Red Girl, Blue Boy by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: Red Girl, Blue Boy (If Only... #5)

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

Release Date: October 20, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy 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!

Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn’t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents’ fight, and the knowledge that—ultimately—someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you’re supposed to hate?

This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.

I don’t really think I have to explain why Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy would be the kind of book I would enjoy? If you know me, it really should be a no-brainer. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I say that Red Girl, Blue Boy was a fun and totally adorable story.

Katie has spent her whole life in politics. After all, she was only four years old the first time she helped her father campaign. Now sixteen, Katie is ready to go back on the road with her father as he embarks on his biggest campaign yet: the one for president of the United States. Katie is ready for it, she knows exactly what she has to do in order to help her father win. The one thing she doesn’t count on, though, is Drew. Drew who just so happens to be the sixteen-year-old son of her father’s competition. Drew never wanted to be in the spotlight. He’ll support his mother’s bid for president, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be out campaigning with her. But when circumstances make it so him and Katie are forced together, Drew becomes intrigued by her. Katie and Drew know nothing can happen between them, but they are the only ones that understand exactly what the other is going through. And there’s something powerful in that. But being together could screw everything up for both their parents. 

I’ve loved every single book I’ve read from Bloomsbury’s If Only line. I mean, this is a line of cute contemporary romances so how could I possibly not love them? They pretty much have my name written all over them. And so I love it when I find out that there’s going to be a new book coming out in the series. So I was really excited about reading Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy. Plus with the upcoming election in Canada next week and the one in the US next year, it felt oddly timely. But that’s not really the point. Red Girl, Blue Boy was a fast, fun and highly enjoyable story to read. I loved getting this sort of behind the scenes look at presidential elections, at the way the candidates’ families are affected by it all, even if it was a fictionalized account of it all. I liked seeing the relationship develop between Drew and Katie. How even though it started out being about their parents running against each other in the election, it soon became about a whole lot more than that. It was just the kind of story that puts a smile on your face and keeps you turning the pages because it’s fun to read. And there were totally times when I was chuckling at bit at what was happening or at what some of the characters (*cough*Katie*cough*) were doing. Red Girl, Blue Boy was just plain old fun. And that’s how I like a lot of my YA romance.

If I’m being completely honest, it took me a while to like Katie. She was just so into her father’s campaign that it got to the point where she came across as almost robotic. There’s nothing wrong with being into politics and campaigning. Heck, I have a degree in political science so I would fall into that category. But with Katie, I had to wonder if she actually enjoyed it and loved it as much as she did because that’s truly how she felt or because she hasn’t really known anything else. But as I got to know her more and as she started doing more than just politics-related stuff, I warmed up to her pretty quickly. She was an amusing character to read about because everything that would be normal to any other teenager was so new to her. One of my favourite moments in the story is when she goes shopping for “regular clothes” with her secret service agent. And Drew was pretty much her complete opposite. He didn’t care much for politics and wasn’t exactly excited about his mom running for the highest office there is. But he was the perfect balance to Katie’s character. And they were kind of adorable together. And I loved them together.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s Red Girl, Blue Boy was a whole lot of fun. This story was a quick read that put a smile on my face. It was exactly the cute contemporary romance story I wanted and I enjoyed every moment spent reading it. 

Falling for the Wrong Guy by Sara Hantz

Title: Falling for the Wrong Guy

Author: Sara Hantz

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Release Date: October 12, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Ruby Davis has a crush on her brother’s best friend. At least, he was his bestie until the big betrayal. Now Drew is off limits to everyone, especially Ruby. She can’t stand the way people treat him, or the way he feels about himself. And those deep green eyes are calling to her.

Drew is scarred and damaged, and he has no business even looking at Ruby. But he can’t help himself. She’s beautiful, but he does his best to stay away. When they are assigned a school project, they become reluctant friends—even though they want so much more.

She’s torn between her feelings for Drew and loyalty to her brother. There’s no way they can ever ben together…but love just might find a way.

Stories that involve a girl and her brother’s best friend are pretty much my favourite thing to read ever. So whenever I find a book that features that kind of romance, I am all over it. And lucky for me, Sara Hantz’s Falling for the Wrong Guy was just that.

When Drew Scott shows up at school after a year away, Ruby Davis knows she should stay away, if only out of loyalty to her brother. After all, Drew was Blake’s best friend before everything changed. Now, Drew is off limits, but Ruby can’t deny the pull she feels towards him. When they get assigned to the same group for a school project, Ruby sees it as her opportunity to spend time with Drew without breaking her loyalty to her brother. As they become friends and quickly turn into something more, Drew knows he shouldn’t have feelings for Ruby. After everything that happens, he doesn’t deserve to be happy. But there are some feelings that are just too hard to deny.

