Publisher: Self-Published

The Weekly Recap (154)

Posted September 21, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Last week was for learning the BTS fan chant, watching a whole bunch of BTS videos on Youtube, taking a night drive along the coast with my friend and talking about the shows we’re watching and the new BTS songs that we’re listening to and loving. We were so wrapped up in our talking that we missed the earthquake. Oh well.

Now, let’s get into all of the things that I did last week…

What I’m Currently Watching

Record of Youth
Do You Like Brahms?
BTS: Burn the Stage (The Series)

What I Watched

My Shy Boss | DNF
Master’s Sun | 3.75 out of 5
BTS: Love Yourself Concert in New York | 5 out of 5

Record of Youth, Episodes 3-4: Another solid week of new episodes of this show. I’m really enjoying the chemistry between Park Bo Gum and Park So Dam. They look cute together, they’re a lot of fun to watch and I’m really liking the confidence that Sa Hye Jun is developing. I just know that his best friend is going to start liking Joeng Ha. Ehh, I’m not looking forward to that development but I am dying to see Grandpa modeling.

Do You Like Brahms?, Episodes 5-6: The drama is really picking up on this one and I’m here for it. I’m really enjoying the romance between Joon Young and Song a. I didn’t think I’d be into this show because I’m not a listener of classical music and the only music that I really listen to on the piano is Church music. But I can’t wait for this week’s episodes, I’m itching to find out how Joon Young is going to react to Song a’s confession. He better get it!!

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (154)Never Have I Ever
by Lauren Blakely
Series: Always Satisfied #3
Published by Self-Published, Lauren Blakely on July 30, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 378
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 Goodreads Challenge

Falling for the enemy has never been so deliciously complicated in this standalone romance where a sexy single dad meets his unexpected match! Get ready for all the feels!

Never have I ever been so infuriated by a man I wanted to kiss.They say opposites attract, but I beg to differ. Combust is more like it. Because every single time I talk to Zach Nolan, I see red.

The too-good-looking, too-smart, too-effortlessly charming single dad who works down the hall from me has turned getting under my skin into a sport. Call it the battle of wits between the wedding planner and the divorce attorney.

Trouble is, when we're forced into closer quarters planning an engagement party for our best friends, I start to see his other sides.

And I fear I'm falling for the enemy.

I'm not out to make friends. My goals are simple -- fight till the end for my clients, and my family.

The last thing I need is a vibrant, outgoing, snarky, and surprisingly big-hearted wedding planner to spend my precious free time with...except, watching Piper bond with my daughter just might break down the cinder block walls I've built around my heart these last few years.

Second chances don't come around for guys like me...or do they?

We had another book besties zoom call last week and it was decided that we would read another book together and this was the book that was chosen. It’s a re-read for me but I’m excited to read it again. I absolutely LOVED it when I read it earlier this year so I’m looking forward to jumping back in.

What I Read

Shine by Jessica Jung | 4 out of 5

I finished this book this morning. It took me a while to get it read but I got it done and I’m glad that I finished it. Now I just need to write my review for it.

Eye Candy Friday

Jung Joon Hyung
Weightlifting Fairy, Kim Bok Joo

What I Reviewed


The Man from Nowhere | 4.25 out of 5
Big | DNF
Tempted | DNF
Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth | DNF
Goblin | 4.75 out of 5
Fight for My Way | 4.5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (153)
Eye Candy Friday: Jung Joon Hyung

What’s On My Radar for Next Week

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao
Forgotten
Encounter

Discovering BTS has really put a damper on everything else in my life. I am loving them too much to focus on anything else. I don’t see myself becoming a k pop fan because if I get as obsessed as I am for BTS for another group, I wouldn’t have any time for anything else and I really don’t want that to happen. I mention all of that because these were on my radar from last week’s recap post and they’re back on my radar for this week. I’m going to get to these this week, for realsies.

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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The Weekly Recap (143)

Posted January 6, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Hello! My name is Rowena and I used to blog on this thing a lot. It’s a new year, so hopefully, some new blogging hobbies will reappear in my life. Ha! Anyway, I’m back! I’ve written up some posts to keep this blog running and though it’s a personal blog (that is very bookish), I’m happy to have everyone here. 🙂 I missed y’all! Also…

I’m hoping that 2020 treats us all better than 2019 did and that we’ll all read our next favorite book this year. Like, that book. I hope everyone had a great end of the year celebration and that you guys are all ready to kick 2020’s ass. Make it a good year, folks!

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (143)The Rebel King
by Kennedy Ryan
Series: All the Kings Men #2
Published by Self-Published, Kennedy Ryan on November 18, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 348
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 Goodreads Challenge

Ambition. Revenge. Love.

