I'm Back!

Hi Everyone! I'm back!

I know that my blog has been down for a few months now and I wanted to apologize. Here's what happened. When I started my blog, I was originally hosted by Bluehost and that is where my blog has been for 3 years. This past year, I have been having nothing but trouble with Bluehost and Weebly through Bluehost. As a result, I decided to start looking into switching to a different hosting site. This then came with a whole host of problems I didn't expect.

While it was simple enough to switch my domain, switching the content of my site has been a completely different story. It turns out, that there is no easy way to do this from the way I had it set up. 

As you may (or may not) have noticed, there is a lot of content missing from my site currently. I will be slowly transferring my previous content to this new set up over time. I'm hoping it will be completely transferred by the end of the summer and I plan on posting new content while doing so. I do apologize if some of the older content isn't formatted exactly the same as the new content, but I'm doing the best I can.

I hope that you like the new site and that you will forgive my absence and continue to read my future posts. Here's hoping to a fresh start and getting back to consistent content.

Bookshop at Watersend

By: Patti Callahan Henry
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 352

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Bonny Blankenship's most treasured memories are of idyllic summers spent in Watersend, South Carolina, with her best friend, Lainey McKay. Amid the sand dunes and oak trees draped with Spanish moss, they swam and wished for happy-ever-afters, then escaped to the local bookshop to read and whisper in the glorious cool silence. Until the night that changed everything, the night that Lainey's mother disappeared.

Now, in her early fifties, Bonny is desperate to clear her head after a tragic mistake threatens her career as an emergency room doctor, and her marriage crumbles around her. With her troubled teenage daughter, Piper, in tow, she goes back to the beloved river house, where she is soon joined by Lainey and her two young children. During lazy summer days and magical nights, they reunite with bookshop owner Mimi, who is tangled with the past and its mysteries. As the three women cling to a fragile peace, buried secrets and long ago loves return like the tide.

First Impression

If a book has “bookshop” in the title it immediately lands on my radar. This cover is the perfect summer cover and drew me in. This book made a solid first impression and I immediately would’ve picked it up off the shelf based on the cover alone.

What I thought

This book was so cute! It was the perfect summer beach read and exactly what I needed.

Bonny and Lainey are lifelong friends who started as Summer Sisters at the age of eleven. Now in their fifties, Bonny is having a bit of a life crisis. Her marriage and job are falling apart, so Lainey suggests that she return to the summer home that they haven’t been to since they were 13. Bonny brings her 19 year old daughter Piper who is also having a bit of a life crisis. When Bonny, Lainey, and Piper head back to Watersend for the first time in 40+ years, their past catches up with them and they are all forced to face themselves.

This book is told in alternating points of view between Bonny, Lainey, and Piper with an occasional perspective from Mimi the bookshop owner. While my favorite perspective was Piper’s, because she’s the closest to my age, but I still enjoyed Bonny and Lainey’s stories. Each character had their own issues that they had to confront and I liked that it was really about personal growth. There wasn’t a lot of silly issues that got in the way of bigger issues and I really appreciated that.

What I enjoyed the most about this story was the writing. It drew me in and made me feel like I was at the river house and that I was a part of their vacation. I also found that the balance between the present and the past to be perfect. I never felt like I was stuck in the past stories and wanting to get back to what was currently happening, but at the same time I never felt like I was only getting the present storyline and was confused as to what the past had to do with anything.

If you enjoy summertime stories about family and personal growth this will be the perfect read for you. I loved the balance of the storylines and how they were so different amongst themselves. I’d highly recommend this as a beach read and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Garden of Small Beginnings

By: Abbi Waxman
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 368

 I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or  form influenced my opinion.

 Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three  years—ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and  some random suicidal thoughts later, she’s just starting to get the hang of this widow  thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a  pro. The only problem is she’s becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.

At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks—like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there’s that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can’t be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity.

After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden feeling out of her element. But what she’ll soon discover—with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners—is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not…
 

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                                                                        First Impressions

The brightly colored cover immediately caught my eye and instantly made me want to read it. The summary had me a bit wary at first, but still sounded interesting.
 

