romance

Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar

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26211610Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar

Paperback, 352 pages
Published February 1st 2016 by Allen & Unwin
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Jess Gordon is out for revenge. Last year the jocks from Knights College tried to shame her best friend. This year she and a hand-picked college girl gang are going to get even.

The lesson: don’t mess with Unity girls.

The target: Blondie, a typical Knights stud, arrogant, cold . . . and smart enough to keep up with Jess.

A neo-riot grrl with a penchant for fanning the flames meets a rugby-playing sexist pig – sworn enemies or two people who happen to find each other when they’re at their most vulnerable?

It’s all Girl meets Boy, Girl steals from Boy, seduces Boy, ties Boy to a chair and burns Boy’s stuff. Just your typical love story.

A searingly honest and achingly funny story about love and sex amid the hotbed of university colleges by the award-winning author of Raw Blue.

“Taking a keen look at modern day intimacy in a hook-up culture, Summer Skin expertly shatters notions of slut shaming and the pull of sexual desire. Realistic, modern and moving, the story of Jess and Mitch is as smart as it is hot. Kirsty Eagar has written the feminist love story that girls have been waiting for.” Clementine Ford

Capture * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * My Thoughts * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

When Jess and Mitch first meet it is a truly awkward cringe worthy moment – a real moment.

Summer Skin’s story was believable and the characters felt real. While Jess and Mitch’s burning then blooming romance pushes the story along, a lot of issues that face young adults these days are touched on in a realistic and un-preachy manner. Well Done Kirsty Eagar.

It was hideously beautiful! It made me thank the stars above that I’m not 19 anymore, while at the same time making me wish I still was.

I’d say it’s more suited to a 15-25 age range. I’m not saying that if your older you won’t enjoy it, you still will, I still did. I’m just saying that age bracket because If I had read this when I was the main character’s age, it would have blown me away.CbNv-YWUkAAPADg

Find out more on Kirsty’s:

Website – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads – Instagram – YouTube

Summer Skin on: Goodreads – Amazon Au – Amazon US

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I found these two “adds” on Kristy’s twitter and just had to share them.

Chains of Water and Stone by Katherine Hurley

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24896872Chains of Water and Stone (Griever’s Mark #2) 

by Katherine Hurley

Who is Logan’s father? The question has been whispered behind his back all his life. He’s ignored it, forced himself not to care, but when Belos starts demanding an answer to this very question, it takes on a new and disturbing significance.

As the race to answer this question begins, others rise in its wake, unearthing a mystery that could shake the very foundation of Earthmaker life, a mystery that could shake the whole world apart.

But Astarti has more immediate concerns. Logan is in grave danger, and she’s desperate to get to him before he is destroyed–body, mind, and soul.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My Thoughts ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’m feeling like a teenage fangirl at the moment. I didn’t want to put this book down and I enjoyed it even more than the first one.

I’m going to use a phrase I’ve only used once before in a review. Ship! As in; I totally ship Astarti and Logan. Actually the plain and frumpy 14-year-old that still resides inside my head wants TO BE Astarti.

In this second instalment we follow Astarti as she fights to free Logan from Belos, the man who was previously her captor. Logan and Astarti’s love grows even more, with them finally admitting, damn the consequences, that they love each other. Their love is delicious and made me fell all warm and fuzzy inside.

Astarti finds a friend, helper and protector in Horik her father’s champion warrior. I loved Horik becoming a major character in this book.

Once Astarti and Horik have freed Logan, we see the three of them partake in a quest for the truth behind Logan’s parentage.

By the end of the book we have found out the truth about what Logan is and a power as old as time has fallen into dangerous hands. Kathrine has set herself up for an Epic third book.

This book has action, romance, revenge, mystic tales of old, destruction, family secrets, a world in turmoil, dancing, pub brawls, evil creepy old skeletal men, clashes between rival races, grandmother visiting, self-discovery, magic, mystery and mead.

I love the world Kathrine’s has created. I love Astarti blending the elements of her earth with the energy of her soul. Actually I find both Astarti and Logan’s powers beautiful and fascinating.

