Recent Reads Vol.5

It's no secret that I'm a major book worm. Winter is the perfect time for reading; this weather has encouraged me to snuggle up with a book and a cup of tea on multiple occasions - pure bliss.

I love swapping book recommendations! I believe that a good book should be shared amongst friends and family and I love adding their recent favourites to my own reading list in turn.

Here are my honest feelings on my most recently read books in the hopes of perhaps inspiring some new additions to your bookshelves, too:

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover

Blurb: "Sky, a senior in high school, meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. From their very first encounter, he terrifies and captivates her. Something about him sparks memories of her deeply troubled past, a time she’s tried so hard to bury. Though Sky is determined to stay far away from him, his unwavering pursuit and enigmatic smile break down her defenses and the intensity of the bond between them grows. But the mysterious Holder has been keeping secrets of his own, and once they are revealed, Sky is changed forever and her ability to trust may be a casualty of the truth.

Only by courageously facing the stark revelations can Sky and Holder hope to heal their emotional scars and find a way to live and love without boundaries. Hopeless is a novel that will leave you breathless, entranced, and remembering your own first love."

My thoughts: The blurb does this book no justice. At first, I thought that this book was going to be your typical "he saves her, she saves him" kind of sap, but it is SO much more than that. Without giving anything away, it does cover some pretty intense social issues, but there were so many plot twists and I ended up really enjoying it. The chemistry between Sky and Holder is insane with some rather steamy moments. Y'all know I love me a steamy read. ;)

Can You Keep A Secret? - Sophie Kinsella

Blurb: "Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.
Sammy the goldfish in my parents’ kitchen is not the same goldfish that Mum gave me to look after when she and Dad were in Egypt.

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

From her colleagues:
When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.) It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
My G-string is hurting me.
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger. But come Monday morning, Emma’s office is abuzz about the arrival of Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO. Suddenly Emma is face-to-face with the stranger from the plane, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her. Things couldn’t possibly get worse—Until they do."

My thoughts: If you've read any of my Recent Reads posts, you'd have seen Sophie Kinsella's name pop up at least one in each instalment; I love her books when I'm in the mood for a light-hearted read. I loved poor little Emma - she's the kind of awkward, bumbling character that I can't help but root for. The plot could be seen as little cliché, but the story was comical enough to keep me entertained.

Cocktails For Three - Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella)

Blurb: "Roxanne: glamorous, self-confident, with a secret lover - a married man

Maggie: capable and high-achieving, until she finds the one thing she can't cope with - motherhood

Candice: honest, decent, or so she believes - until a ghost from her past turns up

At the first of every month, when the office has reached its pinnacle of hysteria, Maggie, Roxanne, and Candice meet at London's swankiest bar for an evening of cocktails and gossip. Here, they chat about what's new at The Londoner, the glossy fashion magazine where they all work, and everything else that's going on in their lives. Or almost everything. Beneath the girl talk and the laughter, each of the three has a secret. And when a chance encounter at the cocktail bar sets in motion an extraordinary chain of events, each one will find their biggest secret revealed."

My thoughts: Although this definitely isn't my favourite Wickham/Kinsella read, the nosy girl in me did still enjoy this book. Each of the main characters managed to annoy me in some way, but learning their secrets (and the plot twists therein) was so satisfying. The story, in my opinion, was just okay. It held a good mix of glamour and scandal, which is a great combination in my eyes. 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Blurb: "Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.
After Mara survives the traumatizing accident at the old asylum, it makes sense that she has issues. She lost her best friend, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s sister, and as if that weren’t enough to cope with, her family moves to a new state in order to give her a fresh start. But that fresh start is quickly filled with hallucinations—or are they premonitions?—and then corpses, and the boundary between reality and nightmare is wavering. At school, there’s Noah, a devastatingly handsome charmer who seems determined to help Mara piece together what’s real, what’s imagined—and what’s very, very dangerous."

My thoughts: This book started off so well and then it ended... not so well. It has such an intriguing premise and I was so invested in finding out the truth of what happened to Mara and what she was experiencing. The (often wonky) paranormal aspect of the plot allowed for so many different paths that the author could have taken but instead, she decided to go down the cliché romance route. I just feel as though she could have done a whole lot more with the story. I loved the front cover, loved the start, felt a distance growing in the middle, and was left bitterly disappointed by the ending. Sigh.

Still Me - Jojo Moyes

Blurb: "Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.

As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?"

My thoughts: I don't think that there really needed to be any follow-up books from Me Before You, but I did still thoroughly enjoy Still Me. Especially after the let down of After You. The third instalment sees Louisa taking Wills advice and living her life to the fullest and maybe I'm biased because I instantly love anything to do with New York City, but I absolutely devoured this book. It definitely lacks the intense emotions of Me Before You, but you can't help but be proud of Lou for chasing her dreams whilst staying true to her quirky self. A warm end to the trilogy for sure.

Is there anything on this list that you would like to read?

What has been your favourite read recently? I'd love some recommendations!

See also: Recent Reads Vol. 1, Recent Reads Vol. 2, Recent Reads Vol. 3, Recent Reads Vol.4

As always, this post has not been sponsored in any way, meaning that it does not contain any affiliate links, nor have any books mentioned been sent to me, endorsed, or paid for by anyone other than me, myself and I.