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This Secret We're Keeping
This Secret We're Keeping
Rebecca Done | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

A pupil and a teacher. Is it ever right to break the rules?</i> This is the dilemma which debut author Rebecca Done basis her novel on. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is set seventeen years after a maths teacher began an inappropriate relationship with a schoolgirl; but did he really deserve what happened to him, after all he loved her and she loved him?

Jess has never got over her love for the teacher she ran away with when she was fifteen. Although she has got her life together: living in Norfolk, freelance catering business, a rich boyfriend; she cannot help but think back to way Mr. Landley, Matthew, made her feel. Suddenly, after a chance encounter, Matthew is back in her life with a new name, Will, and a girlfriend and daughter. Delighted to see each other again, it is not long before they fall back into their illicit affair, however the potential consequences are almost as bad as the previous time.

<i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> causes the reader to question strong personal beliefs, primarily whether a teacher-student relationship is as wrong as it sounds. If certain events in this novel were to be made public through the media, the majority would instantly hate Matthew, deem him a paedophile, and be satisfied with his punishment. However on reading the situation from his point of view, initial opinions begin to crumble. It appears he genuinely loved Jess, and she him; there were no abusive occurrences, and it was Jess that instigated the relationship in the first place. Did Matthew truly deserve to go to prison for something that would have been legal in a year’s time?

Matthew/Will’s narrative helps to show that it is virtually impossible to pinpoint a single moment that changes a life forever. At which point did he know that he had stepped over the line from right to wrong? In hindsight it is fairly obvious, but at the time the warning signs are not so clear.

Due to the challenging of preset judgments, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> can often be difficult to read. Whilst on the one hand logic will be screaming, “This is wrong!” Done plays with her readers’ sentimentalities to consider the other side of the argument. As the novel progresses it becomes easier to fall in line with Jess and Matthew/Will’s viewpoints, however a brief interaction towards the end forces readers to temporarily reconsider their forgone conclusion. After all, how much can a first person narrative really be trusted?

Having read the blurb I admit I was a bit wary about reading this book. For one, it falls under the genre of Chick Lit, which I am not all that fond of, but secondly the book’s theme appeared rather controversial. On the whole, <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> was much better than I was anticipating, however I began to lose interest towards the end as nothing much had changed throughout the present day chapters, and it was already obvious how the past narrative would pan out. The ending is also frustratingly ambiguous, as we never find out whether either of the key characters gets a “happy ever after.”

If you are someone who enjoys Chick Lit, do not let the themes of the book put you off. <i>This Secret We’re Keeping</i> is essentially a romance story, one that is written remarkably well for a first time author. Rebecca Done will be a name to look out for in the world of contemporary literature.
  
Never Saw You Coming
Never Saw You Coming
Hayley Doyle | 2020 | Contemporary
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
slow beginning (0 more)
So Zara, who's a bit of a go getter, flies halfway across the world from Dubai to London (and then buys a third/fourth hand car so she can drive to Liverpool!) all so she can meet the guy she's been chatting with for months believing he could be "the one". But things don't turn out so well.
Then there's Jim, he's working a dead end job and can't seem to catch a break. Until he wins a car via a radio station giveaway and it changes his life.

The first half of this book was probably only 2 stars for me. It was rather slow and a bit of an info dump of flashbacks and now as we got to know our characters and figure out where their heads were at. I kept putting it down and doing other things because it just wasn't grabbing my attention that much.
The second half got a little more exciting as Jim and Zara travelled the country together, getting to know each other as they spent hours in vehicles. I was willing them on, both to get where they were going and at one point - to possibly get together. It was still a little slow going, though.

I did like Jim's cast of friends. They were resourceful and quite a good laugh.

I like how this is set in the UK. Most of the books I usually read tend to be set in the USA so this was a nice change. The way it was written was exactly how some of us talk here. It was a nice change.

I do like a good bit of chick-lit but I prefer them more along the lines of Paige Toon and Jo Watson where the characters are more obviously into each other and the romance blossoms quickly but this is still a good read if you really like the genre.
  
