Review Wednesday: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

*This is a book meant for adults due to some inappropriate content for people younger than 18.*


Title: Wallbanger (Cocktail #1)
Author: Alice Clayton
1st Date of Publication: November 12, 2012
ISBN: 9781623420024
# of Pages: 384
Genre: New Adult, Adult Romance
Age Rating: 17+ (Language, Violence, Sexual content)

Buy it on Amazon

Book Description: 
The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she's gaining an intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy's athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed dating hiatus, and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly...

In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight...

Setting: San Fransisco, California in the 21st century
Point of View: 1st Person- Caroline Reynolds 

Goodreads Rating: 4.10

My Rating: 4.25


Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both title and cover
View on the Cover: It seems very scandalous. It seems to matcj the title very 
View on the Title: I know that there is an alcoholic drink called a wallbanger, but maybe it is a play on words with the sex.

Pros:

• The main characters are pretty interesting together. They complement each other.
• Caroline Reynolds is a hardworking interior desinger who is great at her job. She loves to bake in her free time while she listens to her neighbor's good-tasted music. She has had a lot of bad luck with seual partners that she decided to go on an indefinite sexual hiatus.
• Simon Parker is Caroline Reynold's neighbor and he isn't the typical neighbor. He has a very different seual life than the average man, but he hasa good taste in musc and an excellent photographer who gets to travel the world. He has a past that causes him to live this certain lifestyle.
• Together Caroline and Simon are hilarious as they try to play matchmaker with their friends. The entire encounter is exciting and captivating.
• This novel is extremely funny alomst as much as it is sexy. It continues to make you laugh. From the baking jokes to the harem jokes, this novel will make you laugh so hard.

Cons:

• The only thing I wish is that there was more depth to Simon and the other supporting characters. But, this is a series so there should be more characterization.

Critics' Reviews:

"Pure escapism...with a funny cast, snappy dialogue, and plenty of hot and sexy scenes.... Readers of Rachel Gibson and Helen Fielding will enjoy Clayton" -Booklist

Alice Clayton's Website:
http://aliceclayton.com/

Other Recommendations:

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles
Easy by Tammara Webber

Review Wednesday: The Nearness of You by Dorothy Garlock

Title: The Nearness of You

Author: Dorothy Garlock
1st Date of Publication: July 11, 2017

ISBN: 9781455527359
# of Pages: 384

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Rating: 13+

Buy on Amazon 

Book Description:

Hooper's Crossing, New York, 1952. The post-war boom seems a million miles away . . . especially for a sheltered librarian who longs for the adventure and excitement of the big city.
New York City. The hustle and bustle. The people and the excitement. It's all Lily Denton dreams about. But ever since her mother died, her overprotective father won't ease up on her. So she spends her days working at the library and her nights hoping life doesn't pass her by . . . until the Fall Festival. As tourists fill the streets, the crisp autumn air sneaks in-as does the thrill of a far more dangerous kind.

Some men have a gift for avoiding trouble. Professional photographer Boone Tatum isn't one of them. In fact, that penchant for trouble is exactly what landed Boone in this small town in the middle of nowhere in the first place. Yet the moment he meets beautiful Lily Denton and snaps her photograph, everything changes. Suddenly leaving is the furthest thing from Boone's mind-or his heart.

But danger has slipped silently into this sleepy town, marking Lily as its own. And Lily and Boone's dream of a life together is thrown into peril-unless Lily finds the courage to stand up for herself and a man she only just met . . . and can't live without.


Setting: Early 1952 in Hooper's Crossing, New York

Point of View: 3rd person- Lily Denton and Boone Tatum

Goodreads Rating: 3.51

My Rating: 3.75

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: It looks like someone, most likely a woman, is going on a trip somewhere. Where does she want to go?
View on Title: Who is you? Why does someone want to be near another?

Pros:

•  The balance of the alternating 3rd person was perfect. It made the characters have more dynamic while being able to see their intentions.
• The flow combined with the cliffhangers of each chapter made the book seem so short despite the book being almost 400 pages.
• The characters are interesting and seemed true to the time era.
• Lily Denton is your small town typical daddy's girl and doesn't want to disappoint him especially since her mother died when she was a little girl. She is a great representation of an independent person trying to recreate herself into someone she hopes to become. Her struggle to please her father is common for the time period.
• Boone Tatum is the  complete opposite. He's a city man and isn't afraid to get in trouble in order for the perfect picture. It's why he is so successful but the reason why he's stuck in Lily's hometown.
• The relationship between Lily and Boone is so natural that it seemed like they knew each other for years. It was slow but smooth.
• I really enjoyed the time period that the author used and the time of year because the fall seems like a time of festivities. Not only is there a fair going on in the book, you get to see Halloween.
• The different layers of conflict in the story line was interesting because as you read there are a few different antagonists but for different reasons.

Cons:

• The only real issue I had with the book was that I felt that it was a little cliché.

Critics' Reviews:

"Garlock's terrific story, set in mid-20th-century Missouri, pairs a lonely single mother with a flashy auto racer...Garlock keeps readers so wrapped up in Drake and Clara's romance that it's impossible to put the book down. There's just enough tension, from a few different fronts, to keep things interesting. Thoroughly credible characters and the aw-shucks charm of their small town make this a winner."―Publishers Weekly
"The latest from romance doyenne Garlock mixes light suspense with traditional romance for an entertaining effect." ―Booklist
"A gentle tale of love lost and found...The charm is in the telling, with historical details and light touches to make the town of Sunset, Missouri, seem real, not idealized. A feel-good love story that comforts...Garlock excels at creating an experience her readers want, one that's still heartwarming..." ―Kirkus Reviews

Dorothy Garlock's Website:

http://www.dorothygarlock.com/

Other Recommendations:

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin