Books, Blogs, & Reality by Ryan Ringbloom

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: October 24th 2014
Publisher: Indie
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 14+
Genres & Themes: New Adult, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Romance, Book World

BLURB:

Life can suck…

When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.

Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.

Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.

Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.

Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them?

REVIEW:

A quick and engaging romance read featuring four book bloggers!

There were four main stories: Brook’s, Rachel’s, Lizzie’s and Jess’.

Lizzie is unhappily married, Jess is dating a player/bad boy, Brook fell in love with her boss and Rachel tries to introduce the BDSM world to her boyfriend.

The four of them want the kind of romance story that books focus on. They all have their book boyfriends who keep them company when their love and sex lives are bleak.

I really liked the online conversations between the four bloggers and their reviews of books they were reading. It made me connect to them, to a certain point, even though we weren’t of the same age or even reading the same types of books. What is lovely is that the blogosphere can bring so many different types of people together.

The omnipresent narration worked well in this book, although sometimes it gave the effect of storytelling instead of relating, in a convincing way, the lives of the four women.

Honestly, I didn’t expect the outcome of some of the situations that occurred in this story. And that is, I think, due to the fact that we didn’t know ‘‘everything.’’ The chapters were relatively short and there had to be many of them in order to tell every main character’s story. Lizzie’s story, for instance, felt underdeveloped and Brook’s extremely rushed.

In sum, Books, Blogs, & Reality makes an entertaining chick lit romance read, with four relatable and likable main characters!