A Girl, Books and Other Things

Book Review: Meant To Be by Terri Osburn

2013-05-18T23:08:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Beth Chandler has made it her life's work to please other people: she became a lawyer to please her grandparents, lives in Richmond because it was close to them, agreed to marry to her boyfriend Lucas - even though he's a workaholic - to make him happy... and she found herself alone in the ferry, going to visit his family because he was called back to the office and sent her along.

At the ferry going to Anchor Island, and in the throws of a panic attack, for she does not like the water at all, she meets a dog named Dozer and, more importantly, the dog's sexy owner Joe. He talks her down, and stays with her during the crossing and they even flirt a little. All perfectly harmless, until Joe reveals his last name is Dempsey, same as Beth's fiancé Lucas; and she realizes they are brothers.

Upon officially meeting Lucas'-Fiancee-Elizabeth, Joe is none too pleased to discover she's the same Beth he had been flirting with earlier. Joe might not see eye to eye with Lucas in a lot of things, but he loves his brother and would never flirt with his brother's girl. Yet, the damage is already done, the attraction is there and there is no denying it.

And when Lucas has to return to Richmond and leaves Beth alone in the island for two weeks, things get very complicated. Beth knows she shouldn't feel the way she does with Joe, but in Anchor island she feels at home, and she feels like her self for the first time ever. Joe doesn't ever want to hurt his brother, but Beth seems to fit his life, love his island and drive him crazy more than any other woman he has ever met.

Second Glance: Meant to Be turned out to be a delightiful surprise for me, and look that I was a little iffy about it because from the get go it's pretty obvious that the romantic pairing is Beth and Joe, not "Elizabeth" and Lucas; yet they remain engaged or pretty much the duration of the story.

That can be quite tricky to pull off but Meant to Be manages pretty well. I think that one of the author's smart moves is that you never actually see Beth and Lucas together doing couple-y things, Lucas is off being a workaholic most of the time, and Beth is pretty aware that's not going to change anytime soon, she's just not ready to admit to herself that they aren't going to work out in the long run.

So, as you see Joe and Beth hang out and Beth making herself at home in Anchor, you start buying it pretty early on. Plus, Joe and Beth have good chemistry together, they argue and the flirt and they care about each other. Joe is kind of surly, but Beth doesn't take it personal.

There are a few subplots of this story that also keep things interesting: mostly, Joe's ex Cassandra is trying to buy the Island and make it into a luxury resort, so everyone is banding together to keep that from happening.

Bottom Line: I really had a great time reading Meant to Be, I liked the characters, even workaholic Lucas (props to the author for not making him an asshole just to make it okay for Beth and Joe to be together) and I loved the setting of Anchor Island, it sounded like an adorable place. The only bad point in all of this is that the second book of the series (featuring Lucas) won't drop for another year.

Meant to Be comes out May 21st.

Love,
Ps. Review copy provided by the Publisher via Net Galley in exchange of an honest review

Book Review: Take a Vow by Elizabeth Eulberg

2013-05-16T14:33:00.001-05:00

At First Sight: New York City High School of Creative and Performing Arts (CPA for short) is a hot bed of really talented kids and everyone has a reason why they want to get in, and a dream they want to achieve. For Sophie, it's all about being a star, for Ethan is about quieting the voices in his head by doing the one thing that works for him: writing music. Carter thinks that going to a normal high school will be a good change of pace from a life spent in the spotlight as a child actor. And Emme, well, she wants to write songs too... but she's also kind of following Sophie's lead, since they are best friends.

Almost four years later, they are all seniors getting ready for their last year of school. Sophie isn't quite the star she would like to be (something that terrifies her) but she is dating Carter who is still pretty famous and a soap opera star. Carter is sick of acting though, and he would really like to tell his mom that he's done.

Emme and Ethan are part of a seriously awesome band along with their friends Jack and Ben, and the lot of them keep trying to encourage Emme to finally take center stage rather than staying on Sophie's shadow (where Sophie would like her to stay). Oh, and Ethan is trying to figure out how to say what he wants to say without going crazy, and if the band will stand it.

Second Glance: Take a Vow was awesome.

I had heard about it when the book first came out last year but I kind of just kept putting it off (I loved Elizabeth Eulberg The Lonely Heart's Club, but was less than impressed with her following offer Prom and Prejudice, so I wasn't off to the rases to get Take A Vow).

I was a fool.

There were so many things I loved about Take a Vow: how it could have gone down the Love Triangle (or square) route with Carter, Emme and Ethan, but it didn't. I love seeing a guy and a girl being really good friends without them being attracted to each other, like Carter and Emme get to be. I loved that, and I don't think we see enough of it in fiction.

Ethan and Emme did this frustrating dance around each other all through the book but it made total sense for who they were: they were both a bit on the shy side, and knew each other so well, and were dead afraid of losing the awesome thing they already had.

The other band members were awesome, they were hilarious and supportive and understanding.

Also loved Carter's personal arc, trying to cope with the fact he doesn't love acting and hasn't for a while, and that maybe he's more responsible for it than he's willing to admit.

Sophie was, well weird, she's a bitchy selfish girl, but she serves as a good contrast to the other characters, and there is enough there to see how she could charm Emme and Carter into staying around for so long. And her jealousy was very human.

Bottom Line: I loved reading Take a Vow, it was just the kind of relaxing but exciting read that I needed. I liked the characters and the setting and how Miss Eulberg handled the relationships without making her characters whinny. A really fun read all around.

1/2

Cover Love: Cassandra the Lucky

2013-05-11T18:02:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah, as soon as I saw this cover I knew I had to share it!!

Cassandra the Lucky comes out on December 3rd, 2013

Meet Cassandra, the newest student at Mount Olympus Academy! She has an amazing talent—but will her new friends believe her?

This Goddess Girls story is based on the myth of Cassandra, who has the gift of seeing the future—except no one believes her. Can Apollo, the god of prophecy, help his new crush?

But, before that on August 6th, Penelope the Daring

Book Review: Pheme The Gossip by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

2013-05-09T23:03:00.002-05:00

At First Sight: As the Godess Girl of Gossip and Rumor, Pheme sees it as her duty and job description to get into everyone's business and report on it, often before she thinks of the consequences of her tales.

Currently, Pheme is trying to get into Principal Zeus' good graces so he'll write her a recommendation letter so she can apply to a job in Teen Scrollazine, the hottest magazine around.

