#BooksReview – Cindy's Love Of Books

Review/ The Dan Diaries

Posted on May 16, 2018May 16, 2018 by Cindy

Book Details:

Book Title: The Dan Diaries by D.D. Marx (The Beyond Series Book #4)
Category: Adult Fiction; 200 pages
Genre: Chick-Lit
Publisher: Beyond Dreams Publishing
Release date: April 6, 2018
Tour dates: May 14 to June 8, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 (minimal swearing)

Book Description:

Dan Sullivan was the best friend of Olivia Henry when his life was taken in a tragic car accident. Shocked to be on the other side, Dan navigates his way by learning his new role in eternal life. His first assignment is as Olivia’s guardian angel. He has the crucial role of guiding her to her pre-defined destiny. Dan’s death throws Olivia into a tail-spin which causes her to veer way off course. He understands the enormity of the challenge when he hears the mechanism by which he can communicate. He’s only allowed to use signs and symbols to get her attention and cannot interfere with her free-will.

Every time he thinks he’s close, something throws her off track. He’s forced to start over by convincing her to trust in their enduring, unbreakable bond. Olivia can feel Dan’s presence but is still reluctant to believe the messages he’s sending. She is fearful of falling in love again at the risk of losing another soulmate. Can Dan persuade her to trust in his love from afar so she can finally receive the happiness she truly deserves?

This is the fourth book in The Beyond Series and the previous ones are: Beyond Believing, Beyond Love and Beyond Forever. If you click on the book titles it will take you directly to my review of the books. I don’t know if this is the last book in the series or not as I tried to look it up and so far nothing comes up.

Like the previous books this was a super quick read and I managed to read it in one sitting. Although as I am reading this I didn’t want it to end. I would definitely read more from this author in the future. I loved reading her books.

I have to say that this was the perfect book to read at the end of the series because this is Dan’s story and he filled in so many gabs that were missing from the book. The book is all about Dan but you do see Olivia and the previous characters in the book.

The book begins with Dan’s tragic car accident. You get to see things in his perspective and how he manages to cope with what has happened. He is hurting just as much as the ones he’s left behind. The one thing Dan doesn’t want is for his life to make this huge impact on the ones he left behind. So he has been tasked by God himself to help Olivia get throw this and show her that there is life after death and that even though your loved one is gone physically they are there in spirit.

There is rules that Dan has to follow to get Olivia to believe this and the ways he does this makes you realize that things like this can really happen in the every day world. I know this because after my aunt passed away quite suddenly 18 years ago I was really upset and questioned things like most people do when someone dies suddenly. I was very much like Olivia asking for a sign that things are okay and sure enough she gave me that sign I was looking for. Whenever I am in doubt I ask my aunt and she reassures me with a scent of her favorite perfume. So I am a bug believer that even though they aren’t here physically they are with us spiritually.

If you are looking for a light fun read then I highly recommend this series. But you need to read all the books in order to fully follow along with the story.

Thank you Laura from iReads Book Tour for allowing me to be a part of this book tour and for sending me a copy of the book to read for my review.

Review/ The Couple Next Door

Posted on November 12, 2017November 30, 2017 by Cindy

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Format: Paperback
Published by Doubleday Canada on August 23rd 2016
Pages: 308
Goodreads

An instant New York Times and Globe and Mail bestseller. Look out for Shari Lapena's next thriller, A Stranger in the House, coming August 2017.
"Meticulously crafted and razor-sharp. The Couple Next Door lingers long after you turn the final page." --Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fool Me Once
A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors--a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal and the secrets between husbands and wives. . . .
How well do you know the couple next door? Or your husband? Or even--yourself? Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all--a loving relationship, a wonderful home and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years. What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family--a chilling tale of deception, duplicityand unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.

The Couple Next Door is a debut novel by a Canadian author. This was one book I was super excited to pick up and read and I have to say it did not disappoint.

This was a super quick read for me and one that I enjoyed reading. I had a hard time putting the book down. It felt like I was riding a roller coaster. Just when you think you have one thing figured out something comes up to cause you to rethink it and I was like this the whole way through the book. One minute I was like I got this and then the next I am like okay maybe not. Those are my favorite kind of books to read. Expect the unexpected.

Anne and Marco are brand new parents, who live next door to neighbors/friends Cynthia and Graham. Cynthia invites the couple over for a dinner party. When their babysitter bails at the last minute they decide to go anyways with the strict rules of having the baby monitor on them at all times and doing check ups every 30 minutes and I had really strong feelings about this and I feel babies or young child should never be left alone for any amount of time without an adult in the house. So much can happen in a blink of a eye and this is exactly what happens.

