Source: Publisher (Netgalley)

Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout | Book Review

Posted April 29, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 4 Comments

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published by Disney Hyperion on April 15, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Holy. Moly. I’ve been in a major reading slump for about the past month, so I went to Twitter and asked people what I should read. One of my friends recommended I read this one because she was hooked so quickly! I love mysteries, so I was all about it. Guys, this was amazing! I absolutely loved everything about Don’t Look Back, and am so happy to say that it pulled me out of my slump! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. There are not a lot of good mysteries out there for YAs these days. And the ones that ARE out there usually ends in some annoying way, like the main character dreamed/hallucinated the whole thing, or there’s not really a mystery after all because the main character is mentally ill. Don’t Look Back is a good, nail-biting, spine-tingling, gripping mystery with all the elements one looks for when they are in the mood for such a book.

2. Usually mysteries don’t do well with a romantic element because there ends up being way too many things and emotions to keep track of. The romance actually enhanced the story in this case, though. Of course, I’m happy about this because we all know I drink love stories like some people drink diet soft drinks.

3. I could not GUESS who did it! I thought for sure at two different times in the book that I had figured out who it was. I was feeling so smart and smug that I had figured everything out. NOPE. I was no Nancy Drew here, which was a very pleasant surprise.

4. Ok, I’m sorry… but I LOVE the whole “I’m caught in a post-traumatic stress induced bout of amnesia, so everything is even scarier because I don’t know anything or anyone” kind of storyline. I know it’s been done before, but I honestly do not care. There’s just something about a person with no memory of the evil that happened to them just makes my spine tingle and my skin crawl.

5. Our main girl, Samantha, does not have the Rapunzel Syndrome as a result of her memory loss. She is not this scared, timid, little naive thing with no reason or common sense. She knew to question things and she knew to keep things to herself when she needed to.

6. Speaking of Samantha, she was a HORRIBLE person before she lost her memory. I mean, she had every single mean girl stereotype going on. I LOVE that this memory loss gave her a second chance, and I loved how mortified she was every time she received new evidence of her evil past life. It just goes to show that people can change, and that you don’t HAVE to be a mean person.

7. There is such a strong sense of family and companionship in this book, and I loved that. Samantha’s brother almost immediately steps into the role of “you touch my sister, you die” even though she has been an absolute jerk to him for years. This loyalty he has for her makes him one of the strongest secondary males I’ve read about in a long time. I love that he was able to set aside the hurt she caused him to help her. And Carson, ahhhhh. She was even worse to him, yet he is able to forgive her and help her as well! I was just amazed that so many people from her younger kid days of being sweet and loving possess the ability to gather around Sam in her time of need.

8. I gotta say this: I LOVE it when a former mean girl gets to tell off her mean girl clique and leave them speechless.

9. The suspense just killed me! I read this book mostly at night, and I was too scared to run across the dark hall to go to the bathroom! There were some moments just dripping with danger and mystery, and I could not handle it! I loved it.

Thank you, Jennifer Armentrout, for pulling me out of my reading slump! Thank you to my Twitter friend (I can’t remember which one of you recommended this!) for pushing Don’t Look Back on me. I had no idea I was in the mood for a mystery, but apparently I was! Definitely get your hands on this book, friends.

Taken with You by Shannon Stacey | Book Review + Giveaway

Posted April 3, 2014 by Jana in Adult Fiction, Blog Tour, Book Review, Giveaway / 4 Comments

Taken With You by Shannon Stacey
Series: Kowalski Family #8
Published by Carina Press on March 25, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Hailey Genest has seen most of her friends marry and have babies, and she's happy for them, but it was a lot easier before she hit forty. She's spent her entire life in Whitford, Maine, and if she hasn't found her Prince Charming by now, she has to accept she's probably not going to. When a new friend suggests they go on an adventure and embrace being single, Hailey agrees.

Surviving in the woods is game warden Matt Barnett's idea of a relaxing vacation. But when he meets two women in need of help, he leads them back to safety - a task that proves more fun than expected, thanks to a certain hot blonde. He can't resist pushing her buttons, even though she's made it clear that the rugged, outdoorsy type just isn't for her.

