PLBR Book Reviews 2018 - ELLES BOOK BLOG

ELLES BOOK BLOG

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY BY JAY ASHER

12/30/2018

Thirteen Reasons Why is a compelling read from beginning to end. It's emotional, realistic, and an all around important read. I tihnk older young adults are a good fit for this one.

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Genre: Young Adult. Social Issues.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 320 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

Need to talk? Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) anytime if you are in the United States. It’s free and confidential.

TEMPT THE BOSS BY NATASHA MADISON

12/26/2018

This book is absolutely hilarious! I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read it because it's simply amazing! I laughed so hard while reading it. If you're a romcom fan, this is a must read!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: March 12, 2017
Genre: Romantic Comedy. Office Romance
Series: Tempt Series #1 (can stand alone)
Pages: 228 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

Lauren

Going back to work was supposed to be a painless transition, but when my new boss turns out to be an arrogant, cocky jerk, he quickly turns my professional life into a world of torture. Okay, fine, calling him an asshat before knowing he was my boss wasn't my finest moment. Hating him should be easy. I just never counted on him being so gorgeous or charming when he's not annoying me.

Austin
I expected my new assistant to be professional and punctual, but all I'm getting are dirty looks and rude comments. I should fire the little hellion, but instead all I can think about is bending her over my desk and breaking every rule I've ever made for myself.

One look. One touch. One night. If we break the rules, our lives will never be the same again.

VERITY BY COLLEEN HOOVER

12/23/2018

This is by far one of my favorite books of the year! In fact, I think it's easily on my list of top reads of all time- it's that good! If you are looking for something different, something original, and something that cause goosebumps on your flesh, this is a must read for you!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 7, 2018
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 250 pages
Format: Borrowed. Kindle Unlimited.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a chilling and unexpected standalone romantic thriller.
"It was a beautifully disturbing, completely twisted love story that was unputdownable...pure entertainment!!" -Two Unruly Girls Review
"Warning: Verity is not going to melt your heart. It's going to fry your soul." -Kindle Crack Book Reviews

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years

UNZIPPED BY LAUREN BLAKELY

12/20/2018

Unzipped is the latest romantic comedy from bestselling author, Lauren Blakely! If you enjoy books that will make you swoon and laugh out loud this is the book for you!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: December 14, 2018
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 306 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

Wanted: hot nerd seeks dating coach.

Picture this - I'm ready to win back the love of my life, and I'm going big this time. We're talking boom box, sing her name in the rain, let the whole damn neighborhood know I'm good and ready this time around. After all, if you're going to grand gesture the ever-loving hell out of a second chance, you need to pull out all the stops.

There's only one little problem.

My college girlfriend isn't the one who shows up when I play my "I'll do anything to win you back" tune. The woman who flings open the second-floor window tells me my ex doesn't live here anymore. But she'll help me win her back. Anything for romance, anything for a guy so willing to go big for love. And that's what I want at first. Until I get to know my new "romance coach" and discover she's funny, clever, and keeps me on my toes. Now I don't want to win anyone else's heart. I want the woman who's been helping me all along. Trouble is - she thinks I'm in love with someone else, and when we

CHRISTMAS, CRIMINALS, AND CAMPERS BY TONYA KAPPES

12/18/2018

I love cozy mysteries! There's just something about these small town characters (in most cases) and the close friendships that really drag me into the story. This my friends is one of those books. It's part of a series but they are all worth the read!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: October 26, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Camper & Criminals cozy mystery #4
Pages: 205 pages
Format: Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.

Librarian Abby Fawn is star struck when her favorite romance author, Nadine White, has rented a cozy camper at the Happy Trails Campground for the winter months.

Abby is devastated to find out Nadine White is nothing like the person she portrays in interviews or on social media. In fact, Nadine White is not nice at all and Abby lets her feelings known that she thinks Nadine is a fraud. . .after she finds out Nadine has a ghost writer.

When Nadine White is found dead in the Normal Library, Abby Fawn is Detective Hank Sharp's number one suspect.

