The Restricted Section - Nerdy Girl, Romantic Reads

Three Things I’m Loving

August 19, 2018 Comment : 1

Summertime Magic by Childish Gambino – If you’re not listening to CG, what are you even doing with your life? I kid, kind of. The two songs released in his Summer Pack are immensely listenable. Get to it peeps!

The First Time – Will I watch anything with Dylan O’Brien? Yes, yes I will. From the first time I saw him on Teen Wolf, I had heart eyes. We’re not talking celeb crush here (that spot is reserved for Nathan Fillion), it’s more about repping my fellow Hufflepuffs. This was a really cute and semi-realistic movie about losing your v-card.

Alone Together – And now for the opposite of the movie above, a show about two borderline-toxic/definitely-codependent friends, who everyone assumes are a couple. There is a running gag on the show about things they would rather do than date one another that cracks me up. Too many times I’ve been asked if I’m dating my guy friends, because we just have close relationships, so for that reason alone, this show was hilarious.

XOXO

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

August 16, 2018 Comment : 1

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Published by Berkley on January 30, 2018
Pages: 320
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend...

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

I went a smidge out of order with these books. Ok, 100% out of order. I read The Proposal first, and I’m very thankful that I did (because I’m not sure I would have if I had started with The Wedding Date). Note for those of you who haven’t read either – start with The Wedding Date if you’re concerned with spoilers, because (1) an MC of The Proposal is introduced in TWD, and (2) post-story plot stuff for the MCs of TWD in The Proposal.

“Stuff like this never happened to her. Note the stuck-in-the-elevator thing – her life was full of minor crises like that. No, it was being stuck in an elevator with a hot guy that was the unusual part. She was always the one sitting on an airplane next to a chatty toddler, or a knitting grandma, or a bored college student; never a hot guy to be found.”

There isn’t anything seriously flawed with TWD. It is a nice book. It has an adorable meet-cute. I love an elevator meeting – although any elevator scene has me thinking of The Hating Game. Go ahead and just pause and think of that elevator “ride” …ahem. I also really love the premise of “fake date to a wedding,” and all the not-fake doing it afterwards. This book was warm and inviting – even if the sexy scenes are a little “fade to black” and leave me wanting more (because I’m used to reading some real smutty smut).

” I am not only a groomsman in the wedding of my ex-girlfriend and former best friend, but I am a dateless…My date bailed on me at the last minute, so I’m going to look pathetic, and I’ll probably get drunk and hit on a bridesmaid – the whole thing is going to be a nightmare.”

Guillory is so adept at writing a strong woman, especially one with a network of other strong women supporting her. I think it is her strongest suit and I give endless props for it. Guillory, you write badass ladies, and it’s clear from The Wedding Date and even more pronounced in The Proposal. Thank you for creating these amazing women. I want them to be my friends. I even want myself to live up to their awesomeness. Just, thank you.

“‘To recap: you met a great girl, you had fun with her, you liked her, she’s cute, the sex was good.’ Drew nodded. ‘And…you’re just never going to see her again?’ Hmmm. When you put it that way, it didn’t make much sense. ‘That was the plan, I guess so, yeah.’ Carlos stood up. ‘You’re such an asshole.'”

The part I had the most trouble with was the major conflict that separates our couple before their inevitable HEA. I already had foundational MC problems up to the point of the conflict. I never really liked Drew Nichols. There was just something smarmy-not-charmy about him, and it’s centered around his alpha qualities. He’s the kind of guy that I wouldn’t want my friends to date, or if he were a stranger and hit on me in a bar, I would give my friends that look of please come save me from this ass. I think the problems I have with Drew are compounded by how amazing Alexa is. I just kept thinking, girl, you can do better than this schmuck. There is one very spoilery thing that happens in the dialogue between Alexa and Drew during the conflict that made me recoil. (Even writing this review two weeks after I finished, it still bothers me.) After that point, I had a really hard time getting back on board with their romance, hence my mediocre rating. If my major problem is the romance, in a romance novel, that is kind of a BIG problem.

“Drew leaned over and smoothed out the furrow between her eyebrows with his thumb. She couldn’t help but smile when he did that. She almost asked him all of the questions in her head but decided against it.”

