The F-It List: Review

Title: The F-It List
Author: Julie Halpern
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: ARC from NetGalley (Also, a purchased copy)
Release Date: November 12, 2013
Challenge: SARC

Summary

Alex and Becca have always been best friends. But when Becca does something nearly unforgivable at Alex’s dad’s funeral, Alex cuts ties with her and focuses on her grieving family.

Time passes, and Alex finally decides to forgive Becca. Then she’s hit with another shocker: Becca has cancer. It also turns out Becca has a bucket list, one she doesn’t know she’ll be able to finish now. That’s where Alex comes in, along with a mysterious and guarded boy who just may help Alex check a few items off her own bucket list.

Julie Halpern writes about illness, loss, love, and friendship with candor and compassion. Here is an unforgettable book about living fully, living authentically, and just . . . living.

Thoughts
The F-It List wasn't 100% exactly what I was expecting. With a title like The F-It List, you'd think I wouldn't be surprised by what was written. I am still a bit naive sometimes.

Overall, this was a good read. The second half, to me, was loads better than the first. I think it took my brain that long to adjust to language and sex. I'm out of touch with the teens, I reckon!

Our story revolved around our main character, Alex. Alex was grieving her dad (really, not grieving), her best friend's betrayal, her best friend's illness, and the boy she liked (but thought she didn't deserve the happiness).

After the girls spent the summer apart, they did reconcile. They've been best friends since elementary school! Her best friend, Becca, wanted to live vicariously through Alex with her bucket list while she was going through chemo. The chats and banter that these girls had, I enjoyed. They were raunchy sometimes, yet funny.

Leo is the distraction that Alex didn't plan on. She had noticed him and kind of crushed on him for a while, and then WHAM! They bumped into each other and they went with the flow. I actually really liked their relationship. Instead of clingy, lovey-dovey teenagers, they did teenager-y things; they watched movies, had a mutual love/hobby, and made-out.

Alex couldn't deal with being happy when others were miserable. She thought she had to be miserable as well. Essentially, this book was about Alex figuring out that it's okay to be happy and have good things happen even if others are having a rough go at life. She couldn't control her dad's death or her best friend's cancer and it took the whole book for her to get to the acceptance of that.

Rating

The Riddles of Hillgate: Review (w/ Giveaway)

Tour Schedule

Zoey Kane is known around Riverside for making risky purchases. When her daughter Claire learns a most recent investment is eighty acres on the haunted side of town, she is simply flabbergasted. Amazement takes over the whole community, however, when an old mansion is discovered deep within trees. After the estate is turned into a popular hotel, no one could have expected just how risky this purchase would be.

Riddles of Hillgate is currently FREE!

Download a copy

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The Z&C Mysteries are a fresh, unique series, where the mother and daughter can kick butt in heels if they have to. The situations can get very scary, but nothing is ever too gory. The reading is clean, while also vibrant. It's just plain fast-paced fun.

Thoughts
Ahhh, another fun and quick read! Some may find The Riddles of Hillgate to be cheesy, but I consider it cheesy FUN! I love cheesy fun!

Zoey and Claire are a great mother-daughter team who both hit bottom at the same time. With luck, the stumbled upon the mansion that they dubbed, Hillgate, turned out to be a great experience for them.

This was a fun mystery with comedy to go along with it. Dealing with trying to earn money by turning it into a hotel and having a "ghost" and finding out the secrets about the family and what happened back in the 1920s was fun! This was a story that was written well. The descriptions were fun and endearing (at the end).

A review copy was provided. All thoughts are my own and I have not been persuaded in any way.
Rating

About the Authors

Claire has a Masters in Journalism, was Editor for Eye Witness Magazine and can't make Irish Rum Cookies to save her life.

Zoey has dabbled in modeling, is a licensed real-estate agent, seeks for treasures (great and small), and is often underestimated.

Together, Zoey and Claire are a mother-daughter mystery solving duo. During their downtime, they dream of island men whisking them away.