It's time for Mae West to put up her camping gear for the winter

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET BY JENNIFER RYAN

12/17/2018

This book was an unexpected treat for me! I thought it was going to another run of the mill, fluffy romance but it's not!! This is a swoony and scandalous read!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 18, 2018
Genre: Western Romance
Series: Wild Rose Ranch #1
Pages: 384 pages
Format: Paperback. ARC.

Meet the women from Wild Rose Ranch—and the men who want them—in New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Ryan’s breathtaking series of romance and scandal . . .

Noah Cordero is a modern-day cowboy who loves three things: ranching, his younger sister, and his step-father. John Cordero groomed Noah to take over the Montana spread where he learned to ride and work the land. But when John unexpectedly dies, he leaves half the ranch to a woman Noah doesn’t even know.

Roxy shares Noah’s last name, but not his blood. Estranged from her father, haunted by regrets, and eager to escape her notorious mother’s past, she is forced to fulfill her father’s last wishes. Inheriting means sharing a home with infuriating, challenging, and oh-so-tempting Noah. But John didn’t just make her owner of his ranch and guardian to her sister, his hidden sideline is her worst nightmare—she’s the new owner of the notorious Nevada brothel called Wild Rose Ranch where she grew up.

NINE PERFECT STRANGERS BY LIANCE MORIARTY

12/16/2018

Unfortunately, I didn't feel like this book was on par with Big Little Lies and The Husbands Secret (both of which I loved). Now I didn't hate it either. I just didn't feel compelled when I was reading.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Genre: Women's Fiction. Drama.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 453 pages
Format: Hardcover. Purchased.

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out...

Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.

Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic

NOT SO NICE GUY BY R.S. GREY

12/14/2018

This is one of the best friends-to-lovers romances I have read in a long time! If you are looking for a feel good romance with a ton of humor then this is the book you should be picking up!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: August 9, 2018
Genre: Friends-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 264 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

"Oh my god. Who is that?"

I get asked this question a lot.

"Oh him?" I reply. "That's just Ian."

Just Ian is the biggest understatement of the century. Just the Mona Lisa. Just the Taj Mahal. Just Ian, with his boring ol' washboard abs and dime-a-dozen dimpled smile.

Just Ian is...just my best friend.

We're extremely close, stuck so deep inside a Jim-and-Pam-style friendzone everyone at work assumes we're a couple--that is until one day, word spreads through the teacher's lounge that he's single. Fair game. Suddenly, it's open season on Ian.

He should be reveling in all the newfound attention, but to our mutual surprise, the only attention he seems to want is mine.

GOOD TIME BY JANA ASTON

12/12/2018

This book is hilarious! I couldn't stop laughing from the moment I picked it up until I read the very last page! If you read Good Girl by Jana Aston you will notice this is Payton and Vince's story!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 286 pages
Format: eBook. Purchased.

Marrying a stranger tops the list of things you should never do in Las Vegas, but I did it anyway.

The entire night was my idea. I was the one who suggested a wake-up-with-a-tiger kind of night. Instead, I woke up with a ring on my finger and Vince Rossi in my bed.

Vince, who was nothing like I thought he was and everything I never knew I needed.

Suddenly I was falling head-over-heels in love with my accidental husband and the idea of ending this union was the last thing I wanted.

I wanted forever.

So what if we barely knew each other? Statistically speaking, our odds were as good as anyone's.

BATTER OFF DEAD BY MAYMEE BELL

12/11/2018

A sweet and fun cozy mystery filled with southern charm and delicious desserts! I love this series to pieces and highly recommend it to any fan of cozy mysteries!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: December 11, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Southern Cake Baker mystery #2
Pages: 304 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

For fans of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier comes the second in Maymee Bell’s delectable Southern Cake Baker mysteries.

Sophia Cummings may be unlucky in love, but she knows that the way to a man's heart is through his sweet tooth. This evening, she plans to use that knowledge—and her skills as a New York City-trained pastry chef—to open the hearts and wallets of Rumford, Kentucky’s richest men. Sophia, proprietress of For Goodness Cakes, has been commissioned to cater the Heart of the Town Library charity fundraiser at Grape Valley Winery. She’s spent all her dough to make this a successful event, raise her profile, and win more plum catering jobs.

