Its that time of year again my bookish flowers —-

mid year freak out tag time!!!! 

yup, you read me right – its already half way through the year *pauses in shock* How did we get here you might ask?? Where did are precious time go??

And the answer to that is….

Who knows?!… *cries* *sobs* *panics in halfway through the year crisis mode*

All mid-year freaking out aside I did manage to read some really amazing books this year. Here are just a few of them below!

 

Questions:

 

Best book(s) you’ve read so far:

Yours Truly by Abby Jiminez (5 stars)

Midnight Kisses by Jeanine Bennedict (5 stars)

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber (5 stars)

Best sequel you’ve read so far:

The Damaged by Tijan (5 stars)

New release you haven’t read yet but want to:

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood 

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

A book thats out of your comfort zone:

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth 

Biggest surprise:

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

New favorite author:

Jessica Sorensen 

J.R. Ward

Underrated gems you’ve recently read:

Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De La Rosa (5 stars) 

Books to read by the end of the year:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

My Dark Romeo by LJ Shen

The Serpent and The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent 

 

I tag:

Julie @OneMoreBook

Sophie @BewareoftheReader

Sophie @MeandInk

No pressure to do the tag!! Of course feel free to do the tag if your not tagged as well!! 🙂 

What about you all? Read any of the books above? Have any on your TBR? Lets chat in the comments below!!

-BubblyBooks

 

 

Yours Truly

By: Abby Jiminez

Rating: 5/5 stars

My Review:

This book was such a sweet, sugar-coated CUPCAKE of surprise!!! 

My heart is now a pile of dissolved sugar and I do not know how I am going to recover. 

For real I do not think words can honestly express the gaping crater sized void that has now filled my life since I’ve finished this book. 

This book was an explosion. A tsunami crashing against my shores. I’m taking catastrophic level of destruction – and I am thanking it throughly for the havoc this book has left on my life. 

First off, the book follows two doctors: Bri – a bubbly, fun-loving, family oriented grounded ER doctor…. and James – an introverted, kind-hearted, soft anxiety ridden individual… who is also happens to be an ER doctor… and who also just happens to switch jobs and end up working at the same hospital as Bri. A few mix ups later and Bri suddenly thinks James is out for her job, rude, and all around an man she cannot stand to hear about let alone stand next to. However that all starts to change when a few letters start to be swapped between the two…

Let me just start off by saying that James is the love of my life.

Seriously, I would write sonnets about James. I would shout “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” by Frankie Valli on the stairs of a high school soccer field a la Heath Ledger styles in order to snatch myself a James. He is the soft, gentle, head over heels all in softie that we simply all need in are lives.

Not to mention James struggle with anxiety and the way it was portrayed in this book made me feel so connected and understood. It gave me a new perspective on how other people internalize their struggles and the way it comes off to others and how some people who do not understand where James was coming from or his struggles with social anxiety would find him rude or passive aggressive when really he was just overthinking his thoughts/movements (I also loved how James journaled as a coping mechanism for his anxiety):

“I had to remember that not everyone over-thought everything the way I did. Wouldn’t it be amazing to live like that? To not carry that burden around with you. To not feel constantly overwhelmed and overstimulated and second-guess every little thing.”

And I absolutely ADORED the way Bri understood him and gave him space without him having to ask for it, or details he would need without him requesting it. It was like the two of them were in sync with one another need without them having to ask. Like an invisible thread connected them and kept pulling them back towards one another against their conscious will *sobs*:

PLUS the push and pull between James and Bri had me at the edge of my seat while simultaneously making hand gestures from the PURE frustration the severe lack of COMMUNICATION between these two. Seriously these two were so meant for each other and they both just kept getting in their own way from being with one another!! It was MADDENING!! 

“Have you ever heard the saying that if you’re with someone who doesn’t speak your language, you’ll spend a lifetime having to translate your soul? Amy never spoke your language. […] Briana’s different. She understands you, even when you don’t say anything at all.”

But the angst, the funny families, a swearing parrot, and my heart was MELTING by the time I finished this masterpiece. I also loved how the two of them swapped letters in the beginning – letters or notes swapped between any two main characters in a book is my pure weakness. 

“I always think that when we’re quiet, we’re agreeing to be harmless to each other. That we’re just sharing the same space and letting each other exist exactly as we are, and neither of us would hurt or upset the other one.”

Anyways, please read this book. Just do it. You will not be sorry. Easily one of the best books I have read this year!

5 Stars

What about you all? Have you read this book? Have it on your TBR? Lets chat in the comments!!

-BubblyBooks

 

 

Ahhhh hello my lovely bookish roses!!! How are we today?? How is everybody doing!!? How are the BOOKS??! Have the bookish fairies been good to you? Been sprinkled with any magical reads lately?? Please LET ME KNOW!! My TBR may be big enough to kill me at this point but I can never get enough recs so please flood my comments with your favorites!!

 

That being said this month ended up being sprinkled with sugar coated fairy dust because the books I read were absolute magical, sparkle coated cupcakes that I devoured at an unhealthy rate. (seriously they were SO. dang. flipping. good.)

