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by Rachel Noble

Lifestyle & Family

All the books I read in March and my reviews

I decided to get rid of the star ratings from my reviews on here. It was just too much pressure to sum up and compare all books in a simple 1- 5 star category. Instead my hope in these reviews is to introduce you to new titles, provide you with a bit of information about them and their plots and give you my personal thoughts and I hope you can find some titles to add to your reading list. 🙂

If you’ve read my previous reviews, you may have noticed that I tend to read a lot of romantic comedies. Now that’s not to say that’s all I read but if you are looking for recommendations on some good love stories, you’ve definitely come to the right place.

Say You Still Love Me – K.A. Tucker

After I read the Wild Series by this author last month (see this post for that review) I really wanted to read more of her books.

This story is told in alternating timelines – shifting back and forth between present day and a summer 13 years in the past. In doing so, the story of Piper Calloway and Kyle Miller slowly unfolds. She’s a wealthy girl who is sent to summer camp as a counselor to gain some perspective on her otherwise privileged life and ends up falling madly in love with the bad boy. A story you may think you’ve heard 100 times before but you certainly have not heard this one. I loved this story. It’s definitely steamy and a story of first loves and second chances. It also hits topics like family secrets, traumatic mistakes with a touch of women’s empowerment.

My one critique or note is that a lot of the steamy scenes take part in the flashbacks – ie. when the characters are just 16. This made me feel a bit uncomfortable at times so keep that in mind if it might bother you. Overall I really like K.A. Tuckers writing and will be reading more of her books.

Detour to Love – Amanda Radley

This is the first book by Amanda Radley that I have read.  It has received a plethora of praise and great reviews online but for me I just couldn’t get really into this book.  I love a good love story with passion and heat and this book just didn’t have that.  This is an LGBTQ love story which I was excited to read but it is very slow to develop, in fact by the time I had read 90% of it, I didn’t even know if the main characters were even that into each other.  There is also a very large age gap between the two female main characters – which is accentuated by the fact the Celia (the older of the two characters) keeps paying for things which in turn, for most of the book, gave me more of a maternal vibe than a love interest vibe with her.   The character development is great but for me it just wasn’t a passionate enough love story – and I don’t mean that in a steamy way (though it didn’t have that either).  

At First Sight – Hannah Sunderland

“Nell and Charlie feel a spark when they meet by chance in a cafe. But they don’t trade numbers, or surnames, so there’s no way they’ll meet again. But the next day, Nell’s phone rings at work. Somehow, impossibly, Charlie is on the other end. And he needs her help. Nell is about to save a life, fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.”

I could tell instantly that I liked this writers style and approach to story telling. I thought this book would be a lighthearted rom com but it was so much deeper than that. This book beautifully described first loves, second chances, second loves, and fate while also delving into issues like grief, spousal loss, and suicide. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read, especially for a love story. When I finished the book I literally uttered the word ‘wow’. It was truly a heart breakingly beautiful story about love. I couldn’t put it down.

Across the Aisle – Stephanie Vance

This story centers around two DC lobbyists – Dallas McGrath and Grant Pierce – who are forced to work together to create a legislative compromise on a bill and issue they both feel passionate about. Neither one is willing or allowed to compromise but that all changes as they get to know each other.

This story is told from the alternating perspectives of both Dallas and Grant which I love as you’re able to see both characters feelings develop but I’ll admit it did take me a bit to get into this book. There is a lot of political jargon and alot of minor characters in the beginning which made it hard to keep it all straight. As I kept reading though the story simplified and I really enjoyed the flirting and chemistry between the two main characters. It’s filled with passion, honesty, misunderstanding, and sacrifice. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a classic enemies to lovers style book.

Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid

I’m sure you’ve heard of this book as it’s been such a popular book since its release and for good reason. This book sums up very briefly as “a young black woman in an upscale grocery store is accused of kidnapping the white toddler whom she babysits” and the book then tackles everything that happens afterwards. This book takes on serious issues like race, white privilege, interracial relationships, racial profiling, wealth, millennial anxiety and white saviourism.

This book lacked the dramatic punch I was expecting (based on the description of the book) but overall I definitely think it is worth a read and maybe even a google afterwards as I learned so much more from reading online discussions and reviews. This is definitely a book to talk about.

