The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman- Reshelved Book

Helloooo everybody!

Jillian here and I'm back with a review that's not a juvenile book!  This is actually on the opposite end of the spectrum. 

We're not a blog that typically posts non-fiction/self-help books.  Since several people recommended this book to me in the span of a week, I figured that it might be something worth and reading.  This was the same week that Matthew Hussey was giving an interview on Z100 and I figured that this book might be worth the read. Which, if you listen to Z100, you would know that this took place 3 weeks ago now. 

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman presents the idea that there are 5 love languages that we can speak and these languages seem to drive what we're most looking for because that aspect is what's lacking.  Everyone has a "love tank" and  at some point in one's life, this tank could become empty.  If you're in a relationship or a marriage, what do you do when that happens? How do you fix it? Can you fix it? Is it possible to fall back in love with someone that you may have fallen out of love with? 

This was definitely an interesting read.  I think that it definitely made me aware of things but I wouldn't say that what I learned was Earth shattering. 

Self-help books are kinda funny in how you recommend them to people.  I think that it might be easier to offend someone in doing so...

Anyway, I give this book 3.5 coffee beans out of 5.

- Jillian

When Polly met Olly by Zoe May- Reshelved Books

Hi everyone

Summer is here and if we're looking for any good beach reads, you've come to the right place.

You guys, this year I'm feeling that romance books might make good beach reads. 

"When Polly Met Olly" was an ARC that I received from NetGalley.  Like all NetGalley reviews, books are approved to be read in return for an honest review!

I found “When Polly Met Olly” by Zoe May to be a cute book.

As a struggling photographer, Polly interviews and accepts a job as a matchmaker.  Just a change in her career is surprising to not only her friend, Gabe but to Polly herself.  Add in the fact that Polly has been down on her luck with dating for quite sometime. 

In a effort to keep the new job that she's grown attached to and to help her boss in business, Polly goes "undercover" to interview with the rival matchmaking service to be matched with a date.   During her "undercover operation", Polly mets Olly!  He conducts her interview for matchmaking.  There was a flash of chemistry between Polly and Olly in that moment. 

Even though I found this book to be cute, I can see where somethings in the story would frustrate people.  Though it did fall a little flat for me...I thought that there could have been a little more funny and a little more romance.
  
The book was lacking in a few things: the ending with Alicia was a little bit of a cop out and I felt that Gabe and Scarlett just kinda fell off the face of earth.  I think that it would be neat to see what was going on with Gabe and his relationship with Adam.  In a way, I was getting the vibe that there was trouble in that paradise. 

"When Polly Met Olly" is getting 3.5 coffee beans out of 5 from me.  I would still recommend it as a beach read- even though my overall and final feelings on it where a little impartial. 

- Jillian

Under the Scrubs by Katerina Baker - Reshelved Books (ARCs)

When Katerina Baker reached out to us asking if we would review Under the Scrubs, I was super excited!  While I love working in the library and reading; my heart is still with healthcare.  Spending so many years with patients and working in the hospital is something that I miss.  Last month we were lucky because not one but two authors reached out to us for reviews of their new books via ARCs. 

This book falls under the romance umbrella, but it’s packed to the brim with  a lot of action and adventure (and even mystery) mixed in! Emilia Hughes is an OBGYN who is *finally* able to deliver babies on her own.  With her new found freedom within the confines of her job, she comes into a startling sequence of events. 

On her way to teach classes at the YMCA, Emilia finds herself trying to protect a woman and her baby from a very dangerous man.  In standing up to the man, Emilia finds herself in the sight of Kai.  Kai becomes Emilia's knight in shining armor! He protects her from the assailant. 

(I knew when I started reading this book I knew that there would an love affair with law enforcement.  When I started reading the book I didn't realize who the bad guy would be and who the good guy was).  

On her way into work, Emilia is met with the daughter, Melissa, of a gold tycoon.  Melissa is on her to deliver her baby - a baby that is not prepared to have.  Something very strange happens after the baby is born- Melissa and her newborn son elope from the hospital.  What's even crazier is that Emilia is kidnapped and thrust into the role of taking care of newborn Jayden.  

More than once, Emilia has her life put on the line by Melissa. But throughout it all, Kai and Taylor are there to keep Emilia safe.

Looking back on the book to write this review, I feel a little confused about everything that was going on and here's why.  If you do have an interest in reading Under the Scrubs, please stop reading this review! Spoilers are coming up and I don't want to ruin anything for anyone. 
   
 *-----Spoilers are coming!!-----*

There was something about this book in the beginning that made me feel like I was spinning in a powerful vortex asking myself what was going on.  NOW this isn't the first time that I've felt this way when reading a book.  Because of that, it's not going to have a negative on my review of Under the Scrubs!!

The beginning made sense until Emilia first encounters Melissa. Then the kidnapping happens after the elopement. Okay, I guess I could see how one could take a newborn out the hospital? (eh... not really...) Kai’s behavior started to confuse me. He was very aloof but then he was always there? 

