Tag: Contemporary Romance (Page 41 of 98)

BOOK REVIEW – Resisting the Rebel by Lisa Brown Roberts

December 29, 2017 / Jen / 8 Comments

Resisting the Rebel by Lisa Brown Roberts
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Spirit committee leader Mandy Pennington is secretly in love with her best friend, Gus, but when he hooks up with her archenemy at a party, she decides to win him over once and for all. She just doesn’t know how. But who better to help than hot loner Caleb Torrs?

Caleb’s got his own problems, but when he sees Mandy pining over Gus at a party, he thinks she’s finally smoked the spirit stick and lost her mind. Maybe he has, too, because he just asked Mandy to be his fake girlfriend. She’ll get her loser friend’s attention, and he’ll get his stalker ex off his back. It’s a win-win.

But soon one fake date blends into the next and before he knows it, he actually wants to kiss Mandy. For real. Too bad their plan is working, and Gus is finally noticing the one girl Caleb just might be falling for…

Review:

Resisting the Rebel was the cutest book ever! I just can’t get over how adorable this fake boyfriend story was! I constantly found myself smiling while sighing and laughing out loud. And when you add in banter and angst that was perfectly done, well I couldn’t help but go back and re-read a ton of my favorite scenes! I am completely obsessed with this heartfelt story and it’s definitely one of my favorite books from this year!

“Y-you’re such a—” He was still holding her hand, though he’d loosened his grip.
“Jackass. I know. But let me pretend to be your jackass boyfriend and we’ll both get what we want.”
Everything in her screamed no, but when she finally opened her mouth, the word that fell out was “Okay.”

But here’s the thing, I wasn’t so sure in the beginning that I was going to connect with Mandy Pennington. Her thoughts and words seemed all over the place and her endless supply of energy had me pausing and looking at her sideways. She was a lot to take in. But by the second chapter I was laughing so hard I had tears pouring down my face and I absolutely loved everything about her. And just a heads up, we do learn about her diagnosis that explains why she is the way she is. Mandy was this sparkly, thoughtful, caring, sweet girl who had the hugest heart ever. But she had a problem that she couldn’t figure out how to solve. She desperately wanted her friend Gus to want her back. And thanks to Caleb, it looked like her problem would be solved.

Mandy snatched the cup from his hand. “Apparently they don’t teach manners in hell.”
He licked a few drops of chocolate from his lips, keeping his dangerous eyes on hers. “Oh, they do. Just not the kind you’d approve of.” His lips curved into a wicked grin that sent her body temp into the stratosphere. “They teach us demons all kinds of bad things.” He leaned in close, lowering his voice. “Very bad things, babe.”

While Caleb Torrs spent his time by himself and his classmates were intimidated by him, he convinced Mandy to become his fake girlfriend after a run in at a party. It was a win win for the both of them since he’d get rid of his stalker ex and it’d push Gus to make a move on Mandy. Or so that was their plan. But what happens when a friendship starts to form between them that has a very strong undercurrent of lust? Or what happens when touches start to feel real and you want more? How can you tell what’s fake and what’s not? It all played out sooooooo good and the best part was that we got to alternate between Mandy and Caleb, so we got to know every single one of their thoughts.

“Practice makes perfect, Disco.” He closed his eyes and brushed his lips across hers, barely making contact, but it was enough to light him up inside. He wanted more. A lot more. Fake, real, whatever the hell this was, he wanted more.

And I’m so grateful for that because I loved being in Caleb’s head. You see, Caleb was everything I want in a book boyfriend. He was dark, broody, mysterious, and had a tragic history. But my favorite thing about Caleb was when he took control of a situation or acted as Mandy’s fake boyfriend. Every single one of those moments he was insanely seductive and incredibly sigh worthy. It was amazing how hot he could make some of the scenes, even though not much physically was truly happening. You have to see what I’m talking about because he completely melted me into a puddle and I was absolutely obsessed with Caleb.

“I know about life sucking, Caleb,” she muttered. “Trust me, I know. But I choose to believe…I have to believe there’s a reason for everything.”
The desperation in her voice hit him like a punch. He hoped like hell he hadn’t hurt her. He reached out his hand tentatively, resting it on her knee. After a moment, she rested her hand on top of his.

