Review: Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Publication date: December 26th 2017
Jasprit's rating: 4 Stars  Rachel's rating: 4.5 Stars
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | TBD

 

One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.

Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There's only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn't necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.

With a tough islander mother who's always been distant and a wild-child sister in jail, unable to raise her daughter--a withdrawn teen as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was--Nora has her work cut out for her if she's going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family.

But as some relationships crumble around her, others unexpectedly strengthen. Balancing loss and opportunity, a dark event from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise...and the chance to begin again.

Jasprit's Thoughts:
Yeah so I tried writing a mini review, but that didn't happen, as I had far too much to say about this beautiful book! Sorry in advance!

I’ve really been struggling lately with the beginning of books, I don’t know if it’s just that they’re unable to keep my attention, or they’re just lacking that big event to reel me in from the beginning. Thank goodness this was not the case with Now That You Mention It, it was refreshingly unique as I found myself flying through the pages from the very beginning, Higgins was really able to capture my attention with Nora’s life and weave such a beautiful story. With the turn of events, I was totally for Nora going back home and spending time with her family, however, as we don’t really know Nora’s back story or of why she left Scupper Island in the first place, I was really overwhelmed with the turn of events. I wanted Nora to rush back to Boston and be with Bobby, I know he was a complete and utter douche face, but you know with certain characters you want to give them a second chance and honestly with the way things were going I honestly thought Bobby was redeeming himself. And with the stuff Nora had to deal with back home, with a mother who wouldn’t really open up, and a niece who didn’t want to know her, wasn’t Nora just better off in Boston?

The revelations came kept coming in Now That You Mention It and I was so glad that I was reading this book with Rachel as I constantly wanted to discuss what the hell was going on! The revelations bought on so many different feelings; my heart just broke with had happened, but I appreciated the way Higgins gave the story to us, as I so wasn’t expecting it, so I was completely left reeling. Nora’s story was captured so well in this book, I felt as if I’d really got to know her as a character and I loved how strong she was and just how far she came over the course of the story. Nora never had an easy time, she had experienced a tough life, been pushed to her limits, but I admired her ability not to give up, and the way things ended up in the end. I liked how friends cropped up when she was least expecting them, and she was willing to try and try again until she made some breakthroughs with people she cared about. Although overall, I really enjoyed this book, as all I wanted to do was devour all the beautiful pages, I felt as towards the end of the book, it was a little anti-climactic, the big reveal, wasn’t that big to me, may be because I was left in shock whilst experiencing Nora’s journey. But this aside, Now That You Mention It was truly a wonderful read, I loved all the shocks and surprises along the way, how Higgins was able to take me through feelings of anger, hurt and love in one incredible journey. Also, just a heads up, don’t assume that you know anyone, I thought I was a good judge of character, but Higgins completely had me fooled! Now That You Mention It was my first book by Higgins, but it certainly won’t be my last!

Rachel's Thoughts:
I loved Nora! I was completely sucked into her story; unraveling the past, and hoping for a satisfying future for her! I felt bad for all that she went through.  God, high school can be so hard! The kids were awful to her, yet Nora rose above it and became an accomplished woman.  Leaving Scupper Island, where she grew to become a doctor in Boston, she hasn’t returned for fifteen years, and who could blame her?  After an accident leaves Nora banged up and without a boyfriend (good riddance, Bobby!) she returns home determined to get closer to her mother and her fifteen-year-old niece, Poe.

There was a lot going on, but it wasn’t confusing, and I couldn’t put the story down.  At first Nora seems like a woman full of confidence, just dating a complete douchbag.  I couldn’t stand Bobby! What kind of boyfriend starts picking up on another woman while you lay unconscious in a hospital bed? (Not a spoiler, it’s in the book description) I do have to say there was a moment where I thought he might change, but, yeah, no. I loved Sully, Nora’s high school-mate now all grown-up with a daughter of his own. Nora and Sully had a bit of a rough start, but I completely swooned over this man!

When she returns home, we discover Nora wasn’t always the strong confident woman portrayed at first.  She’s dealing with so much!  Nora’s relationship with her mother and sister, Lily, are strained and we start to find out why.  I was riveted!  Even though Lily’s not present really, except for flashbacks, I honestly couldn’t stand her. Yes, she was in pain and had issues, but so did Nora! Yet, Nora was nothing but loving towards her, hopeful they would draw closer and lend support to each other.  I like that when Nora realized it was time to accept there’s no changing some people, she got support and love from others to make up for it. 

