Mini Reviews for THE ACCIDENTAL BEAUTY QUEEN & MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND
The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson 
Published by Gallery Books on December 4, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 304
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
In this charming romantic comedy perfect for fans of Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella, critically acclaimed author Teri Wilson shows us that sometimes being pushed out of your comfort zone leads you to the ultimate prize.
Charlotte Gorman loves her job as an elementary school librarian, and is content to experience life through the pages of her books. Which couldn’t be more opposite from her identical twin sister. Ginny, an Instagram-famous beauty pageant contestant, has been chasing a crown since she was old enough to enunciate the words world peace, and she’s not giving up until she gets the title of Miss American Treasure. And Ginny’s refusing to do it alone this time.
She drags Charlotte to the pageant as a good luck charm, but the winning plan quickly goes awry when Ginny has a terrible, face-altering allergic reaction the night before the pageant, and Charlotte suddenly finds herself in a switcheroo the twins haven’t successfully pulled off in decades.
Woefully unprepared for the glittery world of hair extensions, false eyelashes, and push-up bras, Charlotte is mortified at every unstable step in her sky-high stilettos. But as she discovers there’s more to her fellow contestants than just wanting a sparkly crown, Charlotte realizes she has a whole new motivation for winning.
Review:
After a stressful work week, I was in the mood for a light and fun read to ease me into the weekend. I came across Teri Wilson’s The Accidental Beauty Queen, and as soon as I read the synopsis, I knew this was exactly the kind of story I was searching for. As soon as I started reading about Charlotte, her twin sister Ginny, and their beauty pageant misadventures, I was hooked. Their story is sweet, heartfelt, and just downright hilarious.
Charlotte was the biggest draw for me. She’s an elementary school librarian, and a huge fan of both Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice. Truly a heroine after my own heart. I loved that she’s such a huge book nerd and that she’s so completely devoted to her twin. When an allergic reaction sidelines Ginny with a swollen, blotchy face, Charlotte agrees to switch places and compete in the preliminary rounds of the pageant to keep her sister’s dream of winning this pageant alive. Charlotte knows that the pageant is important to Ginny, not just for the prestige, but also for sentimental reasons. It’s a pageant that their mom won years ago before she passed away from cancer. I was touched by Charlotte not wanting to let her sister down, even if it meant doing something that she was completely uncomfortable doing. Wilson also does a beautiful job of portraying this sisterly dynamic. I’m a sucker for a good sibling story anyway, and this was realistic and moving, and just everything I wanted it to be.
There were lots of other things to like about this story as well. I was also a fan of how the actual pageant was portrayed. Instead of the cattiness I was expecting Charlotte to encounter, it was nice to see that each pageant scene had more of a supportive sisterhood vibe to it. Another point of interest to me was Grey, one of the pageant judges and someone Charlotte continually bumps into throughout the book. Grey is super charming and he’s also quite bookish, so I just adored it when he and Charlotte would talk nerdy to each other. Their chemistry was off the charts, and their banter was sprinkled with Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice references. Pure perfection!
In short, The Accidental Beauty Queen was everything my book-loving heart desired and then some. 4 STARS
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren Also by this author: The Unhoneymooners, Twice in a Blue Moon
Published by Gallery Books on December 4, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.
But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.
Perfect for fans of Roxanne and She’s the Man, Christina Lauren’s latest romantic comedy is full of mistaken identities, hijinks, and a classic love story with a modern twist. Funny and fresh, you’ll want to swipe right on My Favorite Half-Night Stand.
Review:
Christina Lauren’s My Favorite Half-Night Stand, which explores the many ups and downs of online dating, is another book I picked up because I wanted a light and fluffy read. It follows Millie Morris and her all-guy friend group as they try to use online dating apps to find themselves dates to a university function.
My Favorite Half-Night Stand really delivers with the laughs. I honestly lost track of how many times I laughed out loud at Millie and the guys as they bantered back and forth while trying out these apps. In fact, the dynamics of this group was my favorite part of the whole book. All I kept thinking while I was reading about them in action using these apps was that this whole premise would make for such a great episode of Friends. Everything about how they interacted with one another actually made me think of Friends, which is a good thing since Friends is one of my favorite shows.
