Showing posts with label YOUNG ADULT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YOUNG ADULT. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Throwing My Life Away by Liz Czukas


Title: Throwing My Life Away
Author: Liz Czukas
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 20, 2016
Source: ARC from Author
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / iBooks / Kobo
7 photographs, 2 weeks, an entire life to get back. No problem, right?

After her stepfather accidentally throws away her high school mementos, sentimental Mariska is pretty sure the world is over. That is, until she comes up with a plan. She’s going to recreate her past, with a little help from her friends.

It’s not easy to rally everyone into helping, especially Caine, who couldn’t be less sentimental about anything if he were a park bench. But from a guerrilla kite festival to convincing her ex-boyfriend to recreate her lost prom picture, Mariska is willing to do what it takes.

With a little nudging from Caine, Mariska starts to realize she can’t actually get her past back. And maybe that’s okay. Because while she’s so focused on the past, she’s missing out on the present, where her friends are busy having the summer of their lives. And where funny, quiet Cain might just be the future she never knew she wanted.

As someone who reads a lot I know that there are some books that will stick with me more than others, it's just what happens. But those books that stick with me, they do so for a reason. Sometimes it's because they resonated with me in a particular way, in other cases it's because it was a particularly good story. I don't know exactly what it was about Liz Czukas's Throwing My Life Away, but I know that also two months later, I'm still thinking about it.

Despite having her books on my shelves, I haven't actually read any of Liz Czukas's books. Well, that's not entirely true; I've read the New Adult titles she's written as Ellie Cahill and I absolutely loved them. So when she approached me to see if I would be interested in reading Throwing My Life Away I jumped at the opportunity. And I'm glad I did because I loved reading this story. Right from the start, it made me nostalgic for that time between high school and college where I was ready to move forward and see what the future had to offer while also wanting to hold on to all the memories of the past (granted I'm someone who actually liked high school and have lots of good memories from it). While reading, I could understand Mariska's sadness and anger at losing all her pictures because it felt like she was losing all her memories. But as much as it sucked, if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have had a story to read and that would have sucked just as much. 

As much as I enjoyed reading all about Mariska and her friends recreating her memories (or at least doing their best to recreate something close to her memories), my favourite part of the story was Mariska's relationship with Caine. At first, I honestly didn't think their relationship would be anything beyond friendship and that it would just be some side plot that wouldn't really get explored. And I was immediately disappointed because there was something about the way they interacted with each other that made me want to know and see more. And then Caine started popping up all the time and before long I was rooting for Mariska and Caine. They so clearly made sense together even if it took forever for the both of them to figure it out. And even when they figured it out, I still wasn't quite sure they were going to happen. But they did and it was perfect. 

There's a lot about Liz Czukas's Throwing My Life Away: the nostalgia it brought on, the photo quest, the yearbook battle, the slow build of the romance. It was so many things I love all in one book. To make a long story short, this is a story you definitely don't want to miss.

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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Cover Reveal - Throwing My Life Away by Liz Czukas


Title: Throwing My Life Away
Author: Liz Czukas
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 20, 2016
7 photographs, 2 weeks, an entire life to get back. No problem, right?

After her stepfather accidentally throws away her high school mementos, sentimental Mariska is pretty sure the world is over. That is, until she comes up with a plan. She’s going to recreate her past, with a little help from her friends.

It’s not easy to rally everyone into helping, especially Caine, who couldn’t be less sentimental about anything if he were a park bench. But from a guerrilla kit festival to convincing her ex-boyfriend to recreate her lost prom picture, Mariska is willing to do what it takes.

With a little nudging from Caine, Mariska starts to realize she can’t actually get her past back. And maybe that’s okay. Because while she’s so focused on the past, she’s missing out on the present, where her friends are busy having the summer of their lives. And where funny, quiet Caine might just be the future she never knew she wanted.

Isn't this cover absolutely gorgeous? I've been lucky enough to read Throwing My Life Away already and let me just say that it's a story you don't want to miss--look out for a full review next week!

Here's what Liz had to say about her beautiful new cover:

I am so excited to share this cover with you all! I am seriously in love with it. Sarah from Okay Creations did such an amazing job! I can’t wait for you all to read the book so you can see exactly how perfect each one of the images she chose is. Seriously when I saw it, I was almost spooked by how utterly perfect they were.

It’s completely surreal to be sharing this cover so close to the release! In only 5 days, Throwing My Life Away will be up on all digital platforms and also available in paperback. Such a chance from the usual way, where we have to wait months just drooling over a gorgeous cover image before we get to see it in person. 

And you guys, seriously, the paperback is possibly even more gorgeous. I’ll post pics as soon as I can.

Thank you Sarah, for the bee-you-ti-ful cover! I’m proud to have it among my covers. And a huge huge hank you to all the awesome bloggers who have helped to spread this cover far and wide. The suppose of the book blogging community is one of my absolute favorite parts of being an author.

Now for the giveaway! You could win one of three paperback copies of Throwing My Life Away! If the winner is in the US, I can send a signed copy, but that doesn’t mean you international peeps can’t enter! You’ll get a paperback copy shipped to you, and I’d be happy to drop a signed bookplate in the mail to go with it!

