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.

Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru by Tera Lynn Childs

Title: Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru (Creative HeArts #1)

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Release Date: September 14, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

When life gives you a blank canvas, make art.

Sloane Whitaker hates everything about moving to Texas. She hates leaving behind her friends and half her family in New York, starting over senior year at Austin’s NextGen Academy, and having to say she lives in Texas. Most of all, she hates that it’s all her fault. If she wants to earn her way back to the Big Apple, she has to prove she can still be the perfect daughter.

Which means no vandalism art, no trouble at school, and absolutely no Tru Dorsey, her serial screw-up neighbor, who loves nothing more than pushing her buttons.

But from the moment he vaults onto the roof outside her bedroom, there is something about him that makes her want to break every rule. Suddenly it’s not the ten things she hates about Tru that are at the top of her list. It’s the ten reasons she doesn’t want to be without him.

It feels like I’ve discovered a publishing imprint that feels like its as seemingly created just for me. Entangled Crush publishes contemporary YA romance exclusively, and I’ve loved every single one of the books I’ve read from them. And it was no different for Tera Lynn Childs’s Ten Things Sloane Hates about Tru.

Sloane Whitake does not want to be in Austin. She wants to be back in New York City, starting her senior year at her arts high school with her friends. But after The Incident and the fallout that came with it, her parents decided the best thing for Sloane would be to move to Austin and complete her senior year at the NextGen Academy. But Sloane won’t let that get her down. She’s determined to earn her way back to NYC, and that means being the perfect daughter. But that’s easier said than done when Sloane can’t seem to escape Tru Dorsey, her new neighbor and a serial screw-up. Though she knows she shouldn’t have anything to do with Tru, Sloane can’t help but feel drawn to him. And she knows there’s no way that can end well.

In the last six months, I have fallen completely in love with Entangled’s Crush imprint. Honestly, it almost feels like that particular imprint was tailor-made for me. I mean, it’s an imprint that specializes in YA contemporary romance. What is there not to love? Especially, if your name is Emilie and contemporary romance happens to pretty much be your favourite thing ever. So every time I hear about a new book from them, I want to read it. And that was true for Tera Lynn Childs’s Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru. From the moment I read the synopsis, I knew this was going to be a fun story. And it was. It also had a fun mystery aspect going that was fun to read about and added to the dynamics of the story. But what surprised me about this story were some of the subjects it touched on. I didn’t think it was going to go where it did, and I liked that about this story. And since Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru is the first in a series, I’m hoping some aspects get revisited in future books because there is definitely some things that still need to be dealt with. Or at least, that’s how it felt to me.

Sloane and Tru were a lot of fun. I loved the back and forth between them, seeing them go from neighbors to friends and then to something more. I definitely understood Sloane’s struggle when it came to resisting Tru, especially when she started to realize that he might not be the trouble magnet and screw-up that her mom had made him out to be. And I really wanted Sloane to realize that being in Austin might not be as bad as she thought and actually start making a connection with the people there. And Tru was so not who I had thought he was going to be based on the synopsis for the book. I didn’t expect to be completely charmed by him and to spend basically the entirety of the book rooting for him. But that’s totally what happened. And what I mentioned earlier about certain things being tackled in future book? There’s a lot about Tru’s home life that I hope gets addressed because it would make for a really compelling story. And I’m all for seeing more of Tru and Sloane together because they’re really just a little bit adorable (read: a lot adorable).

I really enjoyed Tera Lynn Childs’s Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru. Though I am all about the adorable romance which there was lots of in this story, it also surprised me with its depth. And that combination makes for the best kind of book.