Title: Broken Knight
Series: All Saints High, #2
Author: L.J. Shen
Publication Date: August 17, 2019
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 stars)

Not all love stories are written the same way. Ours had torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending.

Luna Rexroth is everyone’s favorite wallflower.

Sweet.
Caring.
Charitable.
Quiet.
Fake.
Underneath the meek, tomboy exterior everyone loves (yet pities) is a girl who knows exactly what, and who, she wants—namely, the boy from the treehouse who taught her how to curse in sign language.
Who taught her how to laugh.
To live.
To love.
Knight Cole is everyone’s favorite football hero.
Gorgeous.
Athletic.
Rugged.
Popular.
Liar.

This daredevil hell-raiser could knock you up with his gaze alone, but he only has eyes for the girl across the street: Luna.

But Luna is not who she used to be. She doesn’t need his protection anymore.
When life throws a curveball at All Saints’ golden boy, he’s forced to realize not all knights are heroes.

Sometimes, the greatest love stories flourish in tragedy.

I'm giving this book 2 stars: one for Rosie, the other is for the Spencer family.

I'm not attached to this series nor I am with its prequel. I did like Vicious though and Vicious and Emilia were a couple whose love story was a ride I went with. Daria was a character I treasure in her book but Pretty Reckless was too full of drama that was BS at most points. Still, Daria was a treasure. Knight, Luna and Vaughn are the kids of the SoS characters who intrigued me enough to continue this series. Knight and Luna's friendship? Vaughn as mini Vicious and got his mom's artistic heart and talent? Like I said, enough.

So I was lowkey looking forward to this book. What I got instead was unnecessary drama, the lack of trust and communication, unreasonable and out of place actions, and back-and-forth mixed signals.

We could've had a best friends to lovers story and not the typical hate to love that seemed to be the only formula repetitively done by this for this series and the its predecessor. Let me tell you, best friends to lovers trope IS CAPABLE ENOUGH to deliver an angst. Let's not limit to one trope, please. I know the author is capable of doing more than the same, tired, repeated trope.

Also, was that kiss - y'all know what I'm talking about - truly necessary??? If this was a fanservice (and I've read that there were even pins of this in the book's Pinterest board) then this was just a bad move. Don't bait your readers/fans like that if they just ask for representation and diversity. This ain't it. I've encountered author/s who've done this before and let me tell you, it never ends well.

Now let's get spoilery. Highlight if you want to read the spoiler: [Like I said, I'm not attached to these books. But I'd be lying if I say I didn't want Rosie to have a better life and more happiness. I'm pissed because it seemed like her death was essential for this book to progress with its plot and main characters. Why.. why would you do that.. ??? I get she's sick and not in a good condition but did her life had to prolong until this book was out? It was so uncalled for. She's lived long enough and then this happened??? 

I'm also going to be honest here. I didn't like how teasers or little breadcrumbs were dropped during promotion about the idea of her dying. If it means to promote how heavy on the angst scale this book would be, then that's just annoying and unfair for this character/couple's fans. I just can't believe it.. it's like her dying became part of the hype.

And then there's Dean. REALLY? REALLY??? I know it wasn't explicitly stated that he's moved on but it doesn't take a genius to put the hints together that HE HAS MOVED ON. REALLY??? REALLY??? A YEAR LATER??? REALLY???? That was just so frustrating and I don't even ride on this ship. But the disrespect on Rosie's part. Ruckus was an entire book dedicated to their love and how much they progressed and grew as a couple and individuals but I'm given a few words in the epilogue A YEAR LATER that he's moving on. I'm so sorry if I sound bitter AF but you don't get to do this to two of your characters who have such dedicated and loyal fans who love them and their story that easily and quickly.]

I don't like writing spoilers in my review but I had to let this one out.

There are still some few things I liked like how the writing style is fine and how fleshed out the writing for some characters could be. And because of these, I know the author's capable enough of delivering creative stories with a different approach that doesn't involve hate between the main characters. Sadly, I have low hopes for this to happen.

