Review - Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

So I got this for myself over the holiday. I loved Anna and the French Kiss, and heard that Lola and the Boy Next Door was even better. Sadly, I didn’t think it was better. It was really good, but in comparison for me, it wasn’t as good as Anna.

My reasons are personal though. Lola, she’s fun. She really is, but she’s into fashion and makeup and I’m just not. I like clothes, I like makeup, but I kinda got a little lost in her fashion talk. I have never been into trends. Some of the references made to fashion, I didn’t understand, but that’s okay! I still loved her, even though I didn’t connect with her as much as I did with Anna.

Speaking of Anna, I knew this was a companion, and you would see her and dreamy Etienne. You actually see a lot of them! This made me super happy. <3 them.

Lola has two dads. That was pretty awesome. I kept thinking of Cam and Mitchell because I watch Modern Family. There’s more to her family though, some deeper stuff which was interesting to delve into. Lola is more than a fashionista, she’s a little troubled. It made her seem real.

Cricket, I loved him. I feel like he deserved better than Lola at times. He’s a great male character. Not sure if he’s quite my type, but I can imagine he would be nice to look at. As for the name, I’m not a fan of those noisy things. I would never, I repeat, NEVER, name my child after a nasty ass bug. Lol. I actually liked his twin sister Calliope. She was bitchy, but rightly so. I would love to read more about her life later on, I hope this happens.

Over all, this book is cute. I really enjoyed it. I will always read Perkins stuff. There is just something about the way she writes. Oh, and how about this cover! Adorable, right! I think the house colors are in the wrong order. I will have to re-read the beginning, but I could have sworn the lavender one was supposed to be next to the green one. But there is a pink house there. Hmm. But anyway, it really captures the feel of the book. I even made a teaser trailer for this last fall, just because I loved the cover so much. So I’ll leave you with that.

REVIEW- Temptation

Title: Temptation

Author: Karen Ann Hopkins

Publisher: Harlequin

Import: HarlequinTEEN

Publish Date: June 19^th, 2012

Source: NetGalley

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Your heart misleads you. That's what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won't be. Because he's Amish. And I'm not. 

The number one thing I learned from reading this book is…. I could never be happy being  Amish. EVER! Now, I live in Pennsylvania, so I’m no stranger to the Amish. I don’t live close to them, but they do come up my way to sell merchandise. And holy cow, their pies and stuff are good!

See! I just bought this from them yesterday, and I'll for sure be trying a piece tonight. :)

It’s funny, I have lived near the Amish all my life, but still learned things from reading this. Like the beards, I knew the older men had them, never bothered to learn why. So I was not only entertained, but educated as well. :)

Temptation is a story about an English girl who falls for an Amish boy. Now when I hear the term English girl, I immediately think that means she’s from England. Nope, that’s just the term Amish use for any person who isn’t one of them.

Noah is the Amish hunk in question. I’ll admit he’s described well. I’m sure he’s all full of muscle doing all the hard farm work and stuff, but I had a hard time finding him attractive. I couldn't stop thinking about how ripe he must be smelling. Unless the Amish make some kinda corn deodorant, I'm guessing his pits smelled like death. He had his good moments, but he had his bad. I almost can’t blame him, for the way he was raised but the anti feminism remarks annoyed me. I wanted to slap him, but at the same time I just wanted to hug him. 

Rose was full of spunk. She met Noah and was immediately smitten. I would say that’s unrealistic, but I was that age once. If a good looking boy so much as breathed in my direction, I was crushing. I’m not sure I quite believed the whole love angle though. That could just be me speaking from a mother’s point of view. I wanted to beat them both upside the head. Rose was very naive when it came to what they were up against and Noah was so single minded at times, it drove me nuts but kept me turning the pages.

Not saying they didn’t care for each other but it was awfully quick. Add to that, the complications of their different upbringings. Drama on the Farm, Let me tell ya! 

