Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

About This Book:
Goodreads Summary
📌Stand-Alone: 
📌Release Date: April 24, 2018
📌Format: Hardcover
📌Setting: Sand Lake, ?
📌Page Count: 359
📌Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
📌Date(s) Read: 9/24-9/25/19
📌Rating:   Book:  3.5/5   Audio:  4/5  Narrator(s): Bailey Carr

☼Contemporaryathon Round 5:
    Book with Yellow on the Cover

My Rambles:

First heard of Siobhan Vivian when I heard of Burn for Burn, a book she co-wrote with Jenny Han. I gave that book a 2/5 stars. Maybe one day, I will try again. Well, I said that to say, not liking that book, I wasn't sure if it was her end I didn't like or not because I had not long come off of reading The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and loved those but at the same time, I know that it could have been like many cases that I will love a book or series from an author then not like their other books. So, that is why I was nervous about this book when I first started it.

Did it prove me right? Or, did it prove me wrong? 

It actually did prove me wrong. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought it would. As I am typing this, I still have just under an hour and a half in the audio book. Some immature moments at some points but I guess even as an adult, we have immature moments. As frustrating as it was in the immature moments, it was I still was hopeful things worked out..which most of the time, in contemporary books, they do..not always as happily as we like but it still works out.

How did some things work out in this case though?...Well....

Of course it did! 😂

I like the mushy, mostly happily ever after stories in my contemporary romances. My life has enough rough patches that just make me want to scream, cry, anxious and depressed so I definitely do not seek out those things in books.

This book started off as a 2.5-2.75 stars and ended up with a 3.5 stars. If I choose later to take it up or down, well, I guess I can always come back here and on goodreads to do so. 

So, I am glad that I was able to get past the parts I wasn't really interested in to be able to finish this book. 


I read a few reviews when I first started this because the dates on some things were confusing for me at first and on one of the reviews, I read a relationship seemed forced..I didn't get that when I was reading it. Not at all. 

This is a book that I am really glad I gave a chance...Rough patches and all! 

Well, I guess it's time to put this one to the side since I am done & try to start my next one for this readathon. 

Happy Reading! 

Bridget

Trick-or-Treat-a-thon

This is a month long readathon that will take place in October (Evidently☝🏾..lol)

I will add all links and the video to the creator (Meoples) of the readathon. And all of my social media is linked above.

The link for information is Here (including the Reading and Social Challenges that will also be in the blog)

Sign Up  (linked) for ToT-athon will be open until September 1st.

You can choose a team (below) and the way prompts should be done.

The video will be linked below as well. She can explain it better than I am right now.

I will show any books I read in my wrap up.

I hope to see more there during the readathon and that we all have a ton of fun!



Happy Reading!

Bridget

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Here are the challenges & what each Team's challenges:

Challenges

Reading Challenges: 25 pts each - Cannot be combined.

1. Costume Party: Read the group book: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
2. Monster Mash: Read a book that has your team mascot in it
3. Fall Foliage: Read a book with fall colors on the cover (red, orange, yellow, or brown)
4. Spooky Hayride: Read a book that involves a trip or quest
5. Corn Maze: Read a book where someone gets lost and/or finds themselves
6. Black Cat: Read a book with an animal on the cover
7. Spider Webs: Read a book that gives you the heebie jeebies
8. Scary Movie: Read a book and watch the movie/tv show adaptation

Social Challenges

1. Post a video or blog about the ToTathon - 10 pts
2. Post your TBR list - 5 pts
3. Make a music playlist to go along with your TBR - 10pts
4. Insta challenges (5 total) - 5 pts each (25 pts total)
1. Secret Bookshelf Passageway: Post a shelfie (Sept 28 - Oct 4)
2. Jack-o-Lantern: Post a pic of your favorite book with *glowing* reviews (Oct 5 - 11)
3. Apple Orchard: Post a pic of your favorite series (Oct 12 - 18)
4. BOO!: Post a pic of your favorite spooky book (Oct 19 - 25)
5. Costume Time: Post a pic of yourself dressed up as a literary character (Oct 26 - Nov 1)

Trick-or-Treat!