At this point, I'm just waiting for Vaughn's book to come out. I like this kid but I really hope his book doesn't end up being another typical hate to love because I've read enough of it. And him being another asshole/jerk because... that's really nothing new.

After that, I'm done with this series. I have so much more to say though but I think it will be more of a rant than a review and I don't want that.

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday Post because I didn't seem to get enough time to sit down and make a blog post for this thanks to school and with me leave the house again. I live off-campus but it's like a five-minute walk to the university anyway. It's an apartment building with majority of the tenants are students of my school. It was quite a busy few weeks because when I came back to the apartment, it really needed some cleaning time. It was unattended for two months and I think a week or two. I left before May ended and came back last week Monday. Happy my fam decided to help with the cleaning though. 



There's not much this week on the blog. I've been slow with blogging lately.

• Now Playing: 1989 by Taylor Swift - Book Tags
• Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Love to be Besties With

BOOKS READ THIS WEEK:

• Sea Witch Rising (Sea Witch, #2) by Sarah Henning (★★★.5 / I haven't updated Goodreads for this yet.)
• The Guy on the Right by Kate Stewart (★★★★ / Same for this. I actually enjoyed this one. I was skeptical of this at first.)
• A Place in the Sun by R.S. Grey (★★★★ / I'm going to write a review for this soon.)

CURRENTLY READING:
I was supposed to be reading The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata but decided to put this down first. I stopped at chapter two. IT WASN'T BAD. I stopped because I keep reading the name LUNA and realized that it's Luna from her other book Luna and the Lie. I decided to give Luna and the Lie a go first because I want to get to know Lenny aka the main character of The Best Thing. But I don't have the book yet.


BOOKS I GOT:

I actually got the top row books two weeks ago but I just wanna share them like how I also shared them on Twitter: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig / Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker / The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai / Sea Witch Rising by Sarah Henning

I also got the entire Wedding Belles Series by Lauren Layne! Okay I got the novella, first and third book way before but I haven't read any of them until I got the book two. In which I did just this morning. 







WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO:

• The Blog - As you can see, if you've been here in my blog before, I changed my theme. I've been tweaking the theme to my liking and I'm really, really happy with this. I still want to change some of the colors though but not right now since my apartment's wifi is still a work in progress. I'm also trying to comment back as much as I can though.
• School - Proper classes will start either this week or next month so I really hope I'll be able to balance school work and my book blogging life. I started blogging again after a very long hiatus around summer after the last school year. Now it's a new school year so I hope I'll be able to juggle these two things. I might also share some personal posts from time to time relating to school. Maybe show you guys some of the artworks I'm working on. 
• Big Bad Wolf - Anyone familiar with this? I am so excited to go to this big book sale this Wednesday (I don't have classes this Wednesday so yay!). It's been a while since I've bought physical copies of books ON SALE. Also this is gonna be my first time going to this sale because I missed it last year.

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I went around the blogosphere and found these tags related to Taylor Swift. I wasn't tagged but since I love her songs, I decided WHY NOT? I'M BORED. I'M DOING THIS. Also blasted the RED album while I was making this post.

I merged the two tags because it's pretty much all about TSwift anyway. There's another TSwift book tag I found after I did this though but I guess I'll do that one in another post. I do love the questions on that tag.

Taylor Swift Book Tag by The Book Life (I think there are questions added/missing in this tag that I didn't get to include since I got the questions from another book blog and not from the video source)
1989 Book Tag by Reviews from a Bookworm

So here it is.
Now, these answers slash opinions are personally mine. 

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We Are Never Ever, Ever Getting Back Together 
(a book/series you were pretty sure you loved but then wanted to break up with): A Court Of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas. I loved and enjoyed the first two books but fell out of love with it.

Red 
(a book with a red cover): The Wrath & the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. ACOTAR also fits for this.

