Angel Reads

16 Aug

Why Reading Out of Your Comfort Zone is Beneficial

Posted by angelreads Discussions 5 Comments

I never thought that I would change my reading habits. For a very long time, I only ever read YA fantasy/paranormal. Seriously from the ages 12-16, I pretty much only read that. But then I started blogging and became more involved in the book blogging community, and that started to change what I read. I started reading out of my comfort zone. And you know what? It’s one of the best things I have done for my reading.

It’s not an easy thing to do—reading something that you aren’t used to, that you don’t know. But it can be an amazing experience. Because it can change your comfort zone. You can love something that you never thought that you would. It can also show you something that you might not like, but you will never know until you at least try it.

Photo by Fabiola Peñalba on Unsplash

I think one of the easiest things to do as a reader falls into a comfort zone. To start reading a genre or readership and just stick with it. And for the most part – I think that is totally fine and nothing to be ashamed of. I think to fall that easily into a genre or readership is pretty amazing and perfect. However, I also think that one of the best things you could do to start reaching out your comfort zone and read something that you didn’t think that you would.

I think a lot of this has to do with the bias and stigma we have against other genre’s and readerships. I wrote about this a couple of months ago and I still stand by it now. When I started to really read, I loved having a romance in all my books, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I took the plunge. It is then I started to read books that would class solely as romance. I didn’t believe everything that has been said about romances, but I didn’t know if I was reading to start reading it all – just in case.

But I took the leap. And it’s the best thing that I ever did. Romance makes up 80% of what I read now, and I love it so much. I still read heaps of YA and paranormal, but now there is so much more for me to choose from. There is so much more that can grab my attention. If you ask me 10 years ago if I would be reading romance more and more each year – I would have laughed in your face.

Photo by Nicole Wolf on Unsplash

One of the best ways to read out of your comfort zone. Is to do it slowly. Read something that is similar to what you love and then move out from there. If you like YA fantasy, but haven’t read an adult fantasy. See if there is an author that you love in YA that has also read adult fantasy. Start from there and then read books that are similar. Or read an adult fantasy that has characters in their earlier twenties.

Don’t jump straight from YA to literary fiction. It’s not the way to go. Pick up a YA that is along those lines first. Something that stands out from the crowd in the writing and all the other trademarks of lit fic. It doesn’t necessarily have to be literary fiction, but close enough that you can get a feel for the writing style. And then you can pick up something more.

Once you are in the genre or readership, it’s easier to move around and find something that you like. In the case for me. I started by reading New Adult romances and then slowly moved more mainstream romance. And in doing that, I found the things that I love and the things that I don’t. From NA romances I found that I love sports romances – a lot. And then I slowly started to like historical romances, MC romances and many different other subgenre’s.

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

And while I talk about here the success of moving out of your comfort zone. It doesn’t always work that way. You can try and genre or readership, and it just doesn’t work for you. And that is totally fine, because you tried. I’m not a massive fan of non-fiction. I’ve picked it up here and there, but I don’t think it’s for me. I rather watch a documentary or mini-series at this moment. But that also doesn’t mean I won’t ever try non-fiction again. Especially when it’s such a massive genre and has so many subgenres.

One of the best suggestions I have for reading out of your comfort zone is – don’t do if you are not in the mood. If you go in thinking you are going to hate the book, you most likely will. Try and keep an open mind and pick it up when you feel like it.

Reading out of your comfort zone isn’t easy to do. It’s not something that you can do overnight and be gone with it. You have to think about it and work out which way you would like to go. Don’t push yourself to read out of it either. Read something different when you think you are ready. Reading something that you never thought that you would and loving it, is such a great experience. And if it’s something that you are truly thinking about – do it. It is fun at least.

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Have you read out of your comfort zone and love what you picked up? Has it been the opposite? What are your thoughts on reading out of your comfort zone? Let’s Chat!

