Ella Jade

This is an amazing anthology full of talented authors. My reviews are for The Kiss Keeper by Krista Sandor and Secret Plunge by Jasmin Miller. I can't wait to read more from this anthology.

The Kiss Keeper by Krista Sandor: This story made me laugh out loud and swoon very hard from page to page. Natalie and Jake met once years ago and they just didn’t know who the other one was because of the kiss keeper tradition at summer camp. The tradition states one boy and one girl meet by the old well blindfolded for their first kiss but they can’t let each other know who they are and they can’t remove their blindfolds, so Jake and Natalie have their first kiss but it wasn’t by the well it was at her cabin door and years later Natalie still thinks she is cursed. Jake had a rough time at life after that summer at camp so he has worked hard to become a wealthy real estate developer and has shut all feelings and making deeper connections off even if after all this time he thinks about that kiss years ago with a girl he doesn’t know. By some serendipitous chance they meet again by strange events that lead them back to where it all started Camp Woolwich. These two have immediate attraction and go through some funny things and slowly start to fall for each other then, the bottom falls out and now Jake has to prove to Natalie he. really is her Kiss Keeper and they belong together. This was super cute, fun to read, and had amazing characters I loved it all.

Secret Plunge:

Harper and Ryan’s story is an epic and beautiful one that we got to see glimpses of them in Fresh Meet as Jace’s friends. I loved every bit of this short story because Ryan is utterly amazing, and Harper is funny, kind, and beautiful. Their story doesn’t have a traditional start because it starts as a one-night stand and things go from there. I loved their banter, the texts, and how sweet Ryan was towards Harper and their situation. This author has a way of pulling readers into the character’s lives and emotions that a reader can feel what they are.… (mehr)

This book was a tad hard for me to digest. I find it difficult to romanticise cruelty and bullying. And Romero is both cruel and a bully. I found nothing to inspire romance from the way he speaks to Luciana to the way he "seduces" her.

Luciana too was uninspiring as a character. Is she gullible, naive or simply just too dumb to realise her life is in danger if she is caught? How can she be so indebted to her family who has all but ignored for most of the time she has been with them. And then the way she is complacent with Romero and allows him to take advantage of her when she's supposed to be "innocent". Overall a disappointing, cringefest of a book for me.

Advance review copy provided for voluntary review consideration.… (mehr)

This is a second chance romance.
This is a classic Ross and Rachel 'We were on a break!!' moment.
They split up and he sleeps with someone else. They split up for 3 months but then they get back together and he doesn't tell her until the other woman tells him she's pregnant.
Is it cheating? Technically no, they are not together, they have split up for a considerable time.
They should have talked things through better at the time but they are both young.
There is an extra twist but no spoilers.… (mehr)