That giveaway she mentioned? Just go here to enter!


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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Blog Tour - More Than Friends by Monica Murphy



Title: More Than Friends (Friends #2)

Author: Monica Murphy
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: November 14, 2016
Source: ARC from Publicist
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Kobo
He’s not perfect, but he’s all I want…

I’m your average girl at your average high school, trying to figure out my place in life. After catching my now ex-boyfriend messing around with my now ex-best friend, I’ve made some big changes. No more band, no more backstabbing friends and no more boring old life. Now I have new friends, a new job and new interests.

But there’s a certain someone who’s interested in me, and i don’t get it. Jordan Tuttle could have anyone he wants. He’s the most popular boy in school. Rich, gorgeous, smart and the star quarterback, he’s perfect. Yet he acts like he wants no one else but…me.

So despite my fears and about, I let him get close. Probably too close. I discover that he’s not so perfect after all, but it doesn’t matter. I’m falling for him, even though he runs so hot and cold. I know someday he’s going to break my heart.

And I’m going to let him.


Though Monica Murphy is known for her romance and New Adult titles, I've been enjoying her recent foray into young adult romance. So far, I've found myself enjoying all the YA she's written and it was no different with her latest, More Than Friends.

I'm not going to lie, the first book in Monica Murphy's Friends series, Just Friends, left me wanting in some ways. But I was still curious about what would be coming next, especially when it came to some of the secondary characters. With More Than Friends I got to know two of those characters better, Amanda and Jordan, and I loved having that chance. I'll admit that at first, I was getting a little frustrated with their back and froth will-they-won't-they because I could clearly see they liked each other and wanted to be together even though they each had their reservations about it. But when they finally decided to take that plunge, I was happy they did because Amanda and Jordan just fit. I don't really know how to say other than they just made sense together even when they didn't. (Could I possibly be making any less sense right now?) 

Much like with the first book, More Than Friends left me curious about many of the secondary characters. Even after two books, I feel like I still have so many questions about Olivia and Ryan and their relationship and I would love to get a second chance to read a book all about them. The other person I still really want to know more about is Em, Olivia's former best friend. Reading Just Friends, I feel like I got a really biased view of her because the story was told from Olivia's perspective. In More Than Friends, I kept getting these little glimpses of her that made me wish I could get more Em, to finally be able to understand everything that is going on with her. So I'll just be over here keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a third book in this series that will be all about Em.

If you like YA and you like Monica Murphy's romance, then I strongly recommend you check out her YA titles. They're different from what she's written before, but at their core they're still great stories with the same kind of romance you've come to expect from this author. And I can't wait to read more.



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Friday, October 28, 2016

Twisted Palace by Erin Watt


Title: Twisted Palace (The Royals #3)
Author: Erin Watt
Publisher: Everafter Romance
Release Date: October 17, 2016
Source: ARC from Publicist
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
These Royals will ruin you…

From mortal enemies to unexpected allies, two teenagers try to protect everything that matters most.

Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome.

Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation. 

No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all.

They might be right.

With everything and everyone conspiring to keep them apart, Ella and Reed must find a way to beat the law, save their families, and unravel all the secrets in their Twisted Palace.

Over the last few months, you’ve probably heard about Erin Watt’s Royal series. You know, those books that feature some seriously twisted characters and their very addicting story. The conclusion, Twisted Palace, was just as good as the first two books and wrapped everything up perfectly.

Erin Watt’s Royals series took me completely by surprise. Sure the two authors behind the pen name are authors whose books I love, but I didn’t think I would get as hooked on these books as I did. I was able to read Paper Princess and Broken Prince back to back (thankfully!) but then the wait for Twisted Palace was painful. Especially after the way that Broken Prince ended. I remember thinking that the October release date couldn’t come soon enough because I just needed to know what happened next. Every time I thought I had a handle on everything that was happening, another curve ball was thrown at me and I was back at square one trying to figure out exactly what was going on with all these people. Basically, this book was just as twisted as the title hints it would be (at this point, with a title like Twisted Palace it would be weird if it WASN’T twisted at all). But at the end, everything was resolved in a way that made sense for the overall story. And, the best part, it left the door open for more books about the Royal clan. In particular Easton and I am VERY happy about that. Because Easton is my favourite and I will fight pretty much anyone for him. But I digress.

Much like I was surprised by how addicted I got to these books, I was surprised by how much I found myself caring about the characters. The Royals, in particular, weren’t necessarily unlikable but they also weren’t particularly easy to like at times. But by the time I reached the end of Twisted Palace I loved those baggage-laden Royals. A lot. I would be more than happy to keep reading books about them for a long, long time. I’m already excited about the possibility of an Easton book. And I wouldn’t mind a book about the twins. Or about Gideon for that matter. And I would obviously love to keep reading more about Reed and Ella. And I want more about Val and Wade because I have a strong feeling that would be both entertaining and interesting to read. Basically, I just want more books set around the Royals and their friends. That’s not so much to ask, is it? I hardly think I’m the only one who wants that…

If you like stories packed with romance, twists and intrigue and haven’t yet read Erin Watt’s Royals series, you seriously need to get on that. And if you choose to read them, I dare you not to become addicted to this story.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Blog Tour - Just Friends by Monica Murphy


Title: Just Friends (Friends #1)
Author: Monica Murphy
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 13, 2016
Source: ARC from Publicist
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
It’s the end of summer. Just before I start senior year with my two best friends in the whole world. Dustin and Emily are everything to me. We’ve been inseparable since middle school, and when we’re together, nothing can go wrong.

