Blogiversary Review: The Breakup Doctor by Phoebe Fox (The Breakup Doctor #1)

 

Imagine this: You’ve been known by your friend and colleagues as stone cold. There’s no way you’d let anything put you through an emotional breakdown, not even a breakup. So when you almost lose your practice after a demolition, you hook a job as a columnist giving breakup advice and end up offering services to people at cafes, restaurants in their homes as their personal breakup doctors on call to shape them up after a breakup.

So when your own relationship crumbles apart. The guy that you thought was a saint who wasn’t capable of cheating, does, you go through a major emotional trauma. An emotional trauma you fight hard so no one sees. After all, you are the break-up doctor, the only one who knows how to handle a breakup like it’s a minor flu. You can’t let your clients see you… broken.

But what if acting out means pretending downright to the fact that you are not doing all those things you advice your clients against? Stalking as top of the list. Using a guy as rebound as second. You really have got to pull yourself out of this and move on. But sometimes breaking down completely might be the only solution to moving on…

And Brook would find out. Her life summed up for your entertainment.

MY REVIEW

I liked this book.

Story-line was different, and new. Not your everyday chick-lit title. And I like that in a book. I mean, one of the reasons that drew me to this title, was its title. And it kinda didn’t disappoint.──★

The twists and turns in the plot were things I didn’t expect. I love a book that doesn’t mostly turn out the way expected.──★★

I also adored the supporting casts in this book. Especially Lisa, one of Brook’s clients and boss with her no-nonsense character and her tendency to be haughty. Sasha, the best friend was also a favorite teaching our main character stalking lessons and Signs To Know He’s Cheating that we all overlook before the breakup. Brook’s mum was also the best, ditching her husband to follow her dreams as an actress (I mean not every wife has the courage to do that).──★★★

The ending to this book was great. We don’t all come out of situations the same way others do, but sometimes losing our way is the only way to find it--I love this lesson in the book.──★★★★

Now I really, really wished I loved this book. It was perfect. But I thought the humour could have stepped up notches (considering the storyline) to make our lead’s voice more fun and exciting. I’ve been known to deduct a star from a book if it wasn’t funny enough, and I’d do that now.

My rating: Four stars.

Get Phoebe Fox’s likable debut on amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves their chick-lit laced with lots of advices on relationships. Anyone who loves their leads strong (and cold). Anyone who wants a book that they can relate to (because I mean, who hasn’t gone through a breakup?)

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Blogiversary Review: Sugar Spun Sister (Sweet Dreams #1) by Anna Garner.

     


REVIEW BY SANDRA                                              


                                                          Synopsis
Imagine this : You are Twenty Seven years working for an annoying  gargoyle-looking jerk of a boss, who enjoys making your life hell. And thinks you are a useless charity case, since you got your job through your extremely generous gay Uncle Jonathan who loves to help others out by giving funds to people who have vision but lack funds. But then you would think that your boss Oscar the Gargoyle would be nicer seeing that he benefited from your Uncle's generosity. But that is so not the case, not only does he humiliate you on an hourly basis he turns you into a cleaner and torments your life to no end.

But your days of being Oscar the Gargoyle's whipping boy is about to end when you realize you have a talent of making to-die-for gourmet ice creams. Thanks to your loving Brother Daniel who was thoughtful enough to buy you an ice cream maker of all things as a house warming gift.

Lucky enough you have the best of friends who look out for you and push you to make a decision and turn your dream of opening your own gourmet ice cream shop into a reality ASAP. And what an amazing success it turned out to be , it turned out to be the best decision you ever made and brought you so much fulfillment. But your dream doesn't materialise overnight but with the help of your awesome  friends and your sweet brother Sage it turns out to be a blast.

But sooner or later you realize its not as easy as you thought it would be. It's difficult as hell to give up a steady paying job to take a risk even though it was so damned good to put Oscar the Gargoyle in his right place (if only you knew it would come back to bite you in the ass). Oh and  your Hippie parents dont agree with you and would love for you to come back to your roots and leave of the earth like everybody else and hopefully marry a guy called Freedom Hannigan---talk of hideous. The events you book don't go as smoothly as you'd hoped. And all the drama going on between your bestfriends, and your hot FWB relationship with Jimmy, who wants no strings attached sex, does not make it easy at all. Oh and the cockroach infested building and all the expenses to put it in shape is also another headache.

Pretty much Sums up the life of Cricket Juniper Whittier. 


                                                      Review

(This one will definitely keep you glued to your seat asking for more)

RECIPE: Intriguing, exciting, extremely fun, and fiercely fabulous you'll be roaring for more

All in one! what more do you want, this is  the one stop for an exciting experience. I promise you reading this book is like tasting ice cream for real, soo amazing you would want more. Definitely a keeper---the book, not the ice cream.

The characters in the book are soo amazing from the lovely friends Nora and Lindsey. Nora the dreamer who just does not know when to stop, with no worries, being married to her Gazillionaire Husband. Lindsey the all in control teacher who knows how to do damage control and keep everything sound, their amazing personalities combined with Cricket's amazing personality is just great. And Cricket's sweet brother Sage,  who was phenomenon in helping her put her store together. Her Hippie parents and the annoying  jerk of a boss spice up the book and make it interesting. It's a characterization party in here.

