10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 336
Series: Messina Family
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Humor
Published: Oct. 1, 2019
Rating: 4 STARS

Synopsis:

Sophie wants one thing for Christmas-a little freedom from her overprotective parents. So when they decide to spend Christmas in South Louisiana with her very pregnant older sister, Sophie is looking forward to some much needed private (read: make-out) time with her long-term boyfriend, Griffin. Except it turns out that Griffin wants a little freedom from their relationship. Cue devastation.

Heartbroken, Sophie flees to her grandparents’ house, where the rest of her boisterous extended family is gathered for the holiday. That’s when her nonna devises a (not so) brilliant plan: Over the next ten days, Sophie will be set up on ten different blind dates by different family members. Like her sweet cousin Sara, who sets her up with a hot guy at an exclusive underground party. Or her crazy aunt Patrice, who signs Sophie up for a lead role in a living nativity. With a boy who barely reaches her shoulder. And a screaming baby.

When Griffin turns up unexpectedly and begs for a second chance, Sophie feels more confused than ever. Because maybe, just maybe, she’s started to have feelings for someone else . . . Someone who is definitely not available.

This is going to be the worst Christmas break ever… or is it?

Review:

Super cute YA romance. Sophie gets dumped right as Christmas break starts. She goes to spend Christmas break with her family when her grandma (Nonna) comes up with the idea of setting her up with blind dates. One member of the family can set her up with a boy around her age and set the date.

I was entertained. Funny, adorable, and a close-knit family. This was something that helped after my last book being kind of a dud. I may have to read books from this author in the future.

Fable by Adrienne Young

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 357
Series: Fable #1
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Pirates
Published: Sep. 1, 2020
Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.

Review:

There were five rules. Only five.

1. Keep your knife where you can reach it.
2. Never, ever owe anyone anything
3. Nothing is free
4. Always construct a lie from a truth.
5. Never, under any circumstances, reveal what or who matters to you.

Fable’s father left her on the island of Jeval to fend for herself. Fable is diving for pyre to build up enough to buy her way off the island. She wants off the island to find her father, Saint, and make him keep his promise.

The only safety that existed was in being completely alone. That was one of the very first things Saint taught me.

I don’t quite understand a world where you can’t show who or what matters to you. It seems like the world was created to be loveless and that no one can have a special person.

This didn’t have as much action as I thought it was going to have. I pictured ships warring with each other. I’m not going to read the second one just yet. Fair warning though, this does end in a cliffhanger.