When Melissa sent Emilia to the prison to meet Taylor, I was like “eh okay...?”  But I could t figure out where Taylor spend so many years in jail IF he actually didn’t do anything wrong. Why would the FBI pick him back up if they let him sit in jail for 3 years for a crime that he didn’t commit?

Around this time, Taylor and Emilia start to have more interactions between each other and I thought that they were longer and more meaningful. What I’m trying to say is this....

I started off thinking that maybe Kai was the bad guy because of the chemistry that was going on between Emilia and Taylor.  I thought that they would have been a better couple.  (I was not feeling Kai's behavior either!) To me, I thought that chemistry between Emilia and Taylor was better. 

Then poor Emilia gets herself in a very bizarre situation with Taylor as a bodyguard and also as a spy and it results in someone being shot and killed. 

(When I said before that this book was adventurous and action packed, I wasn’t lying!)

I give this ARC 3.5 coffee beans out of 5 and it really upsets me to say that.  While this book may not have been for me, that doesn’t mean that it’s not for anyone else out there. 


I want to thank Katerina for reaching out to us and giving up the opportunity to read and review her book!

Have a great weekend everyone!

- Jillian

Pretty in Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Cover was copied from Goodreads! 

Helloooooo everybody!

This review is brought to you all by Netgalley! In return, I will be posting a fair and honest review. 

Thank you (many thanks!) to Netgalley for approving this title and allowing me another chance to redeem myself after the Netgalley fail of 2018. 

I’m going to start off this review be asking how many of you all have watched a John Hughes film. I hope that everyone is eagerly waving their hands in the air (or punching their fist in the air ala Bender in The Breakfast Club)

Pretty in Punxsutawney was inspired by Groundhog Day and the John Hughes’s film, Pretty in Pink.  Th book follows new girl, Andie as she navigates her first day of school. Every day of over 4 months!  As the reader, we can see how Andie navigates each and everyday in the hopes of breaking the spell that has been cast over her. 

Each day Andie learns different and new things about her classmates and she tries to use them to her advantage. Without them knowing that she knows.

Boyle- Crompton was able to easily pull me in with the opening! However, by the time I was at chapter 3, I was starting to lose steam in my positive feelings about this book. 

My problem with the book was that it was repetitive and redundant.  (Which makes sense when you factor in that Groundhog Day was a movie based on reliving the same day over and over and over again).

I felt like at one point, even the story gave us on itself because of how Andie was going out about her days.  

While it wasn't my favorite book, I must say that it did have a positive message at the end; that you need to be the best you. 

I would give this book 3.5 coffee beans.  

If you are interested in reading Pretty in Punxsutawney, the book is available now!

~ Jillian

Someone like You and That Summer (How to Deal) by Sarah Dessen- Reshelved Books

I know... I know... 

Ya’ll can say it: “Jillian, you were doing so well for the last two weeks with posting every Saturday about a book and it’s moving!” and I would have to agree.  I was impressing myself! Which is why, I’m feverishly writing this to get it up from the stroke of midnight meaning that it would be Sunday. 

Aye!

This week we have a movie from the early 2000s! When I was a tween... (gosh that feels like a million years ago).

How to Deal is the movie this is being reviewed next to the, not one but TWO books that inspired it, That Summer and Someone Like You both of which are written by Sarah Dessen. 

I happened to be talking to my sister last week about these two books. She made a good point, between the two of us, at one point we had almost every book Dessen had written. About four years ago on my Goodreads, I gave these two books stars and saidthat I had read them. I don’t remember reading them. Even while reading them, I could not recall...

Someone Like You focuses on 15 year old Halley, her friend Scarlett and her budding relationship with Macon and the change in the relationship with her mother. 
That Summer tells the story about Haven (also 15 years old), how she’s coping with her father getting remarried, her sister’s marriage and how she reflects on a summer from so many years ago. 

In true form, Dessen focuses and discusses real life issues.  Dessen is really good (in my humble opinion) at handing the reader relatable topics. 
I think that every teenager out there has faced that shift in the relationship with their parents from sharing everything to wanting to be left alone. Every teenager has felt like they know better (even when you don’t have enough life experience yet). 

In Someone Like You, Halley went from telling her mother everything, to telling her nothing and wanting to make her own decisions because she felt she knew best. 
In That Summer, Haven was still looking for her mother’s guidance until the end, when she kinda had a nervous breakdown. (I did not like Haven. She was okay in the beginning but as the story went on, I was turned off to her character. She became whining and child-like. She started out as being naïve but then she digressed). 

I can totally see and understand why the movie writer(s) mashed the two up. It was fun to see that take.  I want to say that How to Deal focused more on Someone Like You and less on That Summer.  Yes, Ashley and Lewis were from That Summer (as was Haven's father and Lorna Queen BUT Halley's father was the radio DJ). 
Halley was the main character, unlike the book Halley, movie Halley had a sister, Ashley (this was Haven’s sister in the book.) I feel like Someone Like You’s charactes were used in the setting for That Summer. If that makes any sense at all. 

Now for the moment of truth! My ratings. 

