Source: NetGalley

The Weekly Recap (153)

Posted September 14, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

I’ve gone down the rabbit hole that is all things BTS. I’ve got to be the oldest fan that they have (not true, I see old lady BTS Army TikTok) but dude, they’re a lot of fun. I blame Tae-hyung for wrecking my For You Page on TikTok. It’s all things BTS and Korean Dramas. I’m not that mad about it though because I’ve been enjoying watching all of their content. They’re fun to watch perform and now I’m even more annoying to Brenna because I used to just speak Korean phrases to her but now I sing to her in Korean too. LOL. The other day she was on my Etsy ordering some stickers for her hydro and she said that she’d buy me some so I chose my stickers and had to laugh out loud at our Etsy cart.

These are the stickers she got:

And these are the stickers I got:

She just shook her head and was like, “Mom, why are you like this?” Haha.

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

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (153)Shine
by Jessica Jung
Published by Simon Pulse on September 29, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 Goodreads Challenge, 2020 New to Me Challenge

Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knock-out debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls Generation.
What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right?

Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.

Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group, Girls Generation, takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop, where the stakes are high, but for one girl, the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to SHINE.

I’m picking this book back up. I started it a couple of months ago but wasn’t in the mood to read so I kept putting it down after every other sentence. I’m hoping that my reading slump is behind me now so that I’ll actually finish this one so umm..wish me luck? 🙂

What I Read

The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie | DNF
Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy #5) by Ilona Andrews | 4.25 out of 5

I tried reading The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie to discuss with my book besties on our zoom call yesterday but I was just not that interested in reading a historical book right now so I quit that book after 6 straight days of only reading a paragraph each time I opened the book. I jumped into Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy #5) by Ilona Andrews instead and yeah, that was just what I needed to keep my reading slump at bay. However, it was the only book that I read last week.

What I’m Currently Watching

Record of Youth
Do You Like Brahms
My Shy Boss

What I Watched

One Spring Night | 3.75 out of 5
Prison Playbook | 4 out of 5
Burn the Stage: The Movie | 4.5 out of 5
BTS: Global Takeover | 4.25 out of 5

Record of Youth | Episodes 1 & 2: This show started off really strong as I’m already obsessed with the two main characters, already shipping them and waiting on pins and needles for today’s episode. I have to wait until my lunch hour to watch it but I’m actually struggling to decide if I should wait until tomorrow to watch both of this week’s episodes together or not. Who am I kidding, I’m not waiting to see Park Bo Gum in a new episode. Haha, silly me.

Do You Like Brahms? | Episodes 1-4: So I discovered BTS last month after realizing that one of the guys in the band was in Hwarang, one of the dramas that I started watching. I like the character enough that I looked him up in BTS and before I knew what was what, he became my bias in the group (with Suga a very close second bias and I don’t care if that breaks the rules, I love them both!) and I have listened and practiced singing all of the BTS songs that I like and there are a lot of songs that I’ve had to practice. Singing in English is easy but singing in Korean? That’s hard as hell but I’m happy to report that I can sing the shit out of my favorite BTS song, Just One Day. LOL. Anyway, all of that to say that I started this show because the main male lead is a friend of V’s from BTS….that’s why I started this show. I gotta support my biases friends and I’m glad that I did because the pacing of this show is a lot slower than Record of Youth but it’s just as good. It’s more focused on the characters and I’m really, really enjoying this one so far. I’m happy that I have a new episode to watch and I’ll watch that today too. Yippy skippy.

