 Three books in three weeks and the theme is: hot, hotter, HOTTEST
There are some books that I’m instantly taken with and before I know it, I’m crying along with the character and cheering her on as she’s putting on the proverbial big girl panties and showing the world what she’s got! Bittersweet is such a book. The second I read about Jenna’s fears and her sadness and her love for her son and her husband, I became so consumed with making sure she got the happy ending she deserves. So consumed in fact, that I may or may not have been short with my husband as I read on about Jenna’s life. I won’t spoil anything for you, dear reader, but I will say that I wouldn’t have handled Jenna’s situations as classy as our protagonist. No, I would go straight up Carrie Underwood and beat the crap out of my husband’s “beloved” 1973 Ford Truck. Anyway, the book opens with Jenna and her husband in a terrible car accident. She wakes up and finds him gone. This was fun to read, let me tell you! I’m over here weeping and my husband and toddler is giving me crazy looks about crying over my tablet. A year passes in the book and Jenna finds herself on a trip to Ireland. She meets a sexy Irishman, Brady, who makes us believe that having a second love is possible for us. Brady, man! What a swoon worthy character. I don’t particularly read books with eroticism. I mean, I’m not opposed, mind you. For all the hoopla that was 50 Shades of Grey, I really just wanted a great romance story with characters who kept their clothes on the whole story. But there wasn’t any forced or gratuitous sex scenes that made me want to shower after reading it. The characters made love and I felt so intrusive to be in their presence. I’m telling you, I was REALLY into this book! And oh, the plot twists and turns! I can usually figure out how a book is going to end about six to seven chapters in. I was amazed and amused that I was off and “figured it out” somewhere past the middle. But regardless of the many twists and turns, I loved being along for the ride. This book will definitely be on my list to rotate and read again in the future….except, I’ll try not to be as emotional….or at the very least, not read in front of my husband and kid!
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Igniting Ash is a story about overcoming our past, accepting the scars that stay with us and realizing that a little light and love into our darkness saves us. The book starts with a simple kind act that Emma bestows on Asher. An act that would learn later, changed his life. Asher’s story moved me. I could feel his suffering, his defeat, his complete distrust of people and knew that he knew his wounds by name. Where he was the dark, Emma is the light. She gives him a little ray of hope every now and again that slowly seeped into his darkness. There is pushing and pulling; a tug of war of emotions and I found myself tearing up at the thought that there are people out there with stories far worse than Asher and most of them will never meet another kind soul like Emma. I didn’t grow up rich but I was still pretty privilege and completely sheltered. People like Asher didn’t exist in my world. If they did, as awful as this sounds, I would have turned my back and ignored him. And that’s pretty much how it’s been for his life, growing up ignored by people who turned their backs to him; people who shouldn’t have been the cause for his pain and his suffering. Kids like Asher and Gabe would break my heart but I’m not as strong as Emma or as patient enough to try to chip down the fortress they built themselves. Igniting Ash is a quiet read. The story moves along in its wonderful pace, pulsing and speeding up at the right moments and slowing down enough to let you catch your breath. It was a privilege to read the interworking of Asher’s mind and be humbled and in awe. And after all that he went through, every single light that Emma shared, he began to accept that he was worthy of being loved and being ignited in every single possible way.  The Dating Intervention is another tongue-in-cheek “girl meets boy” love story. Right after reading Click, Date, Repeat, I didn’t think I would like another romance story involving finding online matches and although the beginning was a bit slower paced than I would have preferred, I enjoyed reading about our protagonist, Delaney Collins.