All she needs is a really good piece of information to take to Zeus. Good for her that she's the girl's floor hall monitor and gets to snoop around quite a bit in that capacity, even if she shouldn't exactly.

Second Glance: If Pheme the Gossip proves one thing is that it's very hard to like a gossip, and I'm sad to say I never got quite there with Pheme.

See, when Medusa and Pandora - two girls that the original 4 goddess girls didn't have the highest regard for at the beginning of their books - took center stage, it took me but a couple of chapters to feel these waves of empathy toward both girls, to care for them. Medusa has had it pretty rough and more than mean, she lacks social graces and acceptance; Pandora can't help to be curious, but she honestly doesn't mean any harm by it.

Pheme can't help to gossip because... well, she likes being the center of attention. That's pretty much it. We get hints of her past story but it's never explored enough as it to actually make a difference. And, in the end, I kind of felt like Pheme was being rewarded without quite learning her lesson.

Bottom Line: *sigh* I guess I'm not meant to be friends with Pheme. Was it bad? not really. Writing was as light and fluffy as ever, and kept a brisk pace. I'm still a huge an of the series, and I'm still REALLY looking forward to Persephone the Daring and Cassandra the Lucky, but to me Pheme was a bump in an otherwise smooth road.

1/2

Book Review: Never Deny Your Heart by Maureen Driscoll

2013-05-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

The Deal: Rosalind Carson has been in love with her best friend's brother Liam Kellington, Duke of Lynwood since she was about 12 and he was 18 and they met by chance. Years later, Rosalind struck a friendship with Liam's sister Lizzie and the two became inseparable, with the whole Kellington clan giving Rosalind the sense of family she never got from her own relatives.

Not wanting to lose them all, Rosalind never did anything about her feelings for Liam, whom she's convinced will never love her. She was quite sure of this fact... up until the day of Lizzie's wedding, when Liam pulled her aside and the two of them shared some heated moments.

Which would be all fine and dandy... if not for the fact that Rosalinds mother and brother had recently betrothed her to another man, and that Liam values his honor too much to take up with another man's fiancé... or does he love Rosalind more?

And will Rosalind stay put just waiting for Liam to do something?

My Thoughts: Oh, Never Deny Your Heart was a bit of a hot mess but in a surprisingly entertaining way. I actually skipped the middle books of this series, I read and reviewed Never a Mistress No Longer A Maid - which was silly and fun - and during that book I picked up on the frisson between Rosalind and Liam so I wanted to read their story, so I skipped all the way there.

It was pretty fun, though it had some obvious flaws. One, Liam's motivation, he would rather let Rosalind enter a loveless marriage than do something about it ... until he's convinced that his honor would be best served by him taking her away from the other man; to which I say: That's poppycock!!!

Two: This book is full of historical inaccuracies to the point where they just jump at you a lot, there are things in this book that just wouldn't have happened, even with the most open minded lot of people you cold have found at this time period.

And, three: the fake out love quadrangle. For a moment there it looks like there were going to be new love interests for both Liam and Rosalind, and they were actually nice if unrealistic, but nope, in the end it didn't go down that route and it was just a bit of a cope out.

Yet, despite all of this or maybe because of it, the story was loads of fun to read. Again, it's a silly book but it was a silly sweet and fun piece of brain candy.

Book Review: Never a Hero by Marie Sexton

2013-05-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

At First Sight: Owen Meade is shy and lives the life of a recluse, working from home and avoiding interacting with others as much as he can. He's gay, stutters occasionally and has a congenitally amputated arm, and he has a mother who has always made him feel like all of these things are his fault and that he's actively ruining her life.

But then, Nick Reynolds moves to the apartment bellow him and decides he wants to be Owen's friend. Nick is confident and sexy, loves animals - he's a vet - and seems determined to draw Owen out of his shell.

Nick is also very reserved in some aspects, and much as he gives up a vibe of liking Owen and maybe wanting something more with him... he keeps backing away when things start to progress between them.

Second Glance: Never a Hero is the fifth book in the Tucker Springs series and this was a nice enough read. Both Nick and Owen were kind of hard to like at times though. Owen is VERY shy and insecure and once you meet his mom it totally makes sense why he's like that, but before that it's like "Okay, man up a little here, come on!!!".

And Nick is always sending mixed signals. Once you get t know what happened to him and why he acts like he does, he also makes sense, but at the same time he's a bit of a martyr.

They do, however, seem to bring the best of each other, which was nice. And I actually liked the relationship between Nick and his sister (who has a similar condition to Owen but who doesn't let it stop her) and how he's not blind to how abrasive she can be.

There were some small cameos by other people of the Tucker Springs universe, which was nice too.

Bottom Line: Never a Hero was a good entry to the series, it was a pretty entertaining read and it only took me a couple of hours to read it. I respect the book and the subjects it took on, but I kind of wish everyone would stop turning conveniently gay (if you have read this series you'll probably understand me, if not sorry, I don't try to be confusing), and that we got a story that was not love at first sight because that's what all the stories up to now have basically been.

Never a hero will be released May 13th, 2013.

Ps - Review copy provided by the publisher via Net Galley.

Speed Date: Girls Most Likely To by Kate Davies

2013-05-03T01:53:00.000-05:00

The Plot: The Girls Most Likely To are connected stories that happen around a high school reunion. The first story, Most Likely to Succeed is about Kelsey Moore who was one voted the girl most likely to succeed but had to give up her scholarship to stay in town and help her mother run the family's flower shop.

And 10 years later she's still in town in the same dead-end job with the reunion looming ahead of her. Not to mention seeing her high school crush - and fellow nerd - Nathan Barrow, who went on to become all the things Kelsey did not.

The second story, Cutest Couple, is about one of Kelsey's best friends, Bree. She was voted cutest couple with her boyfriend Marc. But then they broke up around prom when Bree found out he had joined the army - something that hit Bree pretty bad as her dad was also a soldier who died overseas leaving her and her mother alone.

Ten years later they see each other again... and Marc finds out that all those years go, when he left, Bree was pregnant with their son Ben and due to some misplaced letter, he never found out about it.

First Date: On Most Likely to Succeed - It's fun, I do wish Kelsey would get over herself already.
On Cutest Couple - Big misunderstanding plot, full steam ahead!

