The Sunday Post #12 (even though it's Monday)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 

showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is

coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

Sunday Post Meme

Yeah, yeah, I know it's not Sunday. 

But let's pretend, shall we? 

Work with me, people. 

Last week was a good one where I felt like I got a lot accomplished. Go me! I even treated myself by starting the weekend a little early and left the office around noon on Friday. Sure it was rainy and gloomy but did you miss the part where I said I left the office at noon? Yeah, a rainy day off trumps a Friday afternoon at the office every time. I headed straight to the post office where I mailed two fun packages: one to my Books 'n Bloggers Swap partner, Penni, and the other was a birthday gift to my friend Sarah. I love sending fun mail! (Side note: the package to GA delivered the very next day but the package staying right here in FL won't deliver until today. Go figure. #UnsolvedMystery) I also received my swap package from Penni and I can't wait to post about it in a couple days!

I took a little break from the Addicted Series Readalong (#AtCSReadalong) this past week so I could get to two books I had for review. Neverland by Shari Arnold was posted last week and Welcome Home, Cowboy (such an unfortunate, cheesy title for a good book) by Annie Rains will be posted next week during the blog tour. But as of yesterday I have jumped back into the Addicted world. *insert happy dance here*

Tuesday, April 12: Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Every Hopeless Romantic Should Read - I'm all about the swoon so it was fun to share some of my favorites. And see how many of you had read the same books or had them on your TBR.

Wednesday, April 13: Top 5 Wednesday: Books with Hard Topics: Such an interesting topic for T5W last week. And I loved hearing some of your favorites that tackled tough topics.

Thursday, April 14: My review of Neverland by Shari Arnold posted. A friend of mine *adores* this book and I was contacted by the author for a review. I wasn't blown away but it was an enjoyable Peter Pan retelling that had more emotion than I expected.

  

Finished: Neverland by Shari Arnold 

Finished: Welcome Home, Cowboy (Hero's Welcome #2) by Annie Rains

Current: Hothouse Flower (Addicted #2.2, Calloway Sisters #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

The only pretties added were courtesy of my swap partner, Penni. And I'll wait and share those when my swap recap post goes up in a couple days. Suffice it to say I was a happy girl!

How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 

Fill me in... I'd love to hear!

Review: Neverland by Shari Arnold

Neverland by Shari Arnold

Series: No

Genres: Young Adult, Fairy Tale Retelling

Release Date: April 7, 2015

Format: Kindle

Source: Received from Author

Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon

Synopsis

It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.

But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.

Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again? 

In this modern-day reimagining of Peter Pan, will Livy lose herself to Neverland or will she find what she’s been searching for?

My Thoughts

Neverland is a sweet and charming Peter Pan retelling. Livy is struggling to accept the death of her younger sister Jenna four months ago. Her family has splintered with her mother focused on her political campaign and her father barely there at all, shut away in his study. Livy has become a fixture at the children's hospital, spending all her time reading to the kids. It's there she meets a charming but mysterious boy named Meyer. As Livy grows closer to Meyer, through one adventure after another, she is also spending time with her enigmatic new tutor. And Livy wonders if either of these new people in her life are what they seem.

Neverland had a whimsical feeling that you would expect from a Peter Pan retelling. While the first half had a slower pace, and Livy's dialogue sometimes felt too formal for a 17 year old girl, there was plenty to enjoy here. Livy was unselfish to a fault, trying desperately to save a child in order to make some sense of her own loss. It was easy to fall for Meyer's boyish charm while I was suspicious (and a little creeped out) by tutor James. Neverland, both the book and the place, was enchanting. Fans of retellings, particularly retellings with real emotion, will surely enjoy this one.

3.5/5 Stars 

Note: Many thanks to author Shari Arnold for providing me with a copy of Neverland for review. 

Do you enjoy retellings? What's your favorite?

Top 5 Wednesday: Books With Hard Topics

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at GingerReadsLainey.

Click HERE for a complete list of participants and future topics.

This week's theme is books with "hard" topics - like illness, mental health, sexual assault, etc. I can't believe for a minute I actually drew a blank. I'll blame a mid-morning sugar crash since I didn't have my McD's sweet tea this morning. But then I regained my senses and came up with plenty of possibilities. Here are my Top 5:

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
Eleanor and Park were incredible characters that completely charmed me. But Eleanor's home life also hurt my heart. 

