Book Review: HEARTthrob by Belinda Williams

January 2, 2017sydneygen Leave a comment

heartthrob

Hollywood Hearts Book (1)

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction

CAN AN AVERAGE GIRL SURVIVE HOLLYWOOD?

Ally Valenti doesn’t belong in Hollywood. Not like her friend and actress, Lena Lyons. Lena’s convinced Ally to pursue her dreams of fashion design, starting with some gowns for the awards season.

Which Ally will get around to creating as soon as she can stop looking at Jacob Swan, Lena’s latest co-star. Not that she’s staring. Ally’s skeptical of anything celebrity and it’s not like she’d be pathetic enough to fall for a Hollywood heartthrob.

Then Ally learns there’s more to Jacob than his good guy, all-American persona. She finds herself torn between the desire to get to know him better and her determination to stay out of the limelight.

Of course the media has other ideas—and someone doesn’t like all the attention Ally’s getting. When threats aimed at destroying her fashion career go too far, Ally’s convinced she’s living in crazy town.

The sensible thing would be to retreat home before it all ends in spectacular fashion. But will Ally be leaving more than her dreams behind if she says goodbye to Hollywood?

This glamorous, fast-paced contemporary romance that will make you smile, is perfect for fans of Rachel Gibson, Victoria Dahl, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Liliana Hart.

SGMyReview

Belinda Williams has knocked it out of the park again with this contemporary romance book set in Hollywood, USA! Her latest series is a new step into the world of glitz and glamour, and I couldn’t be more excited to read it. One thing I really value in Belinda Williams as an author, is her ability to create a world that you feel a part of. You instantly feel connected to the characters, and are cheering for them on the side. I’ve got to say, there was a moment in this book that I thought we had reached an arc, and them BAM, she throws me off my feet and we go in a completely different direction. It made the read exciting, and engaging. This book has loads of things for any fan of women’s fiction. It’s not all lovey dovey, but has some depth and had me flipping through the pages in one sitting.

Although this is a part of a series, you can read these books and not worry about the ending!! For that reason, I look forward to following this world Belinda Williams is creating, and you should too!

BUY THE BOOK:

New Release Book Review: Modern Heart by Belinda Williams

November 27, 2015sydneygen Leave a comment

modernheartcover

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

Limited time only: Dream career! Perfect man! The catch? Emotional availability.
Scarlett Wong has a reputation for toughness. A talented and often feared Creative Director at an award-winning Sydney advertising agency, she doesn’t do relationships, she doesn’t invite men home, and she never stays the night. The only people who see her softer side are her three closest girlfriends, and they’re finally convinced they’ve found her perfect man: John Hart.
Scarlett’s never been one to back down from a challenge and she’s not going to start now. But when John secures Scarlett an invitation from one modernheartteaser1 of New York’s leading galleries to exhibit her artwork, it means putting herself out there like never before. Scarlett’s perfect man wouldn’t interfere in her life like this – would he?
For a woman who thinks she’s not scared of anything, Scarlett is about to discover she’s not as tough as she thinks. Will she take the chance to turn her secret passion into a career, risk the safety of her advertising career, and let John in? Or will old habits die that little bit too hard?

SGMyReview

Belinda Williams has continued to excel in bringing together characters with emotion and substance. IN her latest release, Modern Heart, she will have you cringing, cheering, and hoping that emotions don’t ruin everything.

Scarlett Wong is a self-proclaimed emotionally detached career woman. Having been pressured all her life to do the things she doesn’t love Scarlett finds it hard to accept that she may just be good at something she loves, art. In the book she battles with her relationship with a controlling mother. A strict Chinese immigrant, Scarlett’s mum sees her daughter as an academic, not an artist. This has meant Scarlett carries scars throughout the story. Can she begin the heal these scars as she gets older, and discover that art is her true passion?!

Enter Mr. Perfect. John ‘bloody’ Hart. All her friends know he’s the guy for her, but she has so many personal issues she’s not willing to let him in. They’ve met before, in book one, but things finally begin change when she decides to take a chance. This book is so much more than boy and girl get together. There is a lot of emotion and it flicks between Scarlett remembering significant events from her childhood, and the present. This book really is about a woman coming to terms with herself, and the choices in her life that she has control over.

I really enjoyed reading the dynamics of the friends, again. Being set in Sydney is really fun to read, and I love to imagine exactly where they may be (just as I did in The Pitch – book 1). Modern Heart is the perfect next installment in the City Love series. A mixture of friendship, cynicism, coming to terms with who you are, and finding that life leads a tricky road. This book is all about navigating through choices you make in life, and how it can be so much better with friends, and love.

Publisher Purchase Link

FREE STUFF!

You’ve still got a couple of days to pick up a copy of THE BOYFRIEND SESSIONS for FREE or THE PITCH for 99c. Tell your friends or family!
Nov 15 books promotion

**I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Momentum Books for the opportunity to review**

Review: The Boyfriend Sessions by Belinda Williams

November 8, 2014sydneygen 1 Comment

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit

Please take your seats. The journey to happiness may involve some turbulence.

Christa Morrison has commitment issues, a fact that quickly becomes apparent after she flees a romantic proposal in Paris, the thunder of impending wedding bells ringing in her ears.

Back in Sydney, she turns to her closest friends for reassurance. Instead they offer her a startling and painful diagnosis: she’s a relationship junkie. The cure? An extreme rehabilitation program guaranteed to reform even the most L-word illiterate.

With her girlfriends along for the ride, Christa commits to their radical plan and the chances of recovery look good. The only problem is Max Spencer. The one guy Christa—and her friends—never expected her to fall for. But he’s proving to be a temptation she may not have the willpower to resist …

For a shot at happiness, is being with Max worth betraying her friends? And will Christa have the strength to trust her heart when her colorful relationship history comes back to haunt her?

It might just be enough to make a poor girl leave the country (again).

I saw the cover for this and it piqued my curiosity! This a new release you need to get onto! The Boyfriend Sessions is a great read. Christa is always running away from commitment, but doesn’t know why, or how to stop it. After a surprise proposal in Paris, she runs back to Australia and finds comfort with her friends. All is not as it seems though, as the friends band together and put her through her paces, imposing a man-ban and starting weekly counseling sessions over wine (WINNING – I mean, great idea!).

I loved reading this book. The author does a lovely job of creating believable situations and scenery, and as I was reading about all the places in Sydney, I could see it clear as a sunny harbour day. So much fun to think about walking exactly where the characters were walking, or sitting, or doing boot camp! There were times where I was sad, or my heart was clenching a bit. There were also times were I smiled and fist pumped. All through the book, although I was a little frustrated with her, I still found Christa to be likeable. The way the author writes her, you have empathy and compassion for her past, rather than thinking she’s an idiot for just “not getting it”.

This was a well thought out story and one I highly recommended if you’re after a lovely Aussie based romance to read on a sunny day.

And just in case you weren’t sure.. here’s a little Max-spiration from the author’s website!

Authors Website: Goodreads: Facebook : Twitter

CLICK FOR VARIOUS BUYING LINKS

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review – very glad so say I loved it!

SydneyGen Reads

Read – Write – Review

Menu

Widgets

Search

Belinda Williams