Books I've read

"Reading is to the mind, what good exercise is to the body"

"If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book!"

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Hello Girlies,

I thought i would do a quick little page to document all the books that i have read from 2014 onwards. I will title them, write a little something about what i thought of them, comment on how long they took me to read and then rate them out of 5 stars. I will keep adding to this page throughout the year.

Lets get to to it... Happy Reading.

Book 1 - Leashed by a wolf (Cherie Nicholls)
A very short story, not even one hundred pages, about a shifter and a girl. Heath the main alpha male (wolf), and Laney the stubborn and strong leading human lady, together one fiery couple. A good easy read, reminded me of a mixture of twilight and 50 shades. The shifter reminding me of twilight and the erotic parts reminding me of 50 shades, all in all not a bad book even if i did think it finished too quick.
3/5 Stars

Book 2 - Melissa Explains it all (Melissa Joan Hart)
This book had me so intertwined i didn't want to put it down. I'm not sure if its because of the way in which Melissa writes or if its because i was such a huge fan of hers throughout my childhood, but i just wanted to continue reading and was generally sad when the book had finished. I can tell she would be the type of person i would be friends with, she's very upfront and straight talking, i love that i got to find out a little bit more about her life, including the time periods of some of my favourite shows as a kid (Sabrina the teenage witch) and also including lots of celebrity gossip from the 90s that she was able to share, (Ryan Reynolds sure shocked me). This book has only made me admire her more! LOVED and would defiantly recommend especially if you are a fan of hers..
5/5 Stars

Book 3 - Is it just me, or is it nuts out there? (Whoopi Goldberg)
When i first choose this book, i was expecting either a little about her life or some funny stories about living the life she does and doing the work she does, i mean, she is one of my favourite actresses and i love watching her films and just seeing her in general, but i was bitterly disappointed with this read. What i got instead was just a massive rant book, where she explains about 50 or so things people do that annoy her, and she goes off to rant about how life could be better if people didn't clip their nails in public or didn't talk loudly on the phone in restaurants etc. As much as i agreed with a lot of what she was actually saying, i couldn't wait for this book to be finished as by like chapter 45 i was gradually giving up.
1/5 Stars

Book 4 - Hidden (Derick Parsons)
This book had me intrigued from the beginning, at times i didn't like the main character Kate and at other times she was so independent that it made me proud to be a woman. It kept me guessing and i mean guessing until the very last chapter about this story. Its basically about a girl who is in a mental hospital over her troubled life and its up to our main girl Kate to try and figure out what drove the girl to the point she is at today. It was such an intriguing story that made us believe it could be at least 3 different possible things, and then in the end it was the biggest surprise of all that i didn't see coming! Really enjoyed the story and had me gripped from page 1. Defiantly recommend.
5/5 Stars

Book 5 - The cuckoo's calling (Robert Galbraith/J.K Rowling)
This book took me a while to get proper into, i wasn't too sure what to expect, what with it being a Rowling story, but by the end of the book i did really enjoy it, with all the plot twists. Its about a model who dies falling from the balcony of her apartment, but her brother wont let it rest and even though the police have said it was suicide, her brother believes there is more to the story and there may even be murder so he hires a private investigator to try and solve it. It was a great plot twist at the end as i just had no idea what the ending could be, i actually sat in bed as i got closer to the end of the story and tried to put all the evidence i had together and tried to solve it as if i was a private investigator, but i got nothing of what the ending actually was. It also involved things i hadn't even thought of, like "a will" etc. It was well written, if not long in detail at times, but was a good thriller/murder book and i enjoyed reading something from Rowling other than Potter.
4/5 Stars

Book 6 - Tough Customer (Sandra Brown)
This is the book of the year so far for me! OMG what a read, i loved every second of it, literally couldn't put it down. Its all about a stalker who is obsessed with a woman named Berry, so Berry's mother calls Berry's father who is a private investigator to com out and help track the stalker down. The catch is Berry's father hasn't seen her since she was about 2 hours old, and he hasn't seen his ex in 30 years, This being the ex that is "the love of his life". It was such a great read, at times i felt that i was reading some Pretty Little Liars stuff, and since i love the show, this book was perfect, i cant rave enough about this. I had so much hope for some many relationships in this plot, and i had no idea what the outcome could be, so i was excited to try and get to the end to see. The only downside i can think of with this story was the very last bit, i really wanted a happy ever after, and without trying to spoil it, "Will he wake up and will they be together? or will he go to heaven?" Argh.. Sandra Brown has left me soo mesmerised by her writing skill. Defiantly recommend!
5/5 Stars

