Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts #4

Both Jasprit and I are trying to get a little healthier, and more active so we're tracking our progress through #FitReaders down below. It's a check in that helps keep us motivated to keep active. But also we wanted to share what we're reading and a little of what's going on in our lives by participating in Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts hosted by Bookishly Boisterious.  So here we go!

 Rachel:

What I've been reading:

(click on title for Goodreads link)

 

I'm continuing with two author obsessions: Robyn Carr and Linda Howard.  I completed the third book in the Virgin River series, Whispering Rock and loved it! The audio narration by Therese Plummer is fabulous! She narrators the whole series from what I can tell and also What We Find. I'll be starting that soon. Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard was orginally published in 1986. Thirty years ago, pre cell phones and internet! Linda Howard's romantic suspense stories are thrilling, addictive, and hilarious never mind the year written, and Midnight Rainbow was no exception!


Jasprit: 


I thought that continuing with Contreras' series would help me out of my funk, but unfortunately I didn't end up enjoying it as much as the previous books, I did like getting Victor's story, but just needed more from this book it just came across as a repetition of the previous books. The Distance Between Us was a cute read, I didn't enjoy it as much as West's other books, but that could just be down to the reading mood I'm in. I started You yesterday and honestly 100 pages in I'm already creeped out!


What we've been up to:

Rachel:

I had an uneventful weekend which was nice considering I was just in San Francisco the weekend prior.  All the back and forth gets a bit tiring, even if it is an awesome city.  I made chicken soup with mashed potatoes for a sick family member and enjoyed the non-stop rain three days straight (an uncommon occurrence for Southern California!).  I had to do the spin bike for my exercise Friday and Saturday to stay dry. Since the rain is gone I've been enjoying the spring flowers on my walks. The smell of honeysuckle is so wonderful (see pictures below)!

 

Honeysuckle carpeting the landscape

Spring flowers!

Jasprit

I haven't been up to much other than working and trying to fit gym time in around it, hence I've been hardly feeling up for reading. The circuits class at the gym has become one of my favourite sessions, I'm absolutely knackered after my Monday session, but I'm sort of tempted to go to the Tuesday session too! And with trying to keep up with my healthy eating (I had two fillings the other day and after that decided enough was enough) I subscribed to Sourced Box, a U.K. based monthly subscription service which provide you with healthy snacks, I was so impressed with their box that I signed up for the year! I also found some artisan raw chocolate bars from Raw Halo, which are 100% natural, organic and refined sugar free, so that should keep my sweet tooth going! 

#FitReaders is hosted by Jen @That's What I'm Talking About and Felicia @TheGeekyBlogger.

Here's our progress for the last week:

Rachel:

The rain didn't stop me from exercising, but I did the spin bike (my steps don't register when I'm sitting. :/) on Friday and Saturday to stay dry. I've been walking/jogging my legs off every other day.  Makes me feel less guilty when I have that glass of wine with dinner.

Thursday:  10,339 steps

Friday:  11,331 steps 60 minutes spin bike

Saturday: 10,262 steps 60 minutes spin bike

Sunday: 13,217 steps walk/jog 1.5 hours

Monday: 14,655 steps walk/jog 35 min

Tuesday: 13,716 steps walk/jog 35 min

Wednesday:   13,031 steps walk/jog 35min

Total steps:  86,551 steps

Jasprit:

I was meant to go for more runs this week, but its been super cold, so I've been using the excuse to stay in bed that bit longer! My biggest steps days are of course when I go to circuits class! And I finally took part in my first challenge with Rachel and Kris, and although they totally out-stepped me, I had a lot of fun! 

Thursday: 8,574  steps

Friday: 9,214 steps

Saturday: 8,827 steps 

Sunday: 6,130 steps

Monday: 16,358 steps (inlcuding circuits class)

Tuesday: 6,834 steps

Wednesday: 9,110 steps

Total steps: 65,047 steps

Review: Undecided by Julianna Keyes

Undecided by Julianna Keyes
Publication Date: April 4th 2016
My rating: 4.5 stars 

Nora Kincaid has one goal for her second year of college: be invisible. Last year’s all-party-no-study strategy resulted in three failed classes and two criminal charges, and if she messes up again she’ll lose her scholarship. But there’s one problem with her plan for invisibility, and his name is Crosbie Lucas: infamous party king, general hellraiser…and her new roommate’s best friend. Crosbie’s reckless reputation and well-known sexcapades aren’t part of Nora’s studious new strategy, but as she’s quickly learning, her new plan is also really boring. When Crosbie’s unexpected gestures of friendship pull her head out of her books long enough to see past his cocky veneer, she’s surprised to find a flawed and funny guy beneath it all. The muscles don’t hurt, either. But as Nora starts to fall for Crosbie, the weight of one of last year’s bad decisions grows even heavier. Because three failing grades and two misdemeanors are nothing compared to the one big secret she’s hiding…

