ARC Book Review | On the Fence by Kasie West

Format: E-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Rating: 4 Stars

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Fun, original, and endearing, On the Fence is a romantic comedy about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect.

My Thoughts:

 

Kasie West is a freaking genius, I know that I’ve said it before in other reviews and I’m sure that I’ll say it many more times in the future because it’s absolutely 100% true. This is my fourth book by West and I have fell in love with every one of her stories. She knows exactly how to catch a reader’s attention and hold on to it during the entire book.

Charlie is used to being one of the guys, she has been hanging out and playing sports with her three older brothers and her neighbor Braden for as long as she can remember and she loves it. She doesn’t pretend to be someone that she isn’t, she’s just Charlie. But when Charlie’s dad makes her get a job to pay for a speeding ticket she thinks that this will ruin her summer. But, as it turns out it’s just what she needs to realize that there may be more to her than just a tomboy.

Charlie has always thought of Braden as part of her family and she never really considered him to be anything else, until they start hanging out at the fence that separates their houses in the middle of the night. Braden trying to get away from his father and Charlie trying to drown out the nightmares that plague her. Their ‘fence life’ is the turning point in their relationship, it makes them realize how much they really know about each other and it’s the beginning of something that Charlie never expected.

Not only did I like Charlie, but I loved the supporting characters as well. Charlie’s brothers were extremely lovable. And Braden, he was so sweet and it’s easy to see why Charlie fell for him so fast. Although their relationship went from hot to cold and everything in between, it was easy to see how much they cared for one another.

Overall, On the Fence is another wonderful contemporary by the amazing Kasie West and if you’ve never read her work, trust me when I say this, you’re missing out and you should definitely give this amazing author a try. 

 

 

 

----Christy  

Waiting on Wednesday | The Fall by Bethany Griffin

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

 

My Pick

The Fall by Bethany Griffin

 

Expected Publication Date: October 7, 2014 by Greenwillow Books

 

 

 

Madeline Usher is doomed.

She has spent her life fighting fate, and she thought she was succeeding. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Ushers die young. Ushers are cursed. Ushers can never leave their house, a house that haunts and is haunted, a house that almost seems to have a mind of its own. Madeline’s life—revealed through short bursts of memory—has hinged around her desperate plan to escape, to save herself and her brother. Her only chance lies in destroying the house.

In the end, can Madeline keep her own sanity and bring the house down? The Fall is a literary psychological thriller, reimagining Edgar Allan Poe’s classic The Fall of the House of Usher.

 

 

 What are you waiting on?

 

Book Review | The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

You take it for granted. Waking up. Going to school, talking to your friends. Watching a show on television or reading a book or going out to lunch.


You take for granted going to sleep at night, getting up the next day, and remembering everything that happened to you before you closed your eyes.

You live and you remember.

Me, I live and I forget.

But now—now I am remembering.

For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

My Thoughts:

The Half Life of Molly Pierce had me intrigued from the very beginning. I’m a sucker for psychological thrillers and books like this one is why. The mystery is there from the beginning and it keeps you guessing the entire time.

Molly has been having regular black outs for quite some time, she will wake up somewhere completely difference and have no memory of what has happened during the last few hours. Losing hours of her time freaks Molly out so much that she hides it from everyone else because she’s afraid of what it means.

Molly was a really interesting character and she was very easy to like. I was constantly on my toes trying to figure out what was going on. At the beginning of this story when we are first introduced to what was happening with Molly, I was thinking everything from brain tumor to alien abduction (Daemon, anyone?) but as the story went on it all began to fall into place and I began to put some of the pieces together and figure out what was happening.

I can’t really say too much without spoiling anything but I will say that the mystery unfolds nicely and the pacing was perfect, there was not a boring moment throughout the entire book.

Overall, The Half Life of Molly Pierce is an engaging and fascinating mystery that will keep you enthralled until the very end.