(Zoey and *Claire are also fictional, and their authors are a real life mother and daughter who use their names as pseudonyms. Don't tell them that, though.)

*Award-winning author, Molly Snow, writes under Claire Kane. To see her paranormal romantic comedies, visit mollysnowfiction.blogspot.com

Website * Blog * Facebook

Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 11/11/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Life, Love, & Lemons: Review (w/ Giveaway)

Life, Love, & Lemons by Magan Vernon 

Publication date: August 20th 2013 

Genre: YA Contemporary
Challenge: Standalone Challenge

Synopsis:

When life hands you lemons, sometimes you have to say screw the lemons and bail.

Seventeen-year-old Bentley Evans had it all. Then her Dad got laid off.

Now she has to move across town to a small apartment and leave her life of luxury for public school and a job at the local burger place. Just when her world seems like it's crumbling she finds solace in the unlikely punk boy next door, Kai Stone. But as their relationship blossoms, a jealous ex-girlfriend and a secret to tell that threatens to bring disaster back into Bentley’s life.

  

Thoughts

Looking for a cute and fast read? This is it! Kai and Bentley were great to read about. 

Bentley, having a life let down, was demoted in the world due to her dad losing his job. She made the best of it and was actually quite a trooper. She could still be whiny every once in a while, but what 17 year old isn't?!?

Kai was a great addition for Bentley. Granted, having him in her life got her some unwanted attention and enemies. Jealous ex-girlfriends are the pits!

Life, Love, & Lemons was a great story about love and sacrifice. In the end, the sacrifice that was made, and the understanding from all parties involved, made my heart smile. It's all about what you choose to do with the lemons.

A review copy was provided. All thoughts are my own and I have not been persuaded in any way.

Rating

Author Bio

Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the insurance capital of the world. She is in a very serious, fake relationship with Adam Lambert and constantly asks her husband to wear guyliner. He still refuses. She also believes her husband is secretly an alien, disguised as a southern gentleman.

Author Links

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Giveaway
A Coach wristlet, lemon drop EOS lip balm, and swag

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Rocky Road: Review (w/ Giveaway)

Tour Schedule

It was supposed to be a girls’ weekend in scenic St. George, Utah that would include shopping, trying out the local cuisine, and participating in a breast cancer fundraiser. The fact that one of the organizers of the fundraising event, a local doctor, disappeared two months ago was not supposed to be Sadie’s problem. In fact, she refuses to participate in the grassroots investigation her friend Caro, and Caro’s cousin, Tess, have put together prior to her arrival. But then she meets the ex-wife of the missing doctor. How could she not ask a few questions . . . that lead to a few more questions . . . that lead to a small town and yet even more questions. Before she knows it, Sadie is in the middle of yet another murder investigation and trying to piece together a convoluted trail of good intentions, hidden motivations, and philanthropy turned big business.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Thoughts
This was my first Josi S. Kilpack read. I went in not knowing what to expect. 

Rocky Road is the 10th story in the Culinary Mysteries series. I haven't read any of the others. Thankfully, they're not necessarily needed to be read in order. It took a while through this book to figure out what the situation was in the previous book that made Sadie want to stay out of this case.

This book, and I'm guessing the series, has a bit of Mormonism, prayers, and talk of God. It wasn't overwhelming, but the religion is there.

Sadie was a fun character! When I started reading and read that Sadie was in her 50s, I wasn't expecting that! She was an intelligent and caring character.

Her friend, Caro, is 10 years younger than Sadie. She is the reason they were on the trip. Caro is a great "side-kick" and was quite ambitious and maybe a bit overzealous due to her cousin, Tess.

For the record? Booo! Hiiissss! Tess.

I enjoyed the story told by Josie. It was a fun mystery to read. I loved the recipes included at the end of chapters! That's very clever!

