Review: Majesty (American Royals, #2) by Katharine McGee

Title: Majesty (American Royals, #2)

Author: Katharine McGee

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Hardcover, 374 Pages

Published September 2020

Summary: Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we're looking at you Daphne Deighton. As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the  palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans. A new reign has begun....

I received an ARC of the first book in this series, AMERICAN ROYALS, last year at BookExpo. Since then, it went on to be one of my favorite books of the entire year. So when I found out that there was another book coming out, I immediately wanted a copy. And as soon as I picked it up, I was so glad that I did, because I ended up loving this book just as much as I loved the first one. So without further ado, let's get into my review!

As the summary explains, Beatrice is finally America's first queen, and she has a lot on her plate. Still reeling from the death of her father, now she has a role with such massive responsibility tied to it, and in addition to that, she's also preparing for a royal wedding to a man that she isn't particularly in love with. All while she's being undermined at the palace, her sister is reeling from her love interest getting ready to marry her sister, a ladder-climbing socialite is trying to snag a prince's heart...and there's so much more drama on the horizon. The new reign of the Washingtons is here, and it's about to be chaotic, to say the least.

I absolutely adored this book. From the very start, I thought it was such an interesting premise to see what America would be like if George Washington had been made a king instead of a president. And now the story takes us to present-day America, with a royal family. And the way the last book ended (which I won't spoil for you here) gave me absolute chills, so I was excited to see where it picks up. And let me tell you, this book was such a delight. I read almost 200 pages in a single day because I was so addicted and couldn't put it down. I kept wanting to see what antics and adventures the young royals were going to get up to next, how Daphne's schemes played out, and what was going to happen with the royal wedding. It was such a delightful read that left me feeling giddy and eager to keep reading when I got to the end of every chapter -- and the cast of characters is amazing! 

I'm also a huge sucker for books involving royalty, so this one hit right in the sweet spot of my reading tastes. It gave me the palace vibes of The Selection, but Beatrice's determination really rang true to The Crown. The Royal We and The Heir Affair are also some of my favorite books of all time -- so give me all of the royalty, please! It's a blend of so many different stories that I love, which made it really such a delightful book to read. I spent the next few days after finishing this book daydreaming about palaces, royal weddings, beautiful dresses, and how cool it would be to have the life as a princess. Although, if there's anything that MAJESTY shows you, it's that royal life isn't always as glamorous as we think it is when we're peering in from the outside.

Overall, I absolutely adored MAJESTY and I will be shouting about it to all of my friends for a long while to come. It's looking that this might just be a duology, but I really hope not, because I'd absolutely love to dive into the Washington's world again and again for more books. If you're looking for a swoon-worthy, intriguing, dramatic story to pick up, then I definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR! 

And if you want to read my review of the first book in the series, AMERICAN ROYALS, click here!

ARC Review: A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

Title: A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Author: Laura Taylor Namey
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 320 Pages
Publication Date: November 10th, 2020

Summary: Teenage master of Cuban cuisine, Lila Reyes, is eager to inherit her family’s Miami bakery along with her sister, Pilar. But between spring and graduation, Lila’s abuela dies, her best friend abandons her, and her long-time boyfriend dumps her. Fearing Lila’s emotional health, her parents defy her wishes and entrust her summer to family and their Winchester, England inn. Even though she’s given a space to cook at the inn, she longs for Miami, the seat of her Cuban roots. Being a Miami Cuban baker is her glorified past and destined future, forged by years of training by her loving abuela. Days into her stay, Orion Maxwell barges into Lila’s inn kitchen with a delivery from his family’s tea shop. A nuisance at first, opposite ingredients soon learn to blend. Orion befriends Lila, introducing her to his mates and devouring her food––comida Cubana. Orion entertains her with his mental collection of superstitions and sweeps her onto his vintage motorbike. He wraps cold, underdressed Lila in his wool cardigan and becomes her personal tour guide. His mum’s early-onset (FTD) Dementia gives Orion a unique outlook––he never asks too much of the world, accepting what he can’t control. Lila soon discovers this British boy brings empathy to her loss because he’s living his own. Before long, Lila can’t control the route of her own heart as she begins to fall for more than a new love. England has charmed her. And a special opportunity in London tempts her. As her return ticket looms, Lila feels impossibly caught between two flags. Hearts aren’t supposed to split like this––between a beautiful boy and a beautiful family. Between exploring an uncharted future in a rich new place, and honoring Abuela’s treasured legacy.

