MONDAY BOOK REVIEW: ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT, by Kristine Carlson Asselin, #YA

Any Way You Slice It
By Kristine Carlson Asselin
Published April 2015 by Bloomsbury Spark

About the Book:

Penelope Spaulding just can't catch a break. Between long hours at the family restaurant, homework, and her parents' plans for her future, it's hard to find a spare moment to breathe. But when she laces up her skates and steps on the ice, everything slips away...

Racing around the rink allows her to blow off steam after yet another fight with her dad about going to culinary school. So when Jake Gomes, the bad boy who lives down the street, dares her to join the Rink Rats, the local misfit hockey team, she surprises herself and joins in silent defiance of her father and his expectations.

The more she plays, the easier it is to keep lying, and soon Pen finds it impossible to come clean. She’s sneaking out to practice—and loving every minute of it. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with hockey…and Jake’s not half bad either. But she knows it can’t last. As soon as her dad finds out, she’ll be benched. For good.

She’s absolutely not going to tell her parents until she’s sure it will be worth the inevitable fight. Not only is she skipping shifts at Slice Pizza while a foodie reality show is on the horizon, but her lies are starting to take their toll on her game. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls apart.

With the team counting on her and with her relationship with Jake on the line, will she have to sacrifice the thing she wants most for the people she loves? Or can she step up and take her best shot?

 My Take:

A wonderful tale of first love and self discovery! This contemporary YA is written in first person POV of the 15 year old narrator, Penelope "Penn" Spaulding, the local "Pizza Princess" of her small NH town.

Her family owns the best pizza restaurant on town, that's just been chosen for a reality show feature, adding stress to the family dynamic. If that weren't enough, Penn is also fighting with her dad about not wanting to be in the pizza business for the rest of her life, or go to culinary school for college. A run in with a local bad boy at the ice rink gives her a way to rebel against her strict father, but things spiral out of control quickly and Penn finds herself lying to everyone in her life.

A quick and totally absorbing read, I finished this in a few hours and loved every minute. The pacing was perfect and the narrator's anxiety as she loses control of the situation was almost palpable. I loved Penn's fresh, honest voice and the dynamics between her family. Wish this was in paperback so I could give it to my niece to read, but for now it's ebook only.

Grab your copy on AMAZON today

MONDAY BOOK REVIEW: MAP TO THE STARS, by Jen Malone #YA

Map to the Stars, by Jen MalonePublished 2015 by Epic Reads Impulse, an imprint of Harper Collins

About the Book:

Author Jen Malone draws on her real-life experiences as a movie studio publicist to bring you an insider peek at love, Hollywood-style.

The California dream was supposed to give seventeen-year-old Annie Shelton a fresh start far removed from her dad’s unusual betrayal. But when things don’t go according to plan in La La Land, Annie’s mom snags a last-minute gig as makeup artist to a teen movie idol and finagles a spot for her daughter on his European promotional tour.

Down-to-earth Annie would rather fangirl architectural sights than an arrogant A-lister. That is, until behind-the-scenes Graham Cabot turns out to be more sweetly vulnerable than she could have imagined.

Too bad falling for a poster boy isn’t all red carpets and star treatment, especially when you factor in obnoxious fans, an overprotective assistant, a stage mom/manager, and a beefy bodyguard.

But it isn’t until the paparazzi make an appearance that things get really sticky…

My Take

What a fun contemporary YA romance! Yes, the premise of the movie star falling for the nobody narrator is a cliche at this point, but Jen Malone does it so well, and adds such realistic details that it made it such fun to read! The first person POV is both fresh and refreshing as her small town heroine gets her first taste of Hollywood, making a mess of things along the way.

Annie Shelton grew up in Georgia, so far from the bright lights of LA that she was never interested in tabloid gossip or crushing on hot movie stars. Her best friend Wynn was the total opposite and a great counterpoint to Annie's hard focus on reality. When Annie and her mom move out to California, its not to pursue dreams, but to escape the reality of her father's deception.

Graham Cabot grew up in LA-LA-land, on screen from an early age, and now a genuine movie star at seventeen. Girls throw themselves at him all the time, but the real Graham is actually a little shy and insecure. He admits to Annie that he's never had a real girlfriend, hasn't even had real friends since his elementary school years, before the fame and fortune changed his life.

