⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 Didn't See That Coming Stars!

Well this was a lovely story, albeit heart-wrenching.

Meet Georgia-Rae she is 11 years old.......She meets Sean, who is 13, and they both decide that they have met the loves of their lives and will never love anyone else again ....EVER!

Sean and Georgia become a "thing" and stay, and are very happy together, Sean is in a band called Carnage and is gigging around pubs and clubs and becoming quite a big name around the place, until they get spotted by a talent scout and they hit the big time!

The thing is, by this time Georgia is only 16 years old and is still at school, so she can't follow him around the world, so she follows Carnage from afar and meets up with him when she can.

Sean in the mean time has got himself caught up in the rock-star lifestyle with drugs and alcohol and is getting himself into a bit of a mess.

This becomes evident one day after a huge sill mistake on Sean's part splits the 2 lovers apart and doesn't reconcile them until 4-5 years later.

In the meantime Georgia has met and started to have feelings again, and maybe has some real feelings for Cameron King, a big-time London crook, who knows of her family through her father.

Of course the story wouldn't be complete without Georgia and Sean, but do they find their way back to each other?? Does Cameron stay in the picture??
will your little heart be torn out and stamped on??? Probably!!

🎧🎧 Great narration by Nikki Delgado, i went into this book completely blind so i had no idea that it was even set in the UK, She has a lovely accent and doesn't sound like the usual posh Mary Poppins British narrators that i have become accustomed to.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 Mermaid Stars

You may remember meeting (or seeing) Christian in ALL his glory, doing naked handstands if you read Wanderlust, in fact, you have already met Elise (She was Joy's friend) however you do not need to have read it to be able to enjoy this one.

Lauren Blakely is the epitome of a Rom Com queen, she writes funny, sweet and sexy so brilliantly, there is always a little angst but nothing to make you roll your eyes at, and there is always...ALWAYS a great story to take you away.

This was no exception...

Elise and Christian nearly have a meet cute when she visits a friend in Copenhagen, but that falls through, even though she does manage to get herself some tasty handstand snaps to ogle at.

They eventually meet in Paris a year later and by a weird series of coincidences, they embark on a crazy deal to help out Christian's younger brother.

The fact that this was a second chance romance is also why i loved it so much, Lauren's characters are always a little older and wiser, so you don't seem to get the college angst kind of vibes from them.

🎧🎧With the usual funny banter and brilliant one-liners this falls into another "Must Listen" audio book

Grace Grant and Shane east were perfect voices for these characters, they gelled together brilliantly and some of the sexy accents made me sit listening with a goofy smile on my face.

Save a credit for this one guys, you won't be disappointed!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hot Brother Stars

Well another Malone brother to fall in love with....sigh, it's a hard life 😂

Grayson is a single dad (swoon) his son Luke is his life, he lives and breathes for him.

After an awful break up, Grayson and Luke live very happily together, and reading those 2 together made me fall in love with him BEFORE even reading the rest of the story!

Sidney is a rich kid, her father owns a very sucessful business, and as a kind of punishment, sends Sidney back to her old childhood hometown to help save a magazine from folding.

Trying to find hot dads for a cover competition isn't that difficult, however there is one man she really wants and he is having NONE of it!

Sparks fly and the heat rises with these 2, i gradually came to love Sidney as she was a little cold at the beginning. 

But apart from Grayson there is one more star of this book, Luke 💗 he was absolutely adorable, and if i didn't love Grayson enough, the relationship between father and son nearly made my kindle spontaneously combust

🎧🎧Narrated by the always fabulous Grace Grant, and the sexy voice of Zachary "voice crush" Webber, these 2 made the listening experience even better for me after i had already read the book

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 Heart-breakingly beautiful stars

Before starting this book i knew that it was going to be a tough one, I was not silly enough to think that it was going to be a fluffy romance, but ahh this book!!

I also did not know that it was based on a true story, i know obviously Auschwitz is true, but this is also the true story about Lale Sokolov and his "romance story" with the love of his life Gita.

The horror that one man can endure and feel has been put into this book and is sometimes overwhelming, and that is a good thing, it should never be forgotten what happened in these camps, it should never be forgotten what these people went through.

Lale was taken to Auschwitz in 1942 he was 26 years old.

