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theproficientreader's reviews
2155 reviews
Random in Death by J.D. Robb
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It's been a while since I've read a book, but catching up on Eve and Roarke and the gang's adventures always feels like home—even after 58 books.
Trials of Conviction by T.A. White
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was a great installment. I can’t wait to read more about the new plot developments.
Facets of Revolution by T.A. White
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my second time reading this book, and I think I love it even more!
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Spiral by Mila Ferrera
5.0
PPFF Rating: 5/5 Stars
Unexpected. Insightful. Appropriate. Brilliant.
"Always do the thing that scares you."
OK, I totally did NOT expect that. I can't even begin to imagine!
I'm pretty sure I was so looking forward to this being another intense love story about the typical brooding playboy and a girl who has trust issues. Oh boy, was I wrong. VERY wrong. True, it was intense but for a whole different reasons. Just when I started to really swoon, every gushy feeling I had just spiraled.
"It was amazing,” I blurt. “I haven’t enjoyed myself that much in a long time.”
“You poor thing. It sounds awful."
Nessa Cavanaugh, the girl who needed to have a life, immediately felt attracted to Dr. Aron Lindstrom right from the first day of her internship at a children's hospital. He was this amazing Viking of a guy (apparently, he's from Sweden) whom she literally bumped into, spilled coffee all over him and smacked into his chest, leaving a lipstick mark in the process.
"Apparently he worked his way through the roster last semester and left a lot of broken hearts and bad feelings. Forget ‘gentlemanly fish’—this guy is a total shark!"
They started flirting with each other and after Nessa decided to finally throw caution to the wind, they started dating. Of course there were rumors of Aron's past indiscretions circulating as well as Nessa's unfortunate incident with a fellow intern. They were also both so busy with their respective careers that they barely had enough time together. But despite all those elements, they took their time in getting to know each other and still ended up falling madly in love.
"Listen, I understand the demands of your schedule better than most guys would, because I’m as busy as you are. But spending time with you makes me feel lighter, not heavier. More relaxed and less frantic. And I think it’s the same for you. So when you need chess, or turtles, or …” He leans forward, and I close my eyes as his warm lips touch mine.
Yet, it seems like as quickly as they fell in love, things went spiraling out of control just as fast. I swear I didn't see it coming. I normally can anticipate twists but I don't know why I was simply blindsided by Spiral.
"I know I’ll regret it if I leave."
Nessa. She's unbelievable. I honestly don't know how I can cope with everything she's been through. I probably would have lost my mind and maybe I would have also given up on Aron. But her? She NEVER did. Of course, it most likely helped that she was equipped with the knowledge and experience in dealing with Aron's illness.
"I think he’s very much worth being a ‘we’ with."
I just feel so affected after reading Spiral. I keep asking myself if I would have also stuck around had the love of my life been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. How could Nessa do it? After dealing with her own father's "episodes", how could she even deal with Aron being the same?
I was honestly devastated after reading their story. But at the same time, I felt like it was almost appropriate. Yes, it wasn't what I had expected to happen especially to a seemingly perfect and brilliant doctor. But I loved how Aron eventually looked at things. He may have struggled accepting his fate but he was right when he told Nessa that he shouldn't even be whining about his sorry state because at least he got to live while his young patients had slim chances of even beating Cancer.
"Can I answer your unspoken ‘what if,’ with ‘I’ll be there’? Would that be enough?"
In the end, love conquers all, I should say. I just hope that if it happens to me, I would have the strength to fight for what I want and what makes me happy, come what may.
Thank you Mila Ferrera for an amazing experience. I wouldn't have enjoyed the book as much if it hadn't been written beautifully (cute cover too). And from now on, I wouldn't even try to use the word bipolar loosely.
***Check out my blog: Press Pause, Fast Forward
Unexpected. Insightful. Appropriate. Brilliant.
"Always do the thing that scares you."
OK, I totally did NOT expect that. I can't even begin to imagine!
I'm pretty sure I was so looking forward to this being another intense love story about the typical brooding playboy and a girl who has trust issues. Oh boy, was I wrong. VERY wrong. True, it was intense but for a whole different reasons. Just when I started to really swoon, every gushy feeling I had just spiraled.
"It was amazing,” I blurt. “I haven’t enjoyed myself that much in a long time.”
“You poor thing. It sounds awful."
