TJlovestoread. Romance Reviews & More
There are many things we have in common, every day very real things like the fact we are wives, mothers, some of us have a job or several. We are friends who enjoy each other’s company while having coffee or playing cards. But what brought us together here is our passion for books, our weakness for hot alpha males and our love for a good story that we’ll take with us for a long, long time, especially when it makes us cry.
This blog was an inevitable, unavoidable, natural evolution to our book buddy friendship. We are still having hard time figure things out like what happens when we read the same book and have very distinct opinions about it (we’re just posting one review, first one who finishes has dibs). Our schedules are at ends and we do this because we need an outlet for our book infatuation, but it’s also done during our “free” time. So please bare with us and hopefully we’ll have a great blog for you to love to visit.
We’re Ceci, Dali and Ingri (sorry chickie, I needed to make that rhyme), and this is us.
Ceci (a.k.a. Ces BookGeek)
I am a hyperactive wife, mother, lawyer, teacher, daughter, sister and friend. My passion for reading started at an early age; it was fed by an unforgettable literature teacher in junior high and high school, and then it remained somewhat dormant during my new adult years (yeah!book lingo and all). Maybe having to read so much in law school made me lazy; I also got bored of all the “intellectual” books that were pushed down my throat by friends. Anyway, I grew up reading 80’s young adult novels like the Heartbreak Café and Sweet Valley High. Then one day, in my late twenties a book called Twilight was published, and just like that, my curiosity and my love for books was revived! Reading that book was a trigger and it helped me find great treasures and new friends.
My first reads were entirely based on Paranormal Romance, either YA or Adult. Of course, after finding the “adult” books, I now stay away from YA unless it is a recommendation from someone I know or, it’s a book with high ratings. Nowadays I read contemporary romance, new adult books, erotica with a plot and I’m still faithful to PNR.
What I don’t like in a book: Unnecessary drama. Stupid heroes/heroines who make harsh decisions without asking first. Porn on paper. Unbelievable insta-love (this always takes one star away from my ratings. I only believe in insta-love in paranormal or fantasy. Real life not so much, the author has to sell it really good for me to buy). Incessant self-loading and insecurities from a character. Horrible editing. Cliffhangers when the next book is going to take more than six months to come out (if that is the case, I wait for the whole series to be published). A book with no HEA (which never happens in romance so…. Any other genre I don’t mind). First person POV’s have to be real, if I am diving into the head of “regular” person, then such person should think like a real person; people don’t think in metaphors and analogies all the time, if writers want to be overly lyrical they should stay away from first person POV.
Aside from the above, I am very easy to please. I love alpha male heroes, but you can throw a sweet beta male my way and won’t complain. I love books that make you swoon and forget about real life drama and real life relationships (aka real men). Moreover, if you want my heart forever, throw me a book with spy/assassins/conspiracy/action/forbidden romance. I will dive into it right away. Why? Well if you want to know, I am a hard-core fan of La Femme Nikita, for me there is no other couple that equals Michael Samuel and Nikita, even if they never got their real HEA; therefore I’m a sucker for these plots.
oh and did I mention I am a Video Game geek ohh yeaahh!! RPG’s rule
Dali (a.k.a. The Star Wars and Star Trek Geek)
A friend suggested that instead of using my name I should call myself something “mean and scary” like the book bitch. He’s obviously never read my reviews because if he had, he would know I’m fairly easy to please. As long as I get my happy ending and there are no incessant inner whiny monologues from ANY character and we can avoid the wishy-washy heroines and steer clear of dumb decision making, you know the kind where the worst assumptions are made, no one asks what really happened, no one considers intervening to clear up misunderstandings a causing the heroes endless pain, then I’m good.
Ok, so I may be a bit demanding, but I do try to be as honest with the books I read as possible. I love to include quotes to state my case and sometimes just because they’re so swoony they make my insides go all gooey.
I will also take advantage and push eco-friendly advice. Shhh, the gals don’t know about this yet, but I’ll try to sneak those in once in a while.
You can stalk me on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2209138-dali-from-tjlovestoread
REQUESTS
If you want to request reviews, we will gladly accept, we are not very picky. Just abstain to request them if your book has more than two of our don’ts. We promise to be objective and to never, ever be mean or disrespect your work. If we don’t like your book for any reason we will, review and provide feedback for such reasons. If for any reason, it becomes a DNF we will not rate, because I truly believe that you cannot rate something you didn’t finish….