Second Date: On MLtS - Mmm... yeah, are they ever going to do anything other than have sex?
On CC - Okay, that's the flimsiest excuse ever. Again, wish these people would get over themselves already!! Bree doesn't like the military, that's okay, still not a reason to keep her son from knowing her father. Marc is pissed off... because he joined the military without ever mentioning it to his girlfriend before and she got mad. These are supposed to be grown ups!!

Third Date: On MLts - So... that's the ending. Uh.
On CC - So... that's the end, again. Double Uh.

Relationship Status: It's no me, it's you. We can still be friends, though.

Here is the thing, Both Cutest Couple and Most Likely to Succeed, the aren't bad stories, in fact they had potential to be really good stories and I liked that they basically take place over the same weekend, BUT they also read someone lifted every interaction of the main couple out of a larger novel and just strung said interactions together.

I hope I'm making sense here, basically, what I mean to say is that these two stories (along with what I guess will be the third one about Kelsey and Bree's remaining best friend Tess) would make a heck of a lot more sense if they were all together as a novel, with proper scenes to link them and move the story forward, rather than in the current format as independent novellas.

They are cute, but they do feel like a series of vignettes more than anything else.

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: Riding On Air by Maggie Gilbert

2013-04-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: At 16, Melissa dreams of becoming a champion at Dressage with her horse Jinx, an already difficult goal that is even more complicated due to the fact that Melissa has JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) and sometimes her hands get so stiff she can barely stand the pain.

But now, her dream seems to be within reach as she and Jinx caught the eye of the person in charge of selecting the national juvenile team and they have a big competition coming up.

Yet everything is put in jeopardy because of Melissa's illness and what she's doing trying to manage the pain - sneaking pills, and working through it even though she knows she shouldn't - as she clings to her dream, without realizing how much she's damaging herself, her chances and her relationships with friends, family and her new boyfriend.

Second Glance: There were two things the drew me to Riding on Air, one that it featured horses and horses are awesome and not nearly in enough books! We need more horses!! And the second was the JRA thing - I used to be tested for it once or twice a year when I was in elementary school, so I knew what kind of disease it was and was intrigued to see how it was woven to the story.

And I have to say that Ms Gilbert did a great job addressing JRA and it's effects on Melissa's day to day life, not only her riding - she is always mindful of her hands, she has to have special mugs and has to get her brothers to do her hair because she just can't handle a brush most of the time, etc - and you get the sense that it really does suck to have JRA - which totally does.

Beyond that, it was a great story in other aspects too, Melissa has a great relationship her stepmom and stepbrothers Gavin and Brendan (even though they are older and kind into doing their own things, they still care about Melissa), and her parents actually pay attention to what's going on with her, even if they are divorced.

Melissa's friends were a bit more of a mixed bag because sometimes they were really annoying, particularly Tash, but they were there for Melissa when needed be. Melissa herself could be kind of reckless and annoying sometimes too, but she was also very likable, and I felt for her and for what she goes through.

William was a great boyfriend, by the way, there was definitely some swoonage going on for me, though sometimes he sounded a bit older than the 18 year old he was supposed to be.

The whole horse aspect was fun too, though I admit some of the stuff mentioned just went over my head because I'm not very familiar with Dressage and horse sports, but you could tell Melissa was very passionate about it.

Oh, and I loved the Australian setting!

Bottom Line: I quite liked Riding on Air, it was a sweet contemporary romance, I loved the setting and the characters and I look forward to reading more from this author.

At the Movies: Iron Man 3

2013-04-28T17:35:00.001-05:00

Tony Stark is awesome, and no one knows it better than himself. However, he's starting to realize he might not be invulnerable, as he tries hard to protect the one person who loves the most, his girlfriend Pepper.

And that is before a terrorist called The Mandarin starts wrecking havok in his life.

All right, so I just went to see Iron Man 3 and it ROCKS! I love Tony Stark and pretty much everyone in the Iron Man/Avengers continuity and this movie totally gets why people goes to see big super hero movies: to have a good time and eat lots of pop corn and it delivers.

It's great fun all the way through and you don't have to have seen the previous movies understand what's going on. There are plenty of laughs, a plot that actually says something without punching you on the face with it and it's just insanely fun.

Unabashedly recommend it!!!

Book Review: Covet Thy Neighbor by L. A. Witt

2013-04-26T23:23:00.002-05:00

At First Sight: Ever since he came out to his ultra conservative christian parents and was shunned because of it, tattoo artist Seth Wheeler has stayed far away from religious people in general and christians in particular.

Until Darren Romero moved across the hall from him. Darren who is funny, and nice and easy to talk to... and who also happens to be the new youth pastor at the local church.

Now, Seth doesn't know what to do, Darren is the person he has been most attracted to in years, maybe ever, and he seems to be just as into him.

But there is the issue of their respective beliefs and of the fears and worries they each have because of the lives they have lead.

Second Glance: I really liked Covet Thy Neighbor. First of all, I'm going to come out and say that if you are worried this book was going to turn out preachy or hating on grays or christians, well, you can rest assured that it doesn't.

Even though Seth's beliefs are pretty extreme on the religion front because of what he went through with his family, he's not annoying about it, and Darren is someone that's pretty open to dialogue and who doesn't try to cram his beliefs down anyone's throat.

This struggle, however, does take a big chunk of the plot, it's not exactly a complaint and I'm glad they didn't swept it under a rug, but yeah, sometimes I felt like other aspects of their relationship weren't as well explored. And I also felt like I got to know Seth a lot more, since he's the narrator and I would have liked to learn more about Darren.

On the other hand, the cast of characters for Covet Thy Neighbor was very small so Darren and Seth do spend a lot of time together, which is always a plus for a romance novel. And they are sweet together, and make sense.

My only real complain about the book is that it was a bit on the short side, but other than that, I had lots of fun reading it. And it was nice to be back in Tucker Springs.

Bottom Line: Covet Thy Neighbor was a fun book, the main characters were interesting and likable, it was fun seeing them get together and had an interesting perspective and something to say about love and religion and prejudice, without being a dense book.

Review copy provided by the publisher, via Net Galley.

Book Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

2013-04-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

At First Sight: Wren Connolly was dead for 178 minutes before she woke up as a Reboot, a stronger more resilient version of her former self, and all thanks to a deadly virus that has decimated the population and brought he world to it's knees.

