Short-Take Reviews: Unbroken (Jay Crownover) & Tangled (Emma Chase)

UNBROKEN
Jay Crownover
Publication date: May 14, 2019
Series: Loveless, Texas #0.5
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Forever Yours & Netgalley



GOODREADS  *  AMAZON

S Y N O P S I S

When rodeo star Crew Lawton loses everything in a bad bet, he has no choice but to take a new job to pay off his debts – even if it means becoming the face of an expensive male skincare line. Crew is used to getting sweaty and rustling in the dirt, not posing for photo shoots. And he’s certainly not used to being bossed around by a woman who doesn’t even know the difference between bulls and broncs. But Crew owes money to dangerous criminals, and he’ll do anything Della says in order to pay them back and keep them far away from his family in Loveless, Texas…

The launch of her new men’s line for her family’s company means everything to Della Deveaux, and she’s not willing to let some rugged, arrogant cowboy ruin her campaign. Crew Lawton is the last man she would have chosen to represent her chic, sophisticated brand. Unfortunately, her father already invested millions in Crew’s stupidly handsome face. Yet the more time they spend together, Della and Crew realize that opposites doattract. But when the time comes for Crew to face his past mistakes, will he be able to protect his family…and the woman he’s come to love? 

M Y   T H O U G H T S

Jay Crownover has kicked off her new Loveless, Texas series with an opposites attract tale that checks all the right boxes. A gambling problem has sent rodeo star Crew Lawton toppling from the top of his field. He reluctantly accepts a modeling gig, the face of a new high-end men’s line, as a means to an end. He’ll do anything to pay off his debts and be free of the bookie who is now threatening his family. Della didn’t want Crew for her ad campaign but once he’s dropped in her lap she can’t deny his good looks and charisma. It was great fun to watch as these two lowered their walls, dropped their prejudices, and found a connection they’d never experienced before. These total opposites brought out the best in one another. While I found the plot line with Della’s father a bit much to be believed, I was willing to roll with it because everything else was so on-point. With a sexy cowboy, a good girl ready to get a little bad, some sexytimes and a little danger thrown in, Unbroken is a great start to a new series and has me ready for more.

4/5 STARS

TANGLED

Emma Chase

Publication date: December 31, 2013 

Series: Tangled #1

Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance

Format: Audibook

Source: OverDrive

GOODREADS  *  AMAZON

S Y N O P S I S

Drew Evans makes multimillion-dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He’ll tell you he has the flu, but we all know that’s not really true.

When Katherine Brooks is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

How can one woman turn a smooth-talking player into a broken, desperate man? By making the one thing he never wanted in life the only thing he can’t live without.

M Y   T H O U G H T S

I adored Emma Chase’s Royally series and was excited to read more. Tangled looked like the kind of rom-com that that would deliver all the feels. And while it was overall enjoyable there was also an aspect that left me wanting more. Drew is a total workaholic/manwhore and kind of a jerk, too. But he’s also pretty self-aware and didn’t try to pretend that he was Mr. Nice Guy. He meets his match in Kate – a new colleague who, according to his rules, is off-limits since they work together. A forced collaboration on a project has them spending time together and Drew discovers that he actually (gasp!) respects Kate. After that it’s the usual guy realizes he actually has feelings for the girl, guy screws up big time, girl books it, and guy tries to win girl back. My main issue is that I wasn’t totally convinced of Drew’s feelings and it sometimes felt he was just focused on winning. On the plus side, I liked that the story was totally from Drew’s POV (refreshing!), loved his relationship with his niece (and the swear jar he constantly donated to), and the humor than ran throughout the book. 

3.5/5 STARS


HAVE YOU READ EITHER OF THESE BOOKS? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Book to Movie Adaptations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: 

Book to Movie Adaptations

It's equal parts exciting and terrifying when a good book is adapted for the big screen. Because it can be awesome (The Hunger Games) or it can go horribly wrong (*cough* City of Bones *cough*). For my list, I'm only including adaptations where I've seen the movie and read the book so I could actually make a fair assessment.

      

It's been a long time since I read the trilogy but I do remember seeing the movie for the first time and thinking, "Yes! They got it right!" From the casting to the story to the sets... nailed it.

     

Here's an instance of the movie actually surpassing the book. I liked the book but I thought Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller truly brought those characters to life. 

      

This one is an example of not one but two great adaptations. After reading the book I watched the 2009 Swedish adaptation which was excellent and then saw the U.S. version in 2011 which was every bit as good (if not better).

     

This is another case where I might like the movie just a tad better than the book. There were times in the book where Bridget was a bit much to take, but in the movie Zellweger made Bridget funny and charming and relatable. And say what you will about Hugh Grant, but he plays the smarmy jerk role very well. :)

Loved this adaptation. Yes, there were some changes but I felt like they did so much right that I could overlook they few things I wasn't wild about. Loved Moretz, loved Kat and Denny, loved the music... big thumbs up.

