Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

Title: Tonight the Streets Are Ours

Author: Leila Sales

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Release Date: September 15, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

From the author of This Song Will Save Your Life comes a funny and relatable book about the hazards of falling or a person you haven’t met yet.

Seventeen-year-old Arden Huntley is recklessly loyal. Taking care of her loved ones is what gives Arden purpose in her life and makes her feel like she matters. But she’s tired of being loyal to people who don’t appreciate her—including her needy best friend and her absent mom.

Arden finds comfort in a blog she stumbles upon called “Tonight the Streets Are Ours,” the musings of a young New York City writer named Peter. When Peter is dumped by the girlfriend he blogs about Arden decides to take a road trip to see him.

During one crazy night out in NYC filled with parties, dancing, and music—the type of night when anything can happen, and nearly everything does, Arden discovers that Peter isn’t exactly who she thought he was. And maybe she isn’t exactly who she thought she was, either.

This is where I admit that despite having copies of all her books on my shelves (some of them for YEARS), Tonight the Streets Are Ours was the first of her books that I read. And I had high hopes for it. Though those hopes weren’t exactly met, I still found myself loving this story.

Arden Huntley is keeping her family from falling apart after her mother left. That’s who Arden’s always been. She takes care of the people around her and she will be loyal to a fault. But always being the one to take care of everyone gets to be tiring and Arden can’t help but feel like her friends and family don’t love her as much as she loves them. When she stumbled on a blog called “Tonight the Streets Are Ours,” Arden immediately connects with the writer and becomes captivated by Peter’s story. So when Peter’s girlfriend breaks up with him, Arden decides to drive to New York City to see him. For one night, Arden gets to do something for herself instead of worrying about everyone else. And during that one night, Arden will discover so much about herself, her family, and the boy she traveled to see.

I’m a little ashamed to admit that despite having owned many of her books for quite some years, it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I finally read a book by Leila Sales. Honestly, I don’t know why it took me so long. Two years ago, I was really excited about This Song Will Save Your Life, but somehow never got around to reading it despite having been told by lots of people that I should read it. But I decided to finally get my act together and read one of her books. And so I read Tonight the Streets Are Ours. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t have high hopes for it. Because I totally did. And some of those hopes were absolutely met. And others, took on an unexpected form. All together, it make for a reading experience. But one that was still really enjoyable. I guess the main thing that was different than I expected where Tonight the Streets Are Ours is concerned is that the love story was not what I thought it was going to be. I was totally expecting something romantic to happen between Arden and Peter. And that’s not really what this story was about. Instead, it was more about falling in love with yourself. Which is a great message, just not quite the one I was expecting.

I loved seeing the growth and character development in Arden as I read through the story. It made me appreciate her that much more. And her journey from someone who focuses on others more than on herself to someone who finally learns to put herself first was a great one to see. It definitely wasn’t without its obstacles. And for a good chunk of the book I just wanted to tell her to do what she wanted, not what she thought she wanted or what other people wanted her to do. I just wanted her to stop putting so much unnecessary pressure on her shoulders. And Ioved when she started letting go. Even if letting go meant getting somewhat obsessed with someone she’d never met (though, really, haven’t we all sort of been there, in a way). And I’m not going to lie, I became a little obsessed with Peter, too. I loved getting to read his blog posts and finding out him that way. And much like Arden, I had trouble reconciling the Peter from the blog, and the Peter she actually met. To be completely honest, I didn’t really much care for the “real Peter,” I liked “blog Peter” a whole lot more. But that showed just how much social media allows us to be someone completely different from the person we really are.

Even though it wasn’t quite the story I thought it was going to be, I still really enjoyed reading Leila Sales’s Tonight the Streets Are Ours. It was an interesting story with an unexpected twist on the romance. And it reminded me that I have lots of Leila Sales books sitting on my shelves that need reading.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Title: Dumplin'

Author: Julie Murphy

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: September 15, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumpin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll have heard about Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’ if you’re even in the least bit plugged in to the YA book community. Avoiding this book has been nearly impossible. And it’s all for very good reasons.

Willow dean has never been ashamed of her body. She knows she’s big and she completely owns it. Will just doesn’t seem the point of being anything she’s not. And up until now, she’s been comfortable being who she is. When her job at a local fast food restaurant leads to meeting Bo, Will isn’t really surprised to start developing feelings for him. What surprises her is that her feelings don’t seem to be one sided. And that causes Will to question everything she’s ever thought about her body. Her solution to her doubts: enter the Clover City Miss Teen Blue Bonnet pageant ran by none other than her own beauty queen mother. And along the way, Willowdean will get more than she bargained for.

