Well Met (Well Met #1) by Jen DeLuca – #BookReview

February 16, 2020February 15, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads17 Comments

Goodreads: Well Met (Well Met #1)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:

All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

Top 5 Saturday: Books about Mermaids

February 15, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

We’re back with another Top 5 Saturday! I might’ve missed last week’s topic but I will come back to it at some point 🙂 Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is: books about mermaids!

I don’t know about you but I’ve always loved the idea of mermaids and especially of being one! I surprisingly (or not) can’t recall having read many books about mermaids but I do have several on my TBR now (and they’re not all of the pining-teenager Ariel variety but more like the will-eat-you-alive kind)! Here’s what’s on my list:

I was lucky enough to get picked for the blog tour for The Deep. It looks and sounds sufficiently creepy and since we all know I’m a chicken, I’m starting to wonder what business I have reading a book that’s guaranteed to terrify me? I guess I just won’t step into the ocean for a while (not at all hard to do when living on a tropical island *cough*)!

I’ve been really looking forward to giving Sea Witch a try. I have to be honest and say the gorgeous cover is what initially caught my eye but I’m hoping the content will be just as good (although I have heard some mixed reviews)!

All the Stars and Teeth isn’t only about mermaids but I thought it still counts. Again it’s mostly thanks to the insanely good looking cover that caught my eye that this was put on my radar, and I’m only convinced to read it even more now because I’ve seen so many reviews for it lately. They are mixed reviews but I’m hoping I’ll enjoy it all the same!

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Christina Henry’s books and a few of them have admittedly been sitting on my Kindle library for quite some time now… The Mermaid is one of them and I’m really curious to see what her writing is like!

I’ve been looking forward to giving Coral a try ever since I first heard about it but I heard it can be quite triggering as it’s quite heavy on the mental health issues. I’m looking forward to finally picking it up once I feel ready for it though!

Upcoming Schedule:

02 Feb 2020: Dystopian books
08 Feb 2020: Mental Illness
15 Feb 2020: Books about Mermaids
22 Feb 2020: Books about spies
29 Feb 2020: Books inspired by mythology

Do you like reading books with mermaids? What are some of your favourites? Share your recs down below!

Friday Favourites: Romances

February 15, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Welcome back to another Friday Favourites, dear friends! Last year this weekly meme was hosted by the wonderful Kibby @ Something of the Book! However, this year Kibby has passed the torch on to Lorraine @ Geeky Galaxy. This week’s topic is: favourite romances.

Well it certainly is the week for romance, isn’t it? I’m actually having a hard time choosing my favourite romances because if you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for the stuff and go through my fair share every year (of romance books, not actual romances lol). So how am I meant to pick out my favourites and keep it to a Top 5 list?! It’s a tough one… But after some thought here are five romances that I will always recommend:

Pride and Prejudice will forever and always be my favourite and I cannot recommend it enough. After reading it I’d also recommend immediately watching one of the two adaptations, both of which are amazing but I’m partial to the 2005 version because Matthew Macfadyen (don’t @ me)!

Give me any book set in Alaska and I’m guaranteed to fall in love with it. Hah, kidding. Maybe. Don’t ask me why but I have a low-key thing for Alaska so that was already a bonus for The Simple Wild. However, throw in some great characters, real growth and a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking storyline and well, I’m sold. I became so invested in Calla and Jonah’s relationship. Jonah had me swooning big time!

I love the diversity that Hoang brings to romance–not only in having Asian MCs but also in writing about characters on the spectrum. It’s refreshing to read romances with characters who look like you and who come from cultural backgrounds similar to yours. The Bride Test has a mix of unique characters, an interesting plot and a good dose of steam, too.

I loved Josh and Lucy, but Josh was the shining star for me in The Hating Game. I loved his character so much. It might not be for readers who don’t like angst because well, this one was seriously full of it, but oh it was so, so much fun!

If you want a romcom with wonderfully fun characters who’re sure to give you a good laugh, then look no further than Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating! I love CLo and would recommend them to anyone but Josh and Hazel have a special place in my heart. I have a huge girl crush on Hazel — she’s such a fun-loving character and so full of life! Their chemistry is perfection and I love their love 😍

That’s it for my favourite romances! What are some of your favourites that you think I should read ASAP? I’m always on the lookout for recs!

