Book Review: The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook

I know a lot of you have kids graduating high school and thinking about going to college. If you don't personally, surely you know someone graduating, and you're probably invited to a grad party. If you're looking for a GREAT gift, this is what you need to get them. Hands down.

The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook - Jill Grimes, MD, FAAFP

College students facing their first illness, accident, or anxiety away from home often flip-flop between wanting to handle it themselves and wishing their parents could swoop in and fix everything. Advice from peers and “Dr. Google” can be questionable.The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook provides accurate, trustworthy, evidence-based medical information (served with a dose of humor) to reduce anxiety and stress and help set appropriate expectations for more than fifty common issues.

What if you can’t sleep well (or can’t sleep at all) in your dorm room?  What if a pill “gets stuck” in your throat? What if your roommate falls asleep (or passes out) wearing contacts, and wakes up with one painfully stuck? Your friend’s terrible sore throat isn’t Strep or Mono? What else could it be? What if everyone from your group project thinks they’re coming down with the flu the day before your presentation?

Dr. Jill Grimes has the answer to these questions and many more. Her guidebook is designed to help you: 

Decide if and when to seek medical help

Know what to expect when you get there

Plan for the worst-case scenario if you don’t seek help

Learn how you can prevent this in the future

Realize what you can do right now, before you see a doctor

Understand the diagnostic and treatment options

The topics of tattoos, smoking, vaping, pot, piercings, and prescription drugs will also be tackled throughout the pages of this handbook, ensuring you, your roommates, and your friends have a healthy semester.

A few months ago, I found myself in the ER because my gall bladder decided that was a good time to wage war on me. The whole thing was a comedic circus but the best part about being in the ER are your neighbors. You can never see your neighbors, you only hear their problems, and if you're unlucky their vomiting. On this particular night one of my neighbors was a college kid, escorted to the ER by campus police because of (wait for it)...... heartburn.

Turns out the kid was worried he was dying and he apparently called his parents (who presumably live far away) who were rightfully worried because you can bet his description of what was happening wasn't clear. The nurse specifically asked him if he tried taking Tums or something and you know what he said??

No. He said no because his mom told him everything over the counter is scary and to never ever take it.

Instead, go to the ER. (This is when I tell you she had been calling the ER constantly for status updates but they can't talk to her over the phone because he's an adult and they were begging him to just call his mom from his cell phone.)

The moral of the story though is to not send your kids into the world unprepared. Your job as a parent is to turn a kid who picks their nose into a fully functioning adult. Someday, these kids are going to have no help and will have to fend for themselves because you can't hover (and shouldn't) forever.

If you're worried, THIS is the book to get them. First off, you can tell this book is written by a mom who has likely gotten some bizarre calls for advice, and has gone to college herself because the book covers everyday things like pink eye, test anxiety, headaches, home sickness, acne, etc. What it ALSO covers are things like hangovers, tattoos, date rape, sexually transmitted infections, the "missing" tampon (I laughed so hard over this because this happened to a friend and I had to help and it brought back memories!), birth control, smoking/vaping/pot, and alcohol.

So much of this are questions you know your child has or will have and might not want to talk to mom or dad about, and that's OK. Each chapter explains what is happening and how you got yourself in this predicament, what to do, and when to go to the doctor. Do you remember when we had our first baby and we clung to those What to Expect books? Like a how-to manual on being a mom? This is similar to it and I promise you that your child is going to roll their eyes when you give it to them but they will 100% pull this out to read it when they get something stuck in their eye. (Seriously, this is in the book!)

The BEST part? Way in the back there is a list of a DIY First Aid Kit. You can purchase all of those things in a handy box, with this book, and bam- you've got the best (and most useful) graduation gift.

I have to thank the author, Jill Grimes and PR By the Book for sending me a copy of this to review, I absolutely love it and I am so impressed with how well organized this is. It is written in a way that isn't condescending or in a "if you had just listened to your mother" voice, and I loved the Preface meant for the parents, and I love how the author acknowledges that it doesn't matter where your child goes, they WILL be exposed to new and different things, sometimes not always the best things, but mistakes are OK. We all learn from mistakes, but hopefully this book will help your child feel a little more confident making the big leap to college!

   

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Book Review: Wrong Turn

I have been receiving the BEST review books as of late so stick around because I promise to fill your summer reading list!

If you know me,  you know one of my favorite things are ROAD TRIPS. My family and I usually take one every summer, and since it looks like coronavirus thinks we need to sit this summer out, I jumped at the chance of a road trip romance book!