The Off Limits Rule – Sarah Adams

This is the first book by Sarah Adams that I have read and I’ll admit I’ve already purchased her other titles because I loved this one so much. If you love an easy to read romantic comedy that’s filled with flirty banter and laughable moments than this book might be for you. Lucy is a single mom who is forced to move in with her brother to get her life back on track. She meets his best friend Cooper and they hit it off but try not to act on their feelings because of their relationships with her brother. I could really relate to Lucy also being a mom and sharing many of the insecurities she has and I just loved the unique take on this love story – Lucy being a mom and Cooper being a romantic lead who doesn’t think twice about that fact.

To Love and To Loathe – Martha Waters

If you’re someone who loves a regency era story and a romantic comedy then this might be a great book for you. I enjoyed a lot of aspects about this story – the two main characters have some intense chemistry and their love to tease relationship was full of flirtatious fun. It’s also a rom-com with a good amount of steam too. I also loved the way this book delved into the topic of marriage and how it can be so many different things to women of that era – whether it grants them freedom, constrains them, whether its done for money or love, or whether its a forced fate or a dream some will never have.

(Spoiler ahead) One aspect of the book that I didn’t love came near the end of the book when one of the main characters is told something in confidence regarding the sexual orientation of another character and very quickly tells the revelation to many of her friends. I really wished this part of the story was changed or left out as sharing this sort of information should never happen or be encouraged. It really made me dislike this character when I was really liking them until then.

Aside from that part, I did enjoy the writing style of this author and the story as a whole.

Tweet Cute – Emma Lord

Everyone’s been raving about this book and they’re right … it’s totally adorable. To sum it up very simply – 2 high school students unknowingly engage in a hilarious twitter war with each other in defence of each of their family businesses. Eventually their identities are revealed to each other and… well you’ll have to read it to see what happens ;). Overall it is a super cute Young Adult contemporary romance that’s super clean (aka no steam) and just so loveable. I’m definitely team #pepperjack.

The Little Orchard on the Lane – Tilly Tennant

This is the first book by Tilly Tennant that I’ve read. The setting of the story was always beautifully described by the author and made it feel as if I too was in the countryside along with the characters. The story is slow paced which I think perfectly mimics the slower paced lifestyle of the country setting. This is a love story but it’s also a story about a girl finding her family, herself and her place in the world. There wasn’t a lot of steam to the love story but I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a nice, slow, feel good, heart-warming story of family and love.

Have you read any of these books? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

xo,

Rachel

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This post contains affiliate links. Some of the books in this post were gifted by the publishers and Netgalley. All opinions are my own as always. Thank you for supporting my blog.

See previous book reviews here and here.

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Lifestyle & Family

ALL THE BOOKS I READ IN FEBRUARY AND MY REVIEWS.

Being February I read a lot of romance books this month – it is the month of love right?! Not that I need an excuse to add a few more romances to my list… I love a good romance any month of the year. I also apparently read quite a few books with sequels again too… haha. But without further ado, here are all the books I read in February and remember these are just my opinions.

The Lone City Series – Amy Ewing

The Jewel | The White Rose | The Black Key – all 7.5/10

This is a YA dystopian fiction book series (apparently I’m a fan of them as I read one last month too haha). These books are set in a world where society is divided into classes (literally… there are walls dividing them). The royalty in these books are no longer capable of giving birth to their own healthy children and rely on special girls from the lowest caste system to use as surrogates. It’s a little handmaids tale-ish but for teens. The story centres around Violet, Lot 197 as the royals call her, who gets auctioned off and bought by one of the royal families and gets embroiled in a plan to take down the system while learning who and what she truly is… and also maybe falling in love along the way. I really enjoyed this series and found myself eager to read the next book. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA novels and dystopian based stories.

The Wild Series (3 books) – K.A. Tucker

The Simple Wild 8.5/10 | Wild At Heart 9.5/10 | Forever Wild 10/10

This series was recommended to me by a friend and it had me hooked when I read it was a love story with an Alaskan Pilot haha. I knocked a few stars off the first book only because at the beginning of this book I found the main character a bit too predictable which annoyed me a tad. She’s a city girl with brand name clothes and the typical cliches often used to signify that she is high maintenance – nail appointments and hair appointments etc. She goes to Alaska to visit her estranged ailing father and of course meets a guy she can’t stand… at first. There was a bit too much “he’s so annoying and I could never see myself liking him” for me – because clearly we know she’s gonna like him and be with him soon enough so stop trying to convince me otherwise. Once I was past that part of the book though, I actually really, really liked the rest of the first book and the entire series. I don’t want to give too much away but the 3 books follow the love story of Calla and Jonah and how they struggle to adjust to their new found life together in Alaska without repeating the mistakes of Calla’s parents. Heavy on the teasing and flirting (I love when books are) and pretty steamy too. I highly recommend this series and it’s written by a Canadian Author and set partly in Toronto which is a bonus for me!