First Lines Friday – 14 February

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

HAPPY FRIDAY AND LOVERS DAY, book friends! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“On Sunday I work in sans serif.
Boldface for all the headers, because that’s what the client wants, apexes and vertexes flattened way out into big floors and tables for every letter, each one stretching and counting and demanding to be seen.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

#TopTenTuesday: Romancing my TBR!

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads30 Comments

It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: a love freebie!

Is it merely a coincidence that I am in a romance mood when it’s Valentine’s Day this week? Absolutely. I’ve never been big on the ‘holiday’ and not because I’m single–I just feel like it’s an unnecessary way to spend more money (lol ok grinch) but of course I’m happy to receive chocolates from friends and colleagues (I’m not kidding anyone about having a secret or not-so-secret admirer lmao)! 😉 This past weekend I binged a new favourite romcom series and now my heart is ready for more laughs and loving feels. Since this is a love freebie, I’m going to share ten contemporary romances that I’m going to try and read this week (kidding! …maybe).*

*Sorry I’m boring and not sharing cool favourites or recs lists! 🤣

Top 5 Saturday: Mental Illness Rep

February 8, 2020February 9, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads19 Comments

This week’s topic is: mental illness. I have so many books with mental illness rep on my TBR and it’s so hard to just pick five. I think these are the ones that I’d like to read as soon as possible though, plus they’re all already on my physical/Kindle shelves! I also just realised all of my picks are YA?

I’ve only read one book by John Green although of course I’ve heard plenty of rave reviews about his books, this one included. I’ve heard that the mental health rep is very well done!

Friday Favourites: Non-Human Characters

February 7, 2020February 9, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Can you believe that for a couple of minutes I actually sat staring at this prompt thinking that I have no idea what to write about? Pfft. These drowsy meds are really getting to my head because WHO AM I KIDDING? Of course I have favourite non-human characters and in fact I have plenty of them! But for the sake of brevity, I’ll be sticking to a top five for this post? I’m not sure it’s all that fair to say ‘top five’ but these are also in no particular order!

Mr. Kindly

This list would be an incomplete fail of a list without Mr. Kindly in it. How can I not love this not-cat and his sharp, witty and sarcastic comments? Let’s not forget his dry humour that had me in giggling fits all throughout the Nevernight Chronicles. Plus, who actually wouldn’t love to have a not-cat shadow companion that eats all your fears? I mean, sign me up, please!

First Lines Friday – 07 February

February 7, 2020February 7, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

Yayaya, HAPPY FRIYAY, book lovers and friends 😍We’re back with another First Lines Friday! This is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are THE RULES:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Benny Imura couldn’t hold a job, so he took to killing.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

January Reading Challenge Update

February 7, 2020February 22, 2020 Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Yes, I know I’m late to update. Life has been happening and in typical panda fashion, I also started to slack off a little with recording my reads on my challenge spreadsheet! Oops? Thankfully there’s the Goodreads Reading Challenge which has helped me to recall what books I’ve read over the last month and what challenges they’d fit under! So let’s take a look at how I’ve been doing for the *many* challenges that I decided to participate in this year…

I’ve been using many of the same books I’ve read to fulfil the prompts in different challenges and I think that’s OK although sometimes it feels like “I’m cheating” although I know that’s just the nay-sayers I’ve encountered whose voices are ringing in my ears 😂

ARC Apocalypse

I managed to read four ARCs in January and while that’s not a whole lot (at least compared to others) it’s more than I thought I’d read last month, so I’m happy there’s some progress, no matter how small!

My Thoughts While Writing Book Reviews: Panic and No Disco!

February 6, 2020August 30, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads26 Comments

I was looking through the posts sitting in my draft folder and came across this “Off Tangent Thoughts” post that I guess I never got around to sharing last year. I thought it was funny to see what I had written because even though I don’t think my thought process is as hectic as it was (such as when I was writing this post), I still do go through challenging moments especially when it comes to my memory and remembering what I read, even if I did just finish a book yesterday! So I thought I’d finally share this post today.

Off Tangent Thoughts (OTT) was a new meme hosted by Charvi @Not Just Fiction in 2019, but it has since been stopped due to a lack of time; that said, bloggers can still post about the prompts. OTT was a bi-monthly meme that has a basic list-based format wherein bloggers express their points in the form of a short or long list with the points under the list being merely a couple lines or even complete paragraphs. It’s about letting your thoughts run wild! The OTT prompt that I’ll be answering today is: Thoughts I Have While Writing Book Reviews. I’m going to start with when I open a new book because that’s when I *attempt* to start preparing for my review… Here we go…