No, that doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t matter. You are here for book reviews that don’t waste your time, and we have some.
Without Merit
Written by: Colleen Hoover
Release Date: 10/3/2017
Genre: Young Adult
Reviewed by: Heidi*
Rating: 3.5 Angsty Teen Boyfriends
Recommended for: Anyone who thought they knew everything when they were 17
Colleen Hoover writes angsty new adult characters better than any author I can think of off the top of my head. She writes characters that you may not like, but you can identify with them. You feel their emotions. You experience their story through their eyes. You can’t help but dive head first into her stories and not coming up until the last page. This is especially true in Without Merit.
Without Merit is the story of a messed up family with too many secrets to count living in a church their patriarch bought out of spite. It’s a story about dishonesty and depression, but mostly it’s about perspective. Seventeen year-old Merit thinks she knows everything there is to know about her family, but maybe she doesn’t know anything at all. Grab a copy and learn more about Colleen Hoover’s book tour here.
*arc provided by publisher in exchange for honest review
The Stolen Marriage
Written by: Diane Chamberlain
Release Date: 10/3/17
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed by: Leanne*
Rating: 4 House Calls
Recommended for: Those who enjoy medical dramas, anyone from North Carolina.
A poor decision and a tragic accident derail Tess DeMello’s life in ways she never imagined. A good Catholic girl from Baltimore’s Little Italy, she is ready to graduate from nursing school and marry her childhood sweetheart. Instead, she ends up trapped in a loveless marriage with hateful in-laws. Adding to her misfortune, she has become the social pariah of the small town, Hickory, North Carolina.
It seems as if not only Tess’s world but the whole world is falling apart. While World War II rages over seas, a war rages in communities across America, against the mysterious and deadly infant paralysis, better known as Polio. Best selling author, Diane Chamberlain, sets her story against the backdrop of the historical “Miracle of Hickory”. As the country struggles with loss of life both at home and abroad, can Tess find a way to help those around her and herself?
The Stolen Marriage is part romance, part medical drama and part history lesson. Not only was I drawn into Tess’s search for happiness, but realized the full extent of an epidemic that had parents living in fear and isolating their children during the summer months of the 40’s and 50’s. The Polio vaccine has made this outbreak a footnote in history to Gen Xers and Millennials, but my parents sure remember. I just hadn’t thought to ask. Buy it.
*arc provided by publisher in exchange for honest review
Fitness Junkie
Written by: Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza
Release Date: 7/11/17
Reviewed by: Angela*
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4 Juice Cleanses
Recommended for: People with a sense of humor about their weight
Free-the-Nipple yoga; dumpster diving first date; talking fitness watch that keeps going off at inopportune times. These are just a few of the experiences that Janey has while on her forced weightloss journey. Janey Sweet is the CEO of a bridal dress company–the kind that doesn’t make a dress over the size of 6–when she is caught on camera in the front row of a runway show eating a–GASP!– bruffin. Her business partner/dress designer/life-long best friend, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: take 3 months off and lose 30 pounds by any means necessary or else.
Along the way, Janey reconnects with friends that were always stuck on the back burner with Beau in her life, coming to the realization that maybe he wasn’t as great of a friend as she thought. Yes, there is a little romance–would I read it otherwise?– but it is definitely low on her priority list as she just got divorced (she’s not heartbroken BTW).
The book had just about every ridiculous diet you can think of (the editor’s note claims that most are real), including drinking broccoli-infused water and the things Janey puts up with to do so make a cheese lover like myself giggle. Mostly. I did start feeling the urge to go to the gym while reading it, and not in a good way (thank you PMS), so if you are sensitive to things like that maybe hold off. Buy it.
*arc provided by publisher in exchange for honest review
Blood Guard
Written by: Megan Erickson
Release Date: 9/12/2017
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Reviewed by: Beth*
Rating: 3 Fanged Vampires
Recommended for: Lovers of weird vampire lore
If you love paranormal romance series of the urban fantasy type, you are going to really be into Megan Erickson’s new series. The first of the bunch, this introduces readers to a vampire underworld where the good guys only feed from the humans who let them, and the bad guys just go crazy on whomever smells the best.
Tendra is a fiesty bartender, alone in the dusty small town of Mission City, and one night she’s whisked away by a vampire claiming her blood is everything his clan needs to survive. But some gross vamps are hot on her tail. Speaking of hot on her tail … this guy, Athan, is. He’s a sexy, alpha vampire warrior who’s into protecting her, and that leads to all the sexy encounters you are expecting. It’s hot, it’s humorous and it’s got a hero you will love and a heroine you will root for. Buy it.
There you have it! Real quick reviews for books we loved … real quick because we lazy. Hope you find something new to read. But in the meantime, tell us what you are reading in the comments or on twitter using #TNReads.
If you like what you see, check out our other #TNReads posts for more quick and dirty recommendations. Or our Books Section for all the rest of our favorite novels. Also if you are into reading WITH us, JOIN BOOZY BOOK CLUB … we are on Facebook now and our first hangout in several months is next week. See you there.