But things aren’t always what they seem. Em’s turned into a drunken mess who parties too much. Dustin and I have hooked up a few times—and now he’s ready to take our relationship to the next level. Yet I’m not sure I want things to change. I’m scared if I take it any further with Dustin, our friendship will be ruined forever. Then there’s Ryan. The new guy. He’s hot. He flirts way too much. And Em has totally set her sights on him.

So when my best friend betrays me in the worst possible way, guess who’s there to help me pick up the pieces of my broken heart? Ryan. But he’s so confusing. Annoying. Sweet. Sexy. I want to trust him, yet he makes it so hard. What I really want is for everything to go back to the way it was before. 

Before I found out that best friends make the worst kind of enemies.

Though I've only been reading her books for a year (and I still have a lot of catching up to do), Monica Murphy has quickly become one of my go-to authors. Every time I hear she has a new book coming out, it automatically gets added to my TBR. Though her latest, Just Friends, left me wanting in some ways it was still a story I enjoyed reading.

When I first heard about Just Friends over the summer, I was seriously intrigued. I'm all about friendship stories, especially ones where the friendships don't seem to be all that healthy. So if the description was anything to go by, that's exactly what Just Friends was going to be. And it most definitely was. I can't quite remember the last time I read about a friendship as dysfunctional as the one between Liv, Em and Dustin. In fact, I would actually go so far as to say that Liv and Em's friendship was downright toxic. What I couldn't quite figure out was the why. For so much of the book I wished I could be reading part of the story from Em's perspective as opposed to just Liv's because I wanted to know why she was acting the way she was and doing the things she did. I wanted to believe there was more going on with her than her just being a "mean girl" for the sake of it. So much of Just Friends revolved around what was going on between Em and Liv and I just wish I could have gotten deeper into what that was...fingers crossed that gets explored in the sequel. Em and Liv's friendship aside, I loved seeing all the different relationship dynamics at play in the book, even if sometimes some of those relationships (or the motivations behind them) had me scratching my head a little. I'll be curious to see how everything plays out in the sequel because when Just Friends ended everything was pretty much all up in the air and I was left with a lot more questions than I got answers.

Though it didn't quite meet all my expectations, I still really enjoyed reading Monica Murphy's Just Friends and I look forward to reading the sequel. Mostly I just want answers to all the questions 


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Monday, September 5, 2016

Mini Reviews - Paper Princess & Broken Prince by Erin Watt


Title: Paper Princess (The Royals #3)
Author: Erin Watt
Publisher: Everafter Romance
Release Date: April 4, 2016
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo
From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep school, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her slightly mother, struggling to make ends meet an believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.

I can't quite remember the last time I read a book that was as addicting as Erin Watt's Paper Princess. There was just something about this book that kept me turning pages almost faster than I could read them. Which worked out nicely for me because it made the flight I was on go by way faster since I was so caught up in the book. And that's because there was just so much going on in this story. What at first glance felt like it could be a new take on Cinderella (I mean, the main character's name is Ella) ended up being something else completely. And, to be honest, I don't know quite how to put that something else into words other than to say that it was completely addicting. And kind of twisted. Because the Royal family? They give the word "dysfunctional" a whole new meaning. With every new piece of information Ella uncovered about her new family she was able to realize just how screwed up the whole family was. But at the same time, the more dysfunctional I realized they were, the more I found myself caring about them. And I don't quite know what that says about me. 

But slowly but surely, the more I read, the more I found myself caring about not just Ella but also about Reed, Easton and the twins. Which considering how I felt about them at the start of the book, was a complete and total surprise. Reed was the biggest surprise of all. I fully expected to completely hate him, but by the time I reached the end of the book I kinda maybe didn't hate him? And Easton? I would read entire books about Easton because if anyone in Paper Princess stole my heart, surprisingly it was him. But that's besides the point. The point is that Paper Princess was a seriously addicting read. Fair warning though, if you choose to read Paper Princess make sure you have Broken Prince on hand because you're going to desperately want to read it when you finish the first one. Trust me.




Title: Broken Prince (The Royals #2)
Author: Erin Watt
Publisher: Everafter Romance
Release Date: July 25, 2016
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo
These Royals will ruin you…

From wharf fights and school brawls to crumbling lives inside glittery mansions, one guy tries to save himself.

Reed Royal has it all—looks, status, money. The girls at his elite prep school line up to date him, the guys want to be him, but Reed never gave a damn about anyone but his family until Ella Harper walked into his life.

What started off as burning resentment and the need to make his father’s new ward suffer turned into something else entirely—keep Ella close. Keep Ella safe. But when one foolish mistake drives her out of Reed’s arms and brings chaos to the Royal household, Reed’s entire world begins to fall apart around him.

