Contemporary YA

Life, and How We DON’T EVER CHANGE–A Review

DEC copyHi there! Today I’m excited to share a newly released contemporary YA coming-of-age novel from M. Beth Bloom. It has a different take on the summer after graduation for Eva, a judgy, intransigent, intellectual girl on her way to a private, prestigious college in Boston who finally finds the way into living, not just absorbing, life.

Don't Ever ChangeAbout the book:
Eva has always wanted to write a modern classic—one that actually appeals to her generation. The only problem is that she has realized she can’t “write what she knows” because she hasn’t yet begun to live. So before heading off to college, Eva is determined to get a life worth writing about.

Soon Eva’s life encounters a few unexpected plot twists. She becomes a counselor at a nearby summer camp—a job she is completely unqualified for. She starts growing apart from her best friends before they’ve even left for school. And most surprising of all, she begins to fall for the last guy she would have ever imagined. But no matter the roadblocks, or writer’s blocks, it is all up to Eva to figure out how she wants this chapter in her story to end.

Perfect for fans of E. Lockhart, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell, Don’t Ever Change is a witty, snarky, and thought-provoking coming-of-age young adult novel about a teen who sets out to write better fiction and, ultimately, discovers the truth about herself.

How about a little taste?

AMERICA, I, AMERICA, is a play about freedom and being an American girl, and it’s the first thing I ever wrote. I was in sixth grade. For my middle school’s Fourth Of July celebration, I picked Erica Bordorfsky to play the lead role, which she accepted wit a bit too much humility, and made me question her star power. “You’ve got to sell it,” was what I told her. “It’s about America!”

But ultimately, the final producation turned out totally shallow and historically inaccurate and extremely disappointing. At that age, when we’re still so young that we can do anything–be nurses or astronauts or princesses or cops–I chose to do this: write. So I began thinking of myself as a writer, but a frustrated one, because Erica insisted on mispronouncing her final line as “America, I Am Erica,” over and over, to a confused assembly of students and teachers.

That’s the first thing you learn: being misunderstood.

The second thing is all those old, “classic” books they make you read. They’re all about the same themes–the Plight of Man, Man’s Epic Nature, Man Versus Society, and whatever else–and there’s always some depressing metaphor like a river or a war. The overall message I learned about Coming of Age is that if it’s a true “classic,” then only a boy is allowed to do it, and that’s why I hate Holden Caulfield and I hate Huck Finn.

If I’m going to be left out because I’m a girl, or I’m going to be misunderstood, then I’d much rather be misunderstood; I’d rather have Erica Bordofsky bombing onstage, missing the entire point.

And I’d rather it be because I wrote it. Because it’s my story.

My Review:
Eva was a fun character to get to know. She’s prickly and sensitive and hides all her fears very well by keeping a figurative perimeter around her thin skin. She has two besties, Michelle and Steph, and all of them are getting different summer jobs. And going to different colleges. Eva wants to keep their friendship strong, by keeping them separate–not allowing “interlopers” into the group, and this causes natural levels of friction.

Plus, Eva’s struggling with her writing. She’s always excelled, but her most esteemed teacher has encouraged her to “write what she knows” and Eva must admit that she doesn’t know much. In fact, in Eva’s esteemed estimation she knows stunningly little. She seeks the counsel of her big sis, Courtney, who is working her way through yoga and meditation to achieve Enlightenment. Courtney is a great contrast to uptight Eva, and provides cryptic, yet sound, advice–and hooks Eva a job working at a summer camp as a youth counselor, too.

Eva’s a terrible counselor. It’s a sports and activities camp, and Eva strives to get her brood of 9 y/o girls…writing. It’s comical, actually, that it works; the girls feel acknowledged and empowered. I had to give her credit, she is dynamic. Her intensity is, I believe, what draws people in despite her prickliness. The thing is, with each new experience, Eva’s rough exterior seems to get ground down, sanded off. Her biggest competition at school, Foster, is a fellow counselor, and develops into a pseudo-boyfriend. Eva has sworn off dating with her impending departure so her single “illicit” (kissing in the counselor’s office) interlude with Foster is well-beyond her self-imposed boundaries.

I loved Eva’s willingness to change. I loved how she stretched herself to find out what she didn’t know. Her steadfastness to developing her craft was so interesting. Her love of her few friends was touching and bittersweet, as those friendships fade and new ones crop up. It was also awesome how she inspired and worked with those girls–standing up for one (who is continually fat-shamed) was inspiring, too. Eva’s a young girl, a work-in-revision, and she accepts that she is imperfect, and she attempts to re-write her flaws. I enjoyed that very much.

Do not expect a romance here. Eva has connections with three different boys in the course of her summer, but they are mostly platonic, with very little crossover. I was nervous there would be a love triangle, but it didn’t manifest. Yay! I also liked that what didn’t change about Eva was her love for herself. She is a proud feminist and I dug that. She could have given in on some of her other ideals–veganism, for instance–but didn’t. Emotionally, she grew enough to allow for new experience without compromising her core beliefs. It was refreshing to have a solid, emotionally-stable, yet intransigent, character learn how to cope with the many changes of her shifting world. At times, I felt the prose bogged with an extended reflection, and then I was pleasantly rewarded with a full-circle moment that paid off my patience. This happened often enough that I was rarely bothered when Eva mined her experiences to help her deal with the new situation she faced. In essence, we learned together and I appreciated being part of the experience.