The Best Day 
(a book that makes you feel nostalgic): Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I love this series a lot.

Love Story 
(a book with forbidden love): Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1) by Cassandra Clare. Emma and Julian? Parabatais falling in love? *dramatic gasp* SCANDALOUS. Though I don't know if it's like that the whole series since I haven't read the second and third book. And most couples in CC's Shadowhunter books are pretty much forbidden anyway.

I Knew You Were Trouble 
(a book with a bad character you couldn’t help but love): Luca Vitiello from Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles by Cora Reilly. This is his POV novella/book since Bound by Honor was told in Aria's POV aka his wife. Anyway, he's Capo of the Vitiello mafia family. He's worse than trouble. He's killed someone by crushing their throat with bare hands :D

Innocent 
(a book that someone ruined the ending for): I don't have one for this as far as I can remember.... people have spoiled things for me but not not the ending directly.

Everything Has Changed 
(a book with a character who goes through extensive character development): Lily Calloway and Loren Hale from the Addicted Series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. The loves of my life and I'm so incredibly proud of them. I could write a whole essay of how much they mean to me, how proud I am of them, how much they make me happy, how much I love them, etc. Seriously we could be here all day.

You Belong With Me 
(my most anticipated book release): Love Her or Lose Her (Hot & Hammered, #2) by Tessa Bailey. I'm excited for the marriage inconvenience trope.

Forever and Always 
(my favorite book couple): I have a lot of favorites though but let me give this to Riley Mckenna and Sam Compton from Sex, Love & Stiletto Series by Lauren Layne. They're my favorite from the series.

Begin Again
(a series that deserves a second chance): Knitting in the City Series by Penny Reid. I wasn't that into the first book as much as I hoped I would but I still do want to continue the series for some reason.

Wonderland 
(a book that features your favorite fictional world): The world in The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. I love the world-building Marchetta created.

Last Kiss
(a series that you’re not ready to let go, even though it ended): Not because I'm obsessed with this series or it's a favorite but more like I don't want to let The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater go yet because it felt like it needed a better final book. The events in the fourth book was honestly just underwhelming for me. It deserves better and I know it could be better but well, it ended. 

Clean
(a series where you’re glad it’s over): MmmMmMmMmm... nothing comes to mind. If I don't like a series, I wouldn't continue wasting my time reading the rest of the books anyway. Plus if there IS a series I'm glad it's over, it's not really over OVER. Like a few months or years later, the author would announce another book coming out.

Wildest Dreams 
(your favorite fictional guy–it’s preferred but he doesn’t have to be a bad boy): I have a lot of favorite fictional guys but let me give this to Adrian Everhart from the Renegades Series by Marissa Meyer. I have a soft spot for him and he's actually one of the sweetest guys YA could offer.

Enchanted
(a book you found by chance that you ended up loving): The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black. I don't remember how I stumbled on this series but I really enjoyed it and I love Holly Black's writing.

All You Had to Do Was Stay 
(a book you didn’t finish that you wish you had given another chance): The Descendants by Joan He. I DNF-ed so early because I wasn't feeling it. I don't know though if I'll give another chance but we'll see.

Teardrops on My Guitar 
(a book that made me cry a lot): "cry a lot " is a stretch but All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover really did made me tear up. This book was just so emotionally heavy and the Graham's letters? That added more to the waterworks. 

Shake it Off 
(a book I love so much that I just shake off the haters): Hmmm.. I don't have one I think. I'm trying my hardest to remember but nothing comes to mind.

Blank Space 
(my favorite autographed book): Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. The book's really special because it's The Reason I enjoyed contemporary romance and it's also the first book that I got autographed. And my first book signing! 

Today was a Fairy Tale 
(my favorite retelling): One of my favorites is Stain by A.G. Howard. This is a retelling of Princess and the Pea!

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"You can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls."
WELCOME TO NEW YORK (a book with LGBT themes): Recently read Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Alex and Henry went from "are we nemesis" dorks to "maybe we're friends" to "ok so news is that i love you". 