All of that said, I really do enjoy Guillory’s writing. She certainly does not have a sophomore slump on her hands with The Proposal. Even though I have two kind of meh+ ratings, I will still be on the lookout for future books. I can appreciate that she has something inherent and special, but she’s still working on the kinks in other areas.

XOXO

Waiting on Wednesday: To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin

August 15, 2018 Comments : 2

To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin
Published by Swoon Reads on August 21, 2018
Pages: 304
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Savannah is dreading being home alone with her overbearing mother after her sister goes off to college. But if she can just get through senior year, she'll be able to escape to college, too. What she doesn't count on is that her mother's obsession with weight has only grown deeper since her appearance on an extreme weight-loss show, and now Savvy's mom is pressuring her even harder to be constantly mindful of what she eats.

Between her mom's diet-helicoptering, missing her sister, and worrying about her collegiate future, Savvy has enough to worry about. And then she meets George, the cute new kid at school who has insecurities of his own. As Savvy and George grow closer, they help each other discover how to live in the moment and enjoy the here and now before it disappears.

What are you waiting on?

XOXO

Top Ten Tuesday: Best of the Interwebs

August 14, 2018 Comments : 9

I love my little blogging community. I hope you know who you are…and chances are, if you’re reading this, I’m talking about YOU! You rock, your comments make my day, I love peeking in on whatever you’re up to (even if I’m lame and don’t always comment myself), and you better believe I’m stalking you on Goodreads on a regular basis to look for things that belong on my TBR. Instead of picking just ten of you, which my heart simply will not allow, I’m sharing the other places around the internet where I read, listen, watch, and talk books.

I know this is a romance blog, but I need to get one quick thing out of the way. Obvsies, I love Harry Potter. It was my sassy, innuendo-laden inspiration for my blog after all. I have too much HP merch, I’ve been to Wizarding World a few times, and I have a patronus-inspired tattoo. It’s a whole thing. So before I get to the smut today, I want to call out perhaps one of my all-time favorite places to visit on the internet. (And no, I’m not counting it in my ten, because cheating!) It’s Sorting Hat Chats. This tumblr is so amazing. I loooove sorting people, things, animals I have met – and not just into Hogwarts houses. It’s a weird pastime (read: obsession) that I am strangely good at, and for the few people who have worked massive amount of overtime with me, or gone on long road trips together, or literally been in my presence longer than twenty minutes, they know. I always bring it up because the filter from brain to mouth is just barely hanging in there. If you’re into HP and you like psychology/personality tests, or you just need to settle a debate about which Avenger belongs to which house, you have to check it out.

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming…I am leaving off the obvious places, like Amazon, Audible, and Goodreads – though heaven knows that is where I spend a lot of my time (cough, and money). I’m also not including things that are not online for all of us, like my local bookstore or library, but you better believe I look at all the end caps and staff recs religiously. In no particular order, these are my faves.

The Mega-Sites:
Bustle Books
Buzzfeed Books
Cosmopolitan Books

The Podcasts:
Smart Podcast, Trashy Books
When in Romance

The “I’m too tired I can’t read any more”:
Netflix’s Based on Books Category

The bookstore I want to wrangle my besties to go on a road trip to visit in real life:
The Ripped Bodice

The Celebrity Book Clubs:
Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf
Oprah Winfrey’s O Book Club
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Book Club

Am I missing something awesome? Tell me in the comment!

XOXO

Three Things I’m Loving

August 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

Man Seeking Woman – This is one of the most bizarre and surreal dating shows I have ever seen. I’m always surprised by the turns the episodes take. It’s grotesque and hilarious and I can’t help but keep watching.

Better Now by Post Malone – More stuff brought to you by “why do I even like this?” thoughts. I don’t know why I do, but I can definitely sing along to all the words on this song and do so regularly.

Notes in Books – Atlas Obscura is one of my favorite email subscriptions. There’s lots of off-the-beaten path travel things, but occasionally there are other random topics, like this one, which is all about found notes in books. I love used books, especially if they’ve been written in. The things people choose to say for the life of that book are so fascinating. Also…I’m a margins writer (controversial, I know) so this post just spoke to me.

XOXO

Waiting on Wednesday: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

August 8, 2018 Comments : 2

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
Published by Berkley Books on September 4, 2018
Pages: 336
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

The author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn't turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own...

