Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone

Title: Some Kind of Normal

Author: Juliana Stone

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

What is Normal?

For Trevor normal was fast guitar licks, catching game-winning passes and partying all night. Until a car accident leaves Trevor with no band, no teammates and no chance of graduating. It’s kinda hard to ace your finals when you’ve been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor—those beautiful blue eyes catching every last flaw. 

For Everly normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor’s daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed. 

This achingly beautiful story about two damaged teens struggling through pain and loss to redefine who they are—to their family, to themselves, and to each other—is sure to melt your heart.

I’m always on the lookout for contemporary books that go a little deeper than just a fun and adorable romance. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fun and I love the adorable, but sometimes I want something a little more. And that’s how I found myself reading Juliana Stone’s Some Kind of Normal.

Trevor Lewis used to have a normal that consisted of playing guitar with his band, playing football and being thief of the party. But then a car accident puts him in a coma and takes away that normal. Hoping to get his life back on track and graduate high school, Trevor ends up being tutored by Everly Jenkins. The last thing Every wants to be doing is tutoring Trevor Lewis. She already has enough to deal with trying to keep up appearances that her family is the perfect family. But pretending all the time is exhausting. And around Trevor, Everly discovers she doesn’t have to pretend. She can just be who she wants to be. Together, Trevor and Everly are discovering that just because they lost one normal, it doesn’t mean they can’t ever find a new normal.

Some Kind of Normal was the first time I read anything by Juliana Stone and I have to say I will be going back and reading more. Some Kind of Normal surprised me. I mean, I had read the synopsis so I kinda sorta knew what to expect, but at the same time you can never really tell much from just a synopsis. I expected this to be a story that would go deeper than just your typical contemporary romance, I just didn’t expect it to go as deep as it did. And I liked that it dug deeper, that Juliana Stone decided to tackle a number of issues with this story. And I loved that though those issues were all different, they all tied back to that idea of “normal” and what “normal” means whether you’re a teenager graduating high school and making your way into the world, or an adult trying to figure out who you are again. It’s a topic that can resonate with everyone because everyone, at some point in their lives, will have wondered whether they are normal or what normal even means. I know I’ve been there many times already in my life and I’m only 24. Hell, I wonder about “normal” every other day. It’s just what we do. We look at ourselves and at others and try to see what normal looks like. In that sense, Some Kind of Normal really resonated with me and allowed me to really relate to what the characters were going through.

I could definitely understand Trevor’s struggle with figuring out what normal was. I mean, the guy was in a coma following a car accident and had to find his way back to himself after a brain injury. Anyone would struggle with that. But I really felt for Trevor when I was reading his story. I could see how much he hated not being able to do what he used to be able to before the accident, how much he hated the way people were treating him differently because of the brain injury, and most of all how much he hated the fact that he was hating all of that. It was hard to read at times because I just wanted everything to work out for him, for him to just stop feeling like he would never be able to get his life back. And then there was Everly who struggled for different reasons. Her family was so focused on proving to everyone that they were a perfectly normal family that they stopped taking into consideration whether or not they were happy with their normal. And Everly struggled with it most of all. Her problems were definitely different from Trevor’s, but they worked together. They were able to help each other find their way back to some kind of normalcy. And it was really touching to see them together.

I really enjoyed reading Juliana Stone’s Some Kind of Normal. It wasn’t the story I was expecting and I loved how much it made me think about my own life and all the worries I have about “normal.” If you’re looking for a contemporary story that goes a little deeper, than this is the one for you. 

Off the Map series by Lia Riley

Title: Upside Down (Off the Map #1)

Author: Lia Riley

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: August 5, 2104

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

If Never Get Lost, You’ll Never Be Found

Twenty-one-year-old Natlia Stolfi is saying goodbye to the past—and turning her life upside down with a trip to the land down under. For the next six months, she’ll act like a carefree exchange student, not a girl sinking under the weight of painful memories. Everything is going according to plan until she meets a brooding surfer with hypnotic green eyes and the troubling ability to see straight through her act.

