Gotta Love Politics

 Love in the political world is a rare thing to see or encounter. So many things we think are real turn out to be fake. Below are some books that I think you might like.

The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?

Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.

Alexis is bewildered until suddenly pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. Turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot candidate challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious scandal is poised to sink his career—and jeopardize Alexis’s job—until a solution is proposed: he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?

Headsup: this one is spicy and not for kids.

Let's come of the heels off of a nasty break up by reinventing yourself into a new daring version of yourself. ✔ Proceed to lie about your real name to the super hot stranger who comes to your rescue.✔ Finding out that your almost ONS (stupid fire)is running for Governor✔Fake date for two months without catching feelings: Epic Fail. Two Opposites clash and attract in this juicy novel. Word of caution: if you are a Conservative, this book may be too Liberal to your taste.

Stars,Stripes and Summer Nights by Celeste Dador

Abigail Cary-Alzona, eldest daughter of President Constance Alzona, just wanted one normal night as a teenager. But after an impulsive pizza order later makes her front-page news, Abby is officially exiled to a Wi-Fi-free country inn for the summer, along with her little sister, Elle.

The inn belongs to Gabriel Calabrese’s family. Gabriel is sarcastic, camera-obsessed, and definitely not dazzled by presidential perks (also, kind of the reason for the whole pizza fiasco). But Abby’s determined to make the most of her time away from the White House—with a summer bucket list full of things real teens get to do. Pool parties. Picnics. Maybe even a first kiss.

As she and Elle dive into small-town life, Abby starts to see what makes Gabriel tick. And maybe, just maybe, she’s falling for him. . . .

A YA novel

A First Daughter, who always puts her family first, yearns to spend her last summer in high school like a normal teen. Until a little incident (ahem....Pineapplegate), she is sent to spend the summer with her aunt who is currently living in small town, US of A. Not the Summer Abby planned. Especially since the whole cause of Pineapplegate will be there too. And don't think she'll forgive him because he's smart, hot, funny, and did I mention hot?

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance by Bethany Turner

Wes left Addie at the altar two decades ago . . . and that was supposed to be the end of the story.

When her life crashes and burns in a flurry of secrets and redacted information, Addie Atwater-Elwyn hightails it home to the tiny mountain town of Adelaide Springs, Colorado--back to living with her dad, back to working a low-paying job, back to a life of disappointments. Growing up, nobody expected their local girl to become a high-ranking CIA analyst, married to a gorgeous CIA operative. But that was Addie's life until she lost . . . well, everything.

Now she's trying to pick up the pieces of her broken life with a little help from old friends. But there's one old friend she knows her life is better without--Wesley Hobbes, her childhood sweetheart who left her standing at the altar when they were eighteen years old. Truth be told, Addie would be perfectly content never seeing Wes's stupid face ever again--which makes it very inconvenient that he's now a beloved senator and presidential frontrunner, his face everywhere she looks. But that has nothing to do with Addie personally. He might make history, but in her book, he is history.

So, when the unwelcome Wes appears back in their hometown, no one rolls out the red carpet--not Addie and not an entire town that was forced to pick sides (and unanimously chose Addie) decades ago. Senator Hobbes certainly won't win the popular vote in Adelaide Springs.

Wes, meanwhile, is sitting on a few secrets of his own, including the political scoop of the decade: he'd seriously rather gouge his eyes out than spend another minute in politics, much less ever go anywhere near the White House. Addie knows there has to be more to the story, and her curiosity is clouding her judgment. You can take the girl out of the CIA, but it's not so easy to shake the CIA out of the girl. Of course, it's not just curiosity (and the acknowledgement that his face isn't so stupid after all) that's been reawakened inside her. But after more than two decades, it's too late. Wes and Addie already had their chance. Right?

This one is a sweet Second chance Romance. Addie is, maybe just slightly, bitter still about Wes leaving her at the altar 22 years ago. The 40 year old Former CIA analyst widow can't seem to wrap her brain around the man Wes has become. Wes just wanted to take a teeny, tiny brake from his Presidential campaign in his childhood hometown. He didn't expect that the first person he'd meet would be the one he hurt the most in the town he hurt the most. Rebuilding this burnt bridge is going to take some work. Word of caution: Be prepared for spoilers from her other books.

First Lady by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

When Cornelia Litchfield Case, the widow of the recently assassinated president, learns that his successor, a widower, expects her to continue to fulfill the responsibilities of the first lady, Cornelia disguises herself so she can have some time on her own, meets a man with something to hide.

A widowed former First Lady goes on a unannounced (she ran away from her Secret Service Detail) road trip across America. Along the way she crosses paths with a snarky teenage waif and her infant sister, and a very jaded, very handsome undercover reporter. It was funny, heartwarming, and romantic all at once.

I hope you all manage to find a new read. As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

You have to hold it in

 Recently, LB2 and a family member has been building up their own little ebook library. In passing, I saw a few of the authors were ones I already had works from. I enthusiastically said they could get a copy from me and they didn't have to go hunting around for the rest of the series. I got them covered.