At this point, I feel like there’s very little I could say about Julie Murphy’s Dumpin’ that hasn’t already be said by someone else. And it’s pretty likely that it’s been said more eloquently than I’ll ever be able to say it. But I’ll give it a shot. Because there’s so much I could say about this book. All the hype and praise for Dumplin’ is absolutely warranted. This story just has so much going for it, and I loved all of it, and I’m not really sure where to start when it comes to talking about it. There’s the all-important message it give to girls about their bodies. There’s the different friendships. There’s the romance. There’s the love of Dolly Parton. There’s even drag queens. I mean, how can you not love a story that includes all of these things? In all seriousness, though, I can’t not talk about the message this book sends to girls (and everyone, really) about body image and self-love. It was so refreshing to read a story where the main character didn’t have a “perfect body” and attaining that “perfect body” wasn’t her goal. Instead, Dumplin’ was about accepting your body and showing that the way you look doesn’t define whether or not you are worthy of love. Or that because you look a certain way you can only be with someone who also looks that way. This story was just fantastic, and nothing i can say about it will ever come close to doing it justice.

What made the story in Dumplin’  so great was Willowdean herself. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this girl is unlike any other you’ll about in YA. Or at least it felt that way to me. I loved how confident Will was, but being confident doesn’t mean that you don’t have any insecurities. And Willowdean perfectly embodied this. Until Bo came along, she always believed she didn’t have any issues with her body and she didn’t care what other people thought. But when Bo came along, suddenly Will realized that maybe she cared a little about what other people thought of the way she looked. And Ioved seeing her work through her insecurities. And Bo, well I liked him a whole lot. I just wished I could have gotten to know him even more than I did. But what I did see of him, I loved. This brings me to the one thing about this story that I didn’t love: the sort of love triangle between Willowdean, Bo and Mitch. I really liked Mitch, and I fully believe he had a role to play in this story. I just didn’t really like how this totally nice guy ended up being hurt. So even though I really liked Mitch and thought he really could have been great for Willowdean (and even though she really belongs with Bo), I could have done without the love triangle.

Like pretty much everyone else who has read it, I loved Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’. It was a fantastic story with a much needed message and I can only hope that girls everywhere will want to read this book and embrace everything this book stands for.

Finding Perfect by Kendra C. Highley

Title: Finding Perfect

Author: Kendra C. Highley

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Release Date: September 14, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

How far will you go for perfection?

For “Perfect Paige” Westfield, today is “D” Day. As in, she just got one on her calculus test. With her dreams of Stanford, her reputation, and her parents’ expectations at stake, Paige needs to find a way to save face before everything she’s worked for goes up in flames.

Ben Franklin (yes, he’s related) is from the wrong side of town, with the wrong clothes and the wrong kind of life. He also knows an opportunity when he sees one, and he’ll be happy to tutor Paige—if she makes him into the kind of guy her best friend, the hottest girl in school, will date.

It’s the perfect arrangement. And Paige is determined not even the inconvenient—and utterly imperfect—attraction simmering between her and Ben will ruin it…

Anytime I write a review for one of the books from Entangled's Crush imprint, I start worrying that I'm beginning to sound a little like a broken record. But I can't help it, I've been loving all the books they've been putting out. And that holds true for the latest one, Kendra C. Highley's Finding Perfect.

A D on a calculus test is the worst thing that could happen to Paige. After all, she is "Perfect Paige" and she has a reputation to uphold and parental expectations to meet. She needs to find a way to fix her grade, but Paige just doesn't get calculus. Enter Ben, the boy who witnesses Paige's breakdown and offers to help. There's only one catch: girls don't notice Ben, so in exchange for helping her, he wants Paige to make him into the kind of guy her best friend would want to date. It should work out perfectly. Except for the fact that something more seems to be developing between Paige and Ben.

