I took a break from my scheduled To Be Read List this week to enjoy my time with my children and to read just for fun. It’s been a long time since I have been able to take a break to just read something I bought that has sat on my Kindle (for a LONG TIME) and I was excited to deviate from my schedule for a bit. My spring break snippets aren’t full reviews but just a short comment or two about my thoughts….Some books I read I LOVED completely while there were a couple that didn’t work for me….here are my thoughts….

I started off the week with The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. This was the first book I have read from this author and will definitely not be my last. I read a part of the blurb and it captured my attention immediately and I one-clicked so fast!

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. .

 I mean COME ON – after reading that, who wouldn’t want to pick up this book?!

My thoughts: 4 STARS! I loved the way that this letter interconnected so many lives. How a person doesn’t realize how their secrets can affect everyone around them. Deeply moving, profound and suspenseful…not at all what I was expecting but I enjoyed it all the same. “None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It’s probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever. Just ask Pandora”

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I completely fell in love with The Complete Emi Lost & Found Series by Lori L. Otto. Again, another first time read for me by this author (and an entire series at that as this was 4 books plus 2 stories), but I devoured this series in days because I was so completely captivated from start to finish.

My thoughts: 4.5 STARS! I simply adore friends to lovers type books and this one was that and so much more. If you have a couple of days to immerse yourself into a series that will give you all of the feels – from smiles, to complete happiness, to sadness and heartbreak and tears then look no further. This series will break you and build you up all over again. I think that this is what the author intended. We get the very beginning of when Nate and Emi’s relationship begins. We watch them grow as time passes, dating other people while still having that special connection. We then must overcome complete and utter heartbreak and loss. I can’t say too much without revealing what happens but this is a full circle journey for these characters complete with life changing scenarios and important lessons to be learned. I completely LOVED how these books were told in alternating POVs of the main characters as I got to fully get into the depths of their souls; I understood their thoughts and why they did things. It made me bond with them even more and for a little while I lived in their world with them as I experienced all of the emotions these books evoked.

Breathtakingly beautiful and emotionally intense yet with the ability to repair my heart in all the right ways – Lori Otto has found a new fan!

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Sadly not every book worked for me this week…I also tried:

My thoughts: I have seen so many great reviews for this series so started with book 1 in the Carnage series – The Story of Us. Many bloggers who I follow and adore really loved this one but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. It could be the timing and how I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to read this one but I stopped at about 42%.

We have two people (Sean and Georgia) who met as kids, struggling through life as Sean’s band takes off. We get a lot of drama and we see where mistakes are made on both sides.

Unfortunately I wanted to love it based on the reviews I have seen but it just didn’t work for me. Very slow moving and I felt like the story was going nowhere. I kept waiting for that big moment where the book would suck me in and it just fell short for me. Again it could just be me.

Here are some good reviews for Carnage:

“4.5 Stars – Expect an emotional, powerful, coming-of-age love story. Huge ugly cry, folks.”

“4 Stars – Deep at the heart of all of this carnage is a very beautiful and touching love story which you can truly believe in. There’s no gloss on this – this is real love in all it’s terrible splendour. These two are in love right from that first moment they first lay eyes on one another and it’s a love that never once releases it’s relentless hold, despite what they have to endure. It’s a book that takes you from the highest highs and sends you crashing down into the abyss – a book that you ‘experience’ rather than read as the whole tale is unleashed upon you by Lesley Jones.”

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I was provided an ARC copy of Rival from the publisher. I was excited to read this book as it was my first Penelope Douglas book. I was told that I could read this as a standalone as it was about different characters in the series.

My thoughts: Unfortunately I gave up on this book around 25-30%.

I didn’t understand the relationship between Madoc and Fallon. Why did she go away to boarding school? Why did she come back? What was their animosity towards each other all about? Sadly I didn’t care to find out because the book didn’t hold my attention and I felt the story going nowhere. The characters were a little too immature and the back and forth hateful verbal sparring was just too repetitive for my taste. Could just be me and the timing but I had to pass on this one too.

Here are some good reviews for Rival:

“5 Stars – The dynamic between these characters was perfection. Hostile. Ugly. Dark. This story touched on so many tough things, pushed the bars of comfort beyond what we’re used to, introduced scenarios that seem impossible to come back from. I loved Tate and Jared’s story, but Madoc and Fallon’s story is somehow even deeper. They have a history, secrets, family… so much happening in this story, so many characters with so many personalities… and yet Penelope Douglas weaves it all together so perfectly, so unpredictably, so seamless… it’s an unputdownable emotional ride, and I want to re-read it again and again.”

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