I even was lucky enough to have flipped through the page of some new favorite books of all time….. thank you exploding TBR for putting off killing me for a few more days and instead popping out books good enough to melt my heart into some liquid gold. 

 

But enough of my rambling on here and onto the books that blessed my eyes last month *claps*:

 

What I Read this Month:

Midnight Kisses by Jeanine Bennedict – 5 stars –

Hello all and welcome to my new obsession. The pages of which consume my every waking thought, my every color drenched dream, my every day dream or zone out moment. Enter this beautiful beauty of a book: Greta and Otis just might be one of my favorite books couples of all time (if not the favorite) and I am incapable of apologizing for it. One of the most realistic romances I have read (seriously these two characters personalities felt like real people to me and honestly it felt like I was reading about reality in the best way). Please if you chose to read any book I’ve ever recommended… read this one *prays you add to your exploding TBR*

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – 4 stars –

JACKS IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. Dang flabbit I was not expecting to fall as hard for this book as I thought. Seriously I still have scrape marks on my arms and face from falling so hard for this book. I love the world of Caraval and read the Caraval series a fat minute ago… that being said I think I might like this series even better??!?!? Who am I??!? But Jacks just had me falling impossibly hard and I adored every second of his apple filled manipulative snarky self…. not to mention I adored Evangeline’s rose gold colored glasses in which she saw the world. SO freaking good!

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber – 5 stars –

AHHHHH this book has my heart and my soul. Seriously my soul is off of a highway somewhere trampled and run over and bleeding to death from the emotional trauma this book put me through. If I thought book one punched me in the face with feelings…. it had nothing on book two. And THAT ENDING I have still not recovered and please do not talk to me until book 3 is published in October please and thank you. 

Pucked Love by Helena Hunting – 4 stars –

I am so sad this series has come to an end *sobs*. The Pucked world has grown on me completely and Darren and Charlenes story was not exception. Honestly this book was a lot softer and sweeter than I anticipated and I deeply enjoyed the way the romance unfolded between the two. Such fun family dynamics, with a twist of dirty banter, and a sprinkle of hockey lingo… great series!! 

Twisted Emotions by Cora Riley – 5 stars –

NINO. Thats it thats the review. Read this book for Nino – I love him and Kiara with my whole heart and Cora Riley knows how to write a mafia family like no other. The blood drenched moments, the heart shredding emotions, the breath stopping tension, everything about this had my mind darkening and my heart opening. Hands down one of my favorite couples she has ever written (its up there with Aria and Luca 😉 ) Highly recommend! 

Twisted Pride by Cora Riley – 4 stars –

Wow. This one was even more intense than Twisted Emotions. Much darker, much more questionable but I still loved Remo all the same and I liked how him and Serafinas romance ended even if my morals had to hop a few fences to get there. A really great series!

 

While the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie Jordan – 4 stars –

This book was so cute and steamy!! Just the type of light and fluffy book I needed. The kissing scenes in this are A+ plus toss in some amnesia and falling for the wrong brother and I am SOLD. Really cute and light and I can’t wait to read more from Sophie Jordan!

A Rogue to Remember by Emily Sullivan – 5 stars –

OMG this one completely blew me apart and drifted me away. My expectations were on the ground for this one (mostly because I didn’t know anything about it going in) and I must say the wind was blown right into my sails and had my heart drifting away by the end of chapter one. The mutual pinning from both Alec and Lotties POV’s had me wanting to tear my hair out and shout from the rooftops “You both love each other just kiss already!?!” The angst in this book was just *chefs kiss* and I loved how both Lottie and Alec had a past connection from their childhood together! Just so, SO good!

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas – 5 stars –

I must say this is probably one of my favorite historical romances of all time. Sebastian is the snarky unapologetic bastard we all need in our lives. I loved everything about this book and the way Sebastian takes care of Evangeline had my mouth hanging open in awe and admiration. The plot is one of the most layered and atmospheric I have read in a historical and I loved how their love for each other opened up and grew over time. I do not re-read books often but I just may have to pick this one up again because I already can not stop thinking about it!

Royally Matched by Emma Chase – 5 stars –

An up and coming king who decides to ignore his duties and sign up for a royal reality tv show instead?? Yes please. This book was like the dirty crossover between The Bachelor and The Princess Diaries and I devoured every page of it. Henry is straight up hilarious and his internal monologue had me laughing out loud at several moments. I loved how hard he fell for Sarah and the way these two truly cared about one another above all else. Really great, fun, and addicting series!

 

 

What I Watched:

Queen Charlotte (season 1) – 

I loved this series!!! Devoured it in two days total and already need more!!

Desperate Housewives (season 3) –

This series had consumed my life and I will not stop watching at all costs. Amazing. 

The Little Mermaid (live action) –

This was really good! I loved who they cast as prince eric and the special effects were really good! Was pleasantly surprised by this one!

 

(Tentative) June TBR:

• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• Twisted Hearts by Cora Riley (Savios book!!!)
• Stinger by Mia Sheridan
• First Semester by QB Tyler
• Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

Very, very tentative TBR because we all know I cannot commit to save my life 😉 However I am hoping to get to some of these this month!

What about you all?? Read any good books?? Read any of the books above? How was your reading month last May?! LMK in the comment below!

-BubblyBooks