Book 7 - Remember me (Sophie Kinsella)
Okay, this has to be such a light heart feel good book, its literally girly chick lit at its best. Up until now i hadn't yet read anything from Sophie and was expecting big things, and was not let down, in fact i was quite shocked by her writing. I read the book in a day, give or take, and could not put it down, literally chapter after chapter i devoured it and wanted to know more. Its about a girl called Lexi who was in an accident that has left her with amnesia and she can not remember the last 3 years of her life, the book sees her going off and trying to join all the puzzle pieces together to map her life out, her new "married" life, but along the way there are some twists and surprises that not i (The reader) or even Lexi (the character) was expecting! I LOVEDDD this book, and it has made Kinsella one of my new favourite authors, i hope to read a little more from her this year. Such a feel good book for when you just need a little pick me up!
5/5 Stars

Book 8 - Can you keep a secret (Sophie Kinsella)
Okay, so i loved the previous book so much, i decided to go straight in with another one of hers. It had the same sort of plot outline, a pretty girl Emma who is slightly clumsy and awkward if not somewhat "normal", has a boyfriend but isn't in love with him and falls for another dark, tall handsome gent. The difference this time was she had fallen in love with her boss (who no one had ever seen face to face) Jack. She had met him a few days before while travelling on a plane and had revealed all of her darkest secrets when she thought the plane was going to crash and she was about to die. Okay, the plot was a little weak, if not at times.. "obvious". I literally felt like i knew what was going to happen by the end of the book, (it wasn't hard to figure out, she would end up with him etc) but i couldn't fall in love with Jack.. there was something about him that didn't make him like the last main character from her last book, i just didn't take to him and his ways. Also the big end revel, or the ending in general to me was just BLAH and i didn't like the secret nor the way the story was finished up. I wouldn't say its a total disappointment i would just say its not one of my favourites from her, nor do i plan on reading this one in a hurry again.
2/5 Stars

Book 9 - You're the one that i don't want (Alexandra Potter)
WOW this book, i feel.. like i have so much to say, its about a girl called Lucy who at 19 thought she had met the man of her dreams and he was her one true love in the form of Nate, only to then be dumped by him and find out he has since got married. 10 years on and even though she has had relationships with other guys she cant seem to forget Nate and the true love they once shared. They kissed under a bridge in Venice when the bells were ringing at sunset and according to an old legend this means they are bound to be together for eternity. So it seems like fate when Lucy, who now lives and works in New York suddenly bumps into Nate and he is in the middle of a divorce. It's PERFECT right? ... urm no, they now find out they are not well suited and that in fact what they once thought was a great love was actually more like lust, but that little old legend will not leave them alone and even though they break up again, they keep bumping into each and fate keeps bringing them to one another in some form. The book was so predictable, i knew everything that was happening before it did, it was unrealistic and i couldn't love any of the characters, not even Lucy. Nate was an idiot, from the get go and i knew i wouldn't like him, and then along came a guy called Adam, who is supposed to be the man that drags Lucy away from Nate and makes her realise what true actually love is, but he's even worse to like let alone love. I imagine him as a 60 year old man (even though that's not what he is described as in the book) i also imagine him to be homeless, so its not great to try and imagine Lucy and him together romantically. It was a light read, with a terrible ending and very blah writing! I wouldn't recommend this book at all.
2/5 Stars

