reviews – Page 4 – Tara Tries To Write

{ 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.

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{ Book Review } Fall Like Rain | Ana Tejano

September 30, 2015 1 Comment

Let me start this review post with a greeting, because Fall Like Rain is celebrating its birthday today! Happy, happy birthday, Mark and Rain~ and congratulations to author Ana Tejano for being able to put this book out there for us to read. <3

Anyway.

If I haven’t said this yet, then let me say it now: One of my favorite tropes is the “Friends to Lovers” trope. I am a complete sucker for it. I write it. I read it. I wish I lived it too, but the universe can only give you so much, so. When I learned that Ana Tejano’s Fall Like Rain tackles just that, I knew I had to read. And so I did.

Fall Like Rain
Ana Tejano

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it’s a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend’s happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?

Fall Like Rain is FREE on Amazon until October 3rd! Grab a copy now!

Click on the Read More button for my review of this story. There may be spoilers, so click at your own risk!

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{ Book Review } The Year We Became Invincible | Mae Coyiuto

September 27, 2015 No Comments

Dear Future Partner,
Where in the hell are you?

That up there is probably how I’d write the first few lines of this book, had this been my story to tell. Of course it will not be YA, and perhaps not as hopeful as Mae Coyiuto’s The Year We Became Invincible, but it’s a start. But I’m not writing this to lament a personal lack; I’m writing this entry to review Ms. Coyiuto’s latest novella . . . so I’d better get to that. And quick, before I start thinking of things to write to my future partner about.

The Year We Became Invincible
Mae Coyiuto

Dear Future Reader,

If you’re reading this book, it’s either:

1. You’re my future partner

2. I’m famous and my writings have been immortalized

3. You’ve violated my privacy and these are not meant for you

Let’s hope it’s not the last one. Before this year, I had my life all planned out. This book contains the story of the year that changed my life (well, my life so far). It’s the year I learned how to be invincible. That wasn’t really specific, but I guess you have to read on to see what I’m talking about.

Love,

Camille

The Year We Became Invincible is available at your nearest National Booktore outlets. Buy your copy today!

My review of The Year We Became Invincible follows after the jump. There are spoilers, so click the Read More button at your own risk! ^_^