Book Review: Tall Dark and Distant (Smitten) by Julie Fison

Goodreads Description: 

Full of love, romance and a whole heap of flirty fun, Smitten is a sexy new series. It will make you weak at the knees.

When Georgia meets Nik on her summer holiday, she’s sure he’s too good to be true. He’s gorgeous, with god-like abs and an adorable English accent. Then she discovers that he’s actually a member of an obscenely wealthy Russian family – and he wants to get to know her better. Nik catapults Georgia into a world of private yachts, fast cars and expensive jewellery. Having a billionaire for a boyfriend certainly comes with benefits … but it also comes with a price. How long will it take before life in the fast lane spins out of control?

 

 

Title: Tall Dark and Distant

Author: Julie Fison

Genre: Contemporary, YA, NA, Romance, Chick Lit, Mature YA

Format: Paperback

Pages: 236 page

Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont

Source: Purchased from Booktopia

Yay another smitten romance! Great fluffy romance to start my summer holidays! I breezed trough this and was just what I needed to recover from uni exams.

The book follows Georgia on vacation with her family in Noosa when she meets Nik on her morning run. The two turn from friends and running buddies to something more.

I have a love hate relationship with the character Georgia. On one hand I like her down to earth, smart and awkward personality though on the other hand she tend to make some really stupid and cringe worthy mistakes. As for Nik, I love the guy instantly! Swoon worthy, slightly mysterious, cheeky and charming. Nik comes from a wealthy family and has a dark past that I didn't expected.

The side characters were an okay cast but the one that stood out to me the most is Alice, Georgia's younger sister. Gosh that kid a piece of work as I've never hated a character this much till I read about Alice. Long story short, Alice is freaking annoying and gets kinda bratty when she does not get what she wants especially from Georgia and gets her revenge on her sister even if it means almost ruining Georgia and Nik's relationship.

I like Georgia and Nik's relationship! It was not exactly instalove but the romance was a good fast pace. This book also explores more on the emotional side of romance and boy was there some emotional roller coaster in this book.

The plot of the book was interesting and the plot twist was unexpected. Its a good 'regular girl falls for mysterious rich guy' sorta romance. Though the book started out really good but I find the ending of the book kinda lacking.

Overall its a sweet summer/vacation contemporary romance that will make you swoon, smile and giggle and you can read while relaxing around.

Book Review : Lust and Found (Smitten) by Julie Fison

Goodreads Description:

Cambodia is the last place in the world Sienna wants to visit. She likes five- star hotels and exercising her credit card in air-conditioned malls – not flea- ridden hostels and trekking through the jungle.

But when her brother Eddie starts sending strange messages from Cambodia, Sienna’s mum convinces her to go check on him. Thankfully, her boyfriend agrees to go along.

When they arrive, they discover that Eddie has disappeared. Sienna just wants to find him and get the hell out of there. Everything in Cambodia
is getting to her – the language barrier, the unrelenting humidity, the mosquitos. But mostly it’s Eddie’s maddeningly hot French friend, Guillaume, who couldn’t be more unhelpful if he tried..

 

Title: Lust and Found (Smitten)

Author: Julie Fison
Genre: Contemporary, YA, NA, Romance, Chick Lit, Mature YA
Pages: 234 pages
Source: Purchased at Dymocks 

So I mentioned in my review for Love Is The New Black by Chrissie Keighery that the Smitten Romance series is one of my favorite romance series and owe most of the books in the series.

I was recently at Dymocks and saw more Smitten books and decided to pick one that the synopsis caught my attention more.

The main reason why I picked this up was cause it's set in Cambodia and not many books I've read is set in Asia so I thought why not? It will be fun to read a book set in a sorta a familiar setting ( I'm from Asia btw :P)

Reading trough the story though I love the author's description of Cambodia. In fact she is spot on on describing the setting and atmosphere especially the humidity and trust me considering I was born and bred in Asia that is one thing I never appriciate... the weather (prefer Melb cooling Autumn/winter weather... sorry to the humidity in Asia??? lol)

 The characters were probably my least favorite of the book. While Sienna started out as a self-centered, dependent, spoil-brat, gold-digger (yes I said it!) that seriously made me cringe, she eventually learned to be independent, think for herself, care for others,and most importantly change for the better.