Book 10 - The Wedding (Nicholas Sparks)
This book took me a while to get into, and even though i hadn't read anything about it or knew anything that happened in the book, i easily guessed and picked up on the fact that it was a slight sequel to the book The Notebook, by the same author. This story centres around Jane and her husband Wilson, as they try to plan the wedding for their daughter Anna, you learn that Jane's parents are Alley and Noah (Who are in The Notebook) and you also learn, Jane was one of the children who visited her parents frequently while they were in the care home. The book centres around the fact that the marriage between Wilson and Jane has been going a little sour lately and so Wilson discovers some new ways to court or win his wife's love and affection back around, all while trying to plan an amazing wedding for their daughter Anna. Told through Wilson's eyes, the book gives us an insight into the love one man feels for his wife and how he struggles to show her that love in the same way she witnessed her parents show their love for one another. If I'm honest, it wasn't one of my favourite reads ever, and again, if I'm honest, it didn't leave me excited to pick up a second book by Nicholas, if anything i found that i would much rather have snuggled on the sofa with some hot chocolate and watched this book as a film rather then read about it, it also made me think of weather or not i would have enjoyed reading The Notebook, (as i never did). I enjoyed the film, but I'm not sure i could have said the same about the books. He's just not one of my favourite writers, although i do love to watch his stories be made into films, such as Dear John and The Notebook.
3/5 Stars

Book 11 - Tell No one (Harlan Coben)
Harlan is one of my favourite writers ever, he gets into your head and makes you want to solve the cases of his stories, they usually have something to do with someone who died or went missing etc. This story was pretty much the same, a wife and husband together and in love, the wife goes missing and then is found 3 days later dead! 7 years later and the husband is trying to live his life the best he can without the true love of his wife, when suddenly notes, letters, texts and emails start arriving all directed at him and all from the same person it would seem, but surly it cant be, his wife is dead right? This story is brilliant and will have you guessing from beginning to end. It stars David and his wife Elizabeth and the journey to the truth and justice. I didn't have a clue who it could be or what was happening until literally the last chapter, so don't spoil it for yourselves by reading that chapter first! It is a murder mystery that you will not regret reading! It has also now been made into a french film, which i am hoping to still watch in the future. I'm also going to tell you that as a fan of the TV show Pretty Little Liars this book really reminded me of that story plot! :)
5/5 Stars

Book 12 - Promise you won't tell (John Locke)
This was the first book i had read from Mr Locke and i was quite impressed, it was witty and fast paced, it had me guessing the whole way along, never knowing what could possibly happen next. It was, as they say, a real page turner. Its stars Dani Ripper who is a private investigator and she ends up with the case of Riley, a young school girl who cant remember everything that happened to her at a party one night and she thinks she may have been molested by some of the school guys based on what she's been hearing around the school. Dani gets sucked up into the world of these kids and trying to solve if a crime really did happen to Riley. I LOVED the character of Dani, she was a kick ass, independent hardworking female who has a super fast and smart wit about her. The writing was good, as i said i didn't want to stop and had to keep turning the pages to get to end, i needed to solve the case myself. In this story it also mentioned a few other characters such as a Callie (An assassin) and a Donavon (another assassin), after i did some research i found out Mr Locke also writes stories about them as characters and some books all intertwine. This book wasn't what i was expecting and it made me love Locke as a writer, and made me want to read more of his books.
5/5 Stars

Book 13 - Teacher Teacher (John Locke)
I enjoyed my first John Locke book so much, i had to have another one of his. It's almost like a drug, i needed more of his writing and i craved it. However, this one, while still good.. didn't get me as excited as the first. I felt annoyed throughout some of it and just couldn't get in to certain parts. It centres around Dani Ripper again as a private investigator and this time her case is of another school student, a Shelby from an all girls school who says she's having a sexual relationship with her female school teacher, a Beth Conroy. Within the book, you find out that Dani is a little confused about her sexual orientation and so she's liking women and men at the moment. I write this because while investigating what is going on, Dani starts to fall for the Female teacher who has been accused of an indecent relationship with a student. I also write this, as this book had lots of sexual bits in, between lots of different people including teachers, students, parents and private investigators. This book left me feeling confused, the twists and turns i experienced were hard to keep up with, all the lies and all the true stories being told were also hard to maintain. Once again witty (in parts) and very fast paced, another book that made me want to keep turning the page to uncover the truth, but one that didn't leave me as satisfied as i would hope. Again those familiar characters from Mr Locke's other books have mentions here and there but i just felt this book wasn't all about the case, like his previous book i had read but more about how Dani is coping with all her mixed emotions, feelings and sexual frustrations.
3/4 Stars