Interested? You can find DON’T EVER CHANGE on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookDepository, Kobo and iTunes.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a hardcover copy of DON’T EVER CHANGE (open internationally).
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M. Beth BloomAbout the Author:
M. Beth Bloom is a novelist and a screenwriter. Her fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly and Dave Eggers’s Best American Nonrequired Reading series. She is also the author of Drain You. M. Beth lives in Los Angeles.

You can catch up with Ms. Bloom online on Goodreads, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

ffbc copy

Is it True Love? Or, FOREVER FOR A YEAR–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for a just-out YA contemporary romance from BT Gottfred. This is a realistic YA romance that features two kids “faking it until they make it” and finding their first love in the process. It’s bittersweet, with some wild turns.

Forever for a YearAbout the book:
When Carolina and Trevor meet on their first day of school, something draws them to each other. They gradually share first kisses, first touches, first sexual experiences. When they’re together, nothing else matters. But one of them will make a choice, and the other a mistake, that will break what they thought was unbreakable. Both will wish that they could fall in love again for the first time . . . but first love, by definition, can’t happen twice.

Told in Carolina and Trevor’s alternating voices, this is an up-close-and-personal story of two teenagers falling in love for the first time, and discovering it might not last forever.

My Review:
3.5 Stars.

Carolina and Trevor are starting freshman year of high school in Riverbend, IL, a fictional town nestled into the North/Northwest side of Chicago. This is the kind of town with wealth disparity–haves and have nots.

Trevor’s family has recently moved from LA to join his mother’s family–his Gram and uncle still reside in his mother’s hometown. He lives with his mom, dad and 7-y/o sister who is precocious and means the world to Trevor. just over a year ago his mother had a botched suicide attempt. Trevor had a hard time dealing with it, and he stayed home from school for a year; he’s more than melancholy. He’s clinically depressed, but it seems that everyone’s focus is on his mom. Kid gives Holden Caulfield his money for all the “this world’s pointless and fake” internal dialogue.

Carolina is a geek. Has been for evah. Her best friend, Peggy, wants desperately to be popular, and Peggie has an in because her older sister is really popular. So Peggy’s sister has agreed to get the popular kids to like both of them–but Carolina’s a mental spaz. Her internal dialogue is equivalent to The Flash mainlining pixie stix. She is meant to be smart, but I mostly saw low-self-esteem. She admits that whatever someone tells her, she will do. I didn’t like her much, but, as the story got on and she stopped listening to Peggy and her insane sister, I admired her backbone.

Trevor and Carolina meet in the first class of the first day of school. Trevor shows up late, and leaves his bag in his dad’s car so he has no supplies. Carolina lends him some–without speaking a word. They have a few classes in common, and it seems as if they make a tentative connection, but it becomes this THING before it can ever be a thing, mostly because they hardly speak to each other. Others step in, and Trevor thinks Carolina must be a “fake” and disses her, but he still thinks she’s beautiful.

Fast forward.

They work out their communication issues, by communicating!, and begin dating. I’m not going to belabor this: they are physical and it’s on the page and their sex is not always protected. There are a lot of emotional issues going on, too. Carolina’s father has had an affair and her parents want to reconcile, but Carolina’s been so hurt, and protective of her mom that she’s obstructive to the process. Trevor’s mom is clearly not faithful, as well, and the emotional impact of both of these relationships influence the development of Trevor and Carolina’s romance. They consider themselves soul mates–pretty early on. This felt both overblown and just right–mostly because I had trouble believing doom and gloom Trevor could be so positive about Carolina. Carolina falling head over heels? Yep.

Both Carolina and Trevor are gaga within a month. I remember those times. It’s heady and overwhelming. Strange that the two parents who become their confidantes are the ones who are known betrayers; I think this was meant to convey the idea that just because a person is a lousy spouse doesn’t mean they are bad parents–and that chestnut was dropped at about 97% in, so my impression was spot on.

I felt like I knew what was going to happen–partly because of the name, but also because this book was billed as a new “Forever” (but with frankly less mature characters than burgeoning adults Katherine and Michael) so I knew this was going to be bittersweet. It was, without question. Expect big family drama, big dumb mistakes, and some betrayal.

Near the end I got frustrated because it seemed that Trevor needed to make a change and couldn’t be honest. That was his whole thing: honesty. He and Carolina had overcome some pretty crap stuff, but he demanded complete honesty and couldn’t even give it.

The final pages were even more frustrating. I can’t even fathom the situation between Trevor and Carolina at that point. Their story might not be over, but I was kinda over it.

In truth, it was a decent read. Not great, not bad. I wanted more. Some plot points were awkward: missing “friend,” jealous manipulative girls, gossip, schoolyard brawl, missed periods, stodgy parent v. permissive parent, barely any communication between the kids and the faithful parents, suffering grades…it felt a bit heavy on the moralizing.

Oh well. It’s freshman year. Everything is dire, even the love. If you don’t want to read about two 14-15 y/o’s falling madly deeply, then getting it on, and having issues, and having more issues this is not the book for you.