Their budding relationship is cute and sweet, and the one-POV storytelling has the reader riding along with Annie's confusion at Graham's shifting attitudes and emotions. I won't give away any more of the story except to say the ending is totally satisfying and everything worked out the way I wanted it to.  This is a standalone read, no series or setup for the next book, which I also found refreshing. Quick, satisfying contemporary YA romance of first love and self discovery that I can totally recommend!

Get it on Amazon HERE

Monday Book Review: SPYING IN HIGH HEELS, by Gemma Halliday

Spying in High Heels, by Gemma Halliday
First Published 2006, re-released December 2013

About the Book (from Goodreads):

L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles upon the work of a brutal killer, her life takes an unexpected turn from Manolos to murder. And things only get worse when her boyfriend disappears - along with $20 million in embezzled funds - and her every move is suddenly under scrutiny by the LAPD's sexiest cop. With the help of her post-menopausal bridezilla of a mother, a 300 pound psychic and one seriously oversexed best friend, Maddie finds herself stepping out of her stilettos and onto the trail of a murderer. But can she catch a killer before the killer catches up to her...

My Take:

This chic lit romantic suspense is the start of a series featuring a fast talking, label obsessed LA woman who designs shoes for a living and has a strong penchant for getting herself into trouble. Obsessively curious, Maddie Springer is fearless, or maybe just a certain degree of clueless, but totally fun to watch her get in and out of crazy situations, including those that could only happen in LA.

Parts reminded me strongly of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, except Maddie has no private eye training or instincts. Plus, everything is about shoes, manicures, and food. She does have a hot Latino detective as her love interest and a crazy sidekick in her best friend Dana, an aerobic instructor and aspiring actress who has a "great" disguise for every situation. The dialogue is snappy, the characters engaging and the storyline kept going in unexpected directions, which is what you want from a mystery, even a chic lit flavored one.

Monday Book Review: AT LAST, by Barbara Bretton

 At Last, by Barbara Bretton
First Published 1992, republished 2011

About the Book (from Goodreads):

From the moment they met as children, there was something special between Noah Chase and Gracie Taylor, something that grew and matured right along with them. Despite Gracie's troubled family--and Noah's cold, distant one--they managed to make each other laugh, and keep each other's dreams alive...

But Noah's father already had plans for his golden boy's future--plans that did not include the likes of poor, ordinary Gracie Taylor. And when he succeeded in tearing them apart--on the night before their wedding--it seemed those childhood dreams and teenage passions had been crushed by more grown-up things, like sorrows and secrets and lies...

Now, Gracie has returned to Idle Point, Maine--and so has Noah. Over the years, they've wondered if those dreams were just delusions, or if a love like theirs could ever happen again. Maybe they'll find out at last...

My Take:

First let me say I enjoyed this book and found myself fascinated by the world and characters the author created. Her descriptions were detailed and loving as she described the coastal community and its inhabitants, and I was engrossed in the love story, rooting for the happily ever after.

But.

The writing style was old fashioned, or old school, or something early 90's... Different enough to keep pulling me out of the story to take a deep breath and say, well that's just her unique style. Parts sounded more like one of my mom's older romance novels (which I don't generally read or like), slow and too descriptive with too many adjectives bogging down the main point, while other scenes and dialogue were riveting, fast paced and on the money. I'm not sure what to think of it all, or the way the author blended past and present or circled around and got back to things, dipping into the backstory and swirling forward back to present day every once in a while.

All that said, I did get totally absorbed in the storyline and enjoyed this achingly sweet romance and was so glad to finally get tot the HEA.

Gracie Taylor and Noah Chase grew up together in the same small Maine town, but on opposite sides of the tracks. Gracie's mom dies when she was an infant and her father slipped into an alcoholic stupor for the next twenty years, leaving his elderly mother to take care of his daughter. Noah was the only son of the richest man in town, newspaper mogul Samuel Chase. The families inexplicably know and despise one another, for murky reasons that don't become clear to Gracie and Noah until much later.

They meet on the first day of kindergarten, when Noah takes Gracie under his wing and she falls in love with him, (a fact that is repeated and repeated.) After being best friends for a year or two, there is a confrontation between the fathers and Noah is sent away to boarding school, only home for short visits, growing up to be an overindulged, entitled jerk of a guy until he gets kicked out of boarding school one summer and reconnects with Gracie ...and their young love affair truly begins.