Years before, when the virus started to make the rounds and humans started to return from the dead, the Reboots rebelled against humans who were terminating them as soon as they rose, and after the war, when the humans in charge realized that Reboots could be useful, they became sort of slaves, living in segregated facilities, always under the supervision of the HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation), which is the governing entity of the former US of A.

Reboots to the HARC's biding without question, taking care of all the dirty work, and Wren is the best at it. She's kind of like an enforcer of whatever laws and policies HARC tells her to enforce. And part of this includes training the new Reboots, and this time around she got stuck with Callum 22.

Callum was only dead for 22 minutes, and still keeps a lot of the human emotions and affectations that seem alien to Wren: His physical strength is average, he keeps asking questions and is under the delusion that he can pick and chose which orders to follow.

Worse, he's making Wren feel things again, for the first time since she Rebooted.

Second Glance: Well, there is a lot more to Reboot than I what I just tried to recap, and I have to say that I'm not really the target audience for this because I'm not that into dystopia in general, but the concept of Reboot sounded quite interesting and it was.

There is a lot of stuff going on in some aspects, and there is a lot of set up (because it turns out this is the first book of a trilogy), but the book takes some time to explain and the whats and hows of the world, as far as Wren knows and understands them both in her inner monologue and when she's trying to explain the rules to Callum.

I appreciated that because, while you get thrown into an already on-going situation, you never really feel lost, you can understand there is something a foot, but it also becomes evident very early on that Wren might not know all the facts.

Callum was a good contrast to Wren's coldness, he's basically still human and from a middle class family he got along well with, so his outlook is very different from Wren whom as a human lived in the slums and knew very little of healthy family dynamics or friendship.

I also really liked the character of Ever, though I do think the author could have explored her character a little more.

As for the not so Stellar stuff, well, sometimes Wren acts really out of character, both by what other think of her and what she thinks of herself, so that was weird, and there are parts of the story that just aren't all that interesting, and some things in the world building never finish making sense or are explained.

For example, I'm pretty sure the people who reboot smell different than the humans - like rotten or something - and it's constantly mentioned, but no one ever stops and explains what's that about? and it only seem to really bother Wren and the humans, none of the other reboots seem to dwell on it.

Plus, this is a set up book and it feels like a set up book, but a bit strange at that because the ending is a little anticlimactic and I didn't feel like there were any real major stakes (for Wren at least) to carry into a second book.

Bottom Line: Again, I'm not really the target audience for Reboot, as dystopia isn't a go-to genre for me and I'm actually very critical of it, but, Reboot has an interesting set up, and at times tries to say some pretty interesting things. Is it perfect? not really, but it's not bad, it sounds like there is a method to the madness that goes on - even if it's never fully explained - and the characters were distinct enough between them.

DNF Review: The Academy: Game On by Monica Seles and James LaRosa

2013-04-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

Summary (courtesy of GoodReads)*

The Academy is an International Sports Mecca for teen athletes of all sports. There are only two ways in. Deep pockets or enough talent to score a scholarship.

Young tennis star Maya's dreams have finally come true when she earns a scholarship to The Academy. Plucked from her small town, Maya moves to the sports training facility/boarding school to (hopefully) start the beginning of her pro career. But Maya's fantasy of The Academy doesn't quite match the reality. Because where there are hot, talented teens, there's a lot of drama. Meet the players:

Cleo: Maya's rebel/punk roommate who is nearing the top of the golf world.

Renee: The gorgeous swimmer with enough money to buy her way into The Academy.

Nicole: A tennis star who feels threatened by Maya (but she'd never admit it).

Travis: The son of The Academy owner--perfectly groomed to be the next NFL star.

Jake: Travis' younger brother--the bad boy to his brother's good.

My Thoughts:

I don't even know where to start with the Academy, so I'll just start with the most obvious things: It reads and feels fake. And, save for maybe Renee (who isn't around nearly enough, but we'll back to that later), it has no likable, endearing, engaging or worth-rooting-for-characters, not even the "villains".

The Academy is supposed to be this super awesome place part boarding school, part high performance sports training facility. Everyone who goes there is supposed to be the next big thing to happen in their respective sport, or they have enough money to buy their way in, which is kind of ridiculous on the face of it since in the world of the Academy everyone who is talented is also super rich, except for the poor little scholarship students, but not even they take it seriously enough even though they say they do.

Maya is the new scholarship student and from the start she's awestruck by the Academy - which sounds more like a spa than any school I've ever heard of - where none of these supposedly super competitive athletes ever do any training other than run a few laps every once in a while.

This includes Maya who is supposed to be on a trial period at school but who spends most of her time hearing her roommate Cleo bitch about something or other, worshiping the obviously fake and mean Nicole King (who almost gets her expelled from the Academy in her second day) and alternatively drooling over brothers Travis and Jake without ever being clear why she likes them other than because they are hot and rich and popular (and that is the extent of their personalities.).

In fact all the characters are just as bland and have zero motivations or traits other than being the good hot guy, the bad hot guy, the bitchy unpopular girl, the bitchy scheming and popular girl and the ingenue, just because that's who we are told they are.

The one exception, somewhat is Renee - the resident dumb, rich girl that Maya befriends early on and then proceeds to take advantage of and ignore when its convenient. I know more about Renee's background from her first interaction with Maya than about any of the other characters by the point I stopped reading the book around page 100. A lot of it is exposition - Renee basically says "I'm a poor little rich girl, and my parents don't love me" and yes it is cliched, but at least Renee was likable.

No one else was.

There was also slut shamming in this book, courtesy of Cleo who has an opinion about everyone she doesn't like and often criticizes them even though she doesn't know them, like, at all.

Anyway, I made it to page 100 before I gave up, not because they book was any good - I stopped caring around page 50 when the first overt slut shamming happens - but because I kept playing a game of "Oh, this sounds like that bit of Mean Girls/Insert Teenage Movie Here" with myself.

I don't think The Academy even gets the sports side of it right (or at least it doesn't sound like it) and it should because it was written by Monica Freaking Seles whom, in case you are too young to remember, is a legendary tenis player, often considered one of the best in history.

To close, The Academy was a mess of overly-broad, archetypal and bland characters, slow as hell pacing and a plot based on worship of the rich. And it's boring to boot.

---

* Can't be bothered to write my own summary.

