Practice Makes Perfect, Julie James

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Just as expected, I loved this book. It is a romantic comedy novel and it was written by Julie James, the author of The Thing About Love, which I LOVED! I aspire to become an attorney, so when I read the synopsis for this novel, I knew that I had to read this novel, and I liked it!
Payton is a successful attorney, in fact, she is extremely good at her job, but so is JD, the one person that she hates the most. They are always competing day to day in simple tasks like who gets there first in the morning, but they will soon face the biggest competition that they could ever expect. They both want to become a partner at the law firm that they have been working on for years. Truly, there is no difference between who has worked harder, both have worked until late and both have succeeded in trials, but regardless, they still have to prove who will be better. And of course, when both Payton and JD are presented with the opportunities to sabotage the other, they will take, leading us to hilarious scenes that will make you have a good and hearty laugh. 
I know that the summary that I am providing this time is really short, but this novel doesn´t really have much to say about. I mean, its plot is very limited and the book itself is pretty short. Yet, that doesn´t make it bad, if anything, it actually made it better because it was a quick read, simple, easy to comprehend, very thorough and it was charming in its own way without dragging the plot too much. 
I do want to point out that I had very high expectations for this novel because I have read The Thing About Love by the same author, Julie James, and I loved it! So much that I have already read it several times. And I will say that this novel didn´t disappoint. This book will have a lower review, but that´s just a matter of me not staying with the novel so much because this novel delivered every aspect that it was wanting to portray and show. 
Regarding the characters, I really liked them, but they didn´t really feel special like the others. I liked that they were pretty human-like. The characters truly brought a different aspect of life that at this age, I think is very important, but people don´t seem to mind, which is the whole topic of college and money. I really liked that the characters came from different financial backgrounds and brought different mindsets. 
Another thing that I thought was very interesting was the way their relationship was. I think that the characters don´t really mind the other character like some characters do in some novels, which lead us to characters that connected after a while and not right away in the assignment as the others. 
The only thing that I disliked was the way the scenes felt and the nature of the things that were happening. I thought that some parts were very forced.
On the other hand, my favorite part of the novel was how funny it was! I am still laughing about some of the scenes while I am writing this review. I honestly laughed so much that I still remember them and I even laugh in the middle of the night. So, truly brace yourself because you are going to be dying of laughter with this one!
I also loved that she displayed the hardships of being a certain gender because even today, I know that being a female that aspires to become an attorney is seen as different since it is still a career that is considered for men. S, it was interesting to see something so close to me represented in this novel, which was shocking given the fact that this novel was published in 2009, almost ten years ago! It was truly interesting to see how little the field has changed in all these years.
Lastly, regarding the writing. I just absolutely love James´ writing because she has this amazing way of combining hilarious, dramatic, melancholic and even powerful scenes to create a true masterpiece.
I apologize that this review is so short, but I truly recommend Practice Makes Perfect because it is a short novel that will make you laugh and cry, both at the same time! I´m warning you! You will have to pick up this novel when you have a free schedule because you are not going to be able to put down this novel!

