Swoon Thursday (#253): Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting

This week, my swoon is from Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West!

When I didn't stop he signed and said, "Fine. I guess our first kiss is going to be awful."

I had to purse my lips even harder to control my smile. I put my hands on his shoulders and stretched on my tiptoes. He rolled his eyes and pressed his tightly puckered lips to mine. It was just as bad as I knew it would be. I smiled and pulled away.

"See, it can only get -"

He slid his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me to him. His lips were soft this time as they found mine. He kissed me once, then twice, then ran his lips along mine. "Better," he whispered, finishing my sentence. 

- ARC, pages 363-364

Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Ivy Bookshop

Love, Life, and the List review | Other Kasie West reviews

This book was adorable! I love a good friends-to-more romance. This book felt more like "old-school" Kasie West and I loved it!

Waiting on Wednesday (#257): A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm featuring:

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

Publisher Greenwillow Books

Publication Date: June 26, 2017

Summary (from Goodreads):

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings. These are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. 

Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. 

Compiled by We Need Diverse Books’s Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, the authors included in this exquisite collection are: Renee Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E. C. Myers, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, and Alyssa Wong. 

A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish. For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures and Ameriie’s New York Times–bestselling Because You Love to Hate Me.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Ivy Bookshop

Asian stories written by Asian authors? This Asian girl is very, very excited. I'm not usually one for anthologies but I will definitely by reading this one next year. =)

Release Week Excerpt and Giveaway: Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert

Welcome to the release week blitz for Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert! This book published yesterday and it is an excellent romance novel. Yesterday, I posted the publisher-hosted blitz, with a giveaway for copies of Undercover Attraction - plus an exclusive excerpt. Today, I have a new excerpt and a new giveaway! Don't miss out!

About the Book:

Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert

Book Five of the O'Malleys series

Publisher: Forever Romance

Publication Date: November 28, 2017

Summary (from Goodreads):

Scandal. Wealth. Power. Seduction. Welcome to the world of the O'Malleys.

Ex-cop Charlotte Finch used to think there was a clear line between right and wrong. Then her fellow officers betrayed her, and the world is no longer so black and white. Especially when it's Aiden O'Malley, one of the most dangerous men in Boston, who offers her a chance for justice. The only catch: she'll have to pretend to be his fiancée for his plan to work.

Aiden can't afford to let anyone see the man behind the mask. To run the O'Malley empire, he has to be cool and controlled at all times. But the moment he meets Charlie, they're playing with fire. Her slightest touch is enough to send him over the edge. At first their "engagement" was a way to eliminate his enemies. Now he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe-- even if he has to destroy his own family to do it.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository | The Ivy Bookshop

Check out the series:

(Click on the covers for more information!)

About the Author:

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it 'a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension." When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The Excerpt:

His brows slanted down, and then his expression cleared. “You’re worried about me? Bright eyes, you don’t have to be.”

Either he was lying to make her feel better or he’d missed the cold calculation in Alethea’s eyes when she’d watched them walk out. If he didn’t dance to the tune she set, she would have no problem killing him. She wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep at night over it.

Charlie gripped his hand tighter. “Promise me.”

“You know I can’t. I’ll do whatever it takes to see this through, and if that means getting into another situation like the one we just left, I won’t hesitate.”

She wanted to shake the stubbornness right out of him. “Even if it means you don’t walk out alive?”

He started to give her a pat answer. She saw the second he registered that she was actually scared for him—not herself. The mask slipped, and something like wonder dawned. Aiden pulled her into his lap and framed her face with his hands. “The end justifies the means. You know that.”

She’d thought the same thing earlier. Now she wasn’t so sure.

But he wasn’t going to listen to her tonight. Either he hadn’t seen the danger or he was determined to downplay it. If she kept pressing, it might mean a fight, and that was the last thing Charlie wanted. She’d never been more aware of time flowing, a river that she couldn’t fight. Aiden wasn’t hers. She couldn’t protect him. She didn’t even have a real right to demand he take more precautions. She was just a woman whose aims had lined up with his.

“Charlie—”

She kissed him. There wasn’t anything left to say that they couldn’t communicate with their bodies. She shifted to straddle him, the move making her dress ride up to indecent heights. All Aiden’s careful control was gone in an instant, replaced by a frenzy that matched her own. He slid his hands up her thighs to her hips, pushing the dress even higher, and grabbed her ass, grinding her against him.

