Review: ALL I ASK by Tamara Lush

All I Ask by Tamara Lush
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Princess Isabella of Montignac has never been angrier. She’s supposed to marry a prince that she doesn't love from a neighboring European principality — but he was caught on a viral video snorting coke off a stripper’s butt in Las Vegas.

All Isabella wants is to be left alone to do her environmental charity work. If she refuses to marry the prince, she’ll lose her title and royal allowance. So she flees to a Florida island to think about her future.

When she checks into the Paradise Beach Resort, a fat pug takes a whizz on her travel pillow. Then the dog’s owner, an extremely sexy man named Tate, asks her to dinner. But just when things are looking up, an unpredictable turn of events happens.

Isabella’s arrested for harassing an alligator and an island cop suggests she call a local lawyer. Turns out it’s a familiar face: Tate, the hot man candy from the day before. And since she has to stick around on the island to clear up her legal troubles, she and Tate have a hard time keeping their hands off each other.

Will Isabella forsake everything she knows — a royal title, palaces and riches — for Tate’s love?

ALL I ASK is part of Tamara Lush’s Paradise Beach series. It can be read as a stand-alone. 

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I had quite a gap between reading this book compared to when I read the prequel and book one. In fact, after finishing those, I did start this one right away--but then I left it for a few months. I'm not really sure why. But it was easy to get back into the story and returning to the Paradise Beach world was easy and familiar.

Isabella quickly became my favourite of the narrators so far. I warmed to her a lot more than Kate and Lauren. Her character just felt a lot more realistic and intriguing (though Lauren's characterisation is really good too in the first book!) and her goals were relatable. Bella's big on animal rights and this is something I'm really interested in, and it was good to read.

As a narrating character, Tate was great. I much preferred him to Damian. One worry I often have when reading series that have multiple narrators is that some are going to seem like copies of the others, but this has so far not been the case with Tamara Lush's Paradise Beach series.

This book also has a lot more comical moments than the last two, and I enjoyed the mix of lightheartedness and seriousness that this offered.

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Review: ALL I KNOW by Tamara Lush

All I Know by Tamara Lush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the author of Constant Craving comes a hilarious story about a woman who feels obligated to care for everyone, a sexy Marine who wants to make his first love his forever bride, and a fake wedding proposal that changes everything.

Kate Cooper has come home to Paradise Beach to help her mom recover from surgery. After all, who else is going to run the family's tiki bar? A few months on a Florida island won't hurt, even if her memories might.

Then Damien Hastings, her high school crush, walks into the bar one night. He's stunning. Intense. Way more muscular than when they were in high school. And can't take his eyes off Kate.

When Damien finds out Kate needs health insurance, he does what any gentleman would: ask her to marry him. He's going to Syria for a year as a military contractor, and he's loved her for years. It's the least he can do.

They didn't return to fall in love. They didn't expect to have the best sex of their lives. They didn't plan on a farting dog or a fake engagement. But strange and wonderful things happen on Paradise Beach...

Content warning: medical conditions, parent with cancer, heroine experienced bullying in high school.

ALL I KNOW is the prequel to Tamara Lush's Paradise Beach Series. They are all standalone romantic comedies and can be read in any order. If you adore hilarious banter, second chances, and steamy sexytimes, this is the book for you!

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As a fan of the first book in this series, I decided to give the prequel a go after finishing it. I already knew the details of Kate and Damien’s relationship from book 1, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much extra this novella provides the reader with. Kate and Damien become even more developed, with their love seeming more believable in this novella.

There was also a lot more sex in this novella—with it being more explicitly described than book 1–but it works, given that Kate and Damien certainly seem more sex-orientated in this novella than Lauren and Max. This is something that surprised me as from reading book 1, I hadn’t thought they had the more physical relationship.

This book does have chronic illness rep in it, which really excited me (as someone who's chronically ill) but I'd have liked to see this explored a little more on the page. One of Kate's hospital appointments is simply skipped over and we don't see a lot of the day-to-day life of being chronically ill, which I was hoping for. Especially in a romance.

I liked how the end of the novella overlapped with book 1, however as soon as we got to the overlapping parts, the writing and pacing seemed very rushed. There was less characterisation for Damien and Kate in this section, and I didn’t feel like we got much “extra” in this part. Also, I noticed that Max and Lauren (The main characters of Book 1) seemed very 2D in this book compared to Kate and Damien, so I’m not sure whether completely new readers would warm to them and want to read their book quite as much.

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Review: ALL I WANT by Tamara Lush

All I Want by Tamara Lush
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Welcome to Paradise Beach. Land of sugar sand, shirtless men, and endless sunshine. Strange and wonderful things often happen here. And island life is even hotter after dark...