Gypsy Blood (All The Pretty Monsters #1)
Gypsy Blood (All The Pretty Monsters #1)
Kristy Cunning | 2020 | Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
193 of 200
Kindle
Gypsy Blood ( All the pretty monsters book 1)
By Kristy Cunning

 
I'm not all that special, really. Or uncommon. I'm sure there are a lot of girls with old gypsy blood who see the dead, have killer cults hunting their family, and turn into something that gets scary when they panic. Yep. Completely unoriginal, if I do say so myself.
Move along. Nothing to see here. Nope. I'm just an ordinary girl.

I wish people would believe that.

I've been labeled as one thing or another for most of my life:
Death Girl.
Crazy Gypsy Girl.
Gothic Chick.
Monster...

It took my mother's death for me to finally start getting answers about what's really been going on. Unfortunately, most of the answers come from men...who aren't just men. Somehow, I've gone and landed myself in a world truly filled with monsters, and I'm starting to think this is where I should have been all along.

Only...I don't understand what's going on. I'm walking into the middle of a story that's thousands of years old, and I'm the new girl on the block who doesn't have a clue how this world even works. My only guides happen to be the most lethal of the bunch.

They decide who lives or dies. They decide who gets stabbed or tortured.
Yeah...

I've gone and drawn attention to myself, and the ones paying attention are the ones everyone else seems to fear.

How do these things always happen to me?


I didn’t know what to except but found myself totally involved! I love the idea of these alphas and I love her Gypsy powers and how she still has so much to learn! We get to learn with her because this is written so you want to keep going! Anna her ghost is so bloody funny I laughed quite a bit woke my husband several times from sleep! I do think Ace was a bit obvious and she was a bit stupid there but now things get a bit more interesting
  
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
1968 | Horror

"Night of the Living Dead was one I saw with my dad. I was 18 years old. It scared the s— out of me. I think my dad and I had to sleep together that night. [laughs] I said, “No, that’s it. I don’t care how big I am!” And what I loved about it, too, was how [George] Romero could just take this film, and do it clearly on a budget, and yet make it work, have this sort of tongue-in-cheek humor with it. So part of what, I think, attracted me to the films I mentioned was not just the films themselves, but how they were made, what they meant politically, on all levels. I’m attracted to all those films that, in a way, engaged us across cultures. So, you look at Night of the Living Dead and you put these people in the 1960s in this pressure cooker, and one of them is the black guy, one of them is the white guy, one of them is the chick, and the brother and sister, and you see what happens. The unspoken subtext of it was huge. It was huge, it was revolutionary. Mutiny on the Bounty was the same thing. And even in films like Redemption Road, where I’ll take the black guy, and he’s the one who’s into country and western, and the white guy, he’s the one who’s into blues, and both of them, along the way, are going to encounter music that informs their personal narrative, and it also informs the musicality of the film. So, along the way they pick up some blues, some gospel, some jazz, and that feeds into the song they play at the end of the movie, the sort of redemptive song. So I think those movies actually speak to what I’m attracted to in film. I just like something that, on some level, even if it’s a horror film, is interesting and redemptive and makes you think."

Source
  
Innocent: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel
Innocent: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel
Taylor Stevens | 2011 | Thriller
6
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Vanessa Michael Munroe is one serious chick and one you don't want to mess with. When her best friend, Logan asked her for help locating his daughter, who had been taken from her mother and brought back to the cult they had grown up in, she is eager to help. She has the skill set to get the job done. Logan, along with other member of the cult, The Chosen, help with the background information to help Munroe infiltrate the Havens. Will she be able to find the girl before she is discovered? Will the ex-Chosen members use their own agendas and compromise the mission?

This is the second Vanessa Michael Munroe book I have read and the second in the series. She is a strong woman and I would not like to cross her bad side at all. She is the type of person you want to make sure you always keep on your side. She is small, but powerful and can make the strongest man, cry like a baby. This book definitely sent me on a roller coaster ride. Set mostly in Argentina, the adventure begins from the start of the book. After Logan approaches Vanessa for this mission, she dives right into it. She doesn't questions anything, she is just there to help a friend and will stop at nothing to complete the request. Inserting herself into the cult, with the promise of a healthy monetary contribution, Munroe, finds the girl and then has to plan how to remove her without them both being hurt. Once the plan is in motion, there is no turning back.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Waiting to find out if Munroe is really as good as she claims to be. I would like to read all of the books in this series, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to read them in order the way I would prefer to do, but I am enjoying them none the less. I still haven't discovered what makes her tick and decide to learn the skills that she has, but I can't wait to find it out.
  