Despite the fact that they are kids and young adults for most of the book, this isn't YA or NA as the book starts with Gracie as an adult, running away from Noah and off to grad school in the prologue. Chapter One goes back to that first day of kindergarten and swirls forward from there in fits and starts. The points of view vary between many main characters, including Gracie and Noah's parents and others, seeing the same scenes through the kids' eyes as well as the adult perspective a few moments later. Trust me, this is not a fast read or you will get lost in perspectives.

Monday Book Review: BREAKING UP WITH BARRETT, by Katy Regnery

Breaking Up With Barrett, The English Brothers Book 1
by Katy Regnery
Published 2014

About the Book (from Goodreads):

Breaking Up with Barrett is the first of six books about the Philadelphia-based, wildly-handsome English brothers who are all on the look-out for love.

(Except Alex. He's a womanizing manwhore. And maybe Stratton, because he's wicked hot, but super awkward around girls.)

Barrett English, aka "the Shark," is the fair-haired, first-born of the English brothers, and the CEO of the oldest, most prestigious investment banking firm in Philadelphia. He rules the boardroom with an iron fist, refusing to take no for an answer and always getting his way.

Emily Edwards, a first-year doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, grew up in the gatehouse on the outskirts of Barrett's childhood estate. The daughter of his family's gardener and housekeeper, she was always looking through the window of privilege, but forced to remember her place at the very periphery of the kingdom.

When business partners suggest that a fiancee might soften Barrett's image over business dinners, he approaches Emily for the "job" of fiancee. And while love wasn't necessarily on Barrett's radar, he begins to realize that Emily always has been. But will his take-no-prisoners boardroom tactics work on the heart of the woman he loves?

My Take:

In this wonderful new contemporary series, Katy Regnery creates an interesting set of wealthy Philadelphia brothers, each with a unique personality and history.

This first book gives us the eldest brother, Barrett, the most serious and staid of the bunch and yet the one who's been hopelessly in love with the gardener's daughter since the day she was born. He is so focused on work that he doesn't really realize the extent of his emotions, or know how to act on them, compounded by the fact that its an Upstairs/Downstairs frowned upon relationship before it even begins. She is, after all, the Help.

The points of view are mostly from the perspective of Emily Edwards, said daughter, who attends grad school at UPenn, but accepted a position working for Barrett to earn extra cash, pretending to be his fiancé during certain social functions and business meetings. It has started feeling a little too real for Emily, and she plans to "break up" with him and move on with her life, but Barrett has other plans.

Sweet, sexy and engaging, this was a fast read that made me smile. Yes, full of cliches but somehow the author made it all seem new and it worked pretty well. Regnery did a great job creating believable characters and situations, and despite a few clunky scenes I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Monday Book Review: OPERATION CINDERELLA, by Hope Tarr

Operation Cinderella, a Suddenly Cinderella series book
By Hope Tarr
Published by Entangled Publishing, 2012

About the Book (from Goodreads):

Manhattan magazine editor Macie Graham always gets her story—and she’ll do anything to uncover the dirt on famous radio personality Ross Mannon. After he smears her article on his show, nearly costing Macie her job, she devises a plan to masquerade as a modern-day Cinderella and get her revenge on the infuriating Texan.

All Ross wants is a woman with old-fashioned values to be his housekeeper and role model for his troubled teenage daughter. When the perfect woman shows up, Ross is relieved—until he finds himself drawn to his gorgeous, red-stiletto-wearing new employee. “Martha Jane” is opinionated and sexy, and Ross is intrigued…and more than a little turned on.

Macie thought Operation Cinderella was foolproof, but Ross, with his rugged good looks and southern charm, proves to be as perfect behind-the-scenes as he does in public. But when she finally uncovers a secret that could destroy Ross's reputation, she faces losing her job or losing the fairy-tale ending she didn't even know she wanted.

My Take:
Macie Graham is a fast talking, jaded, thoroughly modern cliche of a NYC girl. Ross Mannon is the conservative radio phenom with Hollywood looks and charm and totally Republican talking points. When he rips into Macie's latest article on air and scares away one of the magazine's largest advertisers, she devises a plan to dig for dirt by taking a job as nanny to his teenage daughter.

Instead of finding dirt, she finds a troubled, single dad with good intentions and a heart of gold, and falls in love despite herself. There are so many cliched characters and situations strung together in this story that I lost count.