Someone Like You gets 4 coffee beans out of 5. 
That Summer gets 3.5 coffee beans out of 5.
How to Deal gets 4 popcorn kernels out of 5.

- Jillian

Now That You Mention It and On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins- Reshelved Books

Hip hip hooray for a new review from moi!

Jess reviewed a book by Kristin Hannah earlier this week and today, you guys are getting my reviews on Kristan Higgins.
(No, this was not planned but hey! at least it's following alphabetical order! :-P )

This month, I give you two back to back reviews on books by Kristan Higgins. 
1.) Now That You Mention It
2.) On Second Thought

Now That You Mention It:

Here at FortheLoveofDewey, as I am sure you have been able to see, we give out alot of 4 coffee bean(ed) reviews.

I would like to think, however; that our 5 coffee bean reviews are far and few between (?) At least speaking from my reviews.

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins is my first 5 coffee bean review of 2018! (It is also my first kindle book on my iPad).

Why? You might ask... Because duh, it's just that good. Because, I bought the kindle book on a Saturday and I finished it at 1 am the following morning on a Sunday.  (Which says a lot when you spend your days running after a 13 month old!)

It. Was. Just. That. Good.

I'm going to say it now that there are going to be spoilers in my review.  

SO. This title came to me when I was unwrapping interlibrary transits. (You know... BEFORE the fall of the interlibrary loan transit system here in NJ) Because I am horrible book person, I judge my pickings on cover art.... As awful as it sounds, it hasn't let me down!

This book brought me the kind of joy that Meg Cabot books brought me.  
I laugh a little (a lot acutally), I cry a little, I got a little frustrated... You get the gist. There were scenes in the book that involved Nora's encounters with her mother's bird, Tweety.  Some of these encounters had me laughing so hard that tears were falling down my face. 

I really really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it. 

****--------------------- Full Spoilers Ahead!!! --------------------------****

First things first! 
You all thought that I would actually ruin this book?!

No way!

Go check it out for yourself!

Trust me, you won't be disappointed!!


On Second Thought:

Unfortunately for this Kristan Higgins book... I just couldn't like it as much as Now That You Mention It....

Why? I'm not quite sure.  I didn't find myself laughing out loud as much.  It was darker for sure, it didn't carry the same levity.  By all means, that's not a bad thing.  I mean the synopsis of the novel shows that it's subject matter is deeper and darker. 

Ainsley and Kate are half sisters, who are both encountering loss; Kate lost her husband and Ainsley lost her boyfriend. Nathan (Kate's husband) died when he hit his head; Eric (Ainsley's boyfriend) broke up with Ainsley after Nathan's untimely death. 

Both girls are learning how to move forward and live their lives by themselves again. 

I found Ainsley to be the comedic relief to Kate's sorrow.  I really really liked Ainsley, I can safely say that she was easily my favorite.  I liked how there was a happy ending for each girl at the end of the story.  It's always nice to read something that ends on a happy note!
I don't understand how Daniel the Hot Firefighter came into play... I was a little confused about where he came from.  I felt like he just appeared?  I wasn't impressed by him... But (I know you're not suppose to start a sentence with "but" :P ) poor Kate! Not only did she lose Nate but she had a few run-ins with his ex-wife, Madeline.  Who was not a nice person, at all.  

On a side note.... It seems like Kristan published a book before If you Only Knew that follows Jenny and Leo.  Jenny and Leo are two characters who come up in On Second Thought. 

In the way of coffee beans, I give this one a 3.5 coffee beans out of 5. 

Both books were easy reads and I would recommend both of them.  Just because I didn't like On Second Thought doesn't mean that someone else might not.  

~JB

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I never read E. Lockhart before but I always felt like I had.  I liked her, even before I knew that I liked her.  Does that make sense? Probably not.

Anyway, I was super excited to read Genuine Fraud.  I was even more excited when it came in to the library, and being the librarian who places the ya book orders, got to check it out first. *happy dance!*

This book wasn't what I expected it to be, even though I'm not really sure what I expected.  For most of the book I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but at the same time I couldn't put it down.   Maybe this post doesn't make much sense, but I think the whole premise of the book was to not make sense in the sense of hiding the true sense.  (what?)

 

So, for a brief summary of this book.  

There's a girl named Jule.  When Jule was little (7 or 8) her parents were brutally murdered.  They were spies, and Jule grows up to follow in their footsteps.  She's tough, she's beautiful, and she's not afraid to kill.  There's also a girl named Imogene.  She was / is Jule's friend, but she's been missing.  Is she dead?  Is she alive? Why is Jule pretending to be her?  How many people has Jule killed?  Is Jule even who we really think she is?  Are the romances that Lockhart suggests in the novel real, or are they part of Jule's games?

This is the uncertainty that encompasses this book.  

I'm not a fan of action novels, and sometimes the uncertainty of this novel threw me off.  However, there were some really interesting lines and prose made me keep wanting to read.  That being said, I had assumed that once I reached the end of the novel, everything would sort of tie together and fall into places, but I'm not quite sure that it really did. But I kind of liked it??

So For the Love of Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 3.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.