Review: Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Pub. Date: August 27^th, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Paperback

432 pages

Every once in a while I get the urge to read a pure love story. That is what I expected Love Overdue to be – a love story. And don’t get me wrong it is - but it’s not only a romance love story, it’s also a love story about a town.

Hired as the new Librarian in small-town Verdant Kansas, from her clothes to her tightly wound bun, DJ Jarrow is intent on living up to the Librarian stereotype. Her strict control stems from one moment of humiliation as a teenager when she allowed herself to just let go. Eight years later, DJ is faced with a different type of humiliation – small town gossip. Worst of all, rumors start spreading that DJ was really hired because the head of the library board was hoping for a bit of matchmaking between DJ and her son Scott. Much to DJs dismay, the son – Scott Sanderson, happens to be the source of her humiliation years before. Waiting for the day Scott is able to figure out why she seems so familiar, DJ actually starts getting to know the adult Scott, and she’s forced to question if the Scott she built up in her head, reflects the real Scott. Intent on building a life in Verdant, DJ has to get past the past, and learn to live her present and her future for more than just her job.  

Review: Promise Me Something by Sara Kocek

Pub. Date: September 1^st, 2013

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

Hardcover

311 pages

I always try my best to remain spoiler free in my reviews – but this is one of the rare times that I will not be able to review without discussing some major plot points. If you want to remain spoiler free I suggest you skip this one!

When the school board changes zoning areas, Reyna Fey has to start freshman year at a different school than her three best friends. Hoping to not spend everyday completely alone, Reyna’s open to making friends, but sharp tongued, tell it like it is Olive Barton, wasn’t the kind she was expecting. Brought together first out of loneliness, Reyna slowly begins to consider Olive a real friend. But, everything changes when Olive comes out to Reyna, and Reyna responds in the most hurtful, painful way possible. Unaware how severely she has hurt Olive, Reyna submerges herself in a new relationship, and a new group of friends, abandoning Olive when she needs her the most. As the girls become more hostile than friendly, Reyna is forced to learn how one person’s actions and words can forever alter someone else’s life. 

Review: The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

Pub. Date: August 27^th, 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books

Hardcover

336 pages

Lauren Myracle is by all standards a popular Tween/Teen author. This is the first of her novels that I have read, so I don’t know if this title is typical of her writing, but I hope that readers do not flock towards The Infinite Moment of Us. For me, the novel does not add positively to the Teen Romance genre, because the relationship is one I personally do not support.

In the summer following her last year in high school, straight and narrow Wren Grey takes her first ever side step from the ‘plan’, choosing to defer college, instead accepting a volunteer position in Guatemala. No parental input allowed. Her seemingly small world expands when Charlie Parker catches her eye. Charlie and Wren’s upbringings seem to be entirely different, but they connect through the insecurities they both hold internally. Falling in love, the two see their relationship as the kind that can last a lifetime. But are they ready for what commitment really means?

Typically Teen Romances are among my favorite things. But, The Infinite Moment of Us didn’t live up to the genre. While I found Charlie to be a likeable enough guy, Wren drove me crazy. In novels

Review: My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron

Pub. Date: August 27^th, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin

Paperback

400 pages

Cameron has an insane ability to pull you right into her novels. Her novel Deeper We Fall is by far my favorite read of the year, and My Favorite Mistake is definitely top 10. As Cameron’s novels begin to take the ‘traditional’ publishing route, I’m preparing my ears for the squeals of joy as more readers discover her excellence.

Taylor and Hunter first connect like a punch connects to a face. Nothing could surprise Taylor more than her new roommate being a smooth talking, guitar-playing dude. Instantly rubbing her the wrong way, Hunter seems to have the innate ability to make Taylor uncomfortable and bring out the worst in her – a trait that leads to him gaining some significant facial bruising. Hunter, out of rooming options makes Taylor a deal – by the end of the semester, if she can truly make him believe that she either loves or hates him, he’ll move out. Rooming with a guy is just as awkward as you would expect, but Taylor and Hunter learn that opening up about the struggles they’ve dealt with in the past, may just be the thing that can bring them together.

