Month: June 2015

REVIEW – OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord

Posted June 30, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 8 Comments

Open Road Summer 
by Emery Lord
Publisher – Bloomsbury US Children’s
Release Date –  March 23rd 2015
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own.

Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence.

This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.

A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.

Another brilliant read for my reading group last month. I think contemporaries are certainly a hit for me these days. It’s all I’m in the mood for. If you have any recommendations of novels like these please do let us know. I read this with my lovely friend Glass and we had a blast, continuous fangirling, tweets, hashtags and lots of reminiscing of our lives too. Open Road Summer really is the perfect summer read, it will get you into that road trip romances that we always love. Today both myself and glass will be sharing our reviews of Open Road Summer so be sure to visit her blog here.

The Storyline – Both Reagan and Dee have lost something in their lives, Dee her boyfriend, Reagan her way in life. Two very unlikely personas have been friends for many years and now. Over the summer they spend time with each, reminisce of the past and the present and more importantly grow as friends. This storyline was really quite something, it was like you were on the roadtrip with them. And right now that’s all I want to do with my friends and my man. This is the perfect summer read to get you in that mood.

The Characters – Reagan isn’t a bad girl she just fell into the wrong crowd but she has a lot of people around her, like Dee to help her out of it too. I can tell though that she was very much on guard with her best friend making sure she’s okay as well as trying not to let herself go with the tour either. So this tour across america was a way to reconnect with herself, with nature and life as well as her photography. I especially loved that part of her character as that is connecting with the creative part in me too. I loved how she even replaced her bathroom light to become a red room for developing photos. I want to do that. Lol. Dee or Lilah, is essentially two people, the singer and the normal teenage girl. Her character reminded me of Chloe from Something Real. There is two sides to her but only so few people see the normal in her. Dee is constantly reminded of her celebrity status on tour, for once she just wants the freedom of being a normal teenager like everyone else. Is that really too much to ask for.

The Romance – At first I think both myself and Glass thought a bit of jealousy would come between Dee and Reagan with relationship with Matt. Or even a love triangle but that wasn’t the case. Matt is very much the romantic which I loved as it was a way to break down Reagan’s walls. I guess you could say that Matt serenades you with his music and songs. How I wish I could hear those songs to life. Well it made me fall in love with him the first time around. There was certainly a lot of squealing and fangirling at these parts. .

The FriendshipOpen Road Summer wasn’t just about the romance, and it by all means wasn’t the only relationship in the novel too. What I’m taking about is that Emery didn’t put the romance and the friendship on the sidelines when either one was spotlighted, she did it both equally. In the end, friendship is just as important as your romantic relationship too. It your friendships that can start a deeper relationship, it’s the friends that are always there no matter what. Whether they are next door or across the seas. It’s those that even though you may not speak with each other for ages, they are the ones you turn too when your need a friend, because they know you more than anyone else. Reagan and Dee are the embodiment of that friendship.

The Writing – All the matters is that this novel made me reflect and reminisce on my friendships and the people that I love around me. That speaks volumes and words about the writing of this novel and I just adored it. Emery by all means has a way of words, heartfelt, true, honest, emotional and damn near perfect. Some scenes I will not tell which just showed you how amazing when you compare them to the likes of Katie McGarry, I think by then regardless of that I think we were onto a true contemporary winner.

Rating – 5

Here is just some of the fangirling tweets that we shared…

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BLOG TOUR: NO MORE CONFESSIONS by Louise Rozett

Posted June 26, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 10 Comments
BLOG TOUR: NO MORE CONFESSIONS by Louise Rozett

Hi Everyone, I am very pleased to be part of the No More Confessions, Book 3 in the Confession series through YA Bound Book Tours. Please find the scedule here. I read Books 1&2 for the their tours previously in the last couple of years and I had to see how Rose turned out in Junior Year. If I’m honest I truly forgot I was part of this tour and I didn’t know if I was going to post this review or not today. But before I share my review with you, here is a little bit more about the book…Oh and […]

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Event Recap – #WalkerFictionFest

Posted June 23, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 5 Comments
Event Recap – #WalkerFictionFest

On Saturday I was invited to Walker HQ for their #WalkerFictionFest an event highlighting their titles from July to September using the theme from the book Remix by Non Pratt. This was my first publisher event and I couldn’t believe how amazing it was. As part of the event we were introduced to two headlining authors of 2015 as well as an amazing established author of the fantasy genre too. All where new to me. We also met some design artists and editors and of the course the lovely publishers behind Walker books. It was very exciting yet for me […]

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REVIEW – FALLEN TOO FAR by Abbi Glines

Posted June 18, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 8 Comments
REVIEW –  FALLEN TOO FAR by Abbi Glines

Fallen Too Far (Rosemary Beach #1)by Abbi GlinesPublisher – Simon & Schuster UKRelease Date – July 4th 2013 (UK Edition)Buy – Amazon | Book Depository When Blaire Wynn’s mother passed away, Blaire’s life changed in an instant. Having cared for her sick mother for the last three years, suddenly Blaire has to leave the small farmhouse in Alabama they shared, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. But what she isn’t prepared for is the lifestyle change that comes with the move, and she knows she’ll never […]

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NEW – #SummerofLove tag

Posted June 12, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 10 Comments
NEW –  #SummerofLove tag

Hi Everyone, Hope you are all well. It’s officially summer and you know what that means…summer novels!! I am sucker for romance and contemporary novels purely becuase they make me forget the reality of my day and escape in a whirlwind of love, sweet romance with music, laughter and giddy smiles. You should have a love in your life whether that’s a person, books, or both. I’m lucky to have both. I couldn’t be without one or the other. Anyways I’ve been thinking and I really want to read as many summer novels this year as I can and I thought […]

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REVIEW – NOWHERE BUT HERE by Katie McGarry

Posted June 8, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 12 Comments
REVIEW – NOWHERE BUT HERE by Katie McGarry

Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)by Katie McGarryPublisher – MiraInk/HarperTeenRelease Date – June 4th 2015Buy – Amazon | Book Depository An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible. Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she’s curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn’t mean she wants to be a part of his world. But […]

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REVIEW – P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU by Jenny Han

Posted June 3, 2015 by Emma in Blog / 23 Comments
REVIEW – P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU by Jenny Han

P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before #2)by Jenny HanPublisher – ScholasticRelease Date – May 26th 2015Buy – Amazon | Book Depository Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once? In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved […]

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