Wrong Turn - Samantha Chase

Chelsea Cooper thinks her best friend’s fiancé is the world’s biggest jerk.

She’s never really been one to make waves, but when it comes to that guy, Chelsea’s willing to make an exception. There’s just no way she can let her best friend make the biggest mistake of her life by marrying him. She’ll do anything to stop the wedding, even if it means teaming up with the one person who’s an even bigger jerk—the groom-to-be’s best friend.

Drew Russo thinks his best friend’s fiancée’s best friend is the prickliest woman alive.

Everything about Chelsea aggravates him. She’s too structured, too uptight, and too opinionated—especially when it comes to her thoughts on his best friend. When he’s tasked with keeping her away from their best friends’ secret wedding, Drew knows he’s in for one hell of a challenge. Never mind the days he’ll have to spend trapped in a car with the world’s most annoying woman.

The plan is simple enough—keep Chelsea from interfering with the wedding. But between distractions, delays and detours, they discover they aren’t the enemies they thought they were. And sometimes a wrong turn can lead you in the right direction.

I have to just start by telling you that I started and finished this one in just a few hours. I was having such a great time with this book that I've already decided that I'm a fan of this author and I need the rest of this series. All of them are stand alone, but I need more of these!

In this we have Chelsea, who comes off as kind of a stick in the mud, kind of the Debbie Downer of the group. When she finds out her best friend Bianca is engaged to Jimmy, she is less than thrilled. It doesn't seem like she dislikes Jimmy but maybe the idea of it being too quick has her worried. When Bianca and Jimmy decide to elope, and not tell Chelsea for fear she'll ruin the wedding, they enlist Jimmy's best friend Drew to keep her away.

Of course, Chelsea figures it out, so Drew hatches a plan to stall her for as long as possible. It starts with a flight that he of course misses because he "gets lost" on the highway. A few other mishaps has them taking a road trip to South Carolina for Chelsea to crash this wedding. During the trip though, Drew and Chelsea (formerly not particularly fond of each other) learn that maybe they didn't really know each other at all and this trip might leave them as friends.... or more. A wild series of shenanigans ensues with them both learning a lot about each other and themselves.

I loved this! While it doesn't have sexy details we find in a lot of romances, we get just enough to fully enjoy it. I loved the evolution of Drew and Chelsea, I loved Chelsea's big moment with Bianca. If I had to list a con, I guess I'd say more craziness on the actual trip. It was pretty seamless I thought, except for the Chesapeake Bridge incident (though, I have to be fair and say I'm team Chelsea on that and I feel like I'd do the same thing). So minor and that is me being VERY picky.

If you are looking for a fun romance, something with just enough heat to keep you satisfied, this is the one to add to your summer reading list! Absolutely 5 stars from me, this one was fun. I'm always happy to find a new author and I'm excited to read more from Samantha Chase!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A *huge* thank you to Social Butterfly PR and Samantha Chase for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review!

   

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Book Review: Step Brother Dearest

I know this title is making you stop and think, "God DAMN, Sara- what is wrong with you?!" and believe me, I felt that way myself. I'm using this as my "book I swore I wouldn't read" for a book challenge I'm in because this gives me all the uncomfortable vibes.

Imagine my surprise when I finished it and kind of loved it. I feel so gross but here we are.

Step Brother Dearest - Penelope Ward

You’re not supposed to want the one who torments you.

When my stepbrother, Elec, came to live with us my senior year, I wasn’t prepared for how much of a jerk he’d be.

I hated that he took it out on me because he didn’t want to be here.

I hated that he brought girls from our high school back to his room.

But what I hated the most was the unwanted way my body reacted to him.

At first, I thought all he had going for him were his rock-hard tattooed abs and chiseled face. Then, things started changing between us, and it all came to a head one night.

Just as quickly as he’d come into my life, he was gone back to California.

It had been years since I’d seen Elec.

When tragedy struck our family, I’d have to face him again.

And holy hell, the teenager who made me crazy was now a man that drove me insane.

I had a feeling my heart was about to get broken again.

I have to start by saying that the only other book/series I've read that was anything like this was by Annie Stone and part of a series she did that was about a stepmom ending up with her step son after the husband/dad turned out to be an abusive dirtbag. That was a short trilogy but I really loved it and felt all of the feelings going through that so believe me when I say I was uncomfortable at best when I started this and quickly forgot all about it by the end and wanted Elec and Greta to end up together.

