Audiobook Review: Forget Me Not by Julie Soto
Forget Me Not
Author: Julie Soto
Narrators:
Callie Dalton
Teddy Hamilton
Published: July 11, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 15 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 9-14, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars
Book Description:
An ambitious wedding planner must work with her grumpy florist ex, whose heart she broke, on the most high-profile wedding of her career, in this spicy and emotional romance from popular fanfic author Julie Soto.
He loves me; he loves me not…
Ama Torres loves being a wedding planner. But with a mother who has been married more times than you can count on your fingers, Ama has decided that marriage is not the route for her. But weddings? Weddings are amazing. As a small business owner, she knows how to match her clients with the perfect vendor to give them the wedding of their dreams. Well, almost perfect…
Elliot hates being a florist, most of the time. When his father left him the flower shop, he considered it a burden, but he’s stuck with it. Just like how he’s stuck with the way he proposed to Ama, his main collaborator and girlfriend (or was she?) two years ago. But flowers have grown on him, just like Ama did. And flowers can’t run off and never speak to him again, like Ama did.
When Ama is hired to plan a celebrity wedding that will bring her business national exposure, there’s a catch: Elliot is already contracted to design the flowers. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. Add in a meddling ex-boss, and a reality TV film crew documenting every step of the wedding prep, and Ama and Elliot’s hearts are not only in jeopardy again, but this time, their livelihoods are too.
Jessica’s Review:
This much I can say: I love the cover!
But can I please forget Forget Me Not? This one started as a buddy read with my friend Beccie but she ended up DNFing (did not finish) it at 53%. I made it through the audiobook, but it was not for me. What kept me going was all the wedding planning: I found that interesting and wanted to know what was going to happen on the big day. That was the only reason I kept listening.
Ama and Elliot are our narrators with Ama narrating present day and Elliot in the past, where it seemed like he still was! Neither of them was likeable. And Teddy Hamilton’s narration/ voice of Elliot just rubbed me the wrong way! It made Elliot even less likeable. There was also no chemistry between the two, it was all about hooking up: There was no romance here! And I’ll just say this, those sex scenes were just too much detail for me! I was skipping through the track during them. Apparently, I need ‘sweet romances’ and fun ‘rom com’/ ‘chick lit’.
All I really know about these two characters:
Elliot is grumpy and supposedly heartbroken (but again there was no romance, just sex!). Oh yeah, he also has flower tattoos all over his body which makes him hot.
Ama loves donuts to an extreme. An extreme danger: If you are allergic to peanut butter, why do you still buy peanut butter donuts? Answer: Because they are a top seller. Really?!?!?! She also has a former boss who kept showing up. Is she trying to sabotage Ama or help her?
I’m not going to say anymore about this one other than Beccie and I seem to be in the minority here. Or are we? We both had similar thoughts on the book. I kept her up to date on what happened since I finished it. Maybe we will have better luck with another buddy read at another time!
Audiobook Review: The Name Drop by Susan Lee
The Name Drop
Author: Susan Lee
Narrators:
Greta Jung
Keong Sim
Published: September 12, 2023
Audiobook: 8 hours 8 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 5-8, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Audiobook Description:
From the author of Seoulmates comes a story of mistaken identities, the summer of a lifetime, and a love to risk everything for.
When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.
When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.
It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.
As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?
Jessica’s Review:
The Name Drop was such a sweet, cute, and fun read that was a pleasant surprise for me! The cover is so cute too! We have a rich/poor trope and mistaken identities tropes among others. Both Elijah and Jessica have the same Korean name and it causes confusion from the beginning! I don’t know how Korean names are, but know how common names for English are: My first and last names both being extremely common at my doctors, dentist, veterinarians having multiple people with the same name (and not getting them mixed up!) and also names that could be both genders: My husband’s name could be either gender. Once they realize the mix up, both Elijah and Jessica (See that’s my name too!) decide to keep it the way it is: Elijah is the rich son of the CEO and will one day be CEO while Jessica is far from rich and has worked hard to get where she is. Elijah can have anonymity and Jessica can get some connections to help her in her future. Of course things get out of hand and drama happens throughout the novel up to the end. Did they make the right choice by staying ‘switched’? You will just have to read this one and see! In reality this mix up just wouldn’t happen, but that’s what reading is: a break from reality. If by some chance a mix up like this happened, it would be found out and fixed. We had two narrators who did a good job mostly. When Greta Jung did male voices it just didn’t sound right for me. It seemed like she just lowered her voice and made a funny face as she was doing the male voices. Keong Sim really brought Elijah to life for me! Both Elijah and Jessica acted their age of young adults. There wasn’t any extreme drama that can happen in YA novels. If you like sweet and fun YA books with some drama and a little romance then give this one a shot. I am glad I did!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Review: Triumphant! By Jessica Roberts
Triumphant! One Woman’s Journey from Prison to Purpose
Author: Jessica Roberts
Published: January 12, 2019
224 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: October 24-31, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
I tried to live my life the way I’d been shown, and early on, it wasn’t as hard to do. But as I got older, choices weren’t so black and white. Love can make you do things that you otherwise would not do. Haven’t you ever done something that you really didn’t want to do, but it was for someone you really loved? I’ve come to understand that sometimes, the places we find ourselves and the experiences we encounter serve to prepare us for our purpose. Now that I have the benefit of age, experience, and wisdom, I can see how the things I went through has shaped the woman I am now. The dreams and goals I have now were not the dreams I started out with. My love and my choices left me facing a ten-year prison sentence! In spite of my choices and what I thought I wanted for my life, my dreams took a different turn. My new dreams have been directly influenced by the direction my life took.
Coincidence? Read my story and then you can decide.
Jessica’s Review:
I met the author at an event for authors from Georgia telling you about the books they wrote. At first I didn’t realize that Jessica’s book was telling her story, but when I did, I had to get it and read it! Fortunately, I was finishing my current read and I was able to pick up her book and read her story.
Roberts’ story is a quick read with short chapters and once I got started I wanted to keep reading! I inhaled it as a “read in my free time” selection. If you are short on time this would be a memoir that can be read very quickly.
Jessica tells her story to us directly and candidly. We see how the decisions she made shaped her life, and pointed her in the direction her life eventually goes. The reader sees what happens through her words, and the book evokes strong feelings to go with it: It just didn’t seem like the attorney really wanted to represent her. Your lawyer is supposed to be #TeamClient and Roberts’ lawyer appeared to be working against her. Why take on the case then? This wasn’t a court appointed attorney but a privately hired one.
We go through the criminal case as Jessica tells her story, and her life after she is released. She has people who helped her and her young daughter, and now Roberts is working to help those women who need it as she did. Through everything she had Faith and still does.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