Hailey is glad to see the back of her tempting-tour-guide-slash-pain-in-the-ass. When he shows up in her life again, she's determined to avoid him, no matter how good he looks in his uniform. But that's easier said than done in Whitford, especially when he's renting the house right next door...

Welcome to my stop along the Taken with You blog tour, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours! I’m so excited to promote such a fun and romantic book today. :) This is my very first Kowalski Family book, and I am absolutely in love. I can’t wait to grab the other books in the series!

In this book, Hailey the librarian comes across Matt the game warden while being stranded in the woods. She is not at all outdoorsy, and is certainly not at her best when he finds them and shows them to their car. Matt is not at his best either, as he is covered in camping grime and hasn’t shaved. He’s not too fond of Hailey, but thinks she’s a little on the cute side. Imagine how surprised he is when he moves in to town and ends up hosting a meeting at her library. THEN he moves into the house next door to her! I loved all the coincidences, and how exasperated these two were because of each other.

Throughout the entire story, these two keep telling themselves that they are SO wrong for each other. But for some reason, Hailey keeps showing up at his house and Matt keeps looking in her living room window to watch her clean. And Matt’s dog LOVES Hailey. I love books with sweet pet sidekicks, and Matt’s dog is one of my favorites. The romance is a slow burn on again, off again kind of relationship, which I loved. I love that Hailey is a librarian, and in a small town! That’s my dream job! I loved reading about her work and the fun activities she hosted. I love Matt’s ruggedness. Like Hailey, I’m very girlie girl, but I could SO go outdoorsy if I had Matt with me. Phew! I love how these two become friends who really care for one another. Friendships turn romance are always so much fun to read.

All in all, I loved Taken with You! I can’t wait to read more about these Kowalski family members who kept popping up in the story. Had I been a long time reader of the series, I’m sure I would have loved seeing them again! BUT the book can stand alone as well. I did not feel like I was missing anything important, so don’t worry about picking the series up in the middle like I did. There’s not really any bad language, and very few sex scenes, which I appreciated. This book was more about feelings, which I love so much. Definitely give this series a try if you enjoy contemporary romance!

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Also Known As by Robin Benway | Book Review

Posted February 7, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 6 Comments

Also Known As by Robin Benway
Series: Also Known As #1
Published by Walker Children's on February 26, 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 318
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Which is more dangerous: being an international spy... or surviving high school?

Maggie Silver has never minded her unusual life. Cracking safes for the world's premier spy organization and traveling the world with her insanely cool parents definitely beat high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations. (If it's three digits, why bother locking it at all?)

But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York City for her first solo assignment, her world is transformed. Suddenly, she's attending a private school with hundreds of "mean girl" wannabes, trying to avoid the temptation to hack the school's elementary security system, and working to befriend the aggravatingly cute son of a potential national security threat... all while trying not to blow her cover.

From the hilarious and poignant author of Audrey, Wait! comes a fast-paced caper that proves that even the world's greatest spies don't have a mission plan for love.

I love books about teen spies, and I’m not quite sure why. I love Ally Carter’s Heist Society series, and so I fully expected to love this book as well. And I did! What a breath of fresh air, Also Known As is! Robin Benway is quickly climbing the ladder of beloved authors, because I have not yet read a book from her that I have not adored! I thought Audrey, Wait! was wonderful, but Also Known As was perfection. As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. I think my favorite part of the book is the snark and sarcasm. These characters are hilarious, and I laughed throughout the entire book. I love it when an author is genuinely funny and not trying to be funny by inserting cheesy lines that have you laughing as a result of uncomfortable cheesiness.

2. I love the main character, Maggie. She and her parents are part of this spy organization called The Collective, and she is an amazing safe cracker. She’s never been on an assignment by herself before, so she makes some mistakes… like falling for her assignment. I love how quirky and dorky she is. She is not a normal girl, and you can totally see the awkwardness dripping from the pages. She warmed my heart.

3. Maggie makes a friend while she is undercover, and her name is Roux. Oh my gosh, I love this girl. I think I love her more than Maggie. She’s a mean girl who got a huge dose of karma, and is now the social outcast. Her new status has made her very uninhibited, and the girl has no filter. She gloms on to Maggie, and the two become inseparable. Can I have this girl over for some girl talk, please? She is so much fun, but also broken as a result of her absent parents. This brokenness gives her depth, though. Love her.