Interested? You can find FOREVER FOR A YEAR on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

bt gottfredAbout the author:

BT Gottfred is an author and director. FOREVER FOR A YEAR is his first published novel. You can connect with him online on his website, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Big Secrets Between DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN–Review and Giveaway

daisy and the front man bannerHi there! Today I get to share my review for DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN a contemporary teen romance from Rebekah Purdy. This is the third story in the new Backstage Pass series coming out of Entangled Teen Publishing–one about each member of a boy band falling in love. I recently read and liked MIA AND THE BAD BOY, the second book. Though it’s a series, each book is a standalone, swoony tale. I’ve read other books by Ms. Purdy (HOW TO UNBREAK-UP and THE ROMEO CLUB) and enjoyed her breezy style, so I was anxious to get my hands on this one! Don’t forget to scroll down and enter the $50 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Daisy and the Front Man (Backstage Pass #3)About the book:
Hell hath no fury like a fangirl scorned…

When Daisy Morris finds out she’s spending the summer with her dad, bodyguard for Seconds to Juliet—the hottest boy band around—she knows it couldn’t be more perfect. But not because she’s a fan. Oh, no. Because ever since front man Trevin Jacobs completely humiliated her by standing her up for homecoming, Daisy is out for a little revenge. Yup, Trevin Jacobs is goin’ down…

When one of his bandmates bets Trevin he can’t make Daisy—the gorgeous but surprisingly ice-cold daughter of their bodyguard—fall in love with him, it’s a bet he can’t resist. Sure, Daisy won’t give him the time of day for reasons he can’t understand, and her dad’s hell-bent against his little girl spending time with a superstar. But the terms are set, and Trevin is determined to make Daisy fall…hard.

But every front man should know never to trust a girl with a pretty face…

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, sexual situations, and seriously hot boys. It may cause swoony daydreams involving a certain super-cute front man.

My Review:
Daisy is a fangirl scorned. She won a contest for the band Seconds To Juliet and her prize was a date to homecoming with S2J’s front man Trevin Jacobs–thing is, the dude stands her up–in front of half her town. Yep. She’s a pariah.

So, she’s more than toying with the idea of humiliating Trevin when she joins her father on the S2J tour. He’s the chief bodyguard for the band, and Daisy has unlimited access.

Trevin is a bit of a jackass. He’s a narc on his bandmates and charged with keeping everyone in line, even though he’s only 18. Still, meeting Daisy has him re-considering the S2J “no girlfriends” policy, and fellow songwriter, Ryder, challenges Trevin to the ultimate bet: if Trevin can get Daisy to fall for him, then he can get special songwriting privileges for the band. It’s Trevin’s dream-come-true—get a pretty girl to love him and he’s set!

Thing is, Daisy is not at all inclined to swoon for Trevin. She’s too bitter. Trevin can’t understand why his normal schtick isn’t working and actually tries to get to KNOW Daisy–he’s smitten, and feeling rather crappy regarding the bet.

For her part, Daisy sees how kind and considerate Trevin is, and thinks maybe her revenge plan is not the way to go. Plus, reconnecting with her dad after several years’ absence gives her a better perspective on life. She thought all men would leave her abandoned: Trevin, her dad, her dead Gramps. Trevin seems earnest in his pursuit of her friendship (and More!) until Daisy learns about The Bet.

So, this is a clean read with just a few make-out sessions. Daisy and Trevin are both young and foolish, making bad choices they regret and seek forgiveness for. It’s a solid YA romance with relatable, imperfect MC’s who make amends and build a real relationship. There is plenty of caustic banter and some definitely swoony moments. I enjoyed.

Interested? You can find DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN on Goodreads, Amazon, Entangled Teen and Barnes & Noble. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

rebecca purdyAbout the Author:
Rebekah was born and raised in Michigan where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. She’s lived in Michigan most of her life other than the few years she spent in the U.S. Army. At which time she got a chance to experience Missouri, Kansas, South Carolina, and California. Rebekah has a business degree from University of Phoenix and currently works full time for the court system. In her free time she writes YA stories, anything from YA Fantasy to YA Contemporary Romance. Rebekah also has a big family (6 kids) she likes to consider her family as the modern day Brady Bunch complete with crazy road trips and game nights. When not hiding at her computer, Rebekah enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games, traveling, and hanging out with her family and gazillion pets.

You can catch up with Rebekah online on her website, Facebook and twitter.   ef137-yabounktourbutton

Life Isn’t Much of a JOYRIDE–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for Anna Banks’ new contemporary romance, JOYRIDE. This is a book that tells more than a Romeo and Juliet story–The main characters are different sides of the law, and the cultural divide, and yet, they find love and support in the least likely place, each other.

JoyrideAbout the Book:
A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.

It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.

Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber’s mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.

All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.

My Review:
This is a solid contemporary read that takes on issues present and potent today: immigration, racism, corrupt police, entrapment, and undocumented persons, all in a hot bed of politically conservative ideology: Florida.

Carly’s parents were deported to Mexico three years ago. She and her brother, Julio, were born in the US, and stayed behind to work hard for the exorbitant fees charged by El Libratador, a known human smuggler, to bring their parents safely back across the border and Texas desert. She works the graveyard shift at a convenience store because it’s quiet enough for her to also study at the same time. She has a favorite customer who comes in nightly, minutes before closing–Cletus Shackleford. One night, as Carly is closing for the night, she sees Cletus being held up by a masked gunman and she jumps into action.

