Tag: Meg Cabot

Review: No Judgments by Meg Cabot

Posted October 17, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: No Judgments by Meg CabotReviewer: Rowena
No Judgments by Meg Cabot
Series: Little Bridge Island #1
Also in this series: Bridal Boot Camp
Publisher: Harper Collins, William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Point-of-View: Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The storm of the century is about to hit Little Bridge Island, Florida—and it’s sending waves crashing through Sabrina “Bree” Beckham’s love life…

When a massive hurricane severs all power and cell service to Little Bridge Island—as well as its connection to the mainland—twenty-five-year-old Bree Beckham isn’t worried . . . at first. She’s already escaped one storm—her emotionally abusive ex—so a hurricane seems like it will be a piece of cake.

But animal-loving Bree does become alarmed when she realizes how many islanders have been cut off from their beloved pets. Now it’s up to her to save as many of Little Bridge’s cats and dogs as she can . . . but to do so, she’s going to need help—help she has no choice but to accept from her boss’s sexy nephew, Drew Hartwell, the Mermaid Café’s most notorious heartbreaker.

But when Bree starts falling for Drew, just as Little Bridge’s power is restored and her penitent ex shows up, she has to ask herself if her island fling was only a result of the stormy weather, or if it could last during clear skies too.

I have been a big fan of Meg Cabot’s adult romances for ages now. I have loved pretty much everything that I’ve read by her so I was excited to jump into this book, even though I wasn’t that wild about the novella that came out before this one did. No Judgments is the first full-length book in Meg Cabot’s new Little Bridge Island series and it features a heroine who has moved to Little Bridge Island for a fresh start and the hero that stuck around Little Bridge Island instead of evacuating as everyone else did because of the huge hurricane that is coming right for them on the island.

So Bree moved to Little Bridge Island after dropping out of law school. She works as a waitress at the local diner and dyed her hair pink. She’s moving on from a bad breakup and she’s not turning back. She’s not turning back for anything or anyone. Not the hurricane that is coming straight for her new island home and not for the rich ex-boyfriend that offered her a ride on his private plane to get her out of harm’s way. Not even when her mother calls and tries to demand that Bree gets on that private plane. Bree’s not going anywhere and neither is Drew Hartwell.

So this book tackles life before, during, and then the aftermath of a big hurricane. In the beginning, we see everyone making arrangements to get to safety, off island and then we see the folks that stuck it out on the island, try to survive at the same time that they try to save as many animals that were left behind as they could. On top of all of that, Bree is dealing with a bunch of personal issues that are pretty serious in nature. There’s a death of a loved one and then there’s a sexual assault that nobody believed happened, except Bree knows that it did and she had to get away from the people that were supposed to believe her and take her side.

So as you can see, there’s a lot of stuff to unpack in this book and I usually enjoy all the things that Meg Cabot writes but this time around, I had trouble connecting with Bree, with Drew, with them as a couple and all of the people that left their animals to fend for themselves during a big ass hurricane. I will say that Meg Cabot does a great job of describing life on Little Bridge Island. I loved the small-town feel of the island and I loved that it was a place that welcomed Bree and gave her a safe space to heal from everything that happened in her life but I thought this book was a little too light to really tackle everything that Bree went through to my liking. I’m sure that I will give the next book a try but I’m bummed that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would have. This one started off well but it didn’t live up to the hype I gave it so this one gets 3.25 stars from me.

Final Grade

3.25 out of 5

Little Bridge Island

three-half-stars


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Review: Bridal Boot Camp by Meg Cabot

Posted June 10, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Bridal Boot Camp by Meg CabotReviewer: Rowena
Bridal Boot Camp by Meg Cabot
Series: Little Bridge Island #0.5
Also in this series: No Judgments
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon Impulse
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Point-of-View: First, Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 96
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot comes the first story in her Little Bridge Island series—which also includes an excerpt from her forthcoming new full-length novel No Judgments!

Looking for a tropical escape?

Welcome to Little Bridge, one of the smallest—and most beautiful—islands in the Florida Keys, home to sandy white beaches, salt-rimmed margaritas, stunning sunsets, and some of the quirkiest—but also kindest and most resourceful—people you’ll ever meet.

Physical trainer Roberta “Rob” James moved to Little Bridge hoping she’d found paradise, but things haven’t turned out quite as she’d hoped. The closest Rob has come to her “happily ever after” is happy hour at the Mermaid Café with her buddy Bree, the bartender slash waitress who’s got romance problems of her own.