That said, I read through to "the end" and enjoyed the way the author tied up loose ends and made everyone come out okay. The epilogue should have been cut out and I confess to skipping it after the first few silly paragraphs, but it probably has something to do with creating a Cinderella series and needing to hook into the next story. Not interested, but enjoyed this diverting tale for what it was and give it 3 stars for keeping me reading to the end.

Book Review: STIR ME UP by Sabrina Elkins

Stir Me Up, by Sabrina Elkins
Published October 2013 by Harlequin Teen




About the Book:

Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She'll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father's French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami's family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian's all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami's starting to feel. And Cami can't stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He's got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated…

MY TAKE:
Between working in her father's fancy French restaurant, dating a hot sous chef, and hanging out with her drama geek friends, Cami Broussard thinks she has a good handle on life in Vermont and what she wants her future to be.

But her dad keeps bugging her about her college plans - as in, she wants to skip college and become a chef - and her boyfriend is pressuring her to go further than she's comfortable with. Then her stepmom throws another wrench into senior year by inviting her nephew to live with them. Julian Wyatt is an injured Marine, recently returned from Afghanistan with tons of scars, both mental and physical, as well as a huge chip on his shoulder. 

This Upper YA read deals with both basic and complicated issues facing today's 18 year olds. College decisions, relationship issues and sex itself loom as large today as when I was in high school,  with the addition of 20 year olds returning injured from war, which has become an unfortunate reality for so many.

Told in an honest, funny and totally believable first person voice, Stir Me Up pulls at the heart strings and makes you remember what it was like to be on the brink of so many life changing moments. Enjoyed this book immensely and totally recommend.

#NEW Release and Review: MY TETHERED SOUL, by Dorothy Dreyer

My Tethered Soul, by Dorothy Dreyer
Published August 2014 by Month9Books

About the Book (from Goodreads):

It’s been months since Zadie faced her sister’s Reaper, months during which she’s been under her mentor’s magical protection. But now that she’s turning seventeen, that protection is about to run out.

When dark forces lure Zadie to wander at night, she’s manipulated into committing unspeakable acts. With her friends and family at risk, Zadie must try to use her powers to break free from the Reaper’s grasp, or surrender to the Reaper’s Rite, which can only lead to death.

MY TAKE:

Dorothy Dreyer continues the fast-paced, heart pounding journey she started in My Sister's Reaper, delivering a YA paranormal romance filled with believable characters battling unbelievable odds. I love the rich, new mythology of Villas (the offspring of witches and fairies) that Dreyer creates, while grounding it all with the real teen angst, self-doubt and high school situations of her main characters.

Zadie and her older sister Mara defeated a Reaper the year before, but now that Zadie is turning 17, there are other Reapers to worry about. With their mother still in a mental institution from her own run-ins with her Reaper,  Zadie and crew decide to try and put an end to the centuries long agreement that puts every Villa at risk.

My only complaint is the love triangle that Dreyer gives us leaves Zadie with heartbreaking choices. Gavin and Chase are both swoon-worthy heroes who each deserve happiness, but Zadie only gets to choose one. Each guy risks his life for her and at one point I found myself thinking it would be easier if one of them died, because then she wouldn't have to choose.. but even I couldn't decide who to root for!

This is not a stand alone book. Read the first book My Sister's Reaper (which I reviewed here back in April 2014) and then pick up this sequel to reach the satisfying conclusion to this inventive paranormal story.

About the Author:

Dorothy Dreyer has always believed in magic. Born in Angeles City, Philippines, to a Filipino mother and American Father, Dorothy grew up a military brat, living in Massachusetts, South Dakota, Guam, New Jersey, and New York. She now lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband, two teens, and two Siberian huskies. Dorothy not only writes books with some element of magic in them, but has a fondness for reading those kinds of books as well. She also enjoys movies, chocolate, take-out, and spending time with family and friends. She’s known to make a pretty sweet cupcake when she has the time. She also tends to sing sometimes, so keep her away from your Karaoke bars.

