Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Swoon

1. The Vampire Academy Series

by Richelle Mead

The swoon worthy factor of the first book is what made me immediately purchase the rest of the series!

2. Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Usually, Where She Went gets tied up together with If I Stay and although, If I Stay has swoon worthy moments. Where She Went is about Adams eternal love for Mia and something about that makes it swoony to me.

3. Shadow and Bone By Leigh Bardugo

You WILL fall in love with the Darkling and you know you shouldn't but you will. It is irresistible!!!

4. Twilight Series By Stephenie Meyer

A good percentage of you know exactly what I am talking about... because even when you are skeptical about the series, you end up getting caught up and reading them ALL...

5. Blue Bloods Series By Melissa De La Cruz

Forbidden love, bonded soul mates and essential love that lasts an eternity.

6. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side By Beth Fantaskey

Ignore the Fact that most of these books involve Vampires, but really this book is SO good and the romance will definitely hook you in.

7. The Girl In The Steel Corset By Kady Cross

Finley, Jack Dandy and a Duke, DAYUM. 

8. Anna and The French Kiss By Stephanie Perkins

Even though I prefer Lola and the Boy Next Door, nothing can beat finding love in Paris.

9. Very Valentine By Adriana Trigiani

New York and Italy. Oh that is love in a nutshell.

10. The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot

Oh yes, this series grew on me and watching Mia grow up and explore relationships and find the right relationship makes it realistic and again.. swoon worthy. 

Speaking of Books that Make you Swoon... Head over to My Ultimate Book Crush Showdown and vote for the Book Crushes that make you swoon... Click Here.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books With Travel

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

I LOVE to travel and growing up I was very blessed to get to travel A LOT. My Husband and I still "travel" but due to limit funds, we are usually just traveling from Southern California  to Northern California and back. In fact, my husband has yet to even leave California. So, The best solution for me is to read books involving travel, that way I can imagine myself on these journey's.

1.

What a perfect book to subside my Wanderlust and give me an inner-peace.

2.

Traveling around the world, with the help of some envelopes? Sure, Why not?! Gives it a fun twist.

 3.

 Studying abroad in France is always something I wanted to do, and Anna and the French Kiss gives it a realistic approach.

4.

 I said this in my review, everything about this book makes me think of The Lizzie McQuire movie.. which takes me back to how I felt then about Italy and just makes me love the thought more!

5.

An old school Italian family, visiting Italy and South America. This book give a more sensual and romanticized version of traveling abroad.

 6.

Good All American Road Trip.

 7.

An adventurous road trip.

 8.

Walking around London with your MTB. Perfection. 

Brava, Valentine

Summary:

"As Brava, Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, and longtime love, Dominic. Valentine's dreams are dashed when Gram announces that Alfred, "the prince," Valentine's only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner who made his romantic intentions known on the Isle of Capri. Despite their passion for one another and Gianluca's heartfelt letters, a long-distance relationship seems impossible.As Valentine turns away from romance and devotes herself to her work, mentor and pattern cutter June Lawton guides her through her power struggle with Alfred, while best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi moves into 166 Perry Street, transforming her home and point of view. Savvy financier Bret Fitzpatrick, Valentine's first love and former fiancÉe who still carries a torch for her, encourages Valentine to exploit her full potential as a designer and a business woman with a plan that will bring her singular creations to the world.A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roncallis and Valentine is determined to hold her family together. More so, she longs to create one of her own, but is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her."

Plot: Brava, Valentine pretty much picks up where Very, Valentine left off. The writing of the plot is pretty steady, having a nice amount of highs and lows, keeping you excited enough to keep reading. For book 2 out of 3 it was a good plot. If this was the last book, the plot would be pointless, but since it is #2, the plot leads up to book 3 very well. 

Characters: Beside the Italian family essence that Trigiani captures very well, the characters are my favorite part of the book. Mainly cause they are so normal and real. They don't have anything overly special or damaged about themselves. They are your typical human beings and crazy family. And if it isn't your family, you know a family like this. 

Pros: Awesome sequel, realistic romance, realistic overall, a nice read

Cons: If it wasn't Book 2 in a series, I would say it was a bit longer then I needed..

Final Thoughts:  Every since I read Very, Valentine a few years back I have been waiting for the sequel.  Valentine has a very normal life, but once you add Italy, love and travel it become something very wistful. Both books give me a sense of happiness and the one thing I love is that the Valentine Series is a book I can recommend to most readers. It has a very broad audience it can relate too. 

Want Want Want Wednesday (23)

Want Want Want Wednesday is a meme, feature or whatever.. Where I talk about the books I REALLY want, I usually do 3 but you can do as many as you like = )

Brava, Valentine By Adriana Trigiani

"Trigiani's sequel to Very Valentine is a sweet second act for shoemaker and designer Valentine Roncalli. Val takes over the New York family-run shoe business with feet-of-clay older brother, Alfred; falls for the dashing, older Gianluca in Italy; and takes a business risk in South America, where she unearths a dusty chapter of family history. There are plenty of picturesque globe-trotting adventures in Tuscany, Manhattan, and Buenos Aires, and, for artistic and independent Val, a grown-up commitment evolves. There is no art without love. Only love can open someone up to the possibilities of living and creating art, Val writes to the wary Gianluca. And the startling twist of family history finally challenges an old-fashioned, insular clan to join the modern world. But it's always the endearing, unnerving and rowdy Roncallis who steal the show. Look for a heartbreaking exit of one beloved character, and a cliffhanger breakup in this charming valentine to love, forgiveness, and family."

Aw! I am SO happy I stumbled across the 2nd book to Very Valentine. I read Very Valentine in the Summer of 08 and I absolutely adored the book! It was so cute and I would love to know how Valentine is doing.

Shatter Me By Tahereh Mafi

'"You can't touch me," I whisper.
I'm lying, is what I don't tell him.
He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him.
But things happen when people touch me.
Strange things.
Bad things.
No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.
But Juliette has plans on her own.
After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever."

Basically, a bajillion bloggers have told me that this is a MUST read, So OBVIOUSLY I WANT IT!

Juliet By Anne Fortier 

"Our story begins when Julie’s beloved Aunt Rose dies, leaving Julie and her twisted sister, Janice orphaned. (Their parents died years earlier in Tuscany). But while Aunt Rose leaves the family estate to Janice, Julie is bequeathed next to nothing, just a passport, a key, and a secret--that her real name is Giulietta Tolomei, a descendant of the Tolomeis and the Salembenis, the real families that inspired Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—and that the "Curse upon both your houses," is alive and well, 600 years later.

With exquisite detail and flawless pacing, Juliet is a multi-layered tapestry of Julie’s present and Giulietta’s 14th-century past, where families, generations apart, are still at each other’s throats. Betwixt tragedy and epic romance, Juliet will stir your heart and quicken your pulse. After all, if Julie is Giulietta, then where art thou, Romeo?"

 I am ALWAYS down for a Romeo/Juliet retelling in any form!