But Rob’s situation suddenly changes when sheriff’s deputy Ryan Martinez accidentally enrolls in her bridal boot camp class. Turning mush into metal in time for the big day is Rob’s passion (because even the happiest bride could use a little toning).

But what happens when a guy who’s all mush meets a girl who’s all metal?

They discover they have a lot to learn . . . about each other, themselves, and the island paradise they’ve come to call home.

This was a really short story but I don’t even care because it’s a Meg Cabot and I will probably always read new Meg Cabot books (her adult books, anyway) until the day I die. I enjoy her books that much. I can’t say that I absolutely loved this book but that had more to do with there isn’t much of a romance here. Sure, there’s a story but I wanted so much more than what we got.

So in this book, Roberta James meets Ryan Martinez when he shows up for her bridal boot camp aerobics class. He’s there trying to join a yoga class because he needs to work on his anger issues. His boss thinks that yoga will do the trick but when Ryan shows up at Rob’s gym, he wasn’t expecting to enjoy the aerobics class so much…and he wasn’t expecting to like his instructor so much either.

So because this is such a short story, everything happens at warped speed and so much of that didn’t work for me. They fell too hard, too fast but even though this book had a lot of that insta love going on, I still enjoyed reading it and I’m looking forward to reading the bartender, Bree with the sad eyes, story in the first book in this series, No Judgments. If we had another 100 pages or so to fully appreciate Robbie and Ryan, I think I would have liked this one more but oh well. I’m still interested in the others so it wasn’t that bad.

Final Grade

3.75 out of 5

Little Bridge Island

three-half-stars


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Throwback Thursday Review: She Went All the Way by Meg Cabot

Posted January 18, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Throwback Thursday Review: She Went All the Way by Meg CabotReviewer: Rowena
She Went All the Way by Meg Cabot
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: March 17th 2009
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 368
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four-stars

There are a few places screenwriter Lou Calabrese would rather be than crammed into a helicopter with Jack Townsend, star of her claim to fame, Copkiller, and whose ex just ran off with Lou's ex. Talk about uncomfortable. But when, halfway out to the isolated arctic location where Copkiller IV is currently shooting, their pilot turns murderous and their helicopter crashes, Lou realizes her day has just gotten a lot worse.

Now, while family and friends back home fret over her disappearance, Lou is on the run in the arctic wilderness with America's sweetheart Jack Townsend and only the contents of her purse, his pockets, and their mutual knowledge of survival movie trivia to keep them alive. Can these two children of Hollywood put aside their differences and make it back home without killing each other? Or much, much worse, actually start to like one another?

***Every Thursday in 2018 we will be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books.

This review was originally posted on April 7, 2008.

Another winner for Meg Cabot. It wasn’t the best book, I still love a lot of MC’s other books more than this one but this was still fun, cute and had one hecka hunky hero.

Jack Townsende is the best action hero in Tinseltown. He may not be the most prettiest man in Hollywood but he most definitely is one of the sexiest. He’s left many a heart’s broken over the past few years and there isn’t a woman that’s been left unTownsendized (well except for Meryl Streep) and Hollywood hotshop screenwriter, Lou Calabrese hates his guts.

She hates his guts because her best friend is one of the heartbreakee’s of Jack Townsende. She hates the way he is with women and she just hates…him because he changed her lines and you don’t do that with a writer. Writers are very touchy about that kind of stuff.

The book starts off with Lou’s man eloping with Jack’s ex. The headlines in all of the papers reported on it. They did it because Lou’s man is an actor who Lou gave his start. Jack’s ex is an actress as well and they just filmed a movie together and now they’re together…and it broke Lou’s heart. It didn’t break Jack’s heart though, come on now…

So Jack Townsende is filming the latest movie in the Copkiller series (which is like one of those Bruce Willis Die Hard movies) and they’re filming in Alaska. The director, Tim Lord is planning on blowing up one of the mines over there and Lou is going to make sure that it doesn’t happen. So she’s flying out to the set (you have to take a plane to it from Anchorage) to try to get Tim to reconsider. It’s while she’s on that flight with Jack Townsende that they get held up and they find out that somebody is out to kill Jack.