Arden Moss, sheriff’s son and general ne’er-do-well, hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in a year, not since his schizophrenic sister died. He balmes his father for hushing up her disease and denying her the healthcare that could have kept Amber happy and alive, for fear that it would have harmed his political career. Arden is a known prankster–but he only targets people that have more attitude than sense. He tries to scare his great-uncle Cletus off driving while intoxicated, but the feisty cashier is nearly more than he can handle.

It is that moment of kismet which brings this spheres into orbit–though Carly does reject ever overture that Arden makes to connect them. He’s not physically attracted at first–what Arden wants is a co-conspirator in his pranks. This was something he had done with his sister, and he feels the lack.

Over the course of a few weeks, Arden helps Carly find a new, better paying job, and their friendship is tentative, but growing in strength. Carly has missed out and many elements of childhood living with her brother and working for her parents’ transit fees. Just as things seem to be going well, Arden’s racist father learns of their connection. His entire election platform was on deportation of undocumented immigrants, and his eagerness to separate his son from the (supposed) immigrant filth that is Carly is palpable.

Arden is intransigent, but he’s also reckless, and when one of his pranks goes awry it is Carly who is under the sheriff’s boot. Quick thinking saves her from incarceration, but her parents’ transit is in jeopardy. And Carly’s big brother is major league ticked off. The only bargain that can be arranged  is a “voluntary” separation, enforced by the “good” sheriff–but will a man of his power use it for good? Or, for his own good…

This book was quite a good ride, even if virtually none of it was joyful. Through her relationship with Arden, Carly sees herself the most clear as ever–her life is in service to others, namely her parents. She has sacrificed so much to bring them back, and the final analysis proves she has little to show for all that work. Arden is desperate to have his pain acknowledged. His mother is too tripped out on sedatives, not even sensing her grief after her daughter’s death, to really care about Arden’s troubles. And his dad is too busy proving to their community that he’s a martyr for his office. He sweeps Arden’s messes aside, but won’t take responsibility for his own missteps. Plus, he’s a bona fide racist.

Both Arden and Carly have grief to overcome, but the danger in their relationship is accessibility; the Sheriff seems to be fixed on removing Carly from Arden’s equation–even if Arden has been better behaved under her diligent influence.

The resolution became cloak-and-dagger, and seemed a bit rushed, but the story was otherwise tight, with real issues discussed throughout. I totally loved elderly, ornery Uncle Cletus, his whiskey addiction notwithstanding. This is a solid contemporary teen read which is completely clean on the romance-side of it.

Interested? You can find JOYRIDE on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Anna BanksAbout the Author: (In Anna’s words…)
New York Times Bestselling author of The Syrena Legacy series.

Grew up in a town called Niceville. No, seriously. I graduated from Niceville High School. So did J Lo’s second husband. And the guy that plays Aqua Man on Smallville dated my best friend.

Now I indulge my tendency to lie by writing the lies down and selling them to publishers. Well actually my agent sells it, so she’s an accomplice to lies. One of my lies is called OF POSEIDON. The sequel is called OF TRITON. The last and final installment is OF NEPTUNE, and it released May 13, 2014. Be on the lookout for JOYRIDE, my YA Contemporary out June 2, 2015–Bonnie & Clyde meets Latina Pretty in Pink!

And um. I also write adult fiction under pen name Anna Scarlett. One of the adult lies is DEGREES OF WRONG. That is all.

You can catch up with Anna online on her website, Goodreads, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Cephalopod Coffeehouse May 2015–I AM THE TRAITOR

0ed81-coffeehouse
Hi there! Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month. Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.

As part of the Coffeehouse I’m sharing the best book I read this month, and it was the concluding book in Allen Zadoff’s Unknown Assassin series, I AM THE TRAITOR. Last summer I read both I AM THE WEAPON (originally published as BOY NOBODY) and I AM THE MISSION, and found the fast-paced stories about a 16 y/o government assassin to be pretty kickass. I was offered an advanced reviewer copy of this book, and I devoured it.

I Am the Traitor (The Unknown Assassin, #3)About the Book:
In the third and final installment in the Unknown Assassin trilogy, Boy Nobody is on the run from The Program and uncovers a secret about his past that forces him to decide where his loyalties lie.

The Program has sent Boy Nobody on countless missions, instructed to kill whichever target he was given. But now, after going rogue, he is on his own mission to rescue his friend Howard who was captured by The Program. Boy Nobody manages to free Howard as well as Tanya, a mysterious girl who was being held with him. Howard and Tanya help Boy Nobody collect information about his father, eventually revealing a dangerous secret that teaches Boy Nobody a valuable lesson — he can’t trust anyone.

My Review:
This is the third book in a series, and books should be read in order.

This book picks up where I AM THE MISSION left off, with Zach still trying to determine if his father is dead, and to hunt down and recover his friend, Howard. Howard became friends with Zach in book one of the series, and helped him run his op in book two–all without the knowledge or consent of The Program, the government agency that procures, trains and manages this group of elite teen assassins to which Zach has belonged for five years. Ever since his father was killed.