Anne and Marco’s sweet baby girl, Cora goes missing after the last check in Marco did. They come home to find the front door open and Cora gone. My heart broke for Anne and Marco because who wants this to happen but at the same time I wanted to punch them both because they were the ones who caused all this to happen. Who leaves a 6 month old baby alone in a empty house with only a baby monitor on? Plus they were drinking so anything could have happened when they weren’t paying attention.

The whole time as I was reading this I kept looking for clues as to what happened and who did this? Could it have been Anne? She was a little drunk and we all know that our reflexes are common sense aren’t there? Was it Marco? As the book progresses we do get insight as to what really happened and by who.

As the story plays out you are reminded about how well do you know your neighbors, your spouse, or even yourself? So much goes on behind close doors that no one really knows about.

If your looking for your next psychological thriller then I highly recommend this one. It will not disappoint.

Review/ Beyond Love

Posted on November 3, 2017November 3, 2017 by Cindy

Beyond Love (Beyond, #2) by D.D. Marx
Published by Beyond Dreams Publishing Group on November 7th 2017
Pages: 184
Goodreads

After trusting in her beloved friend Dan’s guidance from above, Olivia is finally on the path to realizing her destiny. Staring at a blank canvas after ditching her raucous corporate life and meeting the love of her life, Finn McDaniels, a hot, widowed, celebrity chef, she is ready to begin anew. When she arrives back home to tie up the loose ends in Chicago, she receives more frightening news further delaying her journey with Finn. Unable to control the outcome, she begins questioning her trust and faith in Dan once again. She distracts herself the only way she knows how, by diving head first into a new project. What seemed like a time killer may actually be the thing that saves her and catapults her into a world she never dreamed of.

When Olivia and Finn finally reunite, a deep dark secret is uncovered threatening to ruin the relationship she has waited for her entire life. Olivia is forced to decide whether to tell Finn or let it live in the past forever. Is their relationship strong enough to weather the storm or will it cause them to part ways for good?

I quickly want to thank Laura from iReadBookTours for allowing me to be a part of the tour for this series and for sending me copies of the book to read for my honest and sincere review.

This is the second book in the series and it picks up where Beyond Believing ended. You can click HERE to read my review of that book.

Once again the book is told in two points of view and that is of Olivia and Finn. I was excited to start this because I wanted to know what our lovely couple was up to. This book did not disappoint and I should warn you in advance this is another one that you should have tissues on hand because there were a few moments I was crying a bit.

This was also a super quick read and I have to thank spraining my ankle last week for allowing me to read this pretty much in one sitting. It felt strange being able to curl up on the couch and read during the day. Its been awhile since I have done that.

I should say that I wouldn’t read this as a book on its own and that you really should read the first book to get the full story line. I am excited to see where the third book will go with this.

Anyways back to the book. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it and because its the second book in the series. But what I will say is that Olivia and Finn have decided to move in together so she is in the process of selling her condo so that she can move to California.

One her way back from being with Finn she is on the airplane and discovers that her seat mate is related to one of her best friends from college and before long they are all hanging out. This makes you realize how small the world really is.

Beyond Love comes with all kinds of twists and turns. Just when you think you are living the life and things are going good you are suddenly reminded that its not all a bed of roses. Thats exactly what happens once Olivia gets back to Chicago. Without going into to much detail she gets some bad news that literally shakes up her world and leaves her questioning things and Dan. Whenever there was a problem or situation that came up she turned to Dan for guidance and he would some how convoy the message that things will be okay but with everything that is happening she is questioning if Dan is really there for her. Questioning why he would send her someone only to have him possibly taken away from her.

When Olivia and Finn are finally able to reunite things seem good but then a secret from Olivia’s past has come to surface and she is struggling about what to do. Does she keep it hidden? Or does she come clean and possibly risking her future with Finn?

I can’t wait to read the third and finally book, Beyond Forever to see what happens to Olivia and Finn. Be sure to come back in early December to read my review of that. I am actually just about ready to curl back up on the couch to read it now.

Review: Humans, Bow Down by James Patterson & Emily Raymond

Posted on June 5, 2017June 5, 2017 by Cindy

Humans, Bow Down by James Patterson, Emily Raymond, Jill Dembowski, Alexander Ovchinnikov
on February 20th 2017
Pages: 373
Goodreads

In a world run by machines, humans are an endangered species.