Ella doesn’t want him anymore. She says they’ll only destroy each other.

She might be right.

Secrets. Betrayal. Enemies. It’s like nothing Reed has ever dealt with before, and if he’s going to win back his princess, he’ll need to prove himself Royally worthy.

If I thought that Paper Princess was addicting, it was nothing compared to Broken Prince. The only reason I even put the book down while reading was because I couldn't keep my eyes open and just had to get sleep (stupid jet lag). It was just that addicting. And quite possibly even more twisted than the first book and that is saying something. What I loved about Broken Prince was getting to be in Reed's head. For so much of the first book (the entire first book, really), I couldn't figure him out and truth be told I thought he was pretty much the biggest asshole and didn't get what Ella could possibly see in him. But that changed pretty quickly in Broken Prince. Getting to read part of the story from his perspective allowed me to see that maybe he wasn't the complete ass I thought he was. It doesn't excuse all of his horrible behaviour, but at least now I understand where some of that behaviour was coming from. And it allowed me to see what Ella saw in him. And speaking of Ella, I loved seeing her come into her own in Broken Prince. I feel like I got to see another side of her and it made me love her that much more. As for the other Royals, I'm still waiting for a book all about Easton (desperately so) and I am weirdly fascinated by the twins, Sawyer and Sebastian. Like I want to know how they work but I also don't want to know. And I don't want to say too much about it so as not to spoil things. 

There was just so much going on in this story. The ending of Paper Princess was definitely a huge part of this story and it's still not resolved by the time Broken Prince ends. And more mysteries get thrown in the mix and by the time I finished reading I had so many theories about what was going on that I couldn't keep all of them straight. Oh, and I desperately needed the final book. If you thought Paper Princess ended on a cliffhanger, wait until you get to the end of Broken Prince. Even though it's not that far away, the wait for Twisted Palace is going to feel like it lasts forever.


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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Mini Reviews - Torch & Daring the Bad Boy



Title: Torch (Wildwood #3)

Author: Karen Erickson
Publisher: Avon Impulse
Release Date: August 16, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
Tate Warren has never met a woman he couldn’t charm—until now.

Wren Gallagher won’t give him the time of day and it’s making him crazy.

But he won’t give up without a fight…because there’s one thing he knows for sure:

Enemies make the best lovers.

Most women swoon over Tate’s devilish grin and firefighter uniform. But Wren couldn’t be less impressed by his good looks and flirtatious banter—in fact, she seems to downright despise him. She thinks he’s a player, but his attraction to her is no game. Wren is unlike anyone he’s ever known and he isn’t about to let the feisty, gorgeous woman slip through his fingers.

Wooing Wren would be so much easier if she didn’t hate him…

Or does she?

I've really enjoyed reading Karen Erickson's Wildwood series over the last few months and I was definitely excited to read about Wren and Tate in Torch. Both were characters I'd been dying to find out more about while reading the previous books and I was happy to finally get my fill of them. Though if I'm being completely honest, I wouldn't have minded all that much of Torch had been twice as long if only so I could have spent more time with Tate and Wren. I just loved the dynamic between the two of them - the way they seemed to know just how to push the other's buttons and took pleasure in doing so. But at the same time, I just knew that the reason they got under each other's skin so much was because they were clearly meant to be together. And though I liked them before, I loved them when they finally gave in to what was there. Tate was exactly what Wren needed with everything going on, and Wren was great at calling Tate out on his crap which just worked out perfectly for them. All in all, Torch was a great story, one that I really enjoyed reading. My only hope is that there are more Wildwood books to come because I NEED to know who is behind all of those fires. That, and I wouldn't mind getting to see more of all these couples I've gotten to know in the series so far. And maybe more about Holden, the youngest of the Gallagher sibling since I feel like I've only just gotten glimpses of him so far. Okay, so I guess I have more than one hope where this series is concerned, but that's just because the stories are so great. 



Title: Daring the Bad Boy
Author: Monica Murphy
Publisher: Entangled CRUSH
Release Date: August 22, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
Truth or Dare was never this much fun…

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself—gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she’s already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Jacob Fazio is at Camp Pine Ridge after one too many screw-ups. Junior counseling seems like punishment enough, but the rigid no-fraternizing-with-campers rules harsh his chill. When a night of Truth or Dare gets him roped into teaching Annie how to swim, she begs him to also teach her how to snag Kyle.

Late-night swim-sessions turn into late-night kissing sessions…but there’s more on the line than just their hearts. If they get caught, Jake’s headed straight to juvie, but Annie’s more than ready to dare him to reveal the truth.