      

This might be cheating since it was adapted as a TV mini-series and not a film, but I'm going with it anyway. While nothing could 100% encompass the epic nature of the book (I mean, it's 1,153 pages of Stephen King), the mini-series pulled me right in and I tuned in night after night to watch it unfold. Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe were total stand-outs.

      

I've gotta say, I'm not the biggest John Green fan. In fact, TFiOS is his only book that really did anything for me. But the movie adaptation really struck gold. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort became Hazel and Augustus and I was totally on board for it.

      

Amazing book... stunning film.

      

Back in the day when I first read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants it was a decent read. But subsequent re-reads had me finding all of the girls pretty insufferable. The movie version managed to lose the qualities that drove me crazy in the book and make the girls likable and really showcase their bond. I admit, I still can't help watching this if I ever see it on TV.

     

All my picks have been in no particular order, but I will say that Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda/Love, Simon comes in at #1. One of my favorite books ever is also my favorite movie adaptation. I was so nervous when I heard about the movie but there was no need. Because they nailed it. Yes, there were a few changes (Leah in love with Simon... say what??) but they managed to capture all the charm and sweetness and humor from Albertalli's amazing book and translate that to the screen. Nick Robinson was perfection as Simon Spier and the rest of the casting was just as spot-on. (Right down to Natasha Rothwell as Ms. Albright.) There's no telling how many times I've read the book and listened to the audio, and I've watched the movie over and over again. Love. It. ♥

Have you seen any of these?
What's your pick for best/worst adaptation?

The Sunday Post #154

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

• First week back to work after vacation is always fun. (Ahem... )
• @HiltonGrandVacations contacted me about a photo I posted on Instagram and asked to use it on their social media. How cool is that?! I had to sign a release and send them the pic and now I'm stalking their IG page to see if it shows up. 
• My niece stayed with us Friday night and we were in full-on girl's night sleepover mode. Makeovers, face masks, you name it. Good times. :)
• My mom has bronchitis and I'm a bit worried about her. Nothing to play around with at age 74.
• I had created a graphic/mood board for The Bride Test but I put together the review post so quickly (literally, moments before I walked out the door for vacation) that I totally forgot to include it in the review. Gah! So, whether it makes sense or not, I'm sharing it now because I was so happy with it. Humor me.

• Happy Mother's Day to those who celebrate! Whether you are a mom, have a mom, are a mother figure, have great memories of your mom... whatever the case may be, I hope you have a wonderful day. 

Tuesday, May 7
April Wrap-Up

Friday, May 10
Review: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

WHAT I READ IN THE LAST WEEK:

     

  

Intercepted (Playbook #1) - Alexa Martin
Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink #1) - Laura Kaye

Intercepted was so, so good and I am thrilled that I listened to it on audio. The narration by January LaVoy was just perfection. I was hoping to continue on with Fumbled on audio but when I checked OverDrive the wait was 10 weeks. Uh, no. I'll just pick up my physical copy, thank you very much. 

Hard As It Gets was... pretty good. It took me a week and a half to read it. It was interesting enough while I was reading but when I set it down I wasn't exactly thinking about it or itching to pick it back up. Still, I got sucked into the relationships between all the characters by the end so I'm sure I'll continue the series.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING: 

    

     

Unbroken (Loveless, Texas #0.5) - Jay Crownover

Long Shot (Hoops #1) - Kennedy Ryan

After finishing Crownover's Saints of Denver series I was still itching for more from her, so I picked up the arc for Unbroken, the prequel for her new series. I'm just getting into it but enjoying it so far.

Long Shot is my current audio read. I've been all about the sports romances lately and I was also eager to try something by Kennedy Ryan. I'm loving it so far but Sam and Amber have me so nervous! They've both warned me that it's super emotional so now I'm all on edge while listening, worried about what's going to happen next. 

PHYSICAL BOOKS: 

       

I was in total book-buying mode a week or so ago when I hit up Book Outlet online and went crazy. Book Outlet can be hit or miss for me but I was feeling like I hit the jackpot last week. I just unboxed my order yesterday and I plan on doing a separate post later this week to share what I got. (Spoiler: I got All The Books!)

KINDLE BOOKS: 

Top Secret - Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

A collab between Bowen + Kennedy is reason to rejoice. I pre-ordered this baby and can't wait to dive in.

eARCS FOR REVIEW: 

 

The Burning Shadow (Origin #2) - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Getting approved for Armentrout's latest Origin book that comes out in October?

Day. Made.

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

I'd love to hear about it!

Review: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

THE UNHONEYMOONERS 
Christina Lauren
Publication date: May 14, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Gallery and NetGalley



GOODREADS  *  AMAZON

S Y N O P S I S

Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion . . . she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.

Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.

Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is . . . Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.