Social media influencer Lauren Spencer is determined to find out why her best friend is getting married on a whim. When she travels to Paradise Beach to stop the wedding, she's the one who comes to a screeching halt when greeted with the sight of a gorgeous naked guy in her hotel room.

He just happens to be the groom's adorably uptight brother -- and the best man in the wedding. Oops. Too bad she's sworn off relationships.

As a successful real estate broker in New York City, Max Hastings has taken his workaholic ways back to his hometown of Paradise Beach, trying to ready his family's resort for sale and attend his youngest brother's shotgun wedding. Complicating matters: the maid of honor is the sexiest woman he's seen in years, and he wants her in his bed.

After some hot and heavy flirtation, Lauren and Max come to an agreement: a weekend wedding fling is just the thing both of them need.

But when Lauren suffers an accident and can't leave the island, Max finds himself more than willing to take care of her for more than a weekend. Will Lauren set aside her doubts about relationships to explore something real with Max?

ALL I WANT is Book One in Tamara Lush's Paradise Beach Series. They are all standalone romantic comedies and can be read in any order. If you adore beach romances, irresistible alpha men, and hilarious wedding hookups, this is the book for you!

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This is the first book I’ve ready by Tamara Lush and I found it addictive. All the characters are well-rounded and believable, and the chemistry between Lauren and Max was palpable and so, so believable. I could not stop reading!

The sex was tastefully written and woven skilfully into the story. This is always a worry I have when reading steamy romance, but it was well done.

This is a fast-paced romance, and the only part I didn’t quite like as much was the ending. It did feel rather rushed, and I’d have liked to see more of Lauren and Max in their HEA—though I guess they’ll also be in the rest of the series.


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Review: THINGS WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT WHEN I WAS A GIRL by Jeannie Vanasco

Jeannie Vanasco has had the same nightmare since she was a teenager. She startles awake, saying his name. It is always about him: one of her closest high school friends, a boy named Mark. A boy who raped her.

When her nightmares worsen, Jeannie decides—after fourteen years of silence—to reach out to Mark. He agrees to talk on the record and meet in person. "It's the least I can do," he says.

Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before and after the assault, asking the brave and urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own. She examines the language surrounding sexual assault and pushes against its confines, contributing to and deepening the #MeToo discussion.

Exacting and courageous, Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl is part memoir, part true crime record, and part testament to the strength of female friendships—a recounting and reckoning that will inspire us to ask harder questions and interrogate our biases. Jeannie Vanasco examines and dismantles long-held myths of victimhood, discovering grace and power in this genre-bending investigation into the trauma of sexual violence.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced reading copy of Things We Didn’t Talk About When I was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco. While this memoir is a little different from the others I’ve been reading, it truly is fantastic. In it, Vanasco recounts the sexual assaults she’s experienced while also analysing rape culture. It is a truly amazing book and I highly recommend that everyone reads it. Honestly, it is so important. (It releases October 1st, 2019.) 

What has struck me in particular about Vanasco’s memoir is how personal and honest it is. When writing about another person, there's always the risk of repercussions. Vanasco gets around this beautifully in her memoir, writing it as she seeks permission from those she talks about, and gives us their exact words. She also tells readers how her memories may not be reliable — but that the memories of those she speaks to also will not be reliable. Her book feels entirely honest and brave for that reason.

The book itself alternates between Vanasco's narrative to us and a transcription of two different phone calls that she has with her rapist, many years after the rape occurred. It's written in 'real time' as Vanasco transcribes the phone calls, and so we see her pauses and breaks and what she thinks about, and who else she speaks to. 

What makes this memoir different to others about sexual assault though is Vanasco's attitude toward her rapist and her ongoing struggle to feel the anger she expects she should feel. She and Mark were very good friends for years before the rape, and so she frames her memoir as an investigation of how a good person can do something bad. 

This book doesn't only look at sexual assault and the power in that though. It looks at how power is inscribed in language too, and how different ideologies are constructed on the basis of power and exchanges. Vanasco delves deeply into these ideas as she talks with her friend who's a gender studies lecturer, and the conversations recounted are fascinating and enlightening. 

This is a hugely important book--possibly the most important book I've ever read--and I highly suggest that everyone reads it. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy. 

Review: SLEEP by C.L. Taylor

Sleep by C.L. Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished reading SLEEP by CL Taylor just over a week and a half ago, and I still can’t quite believe how amazing it is.

I mean, I knew it would be. I’m a fierce fan of CL Taylor’s books, and I just couldn’t wait to start reading this one. It did no disappoint.

SLEEP weaves a complicated tale of guilt, revenge, death, and regret. It’s a tightly plotted thriller, and honestly, I had no idea who the killer was until the end—that’s how good it was. (And I pride myself on working out who the killer is).

