BOOK REVIEW: Forever Together by Jade Whitfield

2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:

Dark haired beauty, Cindy Martin was once lucky in love, until her boyfriend broke her heart and sent her running. Attending college in faraway Los Angeles was the perfect excuse to get away, settle her heart and drown herself in wine and tears – except now she is back for the summer, and her ex hasn't gone anywhere. 
Brady Cooper is handsome, arrogant and still head over heels in love with Cindy. Six months ago, he let fear rule him and he made a mistake that cost him everything – now he just has to get her to believe him. 
Surrounded by friends and family that know too much and meddle a little too closely, can this once perfect pair overcome the obstacles in front of them, mend their hearts and finally be Forever Together? 
Sometimes the very thing that broke your heart is the only thing that can fix it.

Review:

Forever together, a book about Cindy and Brady who broke up but over the course of the book get back together again. That's pretty much the entire story line, though of course romance's are all about those sweet moments, the journey itself. 

As individual characters, I hated Brady to begin with. He's arrogant, full of himself and swears far too much (more so in the beginning) but despite that something in me sorta had a thing for him when he was with Cindy. I suppose every girl has that inner bad boy thing though we try to deny it. 

Cindy's character didn't seem as developed but I did like the secondary characters in the novel. Cindy's from a big family with a lot of siblings and Brady has a tough relationship with his stepdad and a dog he likes to bring everywhere. 

Overall, the novel was easy reading, I felt I knew the characters and I couldn't fault the writing in the slightest. Jade Whitfield is obviously a very talented writer, it's just a shame I didn't like the book more than I did. However, considering I don't usually read romances (Not my preferred genre) this one wasn't totally full of those cringey/cheesy moments that I find hard to stomach. More than anything, it was humorous, though it ended with a good dollop of cheese (it has to though, doesn't it? Romance readers love their happy endings).

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Last Dreamer by Barbara Solomon Josselsohn

2/5 Stars

Blurb:

Iliana Passing—wife, mother, and former acclaimed journalist—gave up her career to start a family. Almost fifteen years later, despite how much she loves her husband and kids, she can’t help wondering how she ended up with a life spent carpooling and running errands.

Ready to get back into the journalism game, Iliana searches for an exciting lead. When she discovers that Jeff Downs, the heartthrob star of an old TV show and her girlhood crush, now owns a nearby textile company, she thinks she’s found her story: teen celebrity and its aftermath. But as Iliana gets to know Jeff, the two grow closer than she ever could’ve imagined. Now that her teenage dream has walked into her present-day reality, how far will she go to entertain an old fantasy?

Review: 

Illiana is a former writer for the Business Times who gets the chance to interview an old pop heart throb. On the surface, I liked the idea of this book, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Illiana is married, and I really didn't like her husband. The relationship was all about him and he was very selfish - I thought that this would open up the window for a romance with Jeff, the old pop star. However, this didn't happen either, and as it turns out, he wasn't very nice either. I think the fact that I didn't particularly like any of the characters was my problem. Even Illiana herself I didn't really connect with. It was readable, but not something I'd recommend.

BOOK REVIEW: What Might Have Been by Matt Dunn

3/5 Stars

Blurb: 

A year ago, Evan and Sarah shared one incredible night. Then Evan’s music—the thing that brought them together—suddenly tore them apart.

Since then, Evan’s not been able to forget about her. And try as she might, Sarah can’t seem to get over him either.

With time running out, Evan’s got one last chance to convince her that the two of them were meant to be. But is one night enough for Sarah to make a decision about the rest of her life—even if it was the best night of her life? And if she doesn’t believe in love at first sight, how can Evan persuade her that what they had will last?

Review:

Being a writer of a romance book but never really reading any of that genre, I decided to start. What made me pick Matt Dunn's book I'm not sure, but overall, I really enjoyed this story of Evan and Sarah, a couple who have a one night stand (and lunch the next day) but then don't see each other for a year. When the pair meet again, Sarah is engaged to another man, and Evan is keen to make her realize that he's the one for her, not her fiance.

I absolutely loved the beginning of this book, but admittedly, it started to get a bit repetitive towards the middle/end. Sarah seemed to have the same conversations with her friend about her dilemma with the two men, and frankly, I just wanted them to hurry up and make up their mind. I really liked Evan as a character, and I was rooting for the two of them to work it out, but I just wanted it to happen a little sooner.

That said, Matt Dunn's writing style is very easy to read and and his story is easy to immerse yourself in. It was a pleasurable read overall. However, I really didn't like the ending. It seemed an abrupt finish really, and after all of the repetitive conversations throughout the book, I felt this could have been cut down for a more thorough and explained ending.

Watty's Award and Facebook Page

I was absolutely shocked to hear I won a Watty award this year. Over 80,000 titles were entered so to come away with one is absolutely amazing. I love my Wattpad readers!

The award was a hot genre award for Urban fiction. I always considered my book to have a secondary sub genre of urban fiction, leaving the overriding story to romance, but I guess it can really be both. Either way, I'm thrilled. I even got a sticker put onto my existing cover (below)

In other news, I have a new author page on Facebook. If you get a spare second, please like the page to show your support. Many thanks.

P.S - Hope everyone is ready for Christmas!

https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaPayneAuthor

A Musing On Genre

One thing that I've noticed when it comes to my book 'Synergy' is that people often comment 'It's not what I would usually read', or 'it's not what I expected.' These are all genuine comments from people who have or ARE reading the book and are enjoying it. Which begs the question, why wouldn't they have usually picked it up, and furthermore, why do they end up enjoying it?

I think it all comes down to genre. This has been a big area of debate in my own mind when I started writing/selling, because I feel like the Synergy series, primarily the first book, falls into a few different categories, or should I say, is borderline.

In some respects it's a romance. That is, after all, the overall theme of the story. It follows two people who end up in a romantic relationship. However, there is a lot more background involved other than the romance. A lot of people have added my book to their bookshelves labelled 'Urban.' Even Wattpad Romance put my book into an 'urban' category. So what does this mean? It's an Urban Romance? Because I've never personally seen that option anywhere.

I changed the genre on Wattpad from 'Romance' to 'General Fiction' because I felt like there was too much going on to label the book JUST a romance, but maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe I'm overthinking this whole thing, or maybe, just maybe, some books can't be categorised into one 'box' or 'genre.' Maybe some books can be borderline genres.