Review: Dirty Secret (The Burke Brothers #1)

Title: Dirty Secret (The Burke Brothers #1)
Author: Emma Hart
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: December 1st 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Kindle Edition
Rating:

Blurb from Goodreads...

Conner Burke never expected Sofie Callahan to come back.

Where she’s been for the last two and half years is a mystery, and so is the reason she left in the first place. Now, though, she’s back in their hometown of Shelton Bay, South Carolina, at the same time Conner’s band Dirty B. is home on a tour break.

Sofie Callahan has spent the months since her father’s death avoiding anything to do with her hometown. But with her brother in Afghanistan, she has no choice but to return and sort out her father’s house, even if it means facing the boy she fell in love with and revealing the reason she left.

Conner has questions, and when his broken heart and her guilty one collide, Sofie has to start answering them. Their present is rocky, their future unknown. Only one thing is certain: Sofie’s daughter will change everything.

My Thoughts...

I love second-chance romance stories. Such stories give us hopeless romantics more reason to be in love! Ha-ha! Conner and Sofie's story is your typical teenage sweethearts who got separated due to major changes in their lives. Conner went on to become a famous singer along with his brothers while Sofie got pregnant with their baby. Insecurities, fears ate at Sofie's trust which made her escape their small town where everyone knows everybody's business.

But two hearts meant to be together will find its way back to each other. Love will heal the wounds of the past and forgiveness will make them believe in forever again.

Something is missing with this book. I can't put my finger on it but it was a quick read and it's really romantic. I just wish the bickering between Conner and Sofie was not every other scene. But, all in all, the book made me smile.

***

Read in a few hours last February 5th overlapping towards the 6th.

Review: All The Light We Cannot See

Title: All The Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: May 6th 2014
Genre: Historical Fiction
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Kindle Edition
Rating:

Blurb from Goodreads...

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

My Thoughts...

Truth be told, I am not much into historical fiction novels. I used to be a huge fan of historical romance novels but I am now more into contemporary adult novels. Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See, though, is a Goodreads Choice 2014 Award winner and is included in various lists made by book blogs/sites of must-read books. So, I felt compelled to get a copy and read it.

And, boy, did I make the right decision!

This book was superbly written! A beautiful prose, full of haunting details of what it was like during the war. Marie-Laure and Werner's stories were told in a fashion where we could fathom how the important events in their lives took shape, amidst the chaos of a war. I love Marie's father, how he helped her cope with her blindness. I love Werner's and his sister Jutta's yearning to learn what's out there, beyond their attic room in the orphanage.

What made my heart ache so much more with this story was how everything in Marie and Werner's lives seem to happen so that their paths would cross. It felt to me like there was an invisible thread linking them together.

The war tore so many lives apart. You could feel the pain left in the lives of those who survived it. When you get to the end of the book, you would feel like you also survived the war and your heart will never be the same again.

***

I started reading this book back in January 30 but I was only able to dedicate an hour or two before I go to sleep so it took me a while to finish. I was done reading by the 5th of February.

Review: The Sinister Urge

When I began my Facebook page, Addicted to Reading, I told myself that I will not only put popular books there. I will also help indie authors and other not-so-popular books I feel deserving of notice so that others will have a chance to also read their books. A reader should have equal opportunity in book choices; not just the ones most people, or the media, are talking about.

So, I put out word through my page and Twitter that I am a bookworm available to review their books, whatever genre it may fall under.

Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, I didn't get to review books offered to me. I did participate in book cover reveals and social media blitz for some authors. I also accepted requests through my page to put out teasers, blurbs, and links for indie authors.

2015 is my year to finally fulfill this 'promise' I made to authors out there that I will help put out word about their books so others can find it. The first book I accepted was The Sinister Urge by Frances Newton.

Title: The Sinister Urge
Author: Frances Newton
Publisher: Amazon
Release Date: January 2015
Genre: Romance, Adult
Source: eBook given by Author
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Kindle Edition
Rating:

Blurb from Goodreads...

A love story with a twist in the tale...

Delve backstage and into the private lives of popular rockband Lilli And The Munsterz, high flying with everything to gain, but when that "Sinister Urge" becomes so irresistible could it threaten to destroy them?

After she dramatically quits as vocalist of The Wires on live television at the height of their fame, Lilli Morgan disappears from the music scene. Behind her she leaves the truths and rumours of her departure. Despite all this The Wires guitarist Adam still harbours his long held feelings for Lilli.

Now returning to the music world with her brother Elm and a handful of friends, Lilli forms Lilli And The Munsterz. No one, least of all Lilli herself, expects her to be shockingly reunited with The Wires when they're suddenly brought in as guest judges on a reality TV show.

My Thoughts...

Before anything else, let me get out there that this is a taboo love story. I have read other books with the same kind of romantic angle so reading about this kind of taboo is not new to me.

I know most people will scoff, most likely disgusted, at the idea of this kind of love affair but there are some things in this world that are totally incomprehensible except to those directly involved. I believe that's the reason some stories like this are written.

Anyway, The Sinister Urge is about Lilli and Elm. The blurb on Goodreads is a bit misleading in the sense that when you read it, you'd expect that something sinister is lurking in the shadows coming from the reunion with The Wires, Lilli's former band. There is something sinister lurking in the shadows bound to make life hard for both Lilli and Elm but only because they brought it on themselves. They chose to go against the tide, so to speak, so they should expect some resistance to their union.

I wouldn't dwell on what happened in the book anymore as I will give away too much in this review. Suffice it to say that the book was an easy read and, although I was not a big fan of the flashbacks most especially the seemingly unnecessary ones, it was all necessary to tie the story in the end. Will I read the sequel? Yes, I will! I want to know what happens to Lilli and Elm.

You know what quote came to mind when I finished reading the book? Love is a complicated emotion and there are no set rules or boundaries when it comes to it.


***

Disclaimer: This is an independent review. A PDF copy of this book was given to me by the author because she saw at Goodreads that I read a similar book in the past. I was under no obligation to review the book or give it any positive rating/promotion.

Review: Les Misérables

I should have done a formal review of this favorite classics of mine Les Misérables by Victor Hugo a long time ago. Right before the movie came out, to be exact, but I totally forgot to write the review. The movie was epic, by the way. It was one of the best adaptations I've ever seen!

Anyway, I posted that I was reading Les Misérables back in January 1st 2013. I actually completed reading it after a couple of days. Before my actual review, here's something about the book from Amazon...

Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean—the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread—Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait that resulted is larger than life, epic in scope—an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.

My Thoughts...

Les Misérables is one of my favorite classics. I love how Jean Valjean's kindness towards a lot of people helped him throughout his life. I loved how the lives of the characters parallel that of the lives most of us have now. The hardships, the battle between good and evil... it all happens in us every single day.

In the end, love triumphs and that's the most important thing of all!

***

Les Misérables rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Work in progress!

You might have noticed that I transferred my old book blog (Addicted to Reading) to this new one... Yes, I did! I am now officially book blogging here at Caffeinated Reading!

I hope you will follow this blog of mine. The navigation bar has links on where you can find me (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). If you want only bookish thoughts, you can find me at my Facebook page Addicted to Reading and at Goodreads. There are so many ways to connect to me but the fastest would be through my Facebook page and Twitter.

I can't wait to hear from you, guys!

And, by the way, book reviews, recommendations, and discoveries as well as bookish thoughts and quotes will be up within the day.

Stay tuned.

Happy first Monday of February 2015, people!

:)