Book Review: How To Love by Katie Contungo

From Goodreads

Before: 
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After: 
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice. 

My Review

2 "The Cover Got Me" Stars

I'm going to bother doing my usual superfluous summary thing, because the Goodreads synopsis sums it up the entire story. I saw this on Book Outlet a few weeks ago, and bought it just for the color. It's so visually appealing to me, and it even feels nice in your hands! It was cheap, pretty, and the synopsis sounded like something different from the usual YA contemporary.

Alas, it sucked.

Sawyer. My god, I hated him. 

He comes back into town and Reena unexpectedly meets him in a gas station. Sawyer had no idea she was pregnant, and only knows from the town gossip that she's now a mom. Once Sawyer finds out that the baby is actually his, he has next to no reaction. Okay, so you could write that off as temporary shock, right? Wrong. He's like that through the entire book. 

His attitude towards his daughter made me want to smack him on so many levels. He doesn't care that he's missed nearly two years of his child's life, is indifferent about seeing her, doesn't try and work out a visiting schedule with Reena, nothing. He was completely apathetic about everything.

I wanted to smack him throughout the entire book, to be perfectly honest. I suppose some might find him charming, but the way he spoke to Reena and acted around her was downright disrespectful to me. He's immature, selfish, and an all around ass. 

He's also an ex-addict, and while I'm not saying that people don't deserve a second chance...Reena is fine with immediately handing her daughter off to Sawyer, with no discussion or worry that the last time she saw him he was higher than a kite. I won't let my bird around a person like that without being certain they were clean first, never mind my dogs (I don't have kids, so I'm coming up with the closet thing :p).

Reena. This girl is the queen of whining! Not a page went by where she wasn't moaning about something or other. I get it, I do: life as a mom is hard, especially as a teenaged mother. However, Reena has so much more than most teen parents do, and every limit she has are self inflicted. She annoyed me beyond belief, complaining about anything and everything while enjoying:

• Being a high school graduate
• Going to college
• Having unlimited (FREE!!!) child care
• Having a steady job
• Having a boyfriend that genuinely likes her kid and is fine with her status as a mother
• Hanging out with a great best friend 
• Not struggling for money
• Living at home 

She has so much, and she's still not satisfied. I didn't care about her so called "issues" whatsoever.

She also only tended to care or think about her child when it was convenient for her. There were no thoughts about putting her daughter first in any situation, or being worried about Sawyer being back. 

I didn't buy the connection between Sawyer or Reena. At all. Not in the "before" or the "after". At most, Reena had a small crush on him. In the here and now, they had no chemistry and I just didn't feel it. It's not a love story, it's a convenience story. 

The before and the after didn't mesh up well. I felt like the before was way too prevalent in the story, and I was getting mostly useless information. I'll fully admit to skimming those sections. It interrupted the flow of the now, and didn't make for any character development. The ending was incredibly rushed; the last few pages left the impression of an absolute scramble for the author to wrap it up.

Some of the writing is incredibly odd, in what I think is an attempt to sound poetic. Things like:

"He smells the same, is the first thing I notice, like bar soap and things that grow in the ground." 

What does that even mean? Flowers? Onions? Worms? BODIES???

and

"He smiled, and I could feel it in my teeth."

What?

Needless to say, this was not the book for me, and I wouldn't recommend it. The storyline had so much potential, but the book had no redeeming qualities. This was my overall experience:

STATS:

Rating: 2 stars

Genre: Young adult (does not read like new adult), contemporary romance

POV: 1st person

Steam/sexual content: Non-exsistent 

Series: Standalone

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

Length: 389 pages

My own copy

Goodreads

- The Bibliophile Babe

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Would Be On My Syllabus If I Taught New Adult 101

Hey, ladies!

Today I'm joining in The Broke and The Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday meme. This week's theme is Top Ten Books That'd Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught X 101 (character development 101, YA contemporary 101, paranormal romance 101, world building 101, ect). A really fun topic, and one I enjoyed picking books for!

I picked New Adult 101. New adult tends to get a bit of a bad rap as being nothing but angst filled, insta-love laden trash. I won't deny that there's more than a little of that in there (Beautiful Disaster, anyone?), but if you dig around a bit you can find some truly amazing stories. New adult has quickly become my favorite genre, and it's a bit like a treasure hunt to find something amazing. I like the challenge! 

It's a bit difficult to define exactly classifies as new adult. Some say college only, but I've read a handful of books featuring 18 year olds just finishing high school that in no way read like young adult. I decided to ignore Goodreads' labels for the most part, and chose books featuring 18 to around 25 year olds. Incidentally, these have all been some of my favorites of 2015 so far. 

In no particular order:

10. Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan

Goodreads

Oh. My. God. This novel had so much depth and emotion! It gutted me and then put me back together in the most wonderfully intense way imaginable.
The character development in this story is off the charts. Archer is a mute and social pariah, and the lengths he went to help himself blew me away. It was a beautifully done story.