I received an ARC of this book in preparation for Laura Taylor Namey's upcoming book tour (which isn't today!), and after I finished the book, it was just so spectacular that I couldn't wait to talk about how much I loved it. So without further ado, let's get into my review!

As the summary explains, Lila hails from Miami but suddenly finds herself stuck in England for the summer when her family ships her out there so she can get over the trifecta of heartbreak that she recently experienced. She's expecting to hate it, and wants nothing to do with rainy, gray England when she longs for humid, sunny Miami, her family's bakery, and all of the delicious desserts that she can dream of creating. What she definitely isn't expecting is to meet Orion Maxwell, the charming, handsome son of the local tea merchant -- and she definitely isn't expecting to like him. But England turns out to be full of surprises, and Lila isn't expecting any of them.

You guys, I loved this book in every single way that it's possible to love a book. I seriously couldn't put it down and I will definitely be singing its praises to everyone and anyone who listens to me for the foreseeable future. I was actually glued to this book and couldn't put it down -- I read it while I was cooking, doing laundry, walking around the house, and even when I was the passenger during a drive. Laura Taylor Namey just has a spectacular way of drawing the reader in with her beautiful, sweet prose and imagery. This book also made me super hungry, because it mentions so many delicious Cuban foods and desserts! It even made me crave tea a little bit, which was interesting to me since I don't actually like tea at all. (I know, I know, that makes me a bad bookworm! But it's the truth.) Regardless, this book was just so sweet and left me feeling all swoony and happy (and hungry)! It's so gorgeous and adorable and I hope that you all love it as much as I did.

My favorite character in this book was definitely Orion. Not only did he seem super attractive (I may have developed a little bit of a crush on him, but he was just so sweet and kind, and really took his tour guide duties seriously when it came to Lila. I've actually never been to England myself, and I was curious about it but never had a burning desire to go, but I think that this book changed that for me! The way he loves his small little town and shows Lila all of these cool and unique things about it made me itch for an adventure like that. And he's just super cute and dorky and sweet and dependable, and UGH, I just love him a whole lot. Easily my favorite character in the book -- I like how his mellowness rounds out Lila's spice, which I also *loved*! 

One of my favorite parts of the book was that "will she or won't she" feeling that I got about whether or not Lila was going to go back to Miami, stay in England, run her family business, etc. I definitely wasn't sure up until the very end about what Lila was going to decide, and without spoiling the ending for you, all I will say is that things end in a way that I definitely wasn't expecting -- but it still made me a swoony mess. I closed this book feeling all of the warm and fuzzy and gushy things. I haven't had a book make me feel that happy and lighthearted in the longest time, and let me tell you, that was definitely something that I needed right now!

Overall, I absolutely ADORED this book, and if it isn't on your TBR already, then I promise you that you're absolutely missing out. If you're looking for a sweet, soft read with delicious pastries and swoon-worthy moments, all tied around family love and food, then look no further. This is definitely the book for you! Hats off to Laura Taylor Namey, yet again -- this is the second book of hers that I absolutely adored, and it looks like I'm signing myself up to be an auto-buy reader for life! 

If you want to check out my review of Laura's debut novel, THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS, click here.

And be on the lookout for our tour post interview with Laura, coming November 2nd!

