Posts by Silke De Buck

Oh wauw! Dit boek was echt heerlijk om te lezen! Ik ben helemaal verliefd geworden op het verhaal van Holly en Kai.

Zowel Holly als Kai hebben een pijnlijke liefdesbreuk te verwerken, elk op hun eigen manier. Bang om alleen te zijn, stort Holly zich van de ene date in de andere, terwijl Kai juist het tegenovergestelde doet: hij sluit zich af van alles wat met liefde te maken heeft. Totdat ze op een dag letterlijk en figuurlijk botsen en stap voor stap hun hart weer voor elkaar durven open te stellen.

Dit verhaal bevat een goede dosis humor, maar ook de nodige diepgang. De afwisseling is perfect en er is een mooie balans tussen beide.
Bij romantische boeken als deze denken we vaak: Oh, ik zie dit verhaal al van ver aankomen. Maar dit boek wist me echt te verrassen. Steeds weer kwamen er nieuwe wendingen die het leuk maakten om door te blijven lezen.

En laten we het even hebben over Mano? Ik denk dat iedereen een Mano in zijn leven nodig heeft!

Daarnaast zijn er ook enkele romantische en passionele scènes die het liefdesverhaal helemaal compleet maken.

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The holly dates – Brittainy C. Cherry

Wow! This book was such a delight to read! I absolutely fell in love with Holly and Kai’s story.

Both Holly and Kai are dealing with painful breakups, each in their own way. Afraid of being alone, Holly jumps from one date to another, while Kai does the opposite: he shuts himself off from anything related to love. Until one day, they quite literally and figuratively collide, and slowly but surely, they begin to open their hearts to each other again.

This story strikes a perfect balance between humor and depth. The pacing is just right, with a seamless blend of both elements.
With romance novels like this, it’s easy to think, Oh, I can already predict how this will end. But this book didn’t feel that way at all. It kept surprising me with unexpected twists that made it so enjoyable to keep reading.

And can we talk about Mano? I think everyone needs a Mano in their life!

There are also a few romantic and passionate scenes that truly complete the love story.

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Toen een vriendin me dit boek aanraadde omdat het haar sterk deed denken aan onze eigen studententijd, was ik benieuwd of ik dezelfde nostalgische gevoelens zou ervaren. En of ik die ervaren heb! Wat een emotionele rollercoaster.

Ik zal beginnen bij het begin. Dit boek vertelt het verhaal van Ada. Ada heeft een paar moeilijke jaren achter de rug en wil een nieuwe start maken in Gent. Ze gaat er studeren en op kot. Terwijl ze haar plek zoekt in de studentenstad, met de bijbehorende ups en downs, probeert ze ook haar verwaterende band met haar vader een plaats te geven.

Van etentjes in de Kastart, verdwalen in de Krook en slenteren door de winkelstraten van Gent, tot het ontdekken van de prachtige boekenkast in Le Bal Infernal: alles was ontzettend herkenbaar. Het was heel fijn dat de schrijfster deze hotspots expliciet benoemde.

Dit boek bracht allerlei emoties in me naar boven: heimwee naar onze studententijd, maar ook dankbaarheid dat ik zo’n fantastische tijd heb mogen beleven, net zoals Ada uiteindelijk deed.

Het schattige liefdesverhaal leerde me dat je niet te ver in de toekomst hoeft te kijken, maar gewoon mag genieten van de (kleine) gelukjes die vandaag al op je pad komen.

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Like the first book, this one reads just as smoothly. You don’t have to think about much. Laurie Gilmore easily takes you into the life in Dream Harbor through her smooth writing style.

This story is about Hazel, who as she turns 30, is rethinking her life. Has she been adventurous enough? Isn’t there another life waiting for her besides the bookstore?

Noah, too, is at a questionable stage in his life. Afraid of disappointing his family, he flees to Dream Harbor. Plenty of future plans in his head, but does he dare to live up to them?

Hazel and Noah embark on an adventure together and have the summer of their lives. They grow closer but do they also dare to admit their ever-growing feelings for each other?

Despite the frustration of typical misunderstandings due to lack of proper communication, I still fell in love with Hazel and Noah’s friends to lovers story.