Until Daring the Bad Boy all the Monica Murphy books I had read were either new adult or straight up contemporary romance. But her latest is YA and has me wishing that she would write all the contemporary YA books. Because Daring the Bad Boy? It was absolutely awesome. For real, I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much while reading a book. Because that’s totally what happened here. Sure, Daring the Bad Boy dealt with some more serious topics, but at its core it was a sweet summer-time romance set at a summer camp. And what’s not to love about that? Besides the setting and premise (which I am a total sucker for), Daring the Bad Boy also featured characters that charmed me right from the beginning of the story. Annie had this endearing quality about her and I couldn’t help but admire her for wanting to be brave and conquer her fears no matter how much those fears terrified her. Any time she did something brave, I wanted to cheer for her, much like Jake did. And Jake wasn’t the bad boy everyone, including himself, made him out to be. I loved seeing him gradually come to realize that he didn’t have to act the way he was acting and he could just be himself (well, after some not-so-easy conversations with some of the people in his life). Through it all, seeing Annie and Jake come together over the course of the story is what made me love Daring the Bad Boy as much as I did. Because sometimes, all you really want is for the summer romance to work out in the end. 


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Friday, June 10, 2016

With Malice by Eileen Cook


Title: With Malice
Author: Eileen Cook
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo
It was the perfect trip…until it wasn’t.

Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last six weeks should be. She discovers she was involved in a fatal car accident while on a school trip in Italy. A trip she doesn’t even remember taking. She was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…wasn’t an accident.

As the accident makes national headlines, Jill finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. It doesn’t help that the media is portraying her as a sociopath who killed her bubbly best friend, Simone, in a jealous rage. With the evidence mounting against her, there’s only one thing Jill knows for sure: She would never hurt Simone. But what really happened? Questioning who she can trust and what she’s capable of, Jill desperately tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life.

If you know me, then you know that my reading tastes tend more towards the fluffy romance books, but every so often, I love reading something a little darker and a little different. Eileen Cook's With Malice was exactly that kind of book.

Here's the thing, the whole time I was reading With Malice, I didn't know what to trust and what to believe. The story is set up in a way that you, as the reader, are finding things out at the same time as Jill, the narrator, is finding them out because she's missing six weeks of her memories. Because of that, I just wanted to believe what she was telling me, that no, she couldn't possibly have harmed her best friend no matter what everyone seems to be saying. And I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't typically want the main character of the story I'm reading to turn out to be the villain at the end of it all. Mixed in with Jill's narration, are bits and pieces of news stories and online posts about the car accident, as well as police interviews of witnesses and suspects. Those odd bits and pieces from Jill's lost time are what made me question everything. Every time I thought something had been established, a police interview or blog post would pop up and then I would start wondering if maybe all those people were right, and Jill did have a car accident on purpose despite what she was now saying in the present. It kind of drove me nuts, because I'm one of those people who needs to know exactly what happened, but it also made it so I just kept reading because I had to know if my (educated) guesses were right or not.

Because of the memory loss, Jill is pretty much the definition of an unreliable narrator. I mean, she wakes up in the hospital and doesn't have a single memory of the previous six weeks. And those six weeks have been pretty freaking eventful. Because of that, I always took everything she said about herself and her relationships with others with a grain of salt. But at the same time, as I've already mentioned, I wanted to believe her. Much like her, I didn't want to believe that she could be capable of getting in a car and driving that car into a stone wall on purpose, all while her best friend is sitting in the passenger seat. That's sort of my long-winded way of saying that it was really interesting to see Jill struggle with this over the course of the story and wonder whether she would ever get her memories back and find out once and for all what exactly happened in that small Italian village on that day. And that twist at the end where Jill is concerned? I felt like I saw it coming but at the same time I didn't but I won't say more about that.

Eileen Cook's With Malice was a darker story that kept me guessing the whole way through. Even once I was finished I still didn't quite know if what Jill was telling me was what actually happened. But that's what made this story for me, the fact that I was never going to know for sure exactly what went down in Italy.

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Monday, May 30, 2016

Blog Tour - All the Feels by Danika Stone + Giveaway!


Title: All the Feels
Author: Danika Stone
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life…and her last tangible connection to her deceased father. Thus, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can’t. Deal.

Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv decides to launch an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a call that ignites the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life, and her disapproving mother’s new boyfriend. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to get away from it all…and figure out what (and who!) she really wants.

I knew from the moment I first heard about it that I wanted to read Danika Stone’s All the Feels. It’s a story all about fandoms and how important they can be in your life. Throw in a touch of romance and this was just my kind of story!

Thanks to Danika Stone’s All the Feels I now want to read all the books that involve fandom in some way. Seriously, I loved all the nods to being in a fandom that were throughout the story. So many times while I was reading I would find myself nodding at some of the things Liv said or did because I’ve totally been there before when it comes to some fandom things. Just not quite to the same extreme as Liv. But still. It was a lot of fun reading a story that I could more than relate to I mean, who has’t cried over the death of a favourite movie/tv/book character and wished they could somehow bring it back? Let’s be honest, we’ve totally all been there. And that’s what made All the Feels so great. It was like I was reading a story that could have been about me if I’d been more active in fandoms as a teenager. Oh also, All the Feels has convinced me that I need to go to a big comic con-type event at least once in my life. It’s something I feel like I need to experience.

