Tag: 4.5/5 gavels

Jun 08

{Review+Giveaway} One Of Us is Lying by Karen McManus @writerkmc @DelacortePress

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus is a young adult thriller. It is blurbed as being a mixture of “Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars”, and let’s be honest- that was more than enough to sell me on this book. Seriously, that was all it took for me to be super super excited to read this one. And I have to say, I really loved One of us is Lying! It was a whirlwind ride that kept me on the edge of my seat basically from the first page. One of Us is Lying is a very breakfast club set up. Five teenagers start out in detention, but here is where the pretty little liars comes in because only four of the five teens walk out of detention alive. There was also a gossip girl type element, with the whole secret gossip app, that discussed the latest school gossip. And that was just extra icing on the cake for me. One of Us is Lying is a book that… Read more »

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May 25

{Review} The Key by Jennifer Anne Davis @AuthorJennifer

The Key is the first book in the True Reign series by Jennifer Anne Davis. The True Reign series is a young adult fantasy series. Jennifer Anne Davis’ Reign of Secrets series is my all time favorite young adult fantasy series. The Reign of Secrets series is the story of Princess Alyssa, which is the daughter of the couple in the True Reign series. So even though the two series can be read separately and can stand on their own, they are set in the same world and revolve around the same family of characters. I knew that because I am loving the Reign of Secrets series so much, I needed to read the True Reign trilogy. Plus, I knew I would love it as well because I am such a huge fan of Jennifer Anne Davis’ writing style. I am halfway through book two right now, and I am totally hooked. I love reading the story of Darmik and Rema, Alyssa’s parents. But in The Key, they are just… Read more »

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May 21

{Review+Giveaway} A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin @KatBaldwin @TorTeen

A School for Unusual Girls is the first book in the Stanje House series by Kathleen Baldwin. This book, and really all three books, were such a big surprise for me. I completely love them! In my post of Riders by Veronica Rossi, I spoke about about much I enjoy binge reading books one right after another, so I decided to do it again with the Stranje House series. And I freakin’ loved it! A School for Unusual Girls is such a different, in the best way, novel! It is part historical fiction, party magic, and part secret spy school. I have never read another book quite like it. One of the coolest parts of the book, is that you don’t really know what direction it is going to go in. Everything is so mysterious. You learn more and more as secrets are reveals and parts of the plot unfold. At the Stranje School, there are a group of five completely special and diverse girls. I loved learning about each… Read more »

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May 01

{ARC Review} Sex in the Sticks by Sawyer Bennett @BennettBooks

Sex in the Sticks is the first book in a new series from Sawyer Bennett. If you didn’t know by now, I absolutely love Mrs. Bennett’s books. They are always well written, with excellent characters and they are always satisfying reads with an awesome romance. When I am in the mood for a go to contemporary romance author, Sawyer Bennett is pretty high up my list on authors I turn to. Sex in the Sticks is the first book in the Love Hurts series. I loved this book. I loved the Alaskan setting. I want to see more small town romances set in Alaska. Sex in the Sticks is the story of Val and Logan. Val is more than a little self centered, and was maybe a little conceited for my tastes, but I liked that she was who she was. She didn’t put on airs around anyone. She was just herself. Take her or leave her. Ultimately, I liked her. I liked her even more once Logan was in… Read more »

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Apr 27

{Review+Giveaway} Ninja Girl by Cookie O’Gorman @CookieOwrites

Ninja Girl is a young adult contemporary romance by Cookie O’Gorman. Last year, I read Adorkable by Cookie and I absolutely loved it. It was so stinkin’ cute. Ninja Girl looked super cute, so I couldn’t pass this one up. I didn’t even realize that it was set in the same universe as Adorkable until I was about halfway through the book. It’s not a sequel or anything, so you don’t have to read adorkable first, but if you are looking for cute YA reads, you totally should. Both Adorkable and Ninja Girl were excellent! Ninja Girl is the story of Ash, a politician’s son and Snow, an awesome martial artist. I loved the scene in the movie theater where Ash and Snow “met”. Holy Cow! That scene was making me nervous. Snow has more guts in her little finger than I do in my whole body I think! I know that is what caught Ash’s eye in the first place. Watching him pursue Snow was beyond cute. I loved… Read more »

