Review: Sealed with a Kiss by Rachael Lucas

Title: Sealed with a Kiss 

Author: Rachael Lucas

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Women's fiction, Chick Lit

Published May 8th 2014

Format: Paperback, Won

Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Description from Goodreads:

* The Top Ten Kindle bestseller, now with brand NEW material! *

Kate is dumped on her best friend's wedding day by the world's most boring boyfriend, Ian. She's mostly cross because he got in first - until she remembers she's now homeless as well as jobless. Rather than move back home to her ultra-bossy mother, Kate takes a job on the remote Scottish island of Auchenmor as an all-round Girl Friday. Her first day is pretty much a disaster: she falls over, smack bang at the feet of her grouchy new boss, Roddy, Laird of the Island. Unimpressed with her townie ways, he makes it clear she's got a lot to prove.

Island life has no room for secrets, but prickly Roddy's keeping something to himself. When his demanding ex girlfriend appears back on the island, Kate's budding friendship with her new boss comes to an abrupt end. What is Fiona planning - and can she be stopped before it's too late?

This funny, big-hearted novel is the perfect read for fans of Carole Matthews, Trisha Ashley and Katie Fforde.

My Review:

Sealed with a Kiss follows Kate, a woman who has always chosen the "easy option"; she settles down with a guy (Ian) out of convenience, and not because she has affectionate feelings for him. And when her relationship went downhill, she grabs the opportunity to escape to a remote Scottish island, and figure out where to go from there.

Kate is an adorable character. I like that she's silly in a cute way, but doesn't make stupid choices. She has a really tender and sweet personality which makes it easy for you to adore her. On the other hand we have Roderick who's another character I really loved; he is Kate's employer, and the owner of the island. He's a gorgeously handsome guy who has lots of responsibility thrust upon him, and I love how he and Kate work together to save the decaying island.

As you can deduce from the title and the beautiful cover, this book focuses on the romance. But unlike other novels with a not so believable insta-love, Sealed with a Kiss has a slow building romance. It takes things really slowly, and makes you savour every moment. I've lost count on how many times I re-read some parts and dialogues because they were extremely romantic, and made me smile.

The setting is wonderful, the book beautifully describes Scotland in its winter glory. I can imagine myself in one of those cottages with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's day. *Sigh*

This book makes you feel warm inside, and I'd say it's a great book to read during winter holidays.

Review: Romancing the Soul by Sarah Tranter

Title: Romancing the Soul

Author: Sarah Tranter

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★  ☆ 

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Format Read: Paperback, Won

Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Description from Goodreads

Rachael Jones hasn't exactly chosen an average career path. She's a past-life regressionist and is now hoping to help her clients find their Soul Mates through reconnecting them with their past lives.

But despite her best intentions, there are problems. Rachael made the mistake of regressing her best friend, Susie Morris, who has since been haunted by events that occurred in her past life.

When Susie meets Hollywood actor, George Silbury in unlikely circumstances, she is completely unprepared for her reactions. There's an intense mutual attraction that neither can explain nor ignore. 

Can George help Susie to overcome the sense of desolation she feels as the result of her past life regression, or will history's habit of repeating itself ruin all chances of her finding happiness?

After the success of her debut paranormal novel, Sarah moves into mainstream contemporary with a twist—past life regression!

My Review:

I won this book on a giveaway months ago, and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to read and review it (I got distracted by other books ^_^). I'm particularly intrigued with stories about second chances, and I'm thrilled to say that I found this book really engaging and refreshing.

It's told from different points of view, and it's about two soul mates whose lives ended in a tragic way, but get another chance of finding happiness on their next life. I've never read about past lives before, so this book deals with themes that I'm not very familiar with, but it was great to read something new.

Susie is a schoolteacher who doesn't like being emotionally involved with any man. She's just an ordinary woman, so she is taken a back when the gorgeous Hollywood star, George Silbury gets interested in her. She's been a fan of him for years and when they meet in her best friend's office, they are instantly attracted to each other.

George on the other hand, is one of the most handsome men in the world and is also a gentleman. I could list all the things I love about him, but I'm going to save that for my "Swoon Worthy Saturday" post. 

I like how Susie and George's relationship grew, the author added a bit of drama which was interesting to read.

The only issues I have with this book are the author's writing and Rachel, the past-life regressionist. It took me a while to get into the story because the author's writing was a bit distracting. She has a unique and different style, but thankfully I got used to it after a few chapters. As for Rachel, I thought she was a bit maddening. She's one of the main characters, and at first I thought I could over look my dislike for her, but as the story goes on she truly annoyed me. She's a great friend of Susie though, and has good intentions.

Other than the issues aforementioned, I really like how everything unfolded. Even though I had a feeling of how it would end, the author was able to surprise me with some twists.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who love second chances and instant attraction/love.

