Take This Regret by A.L. Jackson.

The minute I read the description of this book, I made a mental note in my mind to read this the next time I ran out of books to read. So when I finally got nothing to do, I sat down and start reading this.

The story is about Elizabeth who got pregnant by her steady boyfriend, Christian, when they were in undergraduate school. Both dreaming of becoming lawyers, the news was pretty a bad blow for them. Christian asked Elizabeth to make a choice — him or the baby.

Five years later, Elizabeth had done a good job raising her daughter… alone. But an incident suddenly made Christian a part of Lizzie’s life and Elizabeth’s life again. Feelings and emotions well buried inside the heart but not really erased are now resurfacing again…

I really liked it. The story, the emotions, the dialogues… I can really feel the regret and Christian’s self-reproach when he choose his career over Elizabeth five years ago. And on the other hand, I also understand Elizabeth’s pain and sufferings when Christian made her choose and was left to raise her daughter alone.

The way the author separated both Christian and Elizabeth’s point of views is ingenious. That way, we can relate and understand what the other has to say. I understand that Elizabeth needed time to heal and she can’t just let Christian be a part of their lives permanently when she suffered and faced her heartaches alone. Of course I hated Christian in the beginning. Every girl around the world, would.

But this book is a great story about forgiveness, second chances, happy endings and of course — love. So if you want to be moved (and cry), I’m definitely recommending this book to you! :-bd

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

I wasn’t planning on reading a John Green book again since I didn’t liked Looking for Alaska that much and I can’t force myself to finish reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson. But this book suddenly appeared on my Goodreads homepage and asked if I could read it. Out of curiosity, I checked it out and see if I would like the description of the book. I actually liked it so I marked it as to-read and downloaded a copy in the vast world of Internet.

I din’t get the chance to start reading it until last night, when I’m desperately searching for something to do. And then…

After 10 pages or so, I was smiling like an idiot because it’s a John Green book and it was just so good. I didn’t stop reading until midnight and continued reading it the next morning and when I finished… I. WAS. SO. SMITTEN.

The characters, the story, the theme, the everything. It’s perfect. I only read 1 and half books by John Green and both heroes of the novel seems to be wimpy and cute, so it’s quite refreshing to see the hero of this book to be quite… vain. In a good way. I love Augustus Waters in every way that’s possible. The wittiness, the leglessness… everything.

And of course, Hazel Grace. I don’t even know how to describe my thoughts towards her. She’s strong, smart, selfless, lungless… I know, how can a heroine be so selfless?!

And… shit. THIS BOOK MAKES ME WANT TO MAKE A REVIEW IN TAGALOG!!! Urgh. Haha. But well, you know you’ve read a good book when it left you speechless in the end. And this book made me speechless indeed.

 

Rating:

A+

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

(I already made a review of this book last March 4 but since I reread it last night, my point of view suddenly changed and so I planned to revise my review. So this post is the refreshed edition. )

I wasn’t intending to start a book before our trip to Manila but boredom struck and reading was the best thing to do. Kiss an Angel was next on my to-read list at that time so I sat down and start reading it.

The female protagonist is named Daisy and just like any other rich Dad’s daughter, she doesn’t know how to survive in life basically, without the help of money. Her circumstances led her to a marriage with Alex Markov, a prestige college professor slash consultant of the biggest museums in the U.S. and slash the leading authority of Russian iconography also in the U.S. But he doesn’t want Daisy to know so he made her believe that he’s a circus performer so that she will give up their marriage.

An event led Daisy to be the main suspect of the lost $200 in the circus thus labeled her a thief by her co-workers and her husband as well. Alex thought she would call it quits while bestowed a job of shoveling animal poop but well… he was wrong. And I was too. Because Daisy was tougher than we all expected. And after reading it the second time, it actually made me appreciate that certain aspect of Daisy more because when I read it for the first time, I was actually reading in a fast pace since I want to finish the book before our trip.

I also cried while reading the book which surprised me because I didn’t felt that way two weeks ago.

Scenes that made me teary-eyed:

• The scene when Daisy was crying while shoveling dirt and Alex was asking her to give up but she refuses.
• When she was looking in their bathroom mirror and Alex found her crying and told him,”I was never really pretty, not like my mother, but now I’m ugly.” I know this should irritate me because of her vanity, but it didn’t. At all. It actually moved me in a way.
• When Alex saw Daisy that she couldn’t lift her spoon toward her mouth because she was so tired and eating became an enormous effort for her. God, it broke my heart.
• When Daisy told Alex that she was pregnant and he got mad because he doesn’t want to have kids. He said he’s not capable of loving somebody with all his heart. I know, he’s so blind and so… stupid. *rolling my eyes here*
• When they were doing their “spec”, Alex accidentally hit Daisy with his whip because of his rage. Then he suddenly told her all his secrets, blah blah blah…

I know I should list all the sweet moments too but that would be like telling the whole story of the book because I already told the half. Haha! Find out for yourself then. :p

YOU SHOULD READ THIS! For those people who’re looking for a sexy, sweet, and funny read!