Over the course of the books, Zach’s confidence in The Program–and his handlers Mother and Father–has slipped. Howard was Zach’s safety net, one outsider who could attest to his existence in the event that The Program tried to scrub him, but The Program learned about Howard and has taken him into custody. Zach knows they will kill him–and he’s determined to ensure that won’t happen.

Naturally, Mike–Zach’s field commander, is up on the score. Not only does Mike know where Howard is, he has a new mission for Zach: eliminate Howard. A good soldier would follow orders, and Zach knows this mission is a test–he fails it spectacularly, not only rescuing Howard but also a girl who is imprisoned with him, Tanya.

As with everything in Zach’s world, nothing is what it seems. Two things remain true, however: Zach wants to find his father, and Howard is sure he is still alive. Together, Tanya, Howard and Zach search for inroads into The Program’s files to learn the truth behind Zach’s father’s story. They investigate the news story regarding Zach’s parents’ deaths. They hijack a terminal at a high security research lab. Dogging their steps is Mike, who is equal parts ally and hunter.

It is a thrill ride, sure to keep readers turning the pages. I loved both previous books in this series, and Zach is a fascinating sociopath. Somewhere in this morass of murder and mayhem he has grown the conscience The Program believed it had snuffed out. His decisions are no longer guided by a faulty directive, and his quest to save his father and friends renders him inarguably human.

I had expected both of the big twists–with no lack of enjoyment–and gloried in Zach’s triumphs. The big themes, government intrusion, research ethics, mind control, and the growth of the industrial military complex, are all present, but are far overshadowed by Zach establishing trust, redeeming himself, putting others before his own mission. As a conclusion to this series, it is excellent.

Some readers may balk at the teen assassin aspects of this book, and how otherworldly capable The Program’s agents are, but it was akin to The Bourne Identity, for me. The pace of the book is extraordinarily fast, with not a spare word to be found. I have a hard time imagining there will be a reader over age 12 who takes more than a day to finish this book.

Interested? You can’t get I AM THE TRAITOR just yet, but it can be preordered in advance of it’s 6/9 release at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks. Or try your local library mid-June. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Hope you have a chance to hop around to my fellow Coffeehouse reviewers and find a book to intrigue you! Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

 

Teaching Both MIA AND THE BAD BOY–Review and Giveaway

Mia and the Bad Boy tour banner
Hi there! Today, I’m sharing my review for a contemporary YA romance featuring a shy, smart girl and the bad boy musician she’s tutoring. MIA AND THE BAD BOY by Lisa Burstein is a fun, flirty romance for teens. Don’t forget to scroll down and enter the giveaway for a $25 Ticketmaster GC.

MiaAndTheBadBoy_FCAbout the Book:
This good girl’s about to meet her match…
Ryder Brooks is living the dream—he’s famous, loved by millions of girls, and miserable. All he really wants is to write his own music, not Seconds to Juliet’s sugary sweet pop. In order to do that, though, the “bad boy” of the band will have to play by the rules. And that includes behaving with his new—and super cute—über-good-girl tutor.

Mia Reyes is in fangirl heaven. Tutoring her favorite member of her favorite band? It’s a dream come true…until it turns into a complete nightmare. Ryder is nothing like she thought. He’s crude, arrogant, and pretty much a total jerk. And the worst part? She’s roped into pretending to be his girlfriend so that no one finds out he’s being tutored. Fake kisses, plenty of PDA, and even sharing his hotel room…

But sometimes even the baddest of bad boys needs a little redemption.

Note: This is the second book in the YA series Backstage Pass. It can be read as a standalone.

My Review:
Mia is a first generation Mexican-American whose parents want her to go to medical school. She has been groomed since birth to study, study, study, and never had a boyfriend. Check that: she’s never been allowed to have a boyfriend. At 16, her only kissing experience has been with her hand. In exchange for her help tutoring The Ryder Brooks for a month so he can pass his GED test, she will receive four years of tuition at UCLA paid in full. Not bad.

What is bad? Ryder.

He’s nasty, and that’s in the mean way, not the sexy way. Though he is sexy, too. If Ryder were a flavor of ice cream, he’d be burnt bacon. He’s abrasive, unkind, and rather stunned that his tutor is both younger and sexier than he’d anticipated. Since she can’t be hidden amongst the crew as a therapist or other talent help, he insists that she pretend to be his girlfriend–in front of the other four members of his band.

This is a difficult position for Mia, particularly because she wanted to like Ryder so much. She adores his music, only to learn that he hates the manufactured sound of it. She admires his performances, only to hear how he detests the boy band life. Ryder is a bit spoiled, actually, in his professional life. Personally though, he’s been abandoned time and again–first by his alcoholic mother and later by the foster system shuttling him from family to family without finding one stable home which wanted to keep him.

Mia is a temporary distraction, but she is a good tutor. Ryder finds himself not only engaging with the GED material, he’s slowly becoming obsessed with his fake girlfriend. And Mia is warming to the Ryder whose cool customer demeanor is beginning to slip.

This is a fun and flirty romance that has little conflict. The biggest obstacle to Ryder and Mia getting together is her desire to be ‘the good girl’ her parents adore. Ryder, despite being 17 y/o, is far more worldly and experienced–and he knows Mia is innocent. He doesn’t want to ruin her, but he does want her.