M Y   T H O U G H T S

Enemies-to-lovers and fake relationships are not usually my jam. But leave it to Christina Lauren to not only make it work, but make me love it.

CHARACTERS.

It was easy to fall for both Olive and Ethan. I could relate to Olive having a sister who was “the golden one” and her being “the other one”, and loving and supporting her sister without being resentful. Olive was quite the pessimist but also managed to not be bitter. Ethan came across as so cold and dismissive at first and I had the biggest smile on my face as he slowly thawed and I was able to see the kind of guy he really was. The subtle changes as they started to realize there was something more happening between them were so well done that it was impossible not to pull hard for these two.

PLOT.

Like I mentioned, hate-to-love just isn’t my favorite trope. And I almost always steer clear of fake relationships. But, y’know, it was Christina Lauren and I can’t say no. The reasoning behind the “hate” part seemed reasonable and I totally understood Olive’s feelings toward Ethan. Their time in Hawaii while on the “honeymoon” was so hilarious. I adore good banter and this delivered big time. Olive and Ethan’s heckling and teasing was so on point and I was living for it. The pacing was perfection because by the time they returned home and the plot took a more serious tone, I was completely invested.

FAMILY.

Olive’s family was the best! I loved this big, messy, dynamic group who were so in each other’s lives and so crazy supportive. (Can I pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top have a book about cousin Diego?)

GRAND GESTURE.

I admit it, I’m a sucker for a grand gesture. Yes, I think real life should be just like the movies with impromptu musical numbers and grand gestures that make you swoon. And Christina Lauren totally brought it with the grand gesture. Sweet, adorable, swoony. Boom. *mic drop* I wanted to stand up and cheer.

OVERALL.

Simply put, The Unhoneymooners has it all. Sweet, funny, sexy, endearing, heartwarming, emotional… this was feel-good romance at its finest.

4.5/5 STARS

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. This does not impact my opinion of the book or the content of this review. I received no compensation and my review is voluntary.

April Wrap-Up

WHAT HAPPENED IN APRIL

• I completed the beginners yoga series in April. Not sure I'm a total yogi/convert but I enjoyed the instructor and sharing the experience with The Husband and my mom.
• Celebrated my younger sister's birthday. How is it she's getting older but I'm not? :)
• The Tampa Lightning didn't make it past the first round in the Stanley Cup play-offs. I no longer have a stake but I'm low-key pulling for the Carolina Hurricanes.
• Had my yearly eye exam for new glasses and contacts. And would like to say that daily wear multi-focal contact lenses must be made of platinum because they are freaking expensive. (I think I say this every year but it's true.)
• Took a week off (which lopped over into May) and enjoyed some much needed R&R.

WHAT I READ IN MARCH

I read/listened to ten books in April which is a repeat of March. No five star reads in April but I still read some really great books. The Bride Test and How To Save a Life were real stand-outs. 

Getting Schooled by Emma Chase | 4/5 stars

Salvaged* (Saints of Denver #4) by Jay Crownover | 4/5 stars

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren | 4/5 stars

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang | 4.5/5 stars

Flesh* (Flesh #1) by Kylie Scott | 3.5/5 stars

Skin* (Flesh #2) by Kylie Scott | 3/5 stars

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren | 4.5/5 stars

How To Save a Life by Emma Scott | 4.5/5 stars

Tangled* by Emma Chase | 3.5/5 stars

The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen | 4/5 stars

* denotes audiobook

FORMATS

Total Read: 10

2 physical books

4 e-books

4 audio books

2 ARCs

TOP OF THE HEAP

The Bride Test, How To Save a Life, The Unhoneymooners

THE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP

Skin

It was entertaining... but also pretty ridiculous.

THE ONE THAT MADE ME RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY

The Bride Test

I could have just kept on reading about Khai and Esme (and Quan). I love those characters.

THE ONE WITH THE AWESOME EPILOGUE

Salvaged

The epilogue mentioned every single main character from the Marked Men series plus the Saints of Denver series and my heart was bursting with the last look at the characters I'd come to love.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BLOG

I had 17 blog posts in April (down from 24 in March) but that's what a week away will do for you. I posted 5 reviews plus a series review (for the Saints of Denver) so I'm giving myself a gold star. I shared the things that make me pick up a book as well as my favorite rainy day reads. 

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING

      

Hard As It Gets  (Hard Ink #1) - Laura Kaye

Intercepted (Playbook #1) - Alexa Martin

I'm not exactly flying through Hard As It Gets. It's been a week and I'm 170 pages in. I enjoy it well enough while I'm reading it, but it's not like I think about it when I'm not reading or can't wait to pick it back up.  The exact opposite is true for Intercepted. I'm listening to this audio book every chance I get and seriously loving it. I adore both main characters, they act like adults (imagine that), and the conflicts are realistic, not over the top drama. I'm at about the 80% mark and don't want it to end!

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE READ IN APRIL?