As soon as this book became available, I made sure to pick it up from the library. Since I'm a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, of course Amber Benson was a big draw and I was curious about her writing ability. Not to mention this is the type of book I like to read regardless of who wrote it.

Ms. Benson is a capable writer, but she tends to over describe when it's really not necessary. The story matter and the whole world she created was very interesting, but throughout the book, I felt there was something missing. The main character, Callie, is okay - I didn't hate her, but I didn't love her either. I guess I'm just tiring of the same old twenty- and thirty-somethings in chick-lit-esque books that seem to pop up ad nauseum these days. I just don't understand or relate to "women" who are very ditzy, but still manage to save the day and/or end up with the guy, complain all the time, and lust after every cute guy that comes within a 50-foot radius of them. Not to mention, why are these protagonists always surrounded by pretty, perfect people that make them look even more inferior? That's not totally relatable. Maybe I'm getting older or more mature, or maybe it was just how I felt when I read it. Who knows for sure? Of all the characters, Kali was my favorite, she was pretty cool and brought some spice to the story.

Overall, the book was a fairly easy read and I do think I'll check out the second in the series to see how it progresses (and hope it shakes some of the first entry's jitters off and is more solid). I would recommend that if you're interested in reading this to get it at the library first, or else find it used.

Minor quibble: I don't know who picked the cover, but it's not how I picture Callie at all and it's rather sucky. Hopefully, the second book will improve not just in content. ;P
  
The Innocent
The Innocent
Harlan Coben | 2005 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
6
8.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Vanessa Michael Munroe is one serious chick and one you don't want to mess with. When her best friend, Logan asked her for help locating his daughter, who had been taken from her mother and brought back to the cult they had grown up in, she is eager to help. She has the skill set to get the job done. Logan, along with other member of the cult, The Chosen, help with the background information to help Munroe infiltrate the Havens. Will she be able to find the girl before she is discovered? Will the ex-Chosen members use their own agendas and compromise the mission?

This is the second Vanessa Michael Munroe book I have read and the second in the series. She is a strong woman and I would not like to cross her bad side at all. She is the type of person you want to make sure you always keep on your side. She is small, but powerful and can make the strongest man, cry like a baby. This book definitely sent me on a roller coaster ride. Set mostly in Argentina, the adventure begins from the start of the book. After Logan approaches Vanessa for this mission, she dives right into it. She doesn't questions anything, she is just there to help a friend and will stop at nothing to complete the request. Inserting herself into the cult, with the promise of a healthy monetary contribution, Munroe, finds the girl and then has to plan how to remove her without them both being hurt. Once the plan is in motion, there is no turning back.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Waiting to find out if Munroe is really as good as she claims to be. I would like to read all of the books in this series, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to read them in order the way I would prefer to do, but I am enjoying them none the less. I still haven't discovered what makes her tick and decide to learn the skills that she has, but I can't wait to find it out.
  
The Innocent (VMM #2)
The Innocent (VMM #2)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Vanessa Michael Munroe is one serious chick and one you don't want to mess with. When her best friend, Logan asked her for help locating his daughter, who had been taken from her mother and brought back to the cult they had grown up in, she is eager to help. She has the skill set to get the job done. Logan, along with other member of the cult, The Chosen, help with the background information to help Munroe infiltrate the Havens. Will she be able to find the girl before she is discovered? Will the ex-Chosen members use their own agendas and compromise the mission?

This is the second Vanessa Michael Munroe book I have read and the second in the series. She is a strong woman and I would not like to cross her bad side at all. She is the type of person you want to make sure you always keep on your side. She is small, but powerful and can make the strongest man, cry like a baby. This book definitely sent me on a roller coaster ride. Set mostly in Argentina, the adventure begins from the start of the book. After Logan approaches Vanessa for this mission, she dives right into it. She doesn't questions anything, she is just there to help a friend and will stop at nothing to complete the request. Inserting herself into the cult, with the promise of a healthy monetary contribution, Munroe, finds the girl and then has to plan how to remove her without them both being hurt. Once the plan is in motion, there is no turning back.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Waiting to find out if Munroe is really as good as she claims to be. I would like to read all of the books in this series, and unfortunately, I haven't been able to read them in order the way I would prefer to do, but I am enjoying them none the less. I still haven't discovered what makes her tick and decide to learn the skills that she has, but I can't wait to find it out.