About a month ago, we were able to interview author Ashley Breanne and feature her on our sister site, Hearthandhomebuddies.com. In our chats, one of the things she mentioned was that she wrote this story called The Rebound, a YA/Teen story and that it was on Goodnovel.
According to Ashley, The Rebound: The Wrong Cinderella’s Story was the first book she published on Goodnovel. This got me curious. The first book of hers that I read was The Alpha’s Girl and I liked that a lot! So, I checked it out on Goodnovel and discovered it is only 66 chapters. I can do that. I can spare the coin for that.
From page one I was transfixed. What a fun story! It is one of those that I wish was made into a movie. It is definitely going to be a teen flick and, yes, it is most definitely a Cinderella story with a twist.
But what I liked most about this story are two things. First, Caleb may be the golden boy of the school since he is the quarterback, but he isn’t a manwhore. As a matter of fact, Violet is only the second woman he has even been intimate or in a relationship with. Awwwwww!
Second, Violet is not a damsel in distress, nor is she popular. She also isn’t bullied or bookish, etc. If she were to fall under any stereotype it would probably be a loner with only one friend. But then again, she didn’t have any problem making friends with Caleb or his best friend so it is obvious that she isn’t a social recluse.
The banter … the banter is what got me. “Listening” to them was just precious! The teenage girl inside me was giggling a lot at their interactions.
I give this book all digits up, not just my thumbs. It is an easy read and very light-hearted. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I have. 🙂
Crush On My Best Friend’s Alpha Dad by Luxie landed in my inbox as a recommendation, and I decided to try it. The author has just started writing it, showing great potential so far. I get the age gap romance; it happens a lot, especially when we talk about a man who was widowered early and looks like Patrick Dempsey in Grey’s Anatomy, aka McDreamy.
Her characters, CJ and Lenora, make decisions that I find questionable but, at the same time, make delicious drama that moves the story forward.
CJ finds himself attracted to Lenora, so why in the world would he kiss her sister, Esme?
Esme knew about how Lenora felt about CJ, so why would she kiss CJ in the first place? Is this a reflection of how much she doesn’t care for CJ or how much she wants him for herself?
After catching them in the kiss and being hurt by their betrayal, why would Lenora decide to agree to become a girlfriend to someone she wasn’t even a little attracted to or, at least, could relate to?
So far, in the story (I am 41/45 chapters in) CJ’s being an Alpha wolf has no bearing. At the moment, it is all about Lenora’s unresolved feelings. I’m really curious to see where this story will go.
There are some grammatical issues that are forgivable (for now) that I hope the author will go back to fix, but overall, this has been engaging. If there is anything major I would ask the author to change, it would probably be the title. Not only is it a mouthful and unnecessarily confusing, it is also “spoilerish” because without even opening the book we know the dad’s a werewolf.
But see, here is where it gets confusing. CJ is the dad of Lenora’s best friend, Mariselle. At the same time, CJ is also friends with Lenora’s dad. So, would it be better to say “Crush on my Dad’s Best Friend” or stay with “Crush on my Best Friend’s Dad”?
I still think “Alpha” could be removed from the title. Without it, learning he is an Alpha becomes a gem we discover in the story. This, by the way, raises the question … where is his pack and why aren’t he and Mariselle in it?
Now that I’ve whet your curiosity, you can find Crush On My Best Friend’s Alpha Dad by Luxie on the Goodnovel app and read it for yourself.
When I started to read My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana after my sister started talking to me about it. It’s a young adult/teen romance, and, from the way my sister was talking about it, it seemed like a fairly innocent high school romance between the most popular guy in school who has possibly slept with every other female in school, and the quiet, reserved girl who hates him for being a man-whore.
While chatting, I picked up my phone, looked it up on Goodnovel, and added it to my library to check it out myself.
I can tell you this much right now, while it needs some editing, it is well-written enough that I can be forgiving. I confess that a big pull for me is the fact that Zara, the female lead, is snarky and independent. On the other hand, Harper is highly sexed and is dealt a mighty blow on his 18th birthday.
There is more than meets the eye with My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana, and so far, I am enjoying the process. This is supposed to be a trilogy and is 254 chapters. I am on chapter 44 and still having fun reading as of this posting. This book has become part of my Goodnovel reading cycle.
I can only hope the good narrative is sustained until the end. Also, author, not too long, please.
Important update:
One of my readers gave me some good news that I just have to share with all of you. My Dreams, His Reality by Shanika Rana is on Amazon! And the best news yet … IT IS ON KINDLE UNLIMITED!!!
Talk about bang for your buck!
The three books in the trilogy are:
My Dreams, His Reality
Dreams Fade Away
Reality Sets In
If you have a Kindle Unlimited account, reading these books is free! If you choose to buy the books, they cost $4, $5, and $6 respectively.
I discovered The Alpha’s Human Surrogate by Nina GoGo on the Goodnovel app when I was offered some books to read for free within 24 hours. Of all the stories I was offered, I chose this one because the blurb was the one written in the best English … which should tell you something about the rest, lol!