All her fear and anger turned to desire, creating an inferno bound to incinerate them both. She could care less. Charlie reached between them and undid his slacks to pull out his cock. She palmed him. “Condom?”

He opened his mouth and then considered. “Fuck, I don’t have any.”

Damn. Disappointment soured in her stomach, but she shoved it away. “Then I guess we’ll have to get creative. I need you inside me. I don’t care how.” She pushed away his hands and slid down the seat to kneel between his thighs.

Or she tried to.

He caught her halfway through the move and shook his head. “No, bright eyes.”

“What?” Surely he wasn’t rejecting a blow job? That had to break some kind of international law. It just wasn’t done. “You’re starting to give me a complex.”

Aiden lifted her back to his lap, this time facing away from him. The passing lights showed her reflection in the glass separating them from the front seat. Her blue eyes were wild, her hair tangled from his fingers, her dress in danger of slipping off her breasts. Behind her, Aiden was barely a shadow. He moved her hair to one side and kissed her neck. “You come first, bright eyes. Second, too, if I have any say in it.”

She licked her lips. “One of these days, I’m going to tie you down and give you all the blow jobs I’ve been craving.”

“One of these days…” He bracketed her throat with one hand, keeping her head tilted to the side, and coasted the other hand up her inner thigh, spreading her legs further. “One of these days, I’ll let you.”

She nodded. “Good answer.” The move increased the pressure of his hand against her neck, and she squirmed, turned on far more than she should be.

His wandering hand reached the junction between her thighs, and he parted her, idly stroking. “I think I like that you’re worried about me.” His finger circled her clit and away. “I like it a lot.”

“Mmm.” What was she supposed to say to that? She’d already had to face the fact that she didn’t have the right words because she didn’t have the right.

His finger pushed into her slowly. “I won’t be without a condom again, bright eyes. Feeling you so hot and wet around my finger makes me crave the same around my cock.” He pumped as idly as he’d touched her to begin with. “A woman like you could make a man forget himself.”

It was hard to think, with his hard body behind her, his erection pressing against her ass, and his hand moving between her legs. She tried despite that. “Only for a while.”

“No, bright eyes. Not just for a while.” He dragged his mouth down the line of her shoulder. “When I’m inside you, all I can think of is you. When I’m near you, all I can think of is getting inside you again. If you gave me half a chance, I’d be buried to the hilt right now, condom be damned. That’s crazy.”

She rocked against his hand, letting her head fall back to rest on his shoulder. He let go of her throat. The only warning she got was his thumb brushing her sternum and then he pushed down her dress, baring her breasts completely. Aiden cursed. “Next time you forget such a vital part of your wardrobe, the moment I find out, I’m going to fuck you. I might give you the option of dragging you to the nearest bathroom…if you’re lucky.”

Copyright © 2017 Katee Robert

The Giveaway:

Enter to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card or an O'Malley heroes candle set from Katee Robert!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Blitz and Giveaway: Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert

Welcome to the publisher's release day blitz for Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert! I've read this book and I absolutely loved it - the whole series, really. If you read any of Katee's books, try this series! This fifth book is now available, and book six publishes in February. Check it out!

About the Book:

Undercover Attraction by Katee Robert

Book Five of the O'Malleys series

Publisher: Forever Romance

Publication Date: November 28, 2017

Summary (from Goodreads):

Scandal. Wealth. Power. Seduction. Welcome to the world of the O'Malleys.

Ex-cop Charlotte Finch used to think there was a clear line between right and wrong. Then her fellow officers betrayed her, and the world is no longer so black and white. Especially when it's Aiden O'Malley, one of the most dangerous men in Boston, who offers her a chance for justice. The only catch: she'll have to pretend to be his fiancée for his plan to work.

Aiden can't afford to let anyone see the man behind the mask. To run the O'Malley empire, he has to be cool and controlled at all times. But the moment he meets Charlie, they're playing with fire. Her slightest touch is enough to send him over the edge. At first their "engagement" was a way to eliminate his enemies. Now he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe-- even if he has to destroy his own family to do it.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository | The Ivy Bookshop

Check out the series:

(Click on the image for more information!)