And while their story alone would have been more than enough, we got to witness some beautiful friendships and family dynamics that pulled at my heart. Some of the friendships already existed, like Mandy with J.T. And Cammie, and others we got to watch form like Caleb and J.T. I absolutely loved Caleb and J.T.’s bromance. Especially their Red Ranger and Blue Ranger verbal spars! I was laughing, cheering and their moments together always left me feeling all warm and cozy inside. Ohhh I also loved Mandy’s Grandma. That woman made me laugh so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. This story was filled with so many fabulous characters that I want everyone to meet!

“Mandy,” he whispered against her cheek, his mouth almost to her lips. Let’s stop pretending. The words were almost there, just hovering in the back of his throat, waiting to escape.
“Caleb,” she whispered back, just as he was about to finally taste her lips for real. “I want…”
You, he willed her to say. Say you want me, not that tool Gus masquerading as a dork.

Resisting the Rebel was exactly what I needed and I’m so thankful for this story! So if you’re looking for an adorable book that will make you laugh, smile and leave you in the best mood ever, then definitely pick up Resisting the Rebel! I can’t recommend it enough!

PS The song titles at the beginning of the chapters were so cute, and they fitted each chapter perfectly.

PPS Slade and Trina were in this book?!?!?! Oh my gosh, I love them! They were in Playing the Player and if you haven’t read that book, I definitely recommend it too!

BOOK REVIEW: Amour Amour (Aerial Ethereal #1) by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie

December 26, 2017 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Amour Amour (Aerial Ethereal)
by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Love is a circus

"Every day,” he says lowly, “I hold a person’s life in my hands. The circus is based one-hundred percent off trust. I give it all to someone, and they give it all to me.”

The best aerial technique won’t land 21-year-old Thora James her dream role in Amour—a sexy new acrobatic show on the Vegas strip. Thora knows she’s out of her element the second she meets Amour’s leading performer. Confident, charming and devilishly captivating, 26-year-old Nikolai Kotova lives up to his nickname as the “God of Russia.”

When Thora unknowingly walks into the crosshairs of Nikolai’s after-show, her audition process begins way too soon. Unprofessional. That’s what Nik calls their “non-existent” relationship. It’s not like Thora can avoid him. For one, they may be partners in the future—acrobatic partners, that is. But getting closer to Nik means diving deeper into sin city and into his dizzying world.

Thora wants to perform with him, but when someone like Nikolai attracts the spotlight wherever he goes—Thora fears that she’s destined to be just background to his spellbinding show.

She’s trying to find herself. Some days I still wonder if I’ve found me. Maybe we never stop searching. Maybe we evolve the way seasons change, seamlessly without really knowing, not until all the leaves have fallen.
This is who I am today.
Tomorrow I may be the same.
But in years, I’ll be someone else. Someone I may like more. Someone I may like less. And that’s okay. Because I’m still living.

It’s no secret that I loved Connor Cobalt with all my heart when I read the Calloway Sisters spin-off series in 2015. He and Rose made me happier than I could have imagined possible. And while I adored those two books that centered on the controlling and over-achieving duo, I just couldn’t fathom liking another book out of that series. They were always a bit long and always….heavy-ish, so I just couldn’t reconcile liking a book by these authors that relatively none of my friends have talked about.

I wish I could tap into his mind, even for a moment. To see how he sees me. For as much as Nikolai conveys, he’s still a mystery.
And I’m the curious girl who’ll step into it. Time and time again.

Then one day I just decided to give it a try….and I met one of the sweetest, most dedicated, most loyal men ever. I swear, why did all these books I adore have to come near the end of the year? What I needed was a book that wasn’t your typical romance, that wasn’t NA smut, something with some substance. And, ya know, normally I don’t love books that are a bit slower build, longer than they really need to be (which is a Ritchie trait, if you ask me) without much action, but it seems that some of my absolute favorites this year are just that: Punk 57, An Enchantment of Ravens, and now Amour Amour. There must be something in the water, because I am DYING of thirst when it comes to these books.

It became something more without noticing. Without realizing. “Am I a mistake—”
“No, myshka. You’re just the unexpected, beautiful thing in my life.”