9. King by T.M. Frazier

Goodreads
My Review


It's no secret that I loved this book. It's not a perfect novel by any means, but holy crap does it ever step outside NA's comfort zone. Violence, homelessness, drugs, lies, sex, mystery, drama, a twisted love story you can't help but root for...King had it all. Truly one of the most unique NA's I've ever had the pleasure of reading. A dark and twisted romance!

8. Fighting Silence by Aly Martinez 

Goodreads

I'm such a sucker for a friends to lovers romance, and this book delivered in spades! The hero is barely in his twenties and is going deaf, all the while struggling to raise his two younger brothers. The topics were handled extremely well in my opinion. The connection he had with the heroine was tangible and so deep. I fell so hard for their story. 

7. Never Never (#1 and #2) by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Add to Goodreads


This three part novella series is such a twisty tale that keeps you guessing at every turn! The writers could not be more compatible. It's addictive and fascinating and keeps you on the very edge of your seat. Such a unique story.
Part one and part two are out now, and part three is suppose to be releasing sometime after Hoover's next release in November. No set date yet, though!

6. The Experiment in Terror Series by Karina Halle

Goodreads

Of course I have to include my favorite author and favorite series! This fantastically sexy, scary, and fast paced romantic horror series gets off to a rocky start, but by the second book you are completely captivated. There are 9 full length books and 3 novellas (without a doubt, Halle writes the best novellas), and I devoured them all in 11 days.

5. Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

Goodreads
My Review


L.H. Cosway is one of the most gifted writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading. She can put you smack dab in the middle of the story, so much so that you feel like you're the character!
Six of Hearts focuses around an illusionist, and I've never been so enthralled with a story. Some scenes gave me chills, they were so fascinating and intense! Murder, mystery, sex, mind tricks, and one of the best love stories I've read all year. 

4. Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Goodreads


This is not your typical student/teacher romance. It's raw, it's gritty, and it doesn't pull any punches. The characters are flawed and often unlikable, but that just added to such a plot. The writing is beautiful and the story felt very realistic. It wasn't something I'd go back and reread for pleasure (it took a lot out of me in some spots), but I am so glad I read it and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone. 

3. Easy by Tammara Webber 

Goodreads

This started out fairly standard for NA, but then it blew me away with such an incredibly honest and raw story. It deals with sexual assault, and it was beautifully handled. I loved everything about this.

2. Love, In English by Karina Halle

Goodreads

My god, I don't remember ever reading a book that changed by black and white view into such shades of grey. This was a fantastic novel, and is KHalle's best non-gritty contemporary (closely followed by #1 on this list). The writing is addictive, the characters beyond relatable and flawed, and it will really make you think. Just look at that summary!

He’s thirty-eight. I’m twenty-three.

He speaks Spanish. I speak English.

He lives in Spain. I live in Canada.

He dresses in thousand-dollar suits. I’m covered in tattoos.

He’s married and has a five-year old daughter.

I’m single and can’t commit to anyone or anything.

Until now. Because when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the f*#king truth.

1. Racing The Sun by Karina Halle

Goodreads
My Review

A fantastic love story that's based in Italy, and cemented my desire to travel there in the spring. One of the smartest NA heroines with the best outlook on love. The character arc was fantastic!

- The Bibliophile Babe 

Book Review: Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

From Goodreads

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City.

To the Green-eyed Lovebird:

We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

My Review

NOW

Matt in his thirties, and is a gifted photographer for National Geographic. He's a little jaded with life now that he's in the office instead of out in the field, his (now ex) wife cheated on him with a coworker and friend, and no matter how hard he's tried, he's never been able to shake his longing for a girl he loved more than 15 years ago.

THEN

Matt met Grace, a gifted musician, in college, and their connection was instant and strong. They quickly became best friends that morphed into lovers that turned into something intense, but undefined. After months of this, life slowly starts pulling them apart. He's offered a job with National Geographic that's nearly unheard of for someone of his age and experience, and her music professor wants her to tour with a few of his other students for more than a year in Europe. With lifelong dreams pulling at them and their never really talked about relationship on the line, they go their separate ways. 

NOW

When  Matt inexplicably spots Grace on the subway one day, he throws cation to the wind and posts a Missed Connections ad on Craigslist. With the help of one of her student, Grace (now a music teacher) finds the ad, and they slowly start falling back into what they used to be. Things are very different now, and as secrets are revealed, our lovers are put to the test yet again. 

3 "Did I Read What Everyone Else Did?" Stars

*clears throat and wipes sweaty palms*

Well...this is awkward. Quite literally every blog or Goodreads review I've read has done nothing but rave about this book. People give it insanely high ratings, and I don't think I've seen lower than 4.5 stars. Combing that with my slight obsession with Craigslist missed connections ads (have you read any of them? They're so damn funny!), I one-clicked this baby as soon as it went live on Amazon.