Raised to resist. Bred to fight. Survival is in my blood and surrender is never an option.

Though surrender is what Maxim Cade demanded of my body and heart, I had other plans. We were fast-burning fascination and combustible chemistry, but the man I trusted with everything was a trickster. A thief who stole my love. If what we had was a lie, why did it feel so real? The man I swore to hate will have it all, and wants me at his side. But power is a game, and we're the pawns and players.

Facing insurmountable odds, will we win the world, or will we lose it all?

Rita Award-winning author Kennedy Ryan delivers the gripping conclusion to the All the King's Men Duet.

I have caught up on all of my review books, well I should say that I’m current on all of my review books so now I can jump back into the world that Kennedy Ryan created for Maxim Cade and Lennix Hunter…and I can’t wait. This is what I’m reading today.

What I Read

Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue (eBook) | 4 out of 5
Grand Theft N.Y.E. (Holiday Heist #1) by Katrina Jackson (eBook) | 4 out of 5
The One for You (The Ones Who Got Away #4) by Roni Loren (eARC) | 5 out of 5
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn (eBook) | 3.75 out of 5
Headliners (London Celebrities #5) by Lucy Parker (eARC) | 4 out of 5

What I Reviewed

Lady Derring Takes a Lover (The Palace of Rogues #1) by Julie Anne Long | 4.25 out of 5
Getting Played (Getting Some #2) by Emma Chase | 4.25 out of 5

What I Got

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Grand Theft N.Y.E. (Holiday Heist #1) by Katrina Jackson
Every New Year (Love at Last #1) by Katrina Jackson

What I Got for Review

Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6) by Lisa Kleypas

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

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Eye Candy Friday: Eric Bayer from Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen

Posted October 18, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is all about the heroes and heroines that I’m loving and wanting to spotlight right now. Sometimes I’ll do full-on gush fest posts on why I love these guys, sometimes I’ll post pictures of what I think they look like and that’s it but if they’re featured here, the one thing that will be constant is I loved the hell out of them and want everyone to know. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Eye Candy Friday: Eric Bayer from Moonlighter by Sarina BowenMoonlighter
by Sarina Bowen
Series: The Company #1
Published by Self-Published, Sarina Bowen on October 22, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Alternating First Person
Pages: 370
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Add It: Goodreads
four-stars
Reading Challenges:2019 GoodReads Challenge

Only in my family could a professional hockey player earning seven million dollars a year be considered a slacker.

I’m at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don’t even know its name.

Pass, thanks. I don’t need a summer job.

But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.

So guess who’s on a flight to Hawaii?

It’s going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we’re torturing each other. It’s all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.

Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Contains: hackers, hockey players, and a hotel room with only one bed.

Today’s eye candy is Eric Bayer from the Brooklyn Bruisers and now, The Company series. He gets his true love in Sarina Bowen’s upcoming release Moonlighter. I can’t wait for you guys to read his book. It’s good and exactly what I wanted for Bayer. I just adored him to pieces.

Hero Casting

This is how I pictured Bayer when he was escorting Alex in Hawaii. All put together nicely and drool-worthy.

The Company Series

Have you read Moonlighter yet? If no, are you looking forward to reading Moonlighter? Do you love Eric Bayer as much as I did? Who is your favorite character this week?

four-stars

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The Wednesday Post (19)

Posted October 16, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 10 Comments

Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tessa over at Wishful Endings and it was based on Waiting on Wednesday that was hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

I decided that I’m going to do a mashup of the Can’t Wait Wednesday and WWW Wednesday posts here on my blog. I’m bringing them together and calling it The Wednesday Post. Here’s what I’m up to this week.

WWW Wednesday

What did you recently finish reading?

The Bromance Book Club (The Bromance Book Club #1) by Lyssa Kay Adams

Monday was Grace’s birthday and Lauren from Bookmark Lit put together a beautiful way for everyone to honor out friend. Yesterday, everyone read a book from Grace’s TBR List, her Favorites List, any book that reminded us of Grace and for an entire day, we all #ReadforGrace. I read The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams for Grace and I enjoyed it a great deal. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would enjoy it and I know that Grace would have enjoyed it too.

Huge Deal (21 Wall Street #3) by Lauren Layne

I read this book when it first came out and loved it to pieces. This kind of romance, the unrequited love trope always hits different and with Lauren Layne writing this one, I just knew that I was going to love it. This time around though, I listened to the audiobook. This is our book discussion book for book club and book club meets on Monday so I had to get this read so that I can prepare to kick my book club friends butts at our monthly trivia game. I loved it all over again. This is seriously my kind of book.

What are you currently reading?