Expect a double-cross mishap that splits them up, and the epic grand gesture to reunite. I liked both Mia and Ryder. It took me longer to like Ryder, however. There were some issues for me, as an adult, that seemed glossed over–like how autonomous Mia was. Not many 16 y/o’s can decide their own fate, and her parents, who are described as smothering, certainly let her have a long free rein which wasn’t consistent. Still, for a teen book, it’s pretty breezy. Not a lot of drama.

Interested? You can find MIA AND THE BAD BOY on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, and iBooks. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a $25 Ticketmaster gift card!
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

lisa bursteinAbout the Author:
Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.

She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.

You can catch up with Lisa online on her website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Drama and Love at CENTER ICE–Review and Giveaway

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Hi there! Today, I’m joining the blog tour for CENTER ICE, a contemporary YA romance featuring a hockey phenom and the girl who could not care less… 😉
I love sports romance, and Cate Cameron has nailed this one! Check out other stops on the tour here, and don’t forget to enter the Amazon Gift Card giveaway below.

Center IceAbout the book:
The hometown hockey hero won’t know what hit him…

Karen Webber is in small-town hell. After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.

But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.

Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…

My Review:
Karen’s a 16 y/o girl from Toronto who has just moved into her father’s plush home in Corrigan Falls, a small town filled with gossips. Is it her fault she was conceived by a man cheating on his then-pregnant wife? Nope. Was it her fault her mother died in a car wreck, forcing her to move in with her dad–whom she had never met–his wife and their three kids? Nope. But, not being to blame doesn’t make living with them any easier.

Tyler’s weeks away from his 18th birthday and high on the prospect ladder for the NHL draft. He plays for the Corrigan Falls Raiders, a team well-known for producing excellent players, and has lived with host families for the past three years, sacrificing his own family time to give everything to hockey. He’s on the cusp of realizing all his (father’s) dreams and this all seems beyond his reach. No matter how good he does, his helicopter father–and his agent–are ringside waiting to tell him how he needs to step up, work harder, do this, do that. Meeting Karen while on his morning runs is a breath of ultra-fresh air. Here’s a girl who just is. She wants nothing from him–not even his attention. It’s catnip for Tyler, who has, for the past three years, been aggressively pursued by “puck bunnies” girls (and women) who want to bag a rising star for a bit of horizontal distraction. Tyler loves just being a “normal” guy with Karen, but that mystique wears off quick–especially so when Karen finds out one of the horde of Tyler’s sexual partners is her own half-sister, and mean girl extraordinaire, Miranda.

While Tyler and Karen take fledgling steps toward coupledom, the complicated plot gets murkier. Her parents are finally acknowledging the serious problems in their marriage. There had long been rumors of infidelity, but Karen is a physical testament to them. Clashes between Karen and Miranda aren’t just verbal cattiness–blows get thrown! Tyler’s parents are pressuring him to take out loans to support them–and his agent is working every angle to box Tyler into a contract that is not in his best interest.

I liked the plot dynamics, and Karen’s stepmother, Natalie, is a really great character. Her life is no picnic, raising four kids with a skirt chasing husband has to be really trying, yet she makes good decision for her kids, and her family. I wanted to kick Karen’s father right in the neck, on several occasions, but he is extremely human, and is kind and attentive to his children, and even to Natalie–despite his infidelities. Karen is likable, if a bit impulsive. She owns up to her frailties, and makes more good choices than bad. Tyler is a great guy, one I think readers will enjoy. This is a redemptive story for him, and he succeeds at being honest and decent.

The growing pains in both families felt very real, and approachable. This is an upper teen read, perhaps, due to frank discussions about sex, and the MC’s do have a physical relationship. The descriptions are all very soft and off-the-page, however. I did like this one, for its realism and its honesty. A solid YA romance.

Interested? You can find CENTER ICE on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, and iBooks. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a $20 Amazon Gift card
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Cate Cameron grew up in the city but moved to the country in her mid-twenties and isn’t looking back. Most of her writing deals with people living and loving in small towns or right out in the sticks – when there aren’t entertainment options on every corner, other people get a lot more interesting!

She likes to write stories about real people struggling with real issues. YA, NA, or contemporary romance, her books are connected by their emphasis on subtle humor and characters who are trying to do the right thing, even when it would be a lot easier to do something wrong.

You can find Cate online on her website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

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LOLA CARLYLE’S 12-STEP ROMANCE–Review & Giveaway

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Hi there! Today I’m part of the review tour for a new contemporary YA romance that packs a serious emotional punch. LOLA CARLYLE’S 12-STEP ROMANCE From Danielle Younge-Ullman is about a girl who takes a hard look at her life, and turns it around before it gets out of control. Make sure to check out the giveaway below.

Lola Carlyle's 12-Step RomanceAbout the book:
Lola Carlyle is lonely, out of sorts, and in for a boring summer. So when her best friend, Sydney, calls to rave about her stay at a posh Malibu rehab and reveals that the love of Lola’s life, Wade Miller, is being admitted, she knows what she has to do. Never mind that her worst addiction is decaf cappuccino; Lola is going to rehab.