Thora is selected to go try out for an Aerial company that has circus shows all around the world-her dream show? Amour. I kind of just pictured Cirque-du-Soleil (which I think was the point?) as I read, and it seemed to resonate and help me picture things I might have skimmed over before (I’ve never been that imaginative…which is why I use all the same stock actors and actresses with each book I read lol). Anyway, she gets called in for an audition, but she just isn’t up to par-not yet. And that’s where Nikolai comes in.

And he assumed right. Again. Probably based on Shay’s height, frame, build—like he did me that first night in Vegas. “Can you at least pretend to be full of remorse and regret?” This would be so much easier.
“No. A devil protects his demon.”

Nikolai lives and breathes the circus, grew up participating in shows with his family from the beginning. He’s a show stopper, and the spot for his partner just opened up…which is why Thora is in Vegas trying out for the coveted position. While doing his after-hours show on a Saturday night at a club, he challenges a cute girl to oppose him-and he instantly feels something towards her. A need to shield, to protect her perhaps. When they part ways that night, he warns her to not let the city eat her alive…and then the day of try-outs arrives, and he’s shocked to see that she wasn’t just a visitor in his town, but a tiny girl with more passion than she knows what to do with.

The slight prick of fear heightens my adrenaline, setting a fire beneath me.
Who can explain the drum of their heart or the burst of their lungs? Give me that person. I need them because words fail my senses.

So the story goes. Alas, I will say that, while I knew what the end would produce, the rest of the story was surprising the whole way through, a mystery until the end-and I respected that. I loved that I kept guessing and was never really right, and that, even though the story was a little predictable all in all, the writers kept it out of the cliché zone. Did I love that the motto of the story basically implies love comes second? Hmm no. When I read, I look to escape reality, not drench myself in it. But I did love that they weren’t pushovers for their attraction to one another. Did I love that it took so long for what I wanted to be said and for it to be admitted? Actually…yes. I did. I LOVE a slow burn, and I love how the authors didn’t just give me all the cookies in the cookie jar right away, but also didn’t keep them from being together. I won’t spoil, I’m just saying that it worked for me, and I didn’t think I’d be happy about it…but I was. I SO was, because it just gave me millions of butterflies and melted my crusty self into a puddle of goop when all the little things happened, leading up to a crescendo of feels.

He said, “All you need is luck. The rest, you’ll do great at.”
I smiled. “Is that my trainer speaking?”
“Yes,” he said, “but you’d probably think it’s a problem.”
I hesitated, “Why’s that?”
He stood up, towering above me with those intense grays. “Your trainer is in love with you.”

I’ve gotten even more dramatic in my old age, haven’t I? I’m a sap, a puddle of goo…but I just love that I can still be surprised by books when I thought I was starting to lose all my fangirl feels. Nikolai…I don’t know. He’s Russian, which was hard for me to picture? I know that makes me sound like a snob, but obviously I’m not a total snob because he won my heart over in, like, two pages. He stole my breath at the oddest of times, when I least expected it, and he would do ANYTHING for Thora.

“I’d help you every day so that you could see a better tomorrow. I will never give you less than that.”

***

“Why help me?” I ask softly. I expect him to say, I don’t have an answer.
“I admire your courage. I know what you’ve given up to be here. I know the kind of artist it takes to land a role. I know that you won’t receive one on your own. And I imagine you, myshka, two years from now, working at Phantom with the same aspirations, the same dreams, in the same place where you are now. It’s wasted courage. And wasted love. You shouldn’t have to waste those things.”

Which, okay, let’s talk about that name real quick-it’s like a couple name smash that went wrong-Thor and Nora for the win? Ha BUT ANYWAY, he had rules. He was strict with his ‘Circus before love’ bit. But Thora wiggled into his heart, made him feel whole…and she made him question what was more important. And, when faced with the fact that he may lose her if she didn’t make the Aerial team in January, it broke his heart-but not once did he let it show that he would die if she left, because her dreams were more important to him than his own happiness. I mean…I can’t even. He was just…I can’t. Not once had he been distracted from the true love of his (and Thora’s) life, the circus, but Thora made him break the rules, made him do things he’d never done before. And one scene breaks my heart in the best possible way, and I can’t say but….I think you guys would know if you read it. It’s EVERYTHING.