15 Aug

The Duchess and The Bachelor | Mini-Reviews

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews, Mini Reviews 1 Comment

As I have been reading more and more historical romance I thought it would be a good idea to share some mini-reviews of ones that I have read lately. I love writing mini-reviews. They are a great way to be short and snap about the things I did or didn’t like about a book. They are also a way to either give a book my love or maybe not so.

Anyway today I’m sharing my thoughts on Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries and The Bachelor by Sabrina Jeffries. A quick note. I loved both of these.

Project Duchess (Duke Dynasty #1) by Sabrina Jeffries

Pages: 352
Publish date: June 25th 2019
Publisher: by Zebra
ISBN: 9781420148558
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

A series of stepfathers and a difficult childhood have left Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt, with a guarded heart, enviable wealth, and the undeserved reputation of a rogue. Grey’s focus on expanding his dukedom allows him little time to find a wife. But when his mother is widowed yet again and he meets the charmingly unconventional woman managing his stepfather’s funeral, he’s shocked to discover how much they have in common. Still, Grey isn’t interested in love, no matter how pretty, or delightfully outspoken, the lady . . .

Beatrice Wolfe gave up on romance long ago, and the arrogant Duke of Greycourt with his rakish reputation isn’t exactly changing her mind. Then Grey agrees to assist his grief-stricken mother with her latest “project” schooling spirited, unfashionable Beatrice for her debut. Now that Beatrice is seeing through Grey’s charms to his wounded heart, she’s having trouble keeping him at arm’s length. But once Grey starts digging into her family’s secrets, she must decide whether her loyalties lie with her family . . . or with the man whose lessons capture her heart . . .

Project Duchess:

I’ve been wanting to pick up Sabrina Jeffries for some time now and when I received the third book in this series for review, I knew it was time. I loved Project Duchess so much. It’s entering, swoon-worthy and I could not put it down.

Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt has a guarded heart. And instead of finding a wife, his goal is to expand his dukedom. But that all might change when he meets Beatrice Wolfe, the women helping his mother with this stepfather funeral. When Beatrice gave up on love, she didn’t expect to meet Grey. Now his mother has taken Beatrice on as her latest project and Grey agrees to help. Each has their secrets, but they have also both captured each other’s hearts.

The romance in Project Duchess is swoon-worthy to the max. I love the angst that builds up between Grey and Beatrice. It made me smile the whole book. While it isn’t strong hate, Project Duchess also has a ‘hate to love romance’ and gosh was it done well. Sabrina Jeffries is excellent at writing tension and a build-up without me hating every minute of it.

Grey and Beatrice are also such great characters. I loved their arcs, both as individuals and as a couple. Both have had heartache and difficult lives growing up. But together they both can understand one another, even if they don’t see it at first.

I also enjoyed the overarching plotline that we do see later in the series. While I do like standalone romances sometimes. I love when historical romances series are bonded together but this overarching story.

Overall, I loved reading Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries. It has a fantastic romance, endearing characters and a plot that keeps on giving. If you are looking for a new historical romance series – start here.

The Bachelor (Duke Dynasty #2) by Sabrina Jeffries

Pages: 275
Publish date: February 25th 2020
Publisher: Zebra
ISBN: 9781420148565
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Lady Gwyn Drake has long protected her family’s reputation by hiding an imprudent affair from her youth. But when her former suitor appears at Armitage Hall, manhandling the heiress and threatening to go public with her secrets, it’s Gwyn who needs protecting. Her twin brother, Thorn, hires Joshua Wolfe, the estate’s gamekeeper, to keep her safe in London during her debut. As a war hero, Joshua feels obligated to fulfil the assignment he has accepted. But as a man, it’s torment to be so very close to the beauty he’s fought to ignore . . .

With handsome Joshua monitoring her every move, Gwyn would prefer to forget both the past and the parade of money-seeking bachelors at her coming out. But Joshua is unmoved by her attempts at flirtation, and the threat of blackmail still hangs over her. With danger closing in, Gwyn must decide which is the greater risk: deflecting a scoundrel’s attempts to sabotage her–or revealing her whole heart to the rugged bodyguard she can’t resist . . .