I don’t really know why I love stories that feature a girl falling for her brother’s best friend. There’s just something about them that pretty much guarantees I’ll love the story every single time. As a result, I’m always on the lookout for stories that feature that particular trope and I’m always happy when I find a new one. So when I found out about Sara Hantz’s Falling for the Wrong Guy, I just knew I had to read it. I mean, not only was this a story about a girl falling in love with her brother’s best friend, but said best friend was also completely off limits and not for the typical reasons you see in this kind of scenario. So I was intrigued. I wanted to know what made Drew so off limits to Ruby. And what I got was a story with a lot more depth than I expected. And it make me like the book that much more. I mean, I love romance, but it’s always nice when there is something more below the surface. That’s exactly what Falling for the Wrong Guy was. And a lot of that additional depth had to do with what the different characters were going through.

Ruby was a great character. I loved her optimism when things weren’t always easy and I admired her loyalty to her brother. Even if at times that loyalty meant she wasn’t always doing things for herself. But most of all, I loved her compassion. To her, Drew was always more than his burn scars. It certainly helped that she had a father who was similarly afflicted, but for Ruby Drew’s car were just a part of who he was, not his entire personality. My only wish where Ruby as concerned was that she would push for what she wanted, instead of just going with everyone else’s wishes. There were times early on in the story where that side of Ruby would come out and I wanted to cheer her on. And I eventually got my wish which made me happy. And obviously I loved Ruby’s relationship with Drew. One of my favourite things about it was that they had a history. When there is a history involved, it just makes relationship that much better in my book. But outside of his relationship with Ruby, my heart really went out to Drew. The amount of guilt that boy carried over things that weren’t really his fault broke my heart. He deserved something good in his life, not to be treated like a leper because of the visible burn scars on his body. So when good things happened for him, I was happy.

I really enjoyed reading Sara Hantz’s Falling for the Wrong Guy. It was a cute romance between a girl and her brother’s best friend that made my heart happy. If you’re in the market for a fun contemporary romance with a little more depth, this is the book for you.

The Fifteenth Minute by Sarina Bowen

Title: The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years #5)

Author: Sarina Bowen

Publisher: Rennie Road Books

Release Date: October 13, 2015

Source: ARC from Publicist

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Kobo

Freshman Lianne Chalice is known to millions of fans as Princess Vindi. But sometimes a silver screen sorceress just wants to hang up her wand, tell her manager to shove it, and become a normal college student. Too bad that’s harder than it looks.

She’s never lived a normal life. She hasn’t been to school since kindergarten. And getting close to anyone is just too risky—the last boy she kissed sold the story to a British tabloid.

But she can’t resist trying to get close to Daniel “DJ” Trevi, the hot, broody guy who spins tunes for hockey games in the arena. There’s something haunting his dark eyes and she needs to know more.

DJ’s genius is for expressing the mood of the crowd with a ten second song snippet. With just a click and a fade, he can spread hope, pathos or elation among six thousand screaming fans.

Too bad his college career is about to experience the same quick fade-out as one of his songs. He can’t get close to Lianne, and he can’t tell her why. And the fact that she seems to like him at all? Incredible.

Over the summer, I read the first four books in Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Years series in the span of a week. While traveling. That’s how addicting the books were. And the moment I finished, I was dying for the next one. And when I got The Fifteenth Minute, I read it all in a day.

Lianne Challice hasn’t had the most normal life up until now. To most of the world, she is Princess Vindi, a sorceress in a series of blockbuster movies. Now in her second semester of freshman year, all Lianne wants is to be a normal college student. And that includes a boyfriend. But when you’re famous, finding a boy who won’t sell your relationship secrets to the tabloids is easier said than done. When she meets DJ, the guy in charge of music at hockey games, Lianne knows she can trust him. But DJ isn’t having the best year, and the last thing he needs is to be getting close to Lianne. But no matter what he does, Lianne keeps coming back. DJ can only keep pulling away for so long before Lianne doesn’t come back.

I binge read series pretty often. It’s kind of something you end up doing at some point or another when you’re an avid reader. But binge reading a series while also travelling with a friend is something I hadn’t done before. But it’s something I did when I picked up the first four books of Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Years. Basically, any time I wasn’t doing touristy stuff, I had my face glued to my Kindle (thankfully, the friend I was travelling with reads just as much as I do so she understood). And once I finished those four books, I was DYING for more. And so the moment it landed in my inbox, I started reading The Fifteenth Minute. And Sarina Bowen did not let me down. I DEVOURED this book. Like, stayed-on-my-couch-all-day-couldn’t-put-my-kindle-down devoured. It was just that good. And it should come as no surprise that I totally loved the romance between DJ and Lianne. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the kind of romance that just puts a smile on my face and makes me hope they can overcome all the obstacles standing in their way. It was just adorable.