Penelope Ward is a magician like that, I swear.

OK, so in this book we have Greta, a virgin and totally inexperienced with boys. Her step brother (her step dad's son) comes to live with him and right off the bat he's an asshole to all of them but Greta is immediately attracted to him and she knows that it isn't necessarily "normal" so she tells nobody. Over time though, while Elec is still a jerk to her, they form a strained relationship. She's falling in love with him and she isn't sure if he even likes her but when he finds out he has to leave to take care of his mom, they both discover they like each other more than family.

Years later they come together over the death of Elec's dad and they realize that what was once between them wasn't a fluke and Greta has to deal with the jealousy of Elec having a girlfriend.

OK. You guys. I know the concept of this is really WEIRD and it is hard to get beyond the step thing but promise me when I tell you that in the end, it is a non issue and it'll be OK. I actually ended up really loving this book and finished it in three hours of constantly being interrupted because I couldn't stop reading it. I'm already a fan of Penelope Ward as it is so I was certain she wouldn't lead us down a weird path and she didn't. My heart broke for Elec when I learned all about his history. I wish Greta was a little more assertive in her feelings but I also understand why she wasn't, either.

I am giving this a solid 4 stars. I am knocking it down only because I felt icky for half the book and I wish there were more steamy scenes towards the end. Which makes me feel dirty and gross but here we are. HA!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

   

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Book Review: Butterfly Bayou

Honestly, the best part of the quarantine has been all of the reading I've gotten done. Even better has been discovering some new to me authors, Lexi Blake being one of them!

Butterfly Bayou - Lexi Blake

Life in Dallas took a tragic turn for nurse practitioner Lila Daley. In need of a fresh start, she retreats to Papillon, Louisiana, a tiny town on the bayou. Sure she's greeted by a gator, finds herself in the middle of golf cart wars, and unwittingly adopts a scruffy dog, but Lila remains undaunted. She's focused on running the town's medical clinic, but fitting into the quirky community is harder than she imagined.

As a single dad, Sheriff Armie LaVigne embraces routine. But there is nothing routine about the town's newest resident. Lila is a gorgeous fish out of water and he’s ready to catch her. In fact, in no time at all, Armie knows Lila is the woman for him and he plans to win her heart. But when the past threatens their happiness, Armie will have to decide if he has the courage to trust Lila enough to find a true happily ever after.

In this sweet romance we start with Lila, who is the last person standing in a particularly violent domestic encounter in the emergency room she worked at. She watched her friend die and she realizes she needs a fresh start to move forward in her life. She leaves Dallas and heads to Papillon, Louisana where her sister lives with her new husband. (This is where it felt like there was a book before this one featuring that couple, but it says this is the first in the series, so I don't know. Regardless, its OK and you won't be confused during this one.)

Her adventure starts with meeting Otis the alligator in the middle of the road and consequently being ticketed for speeding by Sheriff Armie. Incidentally, they saw each other at Lisa (sister) and Remy's wedding but Lila was in no position to do anything so she avoided him despite the obvious chemistry. Once in town she starts her work at the clinic she has taken over from Doc Hamet, who we discover was rather lazy, and faces the uphill battle of winning over Papillon despite being a nurse practitioner versus a doctor. Her abrupt and sometimes off putting personality doesn't help her case either.

After awhile she finds her groove, starts seeing Armie, tries to make friends, and comes across a patient she suspects is a victim of domestic violence. In her attempt to help her she basically stirs up a hornets nest and while she helps someone, she puts herself in danger. Things in small Cajun communities aren't like big city Dallas. In the middle of all of this, her and Armie have some major disagreements over the role of women, he's a bit unintentionally and unknowingly sexist and she isn't here for it, but his teenage daughter Noelle (disabled and in a wheelchair) becomes a bone of contention. Lila's good intentions are read differently and that ends up being our second conflict.

Overall? I really liked this one. It's sweet and it wasn't overly sexy (I mean, we know they have sex but we don't have detailed scenes) so if that's your jam this is right up your alley. I enjoyed this enough I really want to read the next books coming, Bayou Baby and Bayou Dreaming, both featuring some characters I really liked in Butterfly Bayou. If you're looking for something to add to your summer TBR list, I think you should really consider this one.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

    

Thank you to Lexi Blake and Social Butterfly PR for sending me an ARC for review, all thoughts are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

Book Review: Love Under Quarantine

I don't know about you, but I'm flying through books during quarantine and I am not hating it. Not at all. I know I have a ton of books on my shelf I've yet to read and I have a few more coming (all of my gift cards are officially gone.... sad day) this week, but dang it if the best books are coming up for reviews! I cannot stop and I love how good they all are!