Bran Lockhart is having the worst year on record. After the girl of his dreams turned into a nightmare, he moved back home to Melbourne to piece his life together. Yet no amount of disappointment could blind him to the pretty California girl who gets past all his defenses. He’s never wanted anyone the way the wants Talia. But when Bran gets a stark reminder of why he stopped believing in love, he and Talia must decide if what they have is once in a lifetime…or if they were meant to live a world apart.

Title: Sideswiped (Off the Map #2)

Author: Lia Riley

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

It was only meant to last the summer…

Tahlia Stolfi has seen more than her share of loss in her twenty-one years. But then fate brought her Bran Lockhart, and her dark world was suddenly and spectacularly illuminated. SO if being with Bran means leaving her colorless NorCal life for rugged and wild Australia, then that’s what she’ll do. But as much as Talia longs to give herself over completely to a new beginning, the fears of her past are still lurking in the shadows. 

Bran Lockhart knows that living without the beautiful girl who stole his heart will be torment, so he’ll take whatever time with her he can. But even thought she has packed up her life in California and is back in his arms for the time being, she can’t stay forever. And the remaining time they have together is ticking by way too fast. Though fate seems determined to tear them apart, they won’t give up without a fight—because while time may have limits, their love is infinite…

Title: Inside Out (Off the Map #3)

Author: Lia Riley

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: December 2, 2014

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

The Off the Map series comes to a stunning conclusion

When Talia first moved from California to Australia to study abroad, she never dreamed she’d find the love of her life. Bran understands her like no one ever has before. And despite the numerous challenges they’ve faced, they’ve’ always managed to figure out how to stay together. But this time they’ll face their toughest hurdle yet. Is their love strong enough to keep them together?

Most New Adult series I’ve read are series in the sense that they are a series of companion novels (also, how many times can I use the word “series” in one sentence?). But Lia Riley’s Off the Map series was different. All three books, Upside Down, Sideswiped and Inside Out, are all part of one large story. And I loved reading that story.

When she decided to run away to Australia for six months as part of a study abroad program, Talia never thought she would do much beyond study and discover Melbourne. After all, she’s still trying to find a way back to herself after her older sister’s death. As she starts to put her life back together in a new place, Talia meets Bran Lockhart. And Bran sees straight through to everything she’s been trying so hard to hide. But Bran has his own baggage to deal with. After losing who he thought was the girl of his dreams, Bran is forced to move back home to Australia and move on with his life. But even though he swore he wouldn’t get attached to anyone that way again, he can’t seem to stay away from Talia. Together Talia and Bran will have to decide whether they want to be together or let geography force them apart.

Like I said earlier in this review, most of the NA series that I’ve read have been made up of companion novels all set in the same world, but focusing on different characters so that people who were secondary characters in one book end up the main characters in another. But Lia Riley’s Off the Map series wasn’t like that. All three books are about Bran and Talia and everything that seems to stand in the way of them being together. And as much as I am a strong supporter of companion novels and standalone books, I actually really liked getting to spend all this time with Bran and Talia. It didn’t feel like their story was dragged out or got too convoluted partway through. It was just their story, and their story needed three books to be told. And honestly, it could have been another book or two longer and I still would have read them. Lia Riley found a way to completely draw me into these characters’ story, making me feel like I was a part of it with them (or maybe that’s just me wanting to go to Australia, which is also entirely possible). But that’s all to say that because I believed in Talia and in Bran, I didn’t ever feel like their story was too drawn out. I was happy to see everything they went through, even if it wasn’t always pleasant, because it made them stronger and ultimately led them to where they ended up. And I was MORE THAN happy with the conclusion of their story.

Tahlia definitely hadn’t had it easy. Between her sister’s sudden death and her mom basically abandoning her family, things weren’t exactly going great for her. So I could see why she would want to run away to Australia for a few months. Hell, I don’t have half the stuff she did going on in my life and I’d hop on a plane to Australia without any second thoughts. So yeah, I got why she wanted to escape her life. For a while though, I wasn’t sure that she was doing the right thing by running away from it all. But in running away, she somehow found a way to deal with everything that was going on. And in large part, that’s because of Bran. And Bran, well he had his own set of baggage to deal with and it wasn’t exactly light baggage either. But, even if it took him a while to see it, he was good for Talia and Talia was good for him. Individually, I don’t know that Bran and Talia would have found their way as easily, but together they just worked. I just wished that there hadn’t been so many obstacles standing in their way. But then that wouldn’t have made as compelling a story, so there’s that. When it comes down to it though, I really loved Bran and Talia, both as individuals and together. And that’s all that really matters.

