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lias_little_book_shelf's review against another edition
5.0
I received this book through GoodReads First Reads
Wow! This book gripped me from the beginning it was lovely to see them start out by getting together the good old fashioned way yet use modern technology to keep things going! This books is about two people who meet in a bar but reality is they live 7'000 miles apart and Lee is leaving for Seoul just hours after a fantastic date with Laura. Laura carries a lot of "baggage" and her life sounds awfully depressing but she has overcome so much which helps her keep strong with Lee and she eventually helps Lee make tough decisions become easier to make. I loved FaceTime and I cannot wait for the next one! I will definitely be buying a copy. This books kept me up all night and I was determined to finish it before I went to sleep. It's just that good!!
Wow! This book gripped me from the beginning it was lovely to see them start out by getting together the good old fashioned way yet use modern technology to keep things going! This books is about two people who meet in a bar but reality is they live 7'000 miles apart and Lee is leaving for Seoul just hours after a fantastic date with Laura. Laura carries a lot of "baggage" and her life sounds awfully depressing but she has overcome so much which helps her keep strong with Lee and she eventually helps Lee make tough decisions become easier to make. I loved FaceTime and I cannot wait for the next one! I will definitely be buying a copy. This books kept me up all night and I was determined to finish it before I went to sleep. It's just that good!!
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
4.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Face Time is a modern take on long-distance romance. The story follows Lee and Laura who connect over one amazing dinner, only to be separated by 7000 miles (and a several hour time difference) the very next day when Lee returns to Korea. They decide to stay in touch via Face Time and see where things take them, but they soon find that starting a relationship over the internet has more than a few complications.
What I loved:
Modern take on romance.
I loved how this book perfectly captured our digital age. After all, let’s face it, a long-distance romance like the one featured in this book wouldn’t have even been possible not all that long ago. My husband and I dated long distance throughout college (many eons ago) and we had to make do with a really primitive form of YTalk, which was an incredibly basic form of messaging that worked on UNIX (and we only knew about that because my husband was a computer geek). Nowadays, relationships revolve around the internet. People meet on internet dating sites or even chat groups, they stay in touch when they’re apart via Skype or Face Time combined with texting, email, twitter – you name it. It really is possible to date without being in the same country – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Between time zones and bad internet connections and the inability to actually touch each other – well, things can get messy and hard. That was certainly the case here.
Lee and Laura.
I really liked the fun banter and chemistry between Lee and Laura. Their conversations felt realistic and cute and sweet – their conversations weren’t always intensely meaty, but that was part of the issue between them – it’s hard to have truly meaningful conversations when you aren’t face-to-face (and you especially can’t over texts!). They both felt a pretty strong connection to each other right from the start, but there were several factors that kept them from feeling secure in their budding relationship. One of the biggest factors was Lee’s traditional Korean family. Both Lee and Laura knew that they wouldn’t be terribly accepting of her, and Laura really worried about this a lot. She also had some secrets in her past that had already ruined one relationship for her, so she was really afraid to reveal them to Lee – especially over Face Time! Laura’s insecurities drove a lot of the conflict in the story and I truly felt for her and the way that she let her distant past mar her future. The relationship between Lee and Laura did move pretty fast, especially considering that they weren’t actually together for most of it, but it didn’t feel like insta-love exactly – maybe a bit quicker than I would have liked, but the connection definitely built throughout the book. I was rooting for them!!
Foreign atmosphere.
One of the things that I love about all of Pajonas’s books is her focus on Asian cultures. I just love foreign settings and learning about other cultures in this way! I loved getting little glimpses into Korea and even places like India through Lee’s eyes!
The negatives:
A little too liberal?
Laura made a point quite often about worrying that she was too liberal for Lee (and especially for his family), and I sometimes felt a little bit like her character was just kind of liberal for the sake of being liberal. For instance, there was one scene where Laura and her friends smoked pot and the scene seemed a little thrown in to me just to make the point that Laura was really kind of cool and hip and that this was something that she and her friends would do from time to time. I don’t know – for me it just felt a little forced. (I do also have personal issues with recreational drugs, though, based on past experiences of someone close to me – so this is a personal bias. I don’t mind drug use in books, but I’m not crazy about it when it’s included flippantly.) But this was just certain instances thrown in throughout the book and is really based on my own personal preferences – other people may be really happy for a character that they can identify with in this way.
