Review: #Selfie by Cambria Hebert

April 16, 2020 Leave a Comment

#Selfie
by Cambria Hebert
Series: Hashtag #4

Published by Cambria Hebert
on May 12, 2015
Genres: New Adult Romance
Pages: 596
Narrator: Shaun Grindell, Jillian Macie

♥

It's all about the #Selfie. She was the one girl I never wanted. Until I had her. One night. One mistake. Something we both wanted to forget. I got rid of the proof. The one piece of evidence that could remind us both. At least, I thought I did. When it shows up on the school Buzzfeed, rumors fly. Friendships are tested and the feels get real. I don't do relationships. I don't open my heart. Especially for a girl everyone knows I hate. What happens during spring break stays in spring break. Until it follows you home.

Review

I was already in love with Braeden ever since he made Rimmel wear Romeo’s hoodie. But in this book, I fell in love with Ivy too. She was always in the background. At first, I thought she was going to become an antagonist in the future, especially with the fact that she made out with Romeo before. However, I loved that Ms. Hebert made Ivy’s character into one that had many layers. There was the sheltered girl who was her big brother’s favorite. There was the party girl who liked to go out and hook up with college men. There was the beautiful girl who was secretly very insecure but never in a mean way.

I love that Braeden and Ivy started out with so many issues and reasons that kept them apart. Ms. Hebert successfully wrote their story in a way that readers already know what’s going to happen but still could never look away or put the book down. This book is also one of my favorites in the series. I can’t wait to continue reading because I can’t get enough of Ivy and Braeden.

Quotes

Ivy was it for me. She was my forever girl. For so long, I thought she didn’t exist, but now I saw I wouldn’t exist without her.

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About Cambria Hebert

Cambria Hebert is a bestselling novelist of more than fifty titles. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.

Besides writing, Cambria loves a pumpkin spice latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching K drama until her eyes won’t stay open. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chihuahuas (the real bosses of the house).

Cambria has written in many genres, including new adult, sports romance, male/male romance, sci-fi, thriller, suspense, contemporary romance, and young adult. Many of her titles have been translated into foreign languages and have been the recipients of multiple awards.

Review: #Player by Cambria Hebert

April 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

#Player
by Cambria Hebert
Series: Hashtag #3

Published by Cambria Hebert
on March 6, 2015
Genres: New Adult Romance
Pages: 580
Narrator: Chandra Skyye, Eric Michael Summerer

♥

Players gotta play. Hate is like a poison. It contaminates everything. So does doubt. Even though I deny what I overheard, even though I insist it isn't true, the seed of doubt has been planted. I can't help but be tormented with the endless what-if's that have taken over our lives. Romeo and I were happy in love. The future stretched before us brighter than any star in the darkest sky. Now everything is broken. Literally broken. Romeo's entire career is at stake, my entire future is threatened... and my past? It's coming back to haunt me. To haunt us. Romeo says we're in this together and right now the only sure thing is us. But how far can a love so new be pushed? The lengths we will have to go to save each other puts everything at risk. Romeo is a #player but how much of the game can one person play?

Review

This book picks up after Zach attacked Romeo and Rimmel. In this book, out main characters have to deal with the aftermath of that terrible day. Romeo’s arm needed to heal. The NFL withdrew their offers. What’s more, Romeo’s mother’s news made Rimmel doubt everything she knew about her childhood.

I really enjoyed the thrill factor of this book. I just couldn’t put it down because I was excited to know the truth about Rimmel’s mother’s death. I wanted to know how Romeo’s career would end up. I wanted to know if Rimmel and Romeo’s mom would ever have a relationship. I think this is a great way to close Romeo and Rimmel’s love story. Of course, there’s never really a definite “end” because as long as new books get added to this series, then Romeo and Rimmel will still be part of the story, even how minor.

