Better Than Broccoli With Cheese

I really enjoyed this book. Over all I found it entertaining, cute and a good update from the source material. 

So Anyone But You is a modern version of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare and just like any teenage girl I had a period of time where R&J was my favorite of his plays. That is until I found Macbeth, but that's a story for a different time.

R&J is a story that is pretty easy to adapt and use but what I like about this version is that the authors decided to dive in deeper than the surface story of two kids in love. They decided to give us the story of how the feud began in sequence with the main love story. They did this by switching between the stories every other chapter.

I loved the story that was told for the origin of the feud. It was a little predicable but was told in a way that kept you reading. The characters were well defined and you really connected with them.

The modern day teens were also lovable. Their story hit all the notes needed such as the party, the late night meeting, the sneaking around, the fight between our Romeo and our Tybalt (though without the death), etc.  I loved that the Nurse in this story was an old Italian chef. I thought that was adorable and a creative way to bring that character into the story.

Of course the suddenly we're crazy in love part of the story felt weird and rushed, but that was expected considering it is R&J. Though the characters, thankfully, didn't run off and get married. They do keep dating and are happily together at the end of the book.

Overall, I found it to be a lot of fun to read and I plan to check out the other books these authors have written.

**This book was provided to me free through NetGalley but the opinion expressed is my own.**

So I found Deep Blue Secret (Water Keepers Book 1) by Christie Anderson on Amazon and decided to give it a try. 

I found the characters interesting enough to make it through the very slow pace and real lack of plot. Sadie and Rayne were too cute together. They did the do we/do we not game very well and without it becoming overly annoying. Plus there was enough "what's going on" plot to keep me interested. Though the dramatic/climactic bit at the end

felt very rushed and disconnected from the rest of the story. It did help to bridge the plot over into the second book but just barely.

Rogue Wave (Book 2) had a much more active plot line

that I felt finally started to move the story along. To be honest Deep Blue Secret and Rogue Wave really could have been merged in to one book without a problem. The tension and the drama was woven throughout the book and really helped to keep it from just being a sappy teen love story.

Ambrosia Shore is by far the strongest of the series so far. It finally got the true plot of the series set up

and a ton of the floor work taken care it. It also had some fantastic "what will happen to them" moments. Sadie also was on her own and had to step up and show what she was made of. And she came out on top. She is really starting to build into a strong female character that I am happy to read about. Things also kept fairly fast paced which I appreciate.

Overall i am enjoying the series and am interested in seeing how the story progresses in the next book.

I have absolutely no idea what to read next. I have a couple books sitting my by bedside and an abundance on my kindle but no real pull towards anything. 

Maybe I will check out the sequel to Deep Blue Secret...

This book sounds amazing!

Just finished Shadow of Time by Jen Minkman and I truly enjoyed it.

I was weary at first as it seemed to take a while to find it's feet and get going. Once it did the plot moved at a nice pace and kept my interest. I really enjoyed the way that time is used in the story to connect so many different events together, both past and present. It was handled very well and in a way that didn't hurt the brain. Everything just seemed to make sense together and flow nicely.

I found the characters to be lovable and interesting, though at times everything felt very surface level. Like there could easily be more depth to everything/everyone but they story never quite takes it there.

I really liked the way that multiple walks of life merge together so seamlessly in this story. There is the cultural side of things with all of the native american culture, spiritual side, but also a sexual side. Since this is a romance story at it's heart there are a few couples that are shown in the story. The main couple, Hannah and Josh, but the author seamlessly includes a gay couple in a way that felt natural without bringing a lot of attention to the fact that they were a "non-traditional" couple. It was really nice and refreshing to see.

This story is very much a summer romp meets spirituality meets across time romance. I give it a 3.5 out of 5, would read again.

So my very first day on BookLikes I decided to enter a few of the giveaways just to see what would happen. Much to my delight, and slight shock as I never win things, I got picked as a winner! 

I am not the happy owner of a copy of Shadow Of Time by Jen Minkman! I can't wait to give it a read as soon as I finish Deep Blue Secret by Christie Anderson.