Top Ten Tuesday: Top a ten Favourite Heroines from Books 24/2/15

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

I love a good heroine and a good strong heroine at that so this top ten will be incredibly easy! 

1. Jo from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2. Rosie from I'll Take New York and Fairytale a of New York by Miranda Dickinson

3. Angela from the I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk

4. Becky Bloomwood from The Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella

5. Fran from The Greatest Love Story of All Time by Lucy Robinson

6. Hazel from The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

7. Valentine from the same series by Adriana Trigiani

8. Harriet from Geek Girl by Holly Smale

9. Sarah from Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

10. Darcy Burdock by Laura Dockrill. 

Shall I go on? No! Because it's a top ten but I totally could and I think I've included some young and some older heroines in there, love them all and that's it! 

Review: Tied Up In Love by Amelia Thorne

‘We’re from KMW. Do exactly as you’re told and you won’t get hurt...'

Being grabbed off the street, blind folded, tied up and thrown into a van was not what Izzy expected to happen when she stepped out the door that morning. But when an accidental kidnapping at the hands of the sexy Ethan Chase and his 'Kidnap My Wife' sexual fantasy business leads to just that, Izzy seizes the chance to turn her misfortune into a brilliant new job opportunity…

Since then, life has been one big tangle of new client meetings, fake kidnapping pick-ups, and handling the temperamental, but drop dead gorgeous 'bad boy' Mr Chase. But, as liberating as being tied up in Ethan's life is, Izzy knows the time is fast approaching when she must make some decisions and take charge of her future. The only question is: will Ethan allow himself to be a part of it?

Review: this was a totally new concept for a storyline and so I was very excited to get stuck into it! I loved the idea of someone being mistakenly kidnapped but then turning it around for themselves and getting a job out of it. Some of the kidnapp scenes did make me feel a little uneasy at times and I can safely say that if I was Izzy, I think I'd have called the police as soon as I had to fight my way out of a blindfold and a gag but the concept of a guy rescuing his wife from kidnappers or even being the one to kidnapp an seduce her did sound very sexy at the same time. 

And speaking of sexy, the sexual chemistry in the book practically lept out of my kindle. It was so hot I felt guilty reading this book at Starbucks, talk about will they won't they, even if they did I could tell that that sexual chemistry wasn't going to leave this pair. Ethan Chase is the classic bad boy who's reputation precedes him and reminded me a lot of Mark from Grey's Anatomy, I couldn't get enough of him. I also found him incredibly infuriating at time, he couldn't seem to decide whether to let his guard down or not and I did find myself shouting at the book in quite a few places (not when I was in Starbucks).

Izzy was similarly infuriating sometimes, I really wanted her to stand up for herself a littl more but I did respect the fact that she was a very intelligent woman who did know what she wanted at heart, it just took her a little while to realise that sometimes. She has big dreams and I always like that in a character and her ending was very well received when I finished this book. If I could change anything though it would have been for Izzy to stand up for herself a little more and have a bit more respect for herself, not to tell herself get weighed down by confidence knocks in her past. 

The other characters in this novel only added to the fun and in particular I fell in love with Bex, I could really relate to her and am now waiting for my own cowboy to sweep me off to Canada, dreams can come true! I loved her valentines wedding storyline, having just been maid of honour in a valentines wedding myself I could picture it like it were real life. The storyline overall was great and I fell this could have been stretched to an even longer novel if we had a few more interactions with Bex and Izzy and their relationship, perhaps we will be treated to a Bex and Gabe in Canada spin off novel?

Overall I enjoyed this book, some parts are really true to life and others are pure farce and really do have the comedy factor about them. This is a fun read though and something light which filled my weekend nicely. I liked the characters and I feel satsified by the ending, I now need to go away and read Amelia Thornes debut-Beneath the Moon and Stars!  

Letterbox Love #2

Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. This post is a means by which to highlight the books we get in the post and beyond, and especially to bring attention to those books which may be sat on our shelves for a little while yet that we love all the same.

I must've been really good lately because I didn't buy too many books for aaaages, but then the school holidays came along & also publishers have been really generous this week so I have a rather mammoth book haul for you today...