My Reviews:

The Marriage Contract | The Wedding Pact | An Indecent Proposal

Forbidden Promises | Undercover Attraction

About the Author:

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it 'a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension." When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The Excerpt:

“Come on.” Aidan stepped back and took her hand. “I have something to show you.”

He led the way up the back stairs and through a door she hadn’t explored yet. Charlie’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of candles flickering on a table laid out with a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a whole spread of Chinese takeout. 

She let go of his hand and wandered over to peer into the boxes. “How did you know that crispy pork belly was my favorite?” Just like that, the pieces clicked together. She snapped her fingers. “You had your sister feel me out?” She’d thought Kiera had been asking about her favorite food so they could pick a local place next time they ventured out of the house. “Shady. Very shady.”

“I am a mob boss, after all.” He came around the table and poured them both a glass of wine. “I have it on good authority that this cab pairs well with Chinese takeout.”

“How classy of you.” It was like stepping into another realm of existence as she sat down and accepted the glass of wine while he filled two plates. When Aiden had said that he wanted a dinner date with her, she’d assumed that meant dressing to the nines and going out somewhere fancy. She said as much.

He snorted. “Eating out always serves a purpose. Either you’re making a point, or ensuring you’re seen by someone specific, or conducting a business meeting. We’ve been making points and playing parts since we met. I’d like to try something new—having a relaxing conversation. Just me and you, Aiden and Charlie, not the leader of the O’Malley clan and the former-cop-turned-fake-fiancée.”

“Do you think that’s even possible?” Such a short time together, and it was clear they both had a boatload of issues. It was easy enough to ignore when they were banging each other’s brains out or pretending to be something they weren’t, but holding down a conversation without those masks in place? She wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

Because I already like him.

The Giveaway:

Win 1 out of 10 copies of Undercover Attraction!

Review: Love, List, and the List by Kasie West

Love, List, and the List by Kasie West

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: December 26, 2017

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Everyone knows Abby Turner is in love with her best friend, Cooper Wells. Including Cooper Wells. But despite what people tell her, it doesn’t affect their friendship. And she’s practically over it, anyway. What she really can’t get over is when her boss at the local museum tells her that her paintings lack heart. 

Art is Abby’s passion and she hopes her future as well. She is determined to change his mind and earn her way into the upcoming exhibit at the gallery. So along with her family’s help, she compiles “The Heart List,” a series of soulstretching experiences that are sure to make her a deeper person and better artist in six weeks or less. When Cooper decides to complete the list along with her, she realizes this list is expanding her heart in more ways than one. Maybe she needs to start another project.

Love, Life, and the List is about a girl who, in an effort to bring more emotional depth to her art, compiles a list of soul-stretching experiences to complete with her best friend—a boy she also happens to be in love with. 

This is the first in a set of three standalone books with crossover characters.

What I Liked:

I'd seen early reviews of this book and for some reason, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the book. I've read all of West's books. Her latest two books, By Your Side and Lucky in Love, were okay, but not my favorites. I missed the earlier stories like The Distance Between Us and The Fill-In Boyfriend. Personally, I thought Love, Life, and the List, was more like Kasie West's older stuff. It was sweet, thought-provoking, and very shippy.

Abby has the whole summer ahead of her, and she plans to work at the art museum, and hopefully ask the director to feature her paintings in an upcoming exhibit gallery for which she technically doesn't mean the requirements. But Mr. Wallace tells her that while her art is good, it lacks "heart". And so begins the Heart List, which includes ten things that Abby will try to do give her more experiences and depth. With the help of her best friend Cooper, who she has been in love with for years, she hopes to gain new experiences to be able to improve her painting, so she can paint five new paintings for the exhibit - if Mr. Wallace lets her feature her work. But in trying to expand her experiences, she also opens her heart.

This is probably West's longest novel, clocking in at 384 pages. It takes place over a summer between junior and senior year of high school. Abby is one fourth of a friend group, including herself, Cooper, Rachel, and Justin. Rachel is off to Europe with her family, and Justin is doing religious work in South America, and that leaves Abby and Cooper. This sounds great in theory, except a year ago, Abby declared her feelings for Cooper... and that wasn't well-received. So she played it off as a joke and a year later, they are still friends. But the more they hang out, trying to cross things off her Heart List, the more she feels herself falling for him (like she ever stopped to begin with). 