Nora’s journey sorting out the past, mending fences, and making peace with her life was at times heartbreaking, but also heartwarming, and I loved every minute!  Out of the three Kristan Higgins novels I’ve read, Now That You Mention It is my favorite to date.

Mini Reviews: Pretty Face by Lucy Parker

Hi everyone, Rachel and I have very similar tastes when it comes to reading, so much so that we're often reading the same books at the same time without realising it. So we thought it'd be a cool idea to share our reviews on books that we had both been reading recently. Rachel and I were big fans of Parker's first book Act Like it, so we'd thought we'd share our thoughts on her second book Pretty Face.

Pretty Face (London Celebrities #2) by Lucy Parker
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication date: February 20th 2017
Our ratings: 4 stars (Jasprit) / 4.5 Stars (Rachel)
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD | Kobo

 

Highly acclaimed, award-winning author of Act Like It Lucy Parker returns readers to the London stage with laugh-out-loud wit and plenty of drama 

The play's the fling 

It's not actress Lily Lamprey's fault that she's all curves and has the kind of voice that can fog up a camera lens. She wants to prove where her real talents lie—and that's not on a casting couch, thank you. When she hears esteemed director Luc Savage is renovating a legendary West End theater for a lofty new production, she knows it could be her chance—if only Luc wasn't so dictatorial, so bad-tempered and so incredibly sexy.

Luc Savage has respect, integrity and experience. He also has it bad for Lily. He'd be willing to dismiss it as a midlife crisis, but this exasperating, irresistible woman is actually a very talented actress. Unfortunately, their romance is not only raising questions about Lily's suddenly rising career, it's threatening Luc's professional reputation. The course of true love never did run smooth. But if they're not careful, it could bring down the curtain on both their careers… 

For some reason Pretty Face took me a while to get into, I blame the high that Act Like it left me in, nothing really could compare with Richard and Lainey’s relationship. However, despite the struggle with the initial start, once again Parker was able to win me over with her fantastic characters in Luc and Lily. Both Lily and Luc came from different backgrounds, so much so that I didn’t see them working together at all. Lily was a person who was completely overlooked, her role in show Knightsbridge didn’t have people flocking to hire her, but seriously though I knew beneath that assumptions that so many people had already made of her, there was serious talent and I was hoping that Luc would give her a try. Luc on the other hand was my sort of guy, he quickly lost his temper (which I loved, why do characters that get easily riled up or come to someone’s defence always come across as super-hot!). But also he wanted the best from his production, so once he’d finally been convinced of taking Lily on, I appreciated the confidence he exuded in Lily had and the extent that he would go to, to make Lily’s character the best. Really from Luc, Lily was able to become the best that she possibly could. Also with the time spent along the way, the miscommunications and difficult situations a really beautiful relationship was able to develop between Lily and Luc. For me once again Parker did an incredible job with the build-up of their relationship, the way they would both get torn up over things that happened really crushed me at times, but just went onto show how far both characters had come in their development and their feelings for one another. Alongside this great relationship that Parker gave us between Luc and Lily, there was once again an abundance of quirky secondary characters, which brought a great amount of delight and laughter to the story. Seriously though Parker really mixes up the romance, fun and tough scenes really well once again in Pretty Face. She was also once again able to win me over with a charming romance which I had my doubts about in the beginning. Pretty Face was another great follow up from Parker who is quickly becoming my go to author.

After reading and loving Act Like It, I was thrilled to get my hands on Pretty Face and it was everything I hoped for! Lucy Parker excels at writing witty, fun dialogue and banter, with British-isms like “snogging, kerfuffle, whinge, and arse-over-tits”; the last has to be my favorite, lol!
 
The relationship between Luc and Lily was sexy and fun, and full of emotion and chemistry!  Ms. Parker made Luc and Lily come to life, writing them with insecurities and faults, but each with a pureness of heart that made you love them even when they screwed up. I laughed, cried, (just a tear or two; don’t judge, I find I’m getting more emotional as the years go by!) and my heart welled with happiness when I finished.  I can’t wait for the next lovely Lucy Parker story!

 Connect with Lucy Parker:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Reviews: Sweet Filthy Boy and Sweet Filthy Morning After by Christina Lauren

Sweet Filthy Boy (Wild Seasons #1) by Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: May 13th 2014. 
My rating: 4.5 stars. 