With that in mind, I was expecting this incredible/amazing/wondrous/insert adjective experience. And I did get that....for the first few chapters. After that everything fell apart for me. This barely escaped a 2 star rating.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

This novel is told in three sections: the now (Matt now, without Grace), the then (college Matt, with Grace) and the now (Matt now, with Grace). It's told in both Matt's and Grace's perspective, though Matt is a bit more prevalent. While many are labeling it new adult, I'd definitely classify it as adult, despite the bit where they're in college. 

I absolutely loved the first "now" portion. Matt's voice was so easy to fall into, I enjoyed his slightly jaded but still witty character, and despite the fact that he's still hung up on his college girlfriend, it didn't come across as desperate or obsessive. He viewed Grace as the one that got away, rather than "I know she'll come back to me someday...or else" that I was expecting. The banter he had going with his boss made me laugh out loud! 

Then I got to the "then", and while I enjoyed the first few chapters, it started going down hill. I loved the chemistry and easy familiarity that Matt and Grace instantly had, but that was pretty much it. This is where I started seeing everything coming from a mile away. I'd think "there's no way it's going there. That's way too obvious!", only to read on and find out that's exactly where it went! 

It was so incredibly frustrating to have such transparency in this story. I'm not exaggerating when I say I saw everything coming from the moment Grace's professor was introduced and when Grace and Matt first had sex. 

This book rode so heavily on the "big plot twists", banked so hard on the shock value for the readers, that the rest of the story just fell by the wayside. Once the stage is set for said twists to happen, the pacing became choppy, the characters flat, and the chemistry non-exsistant. I didn't want Matt and Grace to be together again, and both of their characters wound up being people I was glad to be rid of by the end of the book. Matt went from someone I enjoyed to someone I just didn't like, and Grace's character was at complete odds with the woman Matt describes. 

Despite its numerous issues, it was a very quick read and did have a few bits of truly beautiful writing, like this paragraph (I don't necessarily agree with this, but it is pretty) :

You can't re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life. It doesn't mean you can't love another or move on; it just means that the one spontaneous moment, the split second that you took the leap, when your heart was racing and your mind was muddled with What Ifs - that moment - will never happen the same way again. It will never feel as intense as the first time. 
At least, that's the way I remember it. That's why my mother always said we memorialize our past. Everything is better in a memory.

While this book was not for me, I wouldn't take my review as law. Everyone else has loved it, so ignore the black sheep and try it for yourself! Then you can come back and commiserate with me in my lonely existence. :p

STATS:

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Adult, contemporary romance

POV: 1st person, duel perspective

Steam/sexual content: Some steam, mild sex scenes

Warnings: Some mild drug use

Series: Standalone

Cliffhanger: No

HEA: Yes

Length: 320 pages

My own copy

Add to Goodreads

- The Bibliophile Babe

The Sunday Post/It's Monday; What Are You Reading?

Morning, ladies (and any stray gentlemen)!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a fun weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next.





As of today, I've been running for three weeks (every day except for one in the first week). I'm happy to report that I'm hating it less, haha. I definitely don't love it or look forward to it the way I do yoga, but it's becoming bearable, and I even like the sort of peace that comes when you're done. 
I'm still doing about 2 miles of scheduled running/walking a day, plus the 2-4 other miles my ADHD self racks up and 30-60 minutes of yoga. When I started out, I was doing maybe 1/4 of a mile of running and the rest was walking. Now it's just over a mile of running and the remainder is walking. Not hugely impressive, but I'm getting there!
I'm going to have to start wrapping one of my ankles and switching my running shoes, but aside from that I haven't had any problems except a tiny bit of calf tightness that quickly goes away with some stretching. I thank yoga for the lack of pain! 



Due to needing to save for traveling in Europe next spring (or fall, depending), I've cut myself down to a $20 a month book buying budget. That's also my only frivolous spending until I reach my goal for traveling. It'll be tough, but I can't wait to go. Seriously cannot wait. I'm so excited! 
I did go out with a decent bang, so I'll have quite the book haul to show you soon!

This Week's Recap

Book Review: Screwdrivered (Cocktail, #3) by Alice Clayton

Book Review: King by T.M. Frazier

Book Tour/Review: Tyrant (King, #2) by T.M. Frazier

This Really Shouldn't Even Surprise You (Book Haul!)

Kindle Kandy

Upcoming*

Book Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy OR Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Would Be On My Syllabus If I Taught New Adult 101

Waiting On Wednesday

Book Review: How to Love by Katie Conugno

Book Review: The Unidentified Redhead by Alice Clayton

*subject to change, since I can't stick to a schedule 

For Review

Recently Finished

9 books read this week, 5 full length, 3 short stories and 1 novella. 

