Mixology Series consist of 2 books in
total, targeting to young adult readers above 18 years old. Both stories take
place in modern time in a small town in Outer Banks, North Carolina. Both books
can be read as a stand-alone, although it is advisable to read them according
to their orders for better understanding of the stories, especially for the
second book, since there’s a continuation story for the main characters from
the first book.
1.
Book 1 : Shaken Not Stirred
(Mixology #1)
Copyright © 2014 by Alyssa Rose Ivy
eBook, 23 Chapters, 249
Pages (ebook)
Genre : Contemporary Romance,
Young Adult Novel
Finding
the perfect guy is like mixing the perfect drink. It’s all about the taste and
presentation.
Maddy’s gone off the deep end, at least that’s what her
family thinks when she handles her med school rejections by moving to the Outer
Banks. It doesn’t help that she’s paying her bills by bartending and is sharing
walls with two guys, even if one of them is her childhood best friend.
Her choice of men seems more balanced on the surface –
Colin is driven, sexy, and gainfully employed, but she can’t help spending her
Thursday nights searching for the perfect drink for Lyle, whose music
captivates her with its haunting lyrics. Maddy believes everyone has a perfect
drink – and finding Lyle’s isn’t a challenge she’s willing to lose.
Maddison, but mostly known as Maddy, is a 22 year old Chemistry graduate,
who is clueless about
what will she do about her life after she got rejected into Med School. Now in
the crossroad of her life, she currently been living in a small town called
Corolla in Outer Banks with her childhood friend, Macon and her other roommate
Brody, and Bartending at Surfside Bar & Grille for a living.
Shaken Not Stirred is a story about Maddy’s journey in finding
love between Colin, a workaholic real estate guy, and Kyle, a mysterious
musician. It is a sweet simple love story and quite ok for a light reading. The
story tells from Maddy’s perspective only, and truth to be told sometimes I
find Maddy’s character confusing and a little annoying, but to be honest I just
can’t blame and hate her. That’s what people do when they are at a crossroad of
their life. This book is not a spectacularly a great book since nothing much to
resolve towards the ending, but this book also not bad either since I honestly
can’t put it down until the end and a little curious with what will happen to
the characters after that.
Rating for
Shaken Not
Stirred is 6.5/10.
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Maddison, atau biasa dipanggil dengan Maddy,
adalah seorang gadis berusia 22 tahun lulusan S1 Kimia, yang sedang kebingungan
dengan pilihan jalan hidup dan karier nya setelah gagal diterima masuk ke
sekolah kedokteran. Saat ini Maddy memutuskan pindah dan tinggal di sebuah kota
kecil bernama Corolla di daerah Outer Banks, berbagi apartemen bersama dengan
sahabat sejak kecilnya, Macon, dan satu temannya lagi, Brody, dan bekerja
sebagai seorang Bartender di Surfside Bar & Grille untuk membayar biaya
hidupnya, sementara Maddy mencoba memutuskan pilihan jalan hidup dan kariernya setelah
kegagalannya masuk ke sekolah kedokteran.
Shaken
Not Stirred menceritakan kisah mengenai perjalanan cinta Maddy dalam
usahanya menemukan cinta dan memilih pasangan yang tepat diantara Colin, seorang
workaholic di bidang real estate, dan Kyle, seorang musisi misterius yang
pilihan minumannya tidak dapat ditebak oleh Maddy. Kisah dalam buku ini
merupakan kisah cinta yang manis dan simple, dan cukup dapat menghibur sebagai
bacaan ringan. Kisah dalam Shaken Not Stirred diceritakan melalui sudut
pandang Maddy, yang jujur saja kadang aku mendapati karakter Maddy sedikit
membingungkan dan sedikit (hanya sedikit) menyebalkan, walaupun aku terus
terang tidak dapat menyalahkan dan membenci karakter Maddy ini, karena memang
kisah dalam buku ini mengenai perjalanan menemukan jati diri dan pilihan
hidupnya. Dan persimpangan dalam proses memilih pilihan hidup itu yang tepatnya
yang dihadapi oleh Maddy di sini. Buku ini pada dasarnya tidak termasuk buku
yang secara spektakular sangat bagus karena pada akhirnya tidak banyak yang
terselesaikan di akhir cerita (mungkin karena masih ada lanjutan buku
berikutnya), namun cukup bagus karena aku tidak dapat berhenti membacanya dari
awal sampai akhir cerita dan terus terang cukup penasaran mengenai apa yang
akan terjadi pada para karakternya setelah akhir cerita dari buku ini.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rating untuk Shaken Not Stirred adalah 6.5/10.