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About Cambria Hebert

Review: #Hater by Cambria Hebert

April 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

#Hater
by Cambria Hebert
Series: Hashtag #2

Published by Cambria Hebert
on January 5, 2015
Genres: New Adult Romance
Pages: 492
Narrator: Chandra Skyye, Eric Michael Summerer

♥

It started with unspoken animosity. The bitter bite of jealousy. And now its full blown hate.
It was during my first football game that I first felt the first chill of hate. I looked it right in the eyes and felt its sticky tentacles reach out for me. I'd never experienced something so cold and empty before.
The effect of that look lingered, like an unspoken promise, long after it was gone.
Becoming a couple - becoming the other half of a campus celebrity wasn't easy. I let down walls guarding my heart and he looked past my glasses and accident prone tendencies. Romeo and I are an unlikely match, a #nerd and a jock. But we made it.
And we're happy.
Zach doesn't want us to be happy. He wants Romeo to pay for getting him kicked out of Omega and for the night he spent in jail. He's going to use anything and everything he can to get his revenge. Including me.
As the weather on campus grows cold and the days become dark, revenge becomes the center of someone's life and the happiness Romeo and I worked so hard for is threatened.
I can't help but worry that our love is going to be overshadowed by hate.

Review

Ms. Hebery created these two amazing characters who easily capture a reader’s heart. Romeo and Rimmel were the most unexpected match. Ever. But that’s why it works. When Romeo was just a campus king and football god, and Rimmel was just a overlooked nerd, they were already great characters. But when they fell in love, well, I just couldn’t help but root for them and cheer them on.

What I love about this book was that the main characters were solid together. Yes, there was this issue of Romeo’s mom not liking Rimmel, the pair were secure in their love for each other. I love how Romeo was really into Rimmel, how dedicated he was, how loyal. Yes, he was a player, he has been with many girls in campus, but when he really fell in love, he was all in. I love that about him. It made him a contender for a book boyfriend.

Another thing that I love about this book is the escalation of the suspense. In the first book, Zach’s antagonism was manifested over a few semi-harmless pranks, but it wasn’t anything that was too alarming. If anything, it just showed just how similar to high school college life can be. However, in this book, his creep-factor went up, and I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to find out just how far he’d go. Also, I hope Rimmel gets to have a relationship with Rome’s mother because she deserves a mother figure in her life.

Quotes

I was into her and it was creating some kind of war inside me. A war between the guy I was and the guy everyone wanted me to be. It never used to be a competition. I was happy to be that guy. The player, the football star, the charmer. I was those things. But I was more.

I’d missed her.
I’d missed her even more than I’d let myself realize. But seeing her sitting there taking up so little space in my bed but so much room in my chest was sorta something I couldn’t deny.
She tilted her head and looked at me, wrinkling her nose. “Do I look a mess?” she asked.
I shook my head, unable to speak. I never thought this would happen to me. I never thought I would love someone so much. So fast.

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About Cambria Hebert

Review: #Nerd by Cambria Hebert

April 15, 2020 Leave a Comment

#Nerd
by Cambria Hebert
Series: Hashtag #1

Published by Cambria Hebert
on November 3, 2014
Genres: New Adult Romance
Pages: 472
Narrator: Chandra Skyye, Eric Michael Summerer

♥

"Two people from completely different worlds are about to be thrown together-- in more ways than one. She wants to keep her scholarship. He wants to stay on the team. An awkward alliance doesn't even begin to cover Rimmel and Romeo's relationship. But that's about to change. It starts with a dare. An initiation. A challenge. Quickly, it turns into more. But when you're a victim of your status, there is no room for anything real. The rules are clear and simple. Stick to your circle. And never fall in love with anyone on the outside"

Review

This book successfully paints college life, with its social statuses, fraternity rushes, sports championships, and most of all, the endless amount of schoolwork that needs to be done. I loved that there was a bit of sexy, steamy scenes, but it wasn’t overly done. Yes, college can be a free-for-all kind of sexual experience, but the story didn’t focus too much on that. If anything, it showed how much more there was to college life than booze, parties, and sex.

I love how the romance between Rimmel and Romeo developed. They didn’t start out as enemies and then friends and then lovers. They were strangers and then they fell in love. And once they were in love, they were sure about it right away. I love the dialogue between the two of them, even the ones between the main characters and the secondary characters. It’s a good first book in a series because it gets you hooked on the characters right away, making you, as a reader, look forward to the next installments, wanting to know what happens next. All in all, this is pretty great!

Quotes

“Me being good-looking is a bad thing?” he teased.
“You have a lot of options,” I said seriously. “I’m not the best one.”
“No.” He agreed. “You’re not.”
Geez, he could have said it a little nicer.
“You’re the only one.”

“Let’s stay!” Ivy shouted.
“Oh no you don’t,” I said, grabbing her arm. “You called me to come get you.”
“I changed my mind.” She pouted.
“Too bad,” I said and started pulling her away. She dug in her heels.
I sighed. “I have cookies in the car,” I lied.
Her face brightened.
Drunk girls were idiots.

