The Bright Side of Disaster: when the life you wanted turns into the life you needed

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center is a story when the life you wanted turns into the life you needed. Jenny Harris is very pregnant and engaged to Dean. At first, Dean was excited about marriage and the coming baby. However, as her due date comes closer, Dean is acting more and more distant. One night, he goes out for cigarettes and never comes back. The next day, Jenny goes into labor. As she is thrown into the life as a single mother and learning to care for her baby, there isn’t much time to dwell on her broken dreams. Slowly but surely, her support group grows from her mother, her friend, Meredith, and her very handsome neighbor. Out of the blue, Dean shows up on her doorstep, she is faced with a choice. Does she choose the life she wanted or does she choose the new life she didn’t know she needed? 

Katherine Center has been one of my go-to authors since I first read one of her books in 2018. I have slowly been her backlist as well as her new release. I came across The Bright Side of Disaster and was super excited. Ms Center’s stories are filled with life changing drama with laughs and emotion. However, The Bright Side of Disaster did not have the same impact I have come to expect from Ms Center. I didn’t care for any of the characters. Jenny was very irritating and I found myself rolling my eyes often. And the story didn’t have the emotional impact that I was expecting. Since this is one of her early works and knowing how her writing has evolved, I am glad that I read this book. While I did not enjoy this story as much as I have enjoyed Ms Center’s other books, I do recommend The Bright Side of Disaster. 

The Bright Side of Disaster is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

The Perfect Date: not so perfect

The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozada is the story of a hard-working single mother who is used to challenges. As a pregnant teen who was abandoned by her son’s father and losing her mother soon after, Angel has learned to deal with everything with a small support system. Angel Gomez’s goal in life was to finish nursing school and provide for her 7-year-old son. Love is not in her plans. Caleb “The Duke” Lewis is a star pitcher for the Bronx Bolts whose escapades made him a common topic in gossip columns. As he is trying to get back into the game and keep a low profile socially that Angel doesn’t recognize him when they met twice in the same day. When Angel fails to fall for his usual charm, he decides she’s perfect.  She is the perfect woman for his plot to fool the tabloids into thinking he has changed his ways. But as the charade begins, it soon becomes apparent that something else could be there. Will they be able to play their part? Or will love find a way in?

The Perfect Date started strong for me. I loved Angel’s Puerto Rican sassiness and her commitment to her son and her school. Unfortunately, the book fell with each chapter. I found myself not caring about Duke and his issues. I found some of the language to be very harsh and abrasive at times. I kept telling myself that it was how some people talked but it irritated me. I don’t allow people to talk like that around me in real life so why am I reading it. I really wanted to love The Perfect Date as I love romance novels, but I didn’t even like it. I do not recommend The Perfect Date.

The Perfect Date

will be available in paperback and eBook

on June 11, 2019