I also really liked Millie. She’s kind of a mother hen to the guys in her circle of friends, which is funny to watch. What I liked most about Millie though is how much emotional growth there is with her character throughout the story. When we first meet her, she’s very closed off about anything personal. Even her closest friends can’t really pry any personal details out of her. As the story progresses, however, she starts to have romantic feelings towards her best friend, Reid, and so she does slowly start to open up. She unfortunately makes some questionable choices along the way as she explores her feelings for Reid, but when her choices threaten their friendship, she vows to change her ways. I liked that Millie was kind of a mess and trying to sort herself out. That made her feel very authentic to me. I’m also all for a good friends to possible lovers story, so My Favorite Half-Night Stand really hit the spot in that area as well.
This was my first time reading anything by Christina Laurent but it definitely won’t be my last! 4 STARS
About Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, a Lambda Literary Award finalist and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, followed by Roomies, Love and Other Words, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and the Publisher’s Weekly starred My Favorite Half-Night Stand, out in December.
About Teri Wilson
Teri Wilson is the author/creator of the Hallmark Channel Original Movies UNLEASHING MR. DARCY, MARRYING MR. DARCY, THE ART OF US and NORTHERN LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS, based on her book SLEIGH BELL SWEETHEARTS. She is a double finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction for her novels THE PRINCESS PROBLEM and ROYALLY WED. She has a major weakness for cute animals, pretty dresses and Audrey Hepburn films, and she loves following the British royal family. Feel free to visit and connect with her here at TeriWilson.net, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Top Ten Tuesday – My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is actually a Freebie. I wracked my brain trying to come up with something book-related and Christmas-related but every idea I thought of will be covered in the next couple of Top Ten Tuesday posts, so I decided to stick with a Christmas theme but venture off into the land of music. One of the things I love most about Christmas is the music. Almost every carol I hear brings back childhood holiday memories and hearing the music just always makes me smile. Just like with my taste in books, my taste in music is pretty eclectic. I love all of the old classic Christmas tunes, but I’m also a pretty big fan of some of the more modern versions of songs. I thought it would be fun today to share some of my favorite carols with you. The ones I’ve picked are specifically my favorite versions of the carols as well since I know they have all been covered by plenty of different artists.
* * * * *
My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Carols
1. SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN (Bruce Springsteen)
2. MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY (Bruce Springsteen)
I’m sure those first two picks come as no surprise to those who know me and how much of a huge Springsteen fan I am, lol.
3. WINTER WONDERLAND (Tony Bennett)
4. IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (Andy Williams)
Andy Williams is the first name that comes to mind when anyone mentions Christmas music to me.
His Christmas albums are actually the first holiday songs I can ever remember listening to as a child.
5. AVE MARIA (Andy Williams)
This is the only song on my list that makes me cry every time I hear it. It brings back wonderful memories of baking Christmas cookies with my grandmother. This was her favorite song and she would always sing it while we baked. When she passed away, my family had it playing at her memorial service and so it conjures up so many feelings every time I hear it now.
6. HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS (Lou Rawls)
There are so many beautiful renditions of this song (Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, The Pretenders, etc.), but this rendition from Lou Rawls has always been my favorite.
7. SLEIGH RIDE (Ella Fitzgerald)
8. CAROLING, CAROLING – CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING (Nat King Cole)
9. CHRISTMAS – BABY, PLEASE COME HOME (U2)
10. CAROL OF THE BELLS (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
* * * * *
Question: What are some of your favorite Christmas carols? Do we share any favorites?
Early Review: THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden Also by this author: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Series: Winternight Trilogy #3
Published by Del Rey Books on January 8, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
The Winter of the Witch is the final book in Katherine Arden’s captivating Winternight Trilogy. I always find it difficult to review books that come late in a series because it’s so hard to talk about them without giving away spoilers, but I’m going to give it my best shot here and hope that my words do it justice because filled with unforgettable characters, intricate worldbuilding, and creatures from Russian folklore, the Winternight Trilogy truly is one of the most beautifully crafted series I’ve ever read.
To give a bit of general context for those who have begun the series, The Winter of the Witch picks up right where the second book left off. Moscow is in ruins and its terrified citizens are looking for answers, and more specifically, for someone to blame. That someone, unfortunately, becomes our heroine Vasya, and the final book begins with her fleeing for her life from an angry mob who accuse her of being a witch and want to see her dead.