"You can tell me when it's over if the high was worth the pain."
BLANK SPACE (a book that hit you right in the feels... but was totally worth it): Another recent read is The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker. I've only read three books by this author so far but this is my favorite and the one that hit in the feels.

"The rest of the world is black and white, but we're in screaming color."
OUT OF THE WOODS (a book which had vivid world-building): The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The districts! The Capitol! The entirety of Panem! The arena! I had a THG phase back then.

"I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
BLANK SPACE (a book you hated... but loved the cover): Hate's a strong word but anyway, it's Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I had issues with this book.

"The haters gonna hate."
SHAKE IT OFF (a book or series that everyone seems to love but you can't help but hate): I don't hate this series but it's something I don't want to remember and it's the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth.

"I've got a blank space baby, and I'll write your name."
BLANK SPACE (your latest book boyfriend/girlfriend): Another Blank Space song lol alright, I got Kiara Falcone here from The Camorra Chronicles by Cora Reilly. This series is a spin-off of Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles and Kiara here is Luca's cousin. I. LOVE. HER. Her character development is one of the great things I've read in this series and I can't wait to read more of her in Twisted Bonds (and yes, she's the lovely lady in red on the cover)

"I wish you knew I'll never forget you as long as I live."
I WISH YOU WOULD (a book or series you know you will always love): The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare. The London Institute fam forever lives in my heart even though I haven't talked about them in so long.

"I can see the end as it begins."
WILDEST DREAMS (a book or series you wish could have gone on forever): Gone on forever is another stretch but I do like reading more of these characters from Lauren Layne's Sex, Love and Stiletto Series and its spin-off the Oxford Series. I love reading how characters from both series actually have bonds with each other. It's such a fun and loving group.

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Title: Say You Still Love Me
Author: K.A. Tucker
Publication Date: August 06, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)

Life is a mixed bag for Piper Calloway.

On the one hand, she’s a twenty-nine-year-old VP at her dad’s multibillion-dollar real estate development firm, and living the high single life with her two best friends in a swanky downtown penthouse. On the other hand, she’s considered a pair of sexy legs in a male-dominated world and constantly has to prove her worth. Plus, she’s stuck seeing her narcissistic ex-fiancé—a fellow VP—on the other side of her glass office wall every day.

Things get exponentially more complicated for Piper when she runs into Kyle Miller—the handsome new security guard at Calloway Group Industries, and coincidentally the first love of her life.

The guy she hasn’t seen or heard from since they were summer camp counsellors together. The guy from the wrong side of the tracks. The guy who apparently doesn’t even remember her name.

Piper may be a high-powered businesswoman now, but she soon realizes that her schoolgirl crush is not only alive but stronger than ever, and crippling her concentration. What’s more, despite Kyle’s distant attitude, she’s convinced their reunion isn’t at all coincidental, and that his feelings for her still run deep. And she’s determined to make him admit to them, no matter the consequences.

I was incredible excited for this book because I love second-chance romance stories. It's the sense of angst, longing, heartache, and anticipation of the ex-lovers getting back together that make stories like this worth the one-sitting read. 



Say You Still Love Me made me miss camping a bit. A BIT. I can relate to being in-charge of little kids and them relying on you for guidance. But I won't be getting into that because I want to talk about how this book didn't really met any of my, let's say, expectations.

I said it above, second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes. When I read the blurb, I immediately added this to my TBR and I was so happy to get my copy on its release day. However, reading this book didn't give me the second-chance romance feels I was waiting for. I was not entirely fond of the adult versions of Piper and Kyle. I mean, they got aspects of themselves as individuals and as a couple that I do like but only crumbs of it that one can count with one hand. And I didn't feel the same chemistry between them in their present day compared to their Camp Wawa days. I think it's also because of the alternate storytelling of flashbacks to present days.

