Books Lately

It’s Show Us Your Books day!!! I have a feeling that my To Read list will be growing lots after reading all of your posts today. Let’s just get right to it, shall we?? For those of you who care nothing about books, stop back by later. I have another post scheduled with Erin’s link up.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling

I loved The Mindy Project and could totally see myself hanging out and being BFF with Mindy in real life, so it was no surprise that I loved this book! I listened to the audiobook version and it was almost like listening to one long episode of her show. I won’t go in to a lot of detail her, but Mindy just talks about real life stuff. Her struggle with weight, what she is looking for in a guy, a bit about her time as a write for SNL and The Office, etc. One of my favorite lines was where she compared sci-fi to a romantic comedy saying that neither was like real life and it is all made up. So true, right?

Bottom Line: If you liked The Mindy Project or Mindy in general, read this book!

Everything I Left Unsaid by Molly O’Keefe

The premise of this book is what drew me to it. Annie, an innocent farm girl on the run from her abusive husband, lands herself in a trailer park with some interesting neighbors and a mysterious cell phone. The phone rings and Annie answers. It is a guy named Dylan who is trying to keep an eye on Annie’s neighbor Ben for reasons unknown. Annie and Dylan both have secrets, but are drawn to one another with some intense phone chemistry. They both use each other to get over their past, and become addicted to the rush they get from talking to one another on the phone.

This book delivers on action, suspense and romance. And to be honest, it was refreshing to see how raw, yet brave Annie was. It takes a truly strong person to leave the situation she was in. That is what makes a kick ass female lead in a book! Annie was far from perfect, but watching her push herself and be strong…that was inspiring. The ending sort of threw me for a loop. Not in a bad way.

Bottom Line – This was a great read. I really enjoyed all of the characters in the book. Reading through some of Annie and Dylan’s racy interactions on the phone was a little weird, but needed for the plot line.

I was provided a copy of this book (Everything I Left Unsaid) by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reckless by Skye Jordan

This is the first book in Skye Jordan’s Renegade series, and this book was awesome!!! We meet Lexi, a couture wedding dress designer who has some pretty powerful and famous clients. Lexi’s best friend is a tech nerd who develops an app that she wants Lexi to try out while waiting for a flight to NYC. The same flight that the hot Jax whom she caught eye contact with in the drop off lane in front of the airport is on. Lexi starts to anonymously text Jax through this app and they hit it off. Unfortunately, both of them have been hurt in the past for being used. The love story that builds throughout this book is incredible. Sometimes being reckless reaps big rewards, sometimes it leaves you broken. I also loved that Lexi was a fashion designer. It was fun to read about her passion.

Bottom Line – I loved this book and highly recommend it. You get a risk, a love story, some hot passion, haute couture fashion and a bad boy. Probably one of my favorite reads this month!

My Kind of Love by Kristin Miller

I had found this book for free through iBooks which was super exciting and figured I would give it a try. It was a short book, less than 200 pages but I felt it was a decent enough length to get the story out, and the story was something that could really happen. Harlow ran out on her wedding day after finding out her ex cheated on her with her school’s principal. She runs back to Blue Lake, her small home town, and runs into her old crush Dane. Dane is an adventurous guy with some serious commitment issues. Even though Harlow has a bad relationship, she still believes in true love.

I loved that Dane had a blog that he tried to tie in to his business. It was very relate-able and cool to see in a book since blogging is one of my favorite hobbies as well!

Bottom Line– There are some funny parts to this book, some real life raw emotion, a little romance, and a great love story. There was nothing that really stood out to make me say wow, what an amazing read…but I enjoyed it none the less! Plus, it was great that it was on the shorter side. Most books I read are well over 300 pages.

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This book. This book gave me all the feels!!!! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started. I knew the book was written from a dogs perspective and I guess I thought it was going to be happy go lucky. But no. It was so deep, thoughtful and honestly…I straight up cried a few different times.

Not to give too much away, but the book basically tells the story of Enzo’s life through his own eyes. Enzo is the dog, obviously. His master, Denny, is a race car driver and the book uses a lot of race analogies and vocabulary to understand how to drive through life. There are several twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting when I picked this book up. I sort of saw them coming once I got in to it, but that wasn’t an issue for me.

Some of my favorite quotes were:

“That which you manifest is before you.”

“No race has ever been won in the first corner; many races have been lost there”.

Bottom Line – Absolutely read this book!!! Especially if you are a dog lover, but even if you aren’t. Literally all of the feels.

Micah by Jo Raven

Micah is near death and homeless when Ev meets him for the first time. Ev has a soft spot for those that are  homeless and in need. She calls an ambulance for Micah and ends up needing one herself during her wait. Fast forward to a few months later, when Ev can’t get the boy who she tried to save out of her mind. Did he make it? And Micah who has recovered and noticed Ev at a coffee shop across the street from his tattoo parlor where he now works.

They meet once again, though Ev doesn’t realize that Micah is the boy she saved. They have this deep connection right from the start, and they explore on that has Micah tries to figure out what Ev is afraid of….and Ev tries to dig into Micah’s past.

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, and I had a hard time putting it down because I had to know what happened next!

I also read Secrets of Maple Syrup Farm and reviewed it here.

I started to read All the Light We Cannot See but couldn’t get in to it and put it down. I think I have to be in the right mood for that book and I just wasn’t.

Right now I am reading Before We Were Strangers