Ruri no Kaze ni Hana wa Nagareru volume 1 by Kairi Yuki & Arisa Maki

Story by: Arisa Maki
Art by: Kairi Yuki
English Name: Flowers Flow in the Lapis Lazuli Wind
Status of Series: Complete (3 volumes)

Synopsis: “You’ve always belonged to me since long ago.” In order to get revenge against the enemy nation, who destroyed her own country, Hina decided to become their crown princess… However, she cannot help being attracted to Ashiru, who’s supposed to be her enemy… (Source: Aerandria).

My Thoughts: I can’t stand that whole trend in manga and anime that someone can do also anything to someone else and they still can “fall in love.” This manga was not of the rape kind, but it still is annoying at so many levels. She seems completely helpless, even thought she acts like she is brave. The story line was predicable and not enjoyable. I will not be reading the last two volumes.

Read January 5, 2015

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Blurb: When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships,gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Listened via: Audiobook (library)

My Thoughts: This was one of the classics that I knew little to nothing about. I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would. The whole language from that time was hard to understand at times, but I found it entertaining.

I think that the idea of love and romance is interesting in the book. It was hard to comprehend at times. However, I liked the romance between the characters (no spoilers. Lol).

Listened to October 22, 2014 — November 24, 2014

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Blurb: Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

Read Via: Hardback book (library)

My Thoughts: This was a really interesting story. I do not think I mentioned before, but I used to write fanfictions when I was 15-18 or so. They were anime fanfictions, but I read countless others (like Harry Potter!). I loved it, and I still enjoy reading them.

I felt like I really connected with Cath. The way in reacts to things and how she feels is similar to myself. I think I am not as attached to Harry Potter as the other people who may have read this novel. Yeah, I read it as it was coming out and I liked it …. but I dunno.

This book was super adorable. I really like how their relationship evolved. I feel like their story could have continued. There were some parts that I did not like, but they were far and few in between. I will be look into her other books!

Read August 22, 2014 —  August 29, 2014

 

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

Blurb:  After thirty years of marriage, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law of Allie and Noah Calhoun (of The Notebook), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. Desperate to win back his wife, Jane’s, heart, he must figure out how to make her fall in love with him… again. Despite the shining example of Allie and Noah’s marriage, Wilson is himself a man unable to easily express his emotions. A successful estate attorney, he has provided well for his family, but now, with his daughter’s upcoming wedding, he is forced to face the fact that he and Jane have grown apart and he wonders if she even loves him anymore. Wilson is sure of one thing–his love for his wife has only deepened and intensified over the years. Now, with the memories of his in-laws’ magnificent fifty-year love affair as his guide, Wilson struggles to find his way back into the heart of the woman he adores.

Read Via: Hardback book (library)

My Thoughts: I was surprised by this book. Unlike the first novel in the series, I did cry with this one. I love how everything turned out. I will not even give a hint of what is because I was so surprised and loved it. However, I will say that at first I did not like that it switched main characters. I really enjoyed this book. I am sad to part from this story line.

Read May 13, 2014 — May 17, 2014

Related Reviews:

• The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook #1)

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Blurb: Set amid the austere beauty of the North Carolina coast, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner recently returned form the Second World War. Noah is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories…until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again.

Read Via: Hardback book (own it)

My Thoughts: I was very hesitant to read this novel. I have never seen the movie, I know … crazy, right? Anyway, it just didn’t seem like something I would like. I don’t know what made me change my mind. I am glad I decided to read this. I don’t think there are many romance novels that involve love during the end of live. I work at a nursing home, so I can understand and related to this story to a certain degree. The love story is very sweet, however I never cried. I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to reading the squeal.

Read May 9, 2014 — May 12, 2014

Related Reviews:

• The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook #2)

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Blurb:  Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time

Listened to Via: Book on CD (library)

My Thoughts: (added 3/29/14) I was not completely honest if my first review. I said I really like this book, but I did not mention that I almost really hated the book too. This novel makes you concern your thoughts on a very serious issue, which I will not say, but I still have not completely sorted out my feelings on the subject. Also, about the different points of view, there was a person didn’t get a say from their side, which kind of makes me mad. (/add)

As you can tell, I really liked this book. It is a sweet story. I really like the characters. Some parts were in the point of view of different people. It also makes you become aware of the struggles of people who are paralyzed. I am not going to say too much about the story line, because that would spoil everything and ruin the whole experience!