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About Cambria Hebert

Review: With This Ring by Georgia Le Carre

April 5, 2020 Leave a Comment

With This Ring
by Georgia Le Carre

Published by Georgia Le Carre
on January 3, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 400

♥

Will These Bitter Enemies End Their Families Feud by joining together?
Freya
Maxim Ivankov is the devil incarnate.With the fierce blood of Mongolian conquerors running through his veins he is pitiless. From the time I was a child, I knew he was my enemy, and I have always hated him with a shocking intensity. Now my father wants me to marry him. I cannot say no to my father. No one says no to him, not if they wish to live. I may be his daughter, but his honor is more important than my life. So I will marry that heartless brute. Yes, he is beautiful, with piercing blue eyes and raven black hair, but I will not bend to him. I will not share his bed, and I will not bear him children. Our marriage will be more barren than the wild landscapes his ancestors rode across when they came to conquer our lands.
Maxim
I have watched her from afar for many, many years. Those flame colored locks tumbling down her delicate shoulders, that creamy-white neck when it is stretched and exposed. I have imagined how it will feel when she offers herself to me and I am inside her. She despises me, but now she will bear my name and be mine.I will make her call my name. I will make her get on her pretty, little knees and beg me to take her. I will be her last thought when she goes to sleep and the first when her eyes open. I will fill her belly with my seed.

Review

One thing I enjoy about Georgia Le Carre’s books is that they are always steamy. The hero is always an alpha, and the heroines always give as good as they get. This book doesn’t disappoint in the steam and chemistry aspects. The reason I’m rating this only 3 is because the plot has become formulaic. I’ve read several books from her, and I know that some of them have more depth and character development, so while this book is pretty entertaining, I know that I’ve read better books from her. If you are looking for a good book to pass the time, this one here is a good one to start with. It has sex, kidnapping, an arranged marriage, and a round of meddlesome family members that mean well. What’s not to like?

About Georgia Le Carre

Georgia writes contemporary and erotic romance from a little old 19th century romantic cottage, surrounded by a magical garden filled with fruit and walnut trees.

When she is not feeding words into her laptop, she can be found lost in long walks in the woods, particularly on moonlit nights, and often with the man of her dreams.

Review: Dear Enemy by Kristen Callihan

April 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Dear Enemy
by Kristen Callihan

Published by Montlake Romance
on March 31, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 392
Narrator: Maxine Mitchell, Sebastian York

♥

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Callihan comes a smart, emotional contemporary romance about finding love with the most unlikely of people.
As kids, they hated each other. Macon Saint was beautiful, but despite his name, Delilah knew he was the devil. That he dated her slightly evil sister, Samantha, was no picnic either. When they broke up, it was a dream come true: Delilah never had to see him again.
Ten years later, her old enemy sends a text.
Delilah's sister has stolen a valuable heirloom from Macon, now a rising Hollywood star, and he intends to collect his due. One problem: Sam has skipped town.
Sparks still sizzle between Macon and Delilah, only this heat feels alarmingly like unwanted attraction. But Delilah is desperate to keep her weak-hearted mother from learning of her sister's theft. So she proposes a deal: she'll pay off the debt by being Macon's personal chef and assistant.
It's a recipe for disaster, but Macon can't stop himself from accepting. Even though Delilah clearly hates him, there's something about her that feels like home. Besides, they're no longer kids, and what once was a bitter rivalry has the potential to be something sweeter. Something like forever.

Review

This book is a sweet enemies-to-lovers story. It started out following a predictable formula. Characters were introduced. Conflict was laid out. Secondary characters were given a few moments to shine. But surprisingly, there are a few warm and emotion-inducing moments in this book that I actually really liked. This is not the first book I’ve read from Ms. Callihan. I know that she writes sexy characters but don’t engage in too much sex scenes, so this book is not going to be your racy, titillating read. However, it is a story that any romance reader will definitely enjoy. The hero, while he was an inexcusable bully when he was younger, there were still instances where you can see that he was a conflicted young boy who couldn’t understand his feelings. This, in no way, excuses bullying. This also doesn’t promote the belief that boys are mean to the girls they like. In fact, if there’s a takeaway here, it’s the fact that we should always be honest with our emotions because sometimes, the small things we ignore, may rob us years of happiness.

About Kristen Callihan

Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she’d rather do. She is a three-time RITA nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer’s Choice awards. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers.

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