He stares down at me, waiting. I always pause. And he rarely fills the silence with his own voice. He just looks so deeply into me and gives me time to find the right thing…
“I’m in love with you,” I whisper.
He tries to smile but his eyes flood instead. “Don’t love me more than your dreams, myshka. Because I love you too much to let you give them up for me.”

So yeah, it wasn’t a perfect book-it didn’t have non-stop action, it might have dragged JUST a teensy bit, and I wanted to punch her best friend. But Nikolai’s adorable jealousness, the family bonding that only these sisters can write/produce, the friendships, the palpable love between Nikolai and Thora, the tenderness with which he treats her, takes care of her, the story line that makes you feel like you’re a part of Vegas…yeah, I’d say this is one of my absolute favorites. Hands down. And I’d say you’d be silly to not give this one a try.

I never even dreamed of finding love. It’s been low on my list of pursuits. I thought I’d tackle that later. Maybe in ten years. I’d fall in love for the first time then.
I wish someone would’ve told me that you can’t search for love. That one day, it will find you.
An unexpected thing.

BOOK REVIEW: Rival (Fall Away #2) by Penelope Douglas

December 15, 2017 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Rival (Fall Away #2)
by Penelope Douglas
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
From the New Adult sensation and New York Times bestselling author of Until You

Madoc and Fallon. Two estranged teenagers playing games that push the boundaries between love and war…

She’s back.

For the two years she’s been away at boarding school, there was no word from her. Back when we lived in the same house, she used to cut me down during the day and then leave her door open for me at night.

I was stupid then, but now I’m ready to beat her at her own game…

I’m back.

Two years and I can tell he still wants me, even if he acts like he’s better than me.

But I won’t be scared away. Or pushed down. I’ll call his bluff and fight back. That’s what he wants, right? As long as I keep my guard up, he’ll never know how much he affects me….

*So my quotes are dead. They died. I wrote this review a month ago and have no clue where my quotes went. So…that sucks. But the review must go on :P*

It goes without saying that I basically read what I have time for and, frankly, crave this year. I don’t have extra energy to drudge through a massive fantasy (even though I so dearly miss them) or even to delve into my YA sci-fi….it’s just one of those things, guys. I love my daughter, but boy does she zap all that extra time away!

That being said, my favorite books this year have been YA/NA contemporaries…with a flair for the dramatic (if you can’t tell). It seems crazy to me, but my absolute favorite read this year has been, without a doubt, Punk 57. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but in some ways, this book just always sticks in my mind.

When I’m trying to pick out a book, it’s always ’I really want something JUST like Punk 57, where can I find one?’….and the desperate search continues/ensues. And the only logical answer that I can find has been staring me in the face the whole time: No one does Penelope Douglas like…well…Penelope Douglas.

You can’t keep looking for sad imitations when what you seek is HOT, dirty hate-to-love foreplay and giving as good as you get until you finally get together. Only Penelope Douglas has mastered this, for me, and I should have realized it sooner.

I had read Bully FOREVER ago and LOVED it. But I’m not the type to jump into another character’s story after being with another couple. It’s just not my thing. I don’t know why, but that’s just me. So I had bought this book FOREVER ago and just couldn’t bring myself to open it up. And then recently I was going through all my unread books on my iPad and saw this sitting at the very bottom-I could have hit myself over the head. This book was EXACTLY what I needed, even if I didn’t know it. It doesn’t help that Penelope Douglas makes me border that fine line of ‘crossing the line of what I deem acceptable’ in romance.

I won’t lie-this woman is kind of sick, if you think about it. I love her, don’t get me wrong, but this woman be twisted. The things these couples go through before they get together is depraved and just plain…wrong…but it’s just…..oh my god it’s so good. I HATE drama in any other books or series. I hate contrived situations that make no sense. I HATE adding cheese when there doesn’t need to be any…but between Penelope Douglas and Linda Kage, I am putty in their dirty minded little hands. I. Can’t. Get. ENOUGH.

As it were, I found that this book overdid it quite a bit-Stretched the story-line beyond thin. That’s most likely why my rating is lower. Actually, no, there’s A LOT more to it than that, and my reasoning really bothers me, but I’ll do that in a spoiler below. But then…..there’s the hate to love aspect. And I’m just a sucker for that. For two people who love each other but fight to the bitter end to deny it until they fall madly all over each other in love. And then I revert back to my issues: Why did she keep running away? Give me a fucking break, dude. You love him…so STAY THERE. This just plain grated on my already fragile nerves with this story. Let’s just get to my BIGGEST problem with this story and why it never could have gotten above a 3:(view spoiler) Makes me sick, it’s not up for discussion, and my opinion of the story lessened IMMENSELY after this sordid plot development. Bitch, Bye.