I was, to put it bluntly, rebuffed. LB2 said that if he wanted something from me he'll ask and sent me on my way. My family member said that I got her all confused and ask me to go. They want to build on their own terms, with little assistance from me.

I won't lie and say it didn't hurt. It did. I was trying to be nice. But, mature me understands that it is cruel to deprive a fellow bookworm the joy of cultivating their own little library. Immature me will just have to get over herself.

So I will now try, keyword here is try, to let them be. If they want book recommendations or more, let them come to me. I don't want to ruin that new book buzz for them and it seems like I had been. It stings even more because I just had a massive blip and lost a good portion of my books. So it hurts. Like I just lost I don't know how many books and I will have to try and recover.

Honestly, I want to ugly cry. The kind where snot dribbles down your face and you eye swell up. But one must keep it together. I lost some music and books that I can probably get back. But all my ASMR...😭 My little stories that I'd listen to as I worked😭😭😭. I will recover. Eventually. So while that happens, I will not be focusing on writing about books so much. Let a girl heal.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

To Love Royalty

 Like most little girls who had a diet of Disney princess movies when little, I used to daydream and play pretend about being a princess. As I grew older, I grew out of that. But every now and then, a book comes along and feeds that childhood fantasy. Below are a few of my favorites.

Royals by Rachel Hawkins now known as Prince Charming

Meet Daisy Winters. She's an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who's nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. 

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince's roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown--and the intriguing Miles--might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.  

That totally awkward moment when your older sister throws your whole family into the limelight by getting engaged to a crown prince. You just wanted to forget about prom, now you have to navigate the complex world of royalty. Not how you imagined your summer going. There is a sequel I haven't read.

The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle

An ordinary summer goes royally awry when a prince and princess move next door, bringing their handsome bodyguard with them, from New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle.

Piper Evans: elementary school teacher by day--avid romance reader and anonymous podcaster by night. She has a quiet, reclusive life, taking care of her mother, who lives with mental illness, avoiding her regrettable ex, who bartends in town, and trying to make inroads in the tight-knit island community that still sees her, five years in, as an outsider.

And she's happy with how things are--really--until British royals rent the property next to hers and their brooding bodyguard decides she's a security threat. Piper quickly realizes that one person's fairy tale is an ordinary woman's nightmare as a media frenzy takes over the island and each run-in with Harrison Cole is hotter and more confusing than the last. But beneath Harrison's no-nonsense exterior lies a soft heart, one that could tempt a woman who's sworn off attachments into believing in white knights.

But when Piper finds herself smack in the middle of a royal scandal that rocks the island she'll need more than Harrison's strong arms to shield her--she'll have to do a little rescuing herself. With careers, hearts, and friendships on the line, Piper and Harrison will have to decide what they're willing to give up for a chance at their own happily ever after.

Can you imagine what it'd be like if, out of nowhere, Prince Harry and Princess Meghan moved next door to you in your sleepy little town? That would be totally bonkers, right? Especially if they had a super handsome and distracting guard....... Let's be honest, who wants a prince when a guard is available? Just me? Okay............

Good enough for a Princess by Carol Moncado

Crown Princess Adeline of Montevaro has her life planned out for her: get her Master's in international relations, marry nobility, produce an heir, inherit the throne. There's no room for romance with the single father she meets when their cars collide on an icy winter night. Parliament - and her father - would never approve. Charlie Brewer grew up without roots. The son of an archaeologist father and anthropologist mother, he either traveled along or lived with his aunt and uncle in the States. He's determined to give his daughter the stability he never had. He also wants to give her a mom, but the beautiful European he's falling for refuses to move to Serenity Landing, Missouri permanently. He won't move. She can't stay. What will happen when they try to forget each other by dating someone "acceptable"? They find themselves drawn together by one of the girls in the after school program Addie supports - a girl who happens to be Charlie's daughter. How will Charlie, and his daughter, feel when they find out the woman they've both fallen for is a... princess? A trip halfway around the world shows Charlie and Addie how much they long to be together - and how impossible it is. Is there any way he can prove he is Good Enough for a Princess? 

Single Dad meets Princess in this lovely Christian story. It's honestly screams "Hallmark, come make me into a film". Well, until that happens, I will just have to re-read this for the umpteenth time. Book 1 of a series.

Dating the Prince by Lindzee Armstrong

He's a prince with a PR problem. She's a free spirit desperate for money. Can a fake engagement solve both their problems?

His royal highness Prince Alexander of Durham has a serious PR problem. His cheating celebrity ex-girlfriend destroyed his heart and spread lies about the breakup in the press. With a new crisis manifesting daily, Alex will do anything to get back in his country's good graces.

Libby needs a new beginning, and Durham seems like the perfect choice. Her ex was a cheater, and bankruptcy has brought her parents to the brink of divorce. At least her new job as a nanny will help ease her family's financial burdens while offering her a fresh start.

When a lucky penny nearly gets Libby arrested, Alex is her unexpected hero - she just doesn't know he's also a prince. After their first disastrous date is caught on camera, the public swoons over the possibility of a new relationship. A fake engagement could solve both their problems. Can these two opposites commit to a lie, or will the sparks between them burn down the entire charade?