Abby is driven by her desire to want her artwork showcased in the exhibit, despite her not meeting the age requirement. I liked seeing this drive in a Kasie West heroine - oftentimes, the heroines are kind of go-with-the-flow, not terrible driven. Not wrong with that, but it was nice to see things shaken up, even if Abby was laid back in various regards. I liked Abby; her determination to improve her painting was really respectable. Her persistence in getting her work showcased was admirable. And her ability to stay friends with the guy she has been in love with for forever - very remarkable.

Abby has the trademark sarcasm and wit that most West heroines have. She is hilarious and definitely someone I would get along with. I love her interactions with Cooper. Both of them are witty and funny, and their senses of humor mesh well. It's so clear that they are meant for each other! They make great friends but they care about each other so much, and they get along so well. I love seeing that kind of friendship but it's even more fun when that kind of friendship becomes more.

I suppose, in terms of the romance, you can kind of infer what happens here. There's unrequited love on Abby's part, as Cooper sort of shut her down a year ago, with everything he could have said but didn't. Abby wants to get over Cooper but he always had a hold on her heart. This was a bit heartbreaking to watch because I've so been there with a former best male friend, and I know how it hurts. Still, I found Cooper and Abby's friendship really fun and sweet, and to me it always seemed like they had great chemistry. I thought Cooper was fairly swoony! Even if he did have his mouth shut during the entire book, in terms of the romance.

I won't say more on the romance but I promise it's cute! It's very slow-burn and definitely worth the wait. I had a feeling things would work out as they did and I'm not complaining.

There isn't a ton of drama in this book, though there were times when I wasn't sure how the romance would end, or how the book would end in general. Trust me when I say that any "drama" in this book is very minimal and doesn't affect the romance. 

As with most of West's books, there are some "tough issues" in this story that are important but don't bog down the story. Abby's mother deals with anxiety and it becomes a key point in the book, when Abby's mother does something that ends up making Abby really upset. I thought West wrote about the mental disorder well, and the resolution was good too.

I loved the ending! It's so sweet. Things work out for Abby, for the Heart List, for the paintings, for her relationship with her mother, father, and grandfather, for her friends. I have no complaints about the ending! I love a good HEA.

What I Did Not Like:

I always want more physical swoons in West's books! I think that's something that I always say in my reviews of  her books. No one does swoony contemporary romance like she does! But I always want more kissing. Always!

Would I Recommend It:

I really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it! I didn't have issues with it like some others might have. It's a sweet, swoony read and I breezed right through it so it's also a quick one. I was so relieved when I liked it because I didn't want to feel meh about yet another West book!

Rating:

4 stars. My faith is restored! I absolutely cannot wait to read more by West, like Listen to Your Heart. I believe there will be books to follow this one (Love, Life, and the List) that feature crossover characters, so I'm excited about that! Hopefully Rachel, or Justin, or Lacey, or Elliott. Or some combination of them!

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Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Release Day Blitz and Giveaway: Bad Princess by Julianna Keyes

Welcome to the Bad Princess release week blitz! This is a brand new novella from Julianna Keyes, author of Time Served and Undecided. Here we are dealing with royalty, which made for a fun, sexy story. Check it out!

About the Book:

Bad Princess by Julianna Keyes

Publication Date: November 27, 2017

Official Summary:

Notorious for leaping off roofs, maiming foreign royals, and that twerking incident, Brinley Cantrella of Estau is nobody’s definition of a good princess. She’s fearless and bold, not good and gracious. And after a lifetime of being told she’s unfit to be queen, wearing the crown and helping to usher Estau into a new era is the one dream she’s never dared chase.

But when her older sister abdicates the throne, all Brinley has to do to inherit the role is not twerk, not maim anybody, and definitely not get caught fooling around topless with Prince Finn, her childhood crush, the only man she’s ever loved…and her sister’s former future husband.

Finn embodies the definition of good. Tall and handsome, serious and honorable, he always does the right thing—including agreeing to marry his ex’s sister to cover up this latest scandal. Brinley has fallen down stairs, broken teeth and broken bones, but this is the first time her heart has ever been broken. She now has the crown and the prince, and on the surface, life is good—but is being married to a man everyone swears could never love her back good enough?