                                                                        What I thought

This book was so cute! For a book that could’ve been really depressing, this was done in a light and humorous way that made it very enjoyable.

Lili is an illustrator for a textbook publishing company. When her company asks her to complete the illustrations for a vegetable guide, they also sign her up to attend a weekly gardening class. In addition to this project, Lili is still coping with the fact that her husband died in a horrific car accident that she witnessed four years ago, while also raising two little girls.  

This book is Waxman’s debut novel and I think it is very strong! The style of writing was very fresh when compared to a lot of other contemporary/women’s fiction. I loved Lil’s voice and her sense of humor. In my opinion, Waxman balanced the seriousness of grief with the lightness of everyday life.

I think this book portrays family relationships very well. I loved the dynamics between Lili and her sister Rachel. I also enjoyed Lili’s relationship with her daughters, as well as her running commentary on how difficult parenting is. It was obvious that she loved her children with all her heart, but she could still be sick of them at times. The one dynamic that seemed a little odd to me was Lili’s mom. She was not a good mother and therefore Lili and Rachel has some issues that stemmed from that. I was fine with just that, but then their mom came to dinner and the reader got to see her poor parenting in action and it just seemed a little unnecessary to me.

I have never read a book that focused on gardening and I absolutely loved that aspect of the book. I looked forward to the weekly gardening class as well as the band of characters that were taking it with Lili. It made me want to go out and start my own garden. However, I don’t have a yard, so that will have to wait.

This book is sweet, and funny, and touching. It hit all of the notes that I look for in a book. This book has solid but realistic relationships as well as a fun balance of characters. I like that everything moved at what seemed to be a realistic pace. Nothing jumped from zero to 100 in .2 seconds. If you like the classic contemporary/women’s fiction genre, you will love this book. I think Waxman made a strong debut as an author and I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next!

Series Recap: Lost Heroes of Olympus

Have you ever started a long series when the first book came out but then over the course of multiple years lost track of it? This has happened to me a few times, but most significantly with the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.
When I first read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series when I was in college, I fell in love. I own all 5 books and I have read them multiple times. However, they were all already out when I read them so I was able to read them sequentially in a short time span.

When I find an author I love, I immediately check their backlist and proceed to read whatever else I can find by them. For Riordan, that was the Kane Chronicles. Now, if you aren’t aware, the Percy Jackson series follows Greek mythology while the Kane Chronicles follows Egyptian mythology. I have never really had an interest in Egyptian mythology, so while I enjoyed Riordan’s writing, I didn’t love the story as much. Then, he came out with The Lost Hero (the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series) which went back to the Greek mythology with an overlap of characters I had loved from the first series.

The first book came out in 2010 while I was still in college. Because of that, I had to wait for each book to come out. During this time, I went to graduate school, moved to Florida, moved back home, started a new job, and then moved into my own apartment with my (now) husband. While I kept up pretty decently with the first three books, I completely missed books four and five.

I’ve always regretted not finishing this series, but knew that if I was going to finish it I would have to re-read the first three books. Luckily, it seems like I finally have time to do that! I am really excited because for years it has bugged me that I didn’t finish a series I had been enjoying so much.

So, what that means for the blog is that for the first three books I will do a little series re-cap/refresher, and then I will do two reviews of the two final books. Possibly mini-reviews combined into one blog post, but I’m not really sure. Anyway, I thought it could be a fun way to learn about the series without (hopefully) giving away too many spoilers.

The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1)
The Lost Hero starts with Jason, waking up at Wilderness Camp with no idea who he is or how he got there. The only thing he knows is his name. Throughout the story, pieces of his memory come back to him in small spurts. This is pretty much how I felt while reading the story. I was grasping for memories of plot points, but couldn’t quite reach them. All I could remember was that Jason and his friends Piper and Leo were on a mission to stop Gaea from awakening and that Percy Jackson was missing. I also remembered (SPOILER) that Jason was a Roman Demigod and not Greek. Other than that, I had vague memories of what was going to happen but nothing concrete.