Also, book porn week. Again. My Kindle is a dirty, dirty slut.

It's like a soap opera in book form.

Not what I was expecting, in a bad way. Just plain weird. 

Also really stupid. 

Currently Reading

This'll be a 5 star read, I just know it! You have to enlarge the cover to read it - so funny!

What Will I Read Next?

Not sure! 

- The Bibliophile Babe

Kindle Kandy

Kindle Kandy is a Friday weekly bookish feature hosted by The Book Dame. We scan our shelves and eReaders to rediscover books that we own but have not read, to this point little more than shelf or Kindle Kandy.

Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

This one's been on my TBR for quite some time. I won it in a giveaway months ago and haven't gotten around to it yet!

In the Bone there is a house.

In the house there is a girl.

In the girl there is a darkness.

Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn’t spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It’s not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When a neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Neveah Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.

What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life, she’s determined to find evil and punish it–targeting rapists and child molesters, one by one.

But hunting evil is dangerous, and Margo risks losing everything, including her own soul. 

Embers by Karen Ann Hopkins

This will probably be what I end up reading next.

There are descendants of angels walking among us. Ember is one of them.

Embers is an epic paranormal adventure/romance about a seventeen year old girl who discovers that she's immune to fire and any other injury when she’s in a horrific car crash that kills her parents. Following a violent episode with her aunt's boyfriend, Ember flees Ohio to live with an old relative in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Ember's exuberance at escaping a bad home life soon turns to trepidation when she learns that she's a Watcher, a descendant of angels. While Ember is instructed about her heritage and the powers that go along with it, she strikes up friendships with two teenagers who live in a frightening walled compound in the forest. Inexplicitly drawn to one of the young men in particular, an impossible romance develops. But it's cut short when Ember discovers that her new friends are fighting on the opposite side of a war that's been raging between two factions of Watchers for thousands of years. When the compound’s inhabitants threaten the townspeople, Ember takes action, sealing her fate in the ancient battle of good versus evil, and the grayness in between. Ember is up to the challenge, until she realizes that she isn’t only fighting for the lives of the locals and the souls of her new friends. She may be one of the few champions willing to make a stand for all of mankind as the rapture approaches and the end of days begin.

Embers is the first novel in the dark and gritty YA paranormal romance series, The Wings of War.

The Paper Swan by Leylah Atter

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.
They lie.
For 21 days she held on.
But on Day 22, she would have given anything for the sweet slumber of death.
Because on Day 22, she realizes that her only way out means certain death for one of the two men she loves.

A haunting tale of passion, loss, and redemption, The Paper Swan is a darkly intense yet heartwarming love story, textured with grit, intrigue, and suspense. Please note: This is NOT a love triangle.

Kaleidoscope Hearts by Claire Contreras

He was my older brother's best friend. 
He was never supposed to be mine. 
I thought we would get it out of our system and move on. 

One of us did. 
One of us left. 

Now he’s back, looking at me like he wants to devour me. And all those feelings I’d turned into anger are brewing into something else, something that terrifies me. 
He broke my heart last time. 
This time he'll obliterate it.

This Really Shouldn't Even Surprise You (Book Haul!)

Hey, everyone!



Yes. Yes, I've done it again. Here's ("another?! Does this chick ever STOP?!") book haul for ya! I had a bit of a last hoorah before I'm enforcing a book budget on myself, so this is just the first of a few more to show.
I really, really need another bookcase. Seriously. I went through all four of my floating shelves and the free standing case yesterday, and there's still no space. :p




A few weeks ago I won a giveaway from my all time favorite author, and my prize arrived yesterday! Signed and personalized copies of Karina Halle's latest books, Where Sea Meets Sky and Racing The Sun (my review for that one can be found here). I was only expecting Racing The Sun, and I had the biggest fangirl moment when I opened it! Made my day. :D


Excuse my tiny terror of a dog in these. I dog-blog too, and we'd just been shooting some dog food review pictures. She wasn't sure why these weren't for her, too.

How to Fall by Jane Casey

Where Sea Meets Sky by Karina Halle

Racing The Sun by Karina Halle 

Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker

If I Should Die (Revenants, #3) by Amy Plum

Pure by Julianna Baggott (bought solely for the pretty cover)

Let The Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #3) by Michelle Hodkin (I seriously adore that cover!)

The Hooker and The Hermit by L.H. Cosway and Penny Reid

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward (second hardback BDB book I've snagged off Book Outlet for under $4!)

 

And my beautiful prizes!

For the Kindle

Currently reading and really enjoying.

Also reading. Depressing but also strangely annoying.

The whole series was like $2 or something, so I snagged it! I haven't read any Tarryn Fisher yet, aside from what she wrote with Colleen Hoover in the Never Never series. I've heard amazing things about these.

- The Bibliophile Babe