Book Review | Reborn by C.C. Hunter

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher Via Netgalley
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: May 20, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Goodreads:

Return to the beloved world of Shadow Falls, a camp that teaches supernatural teens to harness their powers—and where a vampire named Della will discover who she’s meant to be.


For Della Tsang, Shadow Falls isn't just a camp: it's home. As a vampire who's never fit in with her human family, it's the one place she can truly be herself. But when a mysterious new guy arrives at camp, Della’s whole world is thrown into turmoil. Chase is a vampire with secrets, who knows more than he’s telling. But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to trust this attractive stranger—and feel drawn to him. But romance is the last thing she wants—as she keeps telling Steve, the hunky shapeshifter who won’t stop trying to win her heart. And if Della isn't careful, he just might succeed.　 When a new case puts everyone she cares about in danger, Della’s determined to do everything she can to save them . . . even if it means teaming up with Steve and Chase, who leave her more confused than ever. With their lives on the line, will Della and her friends survive—with their hearts intact?

My Thoughts:

The Shadow Falls series is one of my favorite YA series so when I saw that Della was getting her own spin off, I knew that I had to get my hands on it so that I could get more of this world and I’m happy to say that Hunter doesn’t disappoint. Reborn is just as engrossing and captivating as the Shadow Falls books.

On a rare weekend home Della discovers something in her dad’s office that could change everything for her, but in order to find out the truth she will have to enlist the help of her friends and we all know how Della feels about asking for help. But that isn’t the only mystery that she will have to solve, as it isn’t long after she comes back to Shadow Falls that two people are murdered near the property and when Burnett asks for her help (and by Burnett asking for her help, I mean Della strongly volunteering to help) she realizes she may be in over her head because there are some things that happening to her that aren’t adding up.

I really love Della as a character, she’s stubborn and very hard headed but she has such a huge heart and she would do anything to protect those she loves. I didn’t really give Steve much thought in the SF series but I can see why Della is having such a hard time staying away from him, he’s such a great guy. BUT…there was kind of an inkling of a chance that there may be a love triangle blooming so I’m interested to see where that will go in future books.

Overall, Reborn is such a thrill ride, there’s mystery, romance, death and even birth ;) I loved getting inside Della’s head and I can’t wait to see where she takes us next.

----Christy

Waiting on Wednesday | Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

 

My Pick

 

Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

 

Expected Publication Date: August 5, 2014 by Fiewel & Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn't imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She's not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he's impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes, and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly... bad things are happening. It's a heady rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil's bargains, she isn't sure who—or what--she can trust. Not even her own mind...

What are you waiting on?



ARC Book Review | The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Publication Date: June 3, 2014
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone has a lot to say about Alice Franklin, and it’s stopped mattering whether it’s true. The rumors started at a party when Alice supposedly had sex with two guys in one night. When school starts everyone almost forgets about Alice until one of those guys, super-popular Brandon, dies in a car wreck that was allegedly all Alice’s fault. Now the only friend she has is a boy who may be the only other person who knows the truth, but is too afraid to admit it. Told from the perspectives of popular girl Elaine, football star Josh, former outcast Kelsie, and shy genius Kurt, we see how everyone has a motive to bring – and keep – Alice down.

My Thoughts:

It seems that everyone and their mother know about what happened the night of the ever popular Elaine O'Dea's party that Alice Franklin slept with not one, but two guys that night. Fast forward a few weeks later and one of the guys that she supposedly slept with dies and it's all her fault. At least that's one everyone is saying.

This book is also really unique in the sense that it uses other people to tell Alice's story and not Alice's herself which I thought was quite odd at the beginning but as I became more engrossed in this book, I could see how strong it made the story.

I've not had much luck with books told in multiple POVs in the past because a lot of the time it seems like the characters have the same voice and that ends up confusing me. However, in The Truth About Alice all of the characters voices are very distinct and not once did I get confused on which character POV I was reading.

