The Aubrey Rules by Aven Ellis

Some of the Aubrey Rules to Live By:
*If I’m going to indulge in French fries, I must add extra time to the treadmill the next day.
*Always keep your work and private life separate.
*Being open to new experiences will never involve eating kale.
*Never, ever date a professional athlete.

For Chicago social media professional Aubrey Paige, the rules are everything. So much so that Aubrey has painstakingly written her rules for living into a polka-dot Kate Spade notebook that she carries with her at all times. It’s her personal guidebook to living her life. These rules are the Holy Grail—ones never to be broken. They guide her actions for everything, from dealing with workplace drama to finding a great guy to date. After all, these are her own rules, built from her life experiences and observations. So they have to be perfect, right?

Or are they?

Because when Aubrey meets a cute Canadian, she suddenly finds her rules being tested and challenged in ways she never dreamed possible. Beckett Riley is the shy, quiet, determined captain of the Chicago Buffaloes, a hockey team on the verge of turning the corner to becoming a winning organization. He’s Aubrey's opposite, with so many qualities that Aubrey had listed as ones she’d never want in a man. 

Yet Aubrey finds herself drawn to Beckett in ways she’s never known. And when she unexpectedly finds herself working with Beckett, she wonders if rules are meant to be broken after all . . .

Regular readers of my blog will know how much I love Aven Ellis and her novels. Each time a new one arrives in my inbox (which I can't thank Aven enough for) I do a little squeal, so I fear I may be a bit biased in writing this review, but if like me you love romantic, chic-lit novels with hot guys, then you'll love it no matter what I say!
Yet again I read this book in a day because I find Aven's novels so enjoyable and addictive that it's impossible for me to put them down! I do kind of wish I hadn't though because I get so sad when they end! 

I loved Aubrey! She is so confident which I thought I would find annoying but it is in such a good way, she is in no way arrogant she just doesn't let herself be walked all over! She is real and somebody that I could relate to so easily. She has fat in places we all wish we didn't, she says the wrong thing, makes a fool of herself and eats too many fries, but what girl doesn't?! She is hilarious and the perfect lead character for this type of novel.
She has a rule book, written by herself, that she lives her life by and we get to see some of her rules at the beginning of each chapter, I loved how they were amended more and more throughout the book as we see Aubrey allow herself to break them, as we all know rules are meant to be broken!

As we know by now, Aven's novels are full of cute guys, a lot of them Hockey players and this one is no different, enter Beckett, who I am now completely in love with! We saw so many different sides to him throughout the book, the shy and awkward side in front of the camera but also the strong, determined side that made him a leader as the Captain of the Chicago Buffaloes. The side of him I fell in for was the way he was around Aubrey, we saw his sweet, romantic, nerdy side come out and how fantastic he is at planning date!
I love how Aven made him so awkward and shy in front of fans and interviews as it made us realise that although people are famous athletes or celebrities they are still just normal people trying to live their lives, they don't always know what to do with all of the attention they get.  You really feel for him and want to help him come out of his shell, but of course he has confident, doesn't-care-what-she-says Aubrey to do that for him. They are the perfect match, they accept each other's flaws and help each other to grow.

There is always a line in every one of Aven's books that makes me melt and I think after a lot of thought the one that has that effect in this book is when Beckett says:
"I guess the question is, do you still love me? Because I love you. I love you so much, and I’ve never loved anyone this way in my life. I love you, exactly the way you are, inside and out."
What girl doesn't want that said to her? Especially if it is coming from a hot athlete!

I absolutely loved the Breakfast At Tiffany's scene in the book, I ADORE Audrey Hepburn and the film so this made me love this book so much more! And of course the amount of romance in it made me want to jump into the book and take Aubrey's place! Jealous much!!

As always this book gets a massive 5 stars from me and I can't stress to you enough how much you need to read it! It is by far one of the best books I have read this year! It is released on 26th August so not long to wait at all! It is the perfect summer read and happily ever after seekers will adore this book!

Thank you Aven and I can't wait to see who and what book you make me fall in love with next!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

See my reviews of Aven's previous novels here:

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories.

This book is EVERYWHERE at the moment and I have heard so many good things about it that I had to grab a copy and see for myself what it was about. After reading it I understand  why everybody loves it and I just couldn't put it down!

Paula's writing grabbed me from the very beginning, it is infectious but so easy to follow, whilst keeping you on edge from beginning to end. I know this book is going to be made into a film but to me it felt like a film whilst reading it, the images of the characters, situations and surroundings were so vivid in my mind that it made it so much more than a book. The plot is so strong and the way Paula is able to deliver us three different points of view with such ease is brilliant.

Rachel—the girl on the train— is our main protagonist, she has lost her job, her husband, her dream house and spends her days going back and forward on the train in a drunken stupor. To escape her unwanted reality, she revels in a fantasy where two people live an idyllic life. Two strangers, whom she has named Jason and Jess, that she sees every day as she glimpses out of her window on the train. But one day, everything changes and she finds herself caught up in a chilling mystery where her past, present and fantasy worlds collide.

I did like Rachel from very early on in the book, I think at first what you feel towards her is sympathy but as you read on you actually start to get behind her and want her to get herself together. She makes some horrible and stupid decisions but it is interesting to see how she deals with their consequences and how this changes her. I don't think she is somebody you would particularly like if she was a second character in a normal story, but I think the fact the we hear her side of everything makes us able to understand her reasons for drinking, and letting her life become the way it has. 

Megan and Anna are our other protagonists, Megan, the real name for 'Jess' of 'Jason and Jess', the couple Rachel sees from the train. Megan is happily married to Scott, or that is how it would seem from Rachel's perspective. But in reality, Megan’s life is not what it seems, and chapter by chapter, we learn just how much her facade hides. Megan is the one we hear from the least with her narration but she is spoken about a lot from other peoples perspective's and whilst you are not supposed to like her and she does a lot of things to make you not, she does have some redeeming qualities and you feel for her and wish you could help, she is broken and is just looking for somebody to fix her.

Anna lives down the street from Megan, Anna just so happens to be the wife of Rachel’s ex husband Tom, who is living in the house he and Rachel bought. 

I didn't like Anna at all, she was self centered, arrogant and all she seemed to think of was herself and how she thought all men wanted her. It wasn't until the very end that I started to feel for her, she seemed to start to show a different side to herself and you could see that there was a kind person underneath, but I still could not warm to her and always expected her to be plotting something. 

As we get further through the novel we see that they are more than neighbours and strangers, their lives are connected in ways they could never imagine. I thought I had the mystery figured out half way through the book but then Paula adds a twist at the end that I did not see coming! 

This is one of those books that will keep you up late at night, that you will reach for again and again and that won't leave your head for a long time. I would recommend this book to lovers of thriller and those that may want to see what all the fuss is about, this book deserves the fuss! You would never believe this was a debut novel due to the brilliance of the writing. I can't wait to see what comes next from Paula. 

Amazon UK | Amazon US