The Great War is over. The robots have won. The humans who survived have two choices: they can submit and serve the vicious rulers they created, or be banished to the Reserve, a desolate, unforgiving landscape where it's a crime just to be human. And the robots aren't content--following the orders of their soulless leader, they're planning to conquer humanity's last refuge and ensure that all humans bow down.
The only thing more powerful than an enemy who feels nothing is a warrior with nothing left to lose. Six, a feisty, determined woman whose parents were killed with the first shots of the war, and whose siblings lie rotting in prison, is a rebel with a cause: the overthrow of robot rule. Her partner in crime is Dubs, the one person who respects authority even less than she does. On the run for their lives after an attempted massacre, Six and Dubs are determined to save humanity before the robots finish what the Great War started and wipe humans off the face of the earth. Pushed to the brink of survival, Dubs and Six discover a powerful secret that can help set humanity free, but they'll have to trust the unlikeliest of allies--or they'll be forced to bow down, once and for all.
Humans, Bow Down is an epic, dystopian, genre-bending thrill ride from the mind of James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling author.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I am a huge fan of James Patterson books as you probably would see looking at my bookshelves. I think he can put together amazing stories that are super fun and quick to read. Whenever I read his books I literally breeze through them in a matter of a day or two because they are just that good and keeping me drawn in.

In Humans, Bow Down James Patterson has teamed up with Emily Raymond who you might recall worked together on First Love and The Lost from Witch & Wizard.

We all know as technology advances that we are capable of creating robots and actually have. Well fast forward there is a great war. Its humans vs robots and in the end the robots have won. Its a world that is now run by machines and humans are an endangered species. If you have survived you have two options you either have to submit or be banished.

Our main character Six has decided that she will never submit to the robots so she has been banished but is on the run in order to survive. Six is a kick ass character who takes nothing from anyone especially a robot. Six knows she has nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain. Can she unlock the secret that can save her and the other humans?

One thing that I wasn’t sure about was the graphics that are in the book but they quickly made sense and followed the storyline. Did the book really need them? I don’t think so.

I have to say that with the way the book ended I feel as though there could be another book because there is still quite a few loose ends that need to be tied up. Would I read it? More the likely.

Thanks Little Brown for sending the book to me.

Blog Tour & Review/ The Littlest Bigfoot

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Cindy

littlest-bigfoot-blogtour

Title: The Littlest Bigfoot
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Series: Book #1
Pub Date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 304

Source: I was provided with an advanced readers copy from Simon & Schuster Canada for my review and participation in the tour. Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada.

About the Book:

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a laugh-out-loud funny and painstakingly real tale of friendship, furry creatures, and finding the place where you belong.

Alice Mayfair, twelve years old, slips through the world unseen and unnoticed. Ignored by her family and shipped off to her eighth boarding school, Alice would like a friend. And when she rescues Millie Maximus from drowning in a lake one day, she finds one.

But Millie is a Bigfoot, part of a clan who dwells deep in the woods. Most Bigfoots believe that people—NoFurs, as they call them—are dangerous, yet Millie is fascinated with the No-Fur world. She is convinced that humans will appreciate all the things about her that her Bigfoot tribe does not: her fearless nature, her lovely singing voice, and her desire to be a star.

Alice swears to protect Millie’s secret. But a league of Bigfoot hunters is on their trail, led by a lonely kid named Jeremy. And in order to survive, Alice and Millie have to put their trust in each other—and have faith in themselves—above all else.

I am honored to be a part of the book tour for The Littlest Bigfoot by Jennifer Weiner. I am a huge fan of Jennifer’s books and I have read them all so it was nice to see something new and completely different from her. I can’t wait for the second book to come out in this series.

Be sure to check out the other blog stops this week to read everyone’s thoughts on the book.

This was a fun and quick read. I think this is the perfect read for everyone to read. There is so much you can take away from the book.

Alice is a 12 year old girl. Alice is taller then most girls her age, awkward like I think most girls are at this age and has a hard time making friends. When you have one thing that is different about you its always hard to find someone who can share something with you.

Alice’s parents have in all reality checked out of their daughters life and in my opinion think of themselves as the couple who do what they want when they want because its clear when for them instead of being a parent they are shipping their daughter off from one school to another when things don’t go right instead of trying to find the perfect solution for her.

The other main character of the book is Milie. Millie is just like Alice she doesn’t fit in but for Millie her case is completely different from Alice because Millie is a Yare, and in english terms it means a bigfoot. Millie also doesn’t fit in with her tribe because she is smaller then the normal Yares, her fur is a different color and texture then the other yares and Millie is curious about everything and everyone around her especially people in the outside world.

