Title: Life in Outer Space
Author: Melissa Keil
Date of publication: 1 Feb 2013
Genre: YA / Comedy / Realistic fiction

Author's links:
Website / Goodreads
My rating: 4 stars

It was sometimes hilarious, sometimes death serious and all of the time quirky and unusual YA book. It tells a story of first love and coming of age of a group of lovable misfits who struggle to find themselves and their place in the world.

The movie quotes and reference  at times came as too much me as someone who is not a fan of horrors and the Star wars saga. Still, it's a very well written story, funny and engaging, taking the reader on a journey in the the world of a group of  very lovable 16/17 year-old misfits. 

Th story is told from Sam's POV and I enjoyed voice a lot. He made sense of the world around him through the movies he was obsessed with and he was borderline OCD about his routine. So, when the new girl in school, Camilla, entered his life, she sent his whole world completely off axis and made him see himself and world in a completely different light. 

Camilla was just wonderful. I was worried that she came off as too good to be true at some point - she seemed perfect, well-adjusted, coping with life with a remarkable ease. Fortunately her perfection was gradually revealed to be just in the eyes of others, and Sam in particular. He saw her, as his complete opposite - someone who, unlike him, knew  how to fit in school and in life. Their friendship which turned into love, showed that she was just as lost and insecure as Sam and his friends. 

Sam's inner musings on life reflected perfectly the confusion of being a teenager. With a dry sense of humour the author made an adequate presentation of the sense of being at a loss, not understanding life, not knowing anything about yourself,  and the others, which is a phase most/all teenagers go through. 

The author has managed to create a very engaging story, realistic and funny at the same time with no excessive drama or dark secrets. All the characters were unique and unusual, yet I found it easy to relate to them and to understand their anxieties. 

I greatly recommend this book. It's funny and up-beat without being cheesy. It put a permanent smile on my face while reading it and it definitely made me feel optimistic and happy about my own life :)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

The Chocolate Temptation - Laura Florand

Top Ten Worlds I'd Never Want to Live in and 

 Characters I'd Never Want to Trade Places with

I made a mixture of worlds I don't want to live in and characters I don't want to be. My list includes 6 dystopian worlds, 3 boy/girl couples I wouldn't trade places with and 1 lonely namesake, Ellie, whose story I like a lot but wouldn't want it to be mine.

The Divergent series - a world divided in fractions, set against one another - it's not a nice place to live

The Delirium series - I loved the first book, even though I am disappointed with way things ended in the final book. A world where love is considered a dangerous disease and people are cured of it by a form of lobotomy is definitely not the place for me

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series - vampires living among us (they are the good guys), lessers chasing them and people caught in the middle. The brothers are super hot alpha males and I love them but the blood-sucking is too much for me :)

The Hunger Games - no comments needed, I guess. 

The Legend series - another favourite series. A violent world where the individual life means nothings.

Rachel / Isaiah from Crash into You by Katie McGarry. He is a foster care child and she is the replacement child for a daughter that died. They find happiness together but still, I wouldn't to trade places with them.

Adam / Mia from If I Stay series by Gayle Forman - another happy couple in the end but the trauma they had to go through and survive is just too much

Carmine and Haven from the Forever series (Sempre) by J M. Darhower - he is destined to be the Heir in the Chicago mob and she is a slave. None of them has an easy life.

Ellie from The Artist Trilogy by Karina Halle - a con artist, betrayed by her own family, chased by a Mexican drug lord, Ellie has far too many battles to fight for her happiness.

What's on your TTT list today? Leave me a comment with a link and I'll stop by your blog to check it out :)

Goodreads Blurb

She hated him.

Patrick Chevalier. The charming, laid-back, golden second-in-command of the Paris pastry kitchen where Sarah worked as intern, who made everything she failed at seem so easy, and who could have every woman he winked at falling for him without even trying. She hated him, but she’d risked too much for this dream to give up on it and walk out just so he wouldn’t break her heart.

But he didn’t hate her.

Sarah Lin. Patrick’s serious, dark-haired American intern, who looked at him as if she could see right through him and wasn’t so impressed with what she saw. As her boss, he knew he should leave her alone. The same way he knew better than to risk his heart and gamble on love.

But he was never good at not going after what – or who – he wanted.

He could make magic out of sugar. But could he mold hate into love?

My review

We met Patrick and Sarah in the previous book in this series, The Chocolate Heart (my review). We didn't get to see her much, but Patrick was strongly present and I really enjoyed his humour and the way his character relieved some of the tension in Luc and Summer's relationship. I was really excited when I heard that we'll be getting his (and Sarah's) story next.