Marriage on Madison Avenue (The Central Park Pact #3) by Lauren Layne

It’s a Lauren Layne kind of week for me. I got this book for review last week and I don’t think I could wait to read it so I’m not going to bother. I’m reading this book next and I can’t wait to dig into a best friends to lovers book, especially when that book is Audrey’s book. Squee!

What do you think you’ll read next?

Blitzed (The Playbook #3) by Alexa Martin
Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally

Next up for me are these two books. More books from my review pile and more books that I’m much too anxious to wait to read. I can’t wait to jump into these two books and I won’t have to wait for too much longer. Soon, I’ll be saying, “Come to mama” to these.

Can’t Wait Wednesday
The Wednesday Post (19)Outmatched
by Kristen Callihan, Samantha Young
Published by Self-Published on November 19, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Format: eBook
Add It: Goodreads

What happens when a boxer finds chemistry with a geek?

Parker Brown can’t believe she needs to hire a fake boyfriend. When she landed her dream job in renewable energy, she thought she’d be entering a world at the forefront of progressive thinking. But the head boss prefers to promote employees who are “settled.” Thankfully, she’s found the perfect candidate, a fellow intellectual looking for some quick cash. What Parker gets is his protective big brother—Rhys Morgan. The tall, muscled ex-boxer with a foul mouth shows up just as her boss does, and now she’s stuck with the manipulative jerk.

Responsibility weighs heavily on Rhys. Now permanently out of the ring, he’s trying to hold together his late father’s gym and keep his younger brother, Dean, on the straight and narrow. To save Dean from himself, Rhys takes his place, ready to give this society girl a piece of his mind. Instead, he finds an opportunity. Even though they can hardly stand each other, posing as Parker’s boyfriend is a win-win deal. She gets to keep her job, and he’ll charm her star-struck boss into sponsoring his gym.

Problem is, they can barely keep their hands off each other. And what started as an easy deal isn’t so easy anymore. Because what future can a rough ex-boxer, afraid to open his heart, and a polished society geek, who has sworn off real relationships, possibly have?

They say opposites attract. These opposites are about to combust on impact.

I just barely came across this book over the weekend and already, I’m anxious to read it. A romance by two awesome authors that I enjoy a great deal? Yeah, count me in! Especially with a fake boyfriend trope. I’m trash for that kind of story. Bring it on! This book comes out on November 19th so mark your calendar, lovely readers. There isn’t much of a wait…yeah, there are only just under 3 months left in the year. Where has the time gone?

So, what are you reading this week? Anything good? Anything that you want to rant about?
Are you looking forward to Outmatched? What other books are you looking forward to releasing this year?

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Eye Candy Friday: Chloe Madison from Love, Chloe by Alessandra Torre

Posted June 28, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is all about the heroes and heroines that I’m loving and wanting to spotlight right now. Sometimes I’ll do full-on gush fest posts on why I love these guys, sometimes I’ll post pictures of what I think they look like and that’s it but if they’re featured here, the one thing that will be constant is I loved the hell out of them and want everyone to know. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Eye Candy Friday: Chloe Madison from Love, Chloe by Alessandra TorreLove, Chloe
by Alessandra Torre
Published by Self-Published, Alessandra Torre on March 14, 2016
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 417
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
four-stars

You know girls like me. You hate girls like me. The privileged blonde who skips her Ivy League classes when she's had too many Soho martinis. The one draped on the asshole's arm because he drives a Bugati and screws like a champ.

I was that girl. I loved being that girl.

Then, my door was broken in. Literally.

And in that moment? Everything changed.

Today’s eye candy is Chloe Madison from Love, Chloe by Alessandra Torre. It’s a contemporary New Adult story about Chloe Madison, a very rich girl who becomes a very poor girl overnight. The book is a coming of age story and it follows Chloe try to figure out what she’s going to do to support herself and to figure out who she is without her parent’s money. I’ve never been rich before but that didn’t stop me from connecting with Chloe.

She really goes through it and she stumbles a lot but man was she an enjoyable character to root for. If you haven’t read her book, you should because Alessandra Torre did a great job of making the reader connect with Chloe and the people in her life. Torre weaved a strong story for Chloe and I just adored Chloe to pieces. That’s why she’s this week’s eye candy. She’s the bomb, y’all!

I buddy reviewed this book with Ames and you can read our review, here. 🙂

Heroine Casting

Lauren Conrad would make a great Chloe, I think. They have the same look and Lauren kind of lived the same kind of life that Chloe enjoyed before her parents lost all of their money. I connected with Lauren on all of her shows even though I didn’t have a thing in common with her, the same way that I did Chloe and to me, that makes her perfect.

Buy the Book

AMAZON || BARNES & NOBLE || THE RIPPED BODICE

Have you read Love, Chloe by Alessandra Torre? Did you love Chloe as much as I did? Who is your favorite character right now?

four-stars

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