Book 14 - Casting call (John Locke)
OK, i enjoyed the first book and the second wasn't as good but it wasn't bad, so i figured i should give John Locke one last chance to wow me as a writer. I picked a non Dani Ripper book  of his this time to see the difference. Here's what i got from it, a man named Bobby has split from his wife, there is a TV show that challenges people to do things without anyone else knowing they are doing it, if you succeed you gain points, points mean thousands of pounds, the things you are asked to do is sleep with people, show strangers parts of your body and even kill people. It was a complete waste of a book, i hated everything about it, the story plot was the most ridiculous thing i had ever read, made no sense and in no form was believable. Parts of the book were too explicit for instance with the beatings of women, and the way some were held hostage. It never fully answered questions, i mean, What ever happened to Betty? Did they really die at the end? it was a utter waste of my time and i was so glad when i finished it. I guess i only read it to the end hoping the end would be so amazing that it would make up for all of it, but NO, in fact its completely put me off any more John Locke books. Thanks but no thanks.
0/5 Stars

Book 15 - Tempt me (Isabel Morin)
After 3 straight books on crime, thriller and mystery, i decided it was time to read a little romance novel. I found this on my kindle in the free section and went for it. I'm actually quite impressed with this book and writer as i had never heard of her. The story is about a painter called Nina who moved to New York to full fill her lifelong dream of paining and selling her portraits, After it doesn't work out she decides to move back home and settle for a more mainstream job, but while attending her going away party she meets and is instantly attracted to a Mr Ian Sinclair. Ian of course feels the same way about her, and they hit it off immediately. I guess i didn't like that she went back to his place and slept with him within 2 hours of actually knowing each other, and i also didn't like the ending of the "moving in for a vacation" as it seemed a little unrealistic. All of the usual stereotypes were there of course, Nina is a struggling painter, and Ian is a multi millionaire that could offer her the world. It is a cliche and has been done so many times yet i still enjoyed it. I would say this book has some erotic parts in, as the writer describes in great detail how and what they are doing during all the sex that they have, which is very frequent. Apart from it being too short in my opinion and very predictable, i actually enjoyed a little light love story. It also reminded me so much of Sex and the City, especially when she and him were together through out New York City and i guess all the sex helped too.
3/5 Stars

Book 16 - Keep me (Isabel Morin)
I found out that there was a sequel to the book Tempt Me, so i decided to read it too, as the first book felt short and like i had said, i wasn't too happy with the ending, i felt like i needed a better ending to the story and this book could contain that. It picks up right where it left of with Nina and Ian now living together as a couple and they are still as active as ever in the bedroom, and it also sees Nina doing lots of what she loves, her paintings, everything seems like heaven apart from the fact that Ian is paying all of Nina's expenses as she has no real job at the moment. So when parties happen with Ian's friends or when parents are involved, whispers start happening, and things are said about how Nina is using Ian for his money or how she has just settled into this rich lifestyle of get whatever you want. This of course offends her and she goes through a whole part of the book where she is unsure of if she actually fits into his life and his world with his family and friends or will they always see her as a scrounger. This is until she actually starts selling her paintings and bringing in her own money. The story has a better ending as it is rounded up and completes the books series. Of course it was a predictable ending as you would expect in a love story, a kinda, "and they lived happily ever after.." but i still enjoyed the book series, maybe because i needed something to take my mind of the rubbish i had read before. I had never heard of this writer, and i wouldn't say she is a favourite of mine, but if you want a short read (as both her books have been too short for me) and you don't mind some exoticness thrown in, along with a whole lot of predictable then i would give her a go.
3/5 Stars