4. Jesse is adorable. I mean really. Initially I was not his biggest fan, just because he comes off as this entitled, spoiled rich kid. But then we are given the opportunity to get to know him, and he’s just so sweet and caring!

5. Angelo. Oh. My. Can I have an uncle like him? He’s this suave, debonair, dapper older gentleman who is also part of The Collective. He is a very close friend of Maggie and her family. I love his relationship with Maggie most of all. He is just so loving, and he adores her in this grandfatherly way. I just found him to be so charming and likable.

6. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I loved these characters so much. They made the story for me.

7. The adventure was pretty awesome, too!

All in all, Also Known As is wonderful. I have no complaints, and can’t wait to finish Going Rogue which I started as soon as I finished this one. If you like spy stories, funny characters, adventure, and romance than give this one a shot!

Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill | Book Review

Posted January 15, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 10 Comments

Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers on January 7, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

I really loved Lauren Morrill’s first book, Meant to Be (my review), and was very excited to learn of her next book about a figure skater and a hockey player who switch places for the summer! I knew I was in for a very fun read. As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. I feel like ice sports rarely show up in young adult books, which is sad. I’m not a hockey fan by any means, but I love figure skating. I even took lessons when I was little! I loved reading all about figure skating, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I was even interested in hockey! Lauren did a great job bringing both sports to life for me.

2. I was very attracted to the Parent Trap-esque storyline. Sloane and Sloane bump into each other randomly and, each having their own baggage, decide it would be really nice to escape from their lives and try something new. The girls learn to be each other over a bunch of really expensive junk food one night, and then head off to each other’s summer camps. Sloane Emily, a figure skater, gets to try her hand at hockey while Sloane Devon learns how to fly through the air in a tiny, sparkly spandex leotard. I loved this unique idea, and smiled when The Parent Trap reference showed up in the story itself. I love that movie!

3. It was difficult at times to keep the Sloanes straight in my head, so I feel like I did not connect with either one of them as much as I could have. Sloane is already a pretty rare name, so to have two of them in the same book really messed with my mind! I eventually got used to it and was able to keep them somewhat straight by their middle names. To me, Emily is a more girly name… so Sloane Emily is the figure skater. BUT she’s playing hockey right now. Whoa. Devon seems more tomboyish to me, so Sloane Devon is the hockey player… but OH, she’s figure skating right now. See? It’s a bit confusing. You can’t read this when you’re sleepy or sick like I was when I read it!

4. Confusion aside, I really enjoyed reading about everything the Sloanes went through in their new lives. They were always exhausted, trying to learn their sport well enough to convince their peers that they were good at it already. Both girls went into things thinking they were going to be living an easier life than the one before. I like that they each got a dose of humble pie, and had to learn that they are not all that. I loved that they began to give each other (and their sport) more credit.

5. You have to suspend belief in order to enjoy this story. I seriously think that this could never happen. These Sloanes are not twins, and only kind of look alike. Why would people not recognize immediately that they were not who they said they were? Furthermore, both girls were considered to be very good at their prospective sports. Their reputations are well known. How can they switch lives and be convincing enough that nobody wonders what’s going on? Really, you have to just go with the flow and not question things.

6. I was hoping for a little romance in the beginning, but ended up enjoying the focus on the girls and their lives and how they get through their challenges. They both grew a lot through their experiences over the summer, and they do get a little romancy stuff going on, too.

7. The supporting characters added a lot to the story. I liked both love interests, Matt and Nando. My favorite character in the whole book, though, had to be Sloane Devon’s confidant and sassy figure skating guru, Alex (I think?). He was hilarious, and I loved his friendship with Sloane. I would love it if he got his own book.

Overall, Being Sloane Jacobs is a cute, shallow story. I like Meant to Be much better, but am very glad I had the opportunity to read Lauren’s sophomore novel. I loved the skating bits, and I really enjoyed watching the Sloanes grow and work through their challenges.

Captivate by Vanessa Garden | Book Review

Posted January 10, 2014 by Jana in Book Review, Young Adult Fiction / 9 Comments

Captivate by Vanessa Garden
Series: Submerged Sun #1
Published by Harlequin Teen on January 1, 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher (Netgalley)
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In a glittering underwater world, nothing is as it seems...