99 Percent Mine – Sally Thorne

7/10

Darcy has had a crush on her brothers best friend since she was 8 years old. But Tom has always been 99% her brothers. When Darcy and her brother Jamie inherit their grandmothers old home, they decide to renovate it before they sell it and hire Tom to do the work. Darcy is used to flying away, escaping and leaving everything behind but when her passport goes missing, she ends up being forced to stay and help her childhood crush… who apparently also likes her back but doesn’t necessarily trust that she’s being honest and that she isn’t going to fly away again. I got this book thinking it would be a cute easy read and it was; I enjoyed the book. There is heavy flirting and a few steamy scenes. I enjoyed the banter between the two lead characters and I like the way the author writes as well, I found it flirty and funny and it kept my interest. I’m so excited to read her previous book The Hating Game because I’ve heard such good things about that one.

One Day In December – Josie Silver

9/10

One day in December (hence the title haha) Laurie is sitting on a bus when she looks down and sees a man sitting at the bus stop. Their eyes meet and she instantly feels like he’s the one. But the bus pulls away and they are separated before they can even speak. She spends the next year looking for him everywhere she turns but never finds him… until (tiny spoiler) he shows up at her apartment one day…. as the boyfriend of her best friend. The book then follows these characters for 10 years as they experience love, heartbreak and missed opportunities. I really enjoyed this book and found myself rooting for these characters (even when I probably should not have been at times). There is not a lot of steam in this book if you like that in a love story but if you are a believer in love at first sight, then you need to read this book.

99 Days / 9 Days and 9 Nights (Sequel)

99 days 5/10 | 9 days and 9 nights 7/10

This one is a tough one for me. I actually enjoyed reading this book but the characters were kind of awful. A bit of a spoiler ahead be warned.

Aside from the mother (what mother writes a book about her daughters teenage love life for all the world to read?! with seemingly no regret) the other characters were hard to love too. I really wanted to like the main character Molly and I was rooting for her in the beginning but she makes some pretty dumb choices which make it hard to support her. Then the two brothers/ love interests end up treating her more like a prize to hold over the other than actually loving he (though I think they actually love her too… it just becomes very messy). Then just sort of ends and they go off to college.

I read the sequel in hopes it would redeem the characters a bit from the first novel and it actually did. In the sequel Molly runs into Gabe (her ex and one of the brothers from the first novel) while vacationing in Europe with her new boyfriend. They end up having to tour around all together (plus Gabe’s new girlfriend) for 9 days and finally hash out all that they left unsaid at the end of the first novel. I found I enjoyed the sequel a lot more than the first novel and the main character Molly actually matured and became a better person. I’m glad I read the sequel.

Accidentally Engaged – Farah Heron

8/10

I want to thank Netgalley, Farah Heron and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending me an advance digital copy of this book. All opinions will remain my own as always.

If you weren’t one of the thousands of people who had a sourdough starter during 2020… you will be by the end of this book.  It’s described by the publisher as “a delightful romantic comedy featuring a Muslim woman who fakes an engagement to the boy next door in the hopes of winning a couples cooking contest” but it’s so much more than that. It’s a cute contemporary romance that celebrates diversity that’s written by a Canadian author and is set in Toronto (I love finding local and Canadian writers).  I loved the meddling parents and protective friends but most of all I loved the cute banter between the two main characters (I actually laughed out loud at parts – spoiler: the head lice… the 16 new sourdough starters!). They’re two loveable characters who struggle to appease their families while finding themselves and their true feelings for each other… while also trying to win a cooking contest and eating lots and lots of bread.  Overall it was a really cute love story that also sheds light on topics like family dynamics, pressures of life in your 30’s, mental illness and family secrets. If you want to grab your copy it hits shelves today – March 2 , 2021. Also maybe grab some bread to eat while reading 😉

Love at First

8/10

I also want to thank Netgalley, Kate Clayborn and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book as well.  All opinions will remain my own, as always.  

