Sara Machado

I love Chloe Liese Bergman Brother series and I was very excited to read her debut on a major publishing house.

This book is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's “Much ado about nothing” which, albeit I know the story, I haven't read neither have seen any adaptation. That said, I enjoyed the story and the characters, as I usually do on other Chloe books.

What I liked about the book:
- Neurodivergent and Anxiety representation.
- I've struggled a bit to connect to the characters in the beginning, especially Bea, but as they settled on their arrangement and started to spend more time together, I ended liking their dynamic and rooting for them.
- As usual, Chloe is an expert in writing book boyfriends.
- Lots of communication between the MC's, on and off the bed.

What I think it could have been done better:
- There were several moments on the book when I was trying to guess the end and considering a lot of options that could ruin the story. However, as the story progressed, all of them were proven wrong and I was excited for the big finale, until it finally came, and I absolutely hated it. There is no other way to put this... The final conflict was stupid, a complete nonsense and ruined the book.

I'm a bit disappointed but intend to continue read Chloe books, now hoping for better story ends.

I see this cartoon covers and I always assume it's a romcom. I read the blurb and I thought “This looks like a happy read, let's save it for a rainy day”. However, the last train home is not particularly happy, it's overall a story about bad timing.

Complaint made, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. Elle Cook wrote a set of realistic and relatable characters, whom we can easily understand. We know of their ambitions, insecurities, choices and hopes, we see them grow through life, and we understand them, because either we've been there, or we know someone that was.

This has the feel of a love story that could actually happen, with all its highs, lows, greys and disencounters. I just don't believe on its ending.

Because we know who the final couple is, we know things we'll go wrong at some point. We know the author will need to change the characters to keep MCs mind mostly guilty free.
Sean changes do not come as a surprise, but they felt out of character to me. I also found the end rushed and a bit unbelievable, but it is what it is.

As a finance girl, I always enjoy when the characters are financial analysts, though nobody ever understands what they do, which annoys me. Anyway, the picture of the financing sector and its workers in London, and other locations, was accurate and perfectly captured.
I also appreciated the road trip down memory lane through the subprime, this was so significant, I like to see it now, with the eyes of someone who's not living through it anymore.

Recommended for romance readers who enjoy Josie Silver and Rebecca Serle, and can tolerate heartache until finally reaching the happy ending.

3.5

This book follows the story of Gwynn (Vivi's cousin) and Wells (Rhys brother) after his return to their Graves Glen. I preferred this book to the Ex Hex but I must confess I'm still not a fan of the whole setting and [a:Erin Sterling 12326128 Erin Sterling https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1633353157p2/12326128.jpg] writing style. We get to see a bit more magic but nothing I would consider enough for a witch/ Halloween story.

I've picked up this book expecting a seasonal romcom, but this was heavier than the cover leads on.

Summer has a travel agency and loves everything summerly related - sun, heat, beach and sea. She longs for her own travels and for her life to begin.
Noel, loves Christmas and every year opens a Christmas pop up store somewhere. This year the chosen place is just beside Summer shop, leading to a less than cold meet up.

I really liked Rachel Dove Ten Dates and I wanted to enjoy this one just as much. Unfortunately, it had several things than didn't feel right to me, especially regarding the amount of violence between the characters.
The writing is good, but too many things are happening, and none of those is more than superficially explored. I understand Summer had a difficult life, however, some of her actions are inexcusable, making it hard to believe on their HEA.
The resolution occurs too fast and easy for the amount ou problems the characters were experiencing.

Overall, it was an ok read, with multiple POV, and a diversity of difficult topics and their consequences on character lives and family bonds.

2.5 stars

I would like to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW - depression, physical abuse, verbal abuse, alcoholism (off page), cheating (off page), isolation.

This book had such nice reviews that I was really excited about it. Unfortunately I could not understand the hype.
Maybe something was lost in translation.

