Her Touch – Alexa Riley

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Well, I thought this day will never happen, an Alexa Riley book that didn’t make me jump for joy. Those who follow my blog, know that Alexa Riley is one of my go-to authors when I am in a reading slump, I always love her books, the stories are quick and pull you in from the beginning. This one, not so much.

The story follows Eli Strong, a military vet who moved in with his commanding officer. Maggie Drummond has been moved around more times than she can count, starting at a new high school sucks.

At first, you think this is going to be a sweet story, two characters who will fall in love quickly, just like Riley is known to do, but then almost everything that can go wrong in people’s lives goes wrong with these characters. It felt like too much was happening all at once, and somehow this just didn’t work for me.

Maggie also reminded me a little about Bella Swan from Twilight with her moaning at some point, and this just irritated me even more.

But one thing is for sure, Riley knows how to write, the writing still pulled me in, the storyline just didn’t work for me. 

The Only Pirate at the Party – Lindsey Stirling

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This is a thrilling glimpse into the quirky violinist start and how she worked at getting to where she is now. We all have seen the videos on Youtube that show the quirky dressed up in a pirate costume, splashing in a fountain, violinist.

This book, especially the audiobook really brings you closer to Lindsey and listening to her telling her story, and what makes her do what she does, is worth it. I listened to this during some car trips, and even my passengers were enthralled with her story.

The book was beautifully written with a lot of stories from her early years of learning to play the violin, through her journey on America’s Got Talent, to where she is today. You learn a little about her religion and family life.

I would definitely recommend getting the audiobook, or even better, both. 

Confess - Colleen Hoover

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I only discovered Colleen Hoover books recently, and have slowly but surely tried to go through her books, this is has proven quite difficult if you love hard copies of books like I do, as CoHo books aren’t freely available in South Africa. After caving and getting a Kindle copy, it has been waving at me for a while. Then I found out the series was releasing and that sparked me bumping this book to the top of the TBR pile.

The premise of the story was fascinating, with the whole love lost and love gained angle. The characters drew me in from the beginning with a sense of mystery from the beginning, CoHo pulls you in and she really does know how to deliver a great story. The artwork throughout the book was incredible and this somehow made the story even more believable.

There were some parts I couldn’t quite understand, maybe that was my South African mentality screaming, I mean who just goes into a building because there is a sign on the door? But, other than that the book was really enjoyable and a very quick read for me, considering it took me a couple of days to finish. My work may or may not have suffered under this.

I felt bad for Owen when it was revealed what he was sacrificing, Autumn frustrated me very much in the middle of the book, but that to me is the sign of great writing when you get so pulled into the story that you can’t focus on anything else but the story. 

Hushed - Joanne MacGregor

Even though I am from South Africa, I haven't really been keeping up to date with South African authors. After joining a local Facebook book club this has changed drastically and I've found some local authors that have taken a very big place in my heart and my bookshelves. I originally asked for an ARC from the author but a couple chapters in decided to purchase the book from Amazon. 

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Hushed is a modern day Little Mermaid retelling, and believe me, Joanne had me hook, line and sinker from the beginning. She pulls you in from the first words, the characters are loveable with a couple who stand out, the eccentric grandmother was probably one of my favourites

The story is any fangirls’ dream, Joanne writes it in such a way that it doesn’t come across as fan fiction.

Throughout the book, you not only learn more about the characters but also about some serious environmental issues. I especially enjoyed all the referrals to local spots in and around Cape Town, it took me back to my last holiday there. There was also a line about a lion in Africa that made me think back to all my American penpals, who always thought we had pet lions.

There were elements that reminded me of the Disney version of Little Mermaid and this has now given me a craving to watch it as soon as possible.

Joanne MacGregor’s writing is wonderful and she is definitely one of my “Will buy no matter what” writers.