4 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

How (Not) to Marry a Duke, Felicia Kingsley

How (Not) to Marry a Duke by Felicia Kingsley

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this novel. This is one of the first NetGalley books that I have received since I have started to blog. And, I would also like to apologize for giving such a low rating for this novel.
As unexpected as it might sound, I was unable to actually finish this novel because I was too stressed and bored to continue and this novel.
This is a story about an arranged marriage. Well... sort of. Jemma Pears is the daughter of a hippie couple and by hippie, I mean that they are always naked in the house and they believe that they are spiritually connected to each other. So, yeah. Jemma´s grandmother has refused to be a direct part of the family, but she did leave certain instructions before she passed away. Jemma was to inherit billions, yet she could only get the money by marrying a man with a title, which is going to be extremely difficult for her since she isn´t the normal type. She likes hot salsa dancers and she is never holding back with her words.
On the other hand, Ashford, the Duke of Burlingham, is now in a big financial trouble. He has just inherited the family name, yet he barely discovered that he is to pay millions and if he doesn´t soon, he will be arrested. And he won´t let his mother, the crazy noble-woman, know because she will DIE.
So, Jemma and Ashford are united by a common friend/worker that they have and they are to get married just for the money.
When I first requested this title, I was sure that this was the type of novel that I would love. I mean, they are obviously going to hate each other because they are completely different and of course they were going to fall in love and of course there was going to be a lot of drama, especially because there was a crazy old woman that was going to hate Jemma so much.
But, honestly, this novel didn´t meet my expectations.
First, I want to talk about the things that I actually enjoyed about this novel.
As I stated before, the plot promised me that it was going to be a fun and refreshing story, one that would make me feel good and happy. I think the plot itself is extremely fun and it is a good one, it´s just that the way it was executed was bad.
Another thing that I liked was that it included the two points of view, which allowed each of the characters to have a voice and it also made the story much more special and funny in different aspects since the characters were different. 
On the other hand, there were many things that I disliked. For instance, the start is rather slow to be considered a short, romantic comedy novel. It literally took me like 30% of the novel to get to the part where they have to start living together. Yet, on top of that, the start is very boring. Imagine if the story is both boring and slow! I had to force myself to continue the novel and I told myself that I would do so at least until I reached the part where they were forced to live together since it was going to be inevitable for them to be together and of course, that would´ve led to some character and relationship development. 
In addition, the characters were really annoying to read about because they are literally walking stereotypes. In this world, Ashford is cocky and a horrible human being just because he has some money and a title, Jemma has a horrible fashion sense because she was brought up by hippie parents, and of course, because Jemma´s parents are "hippies," they walk around the house naked and of course, Ashford´s mother is completely horrible because she only knows about class and ranks. 
Also, I really want to mention how the characters are annoying in the sense that their tones are always extremely childish and that they don´t really care about anything else rather than themselves. 
Lastly, I think that since they were obviously depending on each other, Jemma and Ashford could´ve handled the situation better, keeping in mind that they are adults that have more than 25 years.
I have given this novel a very low score, but I want to mention that it is because I highly disliked this novel, yet I did keep in account the good things or the things that I enjoyed about this novel.

1 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Thing About Love, Julie James

The Thing About Love by Julie James

I don´t know why, but I have always found the FBI world so fascinating! I believe that it all started when I read Beautiful Redemption from the Maddox Brothers by Jamie McGuire.But besides my weird fascination with the FBI, I have always wanted to read more romantic comedy novels, so after reading Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, I started looking for them as a crazy lady and of course, after digging the internet for weeks and months, I came across with Julie James, the greatest writer of attorney/FBI romantic novels.
The Thing About Love tells the story of FBI agent Jessica Harlow, who moves to Chicago, her hometown, looking for a fresh start after a divorce from a famous Hollywood producer in Los Angeles. On the other hand, we have John Shepherd, who decides to start working in Chicago, his hometown, before going to the privileged Hostage Rescue Team after he was cheated by his girlfriend.
Agent Harlow and agent Shepherd are introduced in a meeting with their supervisor, where he tells them that they will be working in an undercover assignment to trap a Florida politician. But there is so much more to their relationship. They already met in the Academy, where they started hating each other. Yet, regardless of what happened in the past, the two agents must work together to bring the politician down and get their assignment done.
Okay, so I want to start talking about the plot. The story of characters falling in love after they have hated each other for many many years has been used a lot! In fact, I literally stumbled upon this novel after reading one that has the exact same development, yet this novel brings me such joy as it is being told. I loved how the one thing that makes it different, literally takes the story to a whole new level, that being that they are both FBI agents. I admired the way James was able to find a balance between relationship progress, action/FBI scenes and of course, hilarious moments. The Thing About Love narrates so many different stories as it goes on that it is really easy to be hooked. I mean, the backstories of the characters are great and the way their relationship started in the Academy is entertaining as well. On the other hand, the current story regarding the politician project is even more exciting because they will take you throughout the action-packed investigation, all while including their hilarious bickering in almost every scene. A promise that I can make is that you will find this novel super interesting and it will keep you entertained for hours.
Another thing that I absolutely loved about this novel is the characters because of course Jessica and John were incredible and love both very much, but the surrounding characters are also great and they create even funnier scenes, like how they are always fighting over their law schools. As I said, I really liked the way John and Jessica were created, meaning that I loved their backstories and the way that they acted because they were so logical and perceptive, like I want for characters. 
Also, I loved their relationship and the way that James exhibited a relationship with people that wanted more for the other than for themselves and the way that she truly showed the ways that people lie and sacrifice things for the other person really made this relationship much stronger and even a little more realistic. It was very entertaining to see how their bickering turned into interest and then into the eventual relationship that they have. 
A bonus point for this novel was the way that they talk about genders in their work field because I believe that it is something that is relevant that would happen in real life and seeing it portrayed in the novel made it much more realistic and created more well-rounded characters. Also, it was very funny the way they mocked FBI novels because they were literally in one. 
Julie James truly took all the funny scenes and the action scenes and turned them into so much more and into things that really had a purpose for the story development. 
I 100% recommend The Thing About love by Julie James because it is funny, action-packed, realistic, romantic and it truly takes the reader to a crazy FBI journey. 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