I'm not a fan of lengthy flashbacks especially when it alternates with the characters' present situations. Why? I don't like it when I'm too deep in one timeline then get thrown to another in the next. I've had issues with this in other books and this one is no exception. I'd really like it if this was focused on the present where there was more of Piper and Kyle rekindling their relationship. It was more romantic to read their moments when they were still campers but I didn't want to get stuck in the past. I want to read Adult, not YA (given how she was 16, he was 17). I want the present. Some flashback scenes just really tend to drag on or get plain irrelevant to the story. And the angst the I was waiting for to feel didn't happen. Instead, awkwardness replaced its place. 

There were still a bunch of scenes in the present that made me love this book, hence the rating. Piper's relationship with her family, the long-lasting friendship between the girls who met at camp and are now BFFs living together, heck even her relationship with Gus and Mark was endearing to read. Surprisingly, my heart ached for Eric and Ashley instead for Piper and Kyle. The thing with Eric was a reminder for me that K.A. Tucker can still deliver an emotional punch in her story which I was seriously grateful for. My heart felt heavy but at the same time hopeful. 

I may have my issues with this book but the author's writing is still one of my favorites. I just think that the execution of the present story for Piper (most especially her) and Kyle as individuals wasn't done well. Let alone them as lovers. 

Title: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
Author: Abbi Waxman
Publication Date: July 09, 2019
Genres: Women's Fiction, Contemporary
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 stars)

The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.

When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?

Nina considers her options.

1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)

It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

This book took me a while to finish thanks to the mix of feeling unmotivated and wondering where this book was going. 



The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was filled with trivia nights, family relationships, books, and quite a bunch of pop-culture references thrown around which was actually fun to read. The part where Nina said in her head "gum would be perfection"? I smiled so wide because that's one of the most memorable lines by Chandler Bing from the TV show Friends. I love it when certain things like quotes from TV shows or even films are added to a book and is used by the main character. Like I said, it was fun.

Nina as a character was both endearing and complicated. I found her love for books amazing and how passionate she is about them. But my issue lies with how people who love books are stereotyped into this weird, quirky person who doesn't like to socialize and like to create scenarios of most situations in their head. Back then, it was cute to read this kind of character but nowadays, for me, it feels repetitive. Still, I admire Nina's love for all kinds of book-related things. She also feels anxious when she meets with new people or random strangers and that was understandable, REALLY. I only wish her anxiety issue was tackled more and given depth to her character.

Another thing that went downhill for me was the overwhelming introduction of her new family members. This should've been the highlight of the book where she meets her new family and form a bond with them. She did do that though and I like her relationship with Peter but there's just too much going on. It also didn't really sit well with me how she was "resented" (kind of a stretch actually) just because she was a product of an affair. And I wasn't a fan of her mom since she wasn't really there in the picture and didn't even bother, but I hated it how her mom gets called degrading names for sleeping with their dad yet their dad still gets praised (even to his grave) just because he's some kind of "family man" despite them knowing he's a narcissist and speculating that he's a cheater.. to which he is. I just feel bad for both Nina and her mom even though I really didn't care about the latter that much. It was just unfair.

And the romance. I won't even bother elaborating this. I thought it was "cute and alright" but I didn't really see that much progress. I wouldn't blame this book for being a women's fiction because it's understandable that romance isn't the center. But like... give me some chemistry perhaps? I swear the whole time, I didn't even feel the slightest amount of spark that lights up every time I read something romantic or if a couple starts developing feelings for each other. It seemed like the romance was just added there for... I don't know.. There was just no chemistry for me. 

This was a slow read, sadly. I was excited to read this book but unfortunately, it let me down and the whole time I was just waiting for a drop. The reading of the will wasn't even all that interesting anymore because at that point, I just wanted the book to end. I didn't know where Nina Hill was going with her life aside from her discovering she has a father and a huge amount of new relatives. I think I was just waiting for something big to happen, maybe a change in Nina's life. But nah, there wasn't anything exciting.