The Lies: The Lies We Tell About Love, Life, and Everything In Between. Christina C. Jones. 2017. Amazon Digital Services. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] After months of teasers through her “Sample Sundays” feature, Christina C. Jones released her latest, The Lies:The Lies We Tell About Love, Life, and Everything in Between, on March 30.  I’ve been a fan since discovering Jones last year, and her newest boasts the same drama spliced with hot sex and humor as her other books. The characters in The Lies aren’t new; they were actually introduced in The Truth: His Side, Her Side, and The Truth About Falling in Love.  Brandi is a single mom who’s raising a teenager while still struggling to love again after rejection from her son’s father. Ex-ball player Kyle has an back-and-forth cycle with his son’s mother that he just can’t seem to shake. The two have always had a flirtatious rapport, but never acted on it … until now. 

A Blessing & a Curse. ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Victoria Christopher Murray. 2017. 288 pages. Gallery Books. [ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] They’ve done it again! I swear, I never think there’s anywhere else for these characters (and more importantly the duo) to go … yet somehow Reshonda and Victoria find away to take them to the next level. The idea of Jasmine & Rachel being sisters seemed unrealistic until they started weaving the tale. Then it seemed so possible and as a long time fan of the series made you wonder “how did I miss this possibility!?” Expertly written, it’s still impossible to tell one writing style from the next. 5 stars and I’m literally salivating at the idea of FINALLY finding out just who Mae Frances is. I hope Victoria and Reshonda keep up their collaborations, this book is proof they’re still capable of taking these characters further!

In my 9-5 life, I partake in a LOT of icebreakers & teambuilders. One quick and easy icebreaker is “Would You Rather?” which goes over amazingly every time.  I found this “Would You Rather?” for readers over at Rachel Poli’s site, and thought it’d be fun to share my thoughts. Check it out! Would you rather only read trilogies or only read standalones? This depends on whether I have all of the set at my disposal or not. If I do, then I’d like to start from book 1 and go through the whole set.  However, if I don’t, then I’d rather just read the standalone and be done.  I do, however, absolutely live for standalones that exist in a literary universe.  Two of my favorite authors right now are Christina C. Jones and Alexandra Warren. They both manage to create fantastic standalone novels that exist within interwoven communities. Would you rather only read male or female authors? I suppose women authors because that’s who I tend to read now. I read a lot of romance, and have only come across one male author so far (Sloane Howell, author of Bossed.) Would you rather shop at Barnes and Noble or Amazon? I prefer Amazon…

Her Secret Life. Tiffany L. Warren. 2017. 320 pages. Kensington Books. [Source: ARC provided couresty of NetGalley.] “She’s a series of beautiful contradictions” … my favorite line in the book as Graham simply explained Onika. Similarly, the line  encompasses my emotions about the main character … I was always conflicted. My feelings of empathy were  a direct contradiction to the disdain I felt for her superior, entitled attitude. Onika was so caught up in focusing on the bad hand she was dealt as a child that she failed to realize that the adult negativity was all the root of her own doing and poor decision making. The showcase of how one lie will ultimately beget many others was a valuable and continuous lesson. In addition to how failure to accept your flaws will stunt your ability to grow despite them. An ideal book for many teachers for it’s clear message without forcing hard topics. 5 stars for the effortless way Ms. Warren wove this tale, as a D.C. Native and fellow Greek, she was true to the culture and environment and it only aided the overall work.

Hey there readers! You may notice that Words on Words is lacking a little something … reviews!  I had a snafu with hosting, so I lost everything! All of my reviews for the past FOUR years … gone overnight. I went through all of the feelings when I realized the posts were gone, never to return: I’m talking Five Stages of Grief, y’all. Finally, acceptance hit. I would have to start afresh. But it’s cool. I’ll accept this as a new opportunity for greatness.  The good thing is that between NetGalley, GoodReads, and Amazon, I’ll be able to recover a good chunk of my reviews.  The bad is that I have to manually add them. So come back frequently as I build back my reviews. Maybe you’ll even see something you missed before! I hope to have everything back up by the end of April.  In the meantime, add your book suggestions in the comments below. Thanks for coming on this journey with me!