Happy Valentine's Day! Today is the day we celebrate all the love in our lives whether it's romantic, familial, or platonic. Personally I think today is a little bit overrated with the roses and the chocolates and the giant teddy bears. You shouldn't really need a day to but someone you care about something sweet. But regardless, I do like this holiday and there are no shortage of romance movies you could watch. Here are a few of my favorite

1.Stuck in Love. 

This is one of my favorite movies ever! It's got everything you could ever really want in a movie. It's cute and funny and tragic. 

2.10 Things I Hate About You. 

How could you not love this movie? 

3.Friends.

Okay I know this is not a movie and I now it's not really in the rom-com section either. But, hear me out on this, it's a great thing to watch with your friends on Valentine's day. It's the perfect binge watching show. 

4. Silver Linings Playbook

I love J-Law and her role in this movie is amazing! This is heavier than the other movies I'll list but I think the story is amazing and why not watch it today?

5. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

This movie is hilarious and adorable!

6.Imagine Me and You

It's a cute rom-com that I absolutely adore! Some of my favorite quotes come from this movie. 

"Don't Forget me."

"I won't remember anything else"

7. Love, Rosie

I rented this movie last year over summer break and I fell in love with it! It takes place in both America and Britain. Its a great story about being in love your best friend at all the wrong times. Plus I'm a sucker for British accents. 

8.50 First Dates

It's one of the few Adam Sandler movies I actually like. 

9. Like Crazy

This is a kind of poetic story about love and relationships and how life makes those relationships work. Its a little frustrating at times but I honestly really enjoyed it!

10. He's Just Not That Into You

Because how could I not list this movie? 

11. Spanglish.

I first watched this movie with my sister and didn't really get the plot but now that I'm older I really enjoy this movie. 

12. Rent.

Not gonna lie I did cry. I also ended up singing a lot of the songs from this musical. Also not really ashamed about either statement. This is a great movie about a group of people struggling with life but trying to make the most f it by having fun and falling in love. 

13. The Prince and Me.

Don't judge. This is a cute movie,

14. Shakespeare in Love.

How could I not list this movie! It's a tragic love story about two people who can't be together. Sound familiar?

Book Talk: This Raging Light

Release Date:
Book: This Raging Light
Author: Estelle Laure
Series: No
Number of Pages: 288
Source: Netgalley (I received this book in exchange for an honest review)

The Basics:Can the best thing happen at the worst time?

Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she's about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend's brother. With blazing longing that builds to a fever pitch, Estelle Laure's soulful debut will keep readers hooked and hoping until the very last page.

Add it on goodreads 


My Musings:

When I was perusing on netgalley I came across this book and I thought it looked really interesting. Plus I love contemporary novels. To be honest I haven't read a good fantasy novel in a really long time, but that's beside the point. I requested this book not really realizing the buzz surrounding it. I'm so very happy I was able to read this book! It's honestly so good!

Books about heavy topics have to be done well or else they come across cheesy, dramatic, and overdone. The premise of the book is very heavy and dark at times. But the way the author went about it made it realistic and easy to empathize with. I loved the story line. I think it's a story that's important to tell and the way Laure did it was perfect. I kept waiting for some sort of happy ending but there's really not. If anything Lucille's life just kept getting worse. She took blow after blow and I think that instead of overdoing writing, the author allowed the story to unfold simply and without forcing it. That, for me, made it such an amazing read!

The whole theme of the book is too keep fighting even when everything seems to falling apart anyways. The characters each had their own struggles, their own obstacles to overcome and the way they came together to help one another was so inspiring. The characters are beautifully developed and showcased. Lucille's best friend is my favorite even though you really don't get to see her too often. I think that she represents the person we all want to have in our lives; kind hearted, funny, and supportive. Digby is great, for the most part. None of the characters are without flaws and I think that those imperfections only add to the story!

 One of my favorite parts of the book is the way relationships are developed. The parents here lean to much on Lucille and that takes it's toll on her, and leads to this big falling apart moment. But the relationship is not without love, it's just twisted and unbalanced. Lucille's relationship with her sister is my favorite relationship in the book. It's this give and take that is so heartwarming. For the actual romance part of the book, it's a little weird at first but I learned to love it and ultimately ship it!

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this book! It's a beautifully tragic story about strength, love, and life. Whether you like contemporary or not, this book is a must read!

My rating:

Coffee for this book: Okay no coffee today because this book requires something a little more comforting. A  nice cup of lavender tea is perfect for this! Am I the only one who thinks tea just makes everything better?

Top Ten Fictional Quotes about Love

In my last TTT I talked about my favorite ships of the moment, Clexa taking the number one spot. This week is another love centered post. I'm actually really excited about this weeks Valentines inspired post and I'm happy to combine it with my love for quotes. 

