Book Review: Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2)

by Alisha Rai

Release Date: April 21, 2020

Source: Edelweiss

Goodreads

In Alisha Rai’s second novel in her Modern Love series, a live-tweet event goes viral for a camera-shy ex-model, shoving her into the spotlight—and into the arms of the bodyguard she’d been pining for.

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings [eyes emoji]

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for...

He’s got a [peach emoji] to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

Oh, wow. This was such a miss for me and I am so sad it was. When I started this book, I thought the premise was so promising with how Katrina is a super private person, has anxiety, and hates attention, so when she goes viral, her bodyguard whisks her away to his farm house hours away. A bodyguard romance!? YES. Sadly, this book ended up being so boring and the romance was overshadowed by other storylines. 

The story in this book was very slow moving and I hated how we still have a lot of unknowns about these characters' pasts. Katrina is a very complex character, but I feel like her backstory was not developed to its full potential. I still have questions about her relationship with her deceased husband and what happened to her that has scared her from having attention on her again. Then, with Jas's character, we didn't really get his full story until almost the very end and I wish that we had that in the beginning. There was drama currently happening the related to his past, but we only got conversations about it, not any confrontation with it or something more substantial. 

As for the romance, it was sweet, but it didn't really go anywhere. Jas's issues with his family overshadowed his romance and I didn't really find myself caring about when Jas and Katrina were going to get together. There wasn't really a spark for me and I was more bored that anything while reading. While I really enjoyed The Right Swipe, I just wasn't a fan of this book.

Book Review: The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

The Happy Ever After Playlist 

by Abby Jimenez

Release Date: April 14, 2020

Source: Publisher

Goodreads

Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can't seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a "take me home" look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker's owner reaches out. He's a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.

Well, Sloan's not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can't deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There's no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?

I know that people have mixed feelings over The Friend Zone, but I was a huge fan of that romance. After what happened to Sloan's character in that book, I was very excited to see her find her own happily ever after. 

Sloan is having a hard time moving on. Life has been at a standstill for two years until an adorable pup literally falls into her life. I loved how this book started out with Sloan breaking down her walls with this dog that came into her life. Then, her and Jason start communicating through text because the dog is his, which was so adorable. Sloan was able to let Jason in through a less intimidating form of communication and I loved how they started to fall through text from halfway across the world. The romance was so sweet and endearing. 

Speaking of sweet, can we talk about Jason!?!? He was the sweetest hero and would do anything to make Sloan comfortable and give her space. I loved how dedicated he was to her and how their relationship progressed. SWOOOON. And if you love rockstar romances, you will love this. Jason's fame definitely comes into play with their relationship and they have a lot to figure out about that. 

Overall, I really loved this romance. Something that happened at the end wasn't my favorite, but other than that, I devoured this romance and couldn't recommend it enough!

Book Review: Tell Me Pretty Lies by Charliegh Rose

Tell Me Pretty Lies 

by Charleigh Rose

Release Date: April 5, 2020

Source: Author

Goodreads

Three things my mother acquired when she became engaged:

1. A brand new Tiffany's ring.
2. A lavish home on Heartbreak Hill.
3. Three privileged stepsons.

The last thing I expected was to fall for one of them, least of all Thayer Ames.
Beautiful, brooding, and untouchable. 
I knew it was a bad idea. He warned me himself. 
But he was a thunderstorm, and I never could resist the rain. 
It was perfect…
Until it wasn’t. 
One night was all it took for our world to crumble, leaving only secrets and lies between us. 
Now, I have to face him again, but the boy I used to know has become the man who loves to hate me.

I love Charleigh Rose. We all know that. But when I started this book, it was really hard for me to get into. I felt like we had every high school bully romance cliche thrown at us and I, at this point, didn't really care. I have been having a really hard time enjoying high school bully romances lately and I don't know if it's me or that genre is just becoming too overdone at this point. However, when we got to about the halfway mark and Thayer started to talk about his emotions more, I was really hooked on this book. 

I would say the latter 50% of the book made this a 4 star read instead of a 3 star read for me. I really enjoyed how we got a genuine answer for why Thayer was being mean to Shayne and how he didn't do anything that was not consensual or unforgivable. When things became more intimate, Shayne was giving consent and they were genuinely into each other. I did also like how there was a mystery over what had happened in this past a year ago and how that all came to light at the end. 

I will say that I think more flashbacks between Thayer and Shayne before things ruined their relationships would have made the connection between them more understandable to the reader. We only really get the prologue and that's it and we're supposed to believe they had this whole tension build up between them before Thayer went away for a year. Overall, if you love the high school bully trope, you should definitely give this a try. If you're over that genre or have read too many, you might want to skip this one.

Book Review: To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters

To Have and to Hoax

by Martha Waters

Release Date: April 7, 2020

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads

In this fresh and hilarious historical rom-com, an estranged husband and wife in Regency England feign accidents and illness in an attempt to gain attention—and maybe just win each other back in the process.

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and To Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn. 

I am a huge historical romance fan and this cover definitely caught my eye. This sounded like it was going to be an adorable romance between a bickering married couple and I was excited to read their story.

When this started, I thought the romance was so cute. Something had happened four years ago, one year into their marriage, that caused Violet and James to hate each other and barely speak to each other. When Violet gets a letter that James is hurt and might never wake up, she freaks out and jumps to be by his side. When he recovers quite quickly, they're both mad at each other for their reactions, which sparks the need to toy with each other for the rest of the book. Their banter was cute, but I do wish that we knew what caused their rift a bit earlier on. It was some big mystery as to why they both felt betrayed and we didn't get the reasoning until well into the story. 

As James and Violet continue to play games with each other, I definitely became annoyed by how much they refused to talk to each other. If they just had a conversation four years ago on the night they argued, this whole book would have been avoided. The rest of this book only continues because they just won't have an honest conversation with one another. If you do not like the miscommunication trope, you are going to be annoyed reading this. At the end of the book, everything wrapped up a little too neatly as both characters had their confrontations with people who have wronged them and it felt too forced for me. 

While this was a cute story in the beginning, the middle and the end of this story more annoyed me than not and I just wanted the characters to talk already. Sadly, this one wasn't as endearing as I wanted it to be.