It is time to talk about books with Steph and Jana! I had a month of decent reads and I wanted to share them with  you! Before we get in to all the reviews, I have noticed that a lot of people have changed their format for reviewing books. What is your favorite way to read book reviews? Just curios. I had played with changing mine up but stuck with my normal way this month.

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

I liked that this book switched back and forth between two characters and times, keeping me interested right from the start. The more I learned about Emma, the less I liked her character. It didn’t take away from my overall feeling of the book though. It was something different and I enjoyed reading it!

Bottom Line: If you are looking for something with a little mystery and suspense but nothing too crazy that keeps you up at night, hiding under the covers…then this would be a good read.

Rating: 4/5

** I received a copy of The Girl Before from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

The Husband List by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

You know my love for Janet Evanovich!!! I just adored Love in a Nutshell last year, which introduced us to the Culhane family. The books in this series really read as stand alone books. This book takes places in NYC in 1894. It is sort of a historical romance, if I had to classify it. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this book, usually I don’t read many historical fiction books.

Staying with the times, Caroline’s parents are trying to find her a proper husband to keep up the good name they have made for their family. Caroline is a very strong willed and independent woman, and doesn’t want to just be married off like some stock prize. If she wants to get married, she wants it to be for love. And she has her eye on Jack Culhane, her brother’s best friend.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a cute love story, and/or a strong female lead and/or you love Janet Evanovich….then you will love this book! I flew through it so fast, and I am missing the characters! It left me wanting more.

Rating: 4/5

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book starts out really sad and depressing. It was pretty dark and I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it. But then I got hooked and couldn’t quit. I wanted to see if Susie’s dad would ever figure out who killed her and be able to prove it! I wanted to slap her mom a few times. And give her little brother lots of hugs. I really loved the side characters in this book too…Ruth, Ray Sing, Grandma Lynn, Sam and Hal Heckler. Not many books do side characters well, so I really appreciated them here. I think my favorite part of the book was how Susie described her heaven. How everyone’s Heaven is different.

Bottom Line: If you are in the mood for something a little heavier, I say read it. There is great character development and it certainly had me hooked.

Rating: 3.5/5

I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

Kate Reddy is a working mother and the breadwinner for her family. She struggles to balance everything and keep up with the judgy stay at home moms. There were parts of this book that made me laugh out loud, and there are parts of this book that made me want to slap Kate. I hated the way that she treated her husband for most of the book and it almost seemed as though she didn’t really enjoy spending time with her kids. She really sheds light on to how  hard working mothers have it though. And just women in general in a male dominant field.

Bottom Line:This is a cute book for the working mom who is struggling to balance it all and could use a good laugh.

Rating:4/5

Royal Scandal by Marquita Valentine

I devoured this book in just a few quick days. Which is quite a feat with a newborn, let me assure you. I really liked the characters in this book and the exiled royal family. It is a fun, light love story about an exiled prince who keeps his identity hidden from his best friend, until he needs to ask for her hand in marriage to get his family back on track. I will say that I read romance novels here and there, and I didn’t really care for how vulgar this one was. I am not sure if I would continue on with the series if they are all written that way.

Bottom Line: This was a quick, fun read if you are in to romance type novels and don’t mind vulgar scenes.

Ratings: 3/5

**I received a copy of Royal Scandal from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Currently Reading

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

It’s  book day! Yay! I feel like I am slowly getting back in to some kind of reading groove. I read some decent ones this month, and a few that were sort of meh. A balanced month I suppose!! Linking up with Steph and Jana.

After I Do by Tara Jenkins Reid

Love love love this book!!! I think that anyone who has ever been in a relationship can relate to some of the issues that this couple had. I felt like I could really relate to the characters, as TJR builds them so well. This book reminds you to not take your relationship, partner or family for granted. I found myself reaching for this as often I could and flew through it. Which is quite the task with a newborn, let me assure you.

Bottom Line: Read it! Such a great read.

Rating: 5/5

Pretty in Plaid by Jennifer Lancaster

I really liked Bitter is the New Black and Pretty Fat, but this one fell a little short for me. I sort of got bored several times throughout the book. I guess right now my expectations from a book are really high since I dont have near the time to read as I used to and something has to be really good to keep my attention for long.

Bottom Line: If you are a really big fan of Lancaster’s, you may enjoy this book. I got bored with it.

Rating: 2.5/5

Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman

I really enjoyed this book. It is about an American woman who is married to an English man and they live together in Paris. She mainly observes French parenting in this book and I found it all very interesting. To be honest, I have some similar views and instincts of parenting that is common for the French. Which, in reality, is the way that the older generations and our parents raised us.