The main narrator, Susan Lyons, did a really good job. She gave each character life. The parts that were in the different points of view were voiced by other people. I like most of them.

Listened to March 19, 2014 — March 28, 2014

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

Blurb: It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn’s shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler.

Rating: ★★★★☆

My Thoughts: This was a pretty good story. It was sad. This book switched from character to another just when it was getting interesting, so it got a little aggravating.

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines

 To want what you’re not supposed to have…She is only nineteen.She is his new stepfather’s daughter.She is still naïve and innocent due to spending the last three years taking care of her sick mother.

But for twenty-four year old Rush Finlay, she is the only thing that has ever been off limits. His famous father’s guilt money, his mother’s desperation to win his love, and his charm are the three reasons he has never been told no.

Blaire Wynn left her small farmhouse in Alabama, after her mother passed away, to move in with her father and his new wife in their sprawling beach house along the Florida gulf coast. She isn’t prepared for the lifestyle change and she knows she’ll never fit into this world. Then there is her sexy stepbrother who her father leaves her with for the summer while he runs off to Paris with his wife. Rush is as spoiled as he is gorgeous. He is also getting under her skin. She knows he is anything but good for her and that he’ll never be faithful to anyone. He is jaded and has secrets Blaire knows she may never uncover but even knowing all of that…

Blaire just may have fallen too far.

 This is the second time I’ve read this book so these are not my first thoughts on the book. I read this book before we started our blog and I had to re-read it before I wrote a review on it and also the newest book of the series came out so I wanted to have a marathon with this series. I liked this book because it wasn’t like most love storied I have read. At first Rush seems really mean when Blaire shows up needing a place to stay which if this is your first time reading this book you have to wonder why he would be so mean. At first you would think it’s because she was an unwanted step sister but later on in the book you find out the real reasons. I kind of thought it was funny that she kept walking in on him having sex with women everywhere in the open and she couldn’t help but stare and run away after a few minutes. I think the ending of this book is really sad and I also think Blaire turned into a, I don’t know a better way to put this, bitch. She could have at least listened to his side of the story of why he didn’t tell her before running away but running away I think is kind of her thing.

Related Reviews:

• Rush Too Far by Abbi Glines (Too Far #1.1; Rosemary #1.1)
• Never Too Far by Abbi Glines (Too Far #2; Rosemary Beach #2)
• Forever Too Far by Abbi Glines  (Too Far #3; Rosemary Beach #4)

Reflected in You by Sylvia Day

What the  books about: Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t want to. He was my addiction… my every desire… mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful… except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession…

What I think: I also listened to this as an audiobook and it was read by the same person. Again in this book with all of the sex and betrayal. I honestly didn’t think I would go on to the third book but I always try to finish series if I can. This book I wanted to kill Gideon for the way he acted toward Eva and just expected her to trust him. Even though he had a good reason at the end of the book it still wasn’t right. In this one you find out why Gideon is the way he is which is also not something I’m into. I wish the author didn’t have to put that stuff in either book.

Bared to You by Sylvia Day

What the book is about: Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness…

He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private wounds…and desires. The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…

What I thought about the book: I didn’t get to read the actual book but I listened to it as an audiobook. This book started out good with a story about the main character. How she moved to a new city and is starting a new job. It also introduces her best friend that moved with her. But within a chapter or two it just seemed like a porn. I like novels like Fifty Shades and others like that but I really wanted to see more story before they got right into. One thing that I really did not like was her past which I can’t tell you about since it’s a big part of why she is the way she is. I’m just really not into that kind of stuff. Between Gideon and Eva I don’t know which one I got mad at more. They both acted like little kids in most of this book and it just made me want to tell them to grow up. Since I listened to this I think I’ll say something about the narrator. She did a really good job and expressing the characters and setting the scenes.