Undecided ended up being one of those delightful reads that I ended up devouring in a few hours. Me and NA books don’t normally go, I can safely say the last year I’ve been largely avoiding them. But after Undecided was recommended to me by Alyssa, who has successfully been recommending books to me, I knew it was a book I had to give a go. I’m hugely grateful that I did as it was a book which avoided those typical NA tropes; troubled characters with shady problems and who became better people by being with each other. Don’t get me wrong Crosbie and Nora have their fair share of problems to deal with, but they’re not characters that mope about them or let them bring them down. Yes Nora had decided to change from the party girl that she was because she was so close to failing last time, and also being arrested and constantly checking in with the dean is not something Nora would like to go through again and I could understand that. And Crosbie comes across as the guy with the reputation (not as bad as his best friends Kellan’s) but still Nora wouldn’t consider giving Crosbie the time of day.

I loved how Crosbie and Nora had these stereotypical perceptions of one another; Nora the nerdy librarian and Crosbie as the ladies man and who doesn’t give a toss about his school work. But through spending time with each other they were able to realise that there was more to each other than they were led to believe, Nora could let her hair down when she wanted to do and have fun and Crosbie honestly don’t get me started on him, Crosbie quickly became one of my all time favourite crushes. Beneath this tough muscular exterior, he was the sweetest guy ever, his intentions and feelings for Nora were super clear, that I’m glad that Nora decided to give him a chance. He was willing to keep their relationship undercover so that Nora wouldn’t get stuck with the reputation of being a “Crosbabe”. He was super sweet in treating her as a proper gentleman would, he’d knew she’d been through her fair share of bad relationships, so wanted to treat her to a good time that she so deserved. Keyes did an incredible job of building up their romance between Crosbie and Nora, the slow burn was done beautifully, with Keyes constantly teasing you for more. And finally when Nora and Crosbie did get together, wow it was super hot!! And don’t worry about the front cover at all Undecided doesn’t feature a love triangle at all!

Despite certain characters omitting things from each other, I was able to overlook this aspect, because I knew that things would come to ahead at one point or the other, but the build up to this was something that I didn’t want to be avoided either, but Keyes was still able to deal with this in an eloquent manner (I know there’s no real right way the issue could have been dealt with friendships and hearts on the line, but it really was best for everyone with the truth coming out).

The relationship between Crosbie and Nora was one of my favourites. But I adored the secondary characters that Keyes threw into the mix too. Kellan, Marcella and Nate were great at livening up a scene, not only were they absolutely hilarious characters, but it was hard not to fall for them with the goofy ways and shenanigans. I for one would totally be up more from these characters with their own stories in the future.

Overall Undecided is a book that was a gem of a read for me this year, its funny bubbly characters and swoony romance is sure to win over many readers. If I could recommend only one book to pick up this year, it would definitely be Undecided without a shadow of a doubt.

Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts #3

Hosted by Bookishly Boisterious 

Both Jasprit and I are trying to get a little healthier, and more active so we're tracking our progress through #FitReaders down below. It's a check in that helps keep us motivated to keep active. But also we wanted to share what we're reading and a little of what's going on in our lives by participating in Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts hosted by Bookishly Boisterious.  So here we go!

What we've been reading:

(click on title for Goodreads link)

Rachel:

(Click on title for Goodreads link)

 
 

Staked and Chase Me were amazing! Both 5
star reads for me.  Luke Daniels, once again makes The Iron Druid Chronicles come alive! There were times I seriously worried for the fate of our characters, and there were moments of sadness, for a lot of the book I laughed my ass off!  Staked ended on a very good note, I can't help but worry.  I was left a little uncertain, like Atticus at the end. Chase Me (my review) was utterly delightful, and pure perfection! Lake of Dreams, a novella, was different from the normal Linda Howard's I've read in that it was a paranormal romance. Short, sensual, and eerie! Loved it. Fool Me Twice has been wonderful! Another book on my radar thanks to Keertana! I'm almost done.  I'm starting The Visitor very soon. Hopefully the romance won't be too frustrating. This is one series where the romance drives me bonkers, but I can't help but keep reading! Go figure.

