Wicked Review: The Boyfriend Backtrack by Dawn Lanuza

Published: September 2015

Publisher: Spark Books

Acquired: Paperback

Amazon || Get this for only P185 in your nearest National Bookstore! (PH readers)

If they say that life flashes right before your eyes when you die, do you also get a flashback of your exes when your perfect boyfriend is proposing to you? At least that's the case for Regina Cortez. There's her dramatic high school boyfriend, her first college crush, the irresistible heart breaker, and the ever elusive one. By backtracking to her past, will Regina make it to 'I Do'? Or will she just keep running away?

There are those exes who make you question why the heck did you even date them in the first place.

There are those who are so unforgettable that they leave destruction in their wake (aka YOU)

No matter the cause, exes are a constant reminder of our past, even if we so desperately want to forget them. This is why Adele, Taylor Swfit, and Ed Sheeran exist. This is why partying till you drop exist. This is why a makeover exist. Exes. They are one of the topics you and your friends constantly talk about. Exes.

The Boyfriend Backtrack starts with a proposal. Regina is doing well. She has a stable job, a place of her own and a boyfriend. That's what most twenty-somethings wish to have. She and her boyfriend share the same love for photography. Kevin is a nice guy, really, the kind of guy you bring home to Mom and to those horrible family reunions. Sure, he travels a lot but then he would always come home and spend his time with Regina.

When Kevin popped the question, Regina said yes. Just when you think all is right in the world because she uttered that three letter word, well, hold your horses. Regina had flashbacks of her exes. ALL OF THEM. If I were Regina, it's pure torture. I mean, here you are, about to embark on the next chapter of your life and certainly, exes are the least of your concerns.

Most of Regina's exes were jerks...legit jerks. Like, there's Dirk, who wrote a song about Regina and called it "Devil Woman". I mean, really? Then there's Thomas...don't even get me started on that guy because he's such a -- the D-word -- and I swear to God, like, all of my exes are like him. Hah.

It was good fun. Reading The Boyfriend Backtrack was like reading my history of exes, not that they were many okay but the whole thing was pretty bad. It was so real and that's what I love about this book. I also love the relationship between Regina and her two friends, Leslie and Jules. Even if they don't see each other on a daily basis, they are a tight knit group of girls.

But there is one ex that Regina never had. Chase Sevilla. How do I begin to explain just how perfectly lovable Chase Sevilla is? *dreamy sigh* He's a dreamboat. I swear. I just...ugh. Why can't he be real? I have no idea. Technically, they didn't "date". But they kissed once. No, wait, twice. All of a sudden, both of them fell off of the face of the earth after that.

The Boyfriend Backtrack will make you want to rethink your relationship choices, both old and new. It will make you want to go out with your girlfriends or guy friends and have a drink and talk about how fate, love, and all those things are so fickle. I'd like to think that exes, even if thinking about them annoys us, makes us a better person, one way or another.

Dawn Lanuza started writing stories when she was just a kid (they weren’t good or even finished). She works for the music industry by day and writes meet cutes and snappy comebacks by night. ‘The Boyfriend Backtrack’ is her first book. She currently lives with her family and an adopted dog.

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Wicked Review: Savor by Kate Evangelista

Published: September 2015

Publisher: Spark Books

Series: Vicious Feast #1

Acquired: Paperback

Amazon

 Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I’m Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I’d been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band—by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome, yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He’s gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spells trouble with a capital L. I’m in for a long month with him around.

Crazy shit happens and then some. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

Again, refer to the warning above.

Yup, my emotions. I don't even know where it went. I have a strong feeling the lovely Kate Evangelista has it. She probably had it while she was writing Book 2 of this series. I don't know. Or maybe it was with Luka Visraya the whole time. Normally, I would be angry. But not today. To hell with my emotions. I don't want them! (Kidding!) 

We have Dakota Collins who is a photographer. She's proud of her work and her skills even if the whole world doesn't know her yet. She just hasn't found the right subject for her project until she stumbles inside Sacrifice where the hot indie rock band, Vicious, is playing.