Nanny meets Crown Prince. Only she doesn't know he's a prince, much less Crown Prince. Until she does. Which leads to some super tense moments that are full of tasty dialogue. This one will leave you grinning like the Cheshire Cat. It is part of a series.

The Engagement with the Prince aka Marrying a Prince by Anne Marie Meyer

Marianna Hedley is finally getting her life back together after she walked in on her boyfriend of three years in the arms of another woman. Now she’s pretty much sure that the emergency room where she’s a nurse and he’s a doctor is the very last place she wants to be. So when she gets wrapped up in helping out a handsome man with a head injury—at the beckoning of his mother—she reluctantly agrees. Once she’s sure this foreign stranger is safe, she leaves the ER and swears to never come back. Prince Leonardo DeLuca is in America with one mission—propose to the woman he doesn’t love because his parents think it will be the best thing for their country. When he is out for a run and hits his head, he takes this opportunity to fake amnesia with the hopes that his parents can’t force him to marry someone he doesn’t remember. Right? Wrong. His parents don’t care and try to convince him that he will grow to love the woman he hates. Desperate to get away, Leo “accidentally” proposes to Marianna as part of a plan they’ve concocted. She’ll get away from her ex and his parents will have to go along with the proposal because if not, then they would have to admit to the press that the soon-to-be king is not of sound mind. Everything was going according to plan, until Leo and Marianna soon discover how kind and generous the other person is and their feelings blossom from friendship to something more.

Another Hallmark ready novel. If fake relationships that become real ones are your fave trope, here's a recommendation. It is book 4 of a series but each can be read as a standalone.

Hope you found your next read. As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Bonus Post : You best believe it!

 Season 2 of A Shop for Killers is coming out Today! I will keep this brief. If you didn't see season 1 yet, you might want to do that.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below. I'm going to be busy watching this so, bye.

A Belated Tenth Anniversary

     

Thursday, February 25 2016 @ 10:19 am was the date and time of my very first post. I never imagined that I would have been posting here this long. So much has happened since then.

It was a huge leap of faith to publish that first post. I remember be scared that I'd messed up somewhere that I kept checking it. Once I realized that I had not messed up, I still kept checking it because I couldn't believe that I had put my words out there. To be honest, I was somewhat giddy.

Through all these years, as I faced personal ups and downs, writing here has been one of the anchors in my day to day life. Talking to you all has been fun. Even though very, very, very, very few has messaged me back. I enjoy posting.

 

I hope we can hit new milestones together as we continue on as writer and reader. Here's to the future!

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Perfect Crown A review

 

As I mentioned before, I like to watch series that have already finished. I am not the best at waiting patiently when it comes to books and shows. I can be patient about everything else but that. So why, why I ask you, did I break my own rule and start Perfect Crown when only the first two episodes were out? Let me tell you.

First, the OST. A good soundtrack is one of the necessities of a successful show. The opening song here was a catchy pop song that had so much swag, I was held captivated until it finished. You know the type of song I'm talking about. It's that song you'd want playing in the background as you Lady boss your way through an ultra, mega makeover for that dream date you've had in mind since forever ago. And that was just the first song.

Second, the Cast. Our leading lady is the stunning and charismatic IU. Byeon Woo Seok is our handsome and charming male lead. They have an incredible chemistry on screen. Neither one of them outshines the other. And when you're that stunning, it says something. Their acting is as natural as breathing.

Lastly, the plot and directing. Good writing and directing is essential in a show. So far, it has taken a trope (arranged marriage with royalty) and made it new and fresh and modern. It has Intrigue, Comedy, Romance, and Drama. It is delivering on many different fronts. The visual shots were absolutely fantastic, dare I say cinematic. The pacing fast but not overly so. It left a craving for the next episodes. So, I was struck with the fact that I watched this as it aired as opposed to usual.

I want to applaud the screenwriter(s) and director(s) on a job well done. Part of the reason I've drifted to K-Dramas is the fact that the writing seems better than what I have seen so far in America. I mean, let's be honest, an American studio would've botched it. Also, I can't think of an American director who could make a show that feels like a K-Drama. If I am wrong here, you can let me know below. But so far, I've yet to see it. I think I said this before. All in all, I will definitely re-watch at some point.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

The Practical Guide to Love A Review

  

Right after I finished Siren's Kiss, I started The Practical Guide to Love. I was looking for something less intense that was sweet and funny. Thankfully I found it on my first pick.

It was 12 episodes but I honestly would've been fine with 16. While not as cinematic as SK, it was still beautifully shot. The storyline was a perfect blend of quirky humor and every day drama.The Practical Guide to Love was a joy to watch. My mouth was quirked up in a smile for most of the show.

I am just going to give you all the nouns that came to mind as I watched: funny, quirky, sweet, healing, heartwarming, comforting, and cute. It gave more than the name let on. Definitely putting this show in my favorites.

I may never find myself in a love triangle but I do understand letting oneself get sucked into the rut of the daily grind,that endless loop of work that never seems to end. Letting things fall by the wayside as you single-mindly focus on the work before you is something I think the majority of all of us can relate to. Watching a character struggle with this is so relatable.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.