As we go deep into the inner world of both Patrick and Sarah in this book, we see that there is a lot more to him than just good-natured fun and easy-going banter in the kitchen. He is a troubled hero, much like Luc and Dominique before him and he works hard to hide his true self from the world.

Sarah was a wonderfully complex character as well. She had an unusual background story which was slowly revealed and it justified her shy and reserved behaviour towards Patrick, as well as her determination and strong will to succeed in the kitchen.

Their relationship was further complicated by the fact that he was her boss and both were worried how their feelings would affect their work. The build up was rather slow, they tip-toed around each other for the longest time. At some point I wanted them to talk to each other already.

Their relationship helped them see themselves in a new light. There was this huge difference between who they thought they were and how the other saw them. Their relationship was truly life-changing for both of them. They faced their biggest fears in the name of love and ultimately found themselves and their happiness.

I really enjoyed the parallel events in their lives - she was an engineer who wanted to be a pastry chef, he was a top pastry chef who had dreamt of being an engineer all his life. It added another dimension to their relationship and it worked really well creating a sense of meant-to-be love.

The story is told with the characteristic sensual writing style of this series, though I struggled at times with the writing, too complex sentences, too many metaphors. Food and and desserts in particular were a means for the characters to express themselves, their feelings in the best possible way. I loved the fairytale metaphors int this story - the Cinderella's silver slippers had huge significance  for Sarah both in her personal life and in her career, Patrick's interpretation of Prince Charming was one of the highlights of the story for me.

I have only two minor complaints about this book. The characters had great sexual chemistry which was very tenderly and emotionally presented. I really didn't like the scene with the bondage and the safe word. I felt it was out of place, I understand that it was connected with the issues of control and surrender which both Patrick and Sarah had, yet it felt awkward for me and in the end it didn't do anything for their relationship.

The other was the ending. It was a happy end in terms for the characters' relationship but it was a bit abrupt and left many unresolved issues. I would have loved to have an epilogue (just like in The Chocolate Heart) just to see how things work out between Patrick and Sarah in the real life after their fairytale begins.

I loved the idea of going after one's dreams, but also being able to change them while preserving who you are. This book offered an interesting study how to open you to someone, to give yourself to them without losing who you are. Love is wanting to help the other person achieve their dreams and including the other person in your own dreams, making a new dream for you two.

The romance in the story doesn't get better than this - Paris, the Opera, The Eiffel Tower. It can melt every girl's heart and it definitely melted mine and made me dream of visiting Paris with the love of my life.

Goodreads Blurb

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

This weeks teaser is from Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh. This is an oldish title (2006) and it's the first in her Psy-Changleling series. I finished the book yesterday and I really enjoyed it. It was my first shapeshifters book and I find the part-human, part-animal characters extremely attractive. I am currently reading the next book in the series, Visions of Heat and since book 12 came out last year, I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

I have chosen a longer teaser this time but it didn't feel right to cut it to just two sentences, so I have kept all the 5 sentences since they tell so much about both main characters and also are indicative of the beautiful writing style of Ms Singh:

"Sascha had somehow become firmly lodged inside of him, a vibrant presence in the heart of hearts where only a mate could go. Now her light, too, was flickering in a storm he couldn't block, danger he couldn't even see. His helplessness devastated him. He was furious at fate for giving him a mate he couldn't keep safe. Perhaps that was why he'd been willfully blind to a truth the panther had known form the start - he hadn't wanted to suffer as he'd done once before, hadn't wanted to bleed his heart's blood."

Slave to Sensation - Nalini Singh

Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist

(7 characters/plots I'd like to see more often in books)

I came up with only 7 suggestions on today's topic. They are anything totally unheard of (and they cannot be), rather these are themes/types of characters I have read and enjoyed and I want to read more similar stories. 

Romances with children – couples having children together or raising children from previous relationships. I am not a big fan of the secret baby plot, but I adore babies/children in romances. They make the stories closer to really and generally add a sweet, funny undertones to the plot.

Married couples in trouble, or established romantic relationships undergoing change - This is where  the romances usually end - the couple gets together and live happily ever after.Well, I am curious about life in the happily ever after.

Romantic stories from male POV - overall they are quite rare and the good ones, even more so

Stronger, more independent heroines - I just hate weak heroines and feel that we have too many of them and not nearly enough of strong, modern, independent women, especially in romance but not only there.

Quirky/awkward heroes and heroines - I have a soft spot for awkward, unusual, unique characters.

Characters with mental issues – I'd love to read more books on how they fit in society, how normal their lives can be.

Professional heroes/heroines – teachers, doctors, officer workers, sales assistants – everyday, normal working people.