Rose can’t be with Noah, because he’s Amish and she’s not. So its one or the other… Rose could become Amish or he could become English. It’s a loss either way in my opinion. Rose knows nothing about being Amish. Could you give up everything to be with the boy you think you love? At age 16?? You’re first boyfriend??? Your first kiss???? 

Let me tell you, I’m 32, Married for almost 9 years, and if Brian asked me to become Amish today for him, I would tell him hell no, and I love him with all my heart! With all my soul!


but.... yes there is a large but!

I also love….

-Wearing my hair down and having is styled

-my smart phone

-the Internet

-TV

-books that aren't the bible

-birth control

-jeans

-FREEDOM!

Guys, the list goes on. I know, I know, that’s horrible. I should be able to give these things up for someone I love. Alas I’m a failure at life, but hear me out. I chose my husband because he loves all the things that I love. Before we made the decision to further our relationship, we discussed all the stuff that was important to us, and agreed on them. We were on common ground. Every couple compromises on stuff, but we never changed for each other. That’s what I disliked about  Rose and Noah relationship.  Noah’s assumption that Rose should be the one to change really pissed me off. 

Oh but I did love this book. It fired me up as you can tell. It made me really think about things… about what is important to me. Like gadgets! Ha!

I think Temptation was well written though. I could not put this puppy down. The romantic scenes between Noah and Rose were sizzling. I can see why they were infatuated with each other.

I was so surprised at the end to see there is another book. This is a series. I will for sure be reading the next one. The NetGalley I received had a sneak peek of the next one, and I'm very intrigued! :o)


So if you are loving contemporary right now, and want something cute and different, this is it. 


Amazon/Barnes Noble/ The Book Depository

REVIEW - Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Title : Lies Beneath

Author: Anne GreenWood Brown

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Imprint: Delacorte BFYR

Publish Date: June 12^th 2012

Source: NetGalley

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him

Lies Beneath is technically my first mermaid book. I did read a book a while back, I forget the name of it, but it was more like a contemporary disguised as a mermaid book. I have to say, I really liked Lies Beneath.

I love mermaids. Aside from wanting to grow up and be a mom someday, I always secretly strived to become a mermaid. Not realistic, I know, but a dream is a dream. :o) My grandmother used to crochet mermaid tails for my Barbies to swim in the pool with. I was always in love with the romantic notion of mermaids… These mermaids are definitely not the kind I used to pretend my Barbies were.

Mermaids are killers. These ones are no joke. I always thought Ariel’s sisters were a little on the snooty side, but Calder’s sisters blew them out of the water. I loved to hate them. One thing that was great about Lies Beneath was the male POV. Seeing things from Calder’s head was refreshing. I’m a girl, but I can relate to a boy just as well. Lily was spunky and a little dramatic. She reminded me a bit of a friend I knew back in H.S.

I am proud to say I guessed the twist at the end approx. half way through. It’s not too obvious, and I wasn’t sure if I was right, but I did a little jig when I found out I was. I never guess these things correctly.

This was a haunting tail. <- - - ha ha, get it? Tail/Tale. I crack myself up, but really, this was a pretty great book. I loved the mythology incorporated. I would love to see more delving into that in the future.  I adored the setting. I have always wanted to visit one of the great lakes someday.

This is the first book in a series. I will definitely be reading the second book. If you like mermaids, I would recommend giving this one a shot!


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Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Sims Trailer

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. 
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

I thought about reviewing this, but it's just one of those books I don't think my words could do it justice. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one of the most unique books I have ever come across. It's so unlike anything I've read before. I expected to mildly like it, because I tend to steer clear of angel books whenever possible, but when Jen sent it to me with a sticky note saying that I had to read it and if I didn't like it our friendship was over... well that didn't leave me much choice. Thank goodness she did that, or I would have been missing out like crazy. So instead of reviewing it, I put all my energy into showing you artistically how much I adored it. 


Here are a few reviews that pretty much say everything I would like to say. 


