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Showing posts from November, 2019

Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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Book Review: The Southern Girls (Pageant, #1) by Cherie Bennett

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In my quest to reread my way through my childhood, I picked up a book called The Southern Girls (Pageant, #1) by Cherie Bennett. I have always been hesitant to read fiction books on the topic of beauty pageants because I use to compete in them from the age of eight to the age of nineteen, and so many books on this topic seem to be completely off base. Or, the author doesn't like pageants and tends to demonize them. However, Cherie Bennett does a fair job of portraying beauty pageants. This particular book series was one of my favorites by this particular author . . . second to Bennett's Sunset Island book series. The characters are extremely relatable and for the most part, likable. The only exception was Allison "The Virus" Gaylord, who will do anything to win. Of course, there always has to be a bad guy. At one point, Allison blackmails Willow over something in the past that was covered up by her parents. Willow's parents just happen to be big shots in a pa...
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Book Review: Trash (Trash, #1) by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld

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Trash (Trash, #1) by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld follows the lifes of interns on a hip television show called Trash, and it's a bit like the Jerry Springer show but different. In the first installment, it follows the life of Chelsea, who is the daughter of a serial killer, and she is terrified that the other five interns will find out her secret. When this was originally published, I absolutely loved this book and couldn't read it fast enough. Rereading it as an adult, one of the things that stuck out to me as a bit unrealistic was that one of the other interns turned out to be one of Chelsea's best friends from middle school, and Chelsea didn't recognize her friend because of her weight loss. It might have been different if it had been longer than four years since they had last seen each other. Another thing I thought was a bit unrealistic was Chelsea's crush on one of the other interns and how she dealt with their relationship when they fir...
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Book Review: Sunset Kiss (Sunset Island, #2) by Cherie Bennett

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The second book in the Sunset Island book series by Cherie Bennett, Sunset Kiss (Sunset Island, #2) , is a great sequel to the first book in the series, Sunset Island (Sunset Island, #1) . Unlike the first book, Sunset Kiss features Carrie Alden's point of view of being an au pair and working for a celebrity. When Carrie Alden decides to shed her responsible personality and be like other young adults, she finds out quickly that being a wild child isn't all it's cracked up to be. What I love about this book in this series is that it actually teaches a lesson . . . being a responsible person and that there could be dire consequences if you aren't responsible. The lessons are that you should never leave the children you're watching alone at the house and to drink responsibly. There is even a secondary lesson . . . be yourself! If you want more details, you'll have to read the book! The first time I read this book series made me want to be an au pai...
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Book Review: Sunset Island (Sunset Island, #1) by Cherie Bennett

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One of the books I chose to read as part of my rereading my way through my childhood is Sunset Island (Sunset Island, #1) by Cherie Bennett. As a first book in the series, it features teens at an au pair convention looking for work across the United States, and we meet three friends who get assignments on the wonderful Sunset Island in Maine . . . Emma Cresswell, Samantha "Sam" Bridges, and Carolyn "Carrie" Alden. What I love about the Sunset Island book series is that it deals with a lot of issues that tweens and teens deal with and how sometimes it is blown out of proportion (and sometimes not). In the first edition of Sunset Island , it deals with secrets being kept . . . Emma Cresswell doesn't tell her friends Sam and Carrie and her boyfriend Kurt that she comes from a wealthy family because all she wants to do is fit in with everyone and try to find out who she is without her family's money. When she finally decides to tell her friends, the...
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