Lola arrives at Sunrise Rehab intent solely on finding Wade, saving him from himself, and—naturally—making him fall in love with her…only to discover she’s actually expected to be an addict. And get treatment. And talk about her issues with her parents, and with herself. Plus she has insane roommates, and an irritatingly attractive mentor, Adam, who’s determined to thwart her at every turn.

Oh, and Sydney? She’s gone.

Turns out, once her pride, her defenses, and her best friend are stripped away, Lola realizes she’s actually got a lot to overcome…if she can open her heart long enough to let it happen.

My Review:
Lola Carlyle is celebu-spawn, the selfish 17 y/o offspring of two serious Hollywood players. Her mother is an actress on a long-standing soap opera, and her dad is a well-known diretor. The parental units split several years ago, and Lola lives with her mom and mother’s girlfriend, while dad ia gallivanting off with whomever warms his bed–leaving Lola isolated and alone.

Her friend, Sydney, cons Lola into faking her way into rehab–where Sydney is, with the carrot that Lola’s long-time crush, child actor Wade Miller is also in residence. Lola’s torn–she has no addictions, yet, she has nothing really going on in her life. The lure of reconnecting with (and possibly helping) Wade, who she worked with on one of her dad’s movies years ago, is strong, and it’s not long before Lola is Sunrise-bound. While there, she learns that Sydney checked out two days before Lola arrived! Trying to salvage something positive, she seeks out Wade, who doesn’t recognize her, but is certainly intrigued by the girl hitting on him.

Throughout the first week, however, Lola is remorseful about her shenanigans. She sees how very seriously some of the residents at Sunrise suffer from addiction. She can’t even go into therapy, knowing that any decent therapist will see through her charade. The tragic stories she hears are horrifying, and only reinforce her idea that faking an addiction to hang out with Sydney and help “save” Wade was the worst idea ever.

Plus, her mentor, Adam, is a constant thorn in her paw. He’s everywhere, and her attempt to escape him only brings them in closer proximity. Close enough that Lola finally feels as if someone is actually SEEING her. Her parents have treated her with casual neglect nearly her whole life, and even Lola doesn’t think her sob story is worth anything compared with the addicts who surround her. She tries to “confess” that she isn’t an addict, and this only gets her labeled as a denier. So, she steps up and works with her counselors, not against them, believing it’s her only way out.

I enjoyed Lola’s journey from self-obsessed snarky girl to self-reliant, grounded girl. The time span of the book isn’t long–only a few weeks, but she has had years of emotional drama that she never felt comfortable discussing, always fearing a negative report being leaked to the press. Getting intense therapy does help Lola cope with her family drama in a healthy way. Though, honestly, her fame-hungry mother would be unlikely to bat an eyelash over the spin cycle of their taudry famliy laundry; she did arrange to have paparrazi present at Lola’s intake appointment, after all.

Adam was not an unexpected love interest. I felt like that part of the romance was well-handled. He is attracted to the exasperating Lola, but holds himself (mostly) in check, to salvage his professional role, and facilitate Lola’s “recovery.” It is Adam’s compassion which helps Lola turn the corner, and gain the insight she needs to be whole again. The book ends without the cheesy parent/child water works reunion, and that was for the best. Lola is a better person after all this, but I think even she would still say she’s “whak.”

The story, for all the seriousness of the subject matter, is rather lightherated, with Lola almost manic in her single-mindedness. Her superficiality burns off in the harsh light of self-reflection in a way that is endearing. The first half of the book I was shaking my head at her idiocy, and the second half I was cheering her on, so I guess I changed a bit, too.

The book contains some frank discussion regarding drug and alcohol addiction, including an OD, and has passing references to sex, though not from the main character’s experience. I think teens will enjoy.

Interested? You can find LOLA CARLYLE’S 12-STEP ROMANCE on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo Books.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a cool LOLA prize pack!
Giveaway
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Good luck, and keep reading my friends!

danielle youngeAbout the Author
Danielle Younge-Ullman is a novelist, playwright and freelance writer. She studied English and Theater at  McGill University, then returned to her hometown of Toronto to work as professional actor for ten  years. Danielle’s short story, Reconciliation, was published in MODERN MORSELS—a McGraw-Hill  Anthology for young adults—in 2012, her one-act play, 7 Acts of Intercourse, debuted at Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival in 2005, and her adult novel, FALLING UNDER, was published by Penguin in 2008.  Danielle lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters.

You can find Danielle on her website, Tumblr, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Caught in the UNDERTOW–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for a dystopian YA novel that is eerily applicable to today’s mad, mad world. UNDERTOW, released today by Michael Buckley is a bit haunting in content, only because it brings the nastiest elements of our present society into sharp focus.

imageAbout the book:
Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s only hope of survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen.

Action, suspense, and romance whirlpool dangerously in this cinematic saga, a blend of District 9 and The Outsiders.

My Review:
Lyric learned the biggest secret of her life three years ago: her mother isn’t human. She is one of several ocean-dwelling races (a daughter of Sirena) who sent 20 operatives into the human world to learn about life on the surface. Her mother, Summer, met her (human) father and they married, had Lyric, and enjoyed a rather normal daily life as low-income people living in Coney Island. Lyric’s father is an upstanding police officer, and had been able to mask his wife’s lack of documentation over the years. Lyric had no reason to suspect anything was unusual about her heritage until the night the Alpha arrived.