I generally like children stories to teach valuable lessons and good principles and I did not feel this in this book.
Cleaning and respecting other people space is associated with the bad parents who don't want to hug. It almost feels it was written by a kid who does not want to clean the room.
Felipe gets to know a balloon and it ends in an accident - for obvious reasons a cactus cannot hug a ballon. Everyone blames the cactus, the newspaper claims “cactus attacks balloon, balloon hospitalized, shame for the family”. Again, I miss the moral of this event.
After the accident Felipe runs away (I couldn't think about any better solution to solving a problem), he searches for other families, gets rejected several times until he founds the perfect friend - a stone.

This book it's not teaching that it's ok to be different, does not explain that we should talk about our feelings, validates jumping into conclusions and, above all this, offers running away as a solution to our problems.

I understand this is written as a kid would view the world, and this is why I've adjusted to 2 stars. However, part of our role as a parent should be teaching our kids to deal with feelings and emotions. Stories are an amazing tool to do that but I just can't see myself using this one.

História adorável com bonitas ilustrações.

The cover and title of the book had me very curious about the story. Moreover, I had the opportunity to read other titles from Guido Van Genechten who had been a success with my little one. This is a nice book to teach toddlers the different senses and how we can use them to understand the world.The illustrations are beautiful!I recommend this book to families with children aged 2 and over. Thank you Netgalley and the author [a:Guido Van Genechten 313726 Guido Van Genechten https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1477019829p2/313726.jpg] for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a delightful story about facing our fears.

The illustrations are very beautiful, and the story teaches methods to deal with fear and anxiety in a simple and appropriate way for children.
The writing is careful and includes some rhymes which add dynamism to the story.

I especially enjoyed reading from the different POV. They were well written and perfectly showed the different personalities and approaching styles of dogs and cats (at least in my experience).

I have read this book as bedtime story for my little girl (3 to 4 chapters each night) but I think it would also be very interesting for practicing reading skills. I will definitely read other books from this author.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book offers good recommendations and I've enjoyed the main theory. However, I consider it to long and repetitive.
The same ideas are written with the exact same words all over the book resulting in a very annoying piece of literature.

“Of course there are things Snowy doesn't quite understand yet, but he does know the answer to the most important question...”Because I love you so much was a huge success with my daughter, and I was forced to read it 3 times before bed on the first day we've got the book. The story is heart-warming, and the illustrations are beautiful.I recommend this book to families with children aged 2 and over. Thank you Netgalley and the author ([a:Guido Van Genechten 313726 Guido Van Genechten https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1477019829p2/313726.jpg]) for making this book available in exchange of an honest review.

I've picked this book because I thought the cover was very cute.

The House of Lily and Milo is a fun book to read with the toddlers and to teach them the names and functions of common furniture and house appliances.

Overall, it's a fun reading with attractive illustrations, and I recommend it to families with children aged 2 and over.

Thank you Netgalley and the author (Pauline Oud) for making this book available in for an honest review.

This book is an adaptation for babies of [b:Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women 33016249 Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women Elena Favilli https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572977041l/33016249.SX50.jpg 53652027], delivered to us by Rebel Girls - a global, multi-platform empowerment brand dedicated to helping raise the most inspired and confident generation of girls. This statement alone should be enough to convince anyone to pick this book for any toddler you might have in your life.This book briefly tells us the story of a diverse group of curious, ambitious, powerful and non-conformist women who dared to be more, accompanied by beautiful illustrations. I am glad these stories are available to help us show our little girls they can be anything they dream.The book is targeted for babies with 0 to 3 years old but I consider it a better fit for 2 to 4 years old, obviously depending on the kids interests.Thank you Rebel Girls and Edelweiss for making this book available for an honest review.

Este livro mostra-nos diferentes tipos de sonhos e a importância dos mesmos na nossa vida. A história é acompanhada por ilustrações lindas, muito apelativas para as crianças, tanto pelos desenhos como pelas tonalidades ultilizadas.
Recomendo este livro para crianças com mais de 3 anos, sendo um livro muito interessante para leitura conjunta antes de dormir.