I felt so sorry for Alice, everyone was acting like she was the whore of Babylon when really, they don't know the whole truth about That Night and they don't care enough to figure it out because they are just looking for someone to blame and unfortunately, after the rumor spreads about the accident that took Brandon's life being Alice's fault, she becomes an easy target.

Overall, The Truth About Alice is a realistic look at bullying and how what seems like a simple lie can affect someone's life so drastically.

-----Christy

Sunday Showdown (10) Jessica Warman

 

In today's showdown, Jessica Warman's covers will go up against one another!

 

 

 Let the showdown begin!

 

Which cover is your favorite?
	The Last Good Day of the Year
	Where the Truth Lies
	Between
	Beautiful Lies
	Breathless
pollcode.com free polls

 

Book Review | Take Me On by Katie McGarry

Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 27, 2014
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Acclaimed author Katie McGarry returns with the knockout new story of two high school seniors who are about to learn what winning really means. Champion kickboxer Haley swore she'd never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But then the guy she can't stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. Suddenly, Haley has to train West Young. All attitude, West is everything Haley promised herself she'd stay away from. Yet he won't last five seconds in the ring without her help. West is keeping a big secret from Haley. About who he really is. But helping her-fighting for her-is a shot at redemption. Especially since it's his fault his family is falling apart. He can't change the past, but maybe he can change Haley's future. Hayley and West have agreed to keep their relationship strictly in the ring. But as an unexpected bond forms between them and attraction mocks their best intentions, they'll face their darkest fears and discover love is worth fighting for.

My Thoughts:

Wow! It seems like Katie McGarry just keeps getting better and better! Every time she comes out with a new book I find myself saying “That was my favorite in this series” and this time is no exception. Take Me On is my favorite in the Pushing the Limits series.

At first I was a little apprehensive about West getting his own book and to be honest I was soooo ready for Abby’s story *cough* HINT HINT *cough* but once I got started on this story I was immediately hooked and I loved everything about it; the story; the characters; EVERYTHING.

West has felt like a failure his entire life, hell, he was born for a certain purpose and he couldn’t even accomplish that. But that’s not who he is at all, he just can’t see it….until Haley. Haley has had a rough year, her father lost his job, and then they lost their house and had to live in a homeless shelter for a while. Then she had some things happen with her boyfriend (ex now) and all of that together changes her and she feels like she’s not worth fighting. But the night that she almost gets run over starts a series of changes that will make her a better person and make her see that she is worth fighting for and there’s someone out there who will never stop fighting for her.

McGarry’s writing is so flawless and amazing that if she wrote a dictionary I could probably sit down and read it without getting bored. She knows how to draw the readers in and keep them hooked until she’s ready to let them go. If you haven’t read one of her books yet, then do yourself a favor and drop what you are doing and go to the bookstore/online store/…JUST SOMEWHERE and pick one up, because you are in for an amazing story.

----Christy

Deal Discoveries

Deal Discoveries is a feature here on the blog that allows me to show books that I've found on Kindle that are on sale.  I figured since I love getting cheap Kindle books then you would to ;)

Clicking the book will take you to Amazon! 

1.99

2.99

----Christy

Waiting on Wednesday | Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

 

My Pick:

Trust Me, I'm Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer

 

Expected Publication Date: October 14, 2014 by Delacorte Press

 

 

Fans of Ally Carter's Heist Society novels will love this teen mystery/thriller with sarcastic wit, a hint of romance, and "Ocean's Eleven"-inspired action. Julep Dupree tells lies. A lot of them. She's a con artist, a master of disguise, and a sophomore at Chicago's swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn't rely on her dad--she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average.
But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep's carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Even with help from St. Agatha's resident Prince Charming, Tyler Richland, and her loyal hacker sidekick, Sam, Julep struggles to trace her dad's trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep's in way over her head . . . but that's not going to stop her from using every trick in the book to find her dad before his mark finds her. Because that would be criminal.

 

What are you waiting on?