The Starry Eyed Revue
The Bookish Babe
Good Books & Good Wine

This trailer is no joke. It took me so long to make. It took me a month just to figure out how I was going to make his wings! Sims does not have angels, so I had to get a little creative. Okay, more like a lot creative. lol. It was so worth it though. I wasn't even sure of the song choice until the trailer was made. In the end, I decided to drop my favorite band, Breaking Benjamin's, Anthem of the Angels on it.. and it just fit. :)

Green screen and Blue screen = my friend

The one thing my trailer would have been missing was Brimstone. How could I not put HIM in this trailer? I can't draw to save my life. This problem puzzled me, so I started searching the Internet for pictures of him. I found a gorgeous drawing of him on Deviant Art. 

The Artist's name is Jessica, and she kindly gave me permission to use it. Thank you so much Jessica! Isn't this drawing amazing guys? I could stare at it all day. It's exactly how I imagined him to look. If you would like to see more of her art, check out  her profile.  CLICK HERE

This is how I made the side of her face lighter than the other. Yay for Sim Lighting tricks. lol.  I could go on and tell you all the little things I did to make this, but I don't want to bore you, so without further babbling... Here it is. I hope you all love it as much as I loved making it! :o) 

One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

Yes! My blog is a year old today. I can’t believe it’s been that long already. It seems like just yesterday when I started it up. It's funny because this was just going to be a page to cross post my goodreads reviews and keep all my trailers together. It has become so much more to me. <3

I’ve met a ton of great bloggers over this year. The friendships I have made with you all have been the true highlight of having this blog. I've made friendships that I will forever cherish. I never imagined I'd meet so many awesome people. Andrea, Jess, Autumn, my life just would not be complete with you 3 girls. (Epic Pod Trip 2013!) Woo! 


Another highlight would be my first book signing! I know I should have done a post right after showing my goodies ect... but it was a busy time and I just never got around to it.. but here is a pic! 

April , Andrea Cremer, Jamie, Jessica Spotswood, Beth Revis, Me, Marie Lu, Jenna 

Thanks to these wonderful bloggers and Authors for making my first book signing so fun and memorable. <3 

The last highlight I will mention is the response to all my trailers. Guys, I started making them the beginning of 2011. I honestly feel that without having started this blog, I would not have as much traffic on my YouTube channel. A year ago today I posted my trailer for Matched

Though I still don't get a ton of blog traffic, that trailer has 11,516 views now. It was a piddling about, but thanks to all you bloggers who watch and share my stuff, it's grown over this past year and continues to grow. I can't thank you all enough for the compliments I've received. You all truly humble me, and inspire me to keep getting better and making more. 


Enough sappy shit though, it wouldn't be a blogiversary post without a giveaway. Andrea gave me an ARC of Pure but I don't see myself getting to it anytime soon since I haven't even read half blood yet, so I'm giving it away to one lucky winner!

Must be 13 years or older. US or Canada. Giveaway will run from now until midnight June 1^st! Just fill out form below. One extra entry for tweeting the giveaway. :o) Good luck!

REVIEW - Summer Series by Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty – Goodreads Description

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

I was going to review all of these individually, but I couldn’t put them down and read them all in one shot. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting from this series. I think part of me imagined it to be just a nice light beach read, hence the word summer. I was dead wrong; these books were so much more. I should have known though, Ginger recommended them to me and she tends to be partial to the emotional contemporary books. Don’t be discouraged though, they were far from being dark and depressing.

Every once and a while, you come across a book, or series that holds a special something. That magical feeling when you read it for the first time. You know it won’t the same when you re-read it, so you try and pace yourself… but its’ impossible because you eat, sleep, breathe the story. These books were that for me. The Summer Series is everything a contemporary should be. I felt everything all at once. I was overwhelmed with feeling, in a good way. It’s a beautiful coming of age story.

