Published: October 24, 2014
Publisher: RyanRingbloom
Acquired: Digital copy
Life can suck…
When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.
Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.
Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.
Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.
Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them?
When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.
Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.
Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.
Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.
Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them?
Thank you to Giselle from Xpresso Reads for this review copy. This is no way affected my opinions towards the book.
So, let's get down to business. I LOVE this book! I mean, how can I not? It's about blogging and books and reality. It's starts with four girls-Brooke. Jess, Rachael, and Lizzie-and they have bonded through the internet, sharing the same love for romance novels and the woes of their lives.
Brooke Bloomfield:
Hers was the first I read. The book starts off with Brooke turning 23 and she shares her feels with a book they've read and the gifts Rachael sent over. Note that those gifts are R-rated and quite funny too! Brooke starts her new job as an accountant and falls madly in love with her boss, Jag Patel. Forbidden office romance! What I like about Brooke is that she's pretty simple. She's the mediator in the group. Her relationship with Jag is forbidden and both of them wants to take it to the next level. But when Jag tells her that a multi-culture relationship is hard to work out, Brooke takes a back step. This is in the latter part of the book. I mean, you read or watch relationships like this and it's screaming LOVE CONQUERS ALL. Yeah, sure, love conquers all but then you might want to take a step back and figure out the options. Since Jag Patel is Indian and they are known for upholding traditions, Jag emphasized this. But in the end, love did conquer all.
Rachael Miller
She is...crazy. The good crazy. She likes reading BDSM themed novels. She has a boyfriend, Kevin. While their sex is good, for Rachael, it's not great. Rachael kicks it up a notch, inviting Kevin do things to her that are stuff of her daydreams. Or so she thinks that is what she needs. I almost felt sad for Rachael when she broke down. She's the outspoken one in the group. She would always share tips on how to spice up the other girls' sex life. Rachael and Kevin's experiment on sex spirals downward. It is reminiscent of a popular story that I have read with this particular theme. Kevin, on the other hand, was strong. He was in love with Rachael. Rachael was in love with him. They lived happily ever after.
Jessica Davis
Jessica is the youngest among the four girls. She's still in college and is madly in love with Riley Matthews. Riley is the epitome of a bad boy. Who doesn't want to fall in love with a bad boy? We hear about them. We see them. We know who they are. Most innocent girls think that they can change a bad boy like Riley. She falls very hard, desperately wishing that she be the one to change Riley. She meets a guy named Mike, pretty ordinary and smart and polite. Basically, everything that Riley isn't. I almost want to scream at Jessica to fall in love with Mike instead. She realizes it all to be too late but in the process she has earned a friend.
Elizabeth Shea
Elizabeth is my favorite! Now, Elizabeth is across the Atlantic Ocean. She's married and has a cute kid named Thomas. While her friends think her life is like the ones in the books, it isn't quite that. She goes through what most mothers go through-pregnancy fats, mom jeans, yoga pants, and a rather dull sex life. I wouldn't know because I'm not married and I have no plans in the future. What I love about Elizabeth or Lizzie is her outlook in life. We hear stories about our friends getting married and getting their happily ever after. While that is really nice, it's not quite the reality for most people. EVERYTHING CHANGES. So, Lizzie finds solace with her new found online friend Dragonfly23. Lizzie thinks this is her high school friend James Pearce with a different name. So she spills everything to Drgaonfly23-how her relationship with her husband Edward is not going so well. It was then she realizes that Dragonfly23 is actually her husband Edward. A very important key in a relationship is not just good sex: COMMUNICATION.
All in all, not everything you read is true. It is so easy to get caught up with the things we read, with fantasies, that we forget that there is a fine line between fiction and reality. Ryan Ringbloom, with her flawlessly written characters, made me realize that and more.
Ryan Ringbloom is a YA/NA author who lives for anything Romance. The passion, love, angst, awkwardness… she loves all of it. When Ryan needs a break from reality she sneaks off to read a romantic story or write one of her own. Drinking coffee, reading Tweets and hugs from her five year old are the best part of her day.
