Review: Volition - Lily Paradis - January 2015 After a string of books that didn’t quite capture my interest this morning, I found myself scrolling through my Kindle, searching for the next potential gem. That’s when the cover of Volition by Lily Paradis caught my eye, featuring the iconic Empire State Building. Something about it stood out, and without knowing anything about the book or the author, I decided to dive in blind. What followed was an emotional journey filled with heartbreak, unrequited love, and the difficult choices that life and fate sometimes demand. Volition tells the story of Tate McKenna and Jesse Elliott, two souls seemingly destined to be together but constantly kept apart by circumstances and timing. Their relationship begins in childhood, but tragedy strikes, and the two are separated. Years later, they reconnect as teenagers, but their timing is once again off—Tate is in a relationship with Casper, and Jesse begins dating Jasmine. Despite their feelings for...

Review: Close to You - Kara Isaac - April 2016 This book was one I had picked up from the Xanadu Book exchange in Papamoa as I had swapped a bag of books I had read. I have had this title on my radar for a while now and was even more excited when I saw that the author Kara Isaac is based in Wellington. Imagine my surprise too when I read the book and discovered the author had also used New Zealand as part of the majority setting as the book did give off US vibes from the cover and one of the main lead male characters is from a small farming town in the USA. Alison who got a PhD from Cambridge University and explored Tolkien, after a rocky start and a marriage she is trying to get out of is now working as a tour guide for an exclusive company and showing them the world of JRR Tolkien in New Zealand which of course includes trips to Weta Workshop and Hobbiton. For Jackson, he has accompanied his Uncle on this trip as he is hoping his Uncle will invest in his new venture but to prove hims...

Review: What Happened to Nina? - Dervla McTiernan - March 2024 It is not very often I will review books just as they are released, normally it is either just before the date or after the date. However, What Happened to Nina? was high on my list to read so I got to it as quick as I could. Dervla's previous book The Murder Rule was a favorite for me and so I was looking forward to this book. The book starts with Nina on a hike with her boyfriend Simon, you can tell the relationship is not what it seems and Nina decides finally she can't take it and walks out. That was the last time we all saw Nina. The next few days, Nina's family gets worried and reports her as missing. The family and police check in with Simon and his family and Simon is being painted as a heartbroken boyfriend and claims Nina cheated on him and left. We know Simon did something as we readers know better, but how can they prove it and prove he is guilty when there is nobody and no sign of any crime committ...

Review: Last - Book #1 Copperslane Series - Garnet Christie - May 2021 Recently I posted a little bit about how going into books without expectations can turn out to be the best thing as sometimes the least expected books can turn out to be amazing diamonds in the rough or this case - the treasure in the world of books. This is how I felt with Last by Garnet Christie. This last month, I have struggled with reading, and just under half of everything I tried turned out to be a DNF. For me, that ratio was sad :(. However, back to Last by Garnet Christie, this book was a great read and I felt myself by the end of the book wanting a Brett Walker in my life too. I even really liked the main character Bianca though she did annoy me a little towards the end of the story she redeemed herself after a brief future ghost before the Christmas moment. In Last, the book starts with Bianca who is a writer but currently going through writers' block. She is at her friend's party and catches Mo...

Review: Aggie the Horrible VS Max the Pompous Ass - Lisa Wells - July 2021 This book grabbed me with the title as it made me crack up and sounded like it would be a fun LOL read. The book introduces us to Max who owns his own business and out of a temporary secretary and Aggie who is still searching for that job that gives her that "spark" of excitement and fulfilment. When Max's grandmother decides to use "the favour" and hire Aggie, he decides to make her hate the job so much that she will quit. Aggie decides to do the opposite and make it so he hates her and will fire her or not offer her the job. This led the book to remind me of the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two characters and the book had a few LOL moments. The other thing I loved was the characters' relationships with their grandmothers/mee-maws as both myself and my partner are close to our grand...