Stolen - Lucy Christopher 
Gemma is kidnapped from an airport and taken to the Australian Outback. Her captor? A man who loves her and has planned this new life for years. I tried hard to hate Ty but found it impossible.

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover 
There's very little I can say about Hopeless without spoilers. But between Sky and Holder it covers several issues.  

Addicted To You - Krista & Becca Ritchie
This remarkable book (the first in my favorite series *ever*) deals with addiction in a heartbreakingly real way. Lily and Lo's struggles aren't pretty but I fell in love with them and have cheered them on throughout the series.

Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott
After 5 years with her abductor, Alice has lost all hope of salvation. To this day I'm not sure if I'm glad I read this book or not. 

Do you enjoy books that tackle tough topics? 
Have you read any of these?

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Every Hopeless Romantic Should Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme 

created by The Broke and the Bookish.

I'm a sucker for romance. And I kind of demand it in my books. Hopefully it's in the forefront but if not it needs to be in there somewhere. If there's no swoon factor... seriously, why bother? *wink* So if you're in the mood for a big heaping dose of l'amour, here are my Top Ten picks.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - I think the term 'epic love story' was created for this tale of Tatiana and Alexander.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Not strictly a romance novel, but James Malcom Mackenzie Fraser is seriously swoon-worthy.

Leo by Mia Sheridan - The love these two characters shared started in childhood and never waned.

Easy by Tammara Webber - Watching Lucas and Jacqueline fall in love brought on all the feels.

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover - The evolution of Ridge and Sydney's relationship wasn't easy but it was GOOD.

Wait For You by Jennifer L. Armentrout - One word: CAM. Looking for your next boyfriend? CAM.

Kiro's Emily by Abbi Glines - This one packs more of an emotional punch when read as part of the Rosemary Beach series, but even on its own there is no denying the love Kiro has for his beloved Emily.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - The lighter side of romance but it completely charmed me.

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves - Anna and T.J. I thought about them long after I read their story. I was captivated.

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover - It has as much heartbreak as it does romance, but it's worth every tear. 

So there are my top picks for some romance that's sure to make your heart beat a little faster and totally overuse the heart eyes emoji in your reviews. 

Do you read romance? What's the best love story you've ever read?

The Sunday Post #11

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 

showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is

coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:

Sunday Post Meme

Is it just me or was this past week like the week that would not end? I swear, I thought Friday would *never* get here. 

Monday was the annual meeting of our homeowner's association. Oh joy. I would love to skip it but my husband is the president of the HOA Board so yeah... I feel obligated to show. Entirely too much adulting going on this week.

But on the fun side, the Addicted Series Readalong #AtCSReadalong is still going strong and I'm loving it. As I predicted, I have fallen behind (me + full-time job + two books a week = not bloody likely). So yeah, I'm behind but whatevs. And (Sarah don't read this part) I'm actually taking a little break to read a YA that I received from the author for review and I felt bad about making her wait. Hopefully it will be a quick read and I can jump right back into the Addicted world.

Oh! And bonus... my husband is reading the Addicted series with me. :) He actually read Addicted To You and Ricochet at my urging about a year ago. But when I started the readalong I gave him the puppy dog eyes to read with me so he just finished Addicted For Now and started Kiss the Sky. I love it! It is beyond awesome to be able to talk about the books with him. It's also really interesting to get his take on the characters and certain events in the books. Thanks for being such a trooper, Robert!♥

It was a fairly quiet week at Girl Plus Books. Between work and trying  to read, read, read I didn't take a lot of time for blogging (but I did quite a bit of visiting and commenting!). So here's what happened last week:

Tuesday, April : Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish People You Should Be Following - Where I shared some love and talked about some of my favorite bloggers, vloggers, and a few others. Loved all the discussion it generated and I had a great time visiting everyone else's TTT posts and checking out the bloggers, bookstagrammers, etc that you follow.

Tuesday, April 5: Books 'n Bloggers Swap: I'm so glad I was able to sign up for this one just before the cut-off date. I've been emailing with my partner Penni and getting some goodies ready to mail out on Saturday. Putting together fun book mail is just as awesome as receiving it!

 

  

Finished: Kiss the Sky (Addicted #2.1, Calloway Sisters #1) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Current: Neverland by Shari Arnold

PHYSICAL COPIES:

   

KINDLE:

How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 

Fill me in... I'd love to hear!