Characters
in Shaken
Not Stirred are as follows :
Madison
“Maddy” : a 22 years old
girl living in Corolla, a small town in North Carolina, and working as a
bartender at Surfside Bar & Grille.
Colin
Morris : Maddy’s boyfriend,
works in Real Estate, 26 years old.
Macon : Maddy’s roommate and childhood friend.
Brody : Maddy’s and Macon’s roommate.
Mary : one of the waitress at Surfside Bar &
Grille.
Max : the owner of Surfside Bar & Grille,
Maddy’s and Brody’s boss.
Lyle
Waverly : one of the
musician performing weekly at Surfside Bar & Grille.
Carly
Morris : Colin’s little
sister.
Miranda
Morris : Colin’s mother.
George
Morris : Colin’s father.
Kim
Morris : Colin’s and Carly
older sister.
Gabriel
Fitzgerald : Colin’s Boss.
Suzanne : Gabriel’s wife.
2.
Book 2 : On The Rocks
(Mixology #2)
Copyright © 2014 by Alyssa Rose Ivy
30 Chapters, 277 Pages (ebook)
Genre : Contemporary Romance,
Young Adult Novel
Love
is best served on the rocks.
My
roommates look really good naked. At least one of them does. I’m sure the other
one does too, but I haven’t seen him without his pants on. Living with two guys
wasn’t something I’d ever considered, but the opportunity fell in my lap, and
I’d have been crazy to turn it down.
College
went by in a great big blur leaving
me with less of a direction than I had going in. Add in a family that wanted
nothing to do with me, and my post-college plans were less than clear. What’s a
girl to do when she has nowhere else to turn? She moves to the Outer Banks and
learns to bartend. After all, it was my horrible bartending skills that led
me to my roommate’s bed and into his heart.
On The Rocks follows a few months after the ending of Shaken Not
Stirred. In this second book in the series, the story more focusing
to the love story between Carly (Colin’s little sister) and Macon (reform
playboy, Maddy’s childhood best friend), while there’s also still some story
about Maddy and Colin told from both Carly’s and Macon’s perspective. To be
honest I don’t have high hopes for this second book in the series, but
surprisingly it is better than the first one. The dual perspective from both
Carly and Macon really helps in understanding the story better. I love Macon
and Carly since the first book, and delighted with how their story goes.
Rating for
On The Rocks
is 7.5/10.
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On
The Rocks
dimulai beberapa bulan setelah akhir cerita dalam Shaken Not Stirred. Dalam buku
keduanya ini, kisah cintanya lebih berfokus antara kisah cinta yang terjalin
antara Carly (adik Colin) dan Macon (playboy yang sudah bertobat, sahabat Maddy
sejak kecil), walaupun ada juga lanjutan kisah Maddy dan Colin yang diceritakan
melalui sudut pandang Carly dan Macon. Sejujurnya aku tidak menaruh harapan
besar untuk buku kedua dalam serial ini, tapi secara mengejutkan buku keduanya
ini lebih bagus daripada buku pertamanya. Dua sudut pandang baik dari Carly dan
Macon juga cukup membantu dalam menjelaskan jalan ceritanya dengan lebih baik.
Aku sangat menyukai baik Macon dan Carly sejak di buku pertamanya, dan cukup
puas dengan bagaimana cerita mereka berjalan.
Rating untuk On The Rocks adalah 7.5/10.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Characters
in On The
Rocks are as follows :
Carly
Morris : 22 years old, Colin’s
little sister, just graduate from college.
Colin
Morris : Carly’s older brother,
works in Real Estate.
Maddy : Colin’s girlfriend, working as a bartender
at Surfside Bar & Grille.
Macon : Maddy’s childhood best friend and former
roommate, works as a diving instructor.
Brody: Macon’s roommate, a chef at Surfside Bar
& Grille.
Mary : one of the waitress at Surfside Bar &
Grille.
Max
Bankwell : the owner of
Surfside Bar & Grille, Maddy’s and Brody’s boss.
Miranda
Morris : Carly’s and
Colin’s mother.
George
Morris : Carly’s and
Colin’s father.
Kim
Morris : Colin’s and Carly
older sister.
Caleb
Anders : the son’s owner of
the diving shop where Macon is working.
Jasper : Kim’s husband, Carly’s and Colin’s
brother-in-law.