The Romance Bookie

 Hey! This might be my last book of 2021!  I'm really glad I was able to get this one in, because I meant to finish it before Christmas, but just didn't have the chance, because I was more listening to books than reading physical copies, but I did it! This review is for My True Love Gave to Me , an anthology of 12 Holiday stories written by 12 different Young Adult authors; ranging from contemporary romances to fantasy.   From Goodreads: If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you're going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories  by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins. Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, or New Year's there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. Y...

 Hey! Another review from my weekend binge reading! This one is another graphic novel titled, This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki. From Goodreads:   Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach.  It's their getaway, their refuge.  Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. In This One Summer  two stellar creators redefine the teen graphic novel. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, the team behind Skim , have collaborated on this gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age-- a story of renewal and revelation.  My Tho...

Hey Everyone, I have another audiobook review for you!  This one was a pretty quick one! From Goodreads : Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).  We weren't always like this.  We used to be average New York City high school sophomores.  Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects.  Maybe a headache.  Maybe a sore arm.  We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers.  But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking.  Our friends.  Our parents.  Our crushes.  Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy.  That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper.  That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.   Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests.  We can dump our boyfriends right before...

Hello Everyone! Another review for you! Storm Siren  is a YA Fantasy Novel that I had been keeping my eye on for a little bit.  I had heard good things about it and finally decided to read it while I was on vacation. From Goodreads : "I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don't want me.  Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you." In a world at war, a slave girl's lethal curse could become one kingdom's weapon of salvation.  If the curse-- and the girl-- can be controlled. As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen year-old Nym isn't merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth - meaning, she shouldn't even exist. Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell.  But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the...

Hi!  Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast !  It's a classic tale and I think this is one of the best retellings ever! It's such a good solid one that really follows the original tale.  Anyways, this is a book I read as a child and recently decided to reread! From Goodreads : A strange imprisonment... Beauty has never liked her nickname.  She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones.  But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will.  Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?" Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple, Beauty and the Beast. Erin's Thoughts: Like I said...

Hi, Everyone!! Here's a review of Gathering Darkness , the third book in the awesome Falling Kingdoms Series!!! From Goodreads: In Gathering Darkness, book three of the New York Times bestselling Falling Kingdoms series, the stakes have never been higher as three teams push forward on a race to find the Kindred, the four elemental crystals possessing ancient all-powerful magic, first: Prince Magnus has just witnessed torture, death, and miracles during the bloody confrontation that decimated the rebel forces.  Now he must choose between family and justice as his father, the cruel King Gaius, sets out to conquer all of Mytica.  All Gaius needs now are the Kindred - the four elemental crystals that give godlike powers to their owner.  But the King of Blood is not the only one hunting for this ancient, stories magic... -The KRAESHIANS join the hunt.  Asher and Amara, the royal siblings from the wealthy kingdom across the Silver Sea, charm and manipulate th...

Hey Everyone! I've got a review of Mortal Heart  by Robin LaFevers, the third book in the His Fair Assassin Series ! From Goodreads: Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death.  But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seecress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent.  Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own. She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin.  Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has... Erin's Thoughts: I'll be honest, when I first read Grave Mercy  and heard "assassin nuns", I was like, What? The idea didn't really appeal to me and it actually sounded pretty funny to me.  Even as I read it, I didn't like it that  much.  The writing and everything w...

Hey Everyone!!!  I am very excited today to share with you a guest review from a book friend I recently met at a signing event.  Desirae is a veracious reader, she's a lot of fun to talk to, and super sweet!  She's been thinking about starting her own blog, but isn't sure yet; so I offered her the chance to write a guest review for The Romance Bookie first, and then see how she feels about it :).   So everyone, please welcome Desirae with her review of Nil by Lynne Matson! From Goodreads : On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die. Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field. Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that lea...

So it's been a while!  Reading has just been pretty much impossible with my schedule, but I finished my homework before my Spring Break next week, and decided to finish a book I've been reading for literally two months! Yes I know...tragic! But anyway, I finished it last night!  Please do know I have read a couple of books since then, I just haven't reviewed them, because they were ARCs of some rather SUPER special books from a certain ABSOLUTE Favorite author of mine for which an annual event announcement is coming soon ;). Anyway, I finished Cora Carmack's All Broke Down  the second in the Rusk University Series! From Goodreads : In this second book in  New York Times  and  USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack s New Adult, Texas-set Rusk University series, which began with  All Lined Up,  a young woman discovers that you can't only fight for what you believe in... sometimes you have to fight for what you love. Dylan fights for l...

