Review: Hate Crush by Angelina M. Lopez

Hate Crush by Angelina M. Lopez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Published: June 2020


Ten years ago Aish and Sofia had an immediate connection. They were helping at Aish's uncles winery in California. But their lives were headed in different directions, Sofia, a princess trying to help her kingdom with their own wine growing and Aish is headed into musical stardom. They haven't seen or spoken to each other in all this time and now they are both at a major crossroad in their lives and they need each other to get through. Will they be able to make it through a month without killing each other or will they find the love that they once had?

Thank you to Harlequin/Carina Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is a lovers to enemies story. It jumps back and forth from modern day to 10 years prior when our two lovers first met. For the the story was interesting, but I didn't find myself drawn to it.
I wanted to know what was going to happen with the characters, who were an unlikely pair. A princess and a rock star. They met when they were young and just starting out in life. Their romance was a whirlwind and there were several factors that keeps them from continuing their romance.

There is a lot of talk about wine making in this book and I felt like I had to have a glass while reading it. Also the book was set mostly in Spain, a country I really would like to see so that helped with bringing me back to the book.

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Review: More than Neighbors by Shannon Stacey

More than Neighbors by Shannon Stacey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: June 2020

After the death of her husband, Meredith decides to move back to her hometown of Blackberry Bay. She moves into a home on the lake that is perfect for her and her daughter Sophie. She was told that there was an old lady who lived next door and she thought that would be perfect since her daughter has barely seen her grandparents. When she moves in though, she finds that the neighbor is not an old lady, but a very good looking man named Cam. Meredith isn't ready for a relationship, but will she be able to resist Cam's charms?

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this story. Meredith is a widow who is unsure if she is ready for a relationship again, but with the handsome Cam living next door, he may be hard to resist. But Cam's plan is just to be here for the summer, try to learn about the family he never knew, and go back to his life in New York City. Knowing these plans, Meredith vows not to let her heart take over her brain.

Cam never knew his family growing up, and he is using his time in Blackberry Bay to get to know them by going through his grandmother's items. Cam is not looking for love, he just wants to go through this stuff and move on with his life. But there is something about the single woman next door and her cute daughter that is really pulling at his heart strings.

This is a cute romance that a lot of people will enjoy.


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Review: We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid

We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Published: April 2020
 

CIS is an international school for grades K-12. Each year, the high school kids have a lock-in toward the end of the school year. This is an event that everyone looks forward to. This year is no different, during lock-in, magic can happen, people fall in love or out of it and try to change the world. Everyone is enjoying the events of the night when they literally get locked in. Marisa and a few other students chain themselves to the doors, refusing to move until thirty demands are met. Will it happen by the time parents arrive in the morning or will they brush this off as a teenage angst.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I feel like kids today are a lot more dedicated to the world then I was with my generation. They are trying to change the world at every turn. Staging protests and demonstrations. I don't think I would have ever done that when I was in high school. This book shows the resilience they have to overcome just about anything in order to get what they want, not for themselves, but for everyone.

This book really resonated with me and it gives me hope for my children and their future. 

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Audiobook Review: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: December 2019
 

Emira Tucker is 25 and unsure about what she wants to do for the rest of her life. Right now she enjoys working for the Chamberlain's and caring for their two year old daughter, Briar. WHen she is asked to come to the Chamberlain's after an incident in their home, Emira leaves a friend's party and take Briar to the local grocery store a few blocks away. Briar loves going to the grocery store to look at the nuts and smell the tea. When they are approached by a security guard curious as to why a black woman is with a little white girl late at night. Another patron films the exchange, but Emira would rather forget the whole incident.

As a person who used to babysit and work at summer camps with kids who didn't look like me, I can understand the situation Emira is in. I have never been approached by someone questioning the children in my care. When I was a baby, though, my mother many times got asked who's child she was watching. My mom is dark skinned and I am very light skinned.

This books has some twists I didn't see coming. Emira is a character any one would love.


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Review: The Round House by Louise Erdrich

The Round House by Louise Erdrich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Published: September 2013



Joe is thirteen years old and he and his family live on a reservation in North Dakota. When Joe's mom is attacked, she goes into lockdown in their house refusing to eat or speak to anyone about what happened. Joe doesn't think the adults are working hard enough to find out what happened to his mother, so he takes it upon himself to find out what is going on. Will Joe be successful in his attempts or will his mother stay shut down forever.

This was our book club selection for April. I have seen this book before, but wasn't really something that I was interested in reading.

I can't imagine what I would do if someone were to hurt the person who I loved most in the world. I remember one time when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old and I was staying with my grandmother for the day. She got a call from my mom that she had been in an accident and would be late picking us up. This was long before the days of cell phones. So when I finally saw my mother, her clothes were all ripped up from were the paramedics had checks for any external injuries. I was so scared I didn't know what to do.

Joe enlists the help of his friends and other members of the reservation to help find out what happened to his mother. This journey takes him from a boy to a man in ways he never would imagine. At the beginning of the book he's picking small trees from the cement outside of his house and by the end he's driving across the country with friends.

While this book wasn't the best for me, I encourage you to read it just for Joe's story.


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