Review: Tempus by Holly Lauren

Title: Tempus

Author: Holly Lauren
Rating: ★ ★ ★★ ★ 

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Format Read: ebook, 234 pages
Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Description from Goodreads

Chapel Ryan isn't crazy. At least, that's what she's been trying to convince herself of for most of her life. But after being hallucination-free for three years, Chapel finds herself facedown on her English classroom’s gritty linoleum floor. When she looks up, everyone around her is suspended in animation. Mouths hang open mid-yawn, feet hover mid-cross, Ms. Freeman’s arm flexes mid-sentence diagram. It's another hallucination. Or, is it? 

Chapel prepares to tear herself back to reality when something happens. Something that has never happened before in any of her hallucinations--someone moves. And not just any someone—it’s the new guy with a scar over his lip and a reputation as black as his perfectly styled hair. And all of the sudden Chapel's white-knuckle grip on her life has slipped, and with it, her assurance that what she's experiencing isn't real.

My Review

I didn't know what this book was about before I started reading it. The description from Goodreads didn't give me much information. All I knew was that Chapel could freeze time. 

The synopsis is practically the first chapter of the book so it was really easy for me to get into it. I really love the dialogues and the interaction between the characters and how the author tells the story. There's a mystery aspect going on, and it all unfolds as the story goes on. I kept guessing what would happen, but was never 100% sure I knew how everything would turn out. 

Chapel Ryan is a truly unique and compelling character. She is aware that something is wrong with her, but that doesn't prevent her to live a totally normal life. She is anxious for the future, has family problems and breakup issues just like any other teenage girl. She is strong willed and stubborn, but she is also a really nice and good person. She stands for what she believes and it's fascinating how strong her faith in God is.

Zay is Chapel's love interest. He is playful but mature. I really enjoyed reading how he and Chapel grow to know one another. The romance was really sweet and cute.

This is one of those books that has really great characters that I've grown attached to. Chapel is so fortunate to be surrounded by so many good people, and I actually envy her a little. She might not have the perfect family, but she does have wonderful best friends that are always there for her.

There were hints of love triangle here and there, but thankfully the story didn't divert and focus solely on that.

Overall I truly enjoyed reading Tempus. It's a sweet and intriguing book that has the perfect mix of romance, mystery and paranormal. I was hooked from the very first page and couldn't stop reading. Can't wait to read the sequel!

I would definitely recommend Tempus to anyone who loves reading YA! 

Favorite Quotes

"I know that you're strong, but you aren't tough. You hate the night, but you're brave enough to wait for the day. And that you're the kind of girl who won't cry your own tears, but you will cry someone else's."  

"The thing about high school, Ryan, is that there are always girls. Sometimes they're pretty. But they're rarely interesting. And pretty without interesting is like a gun without bullets. All you can do is throw it at somebody, but it's not going to knock them down."

 "I don't think of pain as something that can be measured. It either hurts, or it doesn't."

Review: Kiss Me, I'm Irish by Bella Street

Title: Kiss Me, I'm Irish (Tennessee Waltz, #1)
Author: Bella Street
Rating: ★ ★ ★☆☆ (3.5)
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Time Travel
Format read: Kindle, Won

Synopsis from Goodreads

Emily Musgrave is heading a direction she never wanted to go in Regency England--namely a convent to turn her from her waywardness. But it's more loneliness than rebellion that motivates her to escape her certain fate. Liam Jackson is going nowhere fast in modern-day Tennessee. Playing his Dobro in seedy bars and backward dives along with his fiddling sister, Tinker, is doing nothing for his music career--and even less for the dark places in his soul. Pixie mischief can not only change time-lines, it can change hearts. Because sometimes a girl just needs a little magic in her life.

My Review:

I won this book from the author and was really excited to read it because the cover and the title were so attractive. And I actually started reading it on St Patrick's day, how cool is that?

So Emily Musgrave is from 1890 and she was unwillingly being sent to pass the rest of her life in a convent. But thankfully she is able to escape and somehow find herself in the future (in 2011 to be precise). She'll then meet two musicians Liam and Tinker who'll help her adjust and get used to the 21st century's life style.

Bella Street created some really realistic characters and I think she's done a great job on writing how a girl, from a previous century, would react to things we have in the present and that for us are ordinary and normal; like how Emily thought that the TV was a box with little people in it.

This book has got me laughing out loud because the dialogues were just so funny. Emily seems so naive and sometimes has no clue of what she's saying.

I liked that there is a mix of magic, piskeys and music in this book. What I didn't like though, was Liam's behaviour. He is Emily's love interest and he acts as if he were incapable to accomplish anything even though I know he has great potential. He is afraid of failing, but it's good that in the end he didn't disappoint me.

Overall the first half of the book was truly amazing, the second half not so much, but the ending was great.