Overall, I thought that Face Time was a great read and I’m really interested to see where Pajonas goes with the rest of the contemporary books in this series! I give this one 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Face Time is a modern take on long-distance romance. The story follows Lee and Laura who connect over one amazing dinner, only to be separated by 7000 miles (and a several hour time difference) the very next day when Lee returns to Korea. They decide to stay in touch via Face Time and see where things take them, but they soon find that starting a relationship over the internet has more than a few complications.
What I loved:
Modern take on romance.
I loved how this book perfectly captured our digital age. After all, let’s face it, a long-distance romance like the one featured in this book wouldn’t have even been possible not all that long ago. My husband and I dated long distance throughout college (many eons ago) and we had to make do with a really primitive form of YTalk, which was an incredibly basic form of messaging that worked on UNIX (and we only knew about that because my husband was a computer geek). Nowadays, relationships revolve around the internet. People meet on internet dating sites or even chat groups, they stay in touch when they’re apart via Skype or Face Time combined with texting, email, twitter – you name it. It really is possible to date without being in the same country – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Between time zones and bad internet connections and the inability to actually touch each other – well, things can get messy and hard. That was certainly the case here.
Lee and Laura.
I really liked the fun banter and chemistry between Lee and Laura. Their conversations felt realistic and cute and sweet – their conversations weren’t always intensely meaty, but that was part of the issue between them – it’s hard to have truly meaningful conversations when you aren’t face-to-face (and you especially can’t over texts!). They both felt a pretty strong connection to each other right from the start, but there were several factors that kept them from feeling secure in their budding relationship. One of the biggest factors was Lee’s traditional Korean family. Both Lee and Laura knew that they wouldn’t be terribly accepting of her, and Laura really worried about this a lot. She also had some secrets in her past that had already ruined one relationship for her, so she was really afraid to reveal them to Lee – especially over Face Time! Laura’s insecurities drove a lot of the conflict in the story and I truly felt for her and the way that she let her distant past mar her future. The relationship between Lee and Laura did move pretty fast, especially considering that they weren’t actually together for most of it, but it didn’t feel like insta-love exactly – maybe a bit quicker than I would have liked, but the connection definitely built throughout the book. I was rooting for them!!
Foreign atmosphere.
One of the things that I love about all of Pajonas’s books is her focus on Asian cultures. I just love foreign settings and learning about other cultures in this way! I loved getting little glimpses into Korea and even places like India through Lee’s eyes!
The negatives:
A little too liberal?
Laura made a point quite often about worrying that she was too liberal for Lee (and especially for his family), and I sometimes felt a little bit like her character was just kind of liberal for the sake of being liberal. For instance, there was one scene where Laura and her friends smoked pot and the scene seemed a little thrown in to me just to make the point that Laura was really kind of cool and hip and that this was something that she and her friends would do from time to time. I don’t know – for me it just felt a little forced. (I do also have personal issues with recreational drugs, though, based on past experiences of someone close to me – so this is a personal bias. I don’t mind drug use in books, but I’m not crazy about it when it’s included flippantly.) But this was just certain instances thrown in throughout the book and is really based on my own personal preferences – other people may be really happy for a character that they can identify with in this way.
Overall, I thought that Face Time was a great read and I’m really interested to see where Pajonas goes with the rest of the contemporary books in this series! I give this one 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
4.0
*I received a free copy of Face Time in exchange of an honest review*
Full review to come soon.
Sweet story about how dating via Face Time is possible while living in completely different parts of the world.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
Full review to come soon.
Sweet story about how dating via Face Time is possible while living in completely different parts of the world.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
lolasreviews's review against another edition
5.0
My Review:
I got a copy in exchange for an honest review
When I heard that SJ Pajonas was writing a contemporary romance book I knew I had to read it and the blurb sounded so good and original. When I received my ARC review copy I tried to convince myself I had some other review books I had to read first, but after finishing my current read my self control flew out of the window and I had to start this. This year has been slow so far in terms of reading, but I finished this book in only 3 days. I loved it so much and I want to read anything else this author is going to write. I love her writing style, the originality of the story and the fleshed out characters.