The Bachelor:

As soon as I finished book 1, I had to read more and I’m so glad that I did. Because The Bachelor was fantastic. While I didn’t love it as much as Project Duchess, it was still such an enjoyable read and added to the overall story.

The Bachelor continues to follow the same family and this time it’s Lady Gwyn Drake turn. When a past suitor appears and threatens to go public with her secrets, she needs protection. That is when her twin hires Joshua Wolfe. With Joshua watching her ever move Gwyn has to be even more careful, but she can’t seem to resist his charm or his heart.

This was a delight to read. I love Lady Gwyn so much. She was such a fantastic protagonist. She added some brightness to this story that at times could be very dark. In the first book, I wasn’t sure how I felt about her, but in this one Lady Gwyn shines. The reader gets to see her vulnerable and that adds to her characterisation.

Joshua Wolfe was the grumpy male hero and I love him. Seriously he gave me such a good laugh.

The Bachelor explores the nature of the world at the time. What some men would do just to bring up their standing or to get money. It explores the inequality that women had at the time and how they either had to rely on their husband or their family for anything in life.

In saying all this I did feel that something was missing from this one, I can’t pinpoint what it was. I just didn’t love it as much as the first book.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Bachelor by Sabrina Jeffries quite a lot. It was full of angst, blackmail and tension. The romance was adorable, and I enjoyed both protagonists. It was a great second book in a series and I can’t wait to read more.

And those are some historical romance mini-reviews! Have you checked out this series yet? What did you think of them? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

13 Aug

Taylor Swfit’s folklore Book Tag

Posted by angelreads Uncategorized No Comments

folklore book tag

Today I’m doing something very excited, I’m doing the new tag! Everyone should know by now that I love Taylor Swift, so when was tagged to do the Taylor Swift’s folklore Book Tag by Cielo @ Bellerose Reads. I jumped!

I am seriously loving the new album, it gives me all the feels and I’m so up for that. This album is raw and real and something that I have been waiting for her to write for a long time. I’m going to die when I see this one in concert. Anyway, let’s get into it.

Rules

Credit the creator of the tag, Cielo @ Bellerose Reads (Pingback to one of my posts so I can receive the notification)
Shout out the person who tagged you
List the rules of the tag in your post.
Tag at least 5 people to do the tag!

the 1 – A book you wanted to read but never did

“You know the greatest films of all time were never made”

This has to go to The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray. This has been on my tbr for some time, but I just can never seem to pick it up. I’ve tried to start it a few times, but have never been able to get into it. It is, however, part of my best friend picks up tbr. So hopefully I can get to it by the end of the year.

cardigan – A character that didn’t end up with their first love interest

“You drew stars around my scars / But now I’m bleeding”

Anyone from books that Sarah J Maas has written. You should all know by now that I’m not a massive fan of Sarah J Maas. And one of the reason is that I don’t like what she does with a previous love interest. I don’t mind that they don’t end up with someone other than the first people they fall for, but I hate what she does to them after.

the last great american dynasty – A book with an epic female protagonist

“There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / She had a marvelous time ruining everything”

Ohh this one has to be Lada Dragwlya from The Conqueror’s Saga by Kiersten White. I seriously love Lada so much. She isn’t the most likeable, but she is brutal and strong and hell goes through so damn much. Some of the things that she has to go through, throughout the series are as brutal as she is. But she is also the female Vlad the Impaler – so she gets her revenge. Somewhat.

exile – A book about walking out of a toxic relationship

“You were my town, now I’m in exile, seeing you out / I think I’ve seen this film before”

This is one of the hardest topics for me to read about, but I also love seeing people have the strength to do it. It did take me a while to think of one, but The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. While I didn’t love the book. It does explore a very toxic relationship that the female protagonist has to explore throughout the book. You can check out my discussion with Ely about this one.