Each team will also have an assigned Trick and Treat. Treats will give participants an advantage, whereas Tricks will make things a bit more… tricky.

Ghost:

Trick: Trapped Spirit: Ghosts must follow the prompt order (the Group Book may be inserted wherever you choose).

Treat: Transparent: Ghosts may start the readathon 3 days early (Sep 28th)

Vampire:

Trick: Creatures of the night: Vampires must read at least one book entirely at night or in the dark.

Treat: Speed: Vampires may choose one book to receive double points (Please enter this once you’ve finished that book, in the designated slot).

Witch/Wizard:

Trick: Spellbook: Witch/Wizards must read a book that contains 500+ pages

Treat: Abracadabra!: Witch/Wizards can transform any prompt into a book of their own choice.


                                                                           Video:

Always and Forever, Lara Jean (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #3) by Jenny Han

About This Book:
Goodreads Summary
📌Trilogy: #3 
📌Release Date: May 2, 2017
📌Format: Hardcover
📌Setting: Charlottesville, VA
📌Page Count: 325
📌Genre(s):YA, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary
📌Date(s) Read: 9/23-9/24/17 
📌Rating:   Book:  2.75/5   Audio:  4/5  Narrator(s): Laura Knight Keatings


Contemporaryathon Round 5:
☼ Diverse (She is bi-racial; Asian (Japanese if I remember correctly) & White)
☼ Plants on the cover (the thing on the back of her chair has flowers on it)My Rambles:

This book was good but not something I can say I really enjoyed as much as I did the first book. I'm kind of glad I didn't buy it because it may have gotten DNF'd otherwise. It was not bad at all, just not something I was into. Maybe one day, if I am in the mood to give it another try, I will. Maybe I will see it differently if I ever do reread it. I am grateful that I had an audio book to listen to. It made the book for me and made it easier for me to get through even though I thought about DNF'ing it even close to the end (the last 100 pages or so).

The "creating drama just to have drama" moments, kind of obvious in this book and the second. I really do wish I could have enjoyed this more. I think what annoyed me most throughout the entire trilogy was the little sister Kitty. She had no filter, at all and they rarely checked her for her mouth and let her know that she can't always say what's she speaking, sometimes, it's okay to just remain silent or at least think first before you speak. No, this isn't about being politically correct, it's about teaching maturity so as she get's older, she can know that you don't always have to spew the first thing you think, especially if you don't know the entire situation. Again, this all goes back to maturity. She is young, she doesn't have that yet, I get it but I just felt she was a bit much. My older son is the same way and I am still trying to teach him to think before he speaks. His mouth has gotten him into trouble with us and folks outside his family. It's okay to speak your mind but there comes a time, as I said, when you need to learn to hush. 

But, I digress. The book was just okay for me through most of it. Maybe as time goes by, I may think on some things, I may change my mind on it but I guess I thought the same thing about the second book as well. 

Of course, there were some good parts about it but I am not quite sure if it would be spoilerish or not so I will just say that some ended up being happy by the end of this book. And I was glad to finally see that.

Would I recommend it? Well, I would never sit here and tell people not to read anything because I know how picky I can be about the books I read and we as humans can be very different and enjoy different things. So, don't go by me, read it anyway and form your own opinion.

Happy Reading, 

Bridget

Nameathon Wrap up

So, it's the end of the readathon...How did I do?

B- Beautiful Cover:
     Tell The Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
R- International-Set in Europe or has a European Character:
     Doom With A View (Merry Ghost Inn #2) by Kate Kingsbury
E- Green on Cover:
     Eclair & Present Danger (An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery #1) by Laura Bradford
I-  International-Set in Europe or has a European Character:
     Doom With A View (Merry Ghost Inn #2) by Kate Kingsbury (my thoughts linked under 'R')

      ☝🏾(If I did a 'review', they're linked in the titles)☝🏾

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**I doubled up on these two because the letter "I" prompt asked for us to read a Royal Romance and the ones I knew about and read the synopsis for, I just wasn't in the mood for at the moment. So, I just decided to double up on and read the same book for both.