** This book was provided by the publisher via Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.

Speed Date: Summer's Desire by Olivia Lynde

2013-04-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

The Plot: Seth's life has not been easy, living with his neglectful, drug-addict mother. The only good thing about his life is pretty much his Grandmother, with whom his mom leaves him when she disappears for weeks and months on end. Until the year he's 7 and 5-year old Summer Moore came to live with Mrs. Lewis, who fostered kids from time to time.

Orphaned but a few months before, Summer suffers from awful night terrors that have gotten her kicked out of at least 5 other foster homes already. But from the moment she and Seth look at each other, even as young as they were, they know that they are finally home again.

From the first time Seth wakes her from her nightmares and they realize she doesn't get them when he's around, they become inseparable. They do everything together whenever they can, and pin for each other when they are apart - a rare occurrence during the following six years, even though they are at different grades in school and Seth's mom tries to take him away sometimes.

But then they are separated and betrayed and many years pass before they can find their way back to each other. But even then, their battle to be together again, isn't over.

First Date: I'm sensing a bit of a fan-fictioney vibe here. It's not bad, just kind of how things are set up. I do believe the bond between Seth and Summer, even if it is a bit over the top.

Second Date: All right, I admit I got a little misty eyed sometimes. Now we are in the Big Misunderstanding Part of the Book and it's fun, a little frustrating but then I remember that they are sixteen and almost eighteen - even if they don't always sound that way - and it'a ok I can buy into it. Jessica and some of the other characters are a bit one dimensional.

Third Date: Well... was that a bit on the unrealistic side? yeah, kinda, but it was a fun romp none the less. Lots of drama and cray-cray stuff but it was fun to read. And I have to say I liked the ending.

Relationship Status: Going Steady.

Summer's Desire is not a perfect book, it's melodramatic and over the top and what have you, but Ms Lynde has a very engaging voice and she makes you care for and like her characters so much and so fast that you stick to them and watch them jump hoops (no matter how out there some of them are) and you root for them. She's a really good story teller.

Sometimes, however, I did feel like I was reading a fanfiction - one of those really good ones that you can't stop reading and check obsessively to see if there are any new entries - it just has that vibe, and I honestly don't mean it in a bad way, just a descriptive, and it doesn't have to do with the quality of the writing really, again, it's just a vibe I got.

On the other hand, I did love Seth and Summer, the nature of their relationship could have gotten out of hand and turned into a Twilight/Beautiful Disaster/That-Type-Of-Book Clone, but it doesn't. Seth is overprotective and what have you but Summer keeps him in check, doesn't want to just hang to his coat-tails and is adamant about taking care of him, just as much as he has about taking care of her.

And I honestly couldn't stop reading, I stayed up most of the nigh reading because Summer's Desire was just that compelling. And I already want to check out Olivia Lynde's next book.

(just for the lot of fun I got reading this story).

PS - Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all). (I totally failed at the word limit this time! SORRY!)

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

I'm Turning 5!!! and Giveaway Winner Announcement

2013-04-17T19:11:00.001-05:00

Hello my peeps!!!

So, today is my actual Blogversary and I'm officially 5!! YAY!!!

No one is more surprised than me to see this day come, I swear. There was a time around year 2 when I was seriously thinking of quitting, but here we are still. And I'm so glad because around year 3 things started to get interesting and I met so many awesome bloggers.

So thanks for hanging out and letting me talk about books and random stuff!

Also, I want to congratulate Mandy R - winner of my Fab Five Blogversary Giveaway (as chosen by Rafflecopter) whom I've already notified and has 48 hrs to respond.

Thanks to all to participate and I hope I can host another giveaway soon!!

Book Review: My Everything by Heidi McLaughlin

2013-04-16T19:11:00.001-05:00

WARNING - POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR My Forever Girl (Book 1 of the Beaumont Series) - I'll try it to keep it free of Spoilers but be warned.

The Deal: After breaking up with his fiancée, Nick Ashford decided to go forth with his plans to volunteer for a year in Africa, using his knowledge as a doctor to help others while he tries to figure out what went wrong with his life.

He wasn't expecting meeting Aubrey after a few months, or feeling the connection he feels toward her.

My Thoughts: So, again, I'm keeping it vague both because of stuff that happened in the previous book and ties in with this one and because this one is fairly short and I don't want to just say whats all about.

Right after I finished reading Forever My Girl, I didn't want to leave it's world just then so I went on and read My Everything after and it was nice. I liked how it took the time to address something that happened in FMG and that was sort of left hanging in the previous book.

As for the story of Nick and Aubrey, well, it was in fast forward because of how short is the story, but it was okay, I could believe it for the most part and I hope it develops a little more over the course of future books.

My Everything was a fun, super fast read and a nice complement to Forever My Girl.

Amazon Barnes & Noble

For more info on the author and books, check out the links bellow.

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Book Review: Never a Mistress No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll

2013-04-14T19:29:00.004-05:00

At First Sight: Lord Edward Kellington met Jane Wetherby when they came across each other behind the enemy lines in or around the time of the Battle of Waterloo. Ned is an British Officer and Agent of the Crown returning to camp after a mission while Jane, the daughter of a surgeon and granddaughter of an Earl, was nursing the wounded.

Jane saves Ned's life and, after a night of passion between them, she never expects to see him again - and the fact that he offered to set her up as his mistress don't help the odds.

Seven years later, Jane is living in the countryside, trying to survive best she can even though her grandfather won't release her inheritance to her and she works as a doctor of sorts to the poor people of the village of Marston Vale while trying to raise her daughter.

Edward has just returned to England and now his older brother William is pressuring him to go see about the business of his "agreed since childhood" betrothal to the daughter of a viscount. He's not excited about it but figures he might as well get that over with and call off the quasi-engagement.

But, soon upon arriving to Martson Vale, he comes across an accident and sticks around to help - partially because he's basically an OK human being, and partially because he doesn't want to get to his almost fiancée's house - and is surprised when the doctor called is none other than the woman who saved his life seven years before.

Second Glance: I'm going to come out and say it: This is a rather silly book. But that doesn't mean it's bad at all. I mean, it's not stellar, there are some serious clunky parts - the first transition Jane and Ned going from acquaintances to let's go have sex is not exactly smooth, for example - but it's a fun read.