Liv will be really relatable for anyone who has ever been part of any fandom. So really all of us book people. Whenever she was describing her online friends, or trying to explain how they were more real to her than people in her real life. I’ve totally been there. Hell, some of my best friends are people I wouldn’t have met if not for having been involved in different online communities. Beyond the fandom stuff, Liv was someone who was really easy to like and easy to root for. Or at least I thought so. And then there was Xander. At first, I was a little taken aback when I was told that Xander was always dressed in steampunk garb. But the more I read, the more charming that made him. I think it would have been almost impossible for me not to be charmed by Xander. So I was surprised it took so long for the romance between Liv and Xander to be played up. I mean, I could see it right from the beginning. Heck, you would have to be blind not to see it. But it took a while for the romance to take off and I wish there could have been more of it throughout the story. 

Danika Stone’s All the Feels is the perfect book for anyone who’s ever been involved in a fandom. You’ll find yourself nodding along to so much of the story because you’ve been there. And if you haven’t, you’ll laugh because it’s something you could see yourself doing it. Or at least, that’s how it was for me.


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Friday, May 6, 2016

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson


Title: The Unexpected Everything
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo
Andie had it all planned out.

When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks)

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.

Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.

And where’s the fun in that?

There only thing I love more than finding out about a new Morgan Matson book is getting to read a new Morgan Matson book. It feels like I had been waiting to read The Unexpected Everything for forever. And now that I’ve read it, I can say it was everything I expected and so much more.

Andie had a plan for her summer. One that involved spending her summer at John Hopkins in one of the best programs for future premed students to build up her resumé. But that was before a scandal rocked her father’s political career and changed everything. Now, Andie can look forward to a spending her summer at home with the father she hasn’t had a relationship with in five years. But maybe not having any plans is just what Andie needs. If her summer had gone according to plan, Andie wouldn’t have ever realized everything she was missing by sticking to the plan. Because sometimes, the best parts of life are the ones you never planned on.

Morgan Matson is one of my all-time favourite authors, there is no doubt about it. There is nothing I love more than picking up one of her books and immersing myself in the world she created for a few hours. And when I’m done, I can’t help but be sad that I won’t get to that again for quite some time. Sure, I can reread books, but it’s never the same as reading them for the first time. When I picked up Morgan Matson’s latest release, The Unexpected Everything, I wanted to take my time, to really savour the story and the time I would spend in this story with these characters. And I loved every single page of it. Morgan Matson is a master at writing contemporary stories that just suck the reader in. I got so wrapped up in this story, in all the relationships and the way they were connected and woven together. And all those complex relationship is what made this story so fantastic. I loved seeing all those relationships. The friendship between Andie and her three best friends Bri, Toby and Palmer made me wish for a group of friends who have known me for my whole life. Andie’s relationship with her father, seeing them reconnect after years of just sharing the same space, made me miss my own father even though I talk to him on a weekly basis. And Annie’s relationship with Clark just made me so stupidly happy. The reason I completely bought into all of these relationships? The characters all felt so incredibly real.

There was never a time while I was reading that all the characters in The Unexpected Everything didn’t really like real people. In fact there were plenty of times while I was reading that I desperately wanted to be a part of the group of friends I was reading out. I wanted to be friends with Andie, Tobi, Bri and Palmer, and by extension Tom, Clark and Wyatt. I wanted to participate in Palmer’s crazy scavenger hunt, I wanted to have Bri sneak me in to not-so-great movies, I wanted  Toby to guide me through the museum, and I wanted to walk dogs with Andie. I loved all four of these girls, but most of all I loved Andie. I loved seeing Andie’s personal growth over the course of the story, seeing her go from following a plan she felt she had to follow to someone who was doing things for herself. It wasn’t always easy for her to let go of her plans and there were definitely some bumps along the way. And as much as I loved who Andie was at the start of the story, I loved who she was even more by the time I reached the end. Also Clark. Clark is quite possibly my new favourite book boy ever. I can’t even handle how freaking adorable Clark was. If he and Andie weren’t so great together, I would totally want him for myself. 

Morgan Matson’s The Unexpected Everything was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. There wasn’t a single moment of this story that I didn’t love. Also, if I could maybe have a book about each of Andie’s best friends, that would be awesome. 

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Friday, April 22, 2016

Mini Reviews - Creative HeArts Series


Title: How Willa Got Her Groove Back (Creative HeArts #2)
Author: Emily McKay
Publisher: Entangled Crush
Release Date: February 22, 2016
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains an unbelievably hot bad boy, and unbelievably famous actress, and all the drama that comes with adding both to your family. Oh, and a forbidden flirtation with a soon-to-be stepbrother.

When Willa Schofer’s father comes home from a business trip with an über-famous new fiancée, Willa’s senior year blows up in paparazzi-fueled flames. Overnight, she has a new house, a new car, and a new soon-to-be stepbrother—the unbelievably hot, unbelievably arrogant, Finn McCain. Thank god he’s constantly pushing her buttons, or sh might do something irresponsible. Like fall for the jerk.

Just when Willa’s decided to avoid him for, oh, ever, Finn lands in the center of her senior project team. Seriously—how hard is it to shake a guy? At least her work on the project snagged the attention of the (second) hottest guy in school. He might only be into her because of her famous stepmom, and he’s not quite as exciting as a certain annoying housemate, but at least she’s allowed to crush on the guy.

Because crushing on your annoying stepbrother? So not cool.