I really enjoyed reading all three books in Lia Riley’s Off the Map series. Each one had it’s own merits and I don’t know that I would be able to pick a favourite out of them all. If you’re looking for a New Adult read that digs a little deeper, then definitely check out the first book in the series, Upside Down.

The Summer After You & Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Title: The Summer After You & Me

Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it’s not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.

Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?

Summer is the season for contemporary books. It feels like they are all coming out right now (at least according to my TBR) and that makes me a very happy reader. Jennifer Salvato Doktorski’s The Summer After You & Me was one of those books, and though it wasn’t quite what I wanted, I still found myself enjoying it while reading.

Lucy Giordano has always loved living on the Jersey Shore. She lives for summers spent sunbathing, surfing and studying marine wildlife. And like everyone in her small seaside town, she knows better than to get attached to the tourists that come and go every summer. But knowing all that she knows isn’t stopping Lucy from spending more time with Connor, her summertime neighbor. That summer, Connor and Lucy grow closer, and when Superstorm Sandy hits, it brings Connor and Lucy together. But once the storm passes, nothing is the same anymore. As the days go by, Lucy doesn’t hear from Connor and is left to start putting her life and home back together. Now getting ready for another summer, Lucy can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen when Connor comes back to town. Will things go back to the way they were before, or will everything be different?

I love my summer contemporaries, it’s not a secret. In fact, some of you might be getting sick of me talking about them but too bad, it’s the season for contemporaries and I will read them ALL. Because it’s what I do. There’s just something about summer and contemporary books that makes it so they go together (though, I’m me and I will read contemporaries no matter what season it is). And I’m being completely honest when I say that 90% of the time, I enjoy all the contemporary books I read. Sure there are some that are better than others, but, if nothing else, I will at least enjoy them while I read. And I really enjoyed Jennifer Salvato Doktorski’s The Summer After You & Me. I really liked how the story showed all the damage that Superstorm Sandy left in its wake on the Jersey Shore, and how that damage was juxtaposed with the damage the main character suffered emotionally. It worked really well, seeing how the two kinds of damage were linked. And how one was affecting the other, at least where Lucy was concerned. Where I had a little trouble with the story was the romance, which is kinda surprising for me. it’s not that I didn’t believe in the romance. Because I did. But there were certain times that it felt a little convoluted. For a good chunk of the book, I just wasn’t sure which boy I was supposed to be rooting for, despite the synopsis pointing me in one direction. But it eventually all got resolved and I was happy with how it was resolved.

I wish I could have connected more with Lucy, but I just didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked her as a character. I just didn’t connect with her the way I had hoped to or the way I wanted to. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story, so in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t such a huge issue. Throughout a lot of the book, Lucy was having trouble figuring out which boy she wanted to be with. And while I can understand that (I mean, that’s kind of the premise for A LOT of YA romances out there), I had trouble getting on board with it. It just felt like the reasons she was mad at one boy was something that she herself was doing and that bugged me. I mean, at the end of the day I was kinda sorta rooting for the other boy, but still. And then at one point I thought for a second she was adding a third boy into the mix and I wanted to be like, “Hold on, girl you already have your hands full with Andrew and Connor, you do not need to be adding Chad into the mix.” Thankfully, she made up her mind about who she wanted pretty quickly after that. The relationship I got really invested in was Lucy’s relationship with her twin brother, Liam. It made me sad to read about them drifting apart, but I loved seeing them mend their relationship and finding their way back to each other. And I just love sibling relationships in general and there are not nearly enough of them in YA books.

Though it wasn’t quite what I had hoped it would be or what I wanted at the time, I still found myself really enjoying Jennifer Salvato Dokstorski’s The Summer After You & Me. If you’re looking for a summer contemporary set at the beach, you might want to check this one out.