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Apr 25

{Release Day Review+Giveaway} It Happened on Love Street by @LiaRileyWrites @ForeverRomance

It Happened on Love Street is first book in the adult series, called the Everland, Georgia series. I really loved Lia Riley’s new adult romance, With Every Breath, so I was super excited to pick up this new series by her. It Happened on Love Street is an adult contemporary romance set in a small town. I could very easily see this appealing to both fans of new adult and adult. The main character, Pepper is a recent law school grad who relocates for a clerkship. So I think she bridges the gap between new adult and adult. (But maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. Maybe she is firmly in the adult camp, and I am just wishing myself her to be younger. ) It Happened on Love Street has all the charm of a small town romance…all the busy bodies and quirks that I love. And it has really excellent characters. I love when the author takes some time developing a robust cast of secondary character when the book… Read more »

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Apr 20

{Review+Excerpt} Mixed up by @EmmaHartAuthor

Mixed Up is a standalone contemporary romance by Emma Hart. I read, and really enjoyed Being Brooke, another one of Emma’s contemporary romances. I thought Being Brooke was hilarious and I was really looking forward to seeing if Mixed Up was as sassy and fun as Being Brooke. Sometimes for me, the true test of an author is to read two or three different standalones or series, and see if I enjoy all of them. If I do, the author beings part of my auto buy or auto interest. And I am very happy to say, that I really enjoyed Mixed Up. Even more than I enjoyed Being Brooke, in fact. Mixed Up is an enemies to more trope, and I loved it. I noticed something very interesting after reading Mixed Up. I think I have a new found thing for books featuring chefs. My last 5 star read was The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson, and that book was also an enemies to more read featuring two chefs…. Read more »

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Apr 17

{Review+Giveaway} Don’t Kiss the Messenger by Katie Ray @TheWeirdists @EntangledTeen

Don’t Kiss the Messenger is a the first book in the young adult contemporary series, called Edgelake High School by Katie Ray. Katie Ray is actually a new name for YA author Katie Kacvinsky (who wrote the books- First Comes Love, Second Chance, Finally Forever, Awaken, Middle Ground, and Still Point). I have never read any of Katie’s books, but I have to say I absolutely LOVED Don’t Kiss the Messenger. I can’t wait for the next book in the Edgelake High series. Don’t Kiss the Messenger is a retelling of the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergerac. I can’t even tell you how much I loved this version of the story. Our main character, and this tale’s Cyrano is a young lady named CeCe. Cece was in a very bad car accident and has really significant facial scarring from reconstructive surgeries. CeCe is a school superstar student. She is brilliant but she is also a really excellent student athlete. I loved how well rounded CeCe is. She is a really hard worker… Read more »

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Apr 05

{Review+Top 10+Giveaway} Spurt by Chris Miles @simonschuster ‏

Spurt is a young adult humorous contemporary by Chris Miles. It features a guy named Jack who has not yet gone through puberty and he decides to fake it to fit in with his friends. Stop. Stop right there, I didn’t need to read any further. Christ Miles already had me. Spurt is a hilarious book. It is a book I think will appeal to all readers of all ages and genders. I really can’t say enough good things about this book, other than it was a blast. All of Jack’s friends have either gone through or are currently going through puberty and he feels left in the dust…so he comes up with a genius idea…he can just fake puberty. I still crack up every time I think about this, because puberty is no fun for anyone, so I can’t imagine faking it is any more fun. But either way, Spurt was a hilarious ride through Jack’s various antics with his friends. The humor is spurt is at times outlandish,… Read more »

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Mar 28

{Review+Giveaway} CRAZY FOR YOU by @RachelsLacey @ForeverRomance

Crazy for You is a new adult/adult contemporary romance by Rachel Lacey. It is the second book in the Risking it All series; however it can be read as a standalone. This was my first book in the series and my first book by Rachel, and I have to say, it was so much fun! I really enjoyed Crazy for You. It made me want to go back and read all the other books. Crazy for You is the story of Emma and Ryan. Emma is a small town in North Carolina’s resident good girl and Ryan has a bad boy image from his teenage years still following him around no matter what he does to try and change it. So when Emma comes to him and tell him she wants to shake things up and have some fun he is really torn. For many reasons, but you will just have to read the book (and the summary) to figure those out. I really, really liked both Emma and Ryan…. Read more »