Lover Under Quarantine 

Kylie Scott & Audrey Carlan

While the world is ravaged by a global pandemic, hotshot NFL running back Evan Sparks is locked in his own personal hell. With a career-ending scandal on his back, Evan hides out in his best friend’s empty San Francisco home, the full city shutdown locking him in a lonely twenty-story apartment in the sky.

Romance writer Sadie Walsh is having the worst case of writer’s block ever…until the incredible, muscular stranger staying next door gets her muse going strong. The pair of loners, never expecting to find a friend in all the madness, meet each day out on their balconies like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.

Each new day brings unique challenges for the pair as they navigate the unknown and find solace together. They quickly figure out that as long as they have one another, they can handle anything.

Even falling in love under quarantine. 

First things first, if you follow either Kylie Scott or Audrey Carlan on Instagram you may have seen something about this book maybe being insensitive given the fact we're still smack in the middle of a quarantine. As someone who read, and loved, this book I can tell you that is so far from the truth. YES, this book takes place during the quarantine we are living in but I will tell you that it is done really well. A lot of the feelings the characters go through are ones we can all recognize. I know when they go to the grocery store for food and witness the precautionary measures in place for the first time, both authors captured that so well because that is exactly how I felt when I went to Target and it looked straight out of a dystopian nightmare.

The best part of this book for me was the fact they found love right in front of their face. In what could have been an incredibly lonely, scary time for both of them, they had each other to talk it out and they fall in love. I love that this is a romance author falling in love with a football player and that he is literally the dream hero of a novel and she gets to live it out. She is different from anyone he's ever been with and it takes him by surprise how much seeing her, even on a balcony, makes his day. Throw in his athletic doping nightmare and we've got ourselves a NOVEL!

Other characters in the book that we meet are all variations of people we know in how they are handling Covid-19. We have people who get sick and take it seriously, some that don't, some on the front lines, and overall I felt like they wrote these characters and this story with care. I think in a few years, when we are hopefully past all of this, this will be an interesting look at what life was like in 2020.

I'm giving this one a solid 5 stars because the romance was great, steamy scenes were so good, and I really was rooting for these characters the entire time. Just the bickering and back and forth was so fun to read. Not to mention this was written by two authors who aren't in the same room throwing ideas out there. How they managed to do that seamlessly to bring a fun story, I'll never know and that's far more talent than I have! I immediately think of those group projects in college that were just absolute hell and one person (me) ends up doing all of the work. I can say that definitely doesn't happen here, and I have to add Audrey Carlan to my list because I already have read Kylie Scott, but now Audrey needs to grace my shelves, too!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A huge thanks to Social Butterfly PR, Kylie Scott, and Audrey Carlan for having me on this tour AND sending me a copy for review! If you want to help out, buy some books from indie authors! Writing is their job and your purchase is their paycheck. 💖

   

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Stop crying your heart out.

I feel like I've hit an actual wall. I don't know what's going on with my depression but it has flared up and I'm really struggling.

I don't blame the quarantine or coronavirus so much, though that has had an impact. I think this is just how life is now for me and to be frank, I'm sick of it. I am tired of treading water only to keep being overwhelmed by waves.

I really miss every day, every week, every year that I took for granted. All of that time where I had good days and things were OK. Even on my worst days I felt better than I do know. I don't know why everything feels amplified. I can feel a huge difference if I forget to take my medication, so I know that it is working. I'm at the highest doses possible. I'm starting to wonder if I'll have to just deal with awful medication side effects to feel better.

I haven't been sleeping. That's been a thing for awhile. Don't come at me with your melatonin, I can't take it with my other medications. I hardly eat at all. If I do it's just munching on something but not enough to be considered a meal. Even if I do sit down for a meal I can't taste it and I lose my appetite immediately. I am so tired the entire day. I have such a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. A lot of mornings I cry because I just can't do another day.

Is it ironic that it's the week of Mother's Day and I feel like the worst mom? I have to rely on Olivia and Jackson so much and I hate it. I feel like I'm stealing their childhood away. Granted, its less time on YouTube and video games for them, but still. They didn't ask for this. I love them so much and I have no idea what life would be like without them.

