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Recensione: One S’more Summer di Beth Merlin

Buongiorno 🙂
Oggi la recensione è bilingue perché facciamo parte del Book Tour per il primo libro della serie The Campfire Series di Beth Merlin organizzato da XPresso Book Tours. Vi lascio alla recensione di One S’more Summer senza perdere troppo tempo che il post è già lunghetto di suo.


Il libro di oggi mi è stato inviato da Xpresso Book Tours in cambio di un’onesta opinione ed è veramente bello. Vi ricordo infine che l’elenco completo dei blog partecipanti con anche le date lo trovate qui.

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Title / Titolo: One S’more Summer (The Campfire Series #1)
Author / Autore: Beth Merlin
Publisher / Editore: Ink Monster Books, LLC
Available in Italian / Disponibile in italiano: No
Goodreads
Purchase link / Link per l’acquisto

Since that first bus ride to Camp Chinooka twenty long years ago, Gigi Goldstein has been pining for her best friend’s guy. She knows her crush is wrong and has to stop, but her heart won’t listen to reason. To escape the agony of their impending wedding, Gigi accepts a summer job at the only place she’s ever been happy.

But working at Chinooka isn’t all campfire songs and toasting marshmallows. Gigi’s girls are determined to make her look bad in front of the boys’ Head Counselor—the sexy but infuriating Perry—and every inch of the campground is laced with memories.

When Gigi realizes she can’t fix the present by hiding in the past, she’s forced to reexamine her choices. Maybe everything she thought she wanted wasn’t what she actually needed… But if she can get her act together, Gigi might have one last shot at the summer love of her dreams.

But Molly must ask herself—does something truly exist if you only see it when you close your eyes?

Faced with the threat of losing everything—her job, best friend, boyfriend, and most importantly, that little thing called her sanity—Molly will learn just how far she’ll go to uncover what is real and what is merely a figment of her imagination.

us I want to thank XPresso Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

One S’more Summer is the first book of a series called The Campfire Series by Beth Merlin. I had never heard of this author before, but I liked the synopsis and decided to give it change. I remember when I used to go to camp and how I loved it, despite not being convinced the first time. I was a shy kid and when I convinced myself to go to camp I was kind of old and I got to go for only two years, but they were amazing. Anyway, I wasn’t gonna pass up this book.

The main character is Gigi, whose full name I’m not able to remember or pronounce, Goldstein. She’s in a bad place in her life where she lost a good job and found herself watching the man she loves being engaged to her best friend. I guess it would be an impossible situation for everyone to handle and Gigi decides that maybe running away for a while will make things easier. I found Gigi to be a very nice person and I liked reading of her. She’s funny, a little bit sarcastic and besides her bad luck in some departments, she’s willing to put herself out there and work hard to make things right again.

Gigi accepts a job as head counselor in the same camp she, her best friend Alicia and the man they both are in love with, Joshua, went as kids. From the descriptions the camp seems a really nice place to be during summer and Gigi discovers very quick that the place triggers memories of when was happy. She finds new friends during her weeks at camp and understands she has a talent that thrives when she’s at peace with herself and happy. She learnes to deal with annoying teenagers, explores her own feelings while giving advice to the girls at camp and slowly lets go of the feelings she had for Joshua.

One S’more Summer is a perfect summer read for those who want a simple story that could perfectly be a real story. It’s not excessive, it’s not extraordinary, but it works. Gigi could be anyone of us and the search she has to do to find herself and understand how to go on with her life is one every person could be facing.
I’m very curious to find out what happens in the next book and I hope I will be able to read it soon and enjoy it like I did with this one.

it   One S’more Summer è il primo libro di una serie intitolata The Campfire Series di Beth Merlin. Non conoscevo l’autrice, ma dopo aver letto la trama ho deciso di dare una possibilità al suo libro. Mi ricordo di quando andavo in colonia e di quanto lo amassi, nonostante la prima volta fossi molto poco convinta. Ero una bambina molto timida, non che ora sia cambiato qualcosa, e il giorno che mi sono convinta a provare la colonia insieme alle amiche ero più o meno grande (avevo 13 anni). Sono riuscita a godermela solo per un paio di anni prima di essere considerata troppo “vecchia” per continuare, ma mi sono divertita da morire. Ora che vi ho raccontato qualcosa di me, vediamo di parlare un po’ del libro.

La protagonista è Gigi, il cui nome completo non sono davvero in grado di ricordare o pronunciare, Goldstein. La sua vita non è il massimo al momento considerando che ha perso un buon lavoro e si è ritrovata a guardare l’uomo che ama fidanzarsi con la sua migliore amica. Non riesco ad immaginare di ritrovarmi in una situazione del genere e Gigi la gestisce come può, ovvero scappando per un po’ e sperando che le cose si facciano più semplici con il tempo. Gigi è una persona davvero piacevole e mi è piaciuto leggere le sue avventure e seguirla nel suo percorso di crescita. È simpatica, un po’ sarcastica e lavora duramente per migliorarsi e migliorare la sua vita.