One-night stands are supposed to be with someone convenient, or wickedly persuasive, or regrettable. They aren’t supposed to be with someone like him. But after a crazy Vegas weekend celebrating her college graduation—and terrified of the future path she knows is a cop-out—Mia Holland makes the wildest decision of her life: follow Ansel Guillaume—her sweet, filthy fling—to France for the summer and just…play. When feelings begin to develop behind the provocative roles they take on, and their temporary masquerade adventures begin to feel real, Mia will have to decide if she belongs in the life she left because it was all wrong, or in the strange new one that seems worlds away.

I’d tried Lauren’s Beautiful Bastard series just a few weeks before and I hadn’t been as successful with it as I was hoping to (I actually made it to book 2.5, before calling it quits, maybe I’ll come back to it one day). Alas I decided to give Lauren’s Wild Seasons series a go, and seriously the audiobook was probably one of the best decisions I’d made, as the narrator Shayna Thibodeaux had me hooked from the very beginning. She did Ansel’s French accent perfectly, that I was swooning throughout. Typically I’m really fussy with a woman doing the voice for a guy, but Shayna nailed it! 

Also the situation that Ansel and Mia found themselves in was really awkward; they’d only met a few hours before and had woken up the next day married and could only remember bits of the best sex they’d had the night before. But Lauren really made their relationship work for me and make it appear so realistic. I could understand the connection that they had and why they didn’t want to get their marriage annulled. I’m glad that despite not knowing one another, they decided to take a chance with their relationship. 

Having visited Paris just last year I adored the days that we were given with Mia exploring her new life out there, it made the traveller in me want to go back and visit as soon as possible. This alongside Mia and Ansel slowly learning to adjust to one another in their lives made Sweet Filthy Boy an addictive read. I was eager for more Mia and Ansel time, their chemistry was off the charts, but I was also scared for what could be around the corner for them. I could see that they were perfect for each other, but how could they make it work? So you could say that little bombshell at the end was a complete shocker to me, it sort of left me reeling. 

All in all Sweet Filthy Boy was a truly wonderful read, I honestly can’t wait for more from these two in the rest of the series, as by the end of this book, I was totally in love with Ansel! Readers you do not want to miss out on this gem of a book!

Sweet Filthy Morning After (Wild Seasons #1.5) by Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: October 14th 2014. 
My rating: 5 stars.  

This audio exclusive short tells of events from Sweet Filthy Boy from a new perspective.

This 30 minute audiobook really wasn’t enough, after finishing Sweet Filthy Boy I knew I would devour anything Ansel-related, so this book from his perspective was perfect! I already knew that Ansel was a person that wore his heart on his sleeve and this short book went onto show that even more. I loved getting into his head and learning his exact feelings about Mia and the situation they found themselves in. His fascination and concern for her was always apparent, but actually getting it from his own perspective made me love Ansel that much more. Also Jason Carpenter’s French accent was on point! This 30 minute audiobook made me want to buy all the books that he narrated immediately! And just to move to France so I could be around this sexy accent all the time. Sweet Filthy Morning After is a super short book, but definitely worth it. Fans of Ansel, I highly recommend giving this book a go.

Vanilla Queens Dream Reads #2 Losing Lila

Hello readers! Jasprit and I are back with our take on a book we both loved.  Back in January, Jasprit, Sam from Realm of Fiction, and I did a read-along for Hunting Lila and instantly fell in love with Lila and Alex (yes, drooling was involved!).  I knew I would have to read the sequel, so I was beyond thrilled when my lovely co-blogger, Jasprit, sent it to me as a gift!  Needless to say we both read and loved this story, so we thought we'd do another Vanilla Queens Dream Reads joint post, and give you our thoughts:

Here's a little about the book: 

Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which is somehow tracking their every move. While Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila's only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they're being held. Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the others she's come to think of as family, Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But the plan requires Lila to return to California alone, and to make friends with the enemy - and in doing so, she risks losing everything: Alex, her family… even her life.

Favorite character and why: 

Jasprit: There is such a fantastic bunch of characters in this book that I think I would have a hard time narrowing it down to one! Most of the characters all had an impact on me in one way, take Suki, which ever situation she found herself in, however dire, she would always bring a smile to your face. Then there’s Demos, he’s meant to come across as this scary guy who can force you to do things, but under all this bravado, he is a real sweety, who at times I just wanted to give a big hug. Lila; so determined and stubborn, you wanted to shake her for making people constantly worry about her, but she was one heck of a tough main character. And lastly but not least Alex *sigh* he has easily become one of my favourite literary crushes, he’s just the perfect package; over protective, caring, tender and totally swoon worthy. Thinking about him makes me warm and tingly all over.

