Monday Reads: SEDUCING CINDERELLA

Confession: I don't really read romance.

I know, I know, I WRITE romance. And you should ALWAYS DEFINITELY read the genre you write in. Before you accuse me of not practicing what I preach, here's the thing: I don't really read romance, as in category. As in, the really racy rated R kind. I don't write that type of romance either. I'm not knocking it, it's just not my jam. Before SEDUCING CINDERELLA, I think I'd only read one other romance novel- a Victorian one. The reason I picked it up in the first place is because my male MC in COLLIDE is a fighter, and Reid from SC is an MMA fighter.

So did I like SEDUCING CINDERELLA (by Gina L. Maxwell)? Yes. It was a great story with great characters. Reid was hot and sexy and sweet, and Lucie was the typical You-Don't-Know-You're-Beautiful kind of girl, but it didn't feel formulaic. There was plenty or racy to go around, so if you like that, then definitely check out this book.

I love romance in books. It's almost a must for me (I say almost because I've read a few really amazing books that had no romance storyline in them). I love to write romance. But for me the fun is the flirting, the will they/won't they, the push and pull. The almost kisses. It reminds me of this meme I saw on Pinterest a few weeks ago that made me laugh, it was so true for me:

What about you? Chippendales or top hats and cravats? LOL

Happy Halloween!

Instead of yesterday's FRIDAY LOVES post, I'm here today- Saturday October 31st- to wish everyone a happy Halloween! I love Halloween- the costumes and the candy and the fun (not creepy) decorations. So I hope everyone has a fun and safe night!

Wednesday Writes: Stressin'

I'm more than halfway through my revision/second-POV-adding of COLLIDE and most days I'm feeling really good about it. It's not there yet, obvs- once I'm done I'll have to go back to the beginning and read it through to make sure the dual POV works and the chapters are in the right place, then I'll send it to CPs. But I think it's going well.

Until... I'll get these crazy moments of total unworthiness. Like, maybe I'm screwing up this retelling SO BAD that everyone is going to hate it. Someone said recently that they're really excited for this book and I was all

I've searched Goodreads and Google and haven't found any other NORTH & SOUTH retellings. There are some continuation stories, or retelling in that time period, and I believe there might be some on fanfiction sites, but no modern day published books. (If there are, please tell me, I'd love to read one.) So this leaves me feeling the pressure. People love this story, what if I screw it up?! Of course, I know I'm not going to meet everyone's expectations, that'll never happen no matter what. But still, I'm stressin'.

For anyone who thinks writing retellings is easy, hahahahaha. They're SO not. Anyway, there's nothing for it but to press forward with the book and make it the best I can make it and hopefully that ends up being enough.

Monday Reads: Beautiful Disaster and A Guardian, A Sword, & Stilettos

I read two interesting books this week. The first, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER by Jamie McGuire. This book definitely had it's moments.

I was into the relationship for the first half- the whole, will they/won't they totally drew me in and I loved it. Once the two main characters got together though, I was kinda wondering where it would go, which I shouldn't have. Because hello, the title is a dead giveaway. And their relationship was definitely a disaster, but not necessarily all that beautiful in my view. For me, the book itself was good, but their relationship was so toxic it became hard to read sometimes. I felt the book was very real, and the dialogue was right on. This wasn't a book that wasted time with a lot of prose or description. The characters did a lot of sneering and face-touching which pulled me out of the story every time, but otherwise, it was a super fast read. My own personal feelings toward the book aren't 100% though since I just didn't care for their relationship. Totally a personal opinion and nothing more.

Then I read THE GUARDIAN, A SWORD, & STILETTOS by Kristin D. Van Risseghem. This was a fun book, another fast read, with not a lot of wasting time on unnecessary things. It felt sort of like MORTAL INSTRUMENTS meets HUSH, HUSH to me- a lot of angels and demons and even a werewolf and a faerie or two. This is a series, so it didn't wrap up the main plotline, but it had a satisfying ending nonetheless.

And now I'm fully read-ed out, so I think I'm going to go watch some stuff and start a new book, SEDUCING CINDERELLA, tomorrow.

 

Friday Loves: Making A Playlist

It's no secret that I love to make playlists for my WIPs. My playlist for COLLIDE (my NORTH & SOUTH retelling) is pretty small so far. It's really hard to find a song about a girl who's just not into a guy. Seriously. Sure there's, "Oops, I Did it Again," and my recent fave, "Ex's & Oh's" by Elle King, but neither really convey they point, in my view. Those are both about playing with a guy/guys and COLLIDE deals more with a girl who's not interested even though the guy likes her. If anyone knows a song by a female that's basically, DUDE, I DON'T LIKE YOU, please let me know.