Face Time is an original story about two people who after their first date start to date through FaceTime. I have never read a book where people dated like this and it was really original and refreshing. Although I did wonder a bit how they where going to fall in love without actually seeing each other, but the author handled this really well. And beside the romance aspect there is so much more, both characters have a past, family issues and friends. I loved it all and couldn't stop reading.
Face Time is told from both Lee and Laura's point of view and this really worked well for this boook. I liked seeing both their sides of the story. Almost from the start I liked both Lee and Laure, they are easy character to like and the more I read the more I fell in love with these characters and I kept hoping they would get their happy ending. The gradually more and more characters are introduced and even though there is a big cast of side characters they each felt reall and where eays to keep apart. A few side characters I liked even more than the rest where Nicole, Lee's dad, Cori and Nari, they each surprised me in good way. I wanted to know more about each character and the author has done an amazing job creating such interesting side characters.
The romance is done so well, it's so real. I sometimes have an issue with romance books because they feel a bit fake, that certainly wasn't the issue with Face Time. Laura and Lee's relationship feels real and believeable. And they are so good together! Although some of the Face Time chats where a bit frustrating because I wanted them to be together and not only chat through Face Time.
While the focus is on the romance, there is so much more going on. Further into the story we learn much more about both characters. There are some emotional scenes, memories from the past that get's dragged up, family problems and developments with the side characters that all play a role. There also is a lot of character developments especially concerning Laura and Lee, they both grow to be a so much better and stronger version of themselves and it was great so see them change that way and realize things about themselves they didn't knew before.
To conclude: I loved this book! It's a real and believeable romance in the digital age. The story is orginal and addictive. The characters are likeable and believeable and the cast of side characters where fleshed out and interesting. Beside the romance aspect of the story there is so much more going on and I can't wait for the next book in this series. SJ Pajonas is certainly one of my favourite authors now and I can't wait to read all of the books she writes next!
I got a copy in exchange for an honest review
When I heard that SJ Pajonas was writing a contemporary romance book I knew I had to read it and the blurb sounded so good and original. When I received my ARC review copy I tried to convince myself I had some other review books I had to read first, but after finishing my current read my self control flew out of the window and I had to start this. This year has been slow so far in terms of reading, but I finished this book in only 3 days. I loved it so much and I want to read anything else this author is going to write. I love her writing style, the originality of the story and the fleshed out characters.
Face Time is an original story about two people who after their first date start to date through FaceTime. I have never read a book where people dated like this and it was really original and refreshing. Although I did wonder a bit how they where going to fall in love without actually seeing each other, but the author handled this really well. And beside the romance aspect there is so much more, both characters have a past, family issues and friends. I loved it all and couldn't stop reading.
Face Time is told from both Lee and Laura's point of view and this really worked well for this boook. I liked seeing both their sides of the story. Almost from the start I liked both Lee and Laure, they are easy character to like and the more I read the more I fell in love with these characters and I kept hoping they would get their happy ending. The gradually more and more characters are introduced and even though there is a big cast of side characters they each felt reall and where eays to keep apart. A few side characters I liked even more than the rest where Nicole, Lee's dad, Cori and Nari, they each surprised me in good way. I wanted to know more about each character and the author has done an amazing job creating such interesting side characters.
The romance is done so well, it's so real. I sometimes have an issue with romance books because they feel a bit fake, that certainly wasn't the issue with Face Time. Laura and Lee's relationship feels real and believeable. And they are so good together! Although some of the Face Time chats where a bit frustrating because I wanted them to be together and not only chat through Face Time.
While the focus is on the romance, there is so much more going on. Further into the story we learn much more about both characters. There are some emotional scenes, memories from the past that get's dragged up, family problems and developments with the side characters that all play a role. There also is a lot of character developments especially concerning Laura and Lee, they both grow to be a so much better and stronger version of themselves and it was great so see them change that way and realize things about themselves they didn't knew before.