For the past twelve months since her parents’ death, seventeen-year-old Miranda Sun has harboured a dark secret — a secret that has strained the close relationship she once shared with her older sister, Lauren. In an effort to repair this broken bond, Miranda’s grandparents whisk the siblings away on a secluded beach holiday. Except before Miranda gets a chance to confess her life-changing secret, she’s dragged underwater by a mysterious stranger while taking a midnight swim.

Awakening days later, Miranda discovers that she’s being held captive in a glittering underwater city by an arrogant young man named Marko...the King of this underwater civilisation.

Nineteen-year-old Marko intends to marry Miranda in order to keep his crown from falling into the sinister clutches of his half-brother, Damir. There’s only one problem. Miranda is desperate to return home to right things with her sister and she wants nothing to do with Marko. Trying to secure her freedom, Miranda quickly forms an alliance with Robbie — Marko’s personal guard. However, she soon discovers that even underwater, people are hiding dangerous secrets...

I was super excited when I read the blurb for Captivate, because I LOVE underwater worlds. They have always been my very favorite settings for books. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this world is super unique and gorgeous. I adored this book beyond words, and hope I can set aside the fangirling and present my thoughts in a coherent way! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. The book starts out with a major bang! First, the girls are taking a midnight swim and talking about life and all of a sudden Miranda is pulled under the water and disappears. I was captivated immediately.

2. I fell in love with the undersea world of Marin almost instantly. It is gorgeous and colorful and sparkling and so unique! At first I thought Captivate was a book about mermaids, but it’s not. These are humans living on the ocean floor in a huge city. The city has rivers and gondolas and a modern colosseum where people go to watch criminals get thrown to the sharks in a big aquarium-like tank. When the look up to the sky they see the ocean instead. Their world is lit and warmed by light crystals that sparkle, and oxygen is brought down to them through air shafts. There’s a garden and a park with real grass. I could go on and on. I’m in love with this place.

3. Miranda’s captor, Robbie, is one of my favorite characters. I’m so impressed that Vanessa was able to write a kidnapper that I ended up loving. Robbie was ordered by his best friend, Marko, King of Marin, to go to the surface and bring him a wife. Once Robbie brought her down to Marin, he was appointed her guard. As he gets to know her and her story, he begins to really care for her and her wellbeing. He has such a sweet and caring personality, and I completely fell for him.

4. There is some very interesting mermaid lore thrown in to the story, and I loved reading about it. I loved reading the history of Marin, as well as its hidden mysteries. I mentioned before that I love Marin, but it’s all because of the amazing worldbuilding in this story.

5. I really like Miranda, even though she is nothing really special. Maybe that’s why I like her! She is portrayed as a quiet little plain Jane, always in the shadow of her gorgeous sister. She was chosen at random and by accident, and brought down to a world where she is the center of attention. She is needed. She is extremely important to everyone there. She discovers that she is beautiful. I really loved watching her take to heart that she is so much more than the physical traits she wished she had. She no longer feels the need to hide herself, and even though she is captive, she acts more free the longer she stays.

6. Marko is really sexy. I did not care for him much in the beginning, but I grew to like him a lot. He has this interesting mixture of being really suave, yet completely inexperienced at the same time. I kind of loved watching him trip over himself and discover new emotions.

7. I was not totally sold on the romance, and am left a little confused as to whether or not there’s a love triangle. I think we’re supposed to be confused, though, because I think Miranda is.

8. There were some tense moments, some of which made me scared to continue on! I feel like I really latched on to some of these characters, and so when the danger set in I worried for their safety.

9. I love Vanessa’s writing. I finished this book last night, but I am still picturing Marin in my mind. I’m still picturing Miranda’s moments with Marko. I’m still picturing fearless Robbie. The words flow so effortlessly off the page that I could not quit reading!

Overall, Captivate is a new favorite of mine, and the start to what I’m sure will be an amazing trilogy! The world is one I know many readers will love visiting, and Vanessa’s writing will keep them wishing for more. I was truly captivated and thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience. I cannot wait for the next book!