Rating:

A+

A Lot Like Love (FBI, #2) by Julie James.

Can I just say that Julie James is a great author? I mean, really. Something About You was fantastic but this book was downright awesome!

The greatness of this book:

• Nick McCall. Tall. Dark. Handsome… Smoldering. And can I just say he’s on the sarcastic side, too? Just the perfect hero for a story like this.
• Jordan Rhodes. Blonde. Rich. Beautiful. And down-to-earth. I mean, how many billionaire heiresses in the world are actually nice these days?!
• The story! Nick “needed” to pretend to be Jordan’s boyfriend but after a while, they began developing feelings for each other and it was so sweet!
• The additional facts about wine and the FBI. They made the book very realistic.

I don’t have any other comments about this one, but needless to say, YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THE FBI SERIES! Hahahahaha. Well… I think that’s good enough.

Something About You (FBI, #1) by Julie James.

So, one word… AWESOME. Shit. It’s been a long time since I read something this good.

Things I love about this book:

• A hot, sarcastic, and rugged FBI agent. Eherm… what more can you ask for? Hell-o Agent Jack Pallas.
• I imagine our female protagonist as a sexy, beautiful, and intelligent lawyer who’s equally sarcastic. And funny. That’s Cameron Lynde everyone.
• They are both made for each other!
• The plot, the mysteries and the thrill while reading it. Geez. I’ve got goosebumps.
• The second characters especially Collin and Agent Wilkins!
• This book made me laugh.
• And blush. Because of the sweet scenes Cam and Jack had.
• And I was smiling like a freaking idiot all throughout the book! That’s how good it was. And you know you’ve read a good book when it left you speechless after the last word, right?

Enough said.

I highly recommend it! The scenes weren’t exactly requiring parental guidance so young adults ages 15 and above can also read this.

Rating:

A+

What Price Paradise by Katherine Allred.

I don’t know how or why, but I suddenly stumbled upon this book in Goodreads and when I read the description? The only thing that came to my mind was,”I gotta read this one.” And so I did.

Abby is a waitress in the local bar. Having a mother for a prostitute and labeled as the town whore, the folks also see her as that. But when Tate McCullom — a rancher and raised as a responsible man,  got her pregnant on the night he got drunk and slept with her, everything seemed to change so fast for the both of them.

Tate has a fiancee, although you can’t really call it like that because of their situation. They had a fight before the night Tate found out that Abby was pregnant, but knowing Diane (her fiancee), he knew she will be back to make amends with him again after her vacation in some far away place.

But he need to do what’s right. And for him, the right thing to do is to marry Abby and raise their child that she was carrying. The problem is Abby has got so much pride in her and she refuses to marry him at first. But when Tate compromised with her, telling her that she can work for him as his wife, she finally agreed to marry Tate.

I’ve been looking for a book with a story like this for months so I am very happy that I finally found one! I love the characters especially Abby. She’s very sweet and I admire her for being strong even though she always get hurt because of Tate, and I got some issues with him. I can’t understand his blindness when it came to Diane and how he always tells himself that he loves her when in fact, he just feels responsible to her. And of course, I also loved the second characters! I love Buddy (Tate’s brother). How he understood the situation with Abby and Tate and he didn’t looked down on her even though most of the town call Abby as the town whore. And Joe! He’s Tate’s best friend and I love him! Especially the part when he’s making Tate jealous.

The story’s very cute and romantic. And I really liked the parts when Tate and Abby slowly get comfortable with each other. The ending for me was so-so, but I still liked it.

So for those who’s looking for a very sweet read, this is the one for you! Highly recommended!

Rating:

A+

Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt.

Payton Gritas is a 15-year-old girl who’s living a good life when  suddenly it became… not-so-good. She found out that her Dad has multiple sclerosis and her family hid it from her for a long time. Feeling betrayed and left-out, she decided to ignore her family and refuse to speak to them unless needed. So her parents told the school’s guidance counselor to help Payton deal with their problem at home and her guidance  counselor told Payton to choose a focus object (something to concentrate her emotions on) and she decided to choose the thing that she’s been staring at since third grade: Sean Griswold’s head. The focus object exercise seems to be working since Payton find herself focusing more on Sean Griswold rather than her problems at home.

So…

The very first thing that I liked about this book was the sarcastic humor of the main protagonist. And the romance between Gritas and Griswold is very cute, so this is a book for all ages. I also like Jac, Payton’s bestfriend and although there are obstacles in the book for them, I still loved her. The family bonding between the Gritases was also very good, and you can feel the love they have for each other even though Payton refused to speak to them at first, you can feel that she loves her family so much. And it’s also a tear-jerker for those who like a little drama in their reads (like me!).

All in all, this book is a very touching story about dealing with family problems and sickness, friendship and love all combined in one! Highly recommended!

Rating:
A