Rachel: Lila is my favorite, I think because I felt closest to her, as the story is told in her POV.  She made such strides in character in this story.  She was so determined to rescue her family and bring down the bad guys, with little concern for her own safety. 

Most hated character and why:

Jasprit: Rachel’s dad; every time he made an appearance I just wanted to punch him one, anything to take the smug smile off his face. Rachel would be a close second.

Rachel: Rachel, Richard Stirling’s (the owner of Stirling Enterprises) daughter and all around evil you-know-what (rhymes with witch!).  She has full knowledge of what’s being done to the “psygens” and has no remorse whatsoever.  Plus, she tried to make moves on Alex in Losing Lila! No one gets between Lila and Alex! There’s another character I hated at the end, but I can’t say who, as it would spoil things. 

Scene that made us the angriest:

Jasprit: Rachel’s dads thinking just because he’s the top guy everything he says goes. How he assumed because he had Lila’s back up against the wall, she would automatically do all he says.

   

Rachel: The scene where Lila meets Richard for the first time, I don’t know how Lila kept control.

Favorite or most swoony/steamy scene:

Jasprit: Now I definitely can’t narrow this one down, so I’m just going to say everything with Alex ;)

Rachel: I’ll let the quote speak for itself. *sigh*: Alex sat up too and took my hands in his. “Lila, I promise you I’ll never leave you again, ever.  I promise you that I’ll keep you safe and that we’ll find Jack and your mum, and I promise that even if Jack does kick my ass, which one day I hope he will, I will still never leave you.”

Scene that made us saddest:

Jasprit: Two in particular; Alex and Lila; knowing she’d messed up, I honestly I thought it was the end for them. I remember reading this scene with a huge lump in my throat. Secondly Demos, I had so wanted him to get his happy ending, he’d completely changed my initial assumptions that I’d had of him and he’d done everything he possibly could.

Rachel: The scene where Lila misread something with Alex, all I have to say is, thank goodness for Suki and her mind reading skills! I also just felt generally bad for Amber, and when Jack put the blanket around her shoulders while he was comforting her, my heart was touched. 

 

Scene that made us most happy:

Jasprit: Gang going into kick butt, I had a serious adrenaline rush, it was so much fun being back together with the gang again; watching them hatch a plan, the banter between them and then constantly winding each other up. Oh how I wish I was part of Demos’ group too! 

Rachel: It’s so hard to pick, because there were so many!  I don’t want to spoil things either, so that makes it hard to share.  I was happy when Lila reached down inside and realized she wasn’t afraid anymore, and she knew she could kick the Unit’s ass.  Yes, let’s hear it for an empowered female!

Most liked secondary character:

Jasprit:  Suki; this girl would brighten up a room and everyone’s mood as soon as she enters, she’s always so lively and bubbly and of course I’d love to have as a best friend, I could get her to read everyone’s minds all the time!

Rachel: Probably Suki because she’s just so sassy, and how can you not love a girl that could give Imelda Marcos competition in shoe collection?!

General Thoughts and Final Rating:

Jasprit: 4 Stars. I absolutely adore Sarah Alderson’s writing, I have read every single book and they never fail to disappoint. Losing Lila was the perfect sequel to Hunting Lila, with its fast pace, jaw dropping scenes, heart wrenching moments, and a fantastic set of characters which will keep you thoroughly entertained. Sarah please don’t end this awesome series here *sobs*

Rachel: My rating: a solid 4 stars.  Losing Lila was a perfect follow-up to Hunting Lila. It was action packed fun from the first pages, we got to see a matured Lila using her awesome powers, so cool, by the way.  And if that wasn’t enough, I was swooning over hot guys, Alex and Jack!  Sarah Alderson really likes to write scenes with shirtless HOT men, count me in!  Added bonus: not an angsty teen in sight, just pure adrenaline-boosting fun!  I really hope we get to see another story, maybe centering on Jack next?

Would you recommend this book?:

Jasprit: I think this has been an amazing series so far, I recommend everyone should pick it up. It provides so much that I think it has a little bit of something for everyone. However just a fair warning, I’ve already called dibs on Alex. So you’re free to pick any other character ;)

Rachel: Absolutely!  A must read for Lila fans or anyone looking for pure unadulterated fun. Nice try, Jasprit, with the Alex dibs!  I thought we talked about shared custody?!