Book 17 - Incidents in the life of a slave girl (Harriet Ann Jacobs)
This book is basically a dairy style story of events that occurred in the life of a young girl in the period of slave ships. Names are changed but its basically a day by day account of what she had to put up with and endure. Now, this book is not for the faint hearted as its not a topic which when spoken about is taken lightly let alone when reading about actual experiences that someone went through. It took me a while to really get into it..There was a lot of describing all these little moments before her life actually changed altogether, and from half way in the book that is when you proper feel for her and get into the rhyme of the story, but none the less it was heart breaking to read about some of the things that happened in her life. If you haven't i would strongly suggest you google her, there are lots of different things which come up about her, and if you're like me and you want to delve into these subjects a little more, as you just cant comprehend how and why these things happened, then reading up a little on her life would be brilliant. I don't want to spoil too much of this story, as i said its more a diary or journal that she kept in those days, but it does basically tell us everything that happened to her including how she hid in a small space in her nans house for around 7 years watching her children grow up while they were unaware that she was even there. The book for me took long to get into, but once i was, i didn't want to put it down, yes i cried while reading it but as i said.. not a light read at all, defiantly not for the faint hearted.
4/5 Stars

Book 18 - Silence (Natasha Preston)
Ive never in my life read a book with so many spelling and punctuation mistakes in my life, like literally. Whoever proof read this, needs to be fired, they did NOT do a good job. The story is about a girl called Oakley who stopped talking when she was 11 years old and no one knows why or understands why, she wont explain anything and just goes on living her life as normal as possible except for the fact that there is no speech from her. Her best friend Cole, who happens to be the hot neighbour next door is the only person who still treats her just the same as when they were kids growing up and for that reason she starts to develop feelings of more then just friendship for said neighbour. The story rounds up with us finding out that she was sexual assaulted as a kid by one of her dads friends and her dad knows and also allowed it to happen while he watched, he then told her she wasn't allowed to ever talk about it or mention it to her mother who would just die if she found out. Apparently this little girl took that to heart and thought her mum would ACTUALLY die therefore didn't say anything, like  EVER AGAIN! I had loads of problems with this story, 1.. how did the mother and father not suspect that could have been an obvious trigger for her being mime, 2.. the mistakes (i just cant stand it). 3.. the story felt like it was written for 14 years olds, (apart from the fact it was a hard subject to stomach and read about), 4.. The mistakes, 5..It finished kinda abruptly and we didn't really find out what happened to anyone properly, and 6..The mistakes!! It was kind of a soft read, i wanted something light and easy after reading the previous book but boy this was rubbish. You kinda fall for the romance that is blossoming between the two kids until you realise your not falling in that "Oh my god, he is so hot" way but more like "Aw, ain't he cute for her.. buying her sweets.." do you see my problem here!? Also i gathered by the first 4 chapters that she had been sexually assaulted so how did her parents not think of anything related to that! I mean, i get her dad..trying to cover up but the mother should have been smarter.
2/3 Stars

Book 19 - Broken Silence (Natasha Preston)
Okay, here's my issue i realised that the previous book finished kinda rubbish because there was a second book, a carry on..if you want. Now from my past reads this year i should have learnt not to get out another book by the same author if i didn't like the first one, correct? Right, well there was something inside of me that even though i didn't like the first part of the story i needed to know what was going to happen next, to Oakley, who was now talking and had moved all the way across the world, to her dad who had been arrested, her mother who had found out her life had been one big lie and to Cole the boy who she left behind when she moved away. I am actually glad that i DID read the second book, yes the mistakes were still there and again the proof reading before publishing was non existent, but at least this story had more to it, it was more intense & more interesting..now that Oakley was talking she was more independent and fierce and we kinda needed to see that after how much of a whine she had been in the first book (obviously she had good reasons and all that). This story finished okay and rounded everything up nicely, i suppose my only ugh was that it felt rushed.. the whole ending was kinda like "Ohh, hang on a minute..how old are these kids again?", but it did end in a way that made you awe at them too. This book seemed more of a grown up read i suppose which was i guess what i wanted. ALSO throughout both books the whole American/English writing really annoyed me, at times it would be "hes walking up my porch and now hes on my drive way" then suddenly it would be all "Do you wanna watch Hollyoaks?" The way the writer does these things is annoying, its almost like she herself is unsure if she wants it to be set in America or in England, i See potential in her writing but she needs time and space to develop herself a little more!
3/4 Stars