To conclude: I loved this book! It's a real and believeable romance in the digital age. The story is orginal and addictive. The characters are likeable and believeable and the cast of side characters where fleshed out and interesting. Beside the romance aspect of the story there is so much more going on and I can't wait for the next book in this series. SJ Pajonas is certainly one of my favourite authors now and I can't wait to read all of the books she writes next!
krbiel's review against another edition
5.0
This book should come with a disclaimer--WARNING: EXCELLENT BOOK AHEAD. YOU WILL NOT SLEEP UNTIL YOU FINISH READING. This story grabbed me right in and I could not put it down. It is modern and romantic and different. The writing was so captivating. I was immediately drawn into both Laura and Lee's worlds, rooting for the to succeed despite the odds. There is no predictability; no cliched love story here. It is real life. How we put others' need before our own. How family does not live up to expectations. How ancient culture can affect our modern world. Ms. Pajonas' writing is a breath of fresh air, unique and flavored with the spices of the Far East. It may be different than what is out there, but that is what sets it far ahead of other contemporary romances. I very rarely give books five-star ratings, and almost never to romances. However, this book deserves all five-stars. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series, and all the ones thereafter. Bravo, Ms. Pajonas. Bravo.
melodicfate's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
It’s not often that I read contemporary romance, these days. However, as I’d already read S.J.’s sci-fi series and really liked it, I wanted to see if I’d feel the same way about her contemporary stories. Also, I was drawn to this book because it was about a long-distance relationship which was aided by technology. In this day and age, who can’t relate to that? Well, I know I certainly understood, and I found this novel to be a really good read.
The narrators and main characters of this book were Lee and Laura. Laura was a very strong, independent, and brave woman, but her past made it hard to totally trust anyone new. Lee was a successful lawyer, who was trying to figure out what he wanted out of life, and he just happened to be Korean. The two of them made for great characters to follow this story through, especially as they got to know one another a lot better. I really liked both of them, and I found the author successfully made their voices different, so I could always tell who was narrating, even without the POV labels.
There were quite a few side characters in this book, ranging from friends, exes, and family. I loved and hated some, and others were not what they seemed. I think my favorite side characters were Laura’s friends, Theresa and Nicole. I loved Theresa for always telling Laura things straight out, even though she didn’t want to hurt her. Nicole was awesome, because she was a new, positive friend for Laura, and I could tell that they were a lot alike. As for the families, i definitely liked certain people more in Lee’s. This is because all Laura really had was her mother and her aunts, an her mother was really selfish, and she’s the one we got to know the best. Out of Lee’s family, I liked that Nari was different from how we were told she was, and I thought Jin was nice. However, I had real hatred for Lee’s mom, because she was very mean, interfering, and just a bad person. Then, there was Lee’s ex-girlfriend, Sandra. She was annoying, but nowhere near as hateful as Lee’s mother, and I absolutely loved the fact that there were never any misunderstandings between Lee and Laura over her.
The plot of this novel was all about Lee and Laura’s long-distance relationship. They had many obstacles in the forms of their families, pasts, and the distance between them. I loved the way they used technology to connect themselves to one another, because this is exactly what people do now, and I felt the realness of how hard the distance was for them. I also appreciated the fact that even though they were attracted to each other, they had to talk and really get to know one another, because they were so far apart. The multicultural aspect of this story was great to read about, as well. There were some villains in the form of their families, and a bit of drama, because of Laura’s past. I thought everything was very well-done, and I read this book in a matter of hours.
Overall, I thought that this story showed how a contemporary romance should be done. There was drama, complicated pasts, and insane families. However, there was also lots of communication, hardly any assuming, and no insta-love. I loved the relationship between Lee and Laura, and never once thought it was unhealthy. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a real, modern-day, and multicultural love story, without all the cliches.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
It’s not often that I read contemporary romance, these days. However, as I’d already read S.J.’s sci-fi series and really liked it, I wanted to see if I’d feel the same way about her contemporary stories. Also, I was drawn to this book because it was about a long-distance relationship which was aided by technology. In this day and age, who can’t relate to that? Well, I know I certainly understood, and I found this novel to be a really good read.
The narrators and main characters of this book were Lee and Laura. Laura was a very strong, independent, and brave woman, but her past made it hard to totally trust anyone new. Lee was a successful lawyer, who was trying to figure out what he wanted out of life, and he just happened to be Korean. The two of them made for great characters to follow this story through, especially as they got to know one another a lot better. I really liked both of them, and I found the author successfully made their voices different, so I could always tell who was narrating, even without the POV labels.