Review: The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin

Title: The Rule of Thirds (Pippa Greene #1)
Author: Chantel Guertin
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Format: Paper back 
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: October 1, 2013

Summary: 

Sixteen-year-old Pippa Greene never goes anywhere without her camera. She and her best friend/supermodel-in-training Dace long ago mapped out their life plan: Pippa will be the noted fashion photographer, and Dace the cover girl. But ever since last spring, things have changed for Pippa — and her junior year at Spalding High proves to have its own set of challenges. Not only is Vantage Point, the statewide photography competition, in three short weeks, but her mandatory volunteer placement lands her at St. Christopher’s Hospital, a place Pippa never wanted to set foot in again. With humour and pluck, she navigates her new role as a candy striper (watch out for Code Yellows), her changing relationship with her best friend (goodbye Honesty Pact), and — perhaps most stressful of all — her new love interests (yes, love interests plural).
Will Pippa make it to Vantage Point without having a panic attack? Will either one of the guys prove less sketchy than her last boyfriend? Can she and Dace figure out a way to dream big and be best friends? One thing is certain: real life is a lot more complicated than a photograph.

~~~

***The following review has spoilers. If you would like for it to be spoiler free please skip the blue paragraphs!***

Looking for a short, easy, entertaining summer read? Then this book is for you. I whipped through is pretty quickly at the beach and enjoyed every minute of it. 

I loved the photography and the story behind it, how it was something she shared with her father before he died of cancer a few months earlier. I just wished there was a few more scenes with her doing the photography. 

I didn't like Ben (One of the love interests) there was something about him that wasn't right. He kind of threw himself at her instead of waiting for her, but then I guess in the end there was a reason for it. 

***I also don't like how the situation with Ben never got solved. Like Pippa, he stole your pictures for the competition and then used them! Worst of all he won. I wish she would have told the directors on him. Then again there is always the second book for this all the play out. It explains though why he was pushy and tried to get close to her so fast, do I think he has feelings for her? Yes. Do I think that he really cares about them? No.***

Of course I fell in love with Dylan. He wasn't the stereotypical boy. He was kind and sweet. Though I did not see that plot twist coming, actually we do see it coming. You just don't put everything together until the very end. 

All in all I really did like this book! I am excited to read the sequal for the upcoming book tour!

Rating: ★★★★★

Similarities between me and Pippa: 

1. We both suffer from panic attacks. 
2. I liked (past tense) someone the same name of the boy she likes.
3. She doesn't like to break the rules.
4. Our inner thoughts never shuts up! 
5. She is awkward around people, especially boys.
6. We are both sixteen

I think this is the most I ever related to a character!

On August 11th be on the look out for the Depth of Field (Pippa Greene #2) book tour! We will be giving away a copy of Depth of Field!

Review: (Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

Title: (Don't You) Forget About Me
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Hardcover, 336 Pages
Published June 2014

Summary: Welcome to Gardnerville. A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies. Except...There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them. Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

I'm going to start off this review by pointing out that Kate Karyus Quinn has a sick, twisted mind...and I loved every second of the book that mind came up with. I'd just been discharged from the hospital after an emergency stay for my appendix, and I was supposed to go right home for medical observation and not do anything...but I convinced my parents to let me hobble into Barnes & Noble and get this book. And lucky me, it was the last one on the shelf!

So. About the book. Gardnerville seems like the perfect place when you don't know the true logistics of it--a rumored town where people live well past a century, nobody ever gets sick, and if you're already sick with a deadly disease, you're cured as soon as you come in. What the pamphlets DON'T explain is that every fourth year, one teen in town gets so much pent up emotion and magic that they explode with a series of psychotic events that take down a couple of teens in town with them.

I loved every single second of this book and found it hard to put it down, which is why I was actually lucky to be on medical observation because I wasn't allowed to do much more than sit down and read, anyway. This book totally and completely screwed with my mind in ways I can't even explain without spoiling the book. I literally just finished it half an hour ago, and I had to close the book and sit there and blink at the sky for a few minutes before silently mouthing What the heck was that? And then having my brain practically implode from all of the mind-bending stuff that I find out.

Kate Karyus Quinn leaves the reader with some questions at the end of the book, as most endings of books should and do, but I feel like the major questions I had that would've put me into cardiac arrest if I was left questioning about were all answered nicely. The ending still tugged at my heart, though, and made my brain ache like it had a nice run through a garbage disposal. My mind was absolutely BLOWN. It was freaking PERFECT. Hats off (I'm actually not wearing a hat right now so awkward) to Karyus Quinn for a book that gave me a literal headache in the best way when I finished.

I was not, I repeat, was not expecting that book to end the way it did. I'm trying so hard not to spoil the book for all of you who haven't read it (and if you have, feel free to drop a comment below and tell me how you felt about the ending WITHOUT SPOILING IT!). If you haven't read it, add it to your TBR list IMMEDIATELY. You won't regret it, I promise.

All in all, (Don't You) Forget About Me was a great, twisted, chilling book about a severely messed up town that left me in complete wonder, and it was a book with an ending that quite literally blew my mind. Loved it!

ARC Review: Pieces of Olivia by Melissa West

Title: Pieces of Oliva (Charleston Haven #1)
Author: Melissa West
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: eBook
Publisher: Penguin/InterMix Books
Release Date: July 15, 2014

*I received an ARC ebook copy of Pieces of Olivia By Melissa Wesr  via Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review*

Summary:
Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future. 
But on one fated night, everything changed.

Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.

She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal... that is, until she meets Preston.

Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.

Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for…