10. "For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary", 

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. 

9. "We accept the love we think we deserve", 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. 

8. "I fell in love with you the way you fall asleep: slowly then all at once", 

The Fault in our Stars by John Green. 

7. "So I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you" 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

6. "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same"

 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

5. "When we are in love we are both completely in danger and completely saved."

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

4. " I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I will love you then" 

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

3. "Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal" 

If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

2. "You are not the last dream of my soul.You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime’s worth."

Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

1. "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.",

Sonnet XVII, by Pablo Neruda. (100 Love Sonnets)

 Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and Bookish

 Love,

Book Talk: Pixelated by L.S. Murphy

Release Date: June 30 2015
Book: Pixelated
Author: L.S Murphy
Series: no
Number of Pages: 226
Source: I received an epub from the author (This has no bearing on my review)

 The Basics:
Senior Year.

Middle of nowhere.

What's the new girl to do?


For Piper Marks, the answer is simple. She’s determined to have her photography rock the cover of National Geographic someday, and moving to Clarkton, Iowa for her last year of high school is not going to stop her. Even if her usual subjects have changed from bright lights and skyscrapers to fields, cows…and more fields.


But when photographer at the local paper quits in a huff, she steps into his spot. Her new job keeps Piper busy capturing tackles, and zooming in on first downs and end zone dances, not to mention putting her directly in the path of varsity football star Les Williams IV. Her new friends warn her off, but she can’t resist the pull she feels toward this mysterious country boy. But this small town is keeping a secret, and it’s one that could destroy any chance they have to be together.


It’s up to Piper to decide what to do with the distorted truth. Can she risk exposing her heart? It might be worth it, 'cause Les is about to change her world from black and white to fully saturated color.

My Musings:

So I first received this book over summer break and finally was able to read it over winter break and am now finally reviewing it. The reason I said I would review this book was because I was starting my senior year I could relate with the book a lot better. There are a lot of great qualities about the book that I really enjoyed but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped nor was it as good as I wanted it to be,

First things first: the problems I had with the book. For me it moved slowly at first and didn't really pick up until close to the end of the novel. In fact once it was over I couldn't really believe it was over. The pacing was sporadic and not in a good way. That being said there were parts where I just had to keep reading and find out what happened, but for a large part of the novel I just felt a little bored.  My only real issue with the romance is that it's kinda a  insta-lovey situation. It wasn't a classic case of insta love, but it did start off that way. There were parts of the romance I enjoyed but it was also really cheesy, sometimes the good kind sometimes the bad kind. This novel is really cheesy and it made it really hard to relate to Piper because a lot of things felt fake. It was hard for me to see genuineness in her friends (past and present) and in her school troubles. In fact the only really developed character is Piper. The writing style was good for the most part, the only issue I had and I think is the cause of the cheesiness, is that it feels like it's trying too hard. Like it can't quite capture the teenager of it all so it goes overboard a little.

Now for the things I did like about the novel. It was surprisingly funny. Piper is kind of hilarious and her internal monologues and rants are pretty similar to mine, now that I come to think of it. The humor is spot on and one of my favorite parts of the novel. I also really liked how the author portrayed Piper's family life. Her parents were somewhat realistic, but I think the little plot twist at the end made the characters more likable and respectable. Looking back on it, the parents and family situation were portrayed really well and I think that it was woven into the story line rather well. That being said, while i'm not a big fan of the romance, there were many moments I thought were cute. While the initial start of it was too insta love for me, the relationship did develop in a cute and good way. Lastly, the plot was good, It was developed pretty well despite the slow start. The plot, while centers around the romance, does a good job of incorporating other things.

Overall, the book was decent. It's not my favorite but I did have fun reading it. There were a few issues but if cheesy novels are your thing then this is a good option for you.

My Rating:

Coffee for this book: A dirty chai latte, trust me it's got enough caffeine and enough sweetness to compliment the book.

Motivational Monday

First Motivational Monday of the year! To be quite frank it's the first one in a long time. Recently I've started my second semester of my senior year. This means two things.
1) Senoritis is starting to hit me.
2) I'm really nostalgic.
The first thing kinda gives me more time to think therefore increasing the rate of the second thing. If that makes sense. I've played most of my high school life safe. I've focused on trying to get into different colleges, dreaming of my future college days. However, I've had my fair share of failures. I've failed at tiny things that only I remember and I've failed spectacularly that still haunt me to this day. But those moments I think have created stories and shaped me.

So this week go do you. Be happy, take failure in stride, have pride in your successes. Go make stories that you can tell your grand kids too. Failure is not a bad thing, it's a learning experience, a funny story, or both.