Could it be one of his many jilted ex lovers? They don’t know, all they know is that they have to run for their lives in the woods (not the tundra) and they’re taken on this adventure that neither of them want to be apart of and just as Jack is deciding to quit the business, Lou decides that she’s given up on actors….only things don’t always go the way they should because in the midst of all the running away from the bad guys and trying to stay alive, something is happening between Jack and Lou and she might not have what it takes to walk away from something this big.

This book was another great one from Meg Cabot, it’s not my new favorite or anything but I was happy while reading this book. I was happy that Jack was just so extremely hot and Lou wasn’t this dense, argue all the time, it’s my way or the highway attitude lady who I wanted to strangle all the time. She was normal. She was cool and she could shoot to kill when she needed to.

Jack Townsende was one of those actor heroes that you just fell in love with even though he’s a heartbreaker. He’s one of those guys that you know is sexy without even having a picture to look at. He’s cool, sexy, confident and just everything you want in a hero…he’s older too because he had hints of grey in his hair and that was a-okay with me. I want to marry Jack, that’s how fine he is!

Lou was a great heroine, she was loyal to her friends even though it was hard for her to stay loyal and once Jack proved to her that he was in this for the long haul and not just as long as he could find the next best piece of ass, Lou loved with all that she was. It was nice. She was funny, sassy, smart and extremely brave and I enjoyed getting to know her.

There were great secondary characters in this book from Jack’s Mom to Lou’s Dad and her brothers. I would have liked to get to know Lou’s brothers more but it’s okay that they didn’t make a bigger appearance in here, they might have overwhelmed the storyline so I was okay with that. One thing that I thought was lame was the way the story all came together, the bad guys….I totally saw it coming in the middle of the book, it was too easy for me but aside from that little thing, I really enjoyed this read. I think all of you guys should read it when you’re in the mood for something light, funny and cute.

That’s what this book is all about.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Retro Review: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot.

Posted August 23, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Retro Review: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot.Reviewer: Rowena
Queen of Babble in the Big City (Queen of Babble #2) by Meg Cabot
Series: Queen of Babble #2
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: June 26th 2007
Genres: New Adult
Pages: 320
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order).

When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being postgrad roomies with best friend, Shari, in a one-room walk-up in exchange for cohabitation with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-à-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir.

But Lizzie's not as lucky in her employment search. As Shari finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, being judged overqualified for the jobs in her chosen field—vintage-gown rehab—and underqualified for everything else. It's Shari's boyfriend Chaz to the rescue when he recommends Lizzie for a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm. The nonpaying gig at a local wedding-gown shop Lizzie manages to land all on her own.

But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her into trouble at work and at home almost at once—first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with Jill Higgins, a New York society bride with a troublesome future mother-in-law, and then back on Fifth Avenue, when she makes the mistake of bringing up the M word (Marriage) with commitment-shy Luke.

Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself—and the hapless Jill—and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?

****As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.****

Rowena: Oh man, this series. I have fond memories of the first time that I read this series. It was at the recommendation of my friend Lexi (a friend that I haven’t spoken to in such a long time) and she was head over heels in love with Luke but me? I was Team Chaz. Hahahaha, I totally won that one because Chaz was awesome and so was this book.

This review was originally posted on March 12, 2008

Alright, this is the second book in the Queen of Babble series and I was not disappointed in the least.

Lizzie is back and she’s living in New York, almost going to really graduate from college and she’s living with her boyfriend from the first book, Luke Di Villiers, the very hot and very rich Luke Di Villiers. She’s jobless but determined to pay her part of the rent (and it doesn’t even matter that they don’t have to pay rent because it’s Luke’s Mom’s apartment.) She wants to work in the dress refurbishing business but she can’t get hired to save her life but then she does get a job at Monsieur Henri’s shop but she’s not getting paid to work there so she needs to find a paying job so that she can keep this non paying job that she really really wants.

And in true Lizzie fashion, she makes things happen.

Her and Luke are getting along and she’s loving her life..only not everyone in their life feels the same way. Chaz and Shari (Luke’s best friend and Lizzie’s best friend) are fighting all the time and on the verge of breaking up and then they do break up and things get crazy after all of that. I can’t say why everything gets crazy because you have to read for yourself but I will say that Meg Cabot delivers another winner for me to read through because I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I loved the storyline, I loved seeing what happened to Luke and Lizzie after they left France, I loved seeing Lizzie make things happen for herself in the Big Apple and I loved seeing my new crush…Chaz.

