OMG! I can't remember the last time I read a book from start to finish in a matter of hours. I couldn't stop reading. I had to know. I knew I wouldn't get any rest. Is this book without flaws? NO, but the fact that it was so engrossing and took over my day, it deserves 5 stars for entertainment.

Insight.
I haven't read Street Lit in over a year. I know it can become stale and redundant but Ashley always brings it. I haven't read a book by her that was lower than a 4 star read.

I really wanted to love this book. It was hyped up, and I guess I could see why, but at the same time, as a person who knows someone that has OCD, it just seemed kind of unrealistic. I’m not saying that this book was bad. This book was done better than others, thankfully this issue wasn’t highly romanticized, but it could’ve been a little better.

From this story we know that there’s a girl named Samantha. Samantha has been diagnosed with OCD since the age of nine or ten. Ever since then she’s kept it a secret.

This part of the book, I wasn’t exactly amazed with. I do know a couple of people who have OCD. When a really old friend of mine moved to a new school, the first thing that was done was that all of her teachers and the guidance counsellors were notified. She did have to go to the guidance counsellor at times, and she used to have to go to bed really early so that she could actually get a full night’s sleep.

I don’t understand how Samantha possibly could’ve hidden this from everyone except for a person she sees every Wednesday. Since she was ten. That would be the age where everyone involved in important aspects of her life would be notified. It doesn’t work that way . . .

Also, there is bullying mentioned here. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that either. Samantha had herself participated in the bullying, but I felt like AJ had just forgiven her way too quickly. On top of that she had a problem herself and she bullied another kid because they had a stutter. I felt like she wasn’t really remorseful, it was just her OCD.

Also, the whole thing with Samantha being involved with the Mean Girls . . . *sighs and slumps* But it was great to see that at a point, their friendship really mattered. I guess. Sort of.

One thing I liked was the idea and concept of the poetry group! It was great to see a student body form together like that and manage to be supportive based on their interests and talents! :D I also liked how it took Samantha a while to adjust into this new group! I would like something like that, only I’d probably die of stage fright.

This book felt accurate in some things and not in others. Things such as the medication, therapy, mental exercises, and not being used to immediate adjustments was done pretty well! There were some things that put me off though.

Overall, Every Last Word is a book you should pick up, because I feel like this is a book that is probably the most accurate I’ve read on OCD. If you’re looking for something informative but in a good way, you may want to check this out!

Thanks for reading my review everyone, and hope you all have a great day! Until the next one! :D  

Cottage Grove resident, Diana Spenner, has dreamed of buying and turning the old Ferriday House into a Bed and Breakfast. When renowned hockey player Dominic Chekovsky, offers her million dollars to keep his out of control female fans away from him for two weeks, it’s an offer she cannot refuse. Too bad she can’t stand his ego.

I really enjoyed the characters. I like that Dominic is intrigued by Diana because she doesn’t seem interested in him. I felt bad for the guy with everyone throwing themselves at him. As a professional athlete, it would be hard to find someone that liked you for who you really are and not your image. Dominic is a good guy. He loves hockey, and he is a loyal family member sending money back to his family in Russia.

I enjoyed that Diana is hard working and focused. She finds Dominic attractive but is turned off by his ego. As she gets to know the real him, she discovers what a great guy he is. Diana is smart, being able to figure out how to get Dominic out of the limelight.

Debra Kayn did a great job with the story. The cologne scenes were pretty entertaining; what companies will do to make money. I also, enjoyed Diana experiencing the Sharks game. Honestly, enjoyed all the interaction between Dom and Diana. They experienced all sorts of emotions together making the story interesting. This was the first book I read by Debra Kayn. She is a worthy writer. I would definitely read another book in this series.

Complimentary copy provided publisher via manicreaders.com in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a francophile and I've read all of Peter Mayle's nonfiction books about Provence, his three Sam Levitt caper books and his other French novels Hotel Pastis, Anything Considered, Chasing Cezanne and A Good Year.

With his last Levitt book I joked that whenever Mayle needs some more cash to support his Provencal lifestyle, he dashes off one of these books. That quip seems not to be so much of a joke at this point. This is a very short book, more of a novella than a novel. It made me wonder if Mayle had to raise funds quickly for some urgent repairs on his villa in the Luberon.

As with the other books in the Sam Levitt series, the plot of The Corsican Caper is simple. Somebody does something threatening to a friend or acquaintance of Sam's, he and his girlfriend Elena travel from Los Angeles to Marseilles, and they and their wide circle of friends there (in both high and low places) outwit the bad guys–––in between sessions of eating plates of lovingly-described delectable food and drinking glasses of palate-pleasing wine.

As usual, Mayle manages to plug into currently popular prejudices; he chooses a Russian oligarch/thug for his villain. Billionaire Vronsky wants to acquire Sam's friend Francis Reboul's Marseilles estate and will stop at nothing to do it, despite Reboul's adamant refusal to sell. A cat-and-mouse game begins, as Vronsky plans his underhanded attack on Reboul, while Sam and his compatriots simultaneously put together a counter-plot against Vronsky.

Don't get me wrong; this is an entertaining book(let). But it will take you no time at all to read it and you'll have forgotten all about it in about as much time as it took to read. If you've read The Marseilles Caper, you will find this extremely similar––only shorter and a soupçon less charming. It's worth reading as a quick bit of fun, but I'd borrow it from the library.

Thanks to the publisher, Knopf, and Amazon's Vine program for providing an advance review copy. The Corsican Caper will be published on May 16, 2014.