Dou nota que este é um livro solidário, cujos direitos de autoria revertem na íntegra para a ssociação Make-A-Wish, que tem como missão realizar os sonhos de crianças e jovens dos 3 aos 17 anos.

I'm never quite sure if I enjoy Elena Armas books or not, and I'm actually more inclined to think they are not for me. There's something about her writing style that annoys me a bit. Additionally, I have a feeling while reading that the story is dragging on and feel a strong impulse to start skimming through the bookThis book follows the story of Rosie, Lina's best friend, and her crush Lucas (Lina's cousin). Both Rosie and Lucas are facing some struggles in their personal lives and search for comfort on each other's company. What I liked about the story:- Lucas is a cinnamon role and he's probably a better book boyfriend than Aaron (ignoring the last chapters). The dual POV helped as contributed to build some personality on this character.- The dates were really nice. Obviously, they could only have been planned by a man written by a woman. I also enjoyed the domestic scenes with Lucas cooking, and some of them might be better than the dates.- Both characters support and help each other and I liked to read about their friendship growing.What I think it could have been done better:- I've felt that Rosie, as Lina, think her happiness in life is strongly correlated with being in a romantic relationship. I prefer to read about female characters that can stand on their own. Additionally, I hate to read about characters who only had awful dating experiences, it just doesn't feel real to me, and I refuse to believe this may happen.- Their personal thoughts and internal dialogues were extensive and repetitive which made me loose interest in the book.- The book had too many tropes. It could have been just roommates and forced proximity, there was no need to add fake dating (again) to the equation.- There is slow burn and there is this. Rosie had a crush for Lucas and he was obviously attracted to her from the beginning... there was no justification for such a slow execution.- Romances have cringe moments, it's part of it and I usually don't mind. Here, however, there were just too many of those moments for me.- I did not particularly like the end. I understand Lucas was suffering as well but that is no excuse for the way he treated Rosie. I did not like his attitude at the end of the book and if I were Rosie, I'll probably had started dating Aiden.- The book had a LOT of drama and not all of it added value to the story. I would have taken every piece of Ollie story out of the book. This also happen on TSLD, with the unnecessary cancer bit in the end of the book, which makes me wonder if Elena, as Rosie, is too much worried about her word count.This is a book that will appeal to all [b:The Spanish Love Deception 54189398 The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception, #1) Elena Armas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610900883l/54189398.SY75.jpg 84555384] fans.P.S - I might decrease the rating after digesting the book a bit more.

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the story of Rebecca, a successful lawyer in London, and Hudson, a furniture designer after their one night stand. Unwillingly to go alone to her family thanksgiving in New York, she ends up hiring Hudson as a fake date for the holidays.

I've had some small issues with the book, but mostly I thought it was the perfect holiday season rom com until approximately 80% mark. After that, I lost my patience with the FMC as she has the emotional intelligence of a potato, and no matter how many epiphanies she had, she would continue her behaviour and never act on those.

I particularly disliked to see Hudson kissing other girl and then Rebecca and him making up on the same night, without any explanation at all. It was a question of days since their breakup and he was supposedly in love with her.. it wasn't consistent with his attitude and behaviour, and, for me, it spoiled the ending.

What I liked about the book:
- Strong and professionally driven female character, albeit with no emotional intelligence
- Male cinnamon roll
- Holidays both in New York and UK
- Interesting supporting characters

What I Think it could have been done better:
- I've felt there were too many mentions to clothes and luxury brands and I don't relate to that
- I would have liked to see more emotional growth of Rebecca throughout the story
- The story is mainly centred on Rebecca and we end up knowing almost nothing personal about Hudson. This is unfortunate as it discredits their relationship and makes the story more about sex than romance.