Jasprit:



My last three reads have been a mixed batch, I was thoroughly excited for my copy of Summer Skin  being a huge fan of Eagar's work, but I just didn't end up clicking with this book. However I may be the black sheep when it comes to this book, as a lot of bloggers and readers I know really enjoyed it. Contreras has been my go to author this month, who would have thought I would be reading back to back NA books? And actually wanting more? Seems like this and fantasy are the only genres working for me right now. Also I found out just the other day that Contreras has new book released in this series from Victor's perspective, its like all my wishes are coming true! And Undecided was another NA book I ended up loving, the characters were such a fun bunch, look out for my review sometime next week. 

What we've been up to:

 Rachel:

I went wine tasting last Friday and then went onto San Francisco the next day, coming home on Sunday. It was a busy weekend, but I had fun. The weather was perfect and sunny, and so many things were in bloom. I forget how gorgeous California can be in the spring! 

One of the wineries I visited

With all that said, I didn't have much time for exercise over the weekend, but I did force myself to do my usual 35 minute neighborhood walk/jog on Sunday when I got back. 

Jasprit:

So the wedding season has finally kicked off in my family, we had one this weekend, but it wasn't that close, I have three close ones coming up over the next few months, which I'm super excited about and I've finally got my shopping for the weddings done! That's only my Indian clothes, I still need to buy all the jewellery and accessories to match. I'll leave you with a video of Kudos the DJ on Sunday night, they did a nice mash up of Happy by Pharell Williams and an Indian beat with dhols! (a double headed drum!)

#FitReaders is hosted by Jen @That's What I'm Talking About and Felicia @TheGeekyBlogger.

Here's our progress for the last week:

Rachel:

I spent a lot of hours in the car Saturday and Sunday so I'm amazed I even made my goal! I'm tired this week, but I'm still making time to exercise.  Having a few friends on Fitbit helped motivate me even when I just wanted to sit down and do nothing.

Thursday:  13,585 steps

Friday:  9,371 steps-wine tasting, so it's a wonder I got this many steps!

Saturday: 10,428 steps 

Sunday: 10,091 steps-walk/jog 35 min

Monday: 15,593 steps walk/jog 35 min

Tuesday: 13,643 steps walk/jog 35 min

Wednesday:  13,577 steps-Spin Bike for 60 min

Total steps: 86,288 steps

Jasprit:

I was quite proud of myself this last week, despite being tempted to scoff all the Easter eggs, I ended up going to the gym twice, plus with two classes too! I decided to try a different circuits class this week with a different teacher and about died, this guy so knew how to mix it up well during the session that I was ready for my bed as soon as I got home! But I've also been off from week this week that I counted my steps, so I'm pleased I'm able to fit so many steps in. I got my new Fitbit Surge last week and I'm a little obsessed, it definitely gives me the extra motivation to work that much harder. Also I'm looking forward to starting these challenges on there, so if you have a Fitbit let me know I'd love to add you on there! 

Thursday: 10,960 steps

Friday: 8,414 steps

Saturday: 7,468 steps 

Sunday: 5,317 steps

Monday: 8,347 steps

Tuesday: 18,411 steps (includes my circuit class)

Wednesday: 11,344 steps

Total steps: 70,258 steps

Review: Paper Hearts (Hearts #2) by Claire Contreras

Paper Hearts (Hearts #2) by Claire Contreras
Publication Date: September 9th 2015
My rating:  4.5 Stars  

I lost her. No. I threw her away. She was my best friend. I was never supposed to fall in love with her. I was careless. She was heartbroken. I thought I was doing fine. But here she is, years later, forced to work with me, reminding me why I fell in love with her in the first place. And this time I'm going to do everything in my power to never let her go.

If you know me by now you will know how much I adore my second chance romances, I was a little wary when I picked up Paper Hearts as I absolutely  loved Oliver and Estelle’s story in Kaleidoscope Hearts, but I also wanted to know more about Jensen and Mia’s story and how things would end up for them.

To be honest Mia and Jensen’s story broke my heart, I didn’t think that anyone could top Oliver and Estelle’s relationship and especially because all the swoons that Oliver gave. But Jensen was a total sweetheart. You know those guy’s that’s in proper touch with his feelings and isn’t afraid to share them with the whole wide world? Jensen was one of those guys. He knew he had messed up with Mia in the past and it was sweet how he would do anything to get her back. He was willing to give her time and space, but he was always confident that he’d win her back. Mia and Jensen’s love for one another was fierce and strong like no other, I know they faced numerous obstacles along the way, but I knew deep down that they would always find their way back to each other and that they were meant to be. I could understand Mia being scared about losing herself with Jensen once again after being hurt the first time around, but Jensen had changed so much, his loyalty and love for Mia was so apparent and knew no bounds, it was obvious when they spent time together, their connection was so strong, it felt like nobody else was in the room and they only had eyes for one another. Their relationship was also off the charts, the subtle touches, sweet whisperings and Jensen’s jealousy over anyone who spent time with Mia was wonderful to watch play out. I just wish we had more of it, the small break in between also literally broke my heart, but it just made me fall for Jensen that much more, his openness for his love for Mia in his paper just made my heart melt.  Also I have a thing now for guys with beards (short ones) and so add that to all of Jensen’s amazing personality I was a goner!