Eye Candy Friday

An Min Hyuk
Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon

What I Reviewed

Midnight Runners | 5 out of 5
Romance is a Bonus Book | DNF
Kill Me, Heal Me | DNF
Playful Kiss | DNF
Descendants of the Sun | 3.25 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (152)
Eye Candy Friday: An Min Hyuk

What I Got

Teach Me (There’s Something about Marysville #1) by Olivia Dade
40 Love (There’s Something about Marysville #2) by Olivia Dade
Swettest in the Gale (There’s Something about Marysville #3) by Olivia Dade
Never Have I Ever (Always Satisfied #3) by Lauren Blakely

What I Got for Review

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

What’s On My Radar for This Week

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao
Encounter
Time to Hunt

What Made Me Laugh

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

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The Weekly Recap (147)

Posted July 20, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

The Weekly Recap is a weekly feature on the blog where I recap my week in books, in movies, and in TV Shows. If you’re ever curious about what I’ve been up to, these are the posts for you.

It’s been a pretty quiet week for me since Brenna’s been in Colorado for the summer and I don’t have anyone annoying me at every turn. It’s been nice. LOL. I also had some time to catch up with my siblings on Friday with my sister from Vegas in town. We received some bad news about my cousin’s husband, who died from covid-19 this week so that was a bummer. It’s amazing to me that people are pissed about having to wear masks in public here in California. SMH.

Anyway, I didn’t do much but watch Korean Dramas this week but it was still a good week.

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (147)Shine
by Jessica Jung
Published by Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse on September 29, 2020
Genres: Young Adult
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 Goodreads Challenge, 2020 New to Me Challenge

Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knock-out debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls Generation.
What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right?

Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.

Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group, Girls Generation, takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop, where the stakes are high, but for one girl, the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to SHINE.

I didn’t get any reading done this week. A couple of pages at most but I’m liking what I’m reading so far in Shine by Jessica Jung. Those K Pop stars are no joke and their schedules and training are intense. I’m really interested in seeing where this story takes us. I just need to make time to read.

What I Got

Shine by Jessica Jung
Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

What I’m Currently Watching

It’s Okay to Not be Okay (2020)
Suits (2018)

This week’s episodes of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay were emotionally packed and I ugly cried through both of them. I am really, really loving this show and both Seo Ye Ji and Kim Soo Hyun did such an amazing job engaging my emotions with their acting skills that I am so here for the both of them. I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes us but if the first part of the season is any indication, it’s going to be a crazy ride that I am fully on board with.

I started the Korean version of Suits last night and I am super duper excited about it. I adored the American version of this show and the Korean version stars my #3 boo thang, Park Hyun Sik. I completely adored him in Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon and Juror 8 so when I saw that he was on the Korean version of Suits, I knew that I had to find the show and watch it wherever I could. I’m so glad that it’s on Netflix. I’m on episode 5 and so far, I’m really enjoying it. It’s very familiar to the American version but with its own Korean charm and I love me some Park Hyun Sik so I’m all in.

What I Watched

It’s Okay to Not be Okay (2020)
Cheese in the Trap (2016) | 2.5 out of 5
My First First Love (2019) | 4.25 out of 5
My First First Love 2 (2019) | 4.5 out of 5

This week was a good week in K Dramas for me….with the exception of Cheese in the Trap. That show started off so well for me and then it went downhill and kept right on going downhill until it ended and I was like WTF? Wasn’t a big fan of that of that one.

I did really enjoy My First First Love and My First First Love 2. I need to watch more shows and movies with Ji Soo in it. He’s such a delight.

Eye Candy Friday

Park Saeroyi
Itaewon Class (2020)

What I Reviewed

Movie Review: Train to Busan | 4 out of 5
Korean Drama Review: Itaewon Class | 5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (146)
5 Things I Did During Quarantine
Eye Candy Friday: Park Saeroyi

What Made Me Laugh

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Eye Candy Friday: Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

Posted February 14, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 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.

First and foremost, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you are all celebrating it however the hell you want to celebrate it.

Eye Candy Friday: Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren LayneMarriage on Madison Avenue
by Lauren Layne
Series: The Central Park Pact #3
Published by Gallery Books on January 28, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
three-half-stars

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren.

Can guys and girls ever be just friends? According to Audrey Tate and Clarke West, absolutely. After all, they’ve been best friends since childhood without a single romantic entanglement. Clarke is the charming playboy Audrey can always count on, and he knows that the ever-loyal Audrey will never not play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother—announcing he’s already engaged…to Audrey.