Overall it was an entertaining and fast paced read, ideal to enter into the holiday spirit.

Mikaela is a successful lawyer in NYC, working to be promoted to partner of the company. One of her clients brings some important people form her past back to her life: Cameron, her ex-boyfriend and only love, and Julie her previous best friend who ended up marrying Cameron.
The story is told through one POV, interspersing two timelines.

What I liked:
- The writing was engaging, and I was interested in the characters outcomes
- It was refreshing to read about an inter-racial couple
- Mikaela is very ambitious and driven and I could emphasize with her life choices
- The characters were flawed and real and I enjoyed reading about their journey to become who they are in the present. I hated Julie but she was real enough, I definitely had one of those in my past.

What I think it could have been done better:
- Personally, I dislike when the conflicts are solved on the last pages of the book as I don't get enough of the happy ending to give me the comfort I search when I read romances.
- I would have liked to see Mikaela reaching her professional goals. I'm a strong believer that it should be possible to have a career and a healthy and joyful personal life. Solving only the romance left me feeling the story was left incomplete, especially as the professional side was such a strong part of the plot.

Overall, this was a nice debut and I recommend it for readers who enjoyed Every Summer After.

TWs – Death of a parent, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexism

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the story of Becca and Charlie, enemies since college, struggling to move forward after their best friend and fiancé death.
Despite being sold as a romance, I've find this book to be mostly about grief and how different people deal with loss.

What I liked about the book:
- The way the book portrayed life after the loss of someone important and how grieving processes differ between persons.
- The character's growth was written in a way that was believable and I was invested in their emotional well-being.
- The ending was satisfying

What I think it could have been done better:
- I've felt both characters were childish. This is something I hate and that, unfortunately, I find very common in contemporary romances. I always wonder if these type of behaviors and conversations are common and I'm an alien who never experienced anything similar.
- Despite all the relationship buildup, the romance felt very sudden as the book was focused on how both characters dealt with their loss. I think the author failed at showing a true connection between Charlie and Becca. It could have worked better if the attraction started a bit sooner.
- I disliked Charlie's need to be with a woman to feel he was moving forward. I understood this behavior in the beginning when we was struggling with grief. However, in the end I was expecting him to acknowledge Becca's critiques and do some personal growth independently. I was disappointed that he reverted to his typical behavior.

Overall it was an easy and entertaining summer read.

TW: Death of a closed one, cancer

Livro essencial para promover a literacia do corpo e saúde menstrual.

“Of course there are things Snowy doesn't quite understand yet, but he does know the answer to the most important question...”

Because I love you so much was a huge success with my daughter, and I was forced to read it 3 times before bed. The story is heart-warming, and the illustrations are beautiful.
I recommend this book to families with children aged 2 and over.

Thank you Netgalley and the author (Guido Van Genechten) for making this book available in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Quatro Publishing Group and Carri Hammett for letting me read Super Easy Origami for Beginners for an honest review.

During the pandemic I´ve started trying to do some Origami, mostly animal shapes for my daughter. I'm able to follow videos with basic folds but get completely lost when they start to be more challenging. Additionally, I wanted to be able to follow instructions with symbols as it would be much easier than watching videos.
Due to that, I wanted to find a beginner's guide to Origami to learn different folds (and memorize them) and this is it.

This book teaches many folds, in a progressive and clear way, which allows us to remain interested in the process. Some of the shapes are still quite difficult for me but it is nothing I won't be able to achieve with practice.

This is a very practical and interesting guide to Origami.

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This series is absolutely fantastic and I wish it existed when I was a kid. However, this is still quite relevant to educate adults as well, about historical/ actual influential people around the world and their work.

In this book we learn about Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate-justice activist who is fighting for climate justice for Africans. I was shocked to learn she was cropped off from a picture with other climate change activists, which however, only enlightens the discrepancies between high and low income economies.

The illustrations are beautiful as always! This is a must buy for everyone with children and an amazing gift for other's people kids.