Guys, Finding Perfect was so freaking cute. I mean, based on the description I had a feeling it was going to be cute, I just didn't necessarily expect it to be this adorable. But it was. I love stories where the person who's supposed to be the matchmaker ends up falling for one of the people they're setting up. It always leads to some interesting situations and makes for a great story when it's done well. With Finding Perfect it was, to make a bad joke, perfect. And I say that because for me it totally was. Even though it happens in most romance books, one of the things that gets to me the most is how the couple will get together until one of them does something to screw it up, forcing them to break up and then get back together again after things get cleared up. But Finding Perfect didn't do that. Once Ben and Paige got together, they were together. Sure there were some obstacles along the way but they didn't break up only to get back together. And they were just so freaking adorable together and I dare you to read this story and not root for them. 

I've already established that Ben and Paige were super adorable together, but they were pretty great as individuals too. Paige was always determined to please everyone, focusing so much on the way people saw her, even if it was to her own detriment. The whole time I was reading, I was hoping that she would finally start doing what she wanted to do intend of what people expected her to do. I just wanted her to be happy and to be herself. And Ben brought out the best in her. Around him she was able to actually be herself and that person was pretty great. And Ben himself was freaking adorable. I loved how much he loved his mom. And I loved how he wasn't afraid to tell Paige's parents off. And the boy came with cookies. What more could you possibly ask for. For real, I wouldn't mind Ben for myself if he wasn't so absolutely perfect for Paige. 

I loved Kendra C. Highley's Finding Perfect. This story was all kinds of adorable and I would have gladly kept on reading about Ben and Paige forever. They were just that fantastic and fun to read about. 

Undaunted by Ronnie Douglas

Title: Undaunted (Knights in Black Leather #1)

Author: Ronnie Douglas

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: September 15, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Following in the tradition of Kristen Ashely, Joanna Wilde, and  Jay Crownover, this first novel in a sexy, dark New Adult series tells the thrilling story of a young woman who finds herself drawn to a Southern motorcycle club’s inner circle—and a dangerously hot biker.

Aubrey Evans needs to get her life back on track after her father indicted for embezzlement. She’ll save college tuition money, hightail it out of small-town Tennessee, and steer clear of hard-muscled boys on motorcycles. yet there’s no ignoring someone like Zion. A knight in black leather, Zion looks like every ad idea she’s been told to avoid, but she can’t resist him. Whenever she’s in trouble, he’s there. Applying as his rough exterior may be, it’s the protective, principled man beneath that tempts her like crazy.

Zion knows Aubrey doesn’t intend to stick around. She claims to want only friendship, but he senses there’s a naughty girl hiding on the inside—one whose intense desires match his own. For now, he’ll be patient and play by her rules. Though he knows it’s just a matter of time before he weakens her resolve.

As they join forces to figure out who’s behind a local crime spree, it’s clear that the danger goes deeper than Aubrey guessed. And when she needs someone tall, dark, and undaunted to keep her safe, Zion intends to be there—now and always.

It's no secret that I love my New Adult stories and I'm always in the lookout for more. The latest I found was Ronnie Douglas's Undaunted. And though it wasn't quite the steamy read I thought it was going to be, I still really enjoyed this story. 

Aubrey's only goal is to get her life back on track. Tennessee isn't exactly where she wants to be, but she's determined to spend this time at her grandmother's getting back on her feet so she can go back to Oregon. Aubrey's been told to keep her distance from the bikers in town but it's easier said than done when she keeps on running into Zion, the dark and dangerous biker she can't seem to resist. Zion knows Aubrey won't be sticking around and he knows better than to get involved with someone who doesn't know anything about motorcycle clubs. But Aubrey could be the girl who makes him want to give it all up if it means he gets her. As circumstances keep pushing them together, Aubrey and Zion can only resist he attraction between them for so long.

In the last couple of years, New Adult has become my weakness. I've always been a sucker for a good romance story but until NA really became a thing, I didn't really stray too far from YA romance. But once I discovered NA, that was it, I had found the thing I would never get tired of reading. And that still stands true after two years of reading the genre. Inevitably, though, I've developed certain expectations when it comes to my NA books, things I expect to happen or how the romance might play out. With Ronnie Douglas's Undaunted I got something different. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story, because I totally did, it was just different from your typical NA. What I mean by that is that at times it almost felt like the romance wasn't the sole, or even the main, focus of the story. It was also about figuring out who was behind the crime spree in the seniors neighbourhood, it was about the inner workings of a motorcycle club. And the romance was the definition of drawn out, to the point where I was starting to wonder if it was actually going to happen. But in spite of this not being a typical NA read for me, I still found myself really enjoying this story and look forward to reading more.