But what starts out as a playful game between two best friends turns into something infinitely more complicated, as just-for-show kisses begin to stir up forbidden feelings. As the faux wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize that they can never go back to the way things were, but deep down, do they really want to?

Today’s eye candy is Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne. You can read all about what I thought about Clarke’s book here.

Hero Casting

The Central Park Pact

Have you read Marriage on Madison Avenue? Did you love Clark West as much as I did? Who is your favorite character this week?

three-half-stars

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The Weekly Recap (145)

Posted February 10, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

I’ve been a busy bee in the last couple of weeks so blogging has taken a backseat to all of that. Work’s been kicking my butt, but I’ve also had just a bunch of things going on. On top of work kicking my ass every single day, Caiden and his new baby sister Baby Matalasi have been visiting us in California so I’ve been spending a lot of time with the family. Lots of family dinners, family game nights and five crowns.

Caiden, Lasi and their parents are driving back home to Utah right now and already, I miss them tons. It’s been a loud and awesome couple of weeks with them in town but real life hit them hard in the last week so it was time for them to return home and help bury Markus’ brother. I miss that face on the left so much!

I’ve also been really busy with work. I’m a staffing manager at my job and I’m in charge of making sure each job that comes in for my regions (I cover all of the central states all of the states in the middle from Idaho to Kentucky and down to Texas). We get hella jobs in so I’m busy from the time I start work for the day until I clock out. I only have about 24 hours to make sure each job is staffed so I’m constantly mapping projects, checking project manager schedules, checking each PM’s monthly billing and just all manner of crap. I deal with all kinds of people throughout the day from pissed off PM’s to upper management trying to squeeze more work out of us and for the most part, I’m happy with my job. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people, I communicate with people across the country all the time and most of those people are nice and I enjoy making things work. On the other hand, it’s a lot of work. I work a lot. I’m salaried so I can work as much or as little as I want and still get paid the same but I find that I’m constantly wondering about jobs long after I’ve logged out so I’m still trying to find a healthy work and personal life balance. It helps that my bosses are happy with my work and that I’ve gotten another raise so woo hoo for that. It’s a consistent effort on my part to walk away from work so fingers crossed that I figure that shit out because my blogging life has dragged a bunch because I work so much. I miss yall.

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (145)One Last Chance
by Therese Beharrie
Series: One Day to Forever #3
Published by Harlequin, Carina Press on February 17, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 262
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 A-Z Challenge, 2020 Goodreads Challenge, 2020 New to Me Challenge

Of all the charity events in all of Cape Town, Zoey Roux had to bump into her husband at this one

Six years ago, Zoey Roux secretly married her best friend Sawyer. But all that did was destroy the best relationship she’s ever had. They went their separate ways, but Zoey never could go through with a divorce. Seeing him again at her sister’s charity event is a shock, but also enlightening: no matter how much she still loves him, it’s time to let him go.

Zoey was Sawyer Wilson’s first love. She broke his heart, but his feelings never died. Love was never their issue—only timing. Seeing her again is a shock: in a perfect world, she would run back into his arms. Instead, she’s asking for a divorce.

But a lot can happen in twenty-four hours: old wounds can heal, first loves can be reunited. And a second chance might just lead to happily ever after.

This book is approximately 74,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

I’ve never read anything by Therese Beharrie but I need to fix that because I’m finishing this up and should be done by end of the day and I really liked this best friends to lover, fake relationship, and second chance romance. She mixes the tropes really well and I adored Zoey and Sawyer so much.