It was fun to re-read because I got to meet the characters all over again and experience their quest with them. I didn’t know everything that was going to happen so it wasn’t boring. I love Riordan’s writing and I love how he created this world of Greek mythology. I also love that each of the main characters is flawed and they always have to find their own personal strengths with the help of their friends.

This first book sets up a lot of storyline and I am very excited to continue with the second book and see where this series goes. I enjoy the balance of old and new characters and look forward to being back with Percy in the next book!

Mini Candle and Skin Care Haul

ephora’s Beauty Insider sale started on April 20th, and I decided that I needed to go. Bath and Body Works was also having a candle sale, which of course I couldn’t resist.

This year, one of Sephora’s birthday gifts was from Caudalie. It included the Vinoperfect Radiance serum and moisturizer. I have fallen in love with the Vinoperfect serum and decided that having 10% off with the sale was the perfect time to but the full size since it’s a bit expensive ($79 full size). 

The Vinoperfect Radiance serum is meant to even skin tone and texture, lighten dark spots, and brighten skin. It is made with an ingredient called viniferine that is from grapevine sap and is meant to be more powerful than Vitamin C. It also claims that if it is put on under sunscreen that the ingredients will give you a more even tan. While I don’t know about the tan (as it is only April), it has brightened and evened my skin tone for sure. I originally thought that I wasn’t going to like it because of the consistency and because of the price, but my skin tone has definitely evened out since using it. I often have difficulty with spots and redness and this has helped so much. Because it doesn’t have anti-aging properties, I will probably continue to use my Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair as well. In fact, I might actually start using the Estee Lauder at night and use Caudalie during the day.

While I was there, I also got sucked in by the Sephora facemasks. They’re so bright and colorful that I couldn’t resist. This time I picked up the pomegranate sleeping mask. The only kind of odd thing (that I didn't know until I got it home) is that it seems like it's a bit of a jelly texture. This should be interesting as a mask and I’m really looking forward to trying it out as it says it’s supposed to awaken your skin and is only $4. 

I’ve been trying to be better about using up candles, so I haven’t purchased many lately. I used up a bunch of my winter ones and a few of my more summery ones, so I finally allowed myself to buy new ones with their $10 off candle sale. I also had a coupon for $10 off of $30 which made my candles only $10 a piece.

One of my favorite candles is the Love, Heart, & Flowers candle. Unfortunately, it was limited edition and I only purchased 2 at the time. Last year, since they didn’t bring back the Love candle, I bought the Baja Cactus Flower candle and fell in love. This year, I went with the intentions to repurchase the newly renamed Cactus Flower and to find a candle as similar to the Love candle as possible. After smelling almost every candle in the shop, I came to the conclusion that Endless Weekend was as lose as I could possibly get. It has a slight sunscreen smell which I greatly enjoy.

Well, that’s it for my mini-haul! Did you purchase any items at the Sephora sale?

Supergirl, Volume 1: Reign of The Cyborg Super-Men

By: Steve Orlando
Published Year: 2017
Publisher:
Pages:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads):

First Impressions

I am a big fan of the CW superhero shows including Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC Legends of Tomorrow. It’s totally nerdy but they are great. And the Flash (and Wolverine) have always been my favorite superheroes. I got really excited when I saw that this was available for review.

What I thought

I’m very confused. I know that DC has completed a lot of rebirth comics because of this resurgence in comic book character interest. I have read a Flash reboot comic and I really enjoyed it. This one, however, I felt completely like I was thrown into the middle of a world I which I only knew the main character.

Comic books are always a bit different to review, but I will try my best. The drawings and the colors were beautiful. Visually I really enjoyed this story. I wish I could’ve enjoyed the story as much.

Considering that this is called a rebirth I didn’t think I would be lost or feel like I was in the middle of an already started story. Instead, it seemed like Supergirl (at some previous point unknown to the reader) lost her powers and in the first scene, flew into the sun to get them back. Then from there she is assigned to the Danvers to be a part of their family. Maybe I allowed my show knowledge to influence my comic book knowledge too much, but I was a bit perplexed as to why she would only be assigned parents at this point in her life.