The fabulous ice cream recipes that am definitely gonna try out some day, the hideous names that will make you laugh till your ribs hurt, and all the great advice for all aspiring entrepreneurs makes this book absolutely fab.

I loved reading this book but I didn't 'love, love' it I thought it could have been more hilarious.But all in all it was just an amazing book and you should make it a point to read it. Thumps up for such a great book, Garner.

Rate: four stars / five stars.

You can get Sugar Spun Sister on amazon.

Her work not done here. Would convince her to put her review up on Goodreads.

Blogiversary Review+GIVEAWAY: Fashionably Dead Down Under by Robyn Peterman

 

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: You’ve been a vampire for a while. You’ve experienced the perks and cons besides the amazing shags that seem ten times better (because you are doing the Prince of Vampires). But you find yourself in hell after killing your demon father and your de-mom. A few minutes in hell and you encounter talking walls and smooth floors. Whoever said all hell was ridden with fire?

Then allow yourself to trudge the floors of hell and find out the official soundtrack to hell is Journey, and you have a sweet cousin who’s a demon, and Satan your uncle. Fuck. The Prince of Darkness is your uncle? Consider yourself a freak of nature. And he wouldn’t let you leave hell until you get to know your family. Bam! Suddenly you find out you are a demon too.

But what the hell is everyone going on in hell about you being special, your grandfather, Mother Nature, the Seven Sins (who are also your cousins), and the Hell Hounds who talk with their eyebrows? When all you want to do is go home to your Prince of Vampires (because you are getting horny as your time extends in hell) and give birth to the child you are expecting on earth not some fucked-up place.

But Satan has an agenda besides ensuring Steve Perry finds his way to hell (so he’d stop doing Journey covers) and being the king of all trickery, it might not be in your favor.

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book. So you know I’ll be screaming at you to get it.

Off late, I feel reluctant to pick up Robyn Peterman’s titles. Why? Because I know if I do I’d have a blast. No uncertainty, I’m just so sure of this that it gets tiring sometimes. (Oh, no, another Peterman book again? *eyeroll, eyeroll*).

The story-line is ah-mazing! Very unique as with all other Peterman titles. I mean, we’ve all read books about hell, but have we one that confirms that Dante’s nine levels are really fiction-fiction? Or one that portray gives us more details about the music preferences and the level of aristocracy in hell (where there’s always a ball to attend?). Such creativity and not-done-before-ness is what I expect of a book. And Robyn nails it as always.

Having read and reviewed Fashionably Dead (the first installment), it’s no surprise to you who read that review that I loved Astrid. Humorous, warm and deep for a (half) vampire (half demon). Her voice is amazing and sticks to the chick-lit side of this story without making this all one big paranormal bore. A star to her. After all, what’s a sassy girl to do when she turns undead (in hell and finds out Satan is their uncle)? (It could happen to you).

The characters in this book made reading it absolutely wonderful. From Carl, the really buffed demon guy who’s pro-fur (alert PETA!) and has the speech deficit of speaking on his tongue that makes every sentence he attempts sound ridiculous.  Myrtle, the party waitress in hell who’s accustomed to bingeing on the treats for guests. Dante, Hemmingway (yes, all your real literary heroes) were really captured by Robyn in a way that would suit their personality if you new them in real life. Satan himself, had a charm no reader can resist and some sense of humor when he’d laugh back at all the insults hurled at him by Astrid. God was present, Mother Nature (who pole-dances), the Hell Hounds, the Seven Sins. Oh, they all made this book worth reading. So many others I cannot keep going on and on about.

One of Robyn’s main elements to keep readers glued is suspense through a series of anti-climaxes. When I say anti-climaxes I do not mean the ones that make you throw your book across the room or simply press the close button on your kindle. Robyn’s keeps you gingered for the final battle ahead even if there’s…. won’t give much out.

Humor checked. That’s like a requirement for all Robyn’s titles. If they are not then perhaps you can be imagining someone repeatedly banging her head against her writing desk and threatening her not to write anything amusing. (But even with that you can expect more ridiculous craziness to persist).

So I’m giving this book five stars (as usual).

You can get Robyn’s amazing Fashionably Dead Down Under on amazon. You do not need to read Fashionably Dead to pick up on the pace of this book. But both are a must-read and you can’t get a bra without getting some nice panties (what am I saying??) so go get that one too.

You can also win this book as part of five paperbacks going away in this rafflecopter.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves their chick-lit with a little paranormal adventure. Anyone who loves heroines hilarious. Anyone who loves authors that are hilarious. Anyone who wants to spend a few days of their summer in Robyn’s hell (Fuck Dante’s).

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Review+Giveaway: Diary of an Unsmug Married by Polly James

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: Bridget Jones once said all married women should feel smug. Do you? If you have a husband who no longer fancies you enough, or doesn’t know what you are wearing to bed is a flashy new underwear you bought to impress him, or if he takes long business trips without giving you the hotel information. Should you feel smug then?