I’ve been trying to decide if this book would stand on its own or not. I think it would still be an enjoyable fantasy fling, but you need to read the first book first to get a grip on how evil Belos’s is and where Logan and Astarti’s love first began.

I received a review copy for the first book in this series, The Griever’s Mark, from Kathrine. I liked it so much I pre-ordered this book as soon as it was available. But then I got so bogged down in review copies and other things I had scheduled, that I only recently got to finally read it. Since it took me so long to read number two I don’t have to wait for number three. Unbound (Griever’s Mark #3) has just been realised. Silver lining right there!

star.5Do you dare to step into the Drift?

24202316The Griever’s Mark (#1)

Astarti’s master controls her through a Leash, a bond of energy anchored deep within her. Despite being one of the few remaining Drifters, able to manipulate the energy world, she cannot break free. She knows her fate: she will serve until she dies, at which point her master will harvest her energy to augment his own.

Oh, yes, she’s done some bad things in her master’s name. She’s not asking for forgiveness. She expects you to hate her.

What she doesn’t expect is Logan, a man meant to be her sworn enemy. A man with secrets as dark as her own.

28396231Unbound (Griever’s Mark #3)

As the growing conflict forces Logan to embrace his newly discovered heritage, he fights to control a power he has long kept buried—a power that threatens everything he has tried to make of himself. Desperate to spare Astarti yet another burden, he tries to hide his crumbling control, but she has long since learned to recognize a lie. As Logan becomes a danger to himself and those around him, Astarti must find a way to help him, even if he doesn’t want it.

Unfortunately, Astarti has other problems. Good and evil wear ever-shifting faces, the right course of action grows increasingly unclear, and the stakes are only getting higher. In this final installment of The Griever’s Mark trilogy, Astarti must decide, once and for all, what she stands for–and what she is willing to sacrifice.

Want to know more about Katherine and her books:

Goodreads | Twitter | Website | Amazon AU | Amazon US

Prologue: Discovering Home

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So my attempt at NaNoWriMo 2015 was a bit on the Go Slow. Life got in the way. But I intend to finish the story I started.  So far I’m calling it, Discovering Home, but that’s its working title and may change.

The longest continuous piece I had written before NANoWriMo was only 1200 words and I beat that on my first NaNo day with 1696 words. But I hadn’t actually expected to hit the 50,000-word mark on my first attempt. I feel like I’m ok with beginning and ends, but struggle with the middles. It’s probably why I love writing the Friday Fictioneers 100 word stories, there isn’t room for middle fluff. Next year I will definitely try to plan for my book, rather then just seeing what happens like this year.

I decided to get myself motivated again I’d share a little bit of my work in progress.

Disco Home CollageBlurb (thus far): Joe is a young woman trying to decipher the secrets of her family history after her grandmother mysteriously disappears.

A fictional story about family with a romantic (maybe) and paranormal (definitely) twist.

* * *   Prologue   * * *

My Grandmother’s house only had two bedrooms, but those two bed rooms held a lot of secrets. So many secrets that I believe that still don’t know them all. But I’m getting there. For the past six months I’ve been reading through my grandmother’s diaries. She wrote in a diary every day. There is a half-finished entry from the day she disappeared. It reads “the trees are quiet and look still, but I can feel something moving, hiding in their branches. I think it’s about time I told Josephine about th…” and that’s where it finishes.

Finding the diary open and my Grammy Mac missing has prompted me to sift through her private diaries. A part of me keeps expecting her to walk into the bedroom and scold me like when I was five and caught going through her things. But she never does. And the longer she’s gone, the more I wish she would.

I always thought my grandmother and I were close, she practically raised me. But in reading her Diaries I realise there was so much more to her. So much more I wish she had shared. My dad went AWOL when he found out my mother was pregnant with me and my mother chose the voices in her head over me the day she drove of off the Newton Street jetty.

My grandmother was born Martha Josephine Fionnula Mac a’Bhaird, yeah it’s a mouthful. She was born in 1938 in Glasgow, Scotland. But grew up in the small town a Cranford away up in the snowy mountains of New South wales, Australia. She was raised by three aunts, they brought her over from Scotland when she was only seven years old. I’d never heard her speak of her mother or father. I wished I’d asked more, but I always felt uncomfortable bringing it up.