What I Read

The Witness by Nora Roberts (eBook) | 4.25 out of 5
Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1) by Christina C. Jones (eBook) | 4 out of 5
The Kissing Game by Marie Harte (eARC) | 2.5 out of 5
I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford #2) by Lauren Layne (Audio) | 4.25 out of 5
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa (eARC) | 3.5 out of 5
Yes No Maybe So by Becka Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (eARC) | 3.5 out of 5
Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6) by Lisa Kleypas (eARC) | 4.25 out of 5
P.S. It’s Always Been You, Pt. 1 by Lauren Blakely (Audio) | 3.25 out of 5
House Rules (Uptown #3) by Ruby Lang (eARC) | 4 out of 5
The Upside of Falling by Alex Light (eARC) | 3.25 out of 5

I included all of the books that I read in the weeks since my last weekly recap post and of this bunch, my favorite read was Chasing Cassandra and my least favorite read was probably The Kissing Game. There’s a lot of good stuff in this bunch so you guys should definitely add them to your TBR piles because they’re good stuff.

What I Reviewed

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan | 4.75 out of 5
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn | 3.75 out of 5
Headliners by Lucy Parker | 4 out of 5
Heartland by Sarina Bowen | 4.25 out of 5
Getting Schooled by Christina C. Jones | 4 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (144)
My TBR Pile: January 2020

What I Got

Devious Lies (Cruel Crowns #1) by Parker S. Huntington
I Think I Might Love You (Love Sisters #1) by Christina C. Jones
I Think I Might Need You (Love Sisters #2) by Christina C. Jones
I Think I Might Want You (Love Sisters #3) by Christina C. Jones

What I Got for Review

First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4) by Julia Quinn
Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson
Temporary Wife Temptation by Jayci Lee

P.S. It’s Always Been You, Pt. 1 by Lauren Blakely

What Made Me Laugh

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

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The Weekly Recap (142)

Posted November 11, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

I wasn’t feeling too good this week so I spent a lot of it in bed, trying desperately to get better and to also read some damn books. Only one of those things happened and it wasn’t that I read some damn books. By Saturday, I was ready to get out of my bedroom and get out of my house. With my sister Helen being in town, we had us a sister weekend and it was great. All five of my sisters got together for lunch and we laughed the day away and really, it was the bomb. It was the best way to end a pretty crappy weekend, especially after missing three days of work and being all antsy about what I’m going to find when I get to work today.

My Lakers took an L last night so I really need to put last week behind me and turn things around. Wish me luck…

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (142)Open House
by Ruby Lang
Published by Harlequin, Carina Press on November 11, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 165
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2019 GoodReads Challenge

Love can take root where you least expect it.

Tyson Yang never imagined that one day he’d be the de facto spokesperson for an illegal community garden. But when the once-rat-infested-but-now-thriving Harlem lot goes up for sale, Ty can’t just let all their hard work get plowed under.

Even if he is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but infuriatingly stubborn real estate associate.

Magda Ferrer’s family is already convinced this new job will be yet another flop in her small but growing list of career path failures. But her student debt isn’t going anywhere, and selling her uncle’s historic town house and the lot nearby means a chance to get some breathing room.

Ty is her charming rival, her incorrigible nemesis, the handsome roadblock to her success.

Until one hot Harlem night blurs the hard line drawn between them, and the seeds of possibility in this rocky garden blossom into love…

This book is approximately 48,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the
Carina Press Romance Promise
: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

I picked up and put down a couple of different books last week so I’m picking up this book today in hopes that I’ll finally get something read. So far, so good. Wish me luck on the rest of the book.

What I Read

Nothing. You guys, I spent the entire week reading absolutely nothing. Nothing is catching my eye and everything I start, I’ve stopped reading. This isn’t a good place to be reading-wise since I’m so far behind in my Goodreads Challenge already so I’m really hoping and praying that shit turns around this week. I can’t keep taking these reading L’s.

What I Reviewed

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams | 4.25 out of 5
We Met in December by Rosie Curtis | 3.5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (141)
Top Ten Tuesday: That Autumn Vibes

What I Got

Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue

What I Got for Review

Headliners (London Celebrities #5) by Lucy Parker

What Made Me Laugh

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

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