Firstly look what the gorgeous people at penguin sent me to celebrate the uk release of The Secrets Sisters Keep by Sinead Moriarty. I love her writing so can't wait to get stuck into this whilst enjoying the treats they sent too! 

I was also sent some very intriguing book post, Dear Comittee Members by Julie Scuhmacher. This looks like a lot of fun and an entertaining quick read! 

Next I was sent a copy of a Cage Of Roots by Matt Griffin. This looks scary but is some YA so who knows! Thank you O'Brein Press.

Very exciting book post next... Stung by Joss Stirling. Thank you to OUP for this little gem, very excited to get stuck into this one! 

Then just before half term I went on a bit of a book buying spree for my group at school so I snuck in a couple of reads just for me including... Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Davud Levithan and Rachel Cohn. I think I'm going to need a David Levithan marathon to get through all my copies of his books!

Then I popped this fab Meg Rossoff collection into my basket as well. I haven't read anything by Meg Rossoff but I did go and see her in conversation with Anthony Horrowtiz in Foyles last year and vowed I was going to pick up one of her books which I did, but then I had to take it back to the library again without reading it-argh. So I now I have a few to choose from...

Whilst grabbing myself some more books for school in waterstones in Leeds, I also picked up The Duff by Kody Keplinger which I've been meaning to read for ages now. Since it's being made into a film and the book was on offer I thought now was a good a time as any to get a copy! 

I bought seven copies of the Maze Runner by James Dashner on Rowan Coleman's recommendation. I also bought seven copies of the Hunger Games as we are all reading that over half term, myself included. maze Runner will be our next read I think unless we go for my next book...

The Quickreads spinoff of a Street Cat Bob. Some of the kids I teach showed interest in the first of this series and so I mentioned that ther was a quick read of it coming out so I bought... Seven copies of this too! I also bought the rest of the quick reads that are on offer this year, including one by Jojo Moyes which should be awesome so look ou for reviews of them soon! 

I got myself a paperback copy of The Year of Taking chances by Lucy Diamond. I thought about getting this on audiobook but then it was on a two book offer somewhere so I picked myself up a gorgeous paperback because it's just so pretty, I hope to read this soon! 

I also grabbed a copy of Just One Day by Gayle Forman having recently red her other novels, I saw this was on offer and couldn't resist! 

So there you have my haul, it's pretty big And I've on,y included physical books, not those that I've downloaded on audiobook or ebook so there's even more hiding in my haul this month but I won't go into those now...

Review: The Two Of Us by Andy Jones

Falling in love is the easy part. What matters most is what happens next...

Fisher and Ivy have been an item for a whole nineteen days. And they just know they are meant to be together. The fact that they know little else about each other is a minor detail. Over the course of twelve months, in which their lives will change forever, Fisher and Ivy discover that falling in love is one thing, but staying there is an entirely different story.

The Two of Us is a charming, honest and heart-breaking novel about life, love, and the importance of taking neither one for granted. 

Review: there had been a lot of hype surrounding it before I read this book so I decided rather than devour it all in one go, I would take my time over it and savour each moment. I think this increased the tensions of this novel even more. It's not a thriller, it's not even specifically a romance, this novel showcases real life and that is where the tension and the hold-your-breath moments cme from in this novel, the parells with real life are on every page, in every paragraph and every sentence and that's what made it such an enjoyable book for me. 

This books drops the reader right in the action along with the characters and you follow those characters for the better part of 9 months. This makes the storyline pretty intense as you're living their life with them as they live it. There are some real high points in the book, some aww moments and a couple of poit a where you're going to need some tissues. Because this novel really showcases real life, the emotion is fairly raw and you feel the highs and lows with the characters, holding out real hope that everything is going to be ok with them. I loved the way this book began and also the way it ended. There's a epilogue for those of you like me that like that sort of thing and also a kind of parallel storyline running alongside the main point of the tale that has some seriously bittersweet moments...