I wish that Vicious was a real band. I mean, the way Kate Evangelista wrote how Vicious is as a band, I had a hard time picturing in my head how the band sounded like. It was unique. Vicious has four members: Phoenix, the vocalist, Dray, the drummer, Demitiri, the guitarist, and Luka, the hottest bassist I have ever read in my entire life. Okay that was way out of hand.

I mean, blonde hair, blue eyes, with a piercing on his brow, and that sexy stare. He's a walking sex god basically. You get the picture.

Things fall into place when the band agrees to be Dakota's subject for her project. In return, she has to live with the band in the mysterious Lunar Manor. Lunar Manor is where the band lives, records their music, and makes their music. It belongs to Luka's family. The way it was written on the book was, well, quite ludicrous really. Dakota had her own quarter. Not a room. A FREAKING QUARTER.

Said quarter is a few steps away from said hot bassist.

As Dakota goes along with her project, saving Luka as the last, she can't help but be drawn to the bassist. She enjoyed her time at the manor. The days trickled into weeks and she had befriended the members of the band. She has gotten to know them better than any of their fans. She knew their strengths and weaknesses. Or at least, that's how Kate Evangelista wants me to think because I know there are some things about the characters that isn't completely out there yet. Hence, book 2.

It's beautiful, enchanting, sexy as hell, mysterious, and perfect. I have never read something like this in my life. You have to read this. (When you fall in love with Luka Visraya, which of course you would, hit me up on Twitter! Or comment below. You know where to find me.)

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department and never looked back. Today, she is a graduate of De La Salle University - Manila with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature. She taught high school English for three years and was an essay consultant for two. Currently she writes full-time and is based in the Philippines.

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Wicked Review: The Kitchen When It Sizzles by Chrissie Peria

Published: September 2015

Publisher: Spark Books

Acquired: Paperback

Amazon

Olivia Nadal is an almost perfect girl with an almost perfect life. She has stunning good looks, an exciting job that pays well, men lining up to date her, and a homey little condo she calls her own. The only thing keeping her from perfection is her utter inability to cook.

Enter Nate Olivarez, a hotshot chef who's filling in for Olivia's cooking instructor. Sparks fly when they meet, but a fling with the visiting hottie is the last thing Olivia needs. But as things keep heating up in the kitchen, she can't help but wonder. Can things work out between her and Nate? Or is the sizzle all set to fizzle

I can't even begin to describe how smoking hot this book is. It had 142 pages of hotness and food. I was sold.

Chrissie Peria wowed me with Olivia, the heroine who seems tho have everything except well the ability to cook. It wasn't hard to imagine Olivia in her top grade kitchen with no clue as to what to do. So, she signed up for classes with renowned chef, Chef Julia.

But it wasn't Chef Julia who met up with her. It was a hot, half naked chef. Seriously. Nate Olivarez is one hot specimen that I will pay good money to see and have inside my kitchen. My brain is full of mush and dreamy sighs because Nate Olivarez. You have to have this book because you have to experience Nate Olivarez for yourself. I can't describe him without melting into a puddle. OMG.

This book made me really hungry. Like Olivia, I really do want to learn how to cook but the kitchen scares me. I don't even have a top grade kitchen. But the food, oh man, I had to Google what sticky pork ribs looked like and, man, it was gorgeous. I haven't tasted it though. I watched a lot of YouTube cooking channels for me to be at par with all the cooking jargon in this book.

Soon enough, Nate and Olivia fall for each other. They start dating and they are the epitome of a beautiful couple. They are both successful in their careers. Everyone thinks they are perfect for each other. But the thing is Nate isn't a permanent resident in Manila. His life is based in the U.S. Olivia knew about this from the start. She knew that Nate couldn't stay. She fell for him hard, so hard that she ended up getting hurt and it went downhill from there.

The Kitchen When It Sizzles is the perfect hot, contemporary read you should add to your reading piles. Also, if you want to take a quick break from reading heavy story lines, then by all means, go ahead and read this book!

