Monthly Recommendations - May Is for Contemporary

Hello-Hello! I am here with another post. Recently I joined another books related group on Goodreads called Monthly Recommendations (<--link). You might know the creators, Trina (Between Chapters) and Kayla Rayne. Do not be a troll and check these awesome beings' channels. - (No offense, trolls but you are pretty grumpy imaginary creatures.)

The month of May is dedicated to Contemporary Books.

According to May's discussion board, "Contemporary fiction is generally considered to be a real world setting with no fantasy or paranormal elements that takes place after World War II. It includes a variety of cross/sub-genres, such as: Romance, Coming of Age, Mystery, Horror, Humor, Literary fiction."

Since I prefer my books with a splash of imaginary... stuff, contemporary books are very few in my read pile... Thus, the books of my choosing are more romance oriented and cross the line into the New Adult category. I am not counting the ones from my TBR (to be read) list since I cannot offer an opinion cause I did not read them... DUH! 

The books are in no particular order.

Let's get this recommendation started!

 

 

This is one of my recent reads. It is an easy and quick read. A lot of themes are explored throughout this book. "Don't be quick to judge" and "things are not always what they appear" are just a few of them. Brigid Kemmerer does a great job reflecting real world problems in her book. I also like the mystery-romance aspect. Boy and girl know of each other's existence but they are not acquainted at all. They judge one another based on rumors and gossip. Then, they end up later corresponding anonymously to talk about their life and problems. From my point of view, this story is a bit too focused on the main characters; although, that hasn't stop me from enjoying a good book like this (Review HERE).

Goodreads book page

  

 

Alright, this is a kind of a classic cliché and I so love it. This a contemporary love story which it happens to take place in Paris, France. L'amour! I couldn't help it. I had to say the phrase. Tired of having all - mostly all - your books taking place in the U.S.A or U.K.? Then this book is your answer to that. But don't get overly excited, there still is an American/English aspect in this book. The setting is beautiful. The story had the right amounts of romance, reality, cuteness, sweetness, and culture, and characters... I read this book twice and that says something since I rarely read books a second time. Anyway... Try the book if you are in a mood for cute and fluffy. (*Not really a standalone.)

Goodreads book page

 

 

A book published by Swoon Reads*** (<-- link). Teenage girl with good reputation (high grades and focused on her grades but with a "cold" demeanor) meets the hot surfer womanizer boy. It is set in high school. The two try to figure out who they are despite... high school society? It is a nice contemporary with an important message addressed people. There is a lot of steam potential... but is not explored at all; though, the romance is cute. And despite the title, personally, I did not see the "walk of shame". Nothing was shameful.

Goodreads book page

  

 

Now, we are leaving the YA territory and move towards New Adult / Adult zone. This is another romance that takes place in another place other then USA or U.K. It's happening in Rome, baby! Cute. Full of steam. Love. Romance. Culture. A Prince in disguise. It is a retelling of the film Roman Holyday with Audrey Hepburn in the main role. You can check my review, HERE, if you need more convincing. (*Not really a standalone.)

Goodreads book page

 

 

Well, well, well. The maturity scale in this one gets a little higher (and I am not talking about the sexy time). This is a complex and complicated story. It is about life, love, and redemption. There is a strong connection with Dante's Inferno or shout I say Dante's personal life viewed from his work, The Divine Comedy. It takes place in Toronto, Canada. Yes, it started as fan-fiction but there is so much more to the story. This is a story well written able to touch your soul and feels - oops, feelings.

(Not a standalone.)

Goodreads book page

 

Another new adult book. If you are a Colleen Hoover fan, you already know of this book. Again, the maturity level is pretty high - and here I am talking about sex. This is my favorite Colleen's book so far. (I've only read two and the other one is Confess which you can find my review on it HERE.) Life. Love. Redemption. Tragedy. And the most important, how we cope with tragedy and find a way to relive and bloom again.

Goodreads book page

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and found some new books to add to your on growing TBR pile. And, if you want more contemporary recommendations, check out the group's May discussion board HERE.

See ya in the next post!

 

P.S. Confess was turned into a short TV show. For more details on that click the link HERE.

*The book can be read by itself - ish - but it ties in with other books. A series of standalones...?
 ***Swoon Reads it is a website where you can publish your manuscript and based on feedback from the readers you have a chances to get published.  

 

Letters to the Lost by Brigid kemmerer which Turn into E-mails Faster than You Can Say "Letters"

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Book Synopsis

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. Letters to the Lost - Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Opinion

4.5/5 stars

 I requested this book somewhat blindly from NetGalley. It looked and sounded interesting so... I thought I should give it a shot. Oh, boy! I was not disappointed.
It was a light read and easy to follow with a nice flow of events. Letters to the Lost brings into question the society and its views. Perfect families are not perfect. People can be both villains and heroes at the same time. People are people no matter the age. Lack of communication and expression of feelings can get you in deep trouble with those around you. Being misunderstood is a consequence of that. From all these books I am reading lately, including this one, I get this feeling that they are trying to transmit a message: Do not lie or, so called, protect the children from problems because things have their own way at getting back at you and backfire. Secrets are not good in a family. Children do not need to be protected from problems all the time. They need to understand and have someone to guide them through problems  because they need to learn. You can't just dump the problems onto a child's shoulders either. There has to be a balance. In my opinion, this book does a great job at presenting all these ethical issues. Also... Let's just say that in some parts... it does too much and, for me, it was quite far fetched. Oh! That might be the case because I've seen that plot twist so many times in books, movies, and TV shows. I mean, come on! It was obvious. :D
The dynamic  between the main characters is interesting. We are able to see the general two sides of human nature: the societal act and the true self. I can say the anonymous conversations were good therapy sessions for the two of them. Overall their story has a realistic-ish but beautiful resolution - too fast maybe? The romance factor was... yes and no at times. Don't get me wrong, it played nicely for the overall story. Although, it lacked some depth due to the issue I am going to discuss below.
The females in the book felt shallow and underdeveloped as characters. I was more connected with Declan which is not a bad thing... I wanted to see more sides of Juliet through her grief and sorrow. And this is my mature brain speaking, she spent a great deal of the book over idolizing her mother than paying attention to herself and others. And her best friend was just there. By the end of the storyline, I was not able to comprehend her existence in this novel. She had lots of potential from the bits of information I got about her from Juliet. Throughout the whole book, I was expecting her to be a back stabbing traitor but it was not like that - thank goodness! More details about the females characters were needed compared to the male ones. I do not know... You can say it was understandable since it is a light tragic young adult novel.  (I cannot believe that I've jut put "light" and "tragic" in the same sentence and in close proximity.) Or, that is just how I perceive it.

Finally, get some melancholic instrumental music, ask for magical power to make the weather gloomy and - by the end of the book - sunny, and see if this is your cup of tea.

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^

 

I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Language: none to mild
Sexual content: mild
Violence: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: moderate