I enjoyed reading about the characters in this novel and they are very realistic characters but I didn't necessarily like them all the time. Ivy is an interesting character and her balance with down to earth William (Fisher) is necessary to hold the story together. She can sometimes be fairly selfish and is a little to impulsive for my liking but overall I wanted the best for her. Fisher can also be a little selfish but I feel this is because he has never known any different, rather than the fact that he is a selfish person, he seemed surprised by a lot of things in his life and the story his almost a bit of a self discovery for him as much as anything else. 

Whilst there are emotional moments in the books, it didn't have me tearing up as much as I thought I might I think because tHe pace of the novel is fairly slow. It is true to life and will open your eyes to some of the aspects of modern day relationships and romances. Overall it was a really good read and amazingly impressive from a debut author. Have some tissue ready but also be prepared to hold your breath and laugh your socks off, can't wait until this book is out in paperback! 

2000 follower Giveaway Winner!

Ok, so I only had 3 entires for my giveaway this week. I offered you guys the chance to win an audiobook of your choice to celebrate me reaching 2000 followers on twitter! 

I used a random name generator online as I am away at the moment and don't have access to my usual bowl and paper set up for choosing winners, you miss it-I know! 

I put all 3 names on and spun it...

And the winner was Sam! Drop me a reminder of your email address and which book you fancy from http://www.audible.co.uk/ and I'll get it sent across to you! 

Happy listening! 

Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words – and tired of his safe, boring and rather lonely life at home. He leaves for boarding school filled with cautious optimism, to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another.

Review: I totally didn't know what to expect from this novel, a friend had been encouraging me to read it for some time & I enjoyed the fault in our stars so I set aside a Sunday to finally sit down and do it!

This book has the familiarity of John green's fantastic writing and yet is a completely different much darker story than TFIOS. Fans of the romantic storyline of the better known of his novels will find something different in this, his first literary offering but I definitely wasn't disappointed by this book...

I enjoyed the storyline itself even though I found it a little slow in parts. It certainly wasn't predictable as I was never really sure where it was going to go next! The humour in the story was excellent and it a real credit to Greeb's excellent writing, I laughed out loud during several parts.

I didn't really fel with many of the characters, probably just because I find it more difficult to relate to characters far away from me in age but I didn't dislike any of them and their exchanges and relationship with each other reminded me of a really good teen storyline from a movie so I enjoyed it.

As young adult books go, there was a fair bit of swearing and sexuality but it didn't detract from the storyline at all, I would just exercise caution if choosing this novel as/for a younger teen. Overall I enjoyed this story, I really liked the humour but no, I didn't cry, I'm quite proud of that fact!

Top Ten Tuesday: book related problems I have 17/2/15

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

This list could just be called 'too many books' but I'll try & think of other things as well. The list will be fairly light hearted so without further ado...

1. Too many books-I have a clear out, I buy more books, i reorganise my book shelves, I buy more books-too many books!

2. The 'what shall j read next?' Dilemma. Even though I always have review books lined up, there's still always a choice & I can sometimes spend ages in front of my shelf trying to pick what to read now!

3. Hardbacks are heavy. They are gorgeous and you can't beat a beautiful hardback sitting on your shelf or your bedside table but the hand ache from reading & the shoulder ache from carrying it in your handbag can sometimes lead me to switching to an ebook or audiobook version.

4. New books coming out. See number 1!

5. Having to wait for the sequel to come out. You've read 2 books in a trilogy-you have to read the 3rd & final book but it's not out until next year-we've all been there!

6. Spoilers. That new book that everyone's taking about? Yeah that one where they just gave away a massive plot twist on breakfast news & you're reading it right now argh!

7. Not having time to read-you're desperate to get to the last 50 pages of your latest read but you have a wedding to go to or work to go to-soooo frustrating!

8. Getting halfway through a book & realising I've read it before (I now use Goodreads so this doesn't happen) 

9. Hating a book I thought I was going to love. This has happened a couple of times to me, I've loved everything else this author has written or loved the book that it's a sequel to but I just can't cope with this one-never a good feeling.

10. Going to buy a book but not being able to remember the title/author. This hasn't happened to me as much since I got into blogging because if Twitter & all the helpful bookworms about online but in the past-sooo maddening, 'earn I think it had clouds in it??'

So there you have my book-related problems, first world pains or what? Let me know your take on my issues below...