War is also brewing as the Grand Prince of Moscow looks to go after those who threaten his kingdom. While the Grand Prince prepares for war, the priest Konstantin has troubles of his own. Although he may be a powerful religious figure, Konstantin is a weak man, easily manipulated by those stronger than he is. In Konstantin’s case, he finds himself the puppet of a vengeful demon named the Bear. The Bear feeds off of chaos, fear, and war so he uses Konstantin to fan the flames of hatred and distrust to create chaos everywhere.
This chaos and turmoil affects not just the humans, but also the magical creatures. Vasya finds herself with the weight of both worlds on her shoulders as she desperately tries to save both her Russian homeland and her beloved magical realm.
Can Vasya stop the Bear and Konstantin? Can she stop a war? And most importantly, is there any way that her magical pagan world can peacefully coexist with the human world? It’s a tall order, and Vasya isn’t sure she’s up to the task.
Vasya. As with the two prior books, Vasya is my favorite part about this story. We’ve watched her grow from a young girl to a young woman and there has just been such tremendous character growth throughout each book. That growth continues well into this final book and I can honestly say that Vasya is one of my all-time favorite book heroines. I love her big heart, her refusal to conform to what is expected of her, and most especially, I love her resilience. The final book presents Vasya with several heartbreaking, gut-wrenching moments – moments that probably would have crushed a lesser person – but no matter how low she is pushed down, she always picks herself back up and refuses to give up.
Worldbuilding. I honestly didn’t think Arden could improve upon the worldbuilding from the first two books, but she proved me wrong with the Winter of the Witch. Again, I don’t want to say much because of spoilers, but into her world of Russian inspired folklore, she introduces what she calls the Road to Midnight and for me, it’s one of the most memorable and unique parts of the story. Vasya finds herself journeying on this road as she desperately seeks help from the Frost Demon and the journey she takes is truly magical, so much so that it almost defies explanation. It’s kind of like time traveling but so much more. You really have to experience it for yourself to get a feel for how wild a ride it really is.
Wonderful Secondary Characters. Some like Solovey, Vasya’s horse, and Morozko, the Frost Demon, I adored. Others like the Bear and Konstantin, not so much. But whether I loved or hated them, this series has a fantastic and unforgettable cast of well-drawn characters. We also meet several more mythological creatures in this final book and their bond of mutual respect with Vasya adds so much richness to the story and really emphasizes how she is a bridge between the two worlds.
Creative Use of History. I didn’t realize this until I read the author’s note, but some of the characters and events in the series are based on real historical events, including a war. Arden has, of course, put her own personal and creative twist on them, but the historical fiction fan in me thought it was very cool to learn the story was based on not just Russian folklore but on actual Russian history as well.
It made me cry. This does not happen to me often when I read fantasy series, but The Winter of the Witch made me cry. Not just once or twice, but three times! I won’t say specifically why I cried, but I will say that two times, my tears were tears of sadness and one time, they were tears of joy. That’s how attached to these characters I got!
I dislike that the series is over because I’m going to miss these characters and this gorgeous world so much, but that’s really all I’ve got. For me, this series is about as close to perfection as it gets.
The Winternight Trilogy is, by far, one of the most unforgettable series I’ve ever read. I love that while it’s a wholly unique story inspired by Russian history and folklore, it’s also reminiscent of some of my favorite childhood fantasies like The Chronicles of Narnia because the strong element of whimsical magic and wonder that permeates it.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.
Reviewers called Katherine Arden’s novels The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower “lyrical,” “emotionally stirring,” and “utterly bewitching.” The Winternight Trilogy introduced an unforgettable heroine, Vasilisa Petrovna, a girl determined to forge her own path in a world that would rather lock her away. Her gifts and her courage have drawn the attention of Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse.
Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.
About Katherine Arden
Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden spent a year of high school in Rennes, France. Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, she deferred enrollment for a year in order to live and study in Moscow. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature. After receiving her BA, she moved to Maui, Hawaii, working every kind of odd job imaginable, from grant writing and making crêpes to guiding horse trips. Currently she lives in Vermont, but really, you never know.