Secrets

Title: Secrets
Author: Freya North
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Age group: Adult
Genre: Romance
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 4/5

Description via Goodreads:

Joe has a beautiful house, a great job, no commitments– and he likes it that way. All he needs is a quiet house-sitter for his rambling old place by the sea. When Tess turns up, he's not sure she's right for the job. Where has she come from in such a hurry? Her past is blank and she's a bit of an enigma. But we all have our secrets. It's just that some are bigger than others.

My thoughts:

Secrets was a really interesting book and I'm definitely glad I read it. I was very intrigued by the premise and it sounded like a book I could really lose myself in and enjoy. I love books that help me relax and that are easy to read- Secrets was certainly one of those books!

The opening of the book caught my attention and from there, I knew I would have no problem reading to the very last page. I needed to know what was going on and I wanted everything to work out for these mysterious characters! They were well written, believable and easy to empathise with. Tess, while admittedly silly and impulsive, was a fun character and I found it easy to like her. Joe definitely took some getting used to and I still don't think he's the nicest guy around but I grew to accept the way he was and his nice side completely shone by the end!

Was Secrets amazing? Not really, but it was very good. It had one or two things that bugged for. I think it was dragged out too much and could have been condensed down by at least a hundred pages. I also really wasn't feeling the relationship between Tess and her daughter. It felt like Em wasn't really there most of the time and Tess didn't really seem to engage with her. Other than those two things, I thought it was an immensely enjoyable book and at no point was I bored or contemplating stopping.

Secrets is certainly worthy of four stars and I am eager to read more of Freya North's work in the future as I do think she has talent.

Remember Me?

Title: Remember Me?
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Bantam Press
Publication date: Feb. 11th 2008
Age group: Adult
Genre: Romance, Humour
Cover rating: 3/5
Content rating: 5/5

Description via Goodreads: 

When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.
Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

My thoughts:

Sophie Kinsella is quite the genius. Remember Me? has succeeded at making me even a bigger fan of hers. I think it would be hard to ever top the brilliance of the Shopaholic books, which I adore, but Remember Me?  takes a good stab at it. I'm only sorry I didn't manage to get my hands on this book sooner but I'm also sorry that it's finished because I did not want it to end.

Remember Me? contains all the ridiculous, cute and expected humour that I'm used to from Sophie Kinsella yet manages to be a completely unique story. I really grew to like Lexi Smart as a character and felt well connected to her by the end of the book. Her characterization is very realistic and I really felt like I knew her as a person. I wasn't too sold on her for the first 20 pages or so but then it really picked up pace and I literally could not put the book down. I was so drawn into Lexi's world and I just had to know what on earth was going to happen next!


I felt so impatient throughout this whole book but not in a bad way. I was just excited and captivated. I was completely intrigued and dying to know how everything would work out for Lexi. Every interaction with the minor characters held my interest and I seriously enjoyed getting to know Jon- and Eric, actually! I loved how we were given just enough detail to keep us guessing but we weren't told everything right up front. I found my mind working very fast to figure out who was good and who was bad. Just as I'd have it figured out, Kinsella would hit me with another shock!

Remember Me? was just plain fun. I love Kinsella's books because she creates a whole world that I can get lost in. I could not handle setting this book down for one minute and was so sad when it was all over. I loved this book and can't wait to see what else Kinsella can give us.

I am currently reading...

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella 

Jessie Hearts NYC

Jessie Hearts NYC by Keris Stainton 
Published July 7th 2011
255 pages
Genre: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Stars: 5/5

Description via Goodreads: 

Jessie's just arrived in New York, hoping to forget about her awful ex.  

New Yorker Finn is in love with his best friend's girlfriend.  

They might be perfect together, but in a city of eight million people, will they ever find each other?

My thoughts:

 This was pretty good. A really light, mindless, quick and entertaining read. The story is told from the point of view of two people- English girl Jessie and New Yorker, Finn. They keep turning up everywhere together and eventually end up talking to each other properly. The writing was nice and easy and the characters pretty believable. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Jessie and Natalie as they felt quite real and a lot of it was really funny. I did think the coincidence thing was a bit overdone and far too convenient at times but it wasn't unbearably so. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I would definitely read something else by Keris Stainton.