'Bad Romeo'', Leisa Rayven

Goodreads * Amazon UK * Amazon

Book Summary: When Cassie Taylor met Ethan Holt at acting school, sparks flew. She was the good girl actress. He was the bad boy about campus. But one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing, Cassie and Ethan's romance seemed destined. Until he broke her heart and betrayed her trust. Now the A-list heartthrob is back in her life and turning her world around. One touch at a time. 

Cast as romantic leads once again, they're forced to confront raw memories of the heartbreaking lows and pulse-pounding highs of their secret college affair. But they'll also discover that people who rub each other the wrong way often make the best sparks

This book just doesn't sit right with me. Just... doesn't. I was hoping for something really good looking at how people were excited about it. At least for something bearable... And first pages of the book got me hooked but then... like a huge SLAM of the door on my face... what's going on here?

I disliked both main characters. They were irritating, self and sex obsessed. Ethan had hurt Cassie in the past (erm... will I ever know what happened, in details, please?) and she still chases after him... because her body wants him. But he treats her horribly all the time... and she still chases him. Enough.for.me.

Also, I've found the way of narration a bit confusing when we were jumping from past to present tense... and from present to past again... 

This book was so frustrating I had to put it down. Twice. I had to force myself to finish it.

To be honest, I think that Leisa Rayven missed her chance to write a very good and beautiful book. Her writing style is nice and I hope one day I'll read her again, but not in this series.

The story around this toxic relationship filled with poor sexual "tension" just made me angry, sad and a bit disgusted.

and a *half*

received via NetGalley for an honest review

'Love Hurts' Malorie Blackman and others, collection of short stories

Goodreads * Amazon UK
Random House Corgi Childrens

Book Summary: Malorie Blackman brings together the best teen writers of today in a stunningly romantic collection about love against the odds. Featuring short stories and extracts about modern star-crossed lovers from stars such as Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak and Patrick Ness, and with a brand-new story from Malorie Blackman herself, Love Hurts looks at every kind of relationship, from first kiss to final heartbreak.

Love Hurts is an anthology of short stories written by well known authors (like Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak or Jenny Downham). Most of these stories are simply extracts from already written books. We can read a bit of If I Stay, We Were Liars or The Infinite Moment of Us - most of chapters are parts of different titles, but there are some separate stories as well.

If you didn't read original books it's easy to get confused while reading extracts, because they're simply out of context and we don't know the background of characters or events. On the other hand you can get to know different writing styles, read pieces of bestselling books and decide if you'd like to pick them up or not.

I'm not sure if making a book out of parts of other books is a good idea. I think readers would enjoy it more if these were separate short stories. I have to say that my favourite story was Malorie Blackman's standalone Humming Through My Fingers. It was a solid and touching read. 

I wouldn't call this book a waste of time but it certainly wasn't what I expected it to be. I would recommend it only to those who want to get to know writing style of different authors and decide whether they would like to read their works. If you expect an unique read like My True Love Gave To Me you will be disappointed.