The Alpha are Summer’s kin, and there’s 30,000 of them quarantined in a shanty town on the beach at Coney Island. Lyric’s entire neighborhood, now dubbed “The Zone”, has been placed on lock-down to keep the Alpha from branching out. This means Summer cannot leave Coney Island either as she has no birth certificate or social security card. The book opens with the forced integration of Lyric’s high school.

Lyric knows she needs to keep her head down at school and in public. All of Summer’s associates, the other 19 operatives and their families, have been “disappeared” to secret government labs for testing, and calling their house into scrutiny could lead to Lyric and her parents being captured. Summer spends her days and nights searching the video feeds of the refugees to find her parents so they can reunite, if possible.

The forced integration is intense and harkens back to the 60s and 70s inclusion of Blacks into “white” schools. Expect riots. Lyric and her BFF Bex are hard-pressed to make their way into school without being caught in the mobs. Plus, lots of kids in this impoverished school are more than happy to lash out at the Alpha, but Summer has told Lyric how deadly they can be. The bullying is extreme and fights are sure to have lethal consequences. Trying to stop one such altercation, Lyric finds herself square in the new principal’s spotlight, only Principal Doyle isn’t just the new guy in charge. It seems he’s got serious insider info regarding Lyric’s family. They strike a deal that Lyric acts as a tutor to the Alpha prime’s son, Prince Fathom, and Doyle won’t ‘out’ Summer’s Alpha status.

Thing is, humans seen as sympathetic to, or in the company of, Alpha have been killed by local anti-Alpha vigilantes. The chance of discovery gets ever higher as Prince Fathom and Lyric spend more time together–causing Doyle to sweeten his offer: he has bona fide paperwork for Summer that will enable her family to leave The Zone.

There is a love spark here, between Lyric and Prince Fathom, but it’s on the down low for the first half of the book. I think the bigger part of the story is the politicization of this refugee community. The governer of NY (a blatant parody of Michelle Bachmann which I appreciated) is a hardline conservative positioned against integration, and is on the school steps attempting to bodily block Alpha entry–the National Guard is out in full force, and present in the school and classrooms. Vigilantes are everywhere, attempting to incite riot.

There are so many parallels to today’s society in this novel one could discuss the themes in the context of racism, classism, undocumented status, homophobia, vigilante justice, and xenophobia, among others. The plot itself is not terribly original–Lyric must overcome her own issues and fight the spreading violence that is overtaking The Zone to save herself and her family. The characterization is unique, however, and the love interest thing is not the major focus. Sure, Lyric develops an affection for Fathom, and it’s reciprocated, but there are a million and one other things happening here, and that’s absolutely cool.

I really dug the action, and the world-building within this tiny slice of Americana. I’ve been to Coney Island, and could easily imagine the devastation of the community around it, all filtered through Lyric’s eyes. The Alpha are an amazing collection of beings, each of which has a specific role within their society. Learning that they are not the biggest problem facing humanity is rather a refreshing twist. Lyric’s migraines are a part of who she is, and the benefit of them was only revealed late. She’s able to channel some of that physiological malady into powering an Alpha weapon, but killing others may be beyond Lyric’s pacifist ideals. Well, until her existence is treatened… The short time-frame for mastery was thin on believability, but I was able to overcome it. I loved the gritty descriptions, and the secondary characters are fantastic–from Bex’s miserable abusive step-father to Lyric’s nosy racist neighbor.

The book ends with a temporary end to hostilites, though the resolution is not complete. Lyric has a lot more work to do to fix her family and her world. This is series I know my kids will love, and I’m anxious for the sequel.

Interested? You can find UNDERTOW on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
New York Times bestselling author Michael Buckley was born in Akron, Ohio. He tried his hand as a stand-up comic and lead singer for a punk rock back before attending Ohio University. After graduating with honors he moved to New York City to be an intern on the Late Show with David Letterman which led to stints developing programming for Discovery Networks, MTV, MTV Animation and Klasky Csupo (producers of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats). Today he lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Alison, and their son Finn.

You can find Michael on his website, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Happy Book Birthday to LIFE UNAWARE!

Woo hoo! I’m excited to wish a happy book birthday to Cole Gibsen’s LIFE UNAWARE. I sure love realistic YA, and this book looks like one I’d gobble for breakfast.

About the book:

Regan Flay has been talking about you. 
Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother’s “plan” for high school success―cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society—until her life gets turned horribly, horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult she’s ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in school.
Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah.
The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend’s hot but socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan’s going through, but what nobody knows is that Regan isn’t really Little Miss Perfect. In fact, she’s barely holding it together under her mom’s pressure. But the consequences of Regan’s fall from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain untouched…
Especially Regan Flay.

 

Interested? You can find LIFE UNAWARE on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Book Depository, B-A-M, IndieBound and Powells.

About the Author
Cole Gibsen first realized she different when, in high school, she was still reading comic books while the other girls were reading fashion magazines.
It was her love of superheroes that first inspired her to pick up a pen. Her favorite things to write about are ordinary girls who find themselves in extraordinary situations.
Author Links:

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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

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