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Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Book #Review: Falling For Rachel (The Stanislaskis 3) by Nora Roberts

Book Title: Falling For Rachel ( The Stanislaskis, Those Wild Ukrainians 3)
Author:  Nora Roberts |WebsiteFacebook
Publisher:  Silhouette
Genre: Romance
Series/Standalone: Book 3
Format: ebook, Mass Market
Cost: $4.99
Pages: 253
How I got it: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
Publication Date: April 1, 1993
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Synopsis:
Landlocked in Manhattan, rough-and-ready seaman Zackary Muldoon needed a street-smart, two-fisted attorney to save his kid brother's delinquent hide. What he got was a long-legged lady lawyer clad in sophisticated silks. Public defender Rachel Stanislaki made Zack's blood boil...and his loins ache.

No endless voyage had ever had him hungering for a female the way one day in court with this woman did. He'd have to give Rachel a wide berth...before she trimmed his sails forever...and anchored him with unquenchable desire.
This is the third siblings' story, and this is Rachel the only one born here in the US. A lawyer by trade she's living the life she wants in midtown Manhattan in a shoebox of an apartment (because really it's what she can afford on her shoestring paycheck), but she's made it hers.  I really enjoy these family stories where they get along so well and are tight-knit because that's my family, and they are also immigrants which make this also relatable. Rachel isn't the baby but she's close and she loves her family and her job. She takes on a client who has seemingly no one to help him after he gets himself involved with a gang and their crimes, and she knows if given the chance he would thrive, so she goes to bat for him.

In doing so she runs into her client's big brother who mistakenly believes she's just some girl his brother is dating. And the client doesn't help matters because even though he's nineteen he thinks he's grown and is attracted to her.  This leads to an interesting miscommunication that Rachel believed she cleared up but only made more complicated because she kept skirting the issue instead of meeting it head-on.

This story had the tightknit Stanishlaskis once again coming to the rescue of this smaller family who has little to no community.  The two brothers were wary around each other due to their circumstances growing up and the disappointment of having your hero leave you in a jam.  The two brothers were trying so hard to not need each other and yet they clearly did.  Being the awesome family that they are the Stanislaskis allow others to embrace being who they are without judgment and actually encourage the talents among them. I loved how Rachel reached Nick when he was still trying to hold himself back.

This is told from a few points of view to allow us to see how the story completely unfolds, mostly told from Rachel and Zach's POV. We get glimpses of the whole family because Sunday dinner is a thing. I loved that Kate as a baby embraced Nick and that the younger daughter was just in love.  The story has many great moments that embrace the differences in culture and what family looks like to everyone. I love Rach and Zach as a couple, as they work to figure out how they can work it out with him being his brother's guardian and she being his lawyer. I loved that she had mentors who saw what she could be and encouraged her to pursue those dreams.

In the end, we take on a bit of what happens when you embrace the streets when looking for family, what a found family looks like, what love can be and what healthy family dynamics can create. I love it and recommend highly.
 ★★★★1/2☆
Books In Series

Happy Reading my loves, 

Monday, March 4, 2019

Book #Review: Luring A Lady (The Stanislaskis 2 ) by Nora Robers

Book Title: Luring a Lady ( The Stanislaskis 2)
Author:  Nora Roberts |WebsiteFacebook
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Romance
Series/Standalone: Series Book 2
Format: Mass Market
Cost: $7.99
Pages: 250
How I got it: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
Publication Date: December 01, 1991
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Synopsis:
Nothing in Sydney Hayward's background of wealth and privilege had prepared her to take the helm of her family's corporation. Her overflowing new responsibilities left no room for complications--and Mikhail Stanislaski was definitely a complication. Sydney had learned the hard way that she could never love anyone--least of all, this earthy, disturbingly masculine stranger who came from a world so different from her own.

Still, the way she felt when he put his hands on her--strong, work-hardened hands--made her doubt her resolve to remain alone. This gifted man seemed to have a rare talent for luring a lady, even a very reluctant lady, into his arms....
Told from the dual perspectives of Mikhail and Sydney we get a great romance where the man falls first and makes it his mission to win the hesitant and slightly nervous Sydney into falling in love with him.  What starts as a miscommunication leads to a steamy romance filled with lots of great moments that challenge the characters and their perceptions of the world around them.

Sydney inherits her grandfathers' business on his passing, with everyone around treating her as if she didn't deserve the business; she knows one stumble and the board will find a way to remove her. She's going to fight to hang on to this chance because out of her whole family her Grandfather thought her capable, she's here to prove him right.  She's not too happy when Mikhail comes barging in making demands and calling her out for failing to take care of one of the many buildings in the company portfolio.   Mikhail for his part is frustrated about the way his building and his neighbors are being treated has had enough of trying it the pleasant corporate fill in these forms way and decides to confront the owner head-on. He's unaware of the old man's passing and is unprepared to meet Sydney when he does.

From the moment they meet the sparks fly and they are wary of each other and where they can go from here.  As we read we learn that Sydney had been previously married and she's angry and afraid because she failed so miserably at it and she refuses to fail at something else.  Mikhail comes from an immigrant family that has struggled to make it's way and has finally begun to carve a place for itself among the community.  Having stepped back to help his father create a business that made it possible for his siblings to succeed Mikhail has quietly built himself a reputation in an unexpected field.