The Hating Game, Sally Thorne

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Once I was obsessed with Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren, I started looking for other books that were similar to that one and I found out that there was a whole world out there of romantic comedy books that I still had to discover, and once I did, I was charmed and completely fell in love with them.
The Hating Game tells the story of Lucy and Josh, both are executive assistants to co-CEOs and we could say that they are complete opposites. They were working for different publishing houses before both companies decided to merge. Lucy is always full of life, she does everything to really create good relationships with people and she is always called nice, she also very much enjoys wearing bright colors and is often very bold with her color choices for clothing. On the other hand, Josh is extremely good with numbers, which makes others see him as brutal when it comes to the reports that he often receives and sends back because of the many mistakes that other workers make, he can be described as cold and lonely, always believing that relationships with others aren´t as important as one´s job. As you can clearly notice, their personalities are bound to clash. It is clear that Lucy and Josh absolutely hate each other, yet everything in their lives seems to circle around the other. For instance, they are always so anxious to make the other suffer without making the other co-workers notice, they are always planning to get in the plans of the other and they are always looking for ways to make the other stress, which is why when the announcement regarding the new position as CEO is made, Josh and Lucy are more than ready to compete against each other. Yet, both seem to know so much about the other that it may seem like they have spent a lifetime together, although they do utilize that information to make fun of the other.
I just loved everything about this book! I fell in love with the plot, the scenes, the words and the characters!
I want to start by talking about the book overall. I loved how funny it is! Everytime that I read it (which I have done about four times now), I laugh so much that my family thinks that I am crazy since they were quite used to me crying all the time while reading. The way the scenes are constructed are brilliant, they are so easy to imagine and be part of and you are able to feel all of those crazy emotions, like the shame, the warmth, and the laugh.
I mean, the plot is one of those that most of us have either seen or read already several times because it follows the usual romantic comedy storyline, yet the way everything is narrated is so fun that I didn´t even mind the fact that I knew how things were going to be, I was so trapped in this story that I was simply lost in this world.
Regarding the characters, I was simply charmed by both. They were so good at their jobs, yet they were so childish, and from time to time they were so cruel to each other, yet they were so humane and they had such a heartwarming relationships with themselves that it really made them seem real and overall well-rounded characters with whom who could cry and laugh. I loved reading about their struggles, especially with family, and the way they reacted to those problems. I believe that by having such traits, the characters really reminded me that even people in real life have personal struggles that they hide and that those could be potentially limiting them in some sort of way.
One of the things that I liked the most about this novel is the way the relationship progressed as a whole. It was interesting to understand how their feelings started changing with each other and how even though we don´t get to read both points of view, we can start noticing their changes in character, which made their relationship more significant and in this case, Josh´s actions and words much more special. Also, I loved how slowly things changed, in the sense that they didn´t just become friendly with each other from night to day. 
Lastly, I absolutely loved the details! The small things were what really made this novel outshine others because it truly demonstrated how much the author cared and how much thought she put into the story. For instance, I absolutely loved the shirt´s pattern and I still think about it almost every day. 
I can truly recommend this novel because it will bring you a lot of laughter, yet it will also bring you a little bit of warmth in your heart. Sally Thorne truly takes the rom-com genre and takes it to the next level in this hit-novel.