BUT-aside from all this? I LOVED the romance. I LOVED the sexual tension. I LOOOOVED how possessive he was of her and how Madoc reacted to other guys. I LOVED all this…I just wish I didn’t have to wade through all the bullshit to see it. I also loved Jared and Tate’s relationship in the background-with time, I loved the integrated stories and how it brought me back to the old days when I read this book. Waiting this long to read this story helped me to really fall hard for characters I had long forgotten about, and it was like taking in a breath of fresh air. Though….I must say, even though I adored Bully, I really don’t think it’s a very healthy relationship Jared and Tate share. Eh, but its fiction-I’ll just try and keep the Jareds (both book and real boy) of the world FAR away from my little nugget (Even though her mother does so love a bad boy now and again).

AH AND AND AND-The end. C’mon Douglas. Really? REALLLYYYYY? C’mon. lol. (view spoiler)[Married???? Hmm (hide spoiler)]. I’m just sayin’. Cute? Yes. Absolutely. Cheesy? OH YEAH. Necessary? I think not.

Yeah, I rated this a three (But, at the end of the day, I was down and sad…and I just needed a Madoc. Sue me) and had more problems with it than not…but there’s just something so alluring about an extremely addictive hate-to-love romance. And when I say hate???? It’s legit hate, y’all.

YUM.

BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Run Away With Me (Come Back to Me #3) by Mila Gray

November 28, 2017 / Jen / 8 Comments

Run Away With Me was a beautiful story that I fell madly in love with. So check out my 4.5 Star Review below and enter a fabulous giveaway to win all three of Mila Gray’s books (I’ve loved every single one of her books btw!). Enjoy!

BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY – Run Away With Me (Come Back to Me #3) by Mila Gray

Run Away With Me (Come Back to Me #3)
by Mila Gray
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Emerson Lowe and popular ice-hockey player Jake McCallister have been best friends since third grade but as their friendship starts to morph into something more a terrible event occurs that heralds the end of innocence for both of them.

Within a week, Jake’s living on the other side of the country and Emerson is left alone to pick up the pieces of her life in a small town determined to paint her as a liar.

Seven years later, Emerson is still living on the beautiful Pacific West island of Bainbridge, helping run her family’s business. The last thing she needs is Jake turning up, bringing with him old memories and opening up old wounds. But Jake—even better looking than Emerson remembers—seems determined to revive their friendship no matter how much Emerson tries to push him away.

Forced to work alongside him for the summer Emerson can’t help but fall for Jake, and soon they’re in the midst of a passionate romance that neither of them wants to end.

But both Emerson and Jake know that if they’re to have any kind of future they must first confront the past—a past that most people want to stay buried.

Review:

Mila Gray has become one of my favorite authors because her books contain emotional stories and the characters always find a way into my heart. I know without a shadow of a doubt that each time I pick up one of her books that I’ll laugh, cry, sigh and fall in love. And that’s exactly what happened when I read this friends to lovers romance. Run Away With Me was a beautiful story that was filled with hope, friendship, family and love.

I look up and meet Jake’s eyes. A hot sun rises in my chest. I quickly smother it to ash. – Em

Emerson Lowe and Jake McCallister had been best of friends since third grade. But just when their friendship started to turn into more, something horrific happened – trigger warning for View Spoiler »sexual assault « Hide Spoiler. It left Em’s life in shambles and Jake moved away with his family. He left right when she needed him the most. Yet seven years later, he came back. And that’s where the story begins. I loved that all of Em’s hurt, betrayal and pain was laid out on the table for us to see. And I understood why she was cold and distant to Jake. But Jake was beyond persistent and he wasn’t going to leave her ever again.