Sometimes moments in your life, however seemingly minuscule, stick with you forever.  That’s what happened to Will when he was standing on his uncle’s  apartment’s balcony as a teenager and the girl on the balcony above drops tomatoes on him.   Fast forward 16 years to the present day and he finds he’s inherited his estranged uncle’s apartment which he plans to turn it into a rental unit.  But this building isn’t like most buildings, its filled with adorable neighbours who are more like family and who definitely do not want a rental unit and strangers coming and going in their building.  Nora (the girl, now a woman, who dropped those tomatoes) heads up the neighbourhood counsel and takes charge in fighting against his proposal in some adorably quirky ways… but her and Will quickly go from opponents to something more.  I liked this little story as told in the alternating perspectives of both Nora and Will and how their opposing past experiences in this building contrast and compliment their growing love story.  Being a true fan of love stories where people meet more than once in their lives and find themselves with second chances, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quintessential love story. 

Click here to see Januarys books.


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All the books I read in January and MY reviews.

I used to love reading novels so much. I even studied English literature in University. Over the last few years though, I let my passion for books dissipate as motherhood and life in general became so much busier. I finally decided late last year that I needed to get back into reading and so I decided my goal for 2021 would be to read 21 books. I mentioned this goal on instagram and asked if anyone would be interested in book reviews and the majority of the responses said they’d love to read a review. I’ve taken to reading again much easier than I thought I would and I read a total of 10 books in January!

So here we are with the very first book reviews of the year! I don’t want to spoil books for anyone so I’m going to try to review them without giving too much of the plot away. Keep in mine these are just my thoughts and I’m a pretty easy going reader.

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Wood

5/10

I have to say I did not love this book. I also didn’t hate it though. Hence the middle 5/10 rating. I had high hopes for it since it is a Reese Book Club pick but ultimately I just could not like it no matter how hard I tried. A disconnected family takes a cruise together – is basically how this book sums up. I found the characters to be pretty cliche at the beginning and it took about 200 pages before I even found the book interesting. I found the writing very placid and never once was I excited about what was going to happen next or interested to see what any of the character did. In the end I found it left me with unanswered questions and characters who I really didn’t sympathize with or like at all.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

10/10

I have had this book on my nightstand for probably 6 months or more. I started it and instantly thought… why have I waited so long to read this! It’s the kind of book I found myself underlining sentences and highlighting paragraphs from to refer to later. I have not read her other books but that doesn’t seem necessary as she sums up anything you’d need to know. A brilliant memoir about finding your true self and owning who you are, especially as a woman and a mother.

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. (books 1-5)

The Selection – 7/10 | The Elite – 7/10 | The One – 8/10 | The Heir – 6/10 | The Crown – 6/10

This series is sort of broken up into 2 part (books 1-3 follow the story of America and the 4th and 5th books follow the story of her daughter). These books are teen fiction with a love story and set in a kind of dystopian world. It’s sort of the bachelor meets hunger games haha. The world is divided into districts and America (the main character) is convinced to enter a contest to marry the royal prince and is selected as a contestant. She is moved into the palace with other young women to compete for his heart and the crown but she’s also involved with a boy back home. They are a light read and I enjoyed the first and third books quite a bit. The second was a bit of a filler for me and I think the series really could have ended after the 3rd but if you want to keep following the story you can read 4th and 5th though I found that storyline significantly less enjoyable. There is a final book in this series as well called Happily Ever After but I have not read it yet.

Make Life Beautiful – Syd and Shea Mcgee

9.5/10

It’s no secret that I love home decor and Syd and Shea Mcgee are definitely a powerhouse in the interior design world right now. I bought this book originally thinking it was a coffee table book (as so many others did too haha) but I soon found out it is actually a biography of sorts detailing how they started their business Studio Mcgee and shop Mcgee & Co. I found it very well written and comedic with a lot of inspiration in there for anyone who wants to follow their dreams. I knocked off half a star purely because I wish it had a few photos. They mentiuon a few of their projects in the book and I found myself googling them to visualize what they were referring to. It would have been nice if some of those projects were included as photos.

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

10/10 – One of the best books I’ve ever read!

My mother in law loaned me this book suggesting I read it. I kept it on my bookshelf for probably 6 months or more. After seeing more and more praise for the book I decided to give it a read. I went in actually not wanting to like it. I was told it was such a good book so many times that I didn’t want to like it just because everyone else did. But honestly I loved it despite trying not to. It’s a love story at its core (my weakness) though its subtle in its development throughout the story… actually there are a few love stories within this book (both romantic and familial). I don’t actually want to tell you much else about this book other than you should read it. It is soooo well written and though it does have moments of sadness it was also filled with joy and comedy. I will definitely be looking into the other books by this author.