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Review: Doon (Doon #1) by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Pub. Date: August 20^th, 2013

Publisher: Zondervan

Hardcover

368 pages

I was sincerely excited for this book. I loved the Alice in Wonderland, Princess Bride kind of feel I got from the synopsis. But Doon is more Twilight melodrama, than Alice in Wonderland fantasy world building – which isn’t a bad thing; it just wasn’t what I was expecting. The writing was solid and consistent, but as a reader, I was left looking for more fantasy from this ‘fantasy’.

Discontent with her life at home, Veronica wonders if she’s going crazy when she starts randomly seeing a strange Scottish boy telling her to come to Doon. Jumping at her best friend McKenna’s invitation to spend the summer in Scotland at her recently inherited Aunt Gracie’s home, the girls soon find a set of rings and Gracie’s old diary, telling the story of a hidden land over a bridge called Doon. At the mention of Doon Veronica knows the boy she has been seeing is real, and feels compelled to find Doon and him. McKenna on the other hand is not convinced Doon really exists. Finding and crossing the bridge to Doon is easy compared to getting both of Doon’s Princes, Jamie and Duncan, to believe they are in Doon with good intentions. Prince Jamie – Veronica’s dream boy – is especially hard to convince because he suspects they were sent by Doon’s evil witch to destroy his land. The girls know there’s a reason they found Doon, and they need to figure it out before the witch destroys them all.

Review: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

Pub. Date: August 27th, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
330 pages
Hardcover

I’m not going to lie, when I first picked up The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, the retrospective first person point of view threw me in its unusualness. But, after a few chapters, once I was more acclimated, the wit and heart of the lyrical writing truly pulled me in, and I felt silly for not seeing it right away.

Ezra Faulkner is forced into the kind of self-discovery we all hope to have, but that many of us are too afraid to really attempt. After a car accident leaves the once top tennis player permanently benched with a seriously damaged knee, he no longer fits in with his athlete friends. Yet, something many would see as totally negative, for Ezra is ultimately more bittersweet. For the first time, Ezra is able to see how superficial and unsupportive the people he called his friends really were. Open to forging new friendships, Ezra meets new girl Cassidy Thorpe and reunites with his childhood best friend, whose unusual tragedy years early cemented him on the unpopular list, ultimately separating him from Ezra. Surrounded by people who actually care about and challenge him for the first time, Ezra is finally asked what he wants, who he is, and most importantly who he wants to be. Discovering the answers to these questions propels Ezra in a completely different direction than he was headed before, this time, on his own terms.

Preview: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

Expected Publication Date: Sept 3/2013. Full Review Coming Soon!

Review: Indelible (The Twixt, #1) by Dawn Metcalf

Pub. Date: July 30^th, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

384 pages

Paperback

Joy Malone is blissfully unaware that the paranormal world of The Twixt exists simultaneously to ours, until a night out leaves her with a sliced cornea, and weird-beings approaching her with nonsensical messages. Indelible Ink, a Scribe from The Twixt, is responsible for receiving messages from other beings of his world, marking humans with an invisible to the human eye signature of ownership. When Joy can see him, instead of blinding her, eliminating her ‘sight’, he mistakenly marks her as his property. Joy and Ink must convince Ink’s world that he intentionally claimed her, or risk their lives. Their relationship, real or fake, is constantly tested, and through these tests they discover that something seriously deceptive is going on within The Twixt.

The characters and their relationships, for me, was the best part of the novel. Joy and Ink’s relationship has just the right mix of love, hate, understanding and misunderstanding, to keep things interesting. In keeping up appearances, Ink and Joy have to act like they are romantically together, something that is completely unnaturally to Ink. He is not human, he does not feel as humans do, and through their relationship Ink experiences many firsts. From holding hands, to feeling jealous, to fearing for someone else’s safety, Joy enlightens Ink to what caring about someone else feels like. I really appreciated the twist of the guy experiencing the firsts, because it is not something we see often. Their relationship was very natural, with the ups and downs that normal relationships have, which I felt made the entire novel realistic, and that much more compelling.