Book Freak: August 2020

31 August 2020

Book Review | The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward (@penelopewardauthor)

Title: The Anti-Boyfriend

Author: Penelope Ward

Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance

Release Date: August 31, 2020

New Release | The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward (@PenelopeWardAuthor)

Title: The Anti-Boyfriend

Author: Penelope Ward

Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance

Release Date: August 31, 2020

Blurb

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.

At first, my neighbor Deacon frustrated me.

Sure, he was great-looking and friendly.

But our walls were thin, and on occasion, he’d bring women to his place and keep me awake while he “entertained” them.

As a single mother to an infant, I didn’t appreciate it.

So, finally it was my turn.

When my daughter wouldn’t stop wailing one night, Mr. Manwhore came knocking on my door.

Miraculously, at the sound of his voice, Sunny stopped crying. And when he held her…she eventually fell asleep in his arms.

Deacon was rough on the exterior, but apparently on the inside? Mr. Single-and-Ready-to-Mingle was a baby whisperer.

After that night, we became friends.

He’d go for coffee runs. Come over to chat. Normal friend stuff.

But over time, our conversations ran deeper. We got closer.

Until one night we crossed the line.

Our friendship turned into a complicated mess.

I’d gone and fallen for a guy who’d sworn off commitment and kids.

I knew Deacon was starting to care for me too, even though Sunny and I didn’t fit into any plan he’d ever imagined for himself.

He was wrong for me—so wrong that I’d dubbed him the “anti-boyfriend.”

Then why did I wish more than anything that I could be the one woman to change him?

ADD TO GOODREADS

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Author Bio

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

Author Links

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Other Books by Penelope Ward

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / AUDIOBOOK

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / AUDIOBOOK

SEE MORE BOOKS HERE

26 August 2020

Excerpt Reveal | The Anti-Boyfriend by Penelope Ward (@PenelopeWardAuthor)

EXCERPT REVEAL
Title: The Anti-Boyfriend
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 31, 2020

21 August 2020

BOOK REVIEW | Not my Romeo by Ilsa Madden-Mills (@ilsamaddenmills)

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2YpbD8J

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy contemporary romance about a smoking-hot professional football player and the small-town girl he can’t resist.

We start off with a lie on Valentine’s Day.

My blind date isn’t the studious guy I expected: he’s a drop-dead gorgeous player with sinful amber eyes. Somehow we end up at his penthouse. I blame the gin and tonic.

The next day I learn he’s Jack Hawke—bad-boy professional quarterback with a murky past. The NDA he has me sign should be a warning that he isn’t a regular person. Please. I sign it Juliet Capulet, so goodbye, famous football player with abs of steel, and good luck tracking down this small-town librarian.

But Jack keeps showing up in places I least expect him. Just when I’m sure he’s gone, he waltzes into my community theater and wins the part of Romeo to my Juliet. How’s a plain, mostly innocent girl like me supposed to resist a man like him?

Is Jack my real Romeo… or will this gorgeous football player only break my heart?

REVIEW:

5/5

"Let's just say I know how to satisfy a woman, to have her crave me every moment we're apart."
I volunteer as tribute,
What?
No.

Those piercing eyes in the cover really had me one clicking this book, plus of course the author's name. Ilsa Madden-Mill doesn't disappoint, especially with her new release.

CHARACTERS: 💓💓💓💓💓

I love both characters, even the secondary ones. They all have their quirks. Elena is sweet and nice. She loves her family the most, even with some circumstances. She has her own secret too. I like characters who are relatable and not overly dreamy when I read about them, that was was she was from the first. She was simple, but there was just something in her that caught Jack's eye. She's genuine, and kind.

Jack, oh my god, Jack, he's a man full of surprises. He did have a dark past. Yes, he's not perfect and he had hurt our girl several times with all the walls surrounding him, but he just redeemed himself. The things he can do, and can't. He's just pretty much easy to fall in love with him.

Secondary characters both family and friends are great as well, aome you will love immediately, some you will love eventually, and some, well you just hope you haven't really read about them. I can't wait to read their stories and own HEA.

"I'm better than ice cream."
"Obviously you haven't had Ben & Jerry's Rocky Road."
"Obviously you haven't met me before."

PACING: 💓💓💓💓💓

The pacing is excellent, even from the start. It didn't feel draggy at all. The rollercoaster ride that Ilsa Madden-Mills has let us experience was worth the ride.

I am so in love with this book, finished in one sitting and just bawl my eyes out in the wee hours of the morning. Not My Romeo gave me all the feels - you'd laugh, fall in love, and cry. It's hot at the same time it keeps your heart warm.

"My nana used to say that broken people love the hardest because they appreciate the things that make their heart beat. Do I make your heart beat?"

Connect with Ilsa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorilsamaddenmills/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ilsamaddenmills

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2OE8TwZ
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2k6L96J
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jjRzlD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilsamaddenmills/

Stay up to date with Ilsa by joining her mailing list: http://bit.ly/2MkYqK4
Website: http://www.ilsamaddenmills.com/

*book purchased through amazon uk*

10 August 2020

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (@JessRothenberg)

Welcome to the Kingdom... where 'Happily Ever After' isn't just a promise, but a rule.

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species--formerly extinct--roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful "princesses" engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time... love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana's memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--and what it truly means to be human.

REVIEW

Where happily ever after is not just a promise, but a rule.

4/5

This is my first book review in over a year. Wow. Never realized that.

I have been always picky when it comes to fantasy, magic, dystopian kinda books. But this one just rocked my world entirely. The Kingdom would fascinate you at one point and would creep you out in the next - maybe because I feel that this might happen in the future, and consequences would be similar. So, there ya go, a bit creepy really.

Nevertheless, Jess Rothenberg carefully constructed a world that can make your dreams come true. Yes, better than Disney, and less scary than Jurassic World. We meet creatures that we haven't seen before maybe because they are extinct, or they are hybrid of the creatures that we have now. But what makes this story more interesting are the Fantasists.

Fantasist are similar to humans. They look like one, and they would interact like one. The only difference is that, they are not really humans - they are programmed for that sort of thing. To create an illusion of perfection, to make dreams come true, not to lie, to make mistakes, to make people happy and safe inside the kingdom. They weren't programmed to feel - most especially to fall in love.

However, like humans who made them, Fantasist are not perfect.

We are introduced to Ana - one of the older fantasist. She's a great character, sometimes I'd forget she's not even human. Initially, she just obey and do what she is directed to do, until she met Owen.

"Love is when everything is a prison," he says, "except the place where you want to be."

It didn't end in an HEA though, because Ana was accused of murdering Owen.

The trial of the century began, the secrets of the Kingdom, of the people managing it, and the creatures who live in there began to surface - and it is just the beginning. What seems to be perfect from the outside, seems to be rotten in the inside. Everything is evolving, some things have gone wrong.

Exhilarating read, Jess Rothenberg made sure her readers were glued. From the start to the finish, you will just want to know what happens next, what happens to the other Fantasist, or why would Ana even harm Owen. I enjoyed how the story progressed. There wasn't a boring moment, but it didn't really prepared me for the ending. Now, that was something.

In the end, it does not matter what a story is about. It only matters who gets to tell it.

Purchased on Amazon.