Or when you feel your job is the most shittiest job in the world, with no protection, attending some of the craziest constituents and getting backed up against the wall with a knife on your throat almost every time.

You married life, your professional life, and personal (with the super-sexy neighbor who keeps popping in for a cockscrew getting your husband’s attention for a few more seconds than you would) is in shambles. And proving you can still be fun and flirtatious and attractive to someone might mean emailing pictures of your butt to an old flame (or whatever he was you are failing to remember) over at Russia.

The crazy life of Molly Bennett summed up for your entertainment.

MY REVIEW

I liked this book.

The storyline was great. One woman married for long, husband hardly notices her anymore, children hormonal teenagers, shitty job in politics, offering wondering if she would be a happily-ever-after pensioner or one going to be stuck in a nursing home, recently sending pics of your butt to an old lover. Brilliant.── ★★

I loved Molly. Very relatable to all the mothers out there who feel they’ve lost some spark in their relationships, anyone with a super-annoying boss and husband and roughly all men in their lives being assholes.── ★★

The characters in the book are amazing. From Molly’s mum who’s worried about her painful backside, to Molly’s dad who loves a little hank-panky with his neighbors even though his hitting seventies, to Greg the annoying coworker, Andrew the dickhead MP who’s more than occasionally not sure what views he’s standing for. Josh, the skateboarding son with no talent (for skateboarding). Connie, the daughter who always, always tells the truth even during an interview for questions when you are supposed to give a static lies to earn the job. A star to these characters and the all the many others that made  reading this book a blast. (I could go on and on)── ★★★

The humor in this book is sick. Very hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny. And everyone knows I love my chick-lit hilarious. So more humor means more points for me. But at certain times I thought the author was trying too hard. Anyway, a star to the humor.── ★★★★

I liked this book. But I would have loved it if there was a particular direction to the story, some suspense something moving enough to keep me reading for a long time besides the humor.

So my rating: Four stars.

You can get The Diary of an Unsmug Married Married on amazon.

We are also giving away a paperback if you enter this rafflecopter.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something funny this summer, all the mothers out there who feel there’s something wrong with their relationships with their husbands and children, anyone who feels their job or their bosses are shitty. And most importantly, anyone who’s receiving those emails from an old flame their itching to reply to (but for the sake of common sense—and a marriage they’d want to keep—don’t).

 
My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Review+Giveaway: The Time Of Our Lives by Jane Costello

 

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are a single-mum. Work always seems hectic on its own. Now even more so with a four-year old in the picture.

Thank God you can afford a holiday these days. Or your friend can win one of those rafflecopters on Facebook no one ever seems to win. Hola, Barcelona!

You ditch your four-year old with your mum amidst tears, you tell your boss you’d like to switch on your phone in case he needs help. He tells you, you are on a holiday so you should really try relaxing.

You’re super-excited to be taking this holiday with your friends since this would be your fist holiday in six years.

Tragedy strikes, when you bump into a super-sexy guy after piling up your plate on the plane, when the kid behind you keeps kicking your seat and getting his cookies all over your hair, when you get to Barcelona and your room is not ready yet, when your boss keeps ringing you about some PR work you need to be attending to(!), when you can’t move on and forget your ex, when you have no time to read past the first line of your book, when you can’t seem to avoid Super-sexy Guy, when you chase down a pickpocket, when you are told to avoid all journalists on your holiday (who want to get info out of you about some scandal at work), when you can’t seem to talk right but blab in the presence of Super-sexy Guy, when you find out super-sexy guy is a journalist… FUCK. Tragedy still keeps coming.

MY REVIEW

I liked this book.

The storyline was perfect. Three friends on holiday, meet up to have a blast, yet Main character cannot seem to get off work related matters, and avoid all journalists no matter how sexy they seem. A star to the storyline.

I loved Imogen. So relatable. Mums out there would dig her, because it’s not always easy to juggle a job as the (acting) manager to one of the biggest companies in the UK and still get enough time to spend with your four-year old who cannot manage to say I love you back. You would love her when she chases pickpockets, when she’s supportive to her two friends, and when she cannot manage to get past the first line of her book because she can’t afford turning deaf ears to her phone.── ★

I loved the other characters. Meredith, the funky pregnant friend with an on-an-off relationship; Nicola, the over-protective friend. To Imogen’s mum who’d call about the (slightest) unimportant issue. To David the boss, and Carmel his wife. All the character were worth reading about.── ★★

The suspense in this book is also a feature that kept me on the edge of my seat. One minute you are unsure of if Imogen would be able to rescue her company, next you are worried if she’d be able to rescue her job. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened in the end. And trust me, I was fulfilled.── ★★★

I liked this book. But I really wished I could have loved, loved it. It had a shaky start, it took me time to really get involved. But of course, it beat my fifteen percent specification for books I’d review.── ★★★★

My rating: Four-point-five stars.

You can win Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello here.

You could also buy Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello on amazon.

I recommend this book to all the mums out there. The ones finding it difficult juggling between their jobs and their babies. Anyone who wants something to relax to this summer should get this.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.