In the first book (Click Date Repeat - completely diff author and not related to this book, at all), the world of online dating was new and Chloe’s friends scoffed at the idea of meeting men online but in the Dating Intervention, it was Delaney’s friends that brought up the subject and set up her online profile. Where I can relate to Chloe’s parents and her cultural world view about things, I can totally relate to Delaney’s attitude about needing a backup plan to ensure that no hearts would be disappointed or broken. Where Chloe needed assurance from friends and the Universe that where she was at in life, and who she was with, was where she thought she needed to be; Delaney was your “screw it, fine, whatever,” type of woman. She accepted disappointment and met it with a system that worked for her. Delaney doesn’t have as many dates as Chloe did, but she did have a couple of fun dates and even went to a speed dating thing! In the world of fiction, these two should meet and compare notes! Delaney had a fail proof system of having three men at one time to fulfill her. There was the sexy boyfriend, the adventurous boyfriend and the boyfriend who mentally challenged her. My husband could fall into one of these needs at any given time, sometimes, mostly when I need him to, but three different men to meet our needs? If we only wanted sexy evenings, have someone whisper sweet nothings in our ear, call up boyfriend number 1, our Latin lover. If we get tired of the cheesiness and want to just canoe, rock climb, push our bodies physically, try boyfriend number 2 today. If we’re tired and want to relax at a coffeehouse and argue about existentialism – is that a thing? – call boyfriend number 3. I got exhausted thinking about how her relationships actually worked. I mean, do you just go down the list? If one is busy, call the next one? But luckily for me, it opens with Delaney being dumped by all three boyfriends. On the same day. And you thought you were having a bad day, right? Of course, her friends step in and help her through the breakups and came up with a plan called the “Dating Intervention.” Delaney would give up her “freedom” and relinquish her love life to her friends. They set up the rules, line up the men, the dates, when to kiss, who not to judge and how to accept that our life at thirty four doesn’t include being a bartender and eating take outs. I truly love stories that have realistic depictions of our friendships with childhood friends. I love Summer and Josie and their love for Delaney. We only really see our limitations but our lovely friends want so much for us and can see the potential in the mess we are presenting to the world. There is a little bit of judging, a little bit of back talk and hurt, but what friendship doesn’t? They were rooting for her and in turn, made this mess of a character worthy to root for. I still am friends with my childhood best friends and I appreciate the honesty and feedback I get from them. I loved how the women are related and were in different stages in their lives: the married with no kids (Josie), the married with FIVE kids (Summer) and our lovely single protagonist, Delaney. In my early thirties, of course, I can relate to being single once upon a time and out with girlfriends, and being married and carefree and then turning into a family of three. This is a fun beach read with some sexy scenes and I truly enjoyed getting lost in Delaney’s little world, especially if it included some sexy men in our life! Rated: 4 stars  This is my stop during the blog tour for The Dating Intervention by Hilary Dartt. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours. This is the first book in the Intervention series. The Dating Intervention (The Intervention series #1) by Hilary Dartt Genre: Contemporary Romance Age category: Adult Release Date: August 1, 2015 Blurb: When Delaney Collins’s fail-proof dating system fails completely, her best friends Summer and Josie take absolute control of her dating life through The Dating Intervention. Although Delaney’s intuition is always right on when it comes to men, she never listens to it. If she doesn’t start now—with her friends’ help—she’s in danger of ending up alone and lonely in a sea of men with stained neckties and cumbersome baggage. You can find The Dating Intervention on Goodreads You can buy The Dating Intervention here: - Amazon About the Author: Hilary Dartt is an author and freelance writer who grew up among the redwoods and hippies of California and now lives among the cacti and cowboys of the wild west. She and her husband live in Arizona’s high desert with their children and an assortment of pets, including five chickens. To maintain sanity and quiet her inner critic, Hilary runs, drinks wine and eats chocolate. She’s the author of The Intervention Series: The Dating Intervention, The Marriage Intervention and The Motherhood Intervention. Learn more at http://www.hilarydartt.com/. You can find and contact Hilary here: - Website - Newsletter There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of The Dating Intervention. These are the prizes you can win: - a 10$ amazon gift card For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below: a Rafflecopter giveawayThis is my stop during the blog tour for The Dating Intervention by Hilary Dartt. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours. This is the first book in the Intervention series.  |
Book Pick:I use Goodread's rating scale1 star – didn’t like it
2 stars – it was OK 3 stars – liked it 4 stars – really liked it 5 stars – it was so amazing, it's on my reread pile! Categories
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