Mikhail is a contractor with many hidden depths, he's the big brother from the previous books who looks out for the family and is close with his siblings. When he meets Sydney, he knows he wants to get to know her better but she's wary of him and so he sets out to use all his talents to win her over.

I absolutely loved that Mikhail just knew she was it for him. I loved how they went back and forth as the story progressed. I loved how Sydney confronts her past and her fears before she can face anything else with Mikhail. I loved how Mikhail's immigrant experience made him a wonderful character who understood both sides of the coin of what success looked like and how it impacted families and the people within.  It made him a really relatable character. I loved that he was such a proud immigrant and loved his family traditions.

This story was great due to the way in which they circled each other trying to find a way to make their pieces fit.  I loved that even though Sydney doubted herself when it came to her family she was willing to fight for them even when they doubted her capabilities.

Mikhail's family is always fun to read and their Sunday dinners remind me of my family dinners as well the noise, the seven different conversations going on at once and yet the love that is communicated at all times.  I loved the positive interaction expressed here between the siblings and the love the parents shared and how they enfolded Sydney into their mix.

It's so good to read not just a functioning family dynamic in the story but one that showcases the love they all have and how this base has been a great springboard for each of the children to find love and to succeed.

Another great addition to the series and I can't wait to read more
 ★★★★1/2☆
RECOMMENDATIONS
Happy Reading my loves, 

Saturday, March 2, 2019

February 2019 In Review

Wait, how can it already be the end of the month??? That's so crazy. The month is already gone, y'all gone!! Well since it's gone here are the books I have read, the reviews I have written and a recap of all the awesomeness that came my way.

Books Read This Month: 6  Yearly Goal: 150  Balance: 132

Book Club Read: 
Becoming by Michelle Obama
This was my absolute favorite read for the month, hands down my favorite for the year. I can't rave about it enough. Full Review pending

For the #ReadSoulLit challenge on booktube I picked up  Unforgivable Love by Sphfronia Scott. (This is the only book I didn't own, borrowed from the library to read for the challenge)

I seemed to be on a Nora Roberts Binge this month and read:
  1. Luring a Lady
  2. Falling for Rachel
  3. Convincing Alex
  4. Waiting for Nick 
  5. Considering Kate
All of these were from the Stanislaski family saga, which I started in January. I was very happy to finish the series. Especially because I got to physically move 4 books from the Nora Roberts Shelf over to the Read mass market bookshelf.  

Working on the Finishing up Series

I pulled Monica Murphy's Torn which for a book that was 234 pages took me forever. I didn't feel in the mood for romance. *Shock, gasp Sacrilegious* and so I wasn't really in love with the story. I'm going to honor that feeling this month and go with more non-fiction books as that's what I feel called to.  I did love the story once I paid attention to it, so I will continue on with the series.

Book Hauls:

Because I'm reading my bookshelves this year, I once again didn't have much to haul. I did have pre-order come in though: Stacking The Shelves

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas (author of the smash The Hate U Give). No idea what it's about but I pre-ordered as soon as I knew about the link.


And when in Boston visiting my sister we stopped by an independent comic book slash bookstore and I snagged a copy of Binti  (the Complete Trilogy) by Nnedi Okorafor. The cover is amazing and I really couldn't justify to my cheap self paying 10 to 12 dollars each for a 90 page book, but I had no qualms about snagging this gorgeous baby. 

Reviews on the Blog This Month:


My Review


My Review

And that's what happened during the month.  I'm looking forward to next month's wrap up, because I'm hoping for some awesome reads.  What did you do this month my loves?? Any big changes, haul any good books?? Share in the comments down below and let's chat.

Friday, March 1, 2019

March 2019 To Be Read:


Welcome to March of 2019 my loves, we're three months in and I'm kind of slacking on the reading goal, however this month I really want to put in the work and knock down the 18 books I want to read.

Put in the reading work and achieve 150 books read.  Watching my pattern from the past few years, during the fall I don't get much if anything read, so I'm changing up the plan of attack. 

My goal this year is 150  books, if I break that down it comes out to 18 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:


Read So Far this Year: 
18

TBR Pile 
150

TBR Balance:
132

    Lemonade Syllabus:
    1. Disappearing Acts by Terry McMillan 
    2. Watch the movie adaptation
    3. Shifting by Charisse Jones
    Perpetual Author Challenge:
    • Brenda Jackson A Brother's Honor
    • Christine Feehan
    Finish Series Challenge:
    • Monica Murphy Savor & Intoxicated.
    Men Made in America (two titles per month)
    • Jan
    • Jan
    • Feb
    • Feb
    • Mar
    • Mar
    Black Out Challenge:
    • Like Water for Chocolate~ Book Club read
    • .
    Sylvia Day
    • .
    • .
    Top 19 Books:
    1. Jewel Beverly Jenkins
    2. .
    Book Club Picks:
    1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    I know this doesn't have a lot of books listed but I'm leaving myself the room to pick up books based on mood. I'm also trying to stick within each of the topics.  I have a few books that have rolled over from last month that I need to pick up and complete. What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

    Happy Reading