As for Daniel, the more I read about him the more I cringe as first off he is 10 years older than Sienna. I am okay with age but his characteristic just made me cringe more and more I read about him (eventually I almost chuck the book across the room). He does online poker for a living. He comes out as a very manipulative and self centered boyfriend and what I hated about him the most is the way he treats Sienna! Literally the more he talks and say 'she's mine', 'she belong to me' the more I just want to strangle the guy and say 'she is not an object! she is a person! and stop doubting her! etc'. Seriously that's no way to treat a girl/lady! I seriously think he's better off with a puppy than a girlfriend!
(okay rant over! in otherwords i hate his character with passion! lol)

Guillaume... well he started off as an okay character with a hint of mystery in him. Not the most swoon worthy guy but as you get to know more and more about him you can't help but smile at his silliness and cuteness. 

This book is fun and adventurous! Reading it reminds me a bit of home! Also the Angkor Wat is one of the few places I hope to visit in the next few years. While I was not a big of a fan of the cast of characters in the book, as the story developed I enjoyed development of  Sienna and Guillaume characters. Also the plot twist I didn't see coming till that very second the bomb drops! The way they found Sienna's brother Eddie was a mixture of 'THAT MAKES SENSE!" and "WTH OMGASDFJKL; NO WAY" and "Wait what?! O.o?!".
 

While Sianna's journey trough Cambodia was rough and the book have its highs and lows, the pacing is never dull and the ending is happy and satisfying. 

Anyway I like the book. A nice exotic adventure romance novel that I definitely recommend. In fact you can never go wrong with a Smitten Romance novel. Pick this up if you want to find a book set in Asia, a light quick read that you can definitely brows trough on your holidays with cute, funny and flirty romance that will make you happy.

I'll be reviewing more of the other Smitten Romance books that I so far owe in the next couple of weeks so subscribe for more reviews and stay tune!

 

 

Book Review : That Boy (That Boy #1) by Jillian Dodd

Goodreads Description :

That Boy is a contemporary romance about falling in love with the boys next door.

You know, being friends with two cute boys does have its benefits.

There's Danny. Danny is a golden boy in every way. He has dreamy blue eyes and blonde hair that always looks perfect, even when it’s windblown or been stuck under a football helmet. He’s the boy every girl crushes on. The boy I get into trouble with, the boy I fight with, the hot quarterback no girl can resist, not even me. Being with Danny is like being on an adventure. He has a bright, contagious smile and abs to die for. He’s pretty much irresistible.

Equally crush worthy is Phillip. Adorable, sweet Phillip, who I have known since birth.  Phillip has dark hair, a perfect smile, brown eyes, and the sexiest voice I have ever heard. He’s the boy I talk to every night before I go to sleep. The boy who rescues me, the boy who can read my mind, the boy who is always there for me, the boy who tries to keep me out of trouble, the boy who irritatingly keeps getting hotter, and whose strong arms always seem to find their way around me.  And when he gives me that grin, I can never say no.

One boy will give me my very first kiss.
One boy will teach me to make out.
One boy will take me to prom.
And finally, one boy will ask me to marry him.
They will both be my best friends.
But only one of them will be the boy I fall in love with.
Only one of them is That Boy.

Title: That Boy (That Boy #1)
Author: Jillian Dodd
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit, NA , Mature YA
Mature YAFormat: eBook
Pages:-
Source: Free off iBooks

Where do I begin.... ?!?!

Okay so I'm a fan of Jillian Dodd's The Keatyn Chronicles which I've read all the books that are so far publish so when I saw 'That Boy' on iBooks for free I had to download it!

The book is written in a diary style with cute doodles/illustrarion following JJ (Jadyn James) Reynolds from childhood till early adulthood along with her two best friend Phillip and Danny, both described as the "hot boys next door". 