A review copy was provided. All thoughts are my own and I have not been persuaded in any way.
Rating

Author Josi S. Kilpack
Born and raised in Salt Lake City Utah, I met my husband in high-school--well, he wasn't my husband then, just the cute guy in weight training with the permed mullet--and we married in 1993. I wrote my first book while on bed rest with my third child and have gone on to publish 20 novels, the most recent being part of The Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series.

I currently live in Willard, Utah with my husband, children, and cat.

Website * Twitter * Blog

Culinary Mysteries by Josi Kilpack

Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 10/6/13
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Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Breaking the Reins: Review & Giveaway

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Breaking the Reins by Juliana Haygert
Publication date: August 14th 2013
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

Horses, mansions, tea parties, and lies are twenty-year-old Hannah Taylor’s life. To others, her family and her relationship with Eric is perfect. But she knows the truth. She lives it.
After a fire takes her grandma’s life and kills her horse, Hannah’s immaculate life spirals out of control. Her father disapproves of her decision to run her grandma’s ranch instead of focusing solely on learning the family business; Animal Control brings her Argus, a mistreated horse that she can’t turn away even though she’s not ready for another horse; and her boyfriend, Eric Bennett, a world famous polo player, becomes possessive and authoritarian. Despite her best efforts to disguise it, Hannah grows wary of him.
Then, Leonardo Fernandes struts onto the polo scene. A cocky rookie with a messy life of his own, he’s drawn to Hannah and isn’t afraid of showing it, even when Eric makes it clear she is his and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Hannah suffers for Eric’s jealousy. The abuse only gets worse when Leo steals the title of best polo player in the world from Eric.
But the title isn’t enough for Leo. He wants Hannah too, and she can’t deny her attraction to him either. Somehow, she must find a way to break free from abusive Eric before he breaks every bone in her body.

Purchase Breaking the Reins

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Thoughts:

First off, I'm not really in to the whole NA genre yet. When I read this synopsis, I thought this would be a good one to read and do a review. 

I have to say, I did like this book. The characters seemed to be well thought out and written well. I'm a fan of Leo's!

I like the connection of being broken and needing someone to fix you and the relation of Argus with the same needs. The Hannah-Argus-Leo connection was excellent!

I like that Juliana incorporated some Portuguese sayings in the story. They really helped authenticate Leo and his family. Did I mention that I am a fan of Leo's? :)

The jerky, psychopath character, Eric was well written. He scared me, even in pages of a book. The abuse described in this book was quite scary. Sadly, I'm sure it's typical in abusive relationships. I approve of Hannah's mother getting involved in the non-profit group after everything was brought to light. Thumbs up, Juliana!

A review copy was provided. All thoughts are my own and I have not been persuaded in any way.

Rating:

I liked it! I liked the broken characters needing healing and love to get better. Argus is my hero!

About the Author:

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Giveaway:

Tour wide giveaway

Open internationally

Prizes:

-Signed paperback of Breaking the Reins

-Ebook of Breaking the Reins

-Signed paperback of Destiny Gift

-Ebook of Destiny Gift

-25$ Amazon/B&N gift card
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The Summer of No Regrets: Review & Giveaway

Complete Tour lineup here!

Title: The Summer of No Regrets
Author: Katherine Grace Bond
Source: Copy provided for an honest review. All thoughts are honest and have in no way been persuaded by anyone.
Published: August 2012

Synopsis & Cover:

This was the summer that would change my life.

No more being what everyone expected. No more doing what everyone else wanted.

So when Luke came into my life, I decided to keep him a secret. Maybe he as a dead-ringer for notorious Hollywood bad boy Trent Yves. And it was possible that everything he told me was a lie. And yes, I was probably asking for trouble. But all I saw was Luke–sweet, funny, caring–someone who would let me be the real me.

But which was the real him?

    

Thoughts:

I remember seeing a lot about this book last summer when it was released, but I never got a chance to get it and read it. I was happy to see a tour for it this summer to give it a new life! I jumped at the opportunity.

