mignon mykel { reviews }: mignon's || monday•musings

Monday, June 29, 2015

mignon's || monday•musings

Of every day to come to a realization, certainly fits that it's on a Monday, on a day I once upon a time dubbed MIGNON'S MONDAY MUSINGS...

So what do I have to say today, that's not a review or reveal or a promo?

How about the fact that sometimes I end up over my head when it comes to this reviewing venture I started about a year ago?

In the past year, I've been privileged to read a number of books, new and old, for free.

Reader lover's

DREAM

come

TRUE.

No joke.

When my parents or friends ask about why I do this, or when my mom finds paid review jobs (for books that do not hold my interest), I simply tell them I do get paid -- I'm reading books for free; I'm reading books that I otherwise would be paying up to $8 for, if not $14+ (see: Maya Banks).

Do I still purchase books?

Absolutely!

But again, I've been lucky enough to read books that I want to read, read books from authors I'd never give a chance to (because I'm snarky like that), read books that I'd never even hear of if it weren't for this adventure I embarked on.

However, as with anything, there was a bit of a learning curve to get around.

The first few months, it was over-booking and missing key dates through my NetGalley account.

Once I figured out a great way to utilize my Erin Condren planner, everything settled for a while. And then it kind of got messy again.

So I decided that I was going to put a cap on my weekly tours.

Yeah, I'm still working on figuring that one out.

...and then there was last night, at about 8 pm, as I was heading to bed before needing to get up at 3 am to work.

I probably should keep Monday's open and free from tours. Why? In case my weekend gets nutso-crazy and I haven't gotten a chance to organize my posts for the next week... Because next thing you know? It's 8 pm, you have to wake up in 7 hours, and you have 4+ posts to organize...

NEVERMIND THE FACT that you don't have internet and do everything at home from your phone when you haven't packed up the laptop and went to a hotspot (like I'm at now).

So today was crummy, and I learned from it.

No more Monday tours. I'll keep Monday's for personal posts and pre-drafted reviews.

My apologies to the tour hosts I work with, and the authors I reviewed for today. Your reviews are up! Late, but up.

And thank you for the opportunities to read -- you make the reader in me happy.

No comments:

a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

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Monday, June 29, 2015

mignon's || monday•musings

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