When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn't come as a surprise--or happen in front of 45,000 people.

When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part--they've only been dating for five months, and he can't even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans...

At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up--in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes...

What are you waiting on?

XOXO

Three Things I’m Loving

August 5, 2018 Comment : 1

The Middle by Jimmy Eat World – I can still vividly remember hearing this song for the first time (like 17 years ago). Every time I hear this song on the radio, I start singing and bopping along, and then all of the sudden the lyrics will hit me and I’ll get weirdly choked up, especially as I get older and they sink it a bit more. There is something very comforting about accepting being in the middle of the ride.

Neal Brennan: 3 Mics – I first saw Neal Brennan on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which I absolutely adore. Because of their chat, I sought out his comedy special on Netflix, and it is a really interesting concept. One mic for each comedy persona he wanted to put on that night: one-liners, emotional stuff, and stand-up. This is funny and poignant. If you have Netflix, you should be watching it.

I’m Fine, Just Tired – And the third and heaviest of this week’s things (apparently brought to you by my depression), is a series of tweets about what people with mental illness mean when they say they’re tired. When I’m not reading romance novels, I spend a lot of time reading about mental health issues – namely depression and anxiety – around the internet. I think we live in an interesting and complex time where there is still both so much stigma and triggers everywhere, but then you have all of these outlets to discuss mental health more freely and find people just like you. I’ve been having a very rough few weeks. I remember having dinner with my family and being really shut off. When asked if something was wrong, I said, “I’m fine, just tired.” Something I have said a million times. That night, I got home and found this article. I felt seen and understood. It’s my hope to share it in case someone else needs to feel that they’re not alone, even if just for a fraction of a second.

XOXO

Waiting on Wednesday: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

August 1, 2018 Comments : 2

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books on September 4, 2018
Pages: 320
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Most men can’t handle Hazel. With the energy of a toddler and the mouth of a sailor, they’re often too timid to recognize her heart of gold. New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Roomies, Beautiful Bastard) tells the story of two people who are definitely not dating, no matter how often they end up in bed together.

Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

What are you waiting on?

XOXO

Top Ten Tuesday: There Outta Be A Movie

July 31, 2018 Comments : 15

This week’s topic is all about popular, hype-y books, which got me thinking of all of those fantastic books that become movies or shows. But I got to thinking, what about all of these books that I love that totally deserve some screen time, and *light bulb* this topic clicked into place. Here are my top ten books that always leave me thinking: there outta be a movie.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich
Bad at Love by Karina Halle
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

I kept this limited to contemporary titles, so there are many, MANY more books I wish were movies on my sci-fi and fantasy shelves…maybe a part two of this post will be needed in the future. What’s your favorite book you wish was also a movie?

XOXO

The Great American Read

July 30, 2018 Comment : 1

I’m taking a pause on romance today to talk about some bookish news. Voting is open for PBS’s The Great American Read! I have a lot of mixed feelings about this whole endeavor – I love that it’s discussing reading and books, I love voting on things, I looooove lists. What I am struggling with are some of the picks. Of the top 100, I have read 82. Thank you English degree for forcing my hand on that one. (The other 18 are not super likely for me to read.) Of those that I have read, if I had to create a list from scratch of the top 100 books, would all of those 82 be there? Hell no! Here is my rundown.

My favorites on the list:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

What did I wind up voting for? My one and only, desert island pick:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Titles I would swap in for authors already on the list:
(Yes, I know it’s supposed to be novels only, but for some their non-fiction is just better.)

Instead of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Instead of Americanah, We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Instead of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion by Jane Austen
Instead of Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Instead of The Great Gatsby, Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Instead of Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Instead of The Stand, On Writing by Stephen King
Instead of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Instead of Beloved, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Instead of The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Books I’m really surprised to see on the list:

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Authors I think are missing:

Ray Bradbury
William Faulkner
Cormac McCarthy

In general, modern female authors are just fucking missing. There, I said it.

If I were creating this list, how would I pose the question:

If the earth was going to be destroyed by aliens or Day-After-Tomorrow-esque storms, what books would I most hope would be saved?

Be sure to check out the totally awesome posters that were created for some of the titles before you go. Are you following along with The Great American Read? Which books are you surprised by on the list, or which ones do you think are missing? What are you going to vote for? Let me know!

XOXO