Accetta un lavoro come animatrice capo nel campeggio in cui lei, la sua migliore amica Alicia e l’uomo di cui parlavo prima passavano le loro estati da bambini. Dalle descrizioni della colonia sembra davvero un bel posto in cui passare l’estate e Gigi si ritrova a pensare spesso ai momenti che anni prima la rendevano felice proprio grazie al posto in cui si trova. Riesce a trovare nuovi amici e capisce di avere un talento che si scatena quando è in pace con se stessa e felice della sua vita. Impara a gestire adolescenti in piena crisi ormonale, esplora nuovi sentimenti per un uomo e nel frattempo dà consigli alle ragazze che si trovano alle prese con le prime cotte.

One S’more Summer è un lettura perfetta sotto l’ombrellone e per chi vuole una storia semplice che potrebbe quasi essere tratta da una storia vera. Non è eccessiva, non è niente di straordinario, ma funziona e piace. Gigi potrebbe rappresentare ognuna di noi e la ricerca che fa cercando sé stessa potrebbe essere la stessa che viviamo ogni giorno. Spero di poter avere presto tra le zampe il secondo volume della serie e soprattutto spero che mi piaccia quanto questo.

mon firma

Book Blitz: Don’t Speak by Katy Regnery

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Buongiorno! È passato un secolo dall’ultimo blitz pubblicato da me, un po’ perché non ne trovo che mi ispirano, un po’ perché poi mi prendo sempre all’ultimo a fare i post e per fortuna c’è la Mon che mi salva. Quindi oggi tocca a me e vi lascio l’estratto di questo libro che mi ha attirata subito, un po’ per la copertina, un po’ per la trama e il suo collegamento alle fiabe. Vediamo se riuscirò a leggerlo tra i miei libri in inglese dell’anno 🙂
Scendendo lungo il post trovate anche un giveaway che vi permette di provare a vincere una copia firmata del libro!

Hello everyone! Today I’m here to leave to you a Book Blitz. I think the cover is very nice and the fact that this book is linked to a fairytale – The little mermaid – catches my attention! What do you think? You can also try to win a signed copy og the book!

don't speak cover
Title: Don’t Speak
Author: Katy Regnery
Publication date: February 27th 2017
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From New York Times bestseller Katy Regnery comes a new twist on a beloved fairytale.

A fisherman’s daughter.

The governor’s son.

Two very different worlds.

In this modern retelling of The Little Mermaid, a fisherman’s daughter from an Outer Banks island untouched by time, meets the son of North Carolina’s governor at a fancy party where she’s working.

Laire, who wants so much more from life than her little island can offer, is swept away by wealthy, sophisticated Erik, who is, in turn, entranced by her naiveté and charm. The two spend a whirlwind summer together that ends on the knife-point of heartbreak and forces them to go their separate ways.

Years later, when fate leads them back to one another, they will discover the terrifying depth of the secrets they kept from each other, and learn that shattered hearts can only be healed by a love that willfully refuses to die.

All novels Katy Regnery’s ~a modern fairytale~ collection are written as fundraisers. 10% of the e-book sales for in March and April 2017 will be donated to P.E.O. International, a non-profit organization that celebrates the advancement of women, awards scholarships and grants, and provides motivation for women to make their dreams come true.

**Contemporary Romance. Due to profanity, adult themes and very strong sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.**

 

excerpt

“Hey!”
    She heard his voice before she saw him.
    Had she known the ultimate cost of that simple glance heavenward, maybe she wouldn’t have stopped. Maybe she would have just kept on walking with her head down. But fate held no warnings for Laire Maiden Cornish.
    Shielding her eyes, she looked up at a deck wrapped around the second floor of the mansion, waiting a moment for her eyes to adjust as he came into view.
    There, in the glittering sunlight . . . a boy.
No, a man.
A young man, a little older than she, tall and muscular, with jet-black hair and a square jaw, dark brown eyes, and a deep tan. He wore a robin’s-egg blue bathing suit with Kelly green palm fronds in a small repeat and a pair of sunglasses buried in his thick hair. In one hand, he held a phone up to his ear, and in the other, he slowly swirled a glass filled with ice and clear liquid. He stared out at the sound, concentrating on his call.
“Hey!” he yelled. “Can you hear me now?” He huffed with annoyance, pulling the phone away from his ear and squinting at it before trying again. “Pete? It’s Erik. Can you hear me?” He set the glass down on the balcony’s wooden railing and gave his phone his full attention. Staring down at it, he muttered, “Shit. No reception.”
It’s Erik.
Erik.
His name is Erik.
Feeling a sharp burn in her lungs, Laire realized she’d been holding her breath and sucked in a huge gulp of air as she stared up at him, frozen in the moment, utterly mesmerized.
She had never seen a more perfect, more handsome person in her entire life.
The sun glinted off his dark hair and wrapped his body in gold, making him appear godlike so very far above her. Were she the type to swoon, Laire imagined she would have been a puddle of goopy longing on the ground below him, content to sacrifice her pride for a glimpse at his beauty.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twitter | Facebook | Site | Goodreads

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.