Nessa Cavanaugh, the girl who needed to have a life, immediately felt attracted to Dr. Aron Lindstrom right from the first day of her internship at a children's hospital. He was this amazing Viking of a guy (apparently, he's from Sweden) whom she literally bumped into, spilled coffee all over him and smacked into his chest, leaving a lipstick mark in the process.
"Apparently he worked his way through the roster last semester and left a lot of broken hearts and bad feelings. Forget ‘gentlemanly fish’—this guy is a total shark!"
They started flirting with each other and after Nessa decided to finally throw caution to the wind, they started dating. Of course there were rumors of Aron's past indiscretions circulating as well as Nessa's unfortunate incident with a fellow intern. They were also both so busy with their respective careers that they barely had enough time together. But despite all those elements, they took their time in getting to know each other and still ended up falling madly in love.
"Listen, I understand the demands of your schedule better than most guys would, because I’m as busy as you are. But spending time with you makes me feel lighter, not heavier. More relaxed and less frantic. And I think it’s the same for you. So when you need chess, or turtles, or …” He leans forward, and I close my eyes as his warm lips touch mine.
Yet, it seems like as quickly as they fell in love, things went spiraling out of control just as fast. I swear I didn't see it coming. I normally can anticipate twists but I don't know why I was simply blindsided by Spiral.
"I know I’ll regret it if I leave."
Nessa. She's unbelievable. I honestly don't know how I can cope with everything she's been through. I probably would have lost my mind and maybe I would have also given up on Aron. But her? She NEVER did. Of course, it most likely helped that she was equipped with the knowledge and experience in dealing with Aron's illness.
"I think he’s very much worth being a ‘we’ with."
I just feel so affected after reading Spiral. I keep asking myself if I would have also stuck around had the love of my life been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. How could Nessa do it? After dealing with her own father's "episodes", how could she even deal with Aron being the same?
I was honestly devastated after reading their story. But at the same time, I felt like it was almost appropriate. Yes, it wasn't what I had expected to happen especially to a seemingly perfect and brilliant doctor. But I loved how Aron eventually looked at things. He may have struggled accepting his fate but he was right when he told Nessa that he shouldn't even be whining about his sorry state because at least he got to live while his young patients had slim chances of even beating Cancer.
"Can I answer your unspoken ‘what if,’ with ‘I’ll be there’? Would that be enough?"
In the end, love conquers all, I should say. I just hope that if it happens to me, I would have the strength to fight for what I want and what makes me happy, come what may.
Thank you Mila Ferrera for an amazing experience. I wouldn't have enjoyed the book as much if it hadn't been written beautifully (cute cover too). And from now on, I wouldn't even try to use the word bipolar loosely.
***Check out my blog: Press Pause, Fast Forward
Undescribable by Shantel Tessier
5.0
PPFF Rating: 5/5 Stars
The playboy-turned-one-woman-man and the angel.
"The bottom line was that he cheated, and I left."
What really got me into the story early on was that I may or may not have cheated and been cheated on at some point. Let's put it this way: I personally can relate to Sam.
"Don’t worry, I get it, bros before hoes and all that stuff."
The worst part of being cheated on for sure is the fact that other people actually know about what's going on but they don't tell you. It messes with your ego, doesn't it? It makes you look stupid and you do feel stupid when you finally find out. But my point is, we can't be too hypocritical about "bros before hoes" because let's be honest, us girls tend to do the hoes before bros thing too when it comes to keeping our girlfriends' secrets.
"This is the first girl to make me want her just by hearing her voice. The first girl to make me apologize without knowing what for. And the first girl to make me beg, wanting to know what I did wrong."
Slade Long is your typical alpha playboy. He screws around bars and do the whole one night stand, I-can-get-any-girl-I-want thing. All his life, he hasn't found a reason to commit and have a girlfriend. But everything changes when he meets Samantha Hall or Angel to him.
"Because I don’t trust myself around you."
Samantha Hall is definitely my type of heroine. She's gorgeous, feisty and so independent. She stands up to Slade and doesn't go damsel in distress on him or anyone else for that matter even when she is cheated on by her college boyfriend, Jax.
What I really liked about Undescribable was that the story wasn't rushed. Sam and Slade didn't immediately have sex even with all that sexual tension between them. Sam also didn't turn soft on him right away unlike other books which probably would have made the girl swoon after just a few charming lines from the guy.
"She is with me. As in, she’s my girlfriend. Stay the fuck away from her. You seem to like her ass so much...did you see that little M on the ass pocket of her jeans? That M stands for mine."
