Mini Reviews - Just a Girl & Good Girl

Title: Just a Girl

Author: Ellie Cahill

Publisher: Loveswept

Release Date: June 7, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

In this pitch-perfect novel from the author of When Joss Met Matt (“One of those books that make you forget everything around you.” —Sophie Jordan), a rock’n’roll diva must choose between her career and her heart.

After getting kicked out of her own band—by her own boyfriend—Presley Mason finds herself back in Wisconsin, helping her parents run their renowned music store. Instead of belting out powerhouse vocals to sold-out crowds in L.A., she’s stocking shelves an inspecting rental violins. But the shop isn’t all bad: When she’s vacuuming up late one night, she bumps into the guitar teacher with the smoldering amber eyes and the killer tattoo. And that’s when things take an interesting turn.

Presley soon finds that Paul Kellerman is as good in bed as he is on guitar. So why isn’t he stoked to share his band, Jukebox Bleu, with her? Turns out Paul has crippling stage fright, which he’s been self-medicating without much success. But when Jukebox Bleu’s lead singer gets called for military service, the other members beg Presley to front them. Even though she swore never to mix men with music again, the temptation to perform is almost as intense as her chemistry with Paul. Now Presley must decide what’s more important: a second chance at love…or rock stardom.

Though she’s only been publishing books for just over a year, Ellie Cahill has quickly become one of my go-to authors when I’m looking for some fun, light-hearted romance and she hasn’t disappointed me yet. Just a Girl was exactly the fun story I was in the mood for when I picked it up. But what I loved about Just a Girl was that it wasn’t just fun, light-hearted fluff. Sure, there was plenty of fluff, but the story also deals with anxiety in a big way. But even though anxiety plays a big role in the story, it also doesn’t overwhelm it. It balances out all the fun music stuff nicely. And it made for an interesting dynamic between Presley and Paul who otherwise would have been very similar. And I loved Presley and Paul. They were both so passionate about their music and cared so much about it and each other. And for me, they just made sense.They worked together and I loved seeing them work through everything together. But the romance is always my favourite part of an Ellie Cahill book, so that’s not really much of a surprise. I have to also say that I loved the family relationships as well in Just a Girl, whether it was Paul with his sister, or Presley with her unconventional parents. I just loved everything about this book and I can’t wait to read whatever comes next from Ellie Cahill.

 

Title: Good Girl

Author: Lauren Layne

Publisher: Loveswept

Release Date: May 17, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Lauren Layne brings all the unpredictable heat of her USA Today bestseller Blurred Lines to an all-new cast of characters! Country music’s favorite good girl is hiding away from the world—only to find herself bunking with a guy who makes her want to be a little bad.

Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.

Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has oder her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.

Late last year I randomly decided to pick up Lauren Layne’s Blurred Lines without having heard all that much about it, only to find myself completely surprised by how much I loved the story. So when I saw Good Girl on NetGalley, you can bet that I jumped on that. I knew that if it was anything like Blurred Lines, I would totally love it. And on top of that, it involves a country music and that’s just something I can’t say no to. And Good Girl didn’t disappoint me. I loved reading every page of it, even if there were plenty of times when I just wanted to talk some sense into the characters because they were being completely stupid. But if they had gotten everything right on the first try, it wouldn’t have been as fun story to read. Which brings me to Jenny and Noah. I loved that there was more to Jenny than met the eye. I’m not going to lie, at first I didn’t expect all that much from her, but the more I read, the more I found myself loving her. Lying about his identity aside (which was a really stupid thing to do), Noah was pretty great, too (and by pretty great, I mean that I pretty much loved him). Jenny and Noah were an unlikely pairing and I think, for me, that’s what made them that much more fun to read about. And the fact that they didn’t exactly like each other at first led to some pretty amusing moments. Good Girl was exactly the fun romance story I had hoped it would be.