Though How Willa Got Her Groove Back is the second in a series, it’s also the first in it’s own series within that series. Are you confused yet? I know I was a little confused when I first heard about the Creative HeArts series and the way it was set up. But it all makes sense now and I’m able to enjoy ALL the books in it. Well, the ones that are out. So. Emily McKay’s How Willa Got Her Groove Back. Let me preface this by saying that even though the story in the book has an actual ending, the romance is still up in the air by the last page. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Though it did make me really want the next book featuring Willa and Finn. Even though both of them tended to run hot and cold toward the other, I loved the relationship between them, the dynamics at play, the little things they would do that the other wouldn’t really know they were doing. What I wasn’t such a fan of? Willa’s dad. No jokes, I spent most of the book wanting to slap him. Or at the very least, yell at him to get his head out of his ass and realize that his daughter isn’t happy. Granted some of this was on Willa, too, since she wasn’t exactly doing so great at communicating with her dad. But still. All in all, though, I really enjoyed Emily McKay’s How Willa Got Her Groove Back and I’m really looking forward to reading the next part of Willa and Finn’s story. And hopefully have it work out the way I want it to. 



Title: Crazy, Stupid, Fauxmance (Creative HeArts #3)
Author: Shellee Roberts
Publisher: Entangled Crush
Release Date: April 18, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a kickass heroine, a boy so hot he’ll make you shiver, and a falling-in-love story fit for the big screen. You’ll want to settle in and have the popcorn ready.

After Mariely Hinojosa and Cabot Wheeler both break up with their significant others at the same party, Mariely sees a way to get even with both of their exes. Everyone knows that the best way to get over a breakup is a hookup—a fake hookup, that is. Three weeks, all fun, no strings, and definitely no heartbreak at the end.

But somewhere between the sweet hand-holding and melt-your-mind kisses, their fake relationship starts to feel less like an act and more like the real thing…but Mariely’s a free-spirited girl from the other side of the tracks, and Cabot’s the hot trust-fund guy from the Hills.

They’d never work for real

I pretty much loved Shellee Roberts’s Crazy, Stupid, Fauxmance. It probably didn’t hurt that I read it back to back with How Willa Got Her Groove Back so it kind of felt like I was reading one longer story as opposed to two books set in the same world. And, I mean, I love a good fake relationship that turns into a real one when it’s done well. And it totally worked with Marilee and Cabot. Granted, like their friends, I had my reservations about them doing this whole fake relationship thing to make his ex understand that he was over her and to show everyone that she was totally fine after finding her boyfriend with another guy. Those things alone are a lot of baggage to bring into a relationship, fake or not. And it’s not even scratching the surface of the baggage Marilee and Cabot were each bringing to the table. But that baggage is what made them work together despite their differences. Once I got my initial reservations and saw them interacting together, I pretty much spent the whole book rooting for them. And I can’t wait to read more about them. They were just fun. And as they put it themselves, they were awesome together. The only part that sucks? I have to wait until winter 2017 to read the next part of Mariely and Cabot’s story. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll keep getting glimpses of them in some of the other couples’ books.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Pieces of You and Me by Erin Fletcher


Title: Pieces of You and Me
Author: Erin Fletcher
Publisher: Entangled Crush
Release Date: April 18, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo
Five years.

That’s how long I’ve been gone. Since I left my best friend—the girl I loved—behind.

Five seconds.

That’s how long it takes to realize I am completely, utterly, screwed. Because now that I’m back, my childhood crush has turned into so much more.

Rylee has changed. We both have. And now I’m drawn to her in a completely different way. To her smile. Her touch. To reliving old memories and making new ones. To the happiness she’s always given me that I haven’t felt since I left.

But her friends are hell-bent on keeping up apart. My dad is one drink away from destroying both of our lives, and maybe I am, too. It’s only a matter of time before I have to leave again, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I never get a choice.

The one choice I can make? Stay away from Rylee. Because if I don’t, I’ll break her heart—and mine—all over again.

With the weather finally warming up, it makes me want to read contemporary books even more than I normally do (which, let’s not kid ourselves, they’re pretty much all I want to read anyways). I just love contemporaries so much, I can’t help it. And the latest one I enjoyed? Erin Fletcher’s Pieces of You and Me.

Five years ago, Chase left town and didn’t keep in touch. Rylee was left behind and has spent the past five years wondering why Chase left and didn’t keep in touch. He was her best friend, her soul mate, and she never heard from her. But now he’s back and neither Rylee nor Chase knows what to do about it. Chase knows he should stay away from Rylee because he’ll just end up hurting her again, but he can’t resist her pull. Rylee wants answers about what happened to Chase in the last five years. She wants her best friend back, but she’s afraid of being left behind and getting hurt again. Before being together, Rylee and Chase are going to have to decide if they’re willing to take a chance one each other once again.