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

About the Author:

Julianna Keyes is a Canadian writer who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. She’s been skydiving, bungee jumping and white water rafting, but nothing thrills—or terrifies—her as much as the blank page. She loves Chinese food, foreign languages, baseball and television, though not necessarily in that order, and writes sizzling stories with strong characters, plenty of conflict, and lots of making up.

Excerpts, giveaways, behind the scenes tomfoolery - sign up for her very sporadic newsletter: http://juliannakeyes.com/newsletter.html.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

The Excerpt:

For Brinley, the girl who had spent her life exploring every forbidden nook and cranny, crawling under desks and peering behind paintings, the castle was very much her home. For Elle it had been a jail cell. Her perfect behavior had been that of a model prisoner, biding her time, waiting to break free. And now she had fled and left the world with—

“Brinley,” King Edric said. He rose from his seat where he waited with her father in the formal sitting room. He buttoned his perfectly tailored jacket and nodded politely. “How lovely to see you again.” The words were polite, but the man himself was cold and impersonal, his pale hair and eyes a visual representation of the permanent frost in his voice.

“And you,” Brinley replied, extending her hand for him to kiss. No matter the modern ideology of the kingdoms, some traditions never waned. She kept her eyes on his, her crooked smile bright and cheerful, even as she almost died from the effort required not to look at Finn, who stood just behind his father, calmly waiting his turn to greet her. 

Edric finally released her and Finn took his place, taking her hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles. A roaring fire burned brightly behind him, but that was not the thing that made Brinley’s cheeks flush. 

“Princess,” he said formally. Everything Finn did was formal. Everything about him from his carefully coiffed hair and his straight features to the brass buttons on his jacket and the tassels on his epaulets was formal. He was so stiff and handsome, but instead of off-putting Brinley found it incredibly tempting, the way she found the castle’s forbidden secret passageways tempting. She wanted to explore him. She wanted so desperately to see those carefully chiseled features crack a smile when it was not called for, to hear him laugh, curse, moan. 

But even as she wished for it, she knew it would never happen. Elle may not have reciprocated his feelings, but Brinley had little doubt that he had cared deeply for her sister. It was mandated, after all, and Finn was very much a dutiful prince, one who always followed orders and never his heart.

The Giveaway:

Win a Lush gift box! (US/CAN)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Bad Princess by Julianna Keyes

Bad Princess by Julianna Keyes
Publication Date: November 27, 2017

Rating: 4 stars

Source: eARC from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads):

Notorious for leaping off roofs, maiming foreign royals, and that twerking incident, Brinley Cantrella of Estau is nobody’s definition of a good princess. She’s fearless and bold, not good and gracious. And after a lifetime of being told she’s unfit to be queen, wearing the crown and helping to usher Estau into a new era is the one dream she’s never dared chase. 

But when her older sister abdicates the throne, all Brinley has to do to inherit the role is not twerk, not maim anybody, and definitely not get caught fooling around topless with Prince Finn, her childhood crush, the only man she’s ever loved…and her sister’s former future husband. 

Finn embodies the definition of good. Tall and handsome, serious and honorable, he always does the right thing—including agreeing to marry his ex’s sister to cover up this latest scandal. Brinley has fallen down stairs, broken teeth and broken bones, but this is the first time her heart has ever been broken. She now has the crown and the prince, and on the surface, life is good—but is being married to a man everyone swears could never love her back good enough? 

Approximately 39,500 words.

What I Liked:

Bad Princess is the seventh story of Julianna Keyes' that I have read. Since reading Time Served (one of her adult romances), I've yet to be disappointed. While I think her best adult and New Adult novels were Time Served and Undecided, Bad Princess is a fun, sexy novella that I enjoyed immensely. It is a departure from her other works but it has the same emotional depth and heat factor that one might begin to expect from her stories.

This novella starts with Princess Brinley's older sister Elle already having abdicated the throne. Rumor has it that she ran off with a sexy lumberjack to an unnamed island in the South Pacific. So, our story starts with Brinley and her parents (king and queen) having a meeting with King Edric of the neighboring country, and his second son Finian. Then comes a compromising set of photos and... Finn and Brinley find themselves married. Brinley has been in love with Finn since she was five years old, but she knew he was meant for her older sister. Now they're married and she wants nothing more than for him to want her for her, and not for duty or treaties or honor. The proper, golden-boy prince and the bad princess - who would have thought?