Call Me Maybe by Ellie Cahill

Title: Call Me Maybe

Author: Ellie Cahill

Publisher: Loveswept

Release Date: February 9, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Clementine Daly knows he’s the black sheep. Her wealthy, powerful family has watcher her very closely since she almost got caught in an embarrassing scandal a few years ago. So when Clementine’s sent on a mission to live up to the Daly name, politely declining isn’t even an option. Of course, the last thing Clementine does before departure is grab a stranger’s phone by mistake—leaving the hunky journalist with her phone. Soon his sexy voice is on the line, but he doesn’t know her real name, or her famous pedigree—which is just the way Clementine likes it.

Despite all the hassles, Justin Mueller is intrigued to realize that the beautiful brown-eyed girl he met at the airport is suddenly at his fingertips. They agree to exchange phones when they’re both back in town, but after a week of flirty texts and wonderfully intimate conversations, Justin doesn’t wan tot let her go that easy. The only problem? It turns out Clementine has been lying to him about, well, everything. Except for the one thing two people can’t fake, the only thing that matters: The heat between them is real.

It might only be February, but I think I already have a contender for one of the cutest books I’ll read in 2016. And that’s saying something coming from someone who reads basically any book that is described as cute or adorable. But I can’t help it, Ellie Cahill’s Call Me Maybe was just a fun and adorable read that I loved.

After what almost happened a few years ago, Clementine Daly knows to keep a close eye on her phone. The last thing she wants is a repeat of that, especially when she’s supposed to finally be figuring out what to do with her life to live up to the Daly name. So when she realizes that she grabbed the wrong phone in her rush to get on her plane, Clementine panics. She can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if the wrong person ended up with her phone. When she finds out that the hot guy from the airport is who has her phone, Clementine starts to think that things might not be so bad. Especially when they start texting back and forth. Justin Mueller thought that ending up with  stranger’s phone would just be a major inconvenience. But as he gets to know the girl with his phone, Justin realizes that even once he gets his phone back, he wants to keep talking and getting to know Clementine. If she’ll let him. But Clementine hasn’t been entirely truthful about who she is. But if she wants to be with Justin, she’s going to have to prove to him that she hasn’t been lying to him about everything.

Ellie Cahill’s When Joss Met Matt was one of my favourite NA reads of 2015 (or 2014? I can’t exactly remember when I read it…#booknerdproblems) and so I’ve been looking forward to reading her next book ever since. When I read the synopsis for Call Me Maybe, my excitement for the book grew exponentially...and it ensured that I ended up with Carly Rae Jepsen’s song stuck in my head for a few days. It just sounded like an adorable story that would totally be my kind of book. And trust me when I say that it was both of those things. In Call Me Maybe, Ellie Cahill writes a story that  is all kinds of adorable. I mean, how could it not be? Two people accidentally trade phones without realizing it and then start getting to know each other as they plan how to return the phones to their rightful owners. I’m not going to lie, most of the time I spent reading this book, I had a stupid smile on my face. I just couldn’t help it. I was powerless against the adorableness of the story. Call Me Maybe was just a fun story to read, that’s all there is to it. (Actually, there was more to it than fun, but I’m trying to keep things short and sweet here okay?) And a lot of that fun and adorableness had to do with Clementine and Justin. And Justin’s early texts to Clementine because those were just the cutest thing.

One of the ways I immediately connected with this story was through Clementine. Though I might not come from a family that is practically considered American royalty, that whole what do I do with my life now that I’m done with college part of her? Yeah, totally been there, done that (and still doing it, for that matter). And the romance book loving. That I definitely understood. Needless to say, I liked Clementine. A lot. But Justin? Justin is the reason I now hope I accidentally switch phones with someone at the airport. Because Justin made that whole experience seem like a lot of fun. And like a fantastic way to fall in love. I mean, if I had been on the receiving end of those texts, I would have had pretty much the same reaction as Clementine (as in fall for him before even meeting him in person). But for real, Justin was great and I loved him. I loved how easygoing he was and how he challenged Clementine in the best ways. And they were just adorable together, okay? That’s really all you need to know.

Ellie Cahill’s Call Me Maybe was totally the adorable book I had hoped it would be. I couldn’t stop smiling while reading and it made my heart happy. The only downside? I’ve had Carly Rae Jepsen’s song of the same name stuck in my head ever since I finished reading.