Hi, my name is Emilie and I love second chance romances in all their many forms. But I don’t think that’s really news to anybody at this point (if it is: Hi! You must be new here! Heads up, I love second chance romances. A lot). Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you more about Erin Fletcher’s Pieces of You and Me. YA second chance romances are always trickier than regular old second chance romances because there’s obviously less time that’s going to have passed between the first and the second chance. That’s just a byproduct of writing a story about 16- to 18-year-olds. But in Pieces of You and Me, Erin Fletcher made it work. And the ages of the characters made it an interesting kind of second chance. In so many ways, it felt like I was reading a story about Rylee and Chase getting a second chance at friendship. That’s because at their core, Rylee and Chase were best friends and that’s what allowed them to work so well romantically. And it’s what made me like their relationship even more.

I really enjoyed getting to read this story from both Rylee and Chase’s perspectives. It allowed me to better understand the way they were dealing with seeing each other again after five years with no communications. I understood their respective hesitations about starting something with each other, their fear of getting hurt again, and their desire to protect themselves and each other from that hurt. Sure, at times it led to be being a little frustrated with them because I just wanted them to be happy and together and they were not allowing themselves that for silly reasons (granted, it’s easy for me to say that as an outside observer to their relationship). My only wish where Rylee and Chase are concerned is that I could have seen more of them in the past, before Chase left town. The few glimpses of younger Rylee and Chase I got through their own memories made me think that I would have really enjoyed reading about them during their middle school years as well as their high school years. 

Erin Fletcher’s Pieces of You and Me was a fun contemporary story about a second chance at friendship and romance. I always love reading good contemporary stories and this is exactly what this one was. 

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Thursday, April 14, 2016

The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding


Title: The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions)
Author: Amy Spalding
Publisher: Poppy
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Source: ARC from Publisher
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo
A ridiculously cute, formerly-famous new guy dropping into your life? It’s practically every girl’s dream.

But not Jules McCallister-Morgan’s.

I realize that on paper I look like your standard type-A, neurotic, overachiever. And maybe I am. But I didn’t get to be the editor of my school’s long-revered newspaper by just showing up*. I have one main goal for my senior year—early acceptance into my first choice Ivy League college—and I will not be deterred by best friends, moms who think I could stand to “live a little,” or boys.

At least, that was the plan before I knew about Alex Powell**.

And before Alex Powell betrayed me***.

I know what you’re thinking: Calm down, Jules. But you don’t understand. This stuff matters. This is my life. And I’m not going down without a fight.


*Okay, I sort of did. But it’s a sore subject.
**I mean, I guess everyone knows about Alex Powell? Two years ago, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about viral video boy band sensation Chaos 4 All. Two year ago, Alex Powell was famous.
***Some people think I’m overreacting. But this. Means. War.

Filled with romance, rivalry, and passive-aggressive dog walking, Amy Spalding delivers a hilariously relatable high school story that’s sure to have you falling for The New Guy.

Over the last few years, I’ve learned that I can count on Amy Spalding when I’m looking to read a fun contemporary YA romance. And out of all of her books, I think The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) might just be my favourite.

Jules McCallister-Morgan had a plan for her senior year of high school. She was going too be the editor her school paper, keep volunteering at her local dog rescue, and get in early acceptance to Brown University. What wasn’t part of her senior year plan? Alex Powell, the former boy band member who, for reasons unknown to Jules, seems to like her. Also not part of her senior year plan? TALON, the new school news broadcast. But Jules is determined to get her senior year back on track and save the school newspaper from extinction. But that’s easier said than done with all those other distractions around. Especially Alex. 

I’m not going to lie, I was surprised by The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions). I mean, I’ve read Amy Spalding’s books before so I kind of knew what to expect, and I’d seen the reviews for this one and I was still surprised. What surprised me? How addicting The New Guy ended up being for me while I was reading. I pretty much read this book in one sitting. I just kept turning the pages, curious to see what would happen next, what the newspaper staff would do to retaliate against whatever prank the news show last pulled. I wanted to see what would happen to Jules and Alex. And there was a former boy-band member involved in all of this. Honestly, it was almost impossible for me not to enjoy this story so I really shouldn’t have been as surprised by the New Guy as I was. In The New Guy, Amy Spalding wrote a fun story that had me smiling and laughing as I was turning the pages, I couldn’t help myself. The New Guy just made me happy, plain and simple. 

I’m pretty sure one of the reasons I enjoyed The New Guy as much as I did was Jules. She was such a fantastic character and I loved reading this story from her perspective. I totally understood her slightly neurotic, type-A personality because I have those same tendencies. And reactions to her own thoughts about Alex? I was laughing every time. I just loved Jules, her determination to keep the newspaper alive, her misguided attempts to help Alex (even though they tended to backfire). And Alex, the new guy himself, he was pretty dreamy. I mean, he had the whole former boy band member thing going for him for sure. But there was also so much more to him than that. He was just a boy looking to have a normal high school experience after the craziness that had been the whole boy band thing. I loved seeing thing develop between Jules and Alex, the back and forth between them as they figured out how to be a couple in the middle of everything else that was happening in their lives. Beyond Alex and Jules, The New Guy also had a fantastic cast of secondary characters who all brought something to the story.

If you’re looking for a cute and fun YA contemporary romance, then Amy Spalding’ The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) is the book for you. It will keep you flipping pages while you laugh and shake your head at all of the characters antics.

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