Belly, oh gosh, I loved her. I loved her for her faults. So many times I saw myself in her. Her flaws are so realistic. Han takes you through multiple trips during this series, back to when they were all little, spending summers at this beach house. You truly get a sense for who Belly is deep down. You literally grow up with her on paper. Her innocence is captured so well. I was nervous about her name being Belly, because that’s just weird, but have no fear! It’s a nick name and how she acquired it is adorable.

There is a love Triangle between Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad. This is not really a spoiler.  I’m not always a fan of love triangles, but most are acceptable. I find it hard to even lump this series into the cliché (Love Triangle) group, because it felt more real than that. This isn’t the love triangle you normally see. “Oh he’s so cute and nice, but this other guy is so sexy and bad.” Nope, nothing like that. You don’t have a good or a bad guy. They all grew up together. They love each other like family, and naturally as they get older, some feelings change. I adored each and every one of them for different reasons. These Characters are so real, their problems are real, and their decisions are as well.

If you can’t tell already, I’m in love with this series.  Madly in love. I look forward to my daughter reading it someday. I cannot stress enough, how great these books are. If you have them, READ THEM! Don’t put it off for too long. They are perfect to get you in the mood for summer. If you don’t have them yet, I assure you they are worth purchasing. These are now on my pedestal of favorite books ever, next to all the others. :o)


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REVIEW - What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Courtesy of watching his mom’s relationships, Sebastian Hawkins knows what girls need to do to get a guy. He has what he considers a PHD in hooking up. When he needs extra cash for a car, Sebastian starts up an online venture as The Hook-up Doctor, to anonymously help girls land the guy of their dreams. Of course, his services don’t offer a happily-ever-after guarantee. He’s seen firsthand getting together never means staying together. 

And then he falls in love… 

With the last girl he would expect…

Totally not in his game plan. 

Suddenly, Sebastian finds himself muddled in the game he’s always prided himself on. He can’t even pick up girls at parties anymore! Why would anyone want to be in love when it turns you into a stuttering, screwed-up, mess with really lame stalker tendencies? Stalking? Totally not his gig. 

But the Hook-up Doctor won’t let himself go down easily. He’s always known how to give a girl what she wants and now it’s time to figure out what a boy wants… and he definitely plans on getting it.

What a Boy Wants is just the book I was in the mood for. If I could use one word to describe it, I’d say cute, because it was so adorable. Sebastian Hawkins is that guy. The guy that no matter what your type is, he always turns the girl’s heads.

The hook up doctor stuff was very funny. I enjoyed reading his advice. Though I have to say, there were some girls, many girls, in my school that Sebastian would never be able to hook up with their dream boys. I won’t go into detail on that,  just use your imagination. So in that sense, it didn’t’ seem entirely realistic.

he could very well kill me for putting this up. <3 lol

That’s okay though, I don’t expect all contemporaries to be “hard core make you cry” real. . I wish I had more to say about it, but I don't like summarizing in my reviews. It's a very quick read. It made me laugh and smile the whole way through.


I really adore this cover, so I'm a little sad that it will be changing, but I've seen the new one and that's good too. (good news, I was wrong. Just ignore, this cover will be staying the same, its the sequel's cover that is changing. I was confused. I can't keep up with twitter sometimes I swear. I blame old age) Thanks Andrea for pointing that out to me!!! I just love this one because it reminds me of my husbands pierced days. *sigh* Alas, we have real jobs now. No more of that. lol


 If you’re looking for something light and funny, this is your ticket.  I’m really looking forward to the next book.


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REVIEW- The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Being the good girl isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ashton Gray has grown weary of playing the part to please her parents, and to be worthy of the town’s prince charming, Sawyer Vincent. Maybe That’s why she’s found herself spending time with Sawyer’s cousin, Beau, while he’s away for the summer camping with his family. Beau is nothing like her perfect boyfriend. He’s the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, dangerous in ways she’s only day dreamed about, and the one guy she should stay away from. 