He offered his services when the Nazi's came to his town, he was told that one member had to go and help them and the rest of the family would be saved, Lale stepped up to the mark, his older brother had a wife and a child so he thought that it would be best for him to stay and look after her.

At that time he and the rest of the world were unaware of the horrors that he would see and endure, he just thought he was helping his family!

On arrival he was stripped of his name and given the number 32407 which was tattooed onto his arm, along with the thousands of other arrivals.

He was set to work, firstly lugging bricks, and then on the rooftops of the new buildings of the ever extending camp.

One day he got really sick with typhiod, a desease that was swarming through the camps, a man took care of him, his name was Pepan.

Pepan was the man that had Tattooed him on the day that he arrived at the camp, after that Pepan took him under his wing and used him as an apprentice, he taught him the trade and also how to keep his head down and his mouth shut!

One day Pepan disappeared, so Lale was crowned the new "Tetovierer" (Camp Tattooist) - Lalel never saw Pepan again.

Because Lale was fluent in 5 or 6 languages he learned to hover around and collect information, and because of his new job he was given preferential treatment, he was given better lodgings and extra helpings at dinner, which Lale saved and gave out to his friends in Block 29 where he was first stationed.

While he was tattooing new prisnners one day he met Gita, he tattooed her arm with the number 34902, he never forgot that number, they tried to meet each other and sometimes managed fleeting glances and stolen kisses, much to the dismay of his German Officer in charge of him, his extra rations soon started to go to her.

He also managed to gain gems and money from dealings with some of the other prisoners, so he started exchanging these for extra food, this was like currency in the camps and Lale soon became the man to go to for anything.

There are, as you would think, a lot of harrowing stories inside this book, but also a lot of love.

My heart was in my mouth a few times, especially with Josef Mengele hovering around and telling him that he will be next!

The Authors Notes, and Following at the end of the book is beautiful and the Afterward from Lale and Gita's son Gary made me tear up.

🎧🎧 - Narration by Richard Armitage was outstanding, his accents were wonderful and his voice was just perfect for this story.

Save a credit for this one guys, it is well worth it.

Prepare yourself

Vicci

P.S - I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz a couple of years ago, and it was truly the most strange place i have ever been, it is still as grim as it is portrayed in books and pictures, and the government and workers there have done well to keep it as it should be, a museum that portrays the horrors that went on there.

They haven't "Disneyfied" it, and they are very respectful.

You cannot just go and walk around chatting, you have a guide and you go around in small groups, you have earphones on and the guide talks into a microphone so you don't hear anyone else talking.

Krakow itself is beautiful, and seeped in history and well worth a visit.

We should never forget!



Learn more about Lale and his story here:- The Tattooist of Auschwitz - and his secret love

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful Friendship Stars

Get ready to buckle yourseves in for this one guys it's a feeler!

Gahhh it's beautiful, Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL!!!

If you've ever read a book by Amy Harmon you will already know how her books affect you, however, if you haven't, then you are in for a treat, and I guarantee that you will want to binge read everything she's ever written.

This story follows three friends from childhood to adulthood, two of these friends got married to each other, the other friend was always in love with one of them, she was the loser!

Mercedes is the best friend anyone can ever have, she's staunchly protective, brave, kind, beautiful and has a wonderful personality, she's also in love with her best friend Noah.

Noah wants be a doctor when he grows up and loves spending time with his two best friends Mercedes and Cora.

Cora loves her two best friends, she doesn't really know who she wants to be, so when Mercedes wants a kitten Cora gets a cat, when Mercedes says that she wants to be a beautician when she grows up, Cora wants to be one too, when Mercedes takes an interest in Noah, Cora decides to step in.
Mercedes being the kind of girl she is steps aside and lets her best friend marry the man of her dreams.

She's the bridesmaid at the wedding and the godmother of their child and she's also there when their two worlds come crashing down.

With a small cameo from one of Amy's previous books which you do not have to have read, this book keeps you enthralled and wanting to be part of The Three Musketeers.

🎧🎧 Narrated by Almarie Guerra, a new narrator for me did an outstanding job all of the characters had their own voices and I believed every word she said.
I will certainly be looking out for other titles that she has narrated.

Pick up this beautiful story as soon as you can you won't be disappointed!

Vicci