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 Search for Ethan by Robert Cowan

4.5/5 Stars

Blurb:

Two typical teenage lives are transformed after a night of hallucinogenic experimentation, when the subsequent bad trip spills into their real lives with tragic consequences. A desperate but darkly comical search for redemption begins, with help from an unlikely source.
Review:

The search for Ethan is like no book I've read before. It was so unique in genre that I'm finding it difficult to compare it to anything, let alone describe what it was about. Tommy and Stevie, two teenage friends have their lives change in more ways than one as the years unfold. Their lives go in two completely different paths, and it's a coming of age story with a twist. The pair encounter drugs, sex, loss and everything in between, but in the end, they both end up in the right place for them.

Robert Cowan does a brilliant job of balancing humour, grit and surprise, and I found myself intrigued all the way through, though I'll be honest in saying I didn't always know where it was going. I'd recommend it as one to read.

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.

BOOK REVIEW: Girl Number One by Jane Holland

3/5 stars

Blurb:

As a young child, Eleanor Blackwood witnessed her mother's murder in woods near their farm. The killer was never found.

Now an adult, Eleanor discovers a woman's body in the same spot in the Cornish woods where her mother was strangled eighteen years before. But when the police get there, the body has disappeared.

Is Eleanor’s disturbed mind playing tricks on her again, or has her mother’s killer resurfaced? And what does the number on the dead woman’s forehead signify?

Review:

I really enjoyed the author's writing style. It was easy, gripping and always kept interesting, even when nothing major was happening. I did find it slowed a little in the middle but the beginning and the end kept me gripped. From about 70% onwards I read until the end.

Speaking of 70%, the sex scene at this point made me cringe a little bit. I found it a bit awkward and not brilliantly written. At one point the character describes them 'making love' later in the book, but at the time it seemed more like a quick hookup. I would have liked to have seen Eleanor choose a guy throughout the book, rather than flitting from one to the next.

The whole way through I was trying to guess who the murderer was, and I thought it was going to be predictable. I won't say who I thought it was because of spoilers but it wasn't who I thought it would be. While I liked the fact I didn't guess it, the reasoning behind it wasn't that solid. It seemed slightly far fetched an explanation but I don't suppose I'd know a better answer for it all.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read but it kept me entertained for a few days. It's not very often I read thriller genres so it was a good introduction. I might start to read this genre a little bit more now.

BOOK REVIEW: Thinner by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

2/5 Stars Blurb: Billy Halleck, good husband and loving father, is both beneficiary and victim of the American good life: He has an expensive home, a nice family, and a rewarding career as a lawyer...but he is also fifty pounds overweight and edging into heart attack country. Review: I didn't even finish this book, because quite frankly, it was boring me, and there were more interesting things to spend my time reading.  Stephen King is regarded as one of the greatest horror writers of all time. I don't doubt that he has an excellent imagination, but I have something to say that will probably be considered controversial. I don't think I enjoy Stephen King books. He is great at ideas, yes, but the actual reading of his books bores me and I think I've just thought of why.  I don't relate to any of his characters. They haven't done anything for me to care about them or root for them. I didn't sit there reading thinner thinking 'aww I hope Billy Halleck doesn't die, I love him' or anything to that sentiment. I'm reading because I'm curious about the gypsy curse and if it's real and if it is, whether it will kill him.  If he does die, fair enough. I don't care enough about him to be devastated about it, and I think that's a sign of a bad book. Readers are supposed to care about the characters and I just don't. At this point someone just telling me the ending in bullet points would satisfy me, hence why I closed it and decided to read something else.

BOOK REVIEW: Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed: Growing Up With Undiagnosed Autism by Jeannie Davide-Rivera

5/5 Stars

Blurb: 

Jeannie grew up with autism, but no one around her knew it. Twirling Naked in the Streets will take you on a journey into the mind of a child on the autism spectrum; a child who grows into an adolescent, an adult, and becomes a wife, mother, student, and writer with autism. 

This is a gripping memoir of a quirky, weird, but gifted child who grows up never quite finding her niche. It took 38 years to discover that all the issues, problems, and weirdness she experienced were because she had Asperger's Syndrome (AS), a form of high-functioning autism.

Review: 

I read this book in a day and a half. I don't think I've ever read a book so quickly in my life! While I suppose it could be partly due to having a new Kindle, it is also definitely the book itself. 

I have worked with people with Autism in my professional life, and so I wasn't completely unaware of the classic symptoms and traits. However, to see these come to life from a perspective of somebody with Autism, it was insightful. 

Jeannie grew up not knowing about Autism. It was a time when it wasn't widely known or diagnosed and she was seen, even by her own parents, as naughty, or spoilt, or a 'princess'. They didn't understand her stimming behaviours, the need to smell her food before she ate it, or why she was so choosy about which materials her clothes were made out of. 

Even when she was an adult, Jeannie was misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety, even Bipolar, before they came to the conclusion that she in fact, has Asperger's Syndrome. She was failed by society and her parents as a child, and then failed by her doctors as an adult. 

I can't imagine how difficult life must have been for Jeannie not understanding her own behaviours and finding the world confusing with no answers. I teared up toward the end of the book when she finally got her diagnosis, because finally she had some answers. 

I loved this book, because it's one thing to know about Autism but it's another to see it from the eyes of an Autistic person. Insight is useful to us all.