Mini Reviews: LOUD IS HOW I LOVE YOU, STAY UNTIL WE BREAK, and HE WILL BE MY RUIN

A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. 

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LOUD IS HOW I LOVE YOU by Mercy Brown

Hub City #1

Publication Date: January 19, 2016

Pages: 227

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 of 5

Synopsis

My Thoughts:

I had my eye on this book during the early promotion period, (I'm a sucker for books about music and musicians) but it was the recommendation from a favorite blogger friend that convinced me that I needed to read this book.

@ActinUpJoli @Myg @BerkleyRomance This book is totally your thing, Joli! I think you'd love it!!

— Ginger (@GReadsBooks) January 21, 2016

And she was right! I do love it. I loved it so much that I read it two times in the same week. I loved the friendship between Emmylou and Travis and their chemistry! Whew! And Travis is a new favorite character - he can draw a tattoo on me anytime. And the title of the book - CLASSIC! I'm sure I'll return to this series again and again when I want a fun, sexy read. 

STAY UNTIL WE BREAK by Mercy Brown

Hub City #2

Publication Date: June 21, 2016

Pages: 241

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 of 5

Synopsis

My Thoughts:

I loved this story about being young and falling in love and lust and figuring out what you want and who you want it with. The chemistry between Cole and Sonia is scorching - I could read another hundred pages about these two! It was fun to read about the tour stops with Soft - Stars on the Floor, and experience all of the wild and fun and crazy nights with the band. A great read!

HE WILL BE MY RUIN by K.A. Tucker

Publication Date: February 2, 2016

Pages: 352

Source: Purchased at Apollycon

Rating: 5 of 5
Synopsis

Guest Reviewer: Cathy

Review: Do you think you know who was her ruin? You might- but you might not. K.A. Tucker does an amazing job of keeping you guessing as you connect with various characters and suspects in this book. Don't miss the opportunity to get this at 1.99 today* - a perfect read during your travels or staycation this summer! (*on sale at the time of posting)

Mini Reviews: Bright Side, The Butterfly Garden, and Dirty English (Guest Reviewer)

A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning by guest reviewer EMillie. 

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Bright Side by Kim Holden

Publication Date: July 4, 2014

Pages: 423

Source: Purchased

Rating 5 of 5

Goodreads Synopsis

Review: Bright Side was a kindle recommendation after I read The Fault in Our Stars.  I got it but it set in my kindle library for well over a year before I decided to read it.  I had a hangover for a couple of weeks when I finished this book.  I just couldn’t move on to another love story after reading it.   It is such a beautiful gut-wrenching and heart-breaking story between friends and lovers.  It is so full of positivity even though you know it is going to tear you apart in the end.  The connection between Katie and the other characters is so well developed you wish you could be a part of her story.  You will laugh and you will cry because this book in packed full of feels.   

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

Publication Date: June 1, 2016

Pages: 288

Source: Purchased

Rating 4 of 5

Goodreads Synopsis

Review: The Butterfly Garden was on my Kindle recommendation list when the cover caught my eye and I decided to get it.  I read this book following a book hangover from a previous read.  I needed a change of pace from the love stories and I was very impressed.  Dot was able to take the beauty of a butterfly and turn into a terrifying image.  The heroine Maya/Inara is masterfully written.  She has been through hell before being taken by a psychopath and his deviant son.  Forced to live as a beautiful slave with his other victims.  Her traumas aging her beyond her years.  This book thrilled and chilled and mesmerized me throughout its pages.

Dirty English by Ilsa Madden-Miles

Publication Date: October 10, 2015

Pages: 272

Source: Purchased

Rating 4 of 5

Goodreads Synopsis

 Review: I have read Ilsa’s Briarcrest Academy series and love it.  She always has a way of bringing two characters from different backgrounds together.  She continued her art in Dirty English.  Elizabeth is a small-town southern girl who is left broken and vowing to never love again from one tragic night.  Her life stalled by fear.  Declan is an English chap who is a lean, mean, underground fighting machine that loves classical literature.  The loss of his mother at a young age leaving him fractured but determine to make his own way in life.  Once they meet you can feel the magnetism and electricity that buzzes between them.  When they give in the pull to be with one another, it is OMG hot, sexy and steamy!  I love it when a man is not afraid to fight for his girl.  Next I will be reading Filthy English starring Declan’s twin brother, Dax.

Review: IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? by Mindy Kaling

IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME

(And Other Concerns)

by Mandy Kaling

Publication Date: September 18, 2012

Published by Three Rivers Press

Pages: 222

Source: Received as a gift

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Guest Reviewed by Holly

from Goodreads

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” 
 
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
 
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Holly's Thoughts

I typically read loads of business and photography books, in the middle of one particularly depressing business book I had to take a break and read something lighter so I pulled out the copy of "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" by Mindy Kaling that my mom had given me for Christmas.  It had been on my Amazon wish list for nearly 3 years because I love the cover, the title (literally one of the biggest fears we all have starting at age 5), and The Office (though I’m really not a fan of The Mindy Project).  My expectation was to read a cohesive funny memoir that I could finish up in a couple of weeks.  In reality the book doesn't flow in full chronological order, each chapter jumps around to different times in her life and career which seems like something that would be REALLY annoying, but it wasn't at all in fact I found it rather refreshing.  It was a very quick read, I devoured it on my lunch break each day for less than a week laughing my ass off in a public location with absolutely no shame in my game.

Mindy talks about being a chubby outcast as a kid.  There is a whole section called “Don’t Peak in High School,” I have now adopted this philosophy and pretend that it is my own – no one who was a big deal in high school ever made anything out of themselves so clearly the rest of us will get our turn and all be amazing superstars and rule the world as adults.  You get a little peek at what it is really like to live in New York City, not quite as glamorous as it seems on TV, but way more interesting than the suburbs.  Had I read the section titled "Men and Boys" around a decade ago (and taken it to heart) I feel certain that I would be a completely different person today, probably married to a rich lawyer or something so this book is a great gift for high school graduations.

As someone who thought that they wanted to grow up to be a rich and famous actress when I was a kid (and maybe even still a little bit now), I really love to read celebrity memoirs.  It is always great to see that we have things in common.  Without further ado, here is the list of things that Mindy and I have in common that let me know I will be wildly successful in the next 5ish years:

·         We were chubby children, and chubby adults

·         We suck at sports

·         We are neurotic

·         We have temper tantrums

·         We ramble while writing as if we were teenagers

·         We do not have celebrity parents

Disclaimer: The reviewer received this book as a gift for their own personal library. She was not compensated in any way for providing this review. Thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.