Blog Tour - Finding Paris by Joy Preble + Giveaway!

Title: Finding Paris

Author: Joy Preble

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo / B&N

An evocative and compelling story of two sisters who would do anything for each other—perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why  and Speak. Joy Preble’s stirring new novel explores the lengths to which sisters go to protect each other, and the winding road that brings two strangers into each other’s lives.

Sisters Leo and Paris Hollings have only ever had each other to rely on. They can’t trust their mother who hops from city to city and from guy to guy, or their gambler stepfather, who’s moved them all to Las Vegas. It’s just the two of them: Paris, who’s always been the dreamer, and Leo, who has a real future in mind—going to Stanford, becoming a doctor, falling in love. But Leo isn’t going anywhere right now, except driving around Vegas all night with her sister.

Until Paris ditches Leo at the Heartbreak Hotel Diner, where moments before they had been talking with physics student Max Sullivan. Outside, Leo finds a cryptic note from Paris—a clue. Is it some kind of game? Where is Paris, and why has she disappeared? When Leo reluctantly accepts Max’s offer of help, the two find themselves following a string of clues through Vegas and beyond. But the search for the truth is not a straight line. And neither is the path to secrets Leo and Max hold inside.

I’m a sucker for stories that involve road trips. Add in a mystery element and I’m sold. So when I heard about Joy Preble’s Finding Paris, I knew right away that I wanted to read it. Though it wasn’t quite the story I thought it was going to be, I still found myself really enjoying this book.

Ever since they were kids, sisters Leo and Paris have only been able to rely on each other. Their mother keeps moving them from one place to the next, always leaving behind ex-boyfriends. Now living in Las Vegas, with a gambling stepfather, Leo and Paris are once again finding that they can’t count on anyone but themselves. And as soon as Leo graduates high school and gets in to Stanford, they have a plan that will take them away from Vegas. But until then, the girls spend their nights driving around on the Strip at night. But one night, Paris disappears and leaves Leo a series of clue that will, hopefully, lead one sister back to the other. With the help of Max Sullivan, a physics nerd she just met that night, Leo sets off to find her sister. But while looking for her sister, Leo quickly realizes that there might be more to Paris’s disappearance than she initially thought. At the end of it all, Leo may have uncovered more than she bargained for.

Road trips are the best. I’ve been on my fair share of them and they always lead to some interesting adventures and discoveries. I can’t, however, say that I’ve ever been on a road trip because of a scavenger hunt my eccentric sister set up for me (I don’t have a sister to being with, so it would be pretty hard for that to have happened to me anyway). So I was intrigued when I first read the synopsis of Joy Preble’s Finding Paris. I was curious about Paris, and why she would create this sort of scavenger hunt for her sister. And I was curious about the circumstances that would lead someone to just go with it without really questioning it all that much. That’s all to say that Finding Paris ended up being a very interesting read. But not for the reasons I thought. Or at least not completely. While I was reading, I started guessing at what was going on in the bigger picture, about why Paris would just take off like she did and leave Leo behind and a complete stranger. And some of my guesses were pretty spot-on. By the time I got to the point where everything was being revealed, I had it more or less figured out. Except for one part that took me completely by surprise. Like I did not see that twist coming. So I’ll leave you with that to think about.

Paris and Leo could not have been more different, as far as sisters, and characters go. Granted, I don’t quite feel like I got to know Paris well enough to say this for sure. And as different as they were, they did have this in common: they were willing to do just about anything to protect the other. Where Paris was artistic and impulsive, doing what she wanted when she wanted, Leo relied on science and planning in all aspects of her life. Unless Paris was making her do it, she wasn’t the impulsive type. At all. Which made it really interesting to see Leo go and follow the clues Paris left behind for her. And it also made it interesting to read everything that was happening from Leo’s perspective. As much as she could, she tried to approach the whole thing very scientifically and methodically. At least, she did for most of it. The only part she couldn’t quite explain using science and reason was Max Sullivan. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could trust Max because it just seemed a little too convenient that he was right there when Leo needed him. But the more I got to know him, though Leo, the more I came to realize that he actually was a good guy. Not only that, but he was also exactly what Leo needed. She just took a little longer than I did to come to that same conclusion.