I think that because of the confusion, I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I thought that I would. I also wasn’t crazy about the Supe-Men Cyborgs as a villain and I think that made a difference too

If you’re a Supergirl fan, I think you will enjoy this. It wasn’t as if it was starting over from the very beginning, so I think already fans will appreciate that. New fans, or fans who are new to the books but not to the show will probably be confused like I was. I liked the updated drawings, but I don’t think I will read any more of the Supergirl Rebirth comics. I much preferred the Flash ones.

The Glittering Court

By: Richelle Mead
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 400

Amazon Barnes & Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…

                                                           First Impressions
 
How gorgeous is this cover?? Added to the fact that I enjoyed Richelle Mead’s previous two series (The Vampire Academy and Bloodline) this book became an immediate addition to my TBR. I didn’t even read the summary. In fact, ebook version went on sale for $1.99 and I bought it, still without reading the summary.

                                                           What I thought

The biggest feeling that I’m left with is that I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I had read it 2-3 years ago. I’ll elaborate why I feel that way throughout the review.

The Glittering Court is about a society that seems very much like it’s set in the 1800s. There is a main country where Lady Elizabeth is a Countess and then there are other states/towns/countries that are being developed and seem much like the Wild West. Jasper Thorn has created a business with his brother where they find women of no means and train them for a year to become noble women. Once their training is completed, the women are shipped to the New World where they are put on show to up and coming men. Lady Elizabeth’s family has been struggling with money, so her grandmother arranges a marriage with a suitor. Elizabeth doesn’t like the suitor at all, so as a result she decides she’s going to trade places with her Lady’s Maid and run off to the Glittering Court and marry someone new in the New World.

While that is the general summary, there is a lot more that happens that I don’t want to describe as it would give things away. This is the first book of a series, but it’s not a part 1, part 2, part 3 series. The first book is told from Lady Elizabeth/Adelaide’s perspective while the second book will follow the same timeline but be told from Mira’s (another Glittering Court character) perspective. I believe the third book will then be told, again, along the same timeline, but from Tamlin’s perspective. I have a bit of a love/hate with this format. I think it’s great that if I wanted to, I could stop reading the series now and now feel like I was missing out/not getting an ending. I also think it leads to less chance of a letdown with book 3 of a trilogy. The issue that I have with this format is that there are glaring chunks of information left out for the benefit of being told in future stories.

This book is a bit reminiscent of The Selection in some aspects, but it doesn’t have the dystopian society aspect. The issues that this society are dealing with are very much just because they are starting their societies. A few years ago I was very into dystopian/society building novels and as of late, I haven’t been as into them. I think that part of that played into my apathy towards this story. it seemed like I was reading while thinking “yeah, yeah, I know that is going to happen because that’s how these types of stories. When is ____ going to happen?” and so forth. Whereas when I was at the pique of my interest with these types of novels I think I would’ve just been engrossed and not thinking about that. There was also a love interest that I enjoyed, but never felt the chemistry jumping off the page. In fact, I almost wrote this review without even mentioning the love story because it just didn’t stick with me! (Not on purpose, I just didn’t think about it in terms of the important things you would need to know before reading this book)

Another issue that I have with this story is that it seems like three completely different plots. Plot 1 is the Glittering Court training, which in my opinion was way too quick. They were supposedly trained for a year but this was barely a part of the book. I would’ve enjoyed more time spent on this part of the story, not only because I think it’s interesting, but because I think it would’ve allowed for more development of the relationships between characters. Adelaide calls Tamlin and Mira her best friends and I kind of stopped and thought “wait, she just met them?” but in actuality it had been 8 months! Plot 2 is the process of picking the husbands in the New World, and then Plot 3 is very Wild West centered.

In summary, I have some mixed up feelings about this book. While it wasn’t a book I felt like I couldn’t put down (in fact I did put it down for a day or 2 without picking it up), I enjoyed the overall story. I neither loved or hated this book and I think that leaves me a bit confused. 
 

