Reading Challenge for 2016 and what I’m currently reading

Everyone has challenges in the new year. Lose weight, find love of life, clean your room regularly, etc. While I completely share these dedications, I would also like to declare my dedications to my reading addiction this year. Below is a challenge I am going to take, and following that is the books I currently have that I want to finish. Comment, please!

1. A book published this year: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
2. A book you can finish in a day: (still looking for one)
3. A Book you’ve been meaning to read: The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead
4. A book recommended by a local librarian or bookseller: Brida by Paulo Coelho
5. A book chosen by your BFF: BFF, tell me!
6. A book published before you were born: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. A book that was banned at some point: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossini
8. A book you previously abandoned: Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes
9. A Book you own but have never read: The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
10. A book that intimidates you: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
11. A book you’ve read at least once: Emma by Jane Austen

Currently on my bookshelf waiting to be read:

1. Currently reading: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I have so much love for this writer and the book at this point. Really having a fantastic time. I can’t read too much at a time, because the book simply has such big ideas.
2. Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding. I really do love the original Bridget Jones, so quite interested to see what this is about.
3. Brida by Paulo Coelho. Coelho is such an obscure, strange author. I’m never really sure what to make of his work.
4. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. Oh, because I need cheese in my life.
5. Live in Dreams by Josephine Cox. Started it and put it down again, but I will finish it just to be scathing.
6. Indelible by Karin Slaughter. To continue the series.
7. The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead. Because it was a mad hunt to get a copy and I want to be able to say that I’m done with the series.

What are your reading plans for the year?

January 21, 2016January 17, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, BooksTags: 2016, Big Magic, Books, Brida, Bridget Jones’ diary, Elizabeth Gilbert, Emma, Harper Lee, Helen Fielding, Indelible, Jane Austen, Josephine Cox, Karin Slaughter, Khaled Hossini, Last Chance Saloon, Leo Tolstoy, Live in Dreams, Marian Keyes, Nicholas Sparks, Paulo Coelho, Reading challenge, Richelle Mead, Ruby Circle, The Glittering Court, The Kite Runner, The Longest Ride, To Kill a Mockingbird, War and Peace 14 Comments

Book Review: Happy Ever After (Nora Roberts)

Book: 50/100

Parker Brown took an event that would have taken most people under and turned it into something beautiful. After the tragic death of both her parents she and her best friends took their respective expertise and started Vows, a wedding venue in Greenwich, Connecticut. Parker is the wedding coordinator, with Mac leading the photography, Emma the flowers and Laurel the desserts. Parker is excited to be planning her three friends’ respective weddings: Mac to Carter, Emma to Jack, and Laurel to Parker’s Brother Delaney. She ignores her own loneliness and chooses to focus on the things she excels at: planning, clothes, shoes and planning.

Malcolm Kavanagh, a friend of Delaney, has the ability to fluster Parker – something that is rarely done. He is cocky by nature and never gets repelled by her “Brown frost”. After he helps her repair her car tires after a small accident, their relationship goes into an interesting direction. He takes her home on his Harley, and Delaney tells Malcolm that he won’t be able to ever get Parker back on the bike. Malcolm takes the bet, tells Parker that he did, wins her trust, and sees her playful side when she orders him to give her Del’s share of the bet.

Parker and Mal gets to know each other better, and Mal heads off trouble when he immediately prevents male drama by telling Del he is interested – cleverly preventing not getting punched like Jack did for hooking up with Emma before he told her honorary brother. Parker gets along wonderfully with Mal’s mother, which charmingly disconcerts him.

As their relationship grows, Parker realizes that there are deep and dark areas in Mal’s life which he doesn’t want to share. Most of it relates to his abusive childhood and an accident that happened when he worked in Hollywood as a stunt double. For Parker, who trusts those she loves unconditionally, it is quite a learning curve to accommodate Malcolm’s trust issues. They have a fight when he witnesses a car accident and is unable to relay what happened, and gets irritated with her for not understanding. As an apology, he buys her fabulous shoes, becoming a fan with all the girls. She accepts it, and him, back into her life. But will they continue to butt heads or find a way to love each other?

Rating: 6/10

Even though I don’t find Parker and Malcolm the most realistic of couples, I do think that the book was well done. It was enjoyable, it wasn’t stretched out, and it finished off the Quartet series nicely. Parker is my favorite character after Laurel – she is intelligent, organized and a fitness freak. She accepts her brother’s protective attitude, acknowledging that it is something that he needs to do. Her compassion and kindness endeared her to me from book one, as well as her sneaky ways to find out information when she wants to.

Read my reviews on the other three books in the series below:

Vision in White

Bed of Roses

Savor the Moment

PS: Happy 50 books!

October 19, 2013October 18, 2013 by Natasha Categories: Books, ReviewsTags: 100 books, Book, Books, Bridal Quartet, Emma, entertainment, Laurel MacBane, literature, Mackensie Elliot, Nora Roberts, Parker Brown Leave a comment