Ned and Jane are basically nice people, Jane's daughter is nice too (She's not an annoying little kid, though she does tend to get in trouble fairly often) and there is a whole host of characters whose names I can't really remember just now but that were pretty okay.

I quite liked Ned's family and, to that point, Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid serves mostly as the set up book for Ned's siblings stories (of which I really want to read the one about his sister and about his oldest brother). Lots of the stuff going on is not exactly accurate, even by Historical Lite standards but meh, it was fun enough that I wasn't bothered by it.

Bottom Line: Fun brain candy, Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid, it's not bad, even if it's title is rather non-sensical (Jane is NEVER A Maid, none of the main characters is ever a maid, why put MAID on the title?) but other than that it's cute, takes an hour or two to read, tops, and it's OK, or at least, it's not boring.

Speed Date: The Registry by Shannon Stoker

2013-04-11T07:30:00.000-05:00

The Plot: Mia Morrissey is beautiful, and in her world that's a good thing to be. Every girl gets "apprised" and entered into The Registry - a database that men can access when they want to look for a wife - as soon as they turn 18, and they are basically sold to the highest bidder, the fee being divided between the girls's father and the government.

Mia knows she'll fetch a good price, probably even more than her three older sisters and she can't wait. Until the night, a few months before her 18th birthday, when her sister Corinna shows up, a shell of her former self and trying to escape her husband.

At first, Mia is confused by Corinna's claims of abuse but the bruises on her sister don't lie. Then she's shocked when her parents turn Corinna back to her husband without a second thought, and don't seem to care at all when they learn, a mere week later, that Corinna has died (likely murdered by her husband).

With all her beliefs shattered Mia begins to wonder what exactly is The Registry? why does it exists? and how is she going to escape it?

First Date: This is oddly compelling. I'm not that into dystopia, but this screwed up version of the US is interesting. I like the introduction of Andrew's POV and learning about The Service and how being a boy isn't really easier in this world. Mia's friend Whitney is annoying me.

Second Date: Good to know that things only went crazy on the US, I somehow find that easier to believe than that something happened globally I like that Mia keeps wanting to find out why The Registry came into existence. I'm not sure I like where the story is headed, though. Grant is way psycho, btw, almost cartoonish-ly so.

Third Date: Well, that was a bit of a let down. The love-triangle a little haphazard and hard to buy but whatever. Would have liked to know this was a series first. Ending is totally a "First of a series" ending.

Relationship Status: Close, but no cigar.
Here is the thing about the Registry: it started with a bang. I really liked the beginning and Mia's and Andrews voices, I liked the set up of this world - how it sucks for both boys and girls, just in different ways - and I was really excited when Mia and Whitney decide to runaway and force Andrew to help.

But as soon as they hit the road, this book started to go south. The road-trip-ish part of the book was, well, boring, it went no where and I grew tired of it pretty on. And then the book started to fall into all type of cliches.

The love triangle was totally tacked on, and out of character. And the whole third act of the story was rushed and bad. And I really hated the parts with Grant, he was such a cartoonish bad guy that it was boring and annoying to read his section of the book.

There is a sequel on the works but I'm not sure I'll be picking it up. I don't care about the characters at the end of the book like I cared when it started.

1/2

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: Ten Reasons to Stay by Sabrina Jeffries

2013-04-10T22:15:00.001-05:00

Well, my peeps, it had been a long while since I really read a Sabrina Jeffries book, mostly because by the time I was introduced to her stories, her School for Heiresses Series was well on the way and though I was intrigued by the idea of it, I just never got around picking up the series.

Enter Ten Reasons to Stay, which is set in the same timeline of The School for Heiresses - in fact, it was previously published on an anthology by the same name sometime before now, when it's being released as a e-book novella.

The story goes like this: Colin Hunt, the new Earl of Monteith was just about to retire after his first day in his new home when he noticed someone was sneaking into his stables. Not one to let others take what's his, Colin rushed out to caught a thief but found Miss Eliza Crenshawe instead.

Badly disguised as a boy, Eliza was trying to escape her Uncle and guardian, and his plans to wed her to a friend of his that she had never met before. She hadn't planned on Colin being in residence, but now he's one more thing that he needs to deal with. On the other hand, he might be able to assit her... if she can convince him the story she's telling is the truth, much as it sounds like a gothic novel.

Basically, the story takes place over the course of two days, during which Colin and Eliza fall in love with each other and deal with their fears and misconceptions.

It's a very quick read (about 90 pages or so) and its fun. Ms Jeffries has a knack for writing likable characters, even when they aren't as well developed and the story moves entirely too fast, but for a novella it works okay.

Ten Reasons to Stay comes out May 6th, 2013.

Book Review: Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin ( + Giveaway)

2013-04-09T01:15:00.002-05:00

At First Sight: 10 Years ago, Liam Westbury was poised to be the next big thing to break into college football. He was good, he was a the right school and everyone - family, friends and his whole hometown of Beaumont - expected him to join the NFL sooner rather than later, and live the All-American Dream.

No one expected this more than Liam's girlfriend Josie, whom he loved with all his heart.

But then something changed and Liam decided that football wasn't really what he wanted to do, so he quit school, broke up with Josie and left... to become a rockstar, breaking both Josie's heart and his own in the process.

Now, he's music is a huge success but not a day goes by where he doesn't wonder if he made the right choice after all. With tragedy forcing his hand, he has to go to where everything started, and maybe he'll get some answers.

Tragedy is the foremost thing on Josie's mind as she preps for the funeral of a close friend, but in the back of her mind she's wondering if this, finally, will be the reason that makes him come back. Not that she wants to see him, she has moved on with her life, her business and her family... but do you ever really get over the person you loved the most?

Second Glance: Believe it or not, I'm being super vague here regarding the summary of Forever My Girl, because there are somethings that just aren't hinted at in the official blurb and I don't want spoil anything for anyone.

But I must say that the official summary only touches on the very surface of what the story was about - it was pretty surprising that way, mostly because part of me thought that Forever My Girl was going to go into this "New Adult*"-ish thing similar to Where She Went, but it wasn't even close (other than the fact that both Liam and WSW's Adam are both successful musicians).

Forever My Girl goes more the traditional, contemporary romance route and I for one was very happy about it. The story is soap-opera-y** and fun, fluffy and easy to read. I quite enjoyed it all in all though there were points went it went a little in circles, but I didn't mind - the story is in the neighborhood of 250 pages and it moves at a brisk pace, so even when things stalled a little, it didn't last for long.