Even though this book is a cute love story, it has the requisite romantic and passionate scenes.

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Like many others, I joined the booktok trend. Fortunately, it’s a genre that suits me anyway, so even without the hype surrounding Laurie Gilmore’s books, I probably would have put them on my TBR as well.

If you love the typical Hallmark movies and want to know in advance if they will get their happy ending, then this book is for you.

This book is about Jeanie who seeks peace in Dream Harbor after years of the same stressful job in the city. She gets to take over her aunt’s coffee shop, and finds her place among the residents of the small town.

Logan has lived in Dream Harbor all his life. He tries to isolate himself somewhat from the town and doesn’t like to be in the spotlight. One (unexpected) encounter with Jeanie and you already know what the book will be about.

It is written in the stars that this will be a happy ending, yet to not give everything away Jeanie is not only concerned with Logan. In and around the café, in fact, strange things happen as well. It’s a fairly lighthearted story in addition to the romantic plot.

It really is the perfect fall book to read under a blanket with a cup of coffee. I’ll start the second book right away, before autumn is over. 🍂

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And the award for most beautiful book cover definitely goes to this one.

The story itself is about Ayla, who after the death of her sister, will have to fight to become the next ruler of the Realm. In between the fight, she gets to know Valdermar, the prince of the Kingdom of Winter.

Ayla is the main character, an insecure girl following in the footsteps of her late big sister. I think they described the grieving process well as well as the difficulty in remaining herself because she constantly compares herself to others, including her sister. But she is also a real family person, when her family is in danger, the fire in her comes out.

Valdemar is a character who is afraid to show who he really is. He wears a mask to hide his real self from his father. The longer he knows Ayla, the more his mask disappears. Very nice enemies to lovers story.

I loved the story. Everything is described so beautifully that it feels like you are there yourself . This book is one of my favorites this year, I really recommend this book and I can’t wait for the sequel.

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This book was smoother than the second part. It is very beautifully written, some parts gave me goosebumps. Even though I know, and it is very obvious that Nick and Noah are in a very toxic relationship, you still can’t stop hoping for those two. This is thanks in part to the various pov’s. ( Which I always like in a book.)

Nick’s character continues to have two sides, when he opens his heart you are his whole world. But if he closes himself off, makes his heart a stone, he can really hurt you with words and doesn’t care, how hard he hurts you. Very interesting to know from his POV, why he reacts the way he does and how his train of thought goes.

For Noah, it’s different. Without Nick, Noah is actually very sensitive, friendly and playful. But with Nick, I think she constantly feels like she has to hold up her shield, ready to defend against an onslaught of words. Yet in this book. When they are in love, they are so sweet to each other. You hardly recognize this during the loud arguments.

As in the previous two books, there are also the very intimate scenes. But if you don’t like reading these kinds of scenes as much, I can reassure you, there aren’t that many of them. (🌶️)

Several plot twists made me want to keep reading the book. If you want to know if Noah and Nick get their happy ending, I definitely recommend this book. But you will then have to read part one and part two of the series as well.

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I finally finished reading Daydream. It was hard to find time for it but I was always happy when I could spare some time for Henry and Halle. 

The book touches on several topics such as performance pressure and accompanying (failure) fears, as well as the pressure not to disappoint your family and friends. But the book also shows how important it is to find the right friends, who understands you, don’t judge you and find a way to cope correctly. 

I myself could empathize very hard with both characters. Both Halle’s need to do good for everyone and Henry’s pressure to not want to disappoint anyone, and therefore kind of ignore his own desires. Also, the sense of loneliness Halle experiences and the insecurities that come back to growing friendships is something I think many people struggle with. Therefore, I think it is a very relatable book, and nice to know that you are not the only one going through this.

Now enough about the heavy topics, the growing romance, from friends to lovers, between Halle and Henry is a very fine plot to read. They are very cute and complement each other perfectly in their search for themselves. As in the other two books in the series, passion is also part of it. ( 🌶️🌶️) 

I also really like that we still get an insight into the lives of the other Maple Hills friends and that they are part of this story as well.

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