But here's a few songs I've found that do go well.

"Song of the Caged Bird" by Lindsay Stirling

I actually mention this song in the book as one my female MC dances to.

 

"Hero/Heroine" by Boys Like Girls

This would totally be a song from my male MC's POV

 

"Pocket Full of Dreams" by Hedley

Especially when they change the chorus near the end.

 

"Unbreakable" by Jamie Scott.

Oh yes, this song. LOVE

Wednesday Writes: The Journey

I'm still working on my NORTH & SOUTH retelling, which I've tentatively titled COLLIDE. It's going pretty good, although I'm still struggling with finding the voice of my male MC. Ergh.

I've been thinking lately about my writing journey. So far, it hasn't turned out like I thought it would. That's not a bad thing. One of the reasons I love to read "How I Got My Agent" stories is because they're always different. No one gets an agent the same way and no one's writing journey is the same.

I thought writing the book in the first place was the hard part. Hahahahahaha. I thought that once I did, I'd revise it once, then send it to a handful of literary agents, one of whom (or maybe all) would love it, and then sell it right away in a multi-book deal. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Needless to say, my writing journey has been NOTHING like that. I don't as yet have an agent. But I do have a book coming out soon, plus a short story in a collection, and I'm excited about that. You can't put expectations on your writing. You shouldn't assume things will happen for you the same way they did for that girl in your writer's group or your facebook group or wherever you heard her story. Every journey is different. For me, it's helped me to be patient, and just roll with it. Take what's coming and also lean into what's working. No matter what your journey looks like, have patience, take a breath in the low moments, and enjoy every second of the peaks.

Monday Reads: The Royal We, The Wrath and the Dawn, Side Effects May Vary

I didn't post last Monday because it was Canadian Thanksgiving, so this week I've got three books to talk about.

First I read THE ROYAL WE by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. This is totally Will and Kate fanfiction, but I loved it. It was fun to read and feel like I was part of a world I will never be part of. Even though it was fiction, they built the world of the royals so well, it felt real, and with so many similarities between the story and Will and Kate's journey, I felt like I was reading about them (which I wasn't, I know). I only have two minor complaints. One, the book felt long. I don't know where they could've cut it, and I don't think I was ever bored, but it still felt long, which isn't something you want your readers to feel. The other thing, which some people will laugh at me for, but these characters did not stop drinking. Like seriously, find something else to do. It made for a lot of hijinks and funny moments, but there were multiple times where I was like, SERIOUSLY STOP DRINKING. This is coming from a girl who doesn't drink, so there you go.

Then I read THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Adieh. This book sucked me in from the start. I loved the story, although I was a little disturbed by how Shazi fell for Khalid. I wish I had written this post right after I finished reading it because my thoughts were much clearer then than they are now. But that feeling hasn't left me. As much as I loved their complicated story and was totally drawn in, it was still a little off to see her fall for him. I mean yes, he had reasons for having all those girls killed, and he felt horrible, but still- he killed her best friend. All those times she was hating herself for falling for him, I was feeling the same thing. The book was good though- the world building in particular was excellent. A minor complaint I had was all the eye and hair descriptions. I'm guilty of the eye thing myself, but I found myself rolling my eyes at her "waving tresses" and his "tiger eyes" mentioned every other page. Just saying. I'll definitely pick up the second book though.

Last, I read SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY by Julie Murphy. Yeah. I have a lot to say about this book but I'll keep it brief. Again, this book sucked me in, but when I wasn't reading it, I didn't want to pick it back up (I did anyway). Why? Because I could not stand the main character Alice. Yes, she had cancer, but she was not a nice person, she treated everyone like crap, and especially Harvey, who was such a good guy but he would just lie down and take it. It drove me crazy. Yet I still kept reading, which is a testament I think to how good the writing and the story itself was. It was very honest, and I liked that. I just couldn't stand Alice. It made me think of unlikeable characters and the whole discussion about unlikeable female characters. I started to think if I'd read any male unlikeable characters and if I liked them anyway, but couldn't think of any. I agree that we should be able to have unlikeable female characters as well as males, because why not? But they aren't really my thing. Like unreliable narrators, I'm just not a fan. Anyway, the book is good and deals with cancer in a very real, honest, and not sappy way. Although I felt the end a little too... easy after everything that had happened. I don't want to give spoilers so you'll just have to read it yourself.

Whew, that was a long post, but an interesting couple of weeks of reading. If you've read any of these books, how did you feel about them?