My Tethered Soul on Goodreads

Dorothy's Website: http://dorothydreyer.com

Dorothy's Twitter: http://twitter.com

Dorothy's Facebook Fanpage: http://facebook.com/AuthorDorothyDreyer

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: WHAT GIFTS SHE CARRIED, by Lindsey Loucks

What Gifts She Carried, by Lindsey Loucks

Published by Crescent Moon Press, 2014

About the Book:

Leigh Baxton just wants to pick up the pieces of her life—if you could call it that—but someone keeps resurrecting the dead. These new zombies have a knack for spilling Leigh’s precious blood, something she was warned about by a certain pair of undead sorceresses.

Desperate to find out why they’re here so Leigh can put the nightmares behind her, she must learn more about the gifts she carries. With Tram’s training sessions and clues from her mom’s past, Leigh begins to piece together what she’s capable of.

Too bad there isn’t a Cliff’s Notes version to saving the world.

The zombies have teamed up with followers of the darkest sorceress who ever lived, and they’ll play a wicked game until she’s freed from her prison inside the earth. When the battle to the death begins, Leigh must rely on friends, crushes, and even her enemies to win the war, but not the grave.

MY TAKE:

This is the second book in the series that started with last year's The Grave Winner. Book two picks up soon after the first one ends, plunging us right back into the action.

Leigh Baxter just wants to go back to her normal, boring life. She wishes the worst thing she had to worry about was her upcoming finals, or the fact that her crush Callum is leaving town right after graduation to play college baseball.

But Leigh and her friends are still right in the thick of the battle raging in her small town between good and evil, between the dead and the undead. Leigh's mother had many secrets that she kept hidden, including her magical powers.

Now Leigh finds her dad has sorcerer blood too, making Leigh and her sister a rare combination, irresistible to the evil lurking in Kansas. How did sleepy Kansas become the epicenter for the end of days? And the uber-conflicted, insecure Leigh the world's only hope?

Part magical horror, part nuveau-zombie novel, What Gifts She Carried will keep you turning pages and guessing at Leigh's next misstep well past bed time. Not what I usually recommend for a summer beach read, but this is a good, spooky book for that dark and stormy night.

A few notes: This is not a stand-alone book. You really have to read the first book to understand what’s going on. And the ending is reminiscent of The Hunger Games, ending on a huge cliff with an “End of Book Two” tag. (Arrgh!) But at least we know there’s more to come. (Even if it isn’t available just yet…)

#New Release and BOOK REVIEW: THE ULTIMATE CATCH by Constance Phillips

The Ultimate Catch, by Constance Phillips
 Published July 2014 by Whiskey Creek Press

About the Book:

Jolanda will do whatever it takes, even face off against the Bering Sea, to raise the money for a balloon payment on her father's house. She challenges Keller and wins a bet to fill a deckhand slot vacated by her father on Keller’s recently inherited crab fishing boat. Unwilling to go back on his word, the young captain must buck tradition and superstition against women on fishing vessels.

Will his season be doomed or will he end up with the ultimate catch?

MY TAKE:

Constance Phillips has done it again, delivering another sweet and sexy romance that kept me up all night reading and rooting for that happily ever.

For Jolanda Gilles, family comes first. When her mother left Alaska with a teenage Jo in tow, she vowed never to let her dad down the way her mom did. She also made a promise to herself to never get romantically involved with a fisherman.

But bills from her father's diabetes treatment have started piling up and the balloon payment on his mortgage is also due. Working two jobs isn't quite enough to cover it. Jo makes a crazy bet with her dad's former boss, the handsome boat captain Keller Sveinsson. If she can out-drink him, he’ll allow her to take her dad's place in his crew. Winter crab fishing is cold and dangerous, but highly lucrative. Jo is sure she can make enough money in just a few trips out to pay off all of her father's debt.

Keller has his own family demons. He walked away from the winter season two weeks before his own father's fateful heart attack out at sea. When he returned to take over the family business, his fiancé left him. Now his brother (and partner) has walked away from the season to care for his wife, who's having complications with the birth of their first child.

The last thing Keller needs is feisty Jo joining his crew, but a bet is a bet and he gave his word. And he can't seem to keep his thoughts from turning to the petite ball of energy who pushed her way into the forefront of his life.

Constance Phillips once again shows her mastery of sweet and sexy romance with a tale that weaves real-life danger together with the dangers of the heart. Jo and Keller both need to let go of their fears and past regrets to embrace the possibilities of love. I loved this book, reading it straight through one dark and stormy summer night, and totally recommend this sensual romance.