Plus, I really liked Liam and Josie and their friends, sometimes I felt like they could have been developed a little bit more but they were likable and they mostly made sense. I'm roughly they age now and they totally made sense to me both back when they were 18 (and made lots of mistakes) and now when they are trying to make things right.

Bottom Line: The long and short of it is that I like Forever My Girl, it has the breezy, chick-lit feel to it that makes for quick read, but it also has all the fun of a contemporary romance***. Wasn't totally perfect for me, but I definitely want to keep on reading both this author and this series****

Forever My Girl - Amazon | Barnes & Noble

* I still don't suscribe to this New Adult thing, hence "quote marks"
** Mean this in the best possible way, I love soap-opera-y books.
*** Pretty tame sex-scenes, btw.
**** Forever My Girl launches the Beaumont Series, with a the novella My Everything (which I'll be reviewing on the 16th) coming out soon, and a third book planned for September 2013.

This review is part of the My Everything Book Tour.
Links:

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PS - There is also a Book Tour Wide Giveaway

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Cover Love: Anna, Lola & Isla

2013-04-06T19:18:00.002-06:00

Hello guys!!

I've been meaning to post the new covers for Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, since I posted the cover for Isla and the Happy Ever After last month but it has been slipping my mind.

I kind of like these covers more than the originals - to me they always looked a little funny - so I might actually buy the books now :)

Okay, so here they are:

And here are the original covers:

What do you guys think?

Book Review: Quintanna of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

2013-04-04T01:08:00.001-06:00

I have to warn you that this review might be a bit of a love letter, or a rant, or a rave, or a very strange mix of all three.

But first, let me get some stuff out of the way!

US Edition

Quintana of Charyn is the third and likely last full length book* of the Lumatere Chronicles series which at first tells the story of Lumatere (a smallish but prosperous kingdom whose royal family is massacred, an event followed by 10 years of very bad stuff) and then adds the story of Charyn (the kingdom that orchestrated massacre of the royal family, but whose inhabitants possibly have an ever rawer deal - and curse - than the Lumaterans).

It's a very complex story, with lots of sub plots and lots of characters and it's not one of those stories that you can just pick up in the middle. TRUST ME.

Having said that, Quintana of Charyn is a great and epic story where all the stuff you have been learning and feeling and thinking since Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles finally comes to a head.

The story starts pretty soon after the ending of Froi (or at least I think so, I'm a bit hazy with the timeline of the Epilogue) and things just start happening. Froi and Quintana are separated by a lot of distance and circumstances, and in some ways they spend the bulk of the book trying to get back to each other.

As this plays out there are many other plots and subplots moving afoot and I have to give Melina Marchetta major props for keeping all these treads - big and small - on a tight leash, everything that happens matters one way or another.

Actually, there was this scene near the end of the book that has to do with something minor that happened in Froi that made me cry so hard, and I get teary eyed just remembering that scene. It just guts me.

Anyway, since I'm not going to spoil the conclusion of the story for you guys, I'm just going to say that, over all, I found the book to be great. Froi is still my favorite book of the series but I'm happy with where things ended.

I did have a couple of problems with Quintana though. The first one is minor, and is mostly born out of my selfish longing for wanting the couples I love spend more time together on the page, just because I like seeing people be happy after all the suffering (and to clarify, you do get some of this, but I just (selfishly) wished for a bit more).

The second trouble is a bit bigger: I freaking hate Isaboe and her daughter Jasmina. There, I said it!!
I know a lot of people like Isaboe but, boy, she just rubs me the wrong way. For me, and this is MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION AND JUST THAT, Quintana got a much rawer deal in life than Isaboe did (though admittedly neither of their lives has been a walk in the park), yet Isaboe is actually the one that whines about it the most.

People LOVE her, she's the freaking Queen of Lumatere and yet she's so hell bent on revenge and tends to see the people of Charyn as this "Other" thing that don't quite deserve her compassion. She's not all that bad, and I don't hate her like I do the actual villains of the story, but she irritates the bejesus out of me.

Same goes for her daughter. Every single thing I hate about children in books is embodied in Jasmina. Again, JUST MY OPINION, but yeah, each time she was around or was mentioned I clenched my teeth. And I don't hate children in books, I love Vestie in this story, she's awesome. Go, Vestie!!

Now, back to the good stuff and to end in a sweet note: have I mentioned that all the characters I loved going into Quintana I LOVE even more after Quintana? no? well, I totes do. Melina writes some of the best adults/parents in the history of fiction, these aren't some stock/token characters or carton cut outs put there to foil our younger, more intrepid protagonists. Hell, no!

They are people with lots of flaws and virtues, who make mistakes and love their children and are just trying to do the best they can with the (often) shitty hand they have been dealt. Beatriss, Trevanion, Perri, Tesadora, Lord and Lady A, Lirah, Gargarin, Arjuro and DeLancey (to mention a few) are three dimensional characters and they totally make their presence felt! They matter to the story.

Aussie Edition

Second shout out? The Last Borns!! I FREAKING LOVE YOU GUYS!! I've mentioned it before, but these kids just slay me. No one really expected much of them, they could have skated through life just being adored, but instead they recognize that what's happening to Quintana isn't right (in book two) and they decide to do something about it even though they don't have the means or skills to do it. That's SO not going to stop them. Not all of them are perfect, I definitely have my favorite(s) but yeah, I love the Last Borns. And they keep the awesome going in Quintana of Charyn.

And I'm not even going to start with Phaedra and Lucian because a) SPOILERS!! and b) This is already to long as it is. I can just go on and on about how much I love those two.

In closing: If you're a fantasy fan, go read this series. If you are not, then go read it anyway. It's fantasy but with really strong characters, a complex plot that isn't overly complicated and terrific writing. Quintana of Charyn will be released on April 23, 2013, and thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the e-galley.

1/2

* There is a short story about Lady Celie of the Flatlands , published by the Australian review, and rumor is that there might be another one.

Book Review: Under the Hood by Juanita Kees

2013-04-02T14:40:00.000-06:00

The Deal: When taking over his newest dealership in semi-rural Australia, the least thing Scott Devin expected to find was TJ Stevens, the shop's manager and lead mechanic, wearing a skirt and impractical shoes and telling him to cool it while she deals with some stuff.

