Review – Page 6 – Tara Tries To Write

{ Book Review } Once Upon A Player | Agay Llanera

January 24, 2016 No Comments

Gorgeous college senior Val Fabian is a player in every sense of the word. She’s the star spiker of her university’s volleyball team, and she never runs out of dates. But it seems that this year, she has finally been bitten by the commitment bug. She sets her sights on an unexpected target–the unassuming yet ultra-cute Jake Clementia. Val is used to getting what she wants, and is sure she’ll snag him before graduation. But in the process of winning his heart, she is sideswiped by a surprise move that sends her tumbling from her pedestal.

Buy it on Amazon | Smashwords | Buqo
Prints are available at all National Bookstore outlets
Add it on Goodreads

What Drew Me In

Volleyball! The truth of the matter is, I am a frustrated athlete. (I am frustrated with many things, but that’s another story.) I wanted to be a varsity player in highschool, first for basketball, then volleyball, but my mom won’t let me go through the tryouts and trainings because I might hurt myself. So I guess 13-year old me perked up when I saw this book at the Manila International Book Fair last year, and I decided to pick it up! Not a bad decision, I must say. ^_^

Click on the Read More button for the rest of my review. Warning: There may be spoilers.

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{ Book Review } Majesty | Jay E. Tria

January 8, 2016 No Comments

What would you do if the ghost of someone you love appeared in front of you?

Majesty is a beautiful ghost, with her hair of fire and eyes gray like smoke. That is Andy Fey’s first thought when the ghost of her best friend Majesty Hall appeared in her bedroom, only two months since her death. Majesty doesn’t know why she’s there, why only Andy can see her.

Andy isn’t sure if she should tell Gale, that boy who claims that he and Majesty were in love. Funny, sarcastic, and a self-proclaimed serial heartbreaker, Gale is proving to be a good friend in grief, though his trail of broken hearts could soon include hers.

As Andy and Gale wade through their sorrow, Andy wonders if Majesty is here to help ease her into this new, complicated friendship, or if she has a mission all her own.

Buy it on Buqo (part of the #DarkestDreams #StrangeLit bundle)
Prints may be ordered from the author
Add it on Goodreads

What Drew Me In

A few months earlier, I was lucky enough to have been given an ARC copy of Jay E. Tria’s Songs of Our Breakup. I loved it, and I knew that from that moment on I would be on the lookout for her other works. When Majesty came around, I knew I HAD to have it. (I was one of the first few people who snatched the prints Tria brought to FilReaderCon last November, heh. Had to be quick!)

And yes, that cover’s glorious. Just like Majesty. (Design and watercolor art by Raine Sarmiento.)

Click on the Read More button for an attempt to place my ~*feels*~ about Majesty. This also serves as your spoiler warning.

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{ Book Review } The Boyfriend Backtrack | Dawn Lanuza

January 5, 2016 No Comments

If they say that life flashes right before your eyes when you die, do you also get a flashback of your exes when your perfect boyfriend is proposing to you? At least that’s the case for Regina Cortez.

There’s her dramatic high school boyfriend, her first college crush, the irresistible heart breaker, and the ever elusive one.

By backtracking to her past, will Regina make it to ‘I Do’? Or will she just keep running away?

Buy it on Amazon | Smashwords | Buqo
Prints are available at National Bookstore outlets.
Add it on Goodreads

What Drew Me In

The synopsis. A flashback of your exes while your current flame is proposing to you? Well . . . something’s clearly wrong in that picture, and I wanted to know what it was!

(It’s also interesting to note that, as with All’s Fair in Blog & War, I also got attracted to The Boyfriend Backtrack‘s digital covers–check it out on Amazon. Beautiful, right?)

Click on the Read More button for the rest of my review. There may be spoilers, ye have been warned.

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{ Book Review } All’s Fair in Blog & War | Chrissie Peria

January 2, 2016 No Comments

Five Cuevas @fivetravels
Three guesses to where I’m going next. Starts with an M. Ends with a U. Has a lechon named after it. #travel

Twenty-something travel blogger Five thinks she has hit the jackpot when she gets invited to glittering Macau for an all-expense-paid bloggers tour. Think majestic old churches, sparkling casinos, exhilarating bungee jumps, and the world’s most unforgettable egg tarts. The trip is practically perfect, except for one little glitch. She gets assigned to be travel buddies with Jesse, the world’s most infuriating photo blogger, and it’s definitely war at first sight.

Will Five let Jesse turn her dream vacation into a total nightmare? Or will falling in love be on the itinerary?

Buy it on Amazon | Smashwords
Add it on Goodreads

What Drew Me In

THE COVER (Design & illustration by Clarissa Ines)! I mean, would you look at that beauty? Quick backstory: I saw this book listed along with other #romanceclass books in their catalogue back in March last year and had been meaning to buy it but kept on forgetting. I became acquainted with author Chrissie Peria when we became bundlemates for #StrangeLit and I asked her to reserve a print copy of this book for me in time for FilReaderCon–and that’s where I finally got one!

Click on the Read More button for the rest of the review. This also serves as your warning for possible spoilers.

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{ Book Review } Learning to Fall by Mina V. Esguerra

October 17, 2015 No Comments

Oh, if only I were brave enough to live like fiction. Then again, that’s what living vicariously is for, right? I’m good at that. I’ll leave the Live Like Fiction challenge to the braver ones. Yes, I can feel you shaking your head sadly at me, universe. I know your feel. I can be brave over something else instead, okay?

Learning to Fall is the fourth Mina V. Esguerra book I’ve finished so far, after Never Just Friends, My Imaginary Ex, and The Harder We Fall. Does that officially make me a fan? ^_^

Learning to Fall
Mina V. Esguerra

“Go out with a stereotypical romance novel hero WHO ISN’T YOUR TYPE.”

Avid reader and art student Steph is participating in a monthly blog challenge to Live Like Fiction, and this was the task for October. When Grayson, former co-captain of her university rugby team, walks into her class, she knows it’s meant to be – she has to go out with this guy. Even if she’s never been attracted to big, hunky, athletic types. With Grayson’s “player” reputation off the field, Steph thinks he’ll be good for one date that’ll be worth blogging about, and that’s it.

But you know how it goes: Soon, it becomes more than just one date – and Steph and Grayson are caught up in “living like fiction.” How long can they keep playing their roles before reality steps in?

BUY A COPY OF LEARNING TO FALL!
Amazon

Click the Read More link below for my review of Learning To Fall. Not spoiler free, I’m warning you.