Mia and Jensen’s relationship was a truly beautiful one, but I was also grateful that Contreras made the characters from Kaleidoscope Hearts an integral part of this story too. It was great being back with Estelle, Oliver and Victor, not only were they great in being there for Mia and keeping her grounded, but were also great at lifting a situation, and bringing fun and laughter when things were getting a bit too tough. These were characters that I became so fond of that I would totally be up for more stories from another character (maybe Victor, Pretty please Ms. Contreras!). Contreras truly did a wonderful job with Paper Hearts, her writing was beautiful and she’d created one of the most beautifully aching relationships I have come across in a long time! Honestly its one that will be thinking about for days to come and will look forward to coming back to reading again and again.

Review: Chase Me by Laura Florand

Chase Me ( Paris Nights #2) by Laura Florand
Publication date: April 5th 2016
My rating: 5 stars 
Amazon | Kobo | iBooks

A Michelin two-star chef at twenty-eight, Violette Lenoir could handle anything, including a cocky burglar who broke into her restaurant in the middle of the night.

Or so she thought.

Elite counterterrorist operative Chase “Smith” had been through things that made Hell Week look easy. But nothing had prepared him for a leather-clad blonde who held him at bay at knifepoint and dared him to take her on.

Now if only saving the world didn’t require he ruin her life.

Two people who thought they could handle anything now have to take on each other.

It's a battle neither one expected. But with their futures on the line, they have nothing to lose...but their hearts.

Warning: This book contains one arrogant Navy SEAL, nights of Paris passion, and a woman who wants to have it all.

My Thoughts:

Chase Me was an utterly fun love/hate romance (well, on Violette’s side, anyhow) full of clever banter, and seriously HOT!

Violette Lenior fought her way to the top as a chef with hard work and talent which earned her two Michelin stars, and the command of her own restaurant.  Unfortunately, all this is about to go bottoms up when Chase Smith breaks into her kitchen.  Knives are thrown, heads and hearts are lost, and it is soooo very, very sexy! However, the next day Violette’s world comes crashing down when her kitchen is shut down with a bogus accusation, and she just knows Chase had something to do with it!   Let that man beware, because this knife wielding woman is on the warpath!

When Chase breaks into Violette’s restaurant he doesn’t expect to be completely bewitched by the knife wielding, leather wearing dynamo!  She’s strong, confident, and Chase’s heart is a goner! But he knows things will not be smooth sailing, especially since Chase’s mission to thwart a terrorist attack means shutting down Violette’s restaurant. 

I was totally smitten with Chase!  He was the perfect melding of playful arrogance and a big heart.  He was an unstoppable force, and once Violette became his target she didn’t stand a chance in getting away.  The fact that Violette was strong and confident didn’t threaten Chase in any way, in fact that revved him up even more!  Violette’s mix of strength and vulnerability endeared me to her, and I related to every passionate emotion she had. 

No one writes sexual chemistry and hot, lusty scenes like Laura Florand! Chase and Violette’s romance just sizzled and sparked right off the pages!  Chase is chasing Violette a lot and Violette is beating him off a lot, but without serious conviction for the most part, because Chase is pretty irresistible! There was so much delicious, playful push and pull; I had a huge grin on my face for so much of the story! I’m still smiling just thinking about these two!

I just LOVED Chase Me!  As usual I’m in awe of Ms. Florand’s writing talent.  The plot includes a potential terrorist attack on Paris which is very current, serious, and, I thought, dealt with respectfully. Yet, this romance still managed to be lighthearted, fun, and full of the zest for life.  Nothing could keep Violette or Chase down!  A total recommend!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Florand burst on the contemporary romance scene in 2012 with her award-winning Amour et Chocolat series. Since then, her books have appeared in ten languages, been named among the Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, RT Book Reviews, and Barnes & Noble, received the RT Seal of Excellence and starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist, and been recommended by NPR, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In 2015, NPR gave her the enormous honor of naming her Chocolate Kiss to its list of the Top 100 Romances of all time.

For more information, please see her website: www.lauraflorand.com.