I feel terrible for Penelope and Lucy because they won't know a happy mom, excited to take them to a park. I love them so much but god help me, my days are so long and so hard right now.

I am lucky I have family that care. I am lucky to have friends who check on me. I have a support system when so many people don't.

I just feel so tired and I don't know what I would even say. I was thinking about that earlier, if I had to list three things that are at the top of my bubbling emotions, I have no idea what I would say. I can't even tell people what it is that is bringing me down. Things like this make me feel like I no longer have control over my mind. I can list all of the things I feel but none of it is different from yesterday. Or last year. It's always the same and I'm so tired of it.

Oh well. It's only Tuesday. One day.

It can always be worse.

Book Review: Advice I Ignored

If you know me at all, or have been a reader for awhile, you know that I have depression. I have a lot of other things, but depression is pretty awful. For the longest time I really thought that this all started after I had Olivia and began as post-partum depression that just never really got better and morphed over time. Being in therapy the last three years has taught me that definitely isn't how it happened but rather, I've had this for a major portion of my life, certainly going back to my teen years. I think if I knew that I had depression way back then, or anyone ever thought to really ask me some questions, maybe the adult portion of my life would have gone in a drastically different direction.

We'll certainly never know, but if you are a parent of a teenage (or tween) child(ren), this would be maybe a helpful read for not just your teen but you as well.

Advice I Ignored - Ruby Walker

When Ruby Walker was fifteen, she went from a numb, silent, miserable high school dropout to a joyous loudmouth in one year flat. Advice I Ignored answers the question everyone's been asking her since: What happened? In ten illustrated chapters, you'll learn how to:

get out from under self-hatred

gain a sense of free will

deal with failure without falling apart

create your way through an existential crisis

use exercise to beg your brain for endorphins

have an identity beyond "sad"

and more!

Full of embarrassing stories, honest advice, and fierce hope, Advice I Ignored is a self-help book for people who hate help. And themselves.

While this is certainly a non-fiction book, it certainly can't be labeled as long and boring, over doing it on the dry reporting of what you really should have done in life. Instead, this is a young woman reflecting on her youth and realizing that while not all of the uninvited advice over the years was valuable, some of it turned out to be pretty useful once she decided to apply it.

I won't tell you that reading this is going to suddenly be the light bulb that lights the dark room you're living in. It's like that meme that is like, "When someone tells you to cheer up and I say, 'wow, Karen- thanks, I never tried that.'", while parts of this book were solid things to stop and think about, there are other parts that felt like that annoying yoga instructor telling you if you just sat in the sun longer and appreciated birds you'd feel better.

I really liked how she really focuses on self esteem and how it's OK to take up space. It's not OK to put others down, certainly, but that same thing needs to apply to ourselves. Whether we do it as a joke or not, we can't put ourselves down. Her example of whether she would say it to her best friend or not was a pretty easy way to teach this concept to middle school and high school children. If she wouldn't, she absolutely couldn't say it to or about herself. We can tell each other we have to love ourselves all day but nobody really tells you how. Well it starts with not talking about yourself like garbage. Even if you're alone. Even if it is a joke. It isn't even OK to be cruel in the name of honesty.

Throughout the book we learn a lot about the author and some of her struggles, and there is a section about her assault and it struck me then that I really related to a lot of it and have almost an identical story to tell and I know that as an adult, a lot of my intimacy issues stem from that. Not just that, but insecurities of people noticing me. Complimenting me, asking me out, everything always makes me feel like something else is coming and that I couldn't just earn a compliment. A compliment was a borrowed gift, kind of.

Overall? I would give this a solid 3 stars. It was pretty interesting, definitely a fast read. It has illustrations from the author that connect with her stories and information. I think the only downside for me was the lecture on exercise. Even though the author talked about her own health related obstacles, it almost feels like she didn't recognize that some people can't exercise to the level of having endorphins released if they still want to move the next day at all. I appreciate the benefits of exercise and I know in another life time I would have been waving that flag, but I also know if one more person tells me to exercise they will be the reason I go to jail.

I really do think this would be an excellent book to give to a teenager who may be experiencing depression, or just a difficult time in general. I do think it is a pertinent read for parents because the book does detail some behaviors that seem funny or harmless but are really detrimental for a child/teen's mental health and it might be the time to really check in with them.

Thank you to the author and PR By the Book for having me on this tour and providing a copy for review.

   

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