What would you like to read more about? Leave me a comment with a link to your TTT post and I'll stop by to check it out :)

Title: Otherwise Alone (Evan Arden #1)
Author: Shay Savage
Date of publication: 14 Dec 2012
Genre: Romance, Male POV, Novella

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

Lieutenant Evan Arden sits in a shack in the middle of nowhere, waiting for orders that will send him back home - if he ever gets them. Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path. 

He has two choices - pick her off from a distance with his trusty sniper-rifle, or dare let her approach his cabin and enter his life.

Why not? It's been ages, and he is otherwise alone...

The latest book in the Amour et Chocolat series by Laura Flroand, The Chocolate Temptation, was just released. It tells the story of Patrick and Sarah whom the reader met in Luc's kitchen in The Chocolate Heart. I really enjoyed the previous two books in this series and I am excited about this one. 

It is a passionate romantic story of two complex people dealing with their own issues and going after their dreams only to end up together and with a new common dream. 

Author: Laura Florand

Genre: Contemporary romance

Add on Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Kobo / 

Synopsis

She hated him.

Patrick Chevalier. The charming, laid-back, golden second-in-command of the Paris pastry kitchen where Sarah worked as intern, who made everything she failed at seem so easy, and who could have every woman he winked at falling for him without even trying. She hated him, but she’d risked too much for this dream to give up on it and walk out just so he wouldn’t break her heart.

But he didn’t hate her.

Sarah Lin. Patrick’s serious, dark-haired American intern, who looked at him as if she could see right through him and wasn’t so impressed with what she saw. As her boss, he knew he should leave her alone. The same way he knew better than to risk his heart and gamble on love.

But he was never good at not going after what – or who – he wanted.

He could make magic out of sugar. But could he mold hate into love?

About the author: 

Laura Florand is the international bestselling author of the Amour et Chocolat series. Her books have been translated into seven languages, received the RT Seal of Excellence and starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and been recommended by NPR, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Four of her past five books have been recommended reads by Dear Author and two have been Sizzling Book Club Picks by Smart B*, Trashy Books.

Laura was born in a small town in Georgia, but the travel bug bit her early. After a Fulbright year in Tahiti, a semester in Spain, and backpacking in New Zeland and Greece, she ended up living in Paris, where she met and married her own handsome Frenchman. You can find out quite a bit more about those crazy adventures in her memoir, Blame It on Paris. She is now a lecturer in Romance Studies at Duke University. Contrary to popular opinion, that means she studies and teaches French language and culture, rather than romance. 

Author's links:

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Patrick winked at her, stacking her rejected plates out of the way. “Let me show you a trick, Sarabelle. For just how easy these plates can be.”

Oh, no. Oh, but yes. She craved it every time.

He came around the counter, always such a casual grace to him that one forgot how fast and precisely he moved. Maybe he forgot it, too. He had grown up in this environment; maybe everything felt in slow, relaxed motion to him.

Warmth wrapped around her body from behind. “Like this, Sarabelle.” His voice just seemed to rub over the top of her head. A long arm fitted itself to her much shorter one, and through two layers of thick chef’s jackets, she felt its strength. Like a fencer’s, but a fencer who fenced non-stop every day for sixteen hours. His cheek nestled in next to hers, the gold-streaked bronze of his hair tickling her temple, a strand catching against the far edge of her eyelashes. Just for a second, that close, his scent, warm and male, snuck through all the scents of lemon and butter and vanilla and cinnamon and chocolate and strawberry and fresh-crushed almonds, the layering of aromas so thick even human sweat rarely managed to assert a presence.

“Relax.” He squeezed her wrist just a little. 

And, of course, she did. It was terrible how little she could help it, and how wonderful it felt, when all her muscles yielded themselves up to him.

He laughed and guided her hand closer to his mouth as he bent to it, bent her body with him, his hand cupping hers. Pleasure washed through her. This felt so right. She could get nothing wrong. For one second, with him controlling her, she could only get everything right. His chest pressed into her back, in that graceful dip over the plate she had seen him make a hundred thousand times. His breath ran, so faintly it could have been the touch of sunlight, over her bared wrist, swirling in her palm. He adjusted the angle. Air glided over her finger, and gold dust swirled from it as his other arm, circling around her, deftly guided the plate under the fall, turning it to get the sweeping look of the “ashes” perfect.

“There.” He gave her that quirky smile that made her feel as if she was standing at the very edge of a cliff above a turquoise sea, ready to drop into his arms naked, roll over and over with him on a sun-washed beach. “Got it?” With a wink, he was gone. 

She tried to catch herself back, but her toe caught on the edge of that imagined cliff just as the waves pulled back, and she fell splat on the jagged rocks below.