Brinley is such a fun character to follow and an easy one to like. This entire novella is written from her POV (which at first I found sad, because I sooo wanted Finn's POV too). Brinley likes to live life on her terms, and doesn't care for the stuffy, boring lifestyle that her sister lives - Finn as well. Her sister abdicating the throne is quite possibly the worst thing to happen to Brinley. Now she is confined to being the next queen - and marrying her sister's intended.

Finn is proper and stoic and full of honor and duty, the golden boy and the "good prince", a perfect opposite of Brinley. He seems boring and not lively, but he has so many adoring fans. Everyone loves his perfection and his no-nonsense non-rule-breaking ways, so unlike Brinley. I liked Finn despite his stuffiness, because all of the granite exterior had to crack at some point.

These two have serious chemistry! You would think, with this story being a novella's length, that the chemistry would be rushed and the romance would be clobbered together, or something like that. But no, the chemistry and the tension were built up and made for some very steamy times. His Royal Stuffiness is really not so stuffy in some ways... as Brinley finds out.

The romance was cute too. Finn was always careful and considerate of Brinley, and Brinley, well, she had always loved him, but she wanted him to want her for her. These two navigate life as a married couple with as many obstacles as one might expect from a couple pushed together via arranged marriage. They were cute to watch though.

A note about the setting - this book is set during modern times, but of course it deals heavily with royalty. Think Prince William and Princess Kate, but with the royalty actually being the government, and not figureheads.

All in all, this was a great novella with a very happy ending. Of course, as with all novellas, I wish there was more, but this story felt complete and satisfying on its own. 

What I Did Not Like:

Nothing specific! This is a quick, fun read. The only thing that might have made this better was dual POV featuring Finn, but the story was just fine with only Brinley's first-person POV.

Would I Recommend It:

Usually I'm not one for contemporary stories involving royalty as a protagonist (or both protagonists) - I like fantasy involving royalty just fine though - but Bad Princess was definitely a great read for me! A fun heroine, brooding hero, sweet romance, sexy sexy chemistry... there is a lot to love about this story. And it's a novella so it's a quick, satisfying read!

Rating:

4 stars. I have yet to be disappointed by Keyes' stories and I hope that won't change! I know this is a standalone novella but it would be so cool to see more from this couple or from this world. In any case, I'm always looking forward to reading more by this author!

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Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Stacking the Shelves (#257)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews, in which bloggers share the books and swag they've received in the past week!

So, what did I get in the week of Sunday, November 19th to Saturday, November 25th?

(all links to Goodreads are provided!)

In the mail:

An ARC of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

An ARC of Sightwitch by Susan Dennard

An ARC of Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton

Phew, that's an amazing haul! Huge thanks to The Novl/Little, Brown, Lena, and Carolina for these books! I'm excited to read, well, all of them! =)

Reviews from this week:

    

(Click on the covers to go to my reviews!)

Favorite Instagram post from this week:

A post shared by Alyssa (@theeaterofbooks) on Nov 24, 2017 at 6:21pm PST

This week was a short work week, with the Thanksgiving holiday. I also had no new #ManBunGuy stories, though I did see him on Monday (it was rather uneventful). I hope everyone celebrating had a great Thanksgiving (and Black Friday)! I did some online shopping and got an amazing pair of boots, and other things, so on the shopping side of things, I'm happy. :D Thanksgiving itself went well (though I was exhausted afterward). I'm not looking forward to Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a belated post - happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! I had a great (but tiring) day with my family and I'm currently resting my feet as I type this post. I know Thanksgiving has passed buuuuuut I thought I'd share some of the food from the day!

Photo Credit: my sister Lily!

We had 14 people total, so we cooked a feast! We're Indo-Trinidadian so most of the food is Indian/Trinidadian food, but there were "neutral" dishes like baked mac n cheese, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn! The Trinidadian dishes included callaloo (spinach), roti (like naan), curry goat, curry chicken, curry channa, and curry mango.

I took this straight from my Insta story -- we were tired! It was a lot of cooking, washing dishes, setting up, serving, washing more dishes, and breaking down. Everything went really well!

I hope everyone had a lovely, safe Thanksgiving! The roots of the holiday aren't great but what it is supposed to represent is meaningful. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this blog in some way - you all are amazing. Please know that I appreciate EVERYONE. Enjoy the time off and the good food!