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua

Dating You/Hating You, Christina Lauren

Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren

Okay, so I loved this book so much that I want to marry it. It met all the high expectations that I had for it when I first discovered it at Barnes and Noble abandoned on one of the tables and I thought that we were destined to meet. Now, I believe that we were destined to meet each other and for me to fall in love with it.
Carter and Evie meet at an awkward Halloween party at their best friend´s house, and they were basically paired by the couple and they immediately like each other because they seem to have a clear understanding. Well, that´s until they both realize that they are both agents in competing agencies, the problem doesn´t really matter at that point because they adults and they are allowed to like whoever they want. The real problem starts when their agencies merge into one and Carter is now working at Evie´s agency, and their boss makes them compete for the SAME job because apparently there´s only one available. So, after being all flirty and heart-eyes with each other, their relationship turns into a war, where they attack one another trying to follow their passions and the only thing they have left. Carter and Evie start to develop a hot love and hate relationship, which could end with their careers. 
As I mentioned before, I LOVED this book because the story was great, the characters were fun and I absolutely loved Carter and the writing was amazing! 
Dating You/Hating You has a good title because it immediately makes you curious about the type of story it will tell. I mean, even my US History teacher liked the title! But, the title shows only a part of the story because the whole novel talks about many different topics that are not always found in contemporary novels. 
I really enjoyed the insight they gave us to Hollywood because we are very used to reading about famous or rising actors and actresses, or famous singers, but we never really get to read about stories involving people that love Hollywood, but are not dealing personally with the audience, like in this case, the agents that support talents. 
Hollywood is such a big media platform today because I think that pretty much everyone knows what it is since we have had the tendency of wanting to recreate what we are shown as right or correct by the media, and seeing how bad it may be on the inside, was different. I mean, I am aware of the fact that the media is probably horrible because it is managed by people that are eager to be famous and become richer, but seeing it portrayed in a book, where everything is supposed to be fictional was very disappointing since it made me realize how bad we were acting as a society. So, I found it very interesting to read about a story where main characters loved Hollywood, but they also had to deal with its bad sides, like sexism, which is something that Evie, our main character goes through and no one really seems to talk about. I do believe that it is something that happens a lot today, but no one has the courage to talk about it and confront it. 
Also, I thought that putting the main characters was agents was super creative and fun because as I mentioned, it is something that is not mentioned a lot, but it also fits very well the romantic comedy setting that I believe the story wanted to create. 
Adding on to the romantic comedy theme, I loved the part where Carter and Evie start getting competitive because it was so much fun! I thought it was very creative because the things they did to get the other one to be angry were things that were pretty simple but clever, and the best part was that it showed how much they cared about each other because they somehow managed to remember everything they did and what they liked and disliked. This novel has scenes that are just so funny that I was about to laugh very very loud in front of everyone in class. So, if you do read this, please read it in a place where you don't have high expectations like at work.
I loved the relationship that they shared because it was fun to read about, they had their funny moments, but also their sad and real-life moments. I believe that the part that I liked about the most was the way they appreciated their small moments and they cherished them. Also, the way they started falling in love and dealing with it was something that I enjoyed since they fell in love very quickly but softly like it wasn't rushed or forced at all, so I really liked that.
I really liked their first encounter because it seemed like something that would happen only in YA novels, so it was fun to get a little bit of that in a contemporary novel.
Now, I have so many things to talk about the characters because of Carter. 
Carter, Carter, Carter...
I LOVE HIM! 
I think I fell in love with him ever since he was described at the beginning because Evie describes him as the ideal person that every girl would see themselves with. He´s very attractive, but not in the Hollywood style, but more in the type of guy that you would dream about. Also, he has these amazing green eyes that would take your breath away and even though, I have not met him in real life, I was breathless every time he appeared because his green eyes were just SO beautiful. I couldn't stop thinking about him because I became too obsessed with him, a little bit in the sense of Peter Kavinsky, but unlike with Peter, I was never mad at Carter, which made it even worse. 
But aside from Carter being super hot and adorable, I think that the part that I liked the most about him was the way he started growing up on his own throughout the novel, I am aware that he is older and that he is over 25 years old, but I think he grew up in the sense that he realized that there are better ways to live a life and there are many things that may be affecting someone, even though you don't realize it, so I liked reading about someone that is older but learns something new.
On the other hand, I loved Evie too. She is very professional, but she is also really funny and she will keep you laughing the whole time because she has the best comments for everything. 
It was interesting to see a woman that is over her thirties desperately holding on for her dreams because at my age, you are too stuck with the idea of going to college and getting a career that it seems hard to imagine where you are really going to be later in life and what you will want next, so reading about Evie being older and chasing after something she is passionate about was very new, yet inspiring.
The other characters that surround Carter and Evie were fun, it was nice to read about Steph and MC because they had a very different reality compared to our main characters, they were already settled and they had a kid, reading about different stories at the same time was very fun and refreshing.
As I mentioned before, I really liked the writing of this novel, it includes text messages, which I absolutely loved, and it includes both points of view and the thing that I liked about that was that it gave each character a different personality because whenever you were reading, you could always know who you were reading, sometimes they mentioned some characters in a different way, but mostly it was the comments they made, for example, Evie made me laugh the whole time!
Even though the novel is not that long and it stands by itself, the authors did a great job opening a door to their story and giving us a very good insight because I felt like a read a complete story and that I traveled to a different world. 
I had the amazing idea of reading this novel in my second week of school and it was absolute torture because I kept thinking about Carter as I mentioned, and I just couldn't put it down, I was so eager to finish this book that I think I only lasted like 3 days with it, so I think that it is a pretty fast reading, but please clear your schedule because you will be eating those pages. 
In general, Dating You /Hating You is a fun, flirty, sexy and sweet reading, you will want to devour it if you love a good romantic comedy movie and you will want to read this novel over and over again, just keep in mind that it includes scenes that are meant for an older audience. 

5 out of 5 stars 

Love, Sua