what's with the insistence that there are the higher class people and the lower class people? It was annoying.

I also didn't like how unreal the whole thing was. This is a minor spoiler but Cass needs to find Cooper's phone to find out who lured him into the woods in the first place and the cops can't find the phone. One day, Cass has a dream that the phone is in the woods and she dreams up the exact spot where it is. So good old Cass goes ambling into the woods where they have been told to not go and goes to get the phone and blah blah blah, Cass is a hero.

What I didn't like about that was that the area in the woods had been had cordoned of by the police for a long time for investigation.  You're telling me that the police couldn't find the phone if it was hidden in a log? You're telling me that in this murder investigation, the highly qualified investigators didn't think to look inside a damn log?

I also hated how Cass immediately assumed the role of investigator. I mean, in the real world, you can't go around accusing people of murder randomly. In the real world you can't lie to investigators without consequences. In the real world you don't get to play the role of the police as and when you want. The storyline was unrealistic and childish.

I also felt like the book was very rushed. Like when Monica got to the middle she just got tired and decided to rush things along. I mean you're telling me that someone capable of murder and escaping the police for so long would be so careless as to leave a phone with a text on it that incriminates him? And you're telling me that the text was the only factor in the murder? That was the only clue? I don't feel like she spent enough time going over how serious the charge was and how serious the case was. I mean she never even really mentioned much about how the community reacted to a murder happening in the school woods. That's a big deal. When you tackle a subject like murder, you need to be prepared to go in depth and you need to prepare to give the story time to develop and grow. You need mature characters and strong storylines. This had none of that.

I honestly felt like I was reading some Famous Five book. 

To her credit, I think the twist in the end was a good. The murderer was someone unexpected. Which is a pity because the book really had the potential to be good. It just wasn't given enough time, thought and research.

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My Rating: 2/5
Publication Date: 7th April 2015
*I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley.* 
Purchase the books at The Book Depositary using my special link Here. 

The Life Intended By Kristin Harmel

In this richly told story, Kristin Harmel weaves a heart-wrenching tale that asks: what does it take to move forward in life without forgetting the past?

After her husband's sudden death over ten years ago, Kate Waithman never expected to be lucky enough to find another love of her life. But now she's planning her second walk down the aisle to a perfectly nice man. So why isn't she more excited?

At first, Kate blames her lack of sleep on stress. But when she starts seeing Patrick, her late husband, in her dreams, she begins to wonder if she's really ready to move on. Is Patrick trying to tell her something? Attempting to navigate between dreams and reality, Kate must uncover her husband's hidden message. Her quest leads her to a sign language class and into the New York City foster system, where she finds rewards greater than she could have imagined. -Goodreads

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Can I just say firstly that this book made me cry exactly 3 times? That's 3 times more then I usually cry over books. I cried at the first chapter, I cried at the second chapter and I cried at the epilogue. And the rest of the time I was just heartbroken.  I was wrecked with this book and now I have a serious book hangover.

Okay. Calm down Cam. Professional mode: ON.

This book has definitely made my list as being one of the best books of 2014. It was engaging, sweet, honest and the characters were lovable and real. I enjoyed the storyline so incredibly much. It almost felt like I was reading a true story. Which is strange because the book has so many coincidences that you would never imagine would happen in real life. Yet the book still felt surprisingly real and not at all like a fantasy novel or anything like that. Not that it even is in the fantasy genre.

I really enjoyed watching Kate struggle to get over Patrick and learning through the dreams how to finally be happy. I think my favourite part was the epilogue. When she had that final dream of Patrick but how she was so contented with her own life that she no longer felt that burning desire to stay like she did when she first got the dreams.

This book is not yet published but it will be incredibly soon. I would advise everyone to grab a copy as soon as it goes on sale because you don't want to miss this incredible read.


My Rating: 5/5
Date Of Publication: 30th December 2014

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Special thanks to the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to review.