The way I got Zoe to “do her nights” is very similar to the way all the French do it, which is pausing when they start to cry to see if they really need you or if they will self sooth. It isn’t quite the same as cry it out, which is more aggressive. It had Zoe sleeping 5-6 hour stretches by week 7 without me changing anything. The food section is really what drew me in. I don’t want to have a picky eater and it seems that the French follow more of the “baby lead weaning” which is what I plan to try. We shall see how that goes!

Bottom Line: If you are a parent or soon to be parent, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t care.

Rating: 4/5

Trying It All by Chrisi Barth

This is the forth book in the Naked Men series. Honestly, after reading the last three books I have realized there is very much a formula that they all follow and so I got a little bored. It is still a good series, but I wish the author would  have changed it up some and not been so predictable. This book follows Riley, who is a control freak and Summer who is a live in the moment kind of girl. It is fun to watch the banter with all the guys of the blog/podcast and see all the girls interact from the previous books. I will still read the next one about Josh.

Bottom Line: If you are invested in this series, this book has its good moments. Just a little predictable at this point.

Rating: 3/5

**I received a copy of Trying It All from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Yellow Owl Workshop’s Make It Yours by Christine Schmidt

Flipping through this book, I started to realize that a lot of these projects are very basic and easy. Honestly, that is all the time I have for a crafting project these days anyways. I was a little underwhelmed by them, but they are fun ideas. I think this book would be great to work on with my daughter when she gets a little older. Or as a gift for someone who is just starting out in DIY and has no clue where to start or what to do. This may help boost their confidence. I appreciate that the books spells everything out and makes it easy to understand what to do.

Bottom Line: Would be great for the beginner crafter who is looking for basic ideas. Probably not for the Martha Stewart type person who has a higher level of crafting skills.

Rating: 3.5/5

**I received a copy of Make It Yours from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Did Not Finish

Evelyn, After by Victoria Helen Stone

I am not sure what it is about this book, but I just couldn’t get in to it or care about it. I think maybe I just disliked all the characters? Honestly, because I couldn’t get in to this book, I went about a month without reading anything and when I decided I wanted to read again I didn’t grab this one. this was a did not finish for me, so I suppose you can take my review with a grain of salt. The premise of it sounded great, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood? I refuse to force a book on myself.

**I received a copy of Evelyn, After from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Currently Reading

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

It’s all about the books today!!! Linking up with Steph and Jana. While I am no where near on my reading game that I was so good at last year,  I am starting to build up a little steam. I always love reading everyone’s post and adding things to my list. Each and every month there are several more books that I realize I cant live without reading at some point!

Forever, Interupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I really loved One True Loves and immediately added all of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books to my TBR. This book jumped in time, starting with a tragedy, then going back in forth on the past and current situation which kept me interested. I love how TJR writes her characters. You really get to know them and start pulling for them, and this book was no different. Did I love it as much as One True Loves, no. But I am not discrediting the book, it was still a great read! I just felt like maybe I wanted a little more in the end.

Bottom Line: Give it a try!

Rating: 3.5/5

Giving it All (book 3 in The Naked Men series) by Christi Barth

I really enjoyed the first two books in The Naked Men series, and this one was just as enjoyable. I will say, I feel like the author has a formula for these books and they seem similar in situations. However, I do like how all the books sort of continue where the other left off and all the characters are in them all. Sometimes it is great to read a series that could be stand alone, but sometimes it is nice to keep going with the story line too.  You will remember that The Naked Men is a blog and podcast that group of guys does. This time we learn about Logan, and see as he meets his half sister and also reconnects with a girl from his past.

Bottom Line: This is a great series if you are into the chick lit bordering on romance type novels. You are promised a good love story at least!

Rating: 3/5

**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner

I don’t normally grab faith based books, but I saw this one for Zoe and thought it would be a great addition to her ever growing collection! What really grabbed my attention was that this book is supposed to show kids how their talents and personalities grow and develop and help them understand that they have a place in our world. I want Zoe to grow up knowing that she can be who she wants to be and will be loved regardless. I want her to grow up knowing that she can do whatever she sets her mind to. This book goes along with those goals.

I think that the illustrations and colors in the book were also wonderful. Zoe is only three months old now and may not get the meaning of the book yet…but the page sure did grab her attention!

Rating: 4/5

**I received a copy of When God Made You from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Currently Reading:

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Because what is as good as a TV binge? An author binge!!!

What are you reading?

My goal was to read 50 books in 2016 and I actually read 65. Yay!!! And that was 65 books from January to November, because I literally read nothing in December. Oops. One of my favorite book days of the year is seeing what everyone’s favorite reads were over the entire year!!! These are the books you know you want to have added to your TBR! Now, these books weren’t necessarily ones that came out this year but rather ones that I read this year. They are listed in no particular order.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Swear on this Life by Renee Carlino

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Java Jive Series by Caroline Fardig- Death Before Decaf, Mug Shot, A Whole Latte Murder

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes

What were your favorite books of 2016?

Linking up (two days late) with Steph and Jana.