ryts's review against another edition
4.0
it wasn't bad but it missed the charm of a classic wallbanger
dani_bugz's review against another edition
4.0
I wanted something light, fun and easy; and boy did Mai Taid Up do it for me!
I loved that it was about a girl going out to find herself, that she realised she wasn't in love and did something about it, that she was kicked out of home and DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Sure, she was a bit weepy and emotional, she was a pageant queen before and had little life experience under her belt, but Chloe GREW as a character. Strength is not a girl who refuses to cry and refuses to be hurt again. Strength is about picking yourself up, brushing yourself off and going out there to try again. To grow. To change. So pretty much, our MC Chloe was a brilliant female lead and pretty much made this book for me. Though I have to say, I did enjoy the heart pumping romance going on as well!
There were a few things I didn't really ship, such as. And also, I dislike the title. But hey, I bought it didn't I? Clearly it wasn't that bad!
And unlike Wallbanger, there was a delightful amount of sex, with just one sex scene and a bit of build up. That's more like it! I don't like being overloaded with the f*ckity doo daa, I'm reading for the romance and feels. So Mai Taid up was the perfect mix!
Anyway, I enjoyed it and will definitely recommend.
I loved that it was about a girl going out to find herself, that she realised she wasn't in love and did something about it, that she was kicked out of home and DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Sure, she was a bit weepy and emotional, she was a pageant queen before and had little life experience under her belt, but Chloe GREW as a character. Strength is not a girl who refuses to cry and refuses to be hurt again. Strength is about picking yourself up, brushing yourself off and going out there to try again. To grow. To change. So pretty much, our MC Chloe was a brilliant female lead and pretty much made this book for me. Though I have to say, I did enjoy the heart pumping romance going on as well!
There were a few things I didn't really ship, such as
Spoiler
Chloe going on a bit about penis size, the fact that she was okay with Lucas taking Julie home after July 4th, and the fact that she forgives him for ignoring her for eleven weeks (even if she did mess things up a little, if he truly loved her he wouldn't have been such a dick about it, unless he was a characteristically stubborn dude, which was not at all shown)And unlike Wallbanger, there was a delightful amount of sex, with just one sex scene and a bit of build up. That's more like it! I don't like being overloaded with the f*ckity doo daa, I'm reading for the romance and feels. So Mai Taid up was the perfect mix!
Anyway, I enjoyed it and will definitely recommend.
briannarengland's review against another edition
4.0
It felt a bit rushed and I wish there was more back story, more detail, and more plot. Over all though, it was still good and I think it's possibly my favourite of the series.
mandy_pandy's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it! This book was sweet, funny, a little sexy and a bit emotional. As an animal lover (especially dogs), this book did make me a little teary eyed. My only complaint is that I wish there was an epilogue. Even still, this is one of my favorites of 2014! Perfect book for anyone who loves a rescue dog!
jessicasreads's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this book was Hilarious, just like all the previous books. I ended up laughing a lot throughout it all, it is worth the read. It was a quick and easy read, but the humor was witty and funny. The book was also written very well.
remusreads's review against another edition
5.0
This was a brilliant read about a woman that spent her entire life being held back from achieving her true dreams and being told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Her life was completely controlled by her Mum (and her pageant-based teenager-hood), and she's desperate to get out of it; but she doesn't know she is until she has a crisis right before readying to marry her controlling boyfriend. I am thoroughly here for women leaving their partner when said partner says "no, you can't do that", or "we spoke about this and we said you were going to be a stay at home mum" or "you won't need to work, I'll bring in enough money". I'm so glad that the novel took that turn because it immediately pulled me in. I knew I was going to be in for a fantastic journey!
Here are some pointers of things I loved:
- The romance. It's a somewhat quick building romance but it doesn't feel that way. It definitely isn't instalove, but you can see that they have chemistry right from the get go. She gets on with him amazingly well and they just seem to click together so wonderfully; so that when they do get together, I couldn't help but squee a little bit. It's one of those romances where they're together before they even know it?! I am here for that. I absolutely loved the way the romance was crafted. It didn't feel forced or rushed, and it definitely wasn't based on a male-power structure, which is also incredibly nice to see.
- Family. I loved the family dynamic. I loved how the father was portrayed in this one. I loved the presence of extended family and the portrayal of each of the family members. It didn't feel like they were there to pack in some drama to the story - they enriched it massively and helped the story grow and develop. I developed a massive soft spot for their families and honestly would've loved to have seen more of them!
- Women empowerment... there were no catty woman vs woman fights which I love. Women didn't pitch each other against one another or make unnecessary comments about the other... Ah, I just loved the way Alice wrote women in this. It seems that commonly with the territory of a new adult/adult romance, there is often some woman bashing and that is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand. So props to Alice, yet again, for writing some fantastic female characters!
- Friendship! I loved how friendship was portrayed throughout this novel. Their friendship was fantastic and heart melting-ly true.
I absolutely loved this book. I'm on a massive Alice Clayton kick at the moment and am really loving devouring her books. This was a lot of fun, really enjoyable and extremely sweet! I would wholeheartedly recommend her books. You don't necessarily have to read them in order, but characters from previous novels do make brief appearances, but you can certainly make sense of the story without having read the others. So if one doesn't appeal to you, try another one. I would definitely recommend.
Here are some pointers of things I loved:
- The romance. It's a somewhat quick building romance but it doesn't feel that way. It definitely isn't instalove, but you can see that they have chemistry right from the get go. She gets on with him amazingly well and they just seem to click together so wonderfully; so that when they do get together, I couldn't help but squee a little bit. It's one of those romances where they're together before they even know it?! I am here for that. I absolutely loved the way the romance was crafted. It didn't feel forced or rushed, and it definitely wasn't based on a male-power structure, which is also incredibly nice to see.
- Family. I loved the family dynamic. I loved how the father was portrayed in this one. I loved the presence of extended family and the portrayal of each of the family members. It didn't feel like they were there to pack in some drama to the story - they enriched it massively and helped the story grow and develop. I developed a massive soft spot for their families and honestly would've loved to have seen more of them!
- Women empowerment... there were no catty woman vs woman fights which I love. Women didn't pitch each other against one another or make unnecessary comments about the other... Ah, I just loved the way Alice wrote women in this. It seems that commonly with the territory of a new adult/adult romance, there is often some woman bashing and that is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand. So props to Alice, yet again, for writing some fantastic female characters!
- Friendship! I loved how friendship was portrayed throughout this novel. Their friendship was fantastic and heart melting-ly true.
I absolutely loved this book. I'm on a massive Alice Clayton kick at the moment and am really loving devouring her books. This was a lot of fun, really enjoyable and extremely sweet! I would wholeheartedly recommend her books. You don't necessarily have to read them in order, but characters from previous novels do make brief appearances, but you can certainly make sense of the story without having read the others. So if one doesn't appeal to you, try another one. I would definitely recommend.