When not obsessing over fictional people doing fictional things, Chrissie obsesses about food: the eating, the cooking, and the procuring of it. An advertising copywriter in her past life, she now spends most of her time writing, taking photos, cooking, and babysitting a tiny human and a curly-haired dog. She still plays with dolls and she thinks that bacon is the answer.

Her first novella, All's Fair in Blog and War, was awarded Best Romance in English at the 2014 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards.

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Wicked Photo Diary: November 2015

Wicked Photo Diary is a feature on the blog where I recap what happened in my life, bookish and non-bookish, in the form of my Instagram photos. Do follow me on Instagram here.


November has been a bleary month for me. I only had a few reviews posted on the blog. I didn't get to finish my NaNoWriMo project (again). I got so sick I spent almost two weeks in the hospital. I played Pokemon on my old Android phone. Wifi was lost for almost a week. So, there. November wasn't amazing.


November 02, 2015

I just clocked in 2K words on my NaNoWriMo and then took a nap. When I woke up, I was burning. I came down with dengue, this horrible disease that's treatable but is so expensive. I hated the hospital, even if the nurses who tended to me were beautiful and handsome people. Ugh. Don't get sick, guys. Stay healthy, always.


November 16, 2015

The Beginning of Everything - Robyn Schneider

After being sick, I finally found my jive to read again. This has been sitting around on my bookshelf for quite some time now and my brother demanded that I finish the book already. It was beautiful. I may have to buy this immediately.

November 17, 2015

Granddad cut off the branches of our ginormous mango tree. Thankfully, there ain't no fruits yet. It will take a long time for the branches to grow back and to harvest mangoes. Mangoes are my favorite and I can't live without them.

November 20, 2015

Savor - Kate Evangelista

I finally started reading the #SparkBooks I bought last month. They were all amazing but this one was my favorite out of the bunch. It was beautiful and grand. *dreamy sigh*

November 29, 2015

Momma asked to take a photo...I said yes. Nuff said.

What Else Happened On The Blog?

Wicked Review: November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Wicked Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

 

Wicked Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Published: August 27, 2013

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Acquired: Borrowed Paperback

Amazon || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Fullybooked

Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

I'd like to thank my brother for lending me his copy. He's awesome all around.

So, when I finished the book, I didn't feel anything. I mean the book was good. The way it was written was amazing. The characters and their feelings were so real. But, I felt sort of meh afterwards. I don't know why.

And then, someone said let there be light. Kidding!

Here I am writing this review and all the feels are coming back. It hit me like a freight train and now I'm lying on the ground in a puddle of my own feels.

Ezra used to have everything. He was famous. He was good at tennis. He had a girlfriend. he was destined to be homecoming king. But when he crashed his car, everything fell apart. What I love about him is his typical nature yet he's different. Just like every teenager, he wanted to belong. He wanted things to be the same before he crashed his car. He wanted to play tennis again because he was good at it. He was just an honest to goodness character. He's quick witted and smart and funny. You cannot not fall in love with him. His voice in the novel is strong, the kind that will resonate through your soul.

Then there's Cassidy Thorpe. She was the very definition of an enigma at the start of the book. Out of nowhere, she just pops in. New girl and different, she came from a boarding school and was master debater. She's eloquent, fierce, sarcastic, and smart. She gave me a strong Margo Roth Spiegelman vibe minus the disappearing act. She was so fascinating. You can't really categorize her because she's so different. I am shaking my head at how she blew me away.

Robyn Schneider did a great job with Severed Heads and Broken Hearts, because really this is the legit title of this book. She created an honest to goodness storyline and real characters. This novel had everything in it yet I think readers can find something different in it. If I had more hands, I'd give this so many thumbs up and the stars that I can collect because it is that good.

Robyn Schneider is a writer, actor, and online personality who misspent her youth in a town coincidentally similar to Eastwood. Robyn is a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied creative writing, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she studied medical ethics. She is also the author of the middle grade Knightley Academy books, written as Violet Haberdasher. She lives in Los Angeles, California, but also on the internet.

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