Brigitta is our main character. She lives in the middle of nowhere on the west coast. She doesn't attend school, as she is "homeschooled" by her mother. She tried her local high school for one year, but did not like it. At all! 

She is a very different girl. With her parents and their free-spirited ways, she really has no other choice. They've let her and her sister, Mallory, live their lives how they've wanted. They could attend public school if they wished. They had the right to choose their own religion and more along these lines.

Brigitta's best friend, Natalie, has Hollywood fever! She thinks she sees stars all of the time in their sleepy little town. Brigitta plays clueless and acts as if she has no idea who these people are, all while hiding her gossip magazines and running a gossip blog.

Brigitta has a sort-of-kind-of boyfriend/ex-boyfriend/best friend with a boy named Devon. Devon's a dufus! I'll just leave it at that. :) The highlight of their relationship for me was that they participated in NaNoWriMo! That's a fun shout-out to the writing world.

In walks the new neighbor, Luke. Luke has an uncanny resemblance to the movie star, Trent Yves (pronounced Eve). They bond after a cougar nearly ate Luke. After word got out about the cougar, it was hunted and killed. Come to find out, the cougar had a couple of cubs close by. Brigitta and Luke decided to take care of them since they felt responsible for their mother being killed.

Luke pulls a lot of vanishing acts and they frustrate Brigitta. Essentially, that's what the whole book is: Brigitta and Luke hanging out and then Luke disappearing and Brigitta trying to figure out where he's going and if he's really Trent Yves. I couldn't decide if I liked Luke or not! Alas, I will let you read and find out on your own about Luke and Trent and what happens with Brigitta.

I felt that I understood Brigitta, Mallory, Natalie, and even Brigitta's parents. These characters were written really well and given their own identities that were easily distinguished. Overall, Katherine told a good story. 

Rating:

About the Author:
Katherine Grace Bond is the author of THE SUMMER OF NO REGRETS (Sourcebooks, 2012) and of

the bestselling LEGEND OF THE VALENTINE (Zondervan, 2002), a story of the civil rights movement. She often finds herself in the woods escaping from giant cats and shadowy figures in cloaks. The creator of TEENWrite acting/writing workshops, where participants come as their characters, she lives with her husband in a dimension populated by younger people, some of whom resemble her.

Website // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads

Extra News:

If you liked The Summer of No Regrets, you will like Luke’s Journal, where Luke gets to have his say. Where did he go the times he disappeared? What was he really going through at home? The book is available as a .99 download from July 18-29.

Giveaway:

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Review: Cursed

Title: Cursed

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary and Cover:

Dying sucks-- and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.
Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he's a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she's more than interested. There's just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. 
However, she's willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't? But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not have been an accident at all, she's not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

My Thoughts: 
Oh. boy. To be honest, I haven't been able to really collect my thoughts about this book completely. Please note that I love Jennifer and will continue to read anything she publishes.

I have loved Jennifer's two series so far and I was dying to get my hands on this one. I anticipated it to be an amazing read. I was really kind of let down.

Ember, our main character, never seemed to amount to much. She was not a kick-butt heroine, a sympathetic character, nothing, nada, zilch. She just came off as a whiny teenager.

Hayden sounded like a Hottie McHotstuff, but also a creeper. He was "fascinated" by Ember and her strong qualities, but the way that they finally connected...argh! She decided to trust him because he was hot.

I was also very disappointed in the way that Ember just pretty much ignored her sister once they were at the house. Her sister was happy, so Ember was miserable? Whiny teenager...

The twist was a woohoo moment for me, though! The ick stuff in her locker. Finding out who it was and why. Then finding out the true villain and why. Yes!!! I think if the book was less of Ember killing plants and constantly moaning and groaning, I could have enjoyed this book a bit more.

Sooo, with that said...

My Rating:

Just 3 Mickeys. CURSED was just an OK read for me. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.

CURSED also satisfies part of the StandAlone Reading Challenge