Book Review: The Spring Girls by Anna Todd - #BookGiveaway

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The Spring Girls
Author: Anna Todd
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Chick Lit | Coming of Age
Released: January 2nd 2018
Review Source: Gallery Books

Four sisters desperately seeking the blueprints to life—the modern-day retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women like only Anna Todd (After, Imagines) could do.

The Spring Girls—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—are a force of nature on the New Orleans military base where they live. As different as they are, with their father on tour in Iraq and their mother hiding something, their fears are very much the same. Struggling to build lives they can be proud of and that will lift them out of their humble station in life, one year will determine all that their futures can become.

The oldest, Meg, will be an officer’s wife and enter military society like so many of the women she admires. If her passion—and her reputation—don’t derail her.

Beth, the workhorse of the family, is afraid to leave the house, is afraid she’ll never figure out who she really is.

Jo just wants out. Wishing she could skip to graduation, she dreams of a life in New York City and a career in journalism where she can impact the world. Nothing can stop her—not even love.

And Amy, the youngest, is watching all her sisters, learning from how they handle themselves. For better or worse.

With plenty of sass, romance, and drama, The Spring Girls revisits Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women, and brings its themes of love, war, class, adolescence, and family into the language of the twenty-first century.

The Spring Girls is said to be a modern retelling of Little Women, which I can't recall if I actually read the original. I know I have seen the movie version of Little Women, but can't say if I read the original story. So with that being said, I just had the knowledge of the movie version to compare to The Spring Girls. Which I could see how they could have similarities. 

The Spring Girls is about Amy, Beth, Jo and Meg. They are military "brats" pretty much. The dad is overseas and they are home with mom only. So you can imagine the craziness. If you have this many sisters, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. The story is modern, so it's all about their life issues in 2017. Each sister is different from the next and as much as they love each other, they hate each other too. I wasn't bored by the sisters, but I also wasn't captured by any one in particular. During the book, I had moments that reminded me of my youth and then others were I caught myself rolling my eyes. What made me stick to the story were the moments that did uplift you. 

The pace is slow and steady throughout the whole book. There are a handful of moments, that make you smile and then it's back to drama lama. The Spring Girls is an easy read. It's definitely different from Anna Todd's other novels. 

 

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We are able to give away a paperback copy of The Spring Girls to one lucky reader, thanks to Gallery Books. Please fill out the entry form below.

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Book Review: Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews

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Beach Town
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Reading Level: Adult
Genres: Chick Lit | Romance
Released: May 19th 2015
Review Source: St. Martin's Press

Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame.

Now Greer has been given one more chance--a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino--which will be perfect for the film's climax--when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople.

Greer slips into town and is ecstatic to find the last unspoilt patch of the Florida gulf coast. She takes a room at the only motel in town, and starts working her charm. However, she finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thinadeaux. Eben is a born-again environmentalist who's seen huge damage done to the town by a huge paper company. The bay has only recently been re-born, a fishing industry has sprung up, and Eben has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his.

Will true love find a foothold in this small beach town before it's too late and disaster strikes? Told with Mary Kay Andrews inimitable wit and charm, Beach Town is this year's summer beach read!

When your headed out on a 7 day cruise you at least have to pack one or two book. It's 7 days on that large cruise ship, your bound to just need to sit and relax and this is perfect time to read. So when I looked at all the books I had to choose from to review, Beach Town grabbed my attention immediately. Just the title alone made sense as a good choice for summer beach reading on a cruise headed to different beaches.

Beach Town and Mary Kay Andrews were unknown to me so I took the risk that it would be a great book choice to take along on my trip. And I'm very glad to report my intuition was on point in the beginning (I'll later explain why in the beginning). I didn't even read the synopsis until I was on the boat already. The book cover and title were enough to sell me on grabbing the very large book.

Beach Town starts us off introducing us to Greer, she is traveling the highways of the coast of Florida and she is on the hunt for a beach town for a specific filming location. See Greer is a film location scout. So she goes to these locations film film directors described to her that they believe will be the right fit for the movie they will create and her job is to find that perfect spot.

In Beach Town, Greer has been given the job to find the perfect "beach town" that is not a tourist spot and well off the grid with its palms trees and shrimp boats. Sounds easy right? Not the case at all for Greer. Also her career is on the line, so this location must be found if she wants to survive her career, last job she was on was a major bust. So Greer is on a mission and with a deadline too.

Luckily she happens to stumble upon just the right place. She might have a hick here an there but nothing she doesn't think they can work with. She calls in and everything is set to begin filming. So she needs to prep the location for all the cast, crews and everyone else involved in a very small little town that probably hasn't seen that much traffic in years. And when I say little, its so small that the major of the town is also owner of the motel where he is the handyman. There is an old casino though that might just destroy everything for Greer, if she cant get everyone to agree that it is used in the filming of the movie.

So around this time is when my intuition begins to falters. I was highly engrossed in the book until the relationship between Greer and Eben (town's major) started to take shape. The chemistry between the two was not there for me at all. It was like having someone pour a bucket of cold water on me while reading. I went from hot to cold in the blink of an eye. Which is a shame because I really liked the shape the story was taking. So pretty much after that happen, I did finish the book because I was already more than half way and honestly it wasn't a bad story, just didn't end as great as it started.

I still think many will enjoy it for what it is.

Blog Tour: Rough Around the Edges Meets Refined | Rachael Anderson | Review | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on the Rough Around the Edges meets Refined tour for Rachael Anderson. This tour is hosted by I AM A Reader.

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Rough Around the Edges Meets Refined
Author: Rachael Anderson
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Romance, Fiction
Released: December 15, 2014
Book Source:  Author
  

Around the Edges Meets Refined (Meet Your Match #2) by Rachael Anderson For Noah Mackie, life is finally back on track. He has a great support system, a promised promotion is on its way, and he's finally getting the hang of this single father thing. But when the job falls through and his neighbor's matchmaking efforts become more aggressive, Noah is in for yet another unwanted detour. With his career and two spirited daughters to worry about, he doesn't have time for dating—especially not someone like Cassie Ellis, his girls' beautiful and sophisticated dance instructor, who is about as open and approachable as a brick wall. Rough around the Edges Meets Refined is about two people who think they know exactly what they want but who have no idea what they really need. It's about learning that people aren't always what they seem and that sometimes life’s detours take you exactly where you need to go.

With so many genres and writing styles showcased for readers of all ages, I get so excited, when I start reading a book that has a great storyline from the beginning, coupled with depth, attention to character development and just an overall great read from start to finish. It’s just a great feeling. Reading time for all of us, is precious time. With Rough Around the Edges Meets Refined, it was just what I needed. The main characters, Noah and Cassie find themselves faced with life issues, that force them to move forward. At times they may look back to the past, but it’s the efforts of close friends that push them on.

Living separate lives, their paths cross. Both not really sure why they feel the way they do when they are around each other. However, do their paths cross enough that in the end, their past no longer dictates who they are as a person and they are given permission to move on? One of the features of this book that I love is the role of the minor character, Becky. A well written minor character always draws my attention when I’m reading. Becky had a goal, and her way of putting that goal in motion was simple, yet effective.

Lastly, although this gentle romance novel is book 2 in the series, it was ok that I had not read book 1 yet. Author, Rachael Anderson has a new follower. I’m so glad that she has so many books out that I’ll need to catch up on.

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Author Rachael Anderson USA Today bestselling author, Rachael Anderson is the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can't sing, doesn't dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

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$25 Blog Tour Giveaway Enter to win an Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 1/19/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by readinglight.com. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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