Beau never envied Sawyer his loving parents, his big nice home, or his position as quarterback. He loves him like a brother. Which is why he's tried everything in his power to keep his distance from Sawyer’s girlfriend. Even if he has loved her since the age of five, Ashton is Sawyer’s girl, so therefore she’s off limits. But when Sawyer leaves for the summer, Ashton, the one girl Beau would move Heaven and Earth for, decides she wants to get into trouble. Stabbing the one person who’s always accepted him and stood by him in the back, is the cost of finally holding Ashton Gray in his arms. Is she worth losing his cousin over?.... Hell Yeah.

Oh the Vincent Boys, what to say… what to say? I will start out by mentioning I wasn’t planning to read this, at least not any time soon. Not that it didn’t sound good, but I just started breaking into reading contemporaries before the New Year, so it wasn’t high on the list. After reading others by Glines, I decided I needed to read it.

Um… I loved this book. I loved Ashton. She is not perfect, and I embraced that about her. Beau is the bad boy, and that’s not the kind of character I usually cream myself over. I’m not into bad boys, really, but there was just something so sincere and sweet about him, I couldn’t help but like him. Now Sawyer, boy did he have some prickish moments. I’m really dying to get into that boys head in the following book, because I don’t think he’s as perfect as he portrays himself.

One of my fav parts about The Vincent Boys, was Ashton’s relationship with her grandmother. I’m very close with my own grandmother, so that whole bit really touched me. I think that’s what ultimately had me connecting with Ashton on such a deep level.

I will tell you there are some surprises in this. There was a big WTF moment for me. I won’t say what it was.. but now that I think about it, I should have known, but it just never occurred to me.

Anyway, this is an excellent contemporary. I have come to love her contemps the most. I will be buying the second book as soon as it’s available. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.


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REVIEW- The Summer My Life Began by Shannon Greenland

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Elizabeth Margaret—better known as Em—has always known what life would contain: an internship at her father’s firm, a degree from Harvard and a career as a lawyer. The only problem is that it’s not what she wants. When she gets the opportunity to get away from it all and spend a month with the aunt she never knew, she jumps at the chance. While there, Em pursues her secret dream of being a chef, and she also learns that her family has kept some significant secrets from her, too. And then there’s Cade, the laid-back local surfer boy who seems to be everything Em isn't. Naturally, she can’t resist him, and as their romance blossoms, Em feels she is living on her own terms for the first time

Title: The summer My Life Began

Publisher: Penguin Pumblishing

Pum Date: May 10, 2012

Source: NetGalley

My Review;

The Summer My Life Began was a pretty quick read for me. Lately I've been devouring every contemporary I pick up. I saw this one on netgalley, being new to netgalley and this being an auto-approved title, I jumped on it. I'm really glad that I did.

I'll be up front though, if your looking for a blow your mind, deep emotional contemporary, this is probably not it. There is some drama, and some coming of age issues that are dealt with, but for the most part, it's a light read. It kept my interest, but I didn't have to think too hard. That's why I couldn’t put it down, thinking is so overrated sometimes. I have to think all day long, so this was a great book to escape in to.

I loved Em's character. At first I thought she was a little bratty and judgmental, especially when she first arrives on the island, but it was a pleasure to watch her come into her own, the further she got from her parents.

The secrets of the family, I guessed it pretty early on. Not sure if it was supposed to be that obvious, I'm assuming it was. I did enjoy watching Em, and waiting for her to figure it out.

Over all, I don’t have too much to write about this one. I really liked it. I loved the beachy feel. I has me super excited for my June beach get away coming up. The romance between Em and Cade was so sweet. The kind of sweetness that had me thinking back to my puppy love days. To bad there weren't boys like Cade around here when I was growing up. OH, and all the cooking, cause Em's wants to be a chef. If your going to read this, have a snack nearby. I was hungery and all heck! :o)

I really enjoyed this one. It might not be for everyone, but if your looking for a book that will leave you smiling and wanting to dig your toes in the sand.. I highly recommend it. 

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