Hey Everyone!! So I'm back!!! Just flew back in last night from my ten day Florida vacation!! We had an amazing time!!!  I'm definitely planning on posting pictures of our awesomeness in Disney World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the next couple of days, so if you're interested keep your eyes open for that! :) Anyway, last night on the airplane, I FINALLY got to watch the movie version of Gayle Forman's Best Selling novel If I Stay , featuring Chloe Grace Moretz (as Mia) and Jamie Blackley (as Adam). I've been holding out on watching If I Stay , because well, I just haven't been in the mood to cry.   If I Stay  is one of the saddest, hardest books I've ever read.  The story is so powerful and good, but at the same time extremely depressing. Now before I tell you what I thought about the movie, here's a little description: From  IMDb : Life changes in an instant for young Mia Hall after a car accident puts her in a coma. ...

Hey Everyone! Wow, we are sure getting close to that New Year aren't we?  THREE more days left of 2014!! I just can't believe it! And let me just say, I couldn't have chosen a better book to end my 2014 reading time on! Isla and the Happily Ever After , the third and last book in the Anna and the French Kiss Series  by Stephanie Perkins. From Goodreads : Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?   Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.  Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and C...

Hey Everyone!! Here's another movie review!! So again, just like The Maze Runner   which I reviewed today as well, we watched Divergent  for Christmas!  Now, I actually saw this one when it was in theaters, but for some reason I guess I completely forgot to review it! Description and picture from  IMDb : In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late. My Thoughts: Just like the first time, the second time I saw Divergent  it was still really good!  We actually own this one now, it was a Christmas present, so I can watch whenever!! Anyway, another Dystopian, where I couldn't get into the book.  To be fair, I may have not been in the mind set when I first started reading this one, but I also own it on Audiobook, so maybe one day I'll give...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! Wow, I can't believe it's already Christmas!! 2014 is almost over!! I just can't wrap my head around it! So my family has a tradition, where every year for Christmas Day we spend the day in our PJs watching movies all day and eating left overs from our Christmas Eve/my mom's birthday party.   So we first started the day with The Maze Runner , which yes I will admit, I have not read the book.  I know, I know, that is probably pretty terrible for some of you, but honestly while I'm not a huge fan of Dystopian books, I've read quite a few and just can't get into them, I still enjoy watching the movie adaptations.   So for my review, because I haven't read the book, I am solely going to base it on my opinion of the movie, with absolutely no bias toward the book! Description and picture from  IMDb : Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all tr...

Hey Everyone!! So it's official! I've completed my reading goal for 2014 by reading 50 books! :)  So glad I made it! I was getting a bit worried there for a second! So for my fiftieth book I read Lisa Renee Jones's fourth book in the Inside Out Series , No In Between ! From Goodreads : The fourth in the Inside Out erotic romance series by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, this steamy novel resolves Chris and Sarah's relationship and leads into Mark's story. "Chris and I have faced our demons and bared our souls to one another in Paris. Now that we are back home in San Francisco, I want to believe that nothing can tear us apart. Not Ava’s accusations against me to the police, or Chris's fear that he will destroy me as he feels he did Amber. And not Mark, who was once too intimately a part of our lives, and who I can see crumbling inside out. He believes he is invincible, just as I want to believe Chris and I are invincible. We h...

Hey Everyone!! I am SOOO Close to my yearly goal of reading 50 books, that this is so happening this year!!!! ONE MORE TO GO!!! Anyway, this time around I read The Geography of You and Me  by one of my favorite authors, Jennifer E. Smith! From  Goodreads : Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met. A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel ...

Hi Everyone!! I've got yet another review for you today! Salt & Storm  by debut author Kendall Kulper!! From Goodreads : You don't know what you must give up to become a witch. Avery Roe wants only to claim her birthright as the witch of Prince Island and to make the charms that have kept the island's sailors safe at sea for generations, but instead she is held prisoner by her mother in a magic-free life of proper manners and respectability. Avery thinks escape is just a matter of time, but when she has a harrowing nightmare, she can see what it means: She will be killed. She will be murdered. And she's never been wrong before. Desperate to change her future, Avery finds a surprising ally in Tane—a tattooed harpoon boy with magic of his own, who moves her in ways she never expected. But as time runs out to unlock her magic and save herself, Avery discovers that becoming a witch requires unimaginable sacrifice. Avery walks the knife's edge between choice a...

All right!! The third book in the Maggie Stiefvater AMAZING Raven Cycle Series !!  This review is going to be short and sweet cause...well, it's just beyond words!!! The Raven Cycle is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorite series ever and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone!!! Seriously, you will not regret it!!! From Goodreads: There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up. Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel. Erin's Review: Let's start with Gansey.  AAAAHHHH!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!! He is hands down my favorite male character, especially as a romantic interest.  ...