I am lost. I am struggling without her here. Even with the age difference between us she was always my best friend. I stare out of her window and glare at those trees. Oh how I wish they could tell me something, anything, about where my Grammy has gone.

Today is the 25th of December 2005, Christmas Day and it’s my 18th birthday. Six months Grammy’s been gone. Six months since I’ve slept or eaten properly. Endless reading of yellowed pages and elegant handwritten script. I can’t even remember the last time I left the house or showered. I don’t smell too bad, so I’m guessing it’s only a few days. I know this isn’t how she’d want me to live.

I’ve made the decision to move all the furniture and Grammy’s personal items into a storage unit. I intend on selling Grammy’s house. My boss at the local newsagents was really kind and understanding, it took her two months of me not showing up to work to fire me. There really isn’t anything left for me here.

I can’t really explain how I feel; I know it’s not natural. I understand grief and depression, but this is something more, it’s like I can’t physically do anything but obsessively read through the diary’s. Sometimes I think I can feel a presence in the trees, but then I realise I haven’t slept for thirty plus hours and I am just sleep deprived.

© Sarah Fairbairn

Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson

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25808675Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson

Paperback, 288 pages
Published August 1st 2015 by Allen & Unwin

When Astrid and Hiro meet they give each other superhero names. She’s Lobster Girl and he’s Shopping Trolley Boy. Not an auspicious beginning. But it gets better. Then it gets worse. Much worse. Classic romantic comedy: girl-meets-boy, love blossoms, and is derailed. Incredibly engaging, upbeat, funny and smart.

Astrid Katy Smythe is beautiful, smart and popular. She’s a straight-A student and a committed environmental activist. She’s basically perfect.

Hiro is the opposite of perfect. He’s slouchy, rude and resentful. Despite his brains, he doesn’t see the point of school.

But when Astrid meets Hiro at the shopping centre where he’s wrangling shopping trolleys, he doesn’t recognise her because she’s in disguise – as a lobster. And she doesn’t set him straight.

Astrid wants to change the world, Hiro wants to survive it. But ultimately both believe that the world needs to be saved from itself. Can they find enough in common to right all the wrongs between them?

A romantic comedy about life and love and trying to make the planet a better place, with a little heartbreak, and a whole lot of hilarity.  View on Goodreads

* * * * * My Thoughts * * * * *

Damn it is hard to right a review with out spoilers – This one will be quick, as I don’t want to say too much about Astrid’s relationship with Hiro, or talk about the suburb changing adventure they go on together *wink *wink.

I’ve never used this saying before but…wait for it…I totally ship Hiro and Astrid. I ship them to the victory garden and back. Oh what adorable awkward little eco-warrior darlings.

I loved how Wilkinson kept the story flowing beautifully and entertainingly while sneaking in plenty of educational environmental tidbits.

I found myself feeling like an awkward teen again while I reading Astrid thoughts. There were times when the adult in me wanted to slap some sense into her self righteous but well meaning face and tell her to stop whining, stop judging and stop ignoring her friends. And there were times when I wanted to reach in the pages and hug her and tell her everything would be alright. I really enjoyed the rollercoaster that was seeing Astrid grow and mature.IMG_2532

This was a super cute YA romance, with humor, heart and tomatoes.

star.4

Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi. Aussie YA to be proud of.

Wilkinson’s Links: Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Amazon AU | Amazon US

For your reading pleasure

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For your reading pleasure here is a guest post from the lovely Lily Luchesi and a sneak peek at her new book Miranda’s Rights which is released today!
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Why I Use Music In My Writing by Lily Luchesi

Art saves. It’s not just a slogan. It’s true. Even before I could read, I was always surrounded by music and I loved it. Music was happiness in my childish mind.

As I got older, immersed myself in books, fandom, and other things, music was always there. Sure, I had broadened my tastes dramatically, but music was the only constant in my life. I was the emo teen in 2006 who ringed her eyes in black mascara and blasted The Black Parade in her bedroom. I grew up, but I am still that girl inside (and outside: I still love my black mascara).

When I started writing professionally, I found concentrating to be very difficult, so I had it suggested to me to put in my headphones and leave music on in the background. I went from barely 600 words written per day to over two thousand.