This was a powerful memoir, with several relatable content for women. Thank you Amanda for sharing your story with the world.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Este livro conta a história de Aquorea mas do POV do Kai permitindo-nos conhecer um pouco melhor Aquorea e os seus residentes, sobretudo os Protectores. Através deste livro é possível compreender melhor as motivações de Umi para antagonizar a Ara e foi sem dúvida o que mais gostei de ler.

Quando comprei Aquorea não tinha percebido que era dirigido para um público tão novo pelo que senti que alguns dos pontos que achei menos positivos poderiam estar influenciados por esse facto. Em Shore Desvendado venho com o conhecimento total de que não sou a leitora alvo da saga, contudo, os pontos que me fazem desgostar do livro mantêm-se, nomeadamente:
- As personagens soam mais infantis do que me parece ajustado à faixa etária (18-20 anos), sobretudo atendendo ao nível de responsabilidades que os residentes em Aquorea têm na sociedade desde novos e que deveria contribuir para um maior nível de maturidade.
- Os diálogos não parecem reais, não conheço ninguém que fale da forma apresentada, muito menos um adolescente/ jovem. Fez-me recordar um pouco os livros de uma aventura.
- O POV do Kai deveria ter podido justificar a sua animosidade inicial, mas ficamos apenas com a justificação “é mais seguro para a Ara desta forma” o que para mim continuou sem fazer sentido. Percebo que serve para criar tensão entre as personagens para a base do romance, aproximando-se da trope “enemies to lovers” mas na minha opinião mantém-se como um relacionamento tóxico.
- Este livro tinha potencial para Worldbuiling que me pareceu subaproveitado.

Esta saga preenche todos os pontos típicos dos atuais livros de fantasia/romance internacionais aclamados no booktok e bookstagram pelo que continuará a atrair muitos leitores. Não sendo fã desta saga tenciono continuar a lê-la para suportar a fantasia de escritoras Portuguesas.
A M.G. Ferrey está de parabéns por atrair tantos novos leitores para o género.

Recomendo este livro para quem gostou de Aquorea.

After 2020 Christina Lauren wanted to write something fun to counterbalance the pandemic and thus, this is a very different book from the previous ones.The story is a second chance romance between Lili, a treasure hunting tour guide, and Leo, the man who broke her heart and, unknowingly, ends up making one of her tours with his friends. Although it was easy to guess where the story was going, I thought it was entertaining read and it is probably my favourite book from the Duo after [b:Love and Other Words 36206591 Love and Other Words Christina Lauren https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519633303l/36206591.SY75.jpg 57837128]. My main complaint regards to the third person narrator that I don't think it worked well here and created a weird story flow between the different POV.The romance is not the main focus of the book and because of that, I think it might not appeal to all the CL usual readers. However, I liked that the book distance itself a bit from the traditional romance formulas and created something a little bit more unexpected.

This book follows the story of Alexis Montgomery, which descends from a world-renowned family of surgeons and who's expected to carry the family legacy. She is seen by her father as a constant disappointment due to her choice to become an ER doctor instead of a neurosurgeon. While returning from a funeral, destiny put a racoon in front of her car, leading to her rescue by Daniel Grant, a Mayor and carpenter of a small and enchanting village.What I liked about the book:- Inclusion of serious issues: domestic violence, both verbal and physical abuse- Abby was able to tickle all the necessary boxes for a successful romance: likeable characters with good dialogues, a sweet romance with strong chemistry and a lot of angst, interesting supporting characters, and environment. - Ultimate cinnamon roll boyfriend. Daniel goes directly to the best book boyfriends list, being a strong competitor for Wes of [b:Twice Shy 54660653 Twice Shy Sarah Hogle https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595608490l/54660653.SX50.jpg 85281678]. To be honest, I think Daniel deserved much better than Alexis. This would be my choice for the 2022 best romance Goodreads choice award.