my tears ricochet – The fictional couple that made you suffer the most

“And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes, too”

Oh gosh, there are so many. But Ember and Josh from Full Measures and Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros take the cry. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did in these books. In this whole series really. Ember and Josh both go through so much, not only a couple but in their own lives as well. And gosh does it turn.

mirrorball – A swoon-worthy, sweet couple

“You’ll find me on my tallest tiptoes / Spinning in my highest heels, love / Shinning just for you”

I love adorable and sweet couples. Seriously they are some of my favourites but for this, I have to pick Beatrix Hathaway and Captain Christopher Phelan from While these two have many ups and downs. They are adorable and I can’t deal with it. Seriously they just make me smile a whole lot.

seven – A book with fae characters

“Please picture me in the weeds / Before I learned civility”

One of my favourite things with fae characters is how different they can be. Fae’s can be questionable characters and when you have a whole book of them it just works. Hence why I loved The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black. So many questionable things happening throughout the novel but it just works for me.

august – A book you’ve read very fast

“August sipped away like a bottle of wine / ‘Cause you were never mine”

Dear Martin (Dear Martin #1) by Nic Stone is the book for this one. I finished it in a couple of hours. It’s short yes, but it’s also so powerful. Add to that, Justyce was such a fantastic protagonist. He felt real and honest and that made for such an incredible read.

this is me trying – A coming of age book

“Pouring out my heart to a stranger / But I didn’t pour the whiskey”

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is one of the best coming of age novels. Everything felt right with this one. The passion and thought that went into every word, every poem was just perfect.

illicit affairs – A book with a forbidden love

“Tell your friends you’re out for a run / You’ll be flushed when you return”

I have no idea what book to pick for this one. But one of the best written forbidden romances has to be Emma and Julian from Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. Holy crap did their romance kill me. And hurt me. But it was also so damn beautiful.

invisible string – A book featuring a road trip

“Time, mystical time / Cutting me open, then healing me fine”

Thinking about an answer for this one took me a while and made me realise I don’t read many books with road trips. But Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits #1.5) by Katie McGarry is the perfect one for this prompt. I think I might need to do a re-read of Katie McGarry soon cause I sure do miss her writing and these characters.

mad woman – Your favourite female villain

“And women like hunting witches too / Doing your dirtiest work for you”

It took me a while but I finally picked one for this and it’s Queen Levana from the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. She is twisted but also so interesting. The way that her mind works and the way that she can influence people. I hate her so much. But she also just adds so much to the notion of a female villain.

Epiphany – A book that made everything disappear while you were having a rough time

“Just one single glimpse of relief / To make some sense of what you’ve seen”

Hands down this one has to be The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I can’t begin to tell you how happy this book made me feel. It’s about love, that isn’t just about blood family or falling in love. It’s about believing in yourself and those that do love you. This enchanting story is exceptional and breathtaking.

Betty – A book with a second-chance trope

“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything / But I know I miss you”

Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1) by Sarina Bowen has one of my favourite second chance romances. I love Georgia and Leo so much. And I adore that they get their second chance. They have both been through so much and they come together in this one.

Peace – A book with a passionate affair that wasn’t meant to be

“But the rain is always going to come if you’re standin’ with me”

I have no idea what book to pick for this one. I am a HEA kind of girl so I don’t read many books where the protagonist doesn’t get with the main love interest.

Hoax – The saddest book you remember reading

“You know I left a part of me back in New York / You know the hero died so what’s the movie for?

I read a lot of sad books. I honestly don’t know why but I love reading them. But one of the books that I cried the most in is The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros. I cried honestly so much in this one. It’s heartbreaking oh my gosh,

Woo, that is it! That was so much fun. I listen to folklore while doing this post and that made even better. I’m tagging anyone that wants to do this post. Let me know if you do it. Have you read any of these books? Do you agree with my choices? Let’s chat!