I’ve prayed for other things too. Lots of things. The universe never listened. My prayers were never answered.
Until now.
Jake came back. – Em

As the story unfolded, we slowly got glimpses into their past. We got to see how they were the bestest of friends. And we watched as their friendship started to turn into something more. Those moments were so sweet and adorable. But then we also got to witness the horror unfold, along with the aftermath. And that gutted me to the core. But having those moments from their past, interlaced throughout the story, added so much depth to who Em and Jake were. It was beautifully and seamlessly done, and it helped me feel as though I knew the both of them inside out.

As stupid as it sounds, even when she was six years old and I was seven and we were playing Star Wars in my backyard I never wanted to play Luke. I always wanted to be Han to her Leia. – Jake

Run Away With Me was told in alternating views between Em and Jake. And while it felt a little jarring it first, I ended up loving how it was told. It was if I was right there with them, feeling everything that they were feeling. And while Em felt like a bff, I loved listening and watching everything Jake did. I fell incredibly hard for him. He was such a kind hearted, good man who was also at times fierce and protective. So of course I found myself rooting for everything I had for Em to accept the friendship Jake was offering to her.

“I wanted to, you know,”he says quietly.
“Wanted to what?”I ask, my voice hoarse.
“Come back.”

While there were so many moments that had me laughing and sighing out loud, this book does have a strong emotional side to it too. I found my heart shattered again and again. There were quite a few times that I found myself sobbing, and I just couldn’t stop. And once I got to that point, it felt as though my emotions were always on the edge, waiting to tumble-down into an abyss. But then something would happen that would pull me back into the light and my heart would beat with joy again. This is definitely an emotional book, that was also filled with drama and angst, and I loved every minute of it!

“You remember you said you didn’t want to be friends?” he says.
I nod, unable to find my voice.
He licks his lips and swallows. “Well, I don’t want to be friends with you either . I want more.” He’s looking directly in my eyes as he speaks.
Slowly, I let out the breath I’m holding. Everything inside me is vibrating as if my body is a note on a piano that’s just been struck.
“And I think you do too,” he says next.
My breath becomes jagged and uneven.
“Tell me if I’m wrong.”

Run Away With Me was a touching story that I absolutely loved. It was rounded out with fabulous friends and a home life and parents that also pulled at my heart. So if you love a sexy friends to lovers romance, or a story that will pull at your heartstrings, then definitely give Run Away With Me or Mila Gray’s other books a try. I hope you love them just as much as I do!

PS Each of these books can be read as a standalone.

*ARC kindly provided by Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

Excerpt:

[scroll-box]I hear a voice behind me.

‘Need some help with that?’

I spin around.

It takes a couple of seconds for my brain to confirm that it’s actually him. That it’s actually Jake McCallister standing in front of me and not a hallucination. My heart does this fierce smash and rebound against my ribs as though it’s been violently woken from hibernation. I draw in a breath so big it feels like my lungs might explode, as if all that air is filling a vacuum and I’ll never be able to let it out again.

I hate this feeling. Hate the way the adrenaline floods my blood stream and tears sting my eyes. Hate the way my body reacts in a thousand contradictory ways at the sight of him, as though someone has plugged me into a wrong socket and fried all my synapses.

I have an impulse to throw myself at him but I’m not sure if it’s because I want to hug him or beat the living crap out of him. I drop the kayak, my hands fisting automatically at my sides.

I watch the smile on his lips fade when he notices the set of my jaw. His expression had started off wary but now I see him swallow and press his lips together, something he always does when he’s nervous.

I take note of that and at the same time notice a dozen other tiny, insignificant, monumental details about this new old Jake. I see the faded white scar on his chin—the one I gave him and the new scar cutting across his eyebrow. Then there’s his height – we were always the same height but now he’s tall. . . much taller than me. His dark brown hair is the same, though – unruly, untamed, falling in his eyes. He’s looking at me with the same mix of uncertainty that he looked at me the very last time I saw him.

I glance away, down at the sand. My whole body is shaking and I can’t seem to get it under control.

‘Em?’ I hear him say.

My head flies up before I can stop it. No one calls me that any more. His voice is deeper, mellower. The inflection though when he says my name is still just the same… and instantly something inside me starts coming undone. Jake always used to say my name like it belonged to him, and only him.[/scroll-box]

About Mila Gray:

Mila Gray is the pen name for Sarah Alderson, author of Hunting Lila, Losing Lila, The Sound, Fated and Out of Control.

Originally from London she has lived in Bali for the last four years with her husband and daughter.