Alice’s new school is in upper New York State right beside a beautiful lake in a quiet little town. This school is a little better then what Alice has been to but Alice is still encountering the same problem and issues of making friends. She is thrilled when it suddenly happens but realizes fairly quickly that its not all it seems and before long she is being picked on by a bully. She soon realizes that not everyone has good intentions. Being embarrassed she seeks refudge by the lake when she suddenly hears someone drowning so Alice rushes out to help the person. This person is Millie and they quickly become friends just what both girls wanted. Although at first Alice has no idea who or what Millie is and I honestly don’t think this would be a problem for Alice because all she wants is a honest and a good friend.

When a 12 year old boy threatens to expose who Millie is and where she is from the girls bang together to put a stop him. Will Alice and Millie be able to stop him before all the secrets are exposed on Millie?

I love this story and I think all young girls need to read this because we need to learn to accept ourselves for who and what we are and that we are unique for a reason. We need to be open and accepting and become friends with others who are different because that is what makes us all unique.

When I got to the end I was like what the heck just happened. Jennifer threw that little twist in there that came out of no where and left me hanging…I am left hanging with so many questions..I need book two asap…

Your browser does not support iframes.

Review/ Unslut A Diary & A Memoir

Posted on January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 by Cindy

UnSlut by Emily Lindin
Format: ARC
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on December 29th 2015
Pages: 304
Goodreads
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Bullying, Dating & Sex, Girls & Women, Juvenile Nonfiction, Social Issues, Women

When Emily Lindin was eleven years old, she was branded a “slut” by the rest of her classmates. For the next few years of her life, she was bullied incessantly at school, after school, and online. At the time, Emily didn't feel comfortable confiding in her parents or in the other adults her my life. But she did keep a diary. Slut/UnSlut is adapted from Emily’s much-acclaimed blog “The UnSlut Project” presenting unaltered excerpts from that diary alongside split-page commentary to provide context and perspective.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I picked up this book at #BEA15 purely by luck and I thought at first this wasn’t the book for me because I normally don’t read this kind of stuff but I decided to give it a chance and I managed to breeze through this in two sittings. This is a debut novel.

The book is basically told in a diary format that Emily wrote when she was in grade 6. The story begins with Emily in grade 6 and it follows her through grade 7 and 8.

Emily is your typical girl trying to fit in with her peers and how one little mistake has labelled her a “slut” in her school. I am trying to remember when I was in grade 6 if we were like that and I honestly don’t remember maybe I just wasn’t hanging out with those kinds of kids or not. Then again I can’t really compare my experiences with kids now a days because its completely different and I have to say that I honestly don’t think I could handle being a grade 6 now. What I went through some thrity years ago is different from what kids are going through now.

Kids can be so nice but yet so cruel. Why are they so quick to label kinds with names and titles that just aren’t right and appropriate? Things like this carry over with these kids and they hold on to that stigma for ever and we need to teach our kids that this isn’t right.

We as parents need to make communication between child and parent very important and stress that no matter what good and bad we are there to listen and help them out.

Review/ This Is Where It Ends

Posted on January 1, 2016January 2, 2016 by Cindy

by Marieke Nijkamp
Published by Sourcebooks Fire Goodreads
Genres: Action & Adventure, Bullying, Social Issues, Survival Stories, Violence, Young Adult

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve. 10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 10:03 The auditorium doors won’t open. 10:05 Someone starts shooting. Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

I think this has to be one of my favorite books that I picked up at #BEA15 last year. Once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. It grabbed a hold of me from the first page and it still sits with me today. Just be prepared if you pick up this book to read you will need a tissue. This is a fantastic debut novel.

This Is Where It Ends is told in the point of view of Claire, Tomas, Autumn and Sylv. A new semester has started at Opportunity and the Principal Trenton is giving her regular speech that the kids all know pretty much by heart.

Claire is not in the school for the assembly because she is part of the track team and she is out running the track with her team mates when the sound of gunshots forces them to stop. They try to get into the school but its locked so she comes up with a plan to find out what is going on so she puts everyone in groups.

Inside the school Tomas and his friend Fareed are also not in the assembly because they are breaking into the principal’s office trying to find out some information on a kid named Tyler who has left the school and is due to come back. They are in the office and when they realize something is up the go and look out in the hall way and that is when they hear gun fire. Quick thinking they decide to call the police. They are told to get out of the school but Tomas can’t leave because his sister Sylv is in the assembly. He will do anything to protect her.

I don’t want to give to much away about the book because you know what its about. Everyone is surprised at how the shooter is and I think had there been a little more to the story before hand you might have had the chance to figure it out.

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more from this author.