The story follows Anna as she recovers from a horrific car crash that resulted in the deaths of two of her colleagues. And she was driving.

We see her go through a breakup, and decide to start a new life on the island of Rum.

I loved how this island setting almost becomes a character. And what a great place for a murder mystery. It reminded me a lot of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie at first—but there were plenty of differences I was delighted to discover as I read on (and I love that Christie book too).

The narrative is told through multiple characters, and slowly we begin to see how all the apparently separate subplots link together as it becomes clear Anna really is being stalked by someone who believes she should’ve died in the car crash.

There are so many twists, and I honestly can’t tell you enough how much I loved this book. And that ending! Wow. Really chilling.

I really can’t wait to see what CL Taylor writes next.

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Review: Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart

Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scars Like Wings—wow, what can I say about this book? It’s just amazing.

I was actually reading two other books when I saw I’d been approved for this title on Netgalley, and the premise of Scars Like Wings meant I abandoned my other reads and dove right in.

This book is incredible. It’s so poignant and powerful, as it tells the story of Ava, a burn survivor, as she comes to terms with the fire that took her parents and cousin and marked her body.

The writing style was just beautiful, so evocative. I particularly loved the snapshots we see of the days after the fire—they were so emotive.

One thing I loved about this book was the disability rep. Piper is a wheelchair user, and she was definitely my favourite character. She’s so well developed and has her own full arc in the story, alongside Ava.

In fact, all the characters are believable and really well-written. There’s petty high school drama and more serious conflict between them that mirrors the internal conflict Ava struggles with as she re-adapts to life and her new body.

One thing I really liked was the romantic sub-plot. (Some spoilers ahead!) The romance between Ava and Asad built up well, I was really believing it—and then, bam! That twist. It totally made sense. I felt Ava’s humiliation and hurt.

But at the same time, I’m glad she didn’t need a romance in order to heal. I’m disabled myself—and though my situation is different to Ava’s and Piper’s—I’m always super disappointed in books where romance is used to heal the character and make them see they still have worth. That was really where I thought Scars Like Wings was going at first, and so I’m very pleased it didn’t. We see Ava make the journey to heal by herself, with support from her friends, rather than making it all about how love has saved her.

All in all, this is a powerful and important read. I loved the commentary about how disabled/disfigured people are not inspirations—as this is something I hear regularly in day-to-day life and I can’t tell you how much this annoys me. So it was great to see this point being put across so well.

This is a great book, and I’ll definitely be looking out for more by Erin Stewart in the future.

Highly recommended YA contemporary. Perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces.

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Blog Tour: STARBOUND by S.E. Anderson - Exclusive Interview!

Hey everyone!

I am so excited today to be taking part in the blog tour for S.E. Anderson's next book! Starbound is the fifth book in the Starstruck Saga, and honestly, I can't wait to read this one! (Especially after the cliffhanger Celestial left us on!)

I'm lucky enough to be great friends with S.E. Anderson, and she's agreed to do an exclusive interview with me, all about Starbound!

But first, let's look at this gorgeous promo image!

Aren't the colours just stunning?

This book is published by Bolide Publishing, and S.E. Anderson also designs her own covers for this series (aside from being an amazing writer and scientist, she also works as a cover designer!). I just love looking at her work, and I can only imagine how much more special it makes her books for her, knowing she also designed the covers and truly captured her vision.

Anyway, onto the interview!

What’s your favourite scene in Starbound?

Not to give any spoilers, but the villain of the novel gives Sally an impossible choice to make; I cried when writing the scene. It’s the strongest Sally has ever been and I wish I could have that strength myself. What can we expect to see from Sally and Zander in this book?

Sally and Zander’s relationship is the ultimate long distance- when you have light years between you, it’s going to be tough to know what’s going on. Both need to grow a little on their own before we can reach the moment readers have been begging me for since book one.
I heard it’s the first book of the series with multiple narrators. Why did you decide to do this and how did you find writing different perspectives?

Since Sally and Zander are separated so dramatically, I thought it was essential we still see his side of the story. For our perspective, Zander fell into Sally’s life; but Zander has led a full, mildly-infinite life on his end before the two of them met. Through his perspective, I could finally explore the mysteries of his past... and have a little fun showing Blayde and Zander’s usual dynamic without Sally in the picture!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in writing the next instalment of the Starstruck Saga?

Starbound was by far the hardest book I ever had to write. Mostly I had to overcome myself; I didn’t think would be able to write it. It scared me. There was so much I wanted to say but I didn’t know if I had the words to say them. But Sally’s growth was already there, and she, at least, was ready for this adventure. So all I had to do was follow her!

Starbound releases on August 20th! I've already got my pre-order in and can't wait to read book 5 of this amazing sci-fi comedy series!