Twenty-five books later, Katy claims authorship of the multi-titled, New York Times and USA Today Blueberry Lane Series, which follows the English, Winslow, Rousseau, Story, and Ambler families of Philadelphia; the six-book, bestselling ~a modern fairytale~ series; and several other standalone novels and novellas.

Katy’s first modern fairytale romance, The Vixen and the Vet, was nominated for a RITA® in 2015 and won the 2015 Kindle Book Award for romance. Katy’s boxed set, The English Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, hit the USA Today bestseller list in 2015, and her Christmas story, Marrying Mr. English, appeared on the list a week later. In May 2016, Katy’s Blueberry Lane collection, The Winslow Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1-4, became a New York Times E-book bestseller.

In 2016, Katy signed a print-only agreement with Spencerhill Press. As a result, her Blueberry Lane paperback books will now be distributed to brick and mortar bookstores all over the United States.

Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, two dogs, and one Blue Tonkinese kitten create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.

Thanks to XPresso Book Tours for giving us the opportunity to promote this book.

kiafirma

Book Blitz: Romeo and What’s Her Name by Shani Petroff

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Buongiorno 🙂
Stiamo ancora cercando di risolvere i problemi con le email inviate dal blog, ma intanto vi lascio il Blitz dedicato ad un libro che mi ispira parecchio. Sembra divertente e piacevole, spero di riuscire a leggerlo a breve.

Good morning everyone! We’re here today with a Blitz of a book that seems funny and a very nice read. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

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Title: Romeo and What’s Her Name
Author: Shani Petroff
Publication date: February 7th 2017
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Understudies never get to perform

. . . which is why being Juliet’s understudy in the school’s yearly “Evening with Shakespeare” is the perfect role for Emily. She can earn some much-needed extra credit while pursuing her main goal of spending time with Wes, aka Romeo, aka the hottest, nicest guy in school (in her completely unbiased opinion). And she meant to learn her lines, really, it’s just:
a) Shakespeare is HARD,
b) Amanda, aka the “real” Juliet, makes her run errands instead of lines, and
c) there’s no point because Amanda would never miss the chance to be the star of the show.

Then, Amanda ends up in the hospital and Emily, as the (completely unprepared!) understudy, has to star opposite the guy of her dreams. Oops?

 

excerpt

I clicked on an album from his family’s trip to Disney World. It was him, his parents, and his brother, and they were all wearing Mickey Mouse ears. They looked goofy and fun. And totally adorable. I tapped over to his brother’s page. I’d seen all of Wes’s pics before, maybe his brother would have some hidden gems.
Neal had the same eyes as Wes. It was nice seeing them together. I kept clicking through his albums. There was one of them celebrating their dad’s birthday. Another with their dog in the park. Some of Neal alone on a bike path. I wondered if Wes took those photos.
My computer froze as I tried to move to the next picture. “Come on,” I whispered to the screen and started tapping my mouse like a madwoman. I hated when this happened. Instead of a car, I probably needed a new laptop. I hit the power button. And as it asked me if I was sure I wanted to power off, my Internet started running again, so I hit no. A bunch of screens raced past. All that clicking I had done was going through. It was as if GroupIt had a mind of its own. Pictures of Neal at a race, playing chess, and doing who knows what were moving at warp speed. I tried to stop it. I tried to go to my profile page. But it wasn’t listening to my commands. Instead, crazy things started happening. Do you want to tag Emily Stein in this photo? popped up. NO! I did NOT want to tag myself in one of Wes’s brother’s photos. What had I hit? I tried to click no, I tried to stop it, but the screen just passed me by. Why wouldn’t it go back? Why wasn’t it working? Did it do it? Did it tag me? Why wouldn’t the stupid machine behave? I powered it off and grabbed my phone.
My heart was racing as I logged on to Neal’s GroupIt page. It’s going to be fine. Nothing’s happened. You didn’t tag yourself. Yet my reassurances weren’t calming me down. I still had that nagging feeling as I clicked through his photos. So far, so good. There was no sign of me yet. My breathing was returning to normal. Then it happened. A new notification message popped up. Neal Rosenthal commented on a photo you are tagged in.
I closed my eyes. Maybe this was a dream. A bad nightmare that I’d wake up from. But when I looked back at my phone, I knew that wasn’t the case. This was really happening. The notification would take me straight to the picture, but did I really want to see it? My finger shook as I decided whether to press the screen.
I didn’t want to, but I had to know for sure.
I went for it.
No, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooooooo. I threw my phone down on the bed.
It was worse than I could have imagined.
I stared at the spot where the phone had landed. It was like a nuclear bomb that was ready to blow up my life. The picture I had tagged myself in wasn’t just a regular picture of Neal. (Of course not. Why would my life be that easy?) Instead, it was a picture of Neal holding his hands in a heart shape. A picture that now had my name smack on top of it.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twitter | Facebook | Site | Goodreads

Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. She’s the author of the “Bedeviled” series, which includes Daddy’s Little Angel, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress, Careful What You Wish For, and Love Struck, and is the co-author of the “Destined” series which includes Ash and Ultraviolet. She also writes for television news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online.Thanks to XPresso Book Tours for giving us the opportunity to promote this book.

Thanks to XPresso Book Tours for giving us the opportunity to promote this book.

mon firma

Book Blitz: Finding Paradise by V. P. Ortiz

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Buongiorno 🙂
Oggi pubblico di nuovo io così Kia si può occupare del recap bisettimanale su How to get away with murder. La cover di questo libro non mi fa impazzire, ma la trama mi ispira tranquillità e relax, una di quelle letture da ombrellone o da divano e cioccolata calda. Se scorrete in basso, dopo l’estratto, troverete un giveaway decisamente interessante. Mi raccomando, affrettatevi che scade il 24 novembre!

Good morning everyone! We’re here today with a Blitz and we just can’t seem to be able to resist them. I mean, all the covers are gorgeous, the synopsys look very very interesting and there’s always a giveaway. Could we possibly want more? Speaking of giveaways, take a look at the one below, it is open internationally and ends November 24th.

findinf paradise cover
Title: Finding Paradise
Author: V. P. Ortiz
Publication date: September 24th 2016
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Mila Quinn is ready to finally move out of the college dorms into an apartment with her longtime boyfriend, Ethan Lowe. But when Ethan reveals a big secret, her world is suddenly turned upside down, stirring up old memories of love and loss. Completely torn apart, she boards a plane to Hawaii to escape for the summer.

Even though Mila wants to spend her time in paradise in isolation, fate has other plans when it drops sexy local Gage Madden in her lap. Hesitant at first, she agrees to let him take the reins on her island exploration. As Mila discovers the wonders of Oahu with Gage, it becomes harder for her to fight the budding attraction between them.

But behind the curtain of island adventures and undeniable chemistry, trouble is brewing where Mila least expects it. Secrets begin to bubble to the surface that could destroy her all over again. Will Mila find her paradise? Or will she leave Hawaii with another broken heart?

 

excerpt

I stretch my legs out into the sand and lean back on my hands, soaking up the warmth of the sun like the sea turtles down the beach. “Thank you for bringing me here. This has been absolutely amazing.”
Gage covers my hand with his again. “Anything for you, Mila.” His deep voice is raspy and instantly heats up my skin more than the sun ever could.
Anything for you, Mila.
I toss his words around in my head, dissecting them and savoring them. My walls are crumbling, falling, falling, falling. This is what I want. This is what I’ve wanted since that first day on the plane. I wanted Gage. I wanted his hazel eyes to bear into my soul. I wanted his dimple to sink in every time he saw me. I wanted his full lips to touch mine. Even when I didn’t think I did, I wanted it. I wanted it all. I want Gage.
I want him to be mine.
“Mila.” Gage trails his other hand along my jaw, slowly, delicately, like he did earlier. “I’m sorry. I’m trying, but it’s really hard to hold myself back from you. I’ve never met anyone like you before. And I know that’s not what you want to hear right now. But I can’t leave here today without you knowing how I feel about you.”
He’s wrong. It’s exactly what I want to hear right now.
He leans closer to me and my breath quickens. I can’t turn away. I can’t stop this. And I won’t. I need this. Gage needs this. I need Gage. Gage needs me. He draws me in and I let him. Closer. Closer. It’s everything I’ve wanted for so long. He’s holding my heart hostage and I never want him to release it. His breath is on my lips and I close my eyes, holding back my regrets, letting him in–

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twitter | Facebook | Site | Goodreads

V.P. Ortiz lives, works, and breathes in sunny/snowy/beautiful Colorado with her loving husband, their two beautiful children, and their three fat cats. While her home may be in the Rocky Mountains, she left her heart somewhere on the island of Oahu, where she plans to retire someday in a tiny house with an avocado tree and free-range chickens. Besides reading any book in sight, her hobbies also include eating, dancing, lip syncing, and occasionally running until her husband has to pick her up eight miles away because she got lost and has a leg cramp.

Thanks to XPresso Book Tours for giving us the opportunity to promote this book.

mon firma