This Time Next Year – Sophie Cousens

7/10

After reading A Man Called One I wanted a really light read next. I read this one as it was recommended to me by a friend. I liked it but I always go into these types of chick lit light romances without high expectations. I think this allows me to enjoy them more but I found this one enjoyable without too much of the typical cheesiness these types of books can often have. Basically, a girl and boy are born on the same day at the same hospital and meet randomly 30 years later… as they get to know each other and the story unfolds you realize how many times they were in the background (and sometimes foreground) of each others lives since they were born).

So have you read any of these books yet? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments.

You can follow me on instagram (@anoblehome) to see what Im reading next.

xo,

Rachel

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Wrap it up pretty with our free holiday gift tags

I love wrapping presents. Usually I start hoarding adorable wrapping paper starting in the summer but this year we’ve chosen to wrap all our gifts in brown kraft paper. I love the simple look of it and the fact that its 100% recyclable as most wrapping paper isn’t :(. To make the presents even prettier I’ve collected various ribbons and wrapped each gift in one (bonus – the ribbon can be reused next year too!). The finishing touch though… are the custom designed gift tags we made! And don’t worry – I’ve included our gift tags as a free printable at the bottom of this post so you can download, print and use them on your own gifts too!

PRINTABLE GIFT TAGS – CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

These tags are for personal use only. They were designed by @aimyillustrates.

Please tag me on Instagram if you use these tags – Id love to see!

xo,

Rachel

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Lifestyle & Family

Having Fun at Home this Christmas – Holiday themed Games Your Family Needs

Christmas is going to look very different this year. Usually we spend all day on Christmas Eve at my inlaws with all my husbands siblings and their kids. Its a big, fun, exciting day. This year sadly our Christmas Eve with them will be virtual, like so many other families Christmases this year. So I’ve been trying to think of ways to make our Christmas at home even more fun for my kids. I was browsing online and found the funniest game and had to order it. It’s an inflatable reindeer hat ring toss game. My kids absolutely love this game and its inflatable so no ones getting hurt (or breaking any vases or lamps haha) when they’re tossing the rings.

As I was browsing I found quite a collection of Christmas themed games so I compiled a list of games I think would also be so fun to play at home this Christmas or virtually with your family online.

More fun games:

Nutcracker ring toss – This one looks so fun. Similar the the reindeer ring toss but you blow up the nutcrackers and place them on the floor to toss rings on them.

Christmas Photo Props – You can have your very own photo shoot at home or use them when you video call with your family this Christmas.

Trivia Games – The first one has you guessing Christmas songs based on emoji descriptions and the second is a general Christmas trivia game. These would be fun to send to all your family and compete together virtually.

Christmas Bingo – Who doesn’t love a classic game of bingo with a Christmas spin?!

Fun Christmas glasses – Another fun photo prop or perfect for making your virtual get togethers more fun.

Pin the Hat on Rudolph. I know my kids would love this one. Spinning around and trying to get Rudolph’s hat on and laughing together when the hat ends up so far away from his head.

Felt Christmas tree – We also have had one of these for years and my kids love decorating their little felt tree over and over again.

So even though Christmas will look different this year, we can still have fun and make new memories together.

xo,

Rachel

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A family advent calendar DIY and a free printable

For years we did a traditional advent calendar, in fact my kids each got one for themselves. They were either filled with chocolate or small tiny plastic toys. This year we are trying to be more eco friendly around our house and honestly the thought of 75 more tiny little toys around my house stresses me out haha. So this year I decided to change things up and do one family advent calendar.

Each days bag has a piece of paper inside with a fun activity we can all do together and I’ve included a free printable of the 24 activities we are doing below which you can print, cut out and insert into your own advent calendars too. There are even a few blank spots for you to write in your own ideas too.

Everything You Need to Make your own

All you need for this advent calendar is:

-small paper bags

-clothespins

-numbers 1-24. I had some gold glitter paper cut into stars on a circuit machine but you could write the numbers on the bags too

-tape or command strips to attach the bags to the wall

-embellishments for the bags (ribbon, evergreen sprays, twinkle lights, ornaments – get creative!)

-our printable ideas list (see below)!

Below is the printable you can download, print and cut out to easily add to your own calendar too.

This printable was designed by @aimyillustrates. Please head to her site (www.aimyillustrates.ca) for all your custom design needs and show her some love on Instagram too!

Advent Calendar Activities Printable – Click here to download

My kids are already excited to see what fun activities we will be doing each day and I’m excited to make some fun memories with them this season.

Please tag me (@anoblehome) on Instagram if you use the printable. I’d love too see!

xo,

Rachel

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