There were quite a few side characters in this book, ranging from friends, exes, and family. I loved and hated some, and others were not what they seemed. I think my favorite side characters were Laura’s friends, Theresa and Nicole. I loved Theresa for always telling Laura things straight out, even though she didn’t want to hurt her. Nicole was awesome, because she was a new, positive friend for Laura, and I could tell that they were a lot alike. As for the families, i definitely liked certain people more in Lee’s. This is because all Laura really had was her mother and her aunts, an her mother was really selfish, and she’s the one we got to know the best. Out of Lee’s family, I liked that Nari was different from how we were told she was, and I thought Jin was nice. However, I had real hatred for Lee’s mom, because she was very mean, interfering, and just a bad person. Then, there was Lee’s ex-girlfriend, Sandra. She was annoying, but nowhere near as hateful as Lee’s mother, and I absolutely loved the fact that there were never any misunderstandings between Lee and Laura over her.
The plot of this novel was all about Lee and Laura’s long-distance relationship. They had many obstacles in the forms of their families, pasts, and the distance between them. I loved the way they used technology to connect themselves to one another, because this is exactly what people do now, and I felt the realness of how hard the distance was for them. I also appreciated the fact that even though they were attracted to each other, they had to talk and really get to know one another, because they were so far apart. The multicultural aspect of this story was great to read about, as well. There were some villains in the form of their families, and a bit of drama, because of Laura’s past. I thought everything was very well-done, and I read this book in a matter of hours.
Overall, I thought that this story showed how a contemporary romance should be done. There was drama, complicated pasts, and insane families. However, there was also lots of communication, hardly any assuming, and no insta-love. I loved the relationship between Lee and Laura, and never once thought it was unhealthy. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a real, modern-day, and multicultural love story, without all the cliches.
laurabenson's review
4.0
I loved this book. I loved the premise. I loved loved Laura and Lee. Two broken people who are perfect for each other. What I didn't like was the rushed ending! But damn, I want more of these two! Hurry up and buy your copy!
missblissreads's review
5.0
This very modern love story was such a lovely, fun read. Long distance relationships of all sorts are so much more prevalent in this age of ALL THE TECHNOLOGIES. And Stephanie's book tells a tale of a random meeting that turns into so much more. Great read!
izabrekilien's review
5.0
How many years has this been on my e-reader, already ? And I'm just reading it now ?! Well, at least, I finally read it.
Many years ago, when I read Lola's blog, I saw that she really loved this author so I added S.J. Pajonas to my reading list and knew that one day, I'll get to read her. And I'm so glad I did. While cleaning my e-reader, recently, I deleted many books that didn't correspond to my tastes any more. I read the first few pages, sighed heavily and deleted them. I read the first few pages of Face Time, easily got into it, loved the characters, the story, got addicted and could hardly put it down to go to sleep.
Both Laura and Lee had their family issues, both had delt differently with the cards life life had handed them, both were ready to make changes. Lee was a darling, reserved but tired of the life he's living and hoping for more. Laura needed to find some fresh air or she'd suffocate ! I loved how strong she was, I loved how they fought for the lives they want to live for themselves, not anyone else, and dammit, there was some sizzling chemistry in here !
I loved reading this book and absolutely recommend it. I hear there's a book #2 in that series, it's not available for Kindle now but somehow, I'll manage to get it ^^
Many years ago, when I read Lola's blog, I saw that she really loved this author so I added S.J. Pajonas to my reading list and knew that one day, I'll get to read her. And I'm so glad I did. While cleaning my e-reader, recently, I deleted many books that didn't correspond to my tastes any more. I read the first few pages, sighed heavily and deleted them. I read the first few pages of Face Time, easily got into it, loved the characters, the story, got addicted and could hardly put it down to go to sleep.
Both Laura and Lee had their family issues, both had delt differently with the cards life life had handed them, both were ready to make changes. Lee was a darling, reserved but tired of the life he's living and hoping for more. Laura needed to find some fresh air or she'd suffocate ! I loved how strong she was, I loved how they fought for the lives they want to live for themselves, not anyone else, and dammit, there was some sizzling chemistry in here !
I loved reading this book and absolutely recommend it. I hear there's a book #2 in that series, it's not available for Kindle now but somehow, I'll manage to get it ^^
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review
4.0
*I received a free copy of Face Time in exchange of an honest review*
Full review to come soon.
Sweet story about how dating via Face Time is possible while living in completely different parts of the world.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
Full review to come soon.
Sweet story about how dating via Face Time is possible while living in completely different parts of the world.
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
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