~~~

I won't lie. Going into this book I was nervous. I don't read contemporary fiction much. Actually I never do. I usual need a book with a fantasy or sci-fi aspect to keep my interest. But Pieces of Olivia was different. I was hooked with in the first few chapters, and by hooked I mean: I abandoned all my responsibilities to read.

Olivia, how my heart broke for her when she would talk about the night of the party, the one where she ended up scared and broken. The end of high school the start of college is suppose to be a good time, not one filled with nightmares and lost. But when she enrolls at Charleston to restart her life she never planned on meeting Preston. Olivia's roommate, Kara's best friend. 

Preston isn't the type of person so have a long lasting relationship. He has flings that last for a bit and then end. Kara gets stuck being the between girl, stuck listening to these girls complain about Preston and she hates it. 

When Olivia asks why Preston doesn't do the relationship thing she receives the reply from Kara that is isn't her story to tell. When she asks Preston, he tells her the same thing: It isn't his story. So that leaves you wondering. Who story is it then? 

All through out the book there was always this strange tension between Kara and Preston that I was dying to know, and then bam! You find out and your heart splits open and you look for your box of tissues. I could only imagine what ran through Olivia's head. 

"I can't breathe when you're around. I can't think. I can't control my mind and forget my body. I am useless and weak and I hate this version of myself. Yet... I have never wanted anyone like I want you." 

The book takes place over a couple of months, from the start of their first semester and into part of their second semester. So the romance wasn't fast, it was set overtime and I loved that. I don't like books where the Main Characters rush into a relationship head first and saying "I love you." It is just not real like that. Plus, Olivia wanted him and slowly fell for him through out the book.

I really adored Preston and Olivia's relationship. He never pushed her to tell about her past, and when you have a dark past you don't want someone pushing for you to tell it. That is just how it is.  But Olivia wasn't the only one in the book with a story, and Preston's reasoning for not dating long term bought tears to my eyes.  

Now Rose, I loved her. Her and Olivia's relationship wasn't one of a patient and a doctor, it was like two friends. At first when Rose was talking about ghost I thought the woman was crazy, but then as Melissa introduced her tp you began to see that she was a good thing for Olivia to have. 

 Now, I must wait until December of Miles of Kara by Melissa West, which as the title says is about Kara. *sighs* Melissa West also said that the cover for the second book will be even better then the first. *even bigger sigh* But I still have to wait! 

RATING: ★★★★