The book also had a few laughs which I enjoyed and I liked how Slade's past was thrown in the mix but it wasn't overly done. Basically, the author focused more on their own insecurities than external factors (jealous girls, irked guys) as the main obstacles of their relationship.
"It’s not about just falling in love. It’s about falling in love every day, over and over again."
Most of all, I loved how simple the story felt to me. The characters were all friends and they genuinely liked hanging around each other. Although I initially thought of Josh as a bit of a douche in the beginning of the book, I ended up liking him a lot and I wish he'd be able to love again after his fiancee left him (I'm guessing he and Courtney will have their own story). Of course I loved Holly and Micah (who is Slade's brother) and how much they were very protective of Sam. I also thought it was cute that Sam was already friendly with Slade's parents even before they fell in love.
"I’ve come to find falling in love is easy. It’s getting the person you love to love you back just as much that’s hard because no two people love the same!"
I used to think that pet names like princess and angel corny but now I think they are adorable. I especially loved how Slade kept calling Sam "Angel" even when she was always being stubborn and not following him. My favorite part was when he wanted Sam to drive his truck rather than her 370Z. LOL.
"You came for me,” she continues sobbing.
“Of course I did, Angel.” I kiss her hair. “I belong wherever you are.”
The BEST part: NO CLIFFHANGER!
***Check out my blog: Press Pause, Fast Forward
The playboy-turned-one-woman-man and the angel.
"The bottom line was that he cheated, and I left."
What really got me into the story early on was that I may or may not have cheated and been cheated on at some point. Let's put it this way: I personally can relate to Sam.
"Don’t worry, I get it, bros before hoes and all that stuff."
The worst part of being cheated on for sure is the fact that other people actually know about what's going on but they don't tell you. It messes with your ego, doesn't it? It makes you look stupid and you do feel stupid when you finally find out. But my point is, we can't be too hypocritical about "bros before hoes" because let's be honest, us girls tend to do the hoes before bros thing too when it comes to keeping our girlfriends' secrets.
"This is the first girl to make me want her just by hearing her voice. The first girl to make me apologize without knowing what for. And the first girl to make me beg, wanting to know what I did wrong."
Slade Long is your typical alpha playboy. He screws around bars and do the whole one night stand, I-can-get-any-girl-I-want thing. All his life, he hasn't found a reason to commit and have a girlfriend. But everything changes when he meets Samantha Hall or Angel to him.
"Because I don’t trust myself around you."
Samantha Hall is definitely my type of heroine. She's gorgeous, feisty and so independent. She stands up to Slade and doesn't go damsel in distress on him or anyone else for that matter even when she is cheated on by her college boyfriend, Jax.
What I really liked about Undescribable was that the story wasn't rushed. Sam and Slade didn't immediately have sex even with all that sexual tension between them. Sam also didn't turn soft on him right away unlike other books which probably would have made the girl swoon after just a few charming lines from the guy.
"She is with me. As in, she’s my girlfriend. Stay the fuck away from her. You seem to like her ass so much...did you see that little M on the ass pocket of her jeans? That M stands for mine."
The book also had a few laughs which I enjoyed and I liked how Slade's past was thrown in the mix but it wasn't overly done. Basically, the author focused more on their own insecurities than external factors (jealous girls, irked guys) as the main obstacles of their relationship.
"It’s not about just falling in love. It’s about falling in love every day, over and over again."
Most of all, I loved how simple the story felt to me. The characters were all friends and they genuinely liked hanging around each other. Although I initially thought of Josh as a bit of a douche in the beginning of the book, I ended up liking him a lot and I wish he'd be able to love again after his fiancee left him (I'm guessing he and Courtney will have their own story). Of course I loved Holly and Micah (who is Slade's brother) and how much they were very protective of Sam. I also thought it was cute that Sam was already friendly with Slade's parents even before they fell in love.
"I’ve come to find falling in love is easy. It’s getting the person you love to love you back just as much that’s hard because no two people love the same!"
I used to think that pet names like princess and angel corny but now I think they are adorable. I especially loved how Slade kept calling Sam "Angel" even when she was always being stubborn and not following him. My favorite part was when he wanted Sam to drive his truck rather than her 370Z. LOL.
"You came for me,” she continues sobbing.
“Of course I did, Angel.” I kiss her hair. “I belong wherever you are.”
The BEST part: NO CLIFFHANGER!
***Check out my blog: Press Pause, Fast Forward