But one of the things that I have absolutely loved about Sarina Bowen’s books is how she weaves serious subjects into the story without taking away from the relatively fun nature of the book. And she did it again in an interesting way in The Fifteenth Minute. It’s a pretty well-known fact that universities everywhere have serious issues when it comes to sexual assault cases. When we hear about these cases, it’s typically because the schools aren’t doing anything to help the victims. But with this story, Sarina Bowen showed the other side of the problem. She showed how schools struggle to investigate cases and sometimes someone gets wrongly accused because the schools are so worried about making sure they don’t get any flack for not doing anything for the victim. Through DJ’s story, Sarina Bowen really showed that this can happen and how it can be really damaging to someone. 

I shouldn’t really have to say it, but I loved DJ and Lianne. They were just so freaking adorable together. On the one hand you had this girl who is an actress and has connections to all these famous people, but who really just wants to get away from all that. On the other, you have this boy who can’t believe that someone like Lianne would like him. But they were so perfect for each other. And I loved them individually as well, obviously. I just wanted people to stop giving Lianne grief about being a famous actress and just let her live her life. And I loved how much of a geek she was, whether it was writing scripts for her favourite video games or making pop culture references in conversation. I just loved her. And DJ might officially be my favourite boy that Sarina Bowen has written. I loved him, plain and simple. And I felt horrible for what he was going through. And I wanted everything to work out for him. And he was just adorable and I loved him. I don’t really know how else to say it. Maybe I should have gone to my university’s hockey games in case we had a cute guy in charge of the music. But that’s besides the point. The point is that I loved Lianne and DJ something fierce. And I loved all the glimpses I got of the different people from the previous books, and those just reaffirmed that Bella is awesome.

In case it wasn’t clear by this long and ramble-y review, I absolutely loved Sarina Bowen’s The Fifteenth Minute. This story had just the right amount of fun and serious that made it so I just couldn’t stop reading. If you love NA romance and haven’t picked up any of Sarina Bowen’s books, do yourself and favour and read one. You won’t regret it.

Madly by Amy Alward

Title: Madly (Potion #1)

Author: Amy Alward

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Release Date: September 29, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

When the Princess of Nova accidentally poisons herself with love potion meant for her crush, she falls crown-over-heels in love with her own reflection. Oops. A nationwide hunt is called to find the cure, with competitors travelling the world for the rarest ingredients, deep in magical forests and frozen tundras, facing death at every turn.

Enter Samantha Kemi—and ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent. Sam’s family were once the most respected alchemists in the kingdom, but they’ve fallen on hard times, and winning the hunt would save their reputation. But can Sam really compete with the dazzling powers of the ZoroAser megapharma company? Just how close is Sam willing to get to Zain Aster, her dashing former classmate and enemy, in the meantime?

And just to add to the pressure, this quest is ALL OVER social media. And the world news.

No big deal, then.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know that I haven’t really been reading much non-contemporary this year. But there have been a few non-contemporary books this year that have caught my attention. And then I find myself completely surprised by how into them I get. And that’s what happened with Amy Alward’s Madly.

Samantha Kemi wants to bring the Kemi name back to its former glory. Once upon a time, the Kemi family were the most respected alchemists in the kingdom. But the rise of synthetic potions, there isn’t much of a demand for traditional potions. But that was before the Princess of Nova accidentally postponed herself with a love potion. Now, all of the best alchemists in Nova are called on a hunt to find a cure. And Sam is determined to win and save her family’s reputation. But that’s easier said than done when she has to compete with alchemists who have more power and more money than her. And then there’s Zain Aster, her enemy. Who also happens to be the boy she can’t get out of her head. Sam only has to much time to find a cure and the clock is ticking as the whole world looks on.

Remember a few years ago, when so many of the books being published in YA involved some sort of paranormal or fantastic element? I kind of miss those days. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my contemporary books and I will forever love them, but every so often I miss those paranormal books. So despite reading almost exclusively contemporary books in the last year or so, I still pick up the odd paranormal or fantasy book. The most recent of those being Amy Alward’s Madly. And guys, this book was awesome. I figured I would enjoy it, but I didn’t think I would get as into it as I did. Once the story really got going, I had trouble putting the book down. I got so caught up in the search for the cure, and the crazy adventures Sam was going on. Once the action got going, it didn’t let up. Sam was constantly getting dragged from one place to the next, putting her life in danger trying to save the princess and her family’s reputation. And I loved the different relationships that were present in the story. I loved seeing the family dynamics, and the friendships and the subtle romance that was present throughout. It drew me into the story that much more.