The blurb says this:
“Now, let’s discuss sexual experience,” he says, his tone matter-of-fact. “It’s essential for me to understand your level of comfort and any potential concerns in that aspect.”
I feel my cheeks flush, the topic leaving me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I take a moment to gather my thoughts before responding honestly, “I… I have not had previous experiences, but I am willing to learn. And… and I can assure you that I am absolutely clean.”
Alexander’s gaze softens, and he almost seems surprised. But he eventually gives a soft laugh as he says, “I understand. Moreover, you still need to go through some tests to ensure that it is a smooth process.”
***********************
Hi, I’m Sophia, an ordinary college student. I have a happy family and two handsome roommates, but because of an accident, I had to secretly become a surrogate mother in order to pay for my father’s enormous medical expenses. What I don’t know is that the intended father, a polite and distinguished 34-year-old man, is the most influential and mysterious figure in the city. And what is beyond my control is when I give birth, I’m shocked to discover that my twin babies have wolf ears!
Note: I formatted it for readability. The original blurb is just one loooooong paragraph.
As the story begins I marvel at how little I would have to edit if I was her copy editor. There were still hiccups, but I anticipated that and could forgive it so long as the author does not make huge, repetitive errors like mixing up genders, tenses, figures of speech. It was going fine until I saw BIG holes in her writing that are usually an indication of inattention …
She does not keep track of her characters!
I’ve mentioned this before, I have a cinematic brain. This means that when I read I see the scene unfold in my head. So you can imagine my confusion when characters seemingly teleport from one location to the next and back. She also seems to take for granted how time works. In addition, she forgets what she said before about her characters.
It takes several weeks for her to manifest pregnancy symptoms.
A few weeks into gestation she can feel the baby kick.
Alexander never enlightened Sophia that he was a werewolf and didn’t prepare her for giving birth 4 months from conception.
The children are 1 year old and are already bigger than toddlers as they are walking and talking like 5 year olds.
Alexander starts off a rich man in a luxury sedan who lives in a mansion to being some rich guy living in a corporate estate to again living in a mansion.
Jake and Tyler are described as platonic guy friends who occasionally bring home their dates (and are at it all night) to suddenly having feelings for Sophia.
Author, make up your mind! And keep track of your story!
As an editor, let me tell you, those holes are difficult to plug as it means a rewrite. But as a reader, if I am in a forgiving mood, I can still enjoy it and just laugh at the author’s faux pas. I just pretend to myself that Alexander is actually Nightcrawler or maybe knows astral projection. 😛
I’ve read around 27 chapters already and I don’t even know if I want to call this book a romance, although it is. The romance aspect is very subtle but is implied. I have yet to encounter any steam but, who knows, maybe there will be some later in the book.
His parents killed before his eyes, Orion’s pack was taken from him when he was a child. Now that he is an adult, he has been plotting how to get his pack back for many years.
All witches in the pack are enslaved. Diana is reluctantly the favorite witch of the current Alpha of the pack. She dreams of only one thing … freedom from the pack and living a life as a regular human being away from it.
Orion and Diana decide to become pretend-fated mates to achieve their goals. Little did they know that the Moon Goddess had other plans for them.
I think that Rejected Alpha’s Return by Waverly Sage is currently my favorite of Waverly Sage’s books. It is so hot, but much of it (especially at the beginning) is all in their head! When they finally become intimate in real life, it is tempestuous and electric!
With a title like Rejected Alpha’s Return most people that it was Diana who rejected Orion. But that isn’t the case at all. It is more convoluted than that and you will have to read it yourself to find out. 🙂
So many things happen in the chapters of this book that I’ve found myself reading it slower than normal simply because I am savoring the scenes. If you are still wishy-washy about whether to read this book or not, I’d say go for it! I certainly enjoyed it.
I would classify Rejected Alpha’s Return by Waverly Sage as a slow burn. Sometimes so slow that I wanted to reach into the pages of the book to shout into the characters’ ears to get a clue, lol! It was worth the journey, though. This is a book to be savored; and as I like to say, “trust in the process”. In the end, it all works out for the characters.
As a note, while their love scenes are not very graphic, they manage to be super hot. I don’t know if that is because of the way Waverly wrote the scenes or if I just have an overactive imagination, tee hee.
If this looks like something you would want to read, you can find it on Amazon as a Kindle version for the very reasonable price of $1.50. If you have a Kindle Unlimited account, though, you can read it for free!
According to Ashley, The Rebound: The Wrong Cinderella’s Story was the first book she published on Goodnovel. This got me curious. The first book of hers that I read was The Alpha’s Girl and I liked that a lot! So, I checked it out on Goodnovel and discovered it is only 66 chapters. I can do that. I can spare the coin for that.
Her characters, CJ and Lenora, make decisions that I find questionable but, at the same time, make delicious drama that moves the story forward.
While chatting, I picked up my phone, 
The blurb says this:
I think that Rejected Alpha’s Return by Waverly Sage is currently my favorite of Waverly Sage’s books. It is so hot, but much of it (especially at the beginning) is all in their head! When they finally become intimate in real life, it is tempestuous and electric!
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