As well as writing young adult fiction under the name Sarah Alderson and adult fiction under the name Mila Gray, she also writes screenplays.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Giveaway:

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BOOK REVIEW: What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

November 22, 2017 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Two struggling teenagers find an unexpected connection just when they need it most.

Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.

DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her.

When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

“What are we going to do with you?” she asks, and my stomach clenches. Freshman year, when I would find myself in trouble at school on a biweekly basis, Principal Hoch would pose this question, which is both idiomatic and rhetorical. What are we going to do with you? Like I was a group project.
Just once I’d like the answer to be: nothing.
Just once I’d like the answer to be: You are just fine as is.
Just once I’d like the question not to be asked in the first place.

Not so long ago I read and fell in love with an amazing book by this very author. It had a secretive, fun romance that stole my heart. It was laced with family drama and new relationships. It was brimming with the realities of what happens when you move to another state and start making new friends…all while your best friend is way back where, making new friends, as well. In short: It was a story that touched on many different levels with me and I devoured it within days (again, this is great for me lately lol).

It doesn’t matter whether you call me an Aspie or a weirdo or even a moron. The fact remains that I very much wish I were more like everyone else.

So, naturally, I saw this book and knew I just HAD to read it as soon as possible-but I didn’t. I saved it, waiting for that perfect moment when I could finally pick up a book by a new promising author I loved, thinking that, of course, this book would bring forth the same amount of emotion from me as her first novel did. And, for many, it accomplished that feat. As for me? I was left wondering how this could possibly be the same author.

Your outsides match your insides better now, Kit said earlier, but she was wrong. No, now my real insides are all on the outside for everyone to pick apart and laugh at. I’m like roadkill. I’ll be looked at, examined, but I won’t even be eaten. I’m not worth that much.

Sure, it was cute enough. It was interesting. It was sweet…and it even had some of the same quirkiness that her first book did. But, that’s just it-I’m reaching here, trying to grasp onto things that don’t really exist. Yes, it had its moments where I’d gear up and think, well here we goooo!, almost immediately finding that it was going in a direction I couldn’t stand behind.

Here’s the thing about making a friend that I didn’t understand before I started talking to Kit: They grow your world. Allow for previously inconceivable possibilities.

I suppose, in part, this is my fault. I had extremely high expectations and wanted another win. I wanted to fall in love as hard as I had previously, wanted my expectations exceeded. Instead they fell flat.

Miney does that sometimes, though she accompanies it with the words Can I get a woot woot? I never oblige. I have no idea what a woot woot is.

I didn’t much care for the characters. I think this is the base of my emotions. The main girl is fine, and I think she really did like David (I loved David, naturally), but it made me more mad than happy most of the time. I almost felt like it wasn’t authentic, that she was judging him the whole time. And this is a big contradiction for me-Don’t we all judge those who are we dating? I mean, yeah, of course! But….but. Seeing as he is, well, I can’t say, I just, my feelings were hurt for him on more than one occasion. And yes, that’s the way its meant to be taken-buuuuut not always. The type of sadness I felt sometimes was off, like I was sad for the wrong reasons. Anyway, back to my point- He can’t help the way he is, and I don’t know. I hurt. I hurt a lot while reading this…and I don’t quite think this is what the author had intended.

I stop listening. No, this isn’t fixable. I see that now. Reading my notebook is like opening up my brain and exposing to the uncaring world all the parts that don’t make sense. The parts that make me a freak or a moron or a loser or whatever words people like to throw at me.
The parts to them that make me other.
The parts to me that make me me.

Don’t get me wrong, I signed up for this and normally I devour these stories. This just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the school and how they only were nice to David once he changed his look, and I don’t believe those are the reactions he’d get for what happens half way through, and, honestly, I just didn’t believe any of it-and I’m not one that is bad at suspending disbelief, so you know its off.

Catty mean girls, bully jocks, and a girl who is going through a sad time but inspires our main man…for me, there just wasn’t enough story or enough something to keep me interested. More issues than likes, I have to sadly say this book didn’t work for me. It made me, more than anything, depressed. And I wanted so badly to love this story-the guy was just so sweet. But, as they say, a spade is a spade….I just didn’t enjoy anything much about this book. Hopefully her next will be better for moi.

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