At first, the going is as smooth as an elegant chocolate ganache. After nibbling Sophia’s tasty treats, Ray Peel, the winery’s landlord, announces he will pay off Rumford’s library loan. But the evening soon turns decidedly frosty when Ray is murdered—before he can

TEN TINY BREATHS BY K.A. TUCKER

12/10/2018

An emotional new adult romance with a twist I did not see coming. K.A. Tucker knows how to write a good book and while this wasn't a favorite of mine I can see why everyone loves it.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance.
Series: The Ten Tiny Breaths Series #1 (can stand alone)
Pages: 289 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

After a terrible car accident destroys her life as she knew it, twenty-year-old Kacey escapes to Florida, where she encounters an irresistible man determined to capture her wounded heart.

Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.

Four years ago, Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. They’re struggling to make ends meet at first, but Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.

Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes and deep dimples, and

JOCK RULE BY SARA NEY

12/8/2018

OMG! I loved this book HARD. This is one of the best college romances that I have read in a long time. Sara Ney delivered with this one. All I can think about is beards!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 6, 2018
Genre: College Romance. New Adult.
Series: Jock Hard #2 (can stand alone)
Pages: 300 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

Kip Carmichael is no pretty boy.

He's a rough. Dirty. Giant. Hair so unruly, and a beard so thick, his friends on the team call him Sasquatch.

The first time Sasquatch lays eyes on Theodora "Teddy" Johnson across the keg at a party one night on Jock Row, she'd been relegated to the sidelines by her jock hungry "friends."

Week-after-week, he watches beautiful but bashful Teddy getting overshadowed, and overlooked. Sasquatch finally broad shoulders his way through the crowd, offering to to be her hairy godmother. But the minute their eyes meet? He's a goner.

Teaching her the RULES for winning a jock will be the easy part. Not falling in love with her is going to be a losing game.

TRIPPING ON A HALO BY ALESSANDRA TORRE

12/5/2018

Tripping on a halo is quirky, fun, and laugh out loud funny! I adored this book to pieces. The author weaves a sweet tale in this one and I couldn't help but fall in love.

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 7, 2018
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 265 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

It’s really hard to save a guy’s life when he keeps running from you.

You might be asking yourself why I’m waving an inflatable penis in the air and screaming at the top of my lungs. If I took time to explain, Declan Moss would get hit by a bus.

Let me back up. I didn’t ask for this. I was perfectly happy—and perfectly sane—before I was tasked with keeping Declan Moss alive. It was a thankless job until the moment that my panties dropped and his delicious smirk found his way in between my thighs.

Hello, toe-curling ecstasy. Goodbye, professional boundaries. And suddenly, there’s a new danger to avoid: the falling of my heart.

MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND BY CHRISTINA LAUREN

12/3/2018

Squee!!! This book was so much fun! I fell hard for the characters and laughed my way though the entire book. If you are a fan of the author(s) this is a must read for you!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 4, 2018
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 384 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.

But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are

SPEAKEASY BY SARINA BOWEN

12/1/2018

While I loved the previous books in the series this one just didn't work for me. The characters were lackluster and confusing. Now, while I didn't like this particular one I will continue to read the series because as a whole, it's very good.

Rating: ★★
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The True North Series #5 (can stand alone)
Pages: 274 pages
Format: eBook. Purchased.

Sometimes you fall for Mr. Right. And sometimes for Mr. Right Now…

May
Did you hear the one about the girl who walks into a bar and catches her live-in lover kissing someone else? No? You’re the only one in town who missed it.

Luckily Alec is there to wrap me up in strong arms and carry me out the door before things get too ugly. And that’s not all Alec is good at. Our unexpected chemistry makes him the perfect rebound guy.

Alec
I should know better than to hook up with my rival’s little sister, but the fiery look in May’s eyes really turns my crank. She needs

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