‘The Chocolate Garden’ – Ava Miles

The second book in a series always worries me as you obviously enjoyed the first one to be reading it, and you never know if it is going to live up to it. This one did!

It follows Rye’s sister Tammy and her children as they start a new chapter in their lives. Tammy starts up a new business and begins to enjoy her new found independence. Her first client is one of her brother’s best friends John Parker.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Tammy at first in ‘Country Heaven’ but she really developed as a character and her relationship with Rye is lovely. The story of the chocolate garden is lovely and such a nice idea to tell children. I love that the author has also released the story as a children’s book.

The great thing about book series like these is that you get to see all the characters develop and see their stories. We learn more about other characters we met in the first book such as Amelia Ann, Clayton and Mama. All of their stories are entwined.

Another really easy and enjoyable read! Looking forward to the next book in the series.

‘Country Heaven’ – Ava Miles

I love it when you find a new book series that you really lose yourself in! That is exactly what happened when I came across book one in the Dare River series. This is one of those books that makes you smile. It is easy to read and really enjoyable. It also has recipes throughout which I can’t wait to try!

Tory is a cook with crippling debts to pay off. When she meets Rye, a country singer, he gives her an offer she can’t refuse. Cook for him when he’s on tour and be paid. Perfect! Apart from the fact that Rye’s PR team decide she is perfect to improve his image…

Before they know it Rye and Tory form a bond over her food and his family. Tory helps Rye become the man he forgot he was. But nothing is ever that simple…

Tory is a brilliant character. She’s strong, kind, loyal and honest. Exactly what Rye needs. Rye begins as a typical bad boy but soon becomes a strong, family man who they can depend on. 

After finishing this I immediately bought the rest of the Dare River series and I can’t wait to get stuck in!

Definitely found a new favourite author. 

Top Ten Books I’d Love to Read With My Book Club (If I Had One)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and Bookish. This week we are listing books we would like to read with a book club if we had one. I’ve picked a few books that I love discussing with people. Whether for shipping reasons, great characters or gripping story lines. I didn’t manage to get 10 – any suggestions?

1. The Final Empire

Obviously I had to pick this one. I haven’t stopped talking about it since I read it. Great characters, great plot, great ship, GREAT BOOK!

2. The Shadow of the Wind

Another one of my favourites. There is so much to discuss with this one so I think it would be a great choice for a book club. Keeps you guessing throughout and a great read.

3. The Lies of Locke Lamora

I haven’t read this yet but I’m doing a read along next month 🙂 which will be fun. I love getting into new series of books.

4. The Hunger Games

I really enjoyed this book (book 2 was good too, not a massive fan of book 3) and part of the reason was that I had so many people to discuss it with! I like that a lot of book series are being made into films now (Divergent, The Maze Runner) as it expands the fan base and gives you so many more people to talk to about it.

5. The 100

Whether you like the book, hate it or have no interest in reading it, I still think it would be great to read with a book club purely for shipping reasons. The more people I can discuss Bellarke with the better 😉

6. The Lunar Chronicles

Just because I really want to read this series and most people I know already have.

‘The Well of Ascension’ – Brandon Sanderson

So I will admit, I was hesitant to read this knowing how The Final Empire ended. I didn’t think I wanted to carry on but I love the characters and the world so much I couldn’t stop. I read this in a day more or less. Sat down on Sunday 150 pages in and couldn’t put it down until after midnight when I finally finished it. How does Sanderson do it? How does he grab hold of your emotions and refuse to let go? I love these characters so much, I feel so protective over them. Vin is a goddess. She is amazing, strong, compassionate, honest, afraid, powerful and so much more. There is so much depth to her character. She is probably my favourite heroine in any book I have read so far. So much is thrown at her and she takes it in her stride and keeps going despite her painful past. She never stops and just feels sorry for herself and gives up, she keeps fighting; for herself and those she cares about.

I didn’t think I’d like Elend, I know some people don’t, but he really grew on me. He matures a lot in this book. He is no longer an immature, little rich kid but has had to grow up and adapt to become King. He takes his responsibility so seriously and really wants everyone to be equal, even though it isn’t as easy as he once imagined.

The crew are as amazing as ever, particularly OreSeur who is brilliant. OreSeur is probably my favourite character after Vin in this book. I love his story line and his relationship with Vin.

I cannot wait to see how this series ends, although I am sure it will break me. 😦

Top Ten Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week is a freebie so I decided to list some of my favourite book quotes. 🙂 They are in no particular order and this is definitely not all of them.

1. “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.”

Persuasion – Jane Austen

 

 

 

2. “… few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a place in our memory…”

The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

 

 

3. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J. K. Rowling

 

 

4. ““I bring you a message from a friend of ours,” she said quietly.“He wanted you to know that he’s not dead. He can’t be killed.” “He is hope.”

The Final Empire – Brandon Sanderson

 

 

5. “Time is priceless, but it’s free. You can’t own it, you can use it. You can spend it. But you can’t keep it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

 

 

6. “Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?–a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!–I have as much soul as you,–and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;–it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,–as we are!”

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë

 

 

7. “You’re gorgeous, you old hag, and if I could give you just one gift ever for the rest of your life it would be this. Confidence. It would be the gift of confidence. Either that or a scented candle”

One Day – David Nicholls

 

 

8. “I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”

The Fault in our Stars – John Green

 

 

9. “I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever.”

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

 

 

10. “Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

Divergent – Veronica Roth

 

What are your favourite quotes?

‘Unravelling’ – Elizabeth Norris

I was sucked in from the start of this book. It’s not often the heroine gets killed as soon as you open the book! Janelle Tenner dies… but she is brought back to life by a mysterious boy at her school. Her Dad works for the FBI and there is a countdown that is counting down the days until the world ends. Simple enough?

I loved the character of Janelle, she’s a strong heroine and battling her own demons as well as looking after her family. I also loved Ben. Tall, handsome, mysterious, romantic, what is not to like? There are some great characters in this book, characters you care for and don’t want something bad to happen to. That’s part of why I was so eager for them to figure out the countdown, I started to really like the little group of people I had been introduced to.

I loved that the chapters, like the countdown, were counting down to the the climax of the novel.The short chapters also created a great sense of urgency and made you want to keep reading and hope they figured it all out before the countdown ended.

The plot twist did take me by surprise but I liked it, it wasn’t what I expected and that was a good thing I think. It’s good to be kept on your toes! 😉 I sped through the last hundred pages as I needed to know what was going to happen. I’m definitely going to read the sequel at some point.

Have you read Unravelling? What did you think?

February Readalong – The Lies of Locke Lamora

I have been wanting to read The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch for a while now. So Kuecki, Amber and I have decided to do a readalong in February. 🙂 Feel free to join us! We’ll be posting updates on Twitter with #lamoralong so get following us at @bookdreams, @kuecki and @booksofamber. We’re starting on 1st February so you have plenty of time to pick up a copy.

Check out some of the videos these awesome people have made 🙂