(ARC) Meet Cute - Helena Hunting

Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled-until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn’t run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either…

Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he’s in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn’t forgiven Dax, she isn’t heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?

While this book has already been published, I was fortunate enough to receive an extended free preview, and I can definitely say I'll be purchasing the full version. Having never read anything by Ms. Hunting, I was drawn in by a great blurb and front cover, and was instantly hooked.

While the story should always be the main feature of any novel, there are also factors that affect your enjoyment of the book, with one of the biggest being formatting. Formatting can make or break a novel, affecting the flow and reader's enjoyment. The formatting of this ebook was smooth and a fantastic flow, causing me to read all of it in one sitting. As soon as I was finished the book, I searched for it on scribd to continue, and while unfortunately not available, I will be searching for it nearby.

To the story itself, I instantly was drawn to both the hero and heroine, both written in an engaging and human way. Without giving too much away, I was slightly discouraged by the continued meet-cute with death bringing our leads together, which seems to be quite common across the romance theme, and something not entirely necessary to bring our leads together. However, for the sake of this plot line, it was needed. 

In the short 40 page preview I was given, there was comedy, romance, and drama and I simply can't wait to read more. 

Rating: 4/5

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Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Meet Kate MacKenzie…idealistic office worker, reluctant deliverer of termination notices and queen of instant messaging. As sweet as sugar. Meet Mitch Hertzog…ever-smiling corporate lawyer, defender of the downtrodden and king of aborted dinner dates. Good enough to eat.

Meet Ida Lopez…cake, cookie and pastry-maker extraordinaire, purveyor of the dessert trolley and goddess of all things mouth-wateringly yummy. As nice as pie.

Together they must battle tyrants and despots to find truth, justice and the perfect double fudge pudding.

I've been a big fan of Ms. Cabot's work since I picked up the Princess Diaries, but for me, this is the book that truly launched her adult romantic fiction works. I have literally never laughed this hard at a book, and will admit that I have re-read this novel a few times, due to the sheer hilarity.

Written in one of the most unique formats I've ever seen, this novel is written entirely through emails from each of the characters, a few diary entries, and notes scribbled to each other, but is one of the most comprehensive novels I've read, and you can truly see our hero and heroine falling in love. If nothing else, read this book simply because of it's writing format!

There just truly aren't enough good things to say about this book. From it's unique writing style, I can say that these characters are truly unlike anything I've ever read and the romance is 100% believable and organic. All of the characters have unique characteristics and truly fleshed out, and a pleasure to read.

Overall, hands down, one of the best books I've ever read, and certainly a favourite.

Rating: 5/5

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Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered 1) by Tessa Bailey

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that means.

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there's Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her...

The first novel in the Hot & Hammered series, and my first novel from this author, I can't wait to read the next instalment. As a quick short summary - a great, slow build, hot and heavy romance.

The novel starts somewhat slowly, but throws you right into the situation and our leads. It seems more and more that the characters we read are getting younger in age - or, is that just as I'm growing older? - but unlike many contemporary romances, this novel is in the third person, which is a definite bonus for this reader.

I was a little skeptical of our heroine, I'll admit it's the first time I've ever read about a main character being in the clown profession, but still I pressed on, and I'm glad I did. Our spunky heroine continues to grow during the novel, and while this book at it's core is a romance novel, it also has messages about empowerment and that romance isn't the be all and end all of life. I was cheering for our hero, although I will note that there I were a few comments from him that I viewed as problematic, regarding some aspects of sleeping with our female lead.

The supporting cast were also fully formed characters and had interesting storylines, not just there to progress our two leads. The romance itself was formed well, and while a light and fluffy romance, also had down and dirty romantic scenes.

Overall, a great read, and a great first instalment of the new series.

Click here to purchase from Amazon.

Rating: 3.5/5

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Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

‘You’re not Mia Thermopolis any more, honey,’ Dad said. ‘You’re Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Princess of Genovia.’

A PRINCESS?? ME??? Yeah. Right.

One minute Mia’s a totally normal Manhattan 14-year-old. Next minute she’s heir to the throne of Genovia, being trailed by a trigger-happy bodyguard, taking princess lessons with her bonkers old grandmere, and having a makeover with someone called Paolo. Well, her dad can lecture her till he’s royal-blue in the face, but no way is Mia going to turn herself into a style-queen. And they think she’s moving to Genovia? Er, hello?

So far I've reviewed adult romance novels, but it's time to do some expanding into YA romance, into one of my top 10 favourite (if not my favourite) book series. I've always been a big fan of Ms. Cabot's writing, but there truly aren't enough good things that I can say about this book series.

This book stands out from 99% of all other books simply due to the format of it's writing, mostly written through diary format, occasionally following other forms of written media including notes to other characters. Rather than losing information from this format, it actually gives more insight for the characters, and it just truly brings the emotions to life, making this one of the most poignant series for me. I've re-read this series too many times to count, and as I've aged, I find new nuances to smile about, and lessons to be learned. Princess Mia (book 9 of the series), particularly deals with depression and losing people close to us, and Ms. Cabot handles this phenomenally well, and it's always been a constant re-read for myself.

Mia starts this book as a 14 year old adolescent, and we end the series with her being a full-fledged adult, and this growth brings her first romance, love, heartbreak, and navigating life's up and downs. Love threads through the overall series, encompassing platonic, familial, and romantic love, and still manages to make you laugh and cry. This is truly a series like no other, and purely just a phenomenally written series.

Rating: 5/5

Click here here to purchase from Amazon.

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