Doom with a View (Merry Ghost Inn #2) by Kate Kingsbury

About This Book:
Goodreads Summary
📌Series: #2 
📌Release Date: September 12, 2017
📌Format: Hardcover
📌Setting: Oregon
📌Page Count: 278
📌Genre(s): Cozy Mystery, Fiction
📌Date(s) Read: 9/20-9/21/19
📌Rating:   Book:  3/5   Audio:  4/5  Narrator(s): Tavia Gilbert

☼Nameathon:
   R & I: International-Set in Europe or has a European Character**
   (The grandmother is from England and moved to Oregon in the 1960's..like the author of the book)

My Rambles:

(Started typing this while I am still in the process of reading this book)

I didn't plan on going on to this book so quickly after reading the first one (August) but it fit this prompt so well and it automatically came to mind when I decided to do this prompt.

I don't know if the 'paranormal' cozies are my thing. I had one that a woman was turned into a vampire (Undead & Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson) that I just couldn't bring myself to read so I gave both books away. The vampire one had cursing in it (not just damn or hell either..I can deal with that if done right). I don't really like cursing in cozies personally. I really don't like a whole lot of it in my books period. If it shows up, I can deal with the minimum amount..but not on every other paragraph/throughout every bit of dialogue. I am not sure if I will ever get to the [vampire] book, if I decide to do so, I will try to find it at the library. What's funny? I curse! lol...But, the thing is, I try to tame it as much as possible.

But, I'm rambling again ...sorry....Well, maybe not so sorry....I mean, that is the name of my blog..I can be a 'rambler'.

How did I feel about A Doom with a View?

So far, this series is just okay for me. I must admit though, I think I like this one a bit more than the first.

As I stated, I'm not quite sure how I feel about paranormal cozies but I do believe I am willing to at least try ones that seem interesting. I honestly seem to prefer dessert cozies but I am always willing to give others a chance in hopes I find some other types of favorites.

This is the final book I read for the nameathon. Seeing that I finished a day early, I'll take a break from reading before the Contemporary-athon starts. So I won't be reading on Sunday.

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**I doubled up on this because I just wasn't feeling the Royal books that I looked up and seemed interesting and/or the ones I may have wanted to read, didn't have audio books for and I know there would have been a greater chance that I wouldn't finish them because I just don't have the patience to sit and read anymore. Hopefully that will change if/when I get out of this apartment I live in.

Eclair & Present Danger (An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery #1) by Laura Bradford

About This Book:
Goodreads Summary
📌Trilogy: #1
📌Release Date: June 7, 2016
📌Format:  Mass Market Paperback
📌Setting: Not Sure
📌Page Count: 280 (Including Recipes)
📌Genre(s): Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Romance
📌Date(s) Read: 9/18-9/20/19
📌Rating:   Book:  2.75/5   Audio:  4/5  Narrator(s): Vanessa Daniels

☼Nameathon: 
 E-Green on Cover

☼Seasonal Reading Challenge:Fall
 1st "E" in SeptemberMy Rambles:

This was another just okay/decent book. I didn't hate it or totally dislike it, it was just well...okay. 

Some of the characters were a bit too much. Wish I could say without possible spoilers. Especially if you are like me and prefer knowing very little going into a book. The smallest thing can spoil it. 

The writing wasn't bad at all. It kept me interested enough to keep me listening. I liked the narrator. I am not sure if there will be anymore books or not. Looks like it's just a trilogy right now. The last one coming out in 2018. Although I own this one, I will most likely donate some where or trading it in at 2nd & Charles and renting the other books from my library if they have them. 

I'd still recommend anyone to try it if they like cozy mysteries or just trying to get into them. There are many different types of cozies (food, sewing, clothing shops, hats, etc). Once you find what works for you, it becomes that much better. Or, you just might be one that likes many different areas of cozies. 

But, I don't have much more to say, so, I'll just hush here. 

