Bookish Bluebird: travel

Friday, October 30, 2015

Review: UPSIDE DOWN by Lia Riley

Title: Upside Down

Author: Lia Riley

Publication Date: August 5, 2014

Off The Map #1

Twenty-one-year-old Natalia Stolfi is saying good-bye to the past-and turning her life upside down with a trip to the land down under. For the next six months, she'll act like a carefree exchange student, not a girl sinking under the weight of painful memories. Everything is going according to plan until she meets a brooding surfer with hypnotic green eyes and the troubling ability to see straight through her act.

Bran Lockhart is having the worst year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he moved back home to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all his defenses. He's never wanted anyone the way he wants Talia. But when Bran gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must decide if what they have is once in a lifetime . . . or if they were meant to live a world apart.

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"Leaving is the only way to move forward. If I never get lost, I'll never be found."

Witty and heart-warming. Talia and Bran pulled at my heart strings. From the moment they met, I had an inkling that they'd have me grinning and giggling (which they did). It was instant chemistry between the two. I really enjoyed how their relationship grew. But there were many times where I wanted to shake either characters, I must admit. Both Talia and Bran are flawed, but it's how they owned up to their mistakes that made me root for them even harder.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Review: EVERLY AFTER by Rebecca Paula

All truths burn bright and clear. I'm still waiting in the dark.

Everly Monteith has traded her life of glitter, parties, and self-destruction for waitressing in a Parisian café. She's put the tragedy that sent her across the Atlantic in the past—until her toxic ex shows up and sends her reeling once more. Her fresh start begins slipping away until a smug British war correspondent crashes her party. But falling for Beckett means letting down her guard, something that might put them both into the dark.

There are beautiful lies in this world, and it takes me being chased through a hallway at a rave to decide this girl is one of them. But even the most beautiful lies aren't worth chasing.

Twenty-five-year-old Beckett Reid is forced into sabbatical after being kidnapped on assignment in Afghanistan. Back in Paris, he locks himself away to work on a novel, focused on saving his budding journalism career. But when he meets an enigmatic American heiress, his plans are quickly neglected. Everly is the perfect replacement for dangerous war zones, even if she does leave glitter on everything he owns. Reckless and wild, she runs through life making more mistakes than anyone he's met, but Beckett is determined to fight for her, even if he must face the messy truth that he must fight for himself first.

*This New Adult romance is recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.*

"Sometimes there's good in what scares us."

Everly After isn't what I'd classify as your typical new adult contemporary read. It had quite a dark and depressing tone during many parts of the book. Mainly because of the heroine, Everly. She's settled into a life that she doesn't find meaningful. She's very much struggling to find a purpose, and it made me sad to see her take one step forward only to go back five. She made a lot of poor decisions which made her a hard character for me to like. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and not only because Beckett swept me off my feet! What I loved most about Everly After was that the main characters didn't fix each other's imperfections. It was more that they helped each other admit to them and move forward as individuals. Rebecca Paula has written a beautiful story about two broken people loving each other enough to support them at their lowest.