When I first started reading about Aubrey and her plan, I was snickering to myself a little because I totally knew how it was all going to work out for her. Meaning that she would have to throw her plan out the window and just go with what was actually happening in front of her. But as much as I knew things weren't going to work out the way she planned and I wanted her to loosen up, I still really enjoyed Aubrey as a character and really liked reading this story from her perspective. What I liked the most about Aubrey was how much she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to all those bikers. Sure, she had to warm up to them a bit, but once she did, she spoke her mind. I wish that I could have gotten more of the story from Zion's perspective. I liked him a lot and I was so curious about him and his backstory and I wish I could have gotten more of him than I did. And I'm definitely curious about some of the other characters I glimpsed and look forward to finding out more about them in future books.

Even though it wasn't entirely what I thought it was going to be, I still really enjoyed reading Ronnie Douglas's Undaunted. The story was interesting and it was enough to get me to be curious about any future books in this new series.   

Playing the Player by Lisa Brown Roberts

Title: Playing the Player

Author: Lisa Brown Roberts

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Release Date: September 14, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

The Good Girl vs. The Player

Round one begins…

Trina Clemons needed the money. Why else would she—the most organized, prepared student in school—spend the summer as a nanny and partner with the biggest slacker ever? Now she’s ready to tackle nanny hood with her big binder of research and schedules. Just don’t ask her about the secret job of “fixing” the bad habits of a certain high school player…

Slade Edmunds prefers easy hook-ups, and Trina is definitely not his type. She’s all structure and rules, while Slade wants to just have fun. Fortunately, Trina has no idea about the bet Slade made with his best friend that he can totally get her to unwind by the end of summer…

Then the weirdest thing happens. There’s chemistry. A lot of it. But nothing gets between a boy and a girl like a big, fat secret.

The Good Girl and the Player is a cliché for a reason. It’s just a trope that works. And one I will never really tire of reading. So Lisa Brown Roberts’s Playing the Player was right up my alley. And the story didn’t disappoint me.

Trina has a plan for the summer. She has a binder filled with plans and activities to do with the two kids she’ll be nannying. If she follows everything she has in her binder, everything will work out and summer will be a breeze. That’s what she thought before the moms and Dr. Edmunds approached her about having a co-nanny. Slade Edmunds is the complete opposite of Trina, and having him around will totally ruin all the plans she had. Working with Slade is going to be a complete nightmare. But Slade might not be the complete slacker Trina thought he was. And somewhere along the way, Slade starts to become more than her co-nanny. That wouldn’t be a problem if both of them weren’t keeping secrets from the other.

As much as I enjoy reading refreshing romance, or romance stories that are unlike anything I’ve read, I can’t help but also always go back to certain tropes. I mean, tropes and clichés exist for a reason. Whether we agree with them or not, some tropes just work and there are definitely some that I can never seem to get enough of. One of those would be the good girl and the player (or alternatively the good girl and the bad boy). So really, Lisa Brown Roberts’s Playing the Player pretty much had my name written all over it. Add to the fact that I’ve loved every other book I’ve read from Entangled’s Crush imprint and it was a no brainer when it came to deciding whether or not I would be reading this book. And this ended up being the fun and entertaining story that I had hoped it would be. I got caught up in it in no time at all, wanting to see how the summer would unfold for Trina and Slade. There were twists and turns. There was tears and laughter. And there were two five-year-olds that totally stole the show. And I loved every page of it.

As much as I wanted to tell her to chill, I liked Trina right from the start. I mean, she’s a total Type A and likes everything to be done in a specific way and doesn’t like it when things don’t go according to plan. And let’s just say that made her a little rigid. But I could understand those aspects of her personalities cause I can sometimes have some of those tendencies. So I liked her a lot, but I also wanted to see her loosen up because I didn’t want her to get hurt and miss out on things. And then there was Slade who was her complete opposite, and who I also liked right from the start. There was so much more to him than I would have thought, and the way he was with the kids kinda melted my heart a little. It should also go without saying that I was totally rooting for Slade and Trina to get together. And once they did, for them to stay together. They just worked and I loved them and who they became when they were together. There were so many cute and adorable moments that totally put a smile on my face. And like I said, Gillian and Max, the two kids they were nannying, were absolutely adorable and there was more than one occasion where they totally stole the show. 

Lisa Brown Roberts’s Playing the Player was totally an “Emilie book” and I loved reading it. The story was fun and put a smile on my face the whole time I was reading. What more could I really ask for?