Her toes curled so tightly in her shoes they hurt. She couldn’t tell the difference between his plate and hers. Not at all. Six months of brutal, expensive courses at Culinaire, nearly five months as an intern, huge debts she was trying to juggle on her stagiaire stipend of four hundred euros a month, and she couldn’t see it. Almost, almost, but not really, she could almost feel the difference, tickling in her palm where his breath had been.

She curled her fingers over that palm, trying to hold that brush of breath to it. And she hated him for that breath. She hated him as hard as she could.

Giveaway: To celebrate the release of The Chocolate Temptation Ms Florand is giving away one ebook copy of her previous book, The Chocolate Heart. The giveaway is open internationally. 

Aleena Moore is content with her life. She has goals and dreams and an easy smile. She also has a secret she holds locked inside.

Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.

Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.

Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.

Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

Otherwise Occupied - Shay Savage 

Title: The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1)

Author: Brian Staveley
Date of publication: 14 Jan 2014
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Author's links:
Website / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 5 stars

It is difficult to review a book that you loved and didn't have any complaints about, still I will try to be as objective as possible in my assessment. 

I read a lot of romance, mostly contemporary and it is relatively easy for me to relate to the characters since their stories are mostly realistic. It is quite different with fantasy. For me a true sign of the writer's mastery is the ability to make the readers connect with character whom we know don't exist and are not real. And I have to admit that I felt pretty close and deeply involved with all the main (even some of the supporting) characters in Mr. Staveley's book. I even cried a bit at the death of one character in a particular, it was a very emotional moment, beautifully presented. (Mr. Stavely, you won't follow George Martin in this direction, will you?)

It is an amazing first book in an epic fantasy series. It starts slowly, creating a complex world, ruled by ancient and new gods and goddesses, an empire in turmoil after the murder of its ruler. This is the story of his heirs - two sons and a daughter and their struggles to fulfill their father's will.  

The narration flows smoothly alternating between Kaden's, Valyn's and Adare's storylines. The focus is on the boys mostly and I wish Adare was given equal attention, though the final plot twist related to her was rather shocking and attention-grabbing. They are evolve but it is more pronounced with the two brothers. It is a coming-of-age story story for both of them where they grow up through enduring hardship and pain. Kaden lives in a monastery and Valyn is training with elite military forces, yet their stories mirror each other in may ways. 

There were a number of plot twists that kept me on the edge the entire time I was reading the book. To say that the plot is interesting would be an understatement, it's captivating, engrossing, utterly absorbing. The story is even more powerful due to the wonderful writing style of the author. The world building is also very well done. We are thrown into a violent by ordinary people and supernatural creatures.

There is a dictionary of terms in the end of the book which comes handy and you can also check out a beautiful map of the Annur's empire on Brain Stavely's blog.

My review can hardly do justice to this amazing fantasy. This book goes straight into my list of best reads of 2013. I strongly recommend it to all fans of the genre and to anyone interested in reading a magical story about the fight between good and evil.

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 2 stars

Title: Girl with the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats #1)

Author: Theresa Weir

Date of publication: 29 May 2012

Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Comedy

Author's links:

Website / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 3.5 stars

Goodreads Blurb

For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a young woman and her matchmaking cat. A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy. 

When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.

Melody’s husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn’t been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she’s a mild-mannered children’s librarian, but at night she’s a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn’t approve of her new friends, he’s tired of the parade of losers, and he finally takes it upon himself to find Melody a new man.

My Review

I read the second book in the series first and I really enjoyed it so I decided to go back and read book 1 as well. And I am glad to say that it turned out be the right decision. This one was just as good, albeit a bit different than Geek with the Cat Tattoo (my review). 

It was a quick and cute romantic read. I like the author's laid back writing style and I enjoyed the idea of giving voice to Max the cat. He was funny and sweet, just adorable and I even don't like cats that much. 

I loved the romance in the story and liked both Melody and Joe. They are both very real, ordinary people who find each other with the help of one extraordinary cat. Their story was told very much from Max's POV which made it a rather unusual read.

The author added a strong element of suspense/action which balanced the sweetness of the romance. The action brought Joe and Melody together but it also drove them apart, at least temporarily. 

I don't particularly like name dropping in the books that I read, so at first I was put off by the whole Ellen Degeneres situation but after thinking things through I decided it worked well in the story with Max being the cool cat he is. 

It is not a laugh-out-loud kind of funny book, yet it leaves you with a goofy smile on your face (it's Max's fault mostly, though Melody adds a lot it as well) and with a warm feeling in your heart (I blame Joe for that).

It is the perfect light read that I can recommend to anyone who loves romance mixed with some suspense and whole lot of humor and cat's matchmaking and musings on life and love.