Scott is none too amused by this and quickly fires her, only to realize that TJ is pretty much the heart of the dealership and he hires her again.

TJ (short of Tiffany Jo, I think) is a pretty good mechanic and she loves working at the dealership, though not as much as she loves the teenage rehabilitation program she runs; and the de campground she inherited from her grandfather.

She doesn't have time for Scott... too bad she can't seem to get away.

My Thoughts: *sigh* From the cover I thought Under the Hood would be a fun, cute, fluffy story but it wasn't. It starts fun enough but then things get muddled pretty quickly.

The plot jumps from one thing to another with little explanation or link between events, so much so that I often felt like I was reading the cliff notes of the story, rather than the actual story. It was oddly episodic and overly complicated for it's length.

I liked Scott and TJ at the beginning, there were some cute moments between them but the development of their relationship seems to be on fast forward from the start which doesn't leave much room for character development.

Blogversary Giveaway Announcement!!

2013-03-29T19:10:00.000-06:00

Hey guys!! A Girl, Books and Other Things turns 5 on April 17th, and I thought I would run a giveaway to celebrate!! All the deets are bellow! Good luck!!!

The Prize: 1 book up to 15 dollars from The Book Depository* **.

Open Internationally (so long as Book Depository delivers to you).
Must be 13 or Older to Enter.
No need to follow to enter.
No personal information will be kept.
Winner will be chosen using Rafflecopter.
Winner has 48 hours to answer once she/he has been notified of the win.

The Fine Print:
*You can opt for an Amazon Gift card if it that works better for you.
** If the book you want is less than 15 dollars, you can add a second book as long as to combined total is 15 dollars.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speed Date: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

2013-03-28T18:04:00.000-06:00

The Plot: Franny Banks moved to New York to become a famous actress and she gave herself 3 year to make it before moving on and doing something else. Said deadline is just six months away but she still hasn't landed more than a small part on a regional comercial that barely ran at all.

In the midst of auditions and call backs, acting classes and a waitressing job that barely pays the bills, she spends her time with her best friend Jane (who wants to be a movie producer) and Dan, the aspiring writing they took in as roomate.

Franny is really struggling with her deadline, with what to do with her sort-of-long-distant relationship with her college boyfriend Clark and her attraction to a fellow student in her acting class. Is she making the right choices? will she be a struggling actress for life?

First Date: Okay, Franny I'll play along. Sometimes you're really funny but others you just can't seem to hold my attention. I like the 90's references though, and I even like Dan and Jane.

Second Date: I'm not sure I want to hear so much about auditions and call backs and that whole process, I don't care that much about it. Also I'm not liking this James character, I have seen his type before, I know where this is going.

Third Date: Well, that was a little abrupt wasn't it? The ending felt a little like an non-ending and it wrapped things a little to neatly for me. but it was a fun story.

Relationship Status: Don't call me, I'll call you.... maybe.
Okay, here is the thing about Someday, Someday, Maybe, it has it moments of great charm but it also has some stuff I just didn't care about. I liked Franny for the most part, she was very believable as an struggling actress. I liked her friends and her voice was funny. But it took me a while to warm up to the story and really care about what was going on, and the pace of the story was a bit uneven.

On one hand, I totes love Lauren Graham, and I can see a lot of her in the writing - mostly in the humor - but on the other hand, it wasn't a really stellar book for me. It was okay, fluffy, fun (though sometimes I lost my patience with Franny and her choices) but no more than that.

Someday, Someday, Maybe, comes out April 30th, 2013

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: About that Night by Julie James

2013-03-27T14:26:00.002-06:00

At First Sight: Fresh out of her first year of Law School, Rylann Pierce was celebrating with her friends in a college bar when she met Kyle Rhodes - who was out celebrating that he had been accepted into a doctoral program and who also happened to be the son of a billionaire- and he offered to walk her home.

One mind-blowing kiss later, Rylann agrees to go on a date with him the following night... only that he never shows up, Rylann indirectly finds out why and she moves on without ever expecting to run into him again.

Nine years later, Rylann has become an Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) in San Francisco and following her break-up with her long time boyfriend Jon - who decided that he suddenly just HAD TO move to Italy - Rylann decides to move Chicago and unexpectedly runs into Kyle... in the courtroom.

A few months before, after his then girlfriend broke up with him via Twitter and later posted a video of her practically having sex with someone else, Kyle Rhodes got a little drunk and had the brilliant idea to shut down Twitter for two whole days, and since he's a computer geek and and a network security expert this was no problem for him whatsoever.

Until he sobered up and realized it was time to own up to what he had done. He pleaded guilty and was in jail, but then his sister Jordan reached an agreement with the FBI and US Attorney's office and he was released. Going to the courtroom that day was a mere formality and Kyle was expecting to see his nemesis Cade Morgan in the prosecution side of the room but instead Rylann walked in.

Second Glance: About That Night is the third book in the FBI-US Attorney series by Julie James but you don't really need to have read the previous books Something About You and A Lot Like Love to understand this one - though Kyle does start showing up in A Lot Like Love since that's his sister Jordan's story.

Anyway, About that Night is a pretty charming story. I liked Rylann okay and I really liked Kyle - I mean, sure what he did with Twitter was pretty dumb but he owns up to it and takes the repercussions, so that's definitely a plus for him.

They actually have a nice chemistry going on that has endured a lot of time and a lot of distance and other relationships, and that was sweet. I like Rylann and Kyle together but I also felt like their relationship totally lacked conflict.

I mean, Rylann thinks is a bad career move to date him - since she's a prosecutor and he's an ex-con and witness in one of her cases - and maybe it is but it's not the end of the world, really. And Kyle well, he hasn't forgotten her after nine year of not seeing her, he's wasn't planning on jumping into a relationship after the way the last one ended, but he's pretty on-board with exploring a relationship with Rylann from the start.

So, see, no real conflict here.

That being said. It was a good story, I think Julie James is one of the best contemporary authors out there right now, the lack of tension makes for an easy to put down read but it was fun and kind of fluffy and I liked reading about all the lawyery stuff (I like that Ms James's lawyers actually do lawyery stuff).

Bottom Line: In TV terms, it was an average pisode of a really good procedural show leaning a bit on the Ally McBeal side of procedurals rather than, say, The Practice or The Good Wife. If you're in the mood for a easy to read, well written book with good characters, go for it.

1/2