I think that if you enjoy Wild West/Royal Court/Society Building types of story (like The Selection or like the TV show Reign), then you would enjoy this book. It’s nothing completely new, but definitely a solid story for the type of novel that it is. I think that I will end up reading the next books, if only because I think I will be more invested after having spent so much time with the characters and will, therefore, enjoy the future stories more. It also seems as though Adelaide has the most boring of plot lines, so the next two books might be more page turners. 
 

Play! By Sephora April 2017

Play! By Sephora is a monthly subscription box by Sephora. It costs $10 a month and you received 5 beauty and skincare samples plus a perfume sample each month. Previously, you needed to put yourself onto a wait-list and wait to receive an email before you could subscribe, as they were rolling it out to limited quantities.

In addition to the products, Sephora includes a booklet that includes information about the product, the brand, and then tips of how to use the products. Also at the back of the book is a Play! PASS. This Pass gives you a complimentary one-on-one session with a Sephora artist as well as an extra 50 Beauty Insider points when you scan the pass at the register with any purchase. If you have the Sephora app, you can also scan the images of the products to learn more about them.

When the subscription first started, it seemed as though everyone received the same box. Lately, it seems as though they have a handful of box varieties that everyone receives based on the survey you fill out at the beginning and their theme. This month’s theme is Step It Up.

As a heads up, the boxes are a little bit larger and will not fit into a small apartment sized mailbox. For reference, a Birchbox box is able to fit almost perfectly into my mailbox, but this one has no chance. Therefore, I’ve started having it shipped to my parent’s house so I don’t have to go to the Post Office.

The product I received this month were as follows:

Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream (Full-Size $52)

I love getting moisturizers in these boxes! It’s so much fun to try different formulas. This one is lightweight and is said to provide deep hydration as well as lock in moisture. It claims to lock in moisture for up to 72 hours which will be interesting. It doesn’t have a scent, which I like but it’s a bit of that silicone texture so we’ll see how that works. I typically prefer cream moisturizers but I’m looking forward to trying this one.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Face Cleanser (Full-Size $24)

The only other Philosophy product I’ve used is the Hope moisturizer. I didn’t mind it but my husband hated the scent. Like, without prompting, gave me a kiss on the cheek and visibly reacted to the scent asking what the heck I had on my face. I’m not super crazy about the scent of this cleanser, but we’ll give it a try. Sometimes the scents don’t linger and it is meant to be gentle and soothing, so I will give it a chance.

Smashbox Iconic Photo Finish Foundation Primer (Full-Size $36)

Ugh… I don’t need any more primers! I feel like these boxes have been heavy on the primers lately and I just don’t use them. While I appreciate that primers help your makeup to stay on longer and apply smoothly, I don’t like the silicone texture. It also tends to break out my skin, so I avoid them. I’m sure that if there is a good primer then it is one make by Smashbox. Unfortunately I will be passing this one on.

Makeup Forever Aqua XL Eye Pencil (Full-Size $21)

Waterproof black eye pencils are always nice to have! This is a great staple for summer and I’m excited to try it. Only weird thing is that I cannot get the cap off of my sample to try it. I will have to play around with it and if I cannot get the cap off, I will have to contact customer service and see if they can help me.

Sephora Collection Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover (Full-Size $11)

This is one of those separated oil based eye makeup removers that you’re supposed to shake before using. While I find them effective, they often irritate my eyes. This one also claims to strengthen lashes with olive wood extracts, so that should be interesting. It also states that the cornflower extract is meant to soothe lashes, so we’ll see if my eyes are irritated by this remover or not. 

Miu Miu L'Eau Bleue (Full-Size $90)

The notes of this perfume sample are lily of the valley, wild rose, and akigalawood. It's an interesting scent. I don't think I'm crazy about it. I feel like I'm learning that I'm pickier about scents than I first ever thought that I was. It has a sharpness to it that I don't really like (I think maybe from the rose?). It could end up being a good scent to layer with another one. I think a lot of people will like this one, but it's just not my thing.