We follow JJ's life is filled with fun happy times that brings a smile to your face as well as sad tragic times which could literally pull your heart strings. I like reading her monologue which is  a bit dramatic its mostly laugh out loud funny and at times adorable!

I love the characters especially our main trio. JJ's strong, tough, sarcastic, happy-go-lucky, competitive, down-to-earth and witty characteristic made me love her from page one. Yes she tends to not make some bad choices trough the book but she eventually resolves them. I also love how she has many characteristics! One moment she is just one of the guys playing football (or should I say strip football *wink *wink) and the next she's just one of the girls though she hates shopping and at times need's a girlfriends advice on what to wear for a date. I could relate with her in a lot of aspect and at the end of the book I literally want to jump into the book to ask her to be my best friend!

Phillip and Danny are total opposite guys but are equally swoon worthy! Heck even I had a tough time choosing which guy is THAT BOY!

Danny's the golden boy, quarterback on the football team, the jock that all the girls swoon over! He's fun-loving. loyal, freaking hilarious, flirty, sexy and gahhhhh just freaking amazing! Though he has the playboy sorta lifestyle he treats girls with respect (which he better since JJ did teach him a painful lesson about girls when they were kids). Although they didn't click well when they first meet, its nice to see them grow closer trough as they grow older and that they are both really similar.

Phillip is just down right preciously adorable and a freaking sweet heart!!! where can I get one??? 

Though he can be a 'bit' bossy, strict, conservative, and uptight. he's freaking sweet, sensible, always-there-for-you Prince Charming, who knows and understand JJ better than anyone since they have been friends since birth! He's been there trough every moment of JJ's life and is there to rescue, help, support, protect and be there for JJ no matter what. I literally melt the more I read about him as even as friends he is super protective on JJ and they just have this bond that they can't see but others can! 

The friendship between the trio is realistic and its heart warming watching them grow from childhood till adult hood. Also the parents and friends in the book were amazing to read as well! My favorite supporting characters are JJ's Dad which some of the more tender moments are between JJ and her Dad, Lori who is JJ's sorority sister and best friend from college as well as Phillips  mum!

The story got me hook from page one as I want to know who is 'That Boy'! Trough the book you'll go trough a roller coaster of snap shots of JJ's life of first dates, a heart wrenching tragedy, kissing 101, college life, friendship and most importantly finding 'That Boy'.

This book is ridiculously sweet and adorable and though there were times I was grinning like crazy there were some times where I felt overwhelming feels thanks to a freaking plot twist that I seriously didn't see coming! Also this book may have a 'love triangle' element but its love triangle in a diffrent way which is nice and refreshing and most importantly NOT ANNOYING! As for the romance aspect of finding out who is 'That Boy' when you do you'll be one of those who jumps in the air and screams FINAL-FLIPPING-LY and promise you that you'll be satisfied with 'THAT BOY'. 

Also the line 'That Boy' is mentioned quiet a number of times and while reading I highlighted ever single time the word 'That Boy' was mentioned and there is a variety of ways its mention (just checked iBook search and found its mentioned atleast 36 times :P) like 'I give that boy a mad face', 'I hate that boy' and my personal favorite ' WHERE THE *&%# IS THAT BOY?' which literlly made me laugh for a good 10 minute straight!

Gosh I say 'THAT BOY" so much in this post that if Riley from the Keatyn Chronicles was here I would have taking shots every time i see the word 'That Boy' trough out the book! lolz:P

 I can't believe this was Jillian Dodd's debut novel! I always thought it was the Keatyn Chronicles that came first. Anyways I love this book to pieces and was super happy and satisfied with the ending! Happy, fun, emotional goodreads with an amazing cast of characters that I grew to love and care for and a realistic storyline! Definitely give this book a go if you like contemporary romance/ chick lit and also check out Jillian Dodd's other series Keatyn Chronicles.

Also check out the author's website

I just finish the sequel 'The Wedding' which a review should be up really soon. Till then SOMEONE HAND ME THE NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES!!!

  

Which team are you on? Team Danny or Team Phillip?

*Team Phillip ALL THE WAY!!! (But I also like Danny ;P)