My friend Lexi is madly in love with Luke Di Villiers and I love him too but I won’t fight her for him because my heart belongs to Charles Pendergrast who cleans up nicely in a monkey suit. Chaz has such a big heart and he’s got so much love to give that he just gives and gives and gives. He’s the perfect boyfriend and I want to see him with the lead in his own series, so Meg Cabot if by chance you’re reading this review, please make that happen…please let Chaz find his happy ending with …a brunette from the islands named Rowena, she’s got a sparkling personality and a love of reading and I’ll read and discuss any hot damn thing Chaz would like to discuss because I heart him…for real. =)

This book was well-written, at the end of the book, loose ends were tied and everything ended really neatly…well if you don’t count the way the book ends, but that just leaves questions for the next and sigh final book to answer.

I can’t wait to see what happens with Chaz, with Luke and Lizzie and with just about every hot damn body….this book was really good and I can’t wait to read the next one!

Must read next book NOW!

four-half-stars


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Review: The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot

Posted October 18, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: The Boy is Back by Meg CabotReviewer: Rowena
The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot
Series: Boys Series #4
Also in this series: The Boy Next Door (Boys #1), Boy Meets Girl (Boys #2)
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: October 18th 2016
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

From New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot comes the sweetly humorous story of a man who has to face his past in order to find his future.

Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back…

One post. That’s all it took to destroy the care free, glamorous life of pro golfer Reed Stewart. One tiny post on the Internet.

Then again, it’s not like Reed’s been winning many tournaments lately, and his uncle isn’t the only one who says it’s because of the unfinished business he left behind back home in Bloomville, Indiana—namely Reed’s father, the Honorable Judge Richard P. Stewart, and the only girl Reed ever loved, Becky Flowers.

But Reed hasn’t spoken to either his father or Becky in over a decade.
Until that post on the Internet. Suddenly, Reed’s family has become a national laughingstock, his publicist won’t stop calling, his siblings are begging for help, and Reed realizes he has no other choice: He’s got to go home to face his past . . . the Judge and the girl he left behind.

Becky’s worked hard to build her successful senior relocation business, but she’s worked even harder to forget Reed Stewart ever existed—which hasn’t been easy, considering he’s their hometown’s golden boy, and all anyone ever talks about. It was fine while they were thousands of miles apart, but now he’s back in Bloomville. She has absolutely no intention of seeing him—until his family hires her to help save his parents.

Now Reed and Becky can’t avoid one another…or the memories of that one fateful night.

Can the quirky residents of Bloomville bring these two young people back together, or will Reed and Becky continue to allow their pasts to deny them the future they deserve?

This warm, thought-provoking book, told entirely in texts, emails, and journal entries, is as much about the enduring bond of families as it is about second chances at love, and will delight as much as it entertains.

Meg Cabot is back with another book for her Boys series. This series is unique because the entire story is told through text messages, IM’s, newspaper articles and that kind of stuff.

This story follows Becky Flowers and Reed Stewart as they find their ways back to each other after ten years of being apart. Becky and Reed were high school sweethearts who were madly in love with each other until prom night when they got drunk and drove Reed’s fathers golf cart into the pond and Reed skipped town, leaving Becky behind without a goodbye or a fare-thee-well. Becky was left heartbroken but it’s ten years later and she is so over all of that, and over him too…right?

Reed goes on to become a wealthy professional golfer and hasn’t stepped foot in his hometown of Bloomville in ten years. The only people that he keeps in contact with from Bloomville are his siblings and their spouses. He hasn’t seen or heard from Beckly Flowers since he left her behind on prom night and while he’s sorry about it, there’s not much he can do to fix things now. Reed blows back into town when his parents go off the deep end and he’s needed to help fix their lives. He wasn’t expecting to see Becky at all but when her business ends up being the perfect way to help his parents (she owns a senior moving company where they relocate seniors to nursing homes, etc…).

Becky isn’t one to turn away business so of course she signs on to help the senior Stewarts relocate, even if it means spending time with the son that broke her heart and never gave an explanation for why he left her behind. Reading along as these two reconnected and then reunited with one another was a lot of fun. Between the shenanigans between Reed and his siblings and then Becky and her Mom, sister and best friend, I laughed my way through this book. This book has Cabot’s signature humor and the romance really worked for me. I loved Reed, loved Becky and everyone else except Reed’s sister. I hated her. Ha!

This was a fun treat and was perfect for a light weekend read. I definitely recommend to fans of Meg Cabot’s adult books and fans of contemporary romances. Good stuff!

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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