Sam was a total badass. This girl wasn’t afraid of anything. Or at least that’s what it felt like when I was reading. She was determined to win the Hunt and repair her family’s reputation. But she wasn’t as fearless as everyone thought she was. And seeing all those different aspects of Sam’s personality and character is what made me love her as much as I did. I loved how much she cared about her family, how participating in the Hunt wasn’t just about her making a name for herself but also about putting her family back on the map. It was always in the back of her mind what her parents or her grandfather would think about what she was doing. Sam was just a fantastic, layered character. And I loved her. And I loved all the other side characters in this story. Seeing Princess Evelyn fall in love with her own reflection was at times very amusing. The friendship between Sam and the Patel siblings made me smile and all the Kemi family moments warmed my heart. And as much as I typically love my romance, I loved how here, the romance between Sam and Zain wasn’t the focus of the story. It’s something that was there the whole way through, but it was understated and I hope I get to see some more of it in the future.

I was completely taken by surprise by how much I loved Amy Alward’s Madly. It’s not a book I would pick up on my own, but having now read it I’m so happy that I decided to read it. If you’re looking for a book filled with fantastic elements and action, this is it.

Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Title: Juniors

Author: Kaui Hart Hemmings

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Release Date: September 22, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life.

Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander. Perpetual new girl at school. Hanging in the shadow of her actress mother’s spotlight. And now: new resident of the prominent West family’s guest cottage.

Bracing herself for the embarrassment of being her classmates’ latest charity case, Lea is surprised when she starts becoming friends with Will and Whitney West instead—or in the case of gorgeous, unattainable Will, possibly even more than friends. And despite their differences, Whitney and Lea have a lot in common: both are navigating a tangled web of relationships, past disappointments and future hopes. As things heat up with Will, and her friendship with Whitney deepens, Lea has to decide how much she’s willing to change in order to fit into their world.

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life. But it isn’t until her junior year that she learns how to do it on her own terms.

As much as I loved the movie The Descendants, I hadn’t read any of Kaui Hart Hemmings’s books. But then I heard about Juniors and I my curiosity was piqued. This book sounded like it had my name written all over it. And after having read it, I can say that it’s totally true.

All Lea Lane has ever wanted was to fit in. But constantly being the new girl at school doesn’t make it easy. Neither does having an actress for a mother. Fitting in is made all the more difficult when Lea and her mom move into the West family’s guest cottage. Being seen as a charity case is the last thing she wants, but there are some definite perks to living in the cottage. Like becoming friends with Whitney and spending time with Will, her older brother. Lea is the first to be surprised by how easily she gets along with the West siblings. But the more time she spends with them, the more Lea realizes that to stay in this world, she’s going to have to make some changes. But are those changes she’s willing to make?

Juniors was the first (and only) book by Kaui Hart Hemmings that I’ve read. Despite having loved the movie The Descendants and knowing it was based on a book she wrote, I just never got around to reading one of her books. But if I’m not mistaken, Juniors is also her first young adult title (but I could be completely wrong) so that might also be why. All that to say that when I first heard about Juniors I just knew that it was something that I would enjoy. And reading the synopsis, it also kind of reminded me of Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot which I loved last year. Basically, Juniors had all the makings of a book I would love. And for the most part, I totally loved Juniors. And it made me want to go to Hawaii, but that’s not the point right now. I loved this story of figuring out just who you are and where you fit in in the world. I loved that there was such a strong focus on friendship. Where it kind of lost me, was on the romance. It’s not that there wasn’t romance, because there was. It was more that the romance wasn’t really what I thought and later hoped it would be. At one point, I was even a little confused as to who I wanted Lea to be with because it felt like she should be with one person but was putting all her efforts into being with someone else. So I was a little confused on the romance, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. Which romance aside, I loved.

It took me a little bit to warm up to Lea. It’s not that I didn’t like her right from the start because I did. It was more that it took me a few chapters to get used to her way of telling her story. Once that happened, I was totally on board with Lea and I understood a lot of her concerns. It’s concerns that ultimately everyone has. And I loved seeing Lea growth over the course of the story: seeing her go from someone who was constantly worried about fitting in to someone who was comfortable being who she was. That doesn’t mean that I always agreed with the way she handled things, and that was definitely true when it came to her relationships. I loved seeing her friendship with Whitney develop, and I was hoping that she would find a way to make everything right where that friendship was concerned. And then there was Will and Danny and they’re who I was talking about when I said that the romance kind of lost me. Right from the moment she first mentioned Danny, I knew that that was who Lea belonged with. And then I saw them together and that just reaffirmed that thought. But then she became so focused on Will and I liked Will but there was just always something that felt off about him. But by the end of Juniors, I was happy with the end result. It just took a bit to get there.

Even though it wasn’t entirely was I expected it would be, Kaui Hart Hemmings’s Juniors was still totally my kind of book. It was a slower and quieter story about finding yourself and finding where you belong and it was totally worth the read. Fair warning, though, this book will make you want to hop on a plane to Hawaii.