RATING SYSTEM
Same as GoodReads
SOME TERMINOLOGY
DNF = Did Not Finish
HEA = Happily Ever After (endings)
HFN = Happy For Now (endings)
POV = Point Of View
PNR = Paranormal Romance books
TBR = To Be Read
YA = Young Adult (books about 15 to 18 year olds, no explicit or descriptive sex scenes. Although some portray teen sexual activity)
NA = New Adult (Books about 18 to 25 year olds, usually in College. Books about your very firsts screw ups and achievements as an adult)
SOME EROTICA TERMINOLOGY
BDSM = an acronym used to describe a variety of kinky activities. BD stands for bondage & discipline. DS stands for dominance and submission and SM stands for sadism and masochism.
Dom = shortened version of the word Dominant
Domme = dominatrix or female dominant
Dominant = term for the person who takes control in BDSM play
Limits = these can be hard or soft. A hard limit is a sexual act that a player will absolutely not consider and a soft limit is something they may consider but are unsure of.
Masochism = deriving sexual pleasure from receiving pain
M/F = a male/female heterosexual pairing
PWP = Porn without plot
Safeword = very important in D/s play. A word the submissive can use to slow down or stop a scene if it is becoming too much for them. Can also be used by the top.
S/m = sadomasochism
Sub = shortened form of the word submissive
Submissive = the person giving up control to the dominant
Topping from the Bottom = an expression used to describe the practice of a sub attempting to control the dom and the scene.
Making Faces
If I could give this book 10 stars I would do it without hesitation. This is probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. Touching, riveting, adorable, endearing, captivating. A book you can’t put down and draws you in from the start. A true statement to the meaning of love, affection, friendship and true beauty.
I started reading this book when I saw the good ratings it had, and the recommendations from bloggers I follow. I was not disappointed and frankly, I agree with all the high ratings and continuous praises.
I finished the book, and decided it needed a review that would do justice to the feelings that arose in me. So here is my best attempt to do just that.
Fern is just an ordinary girl, a cute, funny and awkward red head living in Hanna Lake, Pennsylvania. Daughter of a Pastor, born late in their marriage, a miracle and a blessing to her parents. She feels ugly, she loves romance novels, she has a big heart, she loves her cousin Bailey, and she’s been in love with Ambrose Young since she was 10 years old.
"If God makes all our faces, did he laugh when he made me?".
Ambrose Young has everything: good looks, great body, great friends; he is an extraordinary wrestler and a future full of promises awaits him at the end of his senior year, he is Hercules. He knows Fern but never gave a second glimpse at her, he just sees her as the little red head who’s always hanging around the gym with Coach Sheen’s son, Bailey, who is in a wheel chair and happens to be her cousin. Until the day he got to know her inner thoughts and therefore the kind of girl she is, he keeps her on his mind for a very long time.
"Everybody who is somebody becomes nobody the moment they fail".
Life decisions are made, tragedy arrives and lots of changes unravel a story of redemption, love and finding the true meaning and the true blessings in life.
I thought this book was brilliant, and beautifully written. I have to say that we don’t have two main characters, nope, we have three because this story wouldn’t be the same, without beautiful Bailey in it. A true statement when I say: Bailey Sheen will forever be in my heart and He will always have a place on my top ten fictional characters list.
I really liked how Amy Harmon mixed, present and past, how the memories and pivotal events in our characters’ lives took place, and the true meaning behind each and every experience they went through. My heart ached for Ambrose, my heart ached for the families that suffered such losses; my heart ached for Fern, for the love and selflessness she always showed to everyone around her. And my heart ached, melted and got overthrown with joy every time I read about Bailey.
Yes, the book made me cry countless times, yes I was crying like a baby near the end, so much that the lines blurred and I stained my e-reader. And yes I was happy with the ending, yes we got our HEA, bittersweet and lovable.
I have to warn you, if you are looking for heat between the sheets, if you expect to read a steamy scene, you’ll be waiting forever. And truth be told I didn’t even notice, I didn’t need it because when you are reading something like this, all is implicit, all is there, and the feelings are what counts…. Don’t get me wrong, I totally would have cheered for sexier scenes between Fern and Ambrose, but… you can’t always get what you want!
I have so much to say about this book but, honestly I can’t do it without giving away the story. Well done Amy and thank you for sharing your thoughts, your knowledge and the joy you seem to carry on in life
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"There isn’t heartache if there hasn’t been joy. I wouldn’t feel loss if there hadn’t been love. ".
"It always amazes me how people are placed in our lives at exactly the right times. That’s how God works, that’s how he takes care of his children."
"There is a lot I don’t understand… but not understanding is better than not believing."
"True beauty, the kind that doesn’t fade or wash off, takes time. It takes pressure. It takes incredible endurance. It is the slow drip that makes the stalactite, the shaking of the Earth that creates mountains, the constant pounding of the waves that breaks up the rocks and smooth the rough edges. And from the violence, the furor, the raging of the winds, the roaring of the waters, something better emerges, something that would otherwise never exists."