Happy Reading, 

Bridget

Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

About This Book:
Goodreads Summary
📌Stand-Alone: 
📌Release Date: April 5, 2016
📌Format: Hardcover
📌Setting: New York 
📌Page Count: 360
📌Genre(s): Fantasy (Magic), YA, Retelling, Dystopian'ish
📌Date(s) Read: 9/16-9/17/19
📌Rating:   Book:  2.5/5   Audio:  4/5  Narrator(s): Lisa Larsen

☼Nameathon:
   B-Beautiful Cover

☼Popsugar Reading Challenge 2019:
   A Retelling of a Classic (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)
                                              (summary linked)
☼Seasonal Challenge: Fall
   "T" in September


My Rambles:

This book started off not all that great, went on as a not so great book. It got a tiny bit better when it hit about the 3 hours left mark (as you noticed, I listened to the audio book while following on -kind of- in the book. More to keep up with page count than anything or if I missed something and wanted to read over that part myself). 

The book isn't horrible it just wasn't my thing. I finished it to figure out what was going on and what the summary didn't say. And I wanted to know how things turned out. The characters were just okay. If you like Sarah Rees Brennan and haven't read this book, I would recommend you try it. I would tell anyone not to go by what I think because I can be a bit picky sometimes and what I don't like, others may love and vice versa. The one good thing about this book was the growth of at least a couple of characters. 

I am familiar with Brennan from the Shadowhunters Novellas so when I saw this book, I decided to pick it up and it came at a perfect time for this readathon because I found the cover to be beautiful. I saw the book before at the library but already had too many books at the time so just left it. When I went searching for more books at the library, it was still there. This is the first full novel I have read by her and I am somewhat willing to at least take a look at her other books and decide from there if I want to try any more of her books. 

Contemporaryathon (Round 5)

This is a week long readathon that I had fun doing the last time I did it. I was looking forward to this one to come around again and it comes in just over a week...

So, here are the prompts:

1. Read a 2019 release 2. Read a contemporary with yellow on the cover 3. Read a diverse contemporary (aim to read something outside of your own experience) 4. Read a contemporary with an illustrated cover 5. Read a dark / hard-hitting contemporary 6. Read a contemporary with plants on the cover 7. Read a contemporary that is beloved by a member of the book community (and shout out the creator!)

I will try to do as many as I can but the one book I have that was released in 2019 (The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen), is so slow paced that I just couldn't get into it and I only have the audio CD at this point so I can't speed it up. I may take it back to the library and try again when I can get the audio through one of the apps so I can speed it up. It's not bad, it's actually pretty good, just very slow paced as I said. Already in a slump so I need something a bit more fast paced to get me back into reading again. I took a week off from any serious reading for a week. I just read a nonfiction as I felt like reading.

Welp, rambled again....ahem....

So, I have some ideas of what I want to read for this but not much. And I am a mood reader so I like being able to just go by what I want at the moment. I have been trying to stick to TBR's for readathons the last couple of months and that has been a struggle for me and put me into slumps or close to it a couple times. This one should be a lot easier...It will help give me ideas where to go and pick up a book and I will probably push it in some areas...

For example, for "Read a book with plants on the cover"..if I decided I wanted to read "Always and Forever, Lara Jean ...there are flowers on something that is hanging off of her chair..and what looks like white flowers on her desk, next to a picture behind her....I would use that for this...

I will not be doing a TBR per say for this one...I will look into ones I think I might want to read for it and change my mind as I may need to...and push the boundaries as needed lol...Or, just do "extras" if nothing fits but I just want to read it.

But, I will share the announcement video below to get more information from chelseadollingreads (her channel linked).

So, see you next time...

Happy Reading,

Bridget

Nameathon

 This readathon is somewhat self explanatory, it's a readathon that you choose letters of your name to do the prompts. The video can explain it better than I can but you can use the letters of your name or nickname. If you have a blog or vlog, you can use the letters of that as well.

My name, as the blog says is Bridget. Name of the blog of course is Bridget's Book Ramblings. I could choose to use just my name or my blog name But both are a bit too long and I am in a bit of a slump so that makes it even harder for me to want to do my full name or blog name. Especially in a weeks time. My nickname and the way that I personally spell it is: B R E I ....Nope, my name isn't spelled like that..I could just use "BRI" but I just wanted it to be spelled differently when I decided how I wanted to spell my nickname over 20 years ago.

So, with that bit of a ramble over and hoping I made sense.

Now, I will put the video down below and in the description of that video are the links with the prompts for each letter. There are two prompts per letter and if I am not mistaken, you can double up but don't quote me on that.