Though it wasn’t quite what I thought it was going to be, I still found myself really enjoying Joy Preble’s Finding Paris. The story kept me guessing and went directions I didn’t thought it would, and by the end, I was happy with the way it went. Even if it was unexpected.

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Wild Hearts by Jessica Burkhart

Title: Wild Hearts (If Only... #4)

Author: Jessica Burkhart

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Enjoy Wild Hearts and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury’s contemporary If Only romance line entered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can’t have!

Brie Carter’s father’s land development business has taken her family all over the world, but as soon as they arrive at their new home in Lost Spring, Wyoming, the town turns out to protest. They don’t want a new hotel if the resident mustang population will be displaced or hurt as part of the deal. Then Brie meets Logan, a gorgeous local who has a special connection to the mustangs, and she is immediately drawn to him…and the horses. However, with Logan’s father leading the protests and Brie’s father refusing to budge, it’s clear that their parents are heading towards an all-out war. Can Brie and Logan find a way to save the mustangs and be together? Or is their love doomed from the start?

This new title in the If Only line is the perfect summer read and proves that love flourishes in the wildest places!

Do I really need to explain why I wanted to read Jessica Burkhart's Wild Hearts? It should be pretty self-explanatory by now why this would be the kind of book I would enjoy. So I'll just say this: I loved Wild Hearts.

Brie Carter has moved around a lot. Because of her father's job, she's lived all over the country. But when her family arrives in Lost Spring, Wyoming, things are different. The locals don't want her father to build a new hotel if it means hurting the local mustang population. At first Brie doesn't understand, but when she meets Logan and sees his passion for the horses, she starts to change her mind. Before long Brie finds herself being drawn to Logan and the horses and becomes determined to find a way to protect them. Even if it means going against her dad and hurting her family in the process. 

I’ve never had any particular desire to go to Wyoming. And then I read Wild Heats. Throughout the book there are all these descriptions of the mountains and the nature around this small town and I just wanted to go there and see it all for myself. Doesn’t help that it doesn’t take much to make me want to travel anywhere, but the descriptions just made me want to go to Wyoming. And like I said, not really someplace I’d ever considered going before. But that’s not the point, right now. Other than making me want to travel, Wild Hearts was everything I hoped it would be. I’ve read some of the other books in the If Only line and I have loved them, so I had certain expectations when it came to Wild Hearts. And those expectations were met. This was a fun, adorable romance and I couldn’t get enough of it. While I was reading I both couldn’t stop but also wanted to slow down to make the story last longer. And my favourite part of the romance was that it was pretty much drama free. Sure there was some drama in the story, if there wasn’t it would make for a pretty boring story, but the drama wasn’t between Logan and Brie. And I loved that. From the moment they were together, they stayed together. And they were pretty freaking adorable, if you want my honest opinion.

I don’t know how to talk about Brie without talking about Logan. Don’t get me wrong she totally stands on her own as a character, but I just loved her and Logan together so much. But I liked Brie on her own as well. I liked seeing her grow over the course of the story, going from automatically siding with her dad on the horse issue to doing some research and coming up with her own opinion on the subject. It was just nice to see that evolution in her character. And Logan obviously had something to do with that, what with him being so passionate about the horses and all. And Logan, well he was Logan. I mean, the guy was a real, live cowboy who was the sweetest and nicest guy ever. How was Brie supposed to resist all that. Because I know I stood no chance. But for real, though, Logan was great. He was just a genuinely good guy. And as much as I loved him with Brie, whenever I got to see him spend time with his little brother it absolutely melted my heart. Aside from Logan and Brie, the other character worth mentioning is Amy. I loved seeing the friendship develop between her and Brie. And as much as I loved the romance it was nice to take a break from it every now and then to see the friendship. 

Needless to say that I loved Jess Burkhart's Wild Hearts. The romance was just what I wanted it to be and I had a huge goofy smile on my face he whole time I was reading. If you like YA contemporary romance, you should definitely check out the If Only line.