Music is many things, enjoyment being the main one. But it is so much more. It is the expression of emotions that many of us cannot convey. It is life, love, grief, pain, anger, politics, and so much more. Music is everything.

I listened to so much music while writing both books in my Paranormal Detectives Series, that I made a playlist for it on YouTube, because everyone should be able to feel what I felt as I wrote about Danny and Angelica’s heartbreak and struggles while listening to these same songs.

So, if you’re in love with music like I am, be proud and own it. Whether you fall asleep with “Clair De Lune” on repeat, jam to Rascal Flatts, rock out to 80’s hair metal, twerk to Beyonce, dance with Demi Lovato, or get emo with Fall Out Boy and Twenty One Pilots, own it. Enjoy it. Know that these people are shaping your life without ever realizing it.

Music is the most primal form of art, it is love and light as well as hate and darkness, and everything in between. It helped make Stake-Out and Miranda’s Rights happen.

Please enjoy listening to this playlist as you read the Paranormal Detectives Series. I hope it enhances your reading experience just as it enhanced my writing experience.

* Youtube Playlist *

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MirandasRightsParanormalDetectivesBookTwoCover.jpg
The dead don’t always rest easy…
Retired detective, Danny Mancini, is haunted by nightmares after he found out that paranormal creatures exist. All he wants is to forget them…especially a certain half-vampire. When cursed werewolves show up trying to kill him, he is forced to go back to the Paranormal Investigative Division for help against a powerful old enemy. What he was not expecting was a dead ex showing back up after twenty-six years.

* Add to Goodreads *

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Danny and Miranda sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, processing everything they had heard and what Danny had seen, thanks to those damned powers of his.

“Was it hard for you? Seeing it all firsthand?” Miranda asked.

He nodded. “It was intense. It was brutal and pitiful. If I had a choice, I would give up these powers forever. Angelica says they’re a blessing, but I say they’re a curse. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to have these visions. To be there, in the thick of it, watching it as it happens, knowing every evil thing said and thought. It’s like living a nightmare. Only one of my visions has ever been good.”

Miranda went and stood behind her former fiancé, placing her cold hands on his shoulders and giving him a light squeeze. “If I could take your pain away, I would.”

“If you could, I’d pay you all the money Dad left me,” he replied.

Miranda was silent, contemplating. “I could do it, you know.”

“Do what?” he asked, turning around in the chair to face her.

“Make the powers go away. Make you not feel any of these pesky fears.” Her voice was nonchalant, but her eyes were sharp. He could see that this had been a planned confrontation somehow, and he was wary. For wanting to be a lawyer, she could never hold her cards very close to her chest. That was why he’d never taught her to play poker.

“How?” He was a former cop. He could get anyone to admit anything and he planned to make Miranda spill her guts. He knew it would be easy. She had that smug look on her face he remembered from their dating years. That look meant she was ready to brag.

Her cool fingers traced along his throat, leaving behind an uncomfortable sensation.

“Let me turn you. You’ll lose your powers and fears, and then we could be together…forever. Just you and me, like it was always meant to be.”

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Check out book one in the series, * Stake-Out *

stakeoutcover.jpgAbout Lily

Lily Luchesi is a young author/poet born in Chicago, Illinois, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things “dark”. At two, she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle by the time she was twelve, and, as her family has always been what they now call “Gothic”, she doesn’t believe she shall ever change. She is also a hopeless romantic and avid music-love who will always associate vampires with love, blood, and rock and roll.
Her interest in poetry came around the same time as when she was given a book of Edgar Allan Poe’s complete work. She then realized that she had been writing her own poetry since she could hold a pen, and just had not known the correct terms. She finished her first manuscript at the age of fourteen, and now, at twenty-one, has two contributing credits in anthologies and her debut novel, Stake-Out (Paranormal Detectives Series Book One), was published by Vamptasy Publishing on May 19th, 2015. Book two, Miranda’s Rights, will be released on January 8th, 2016.
She has a short story, “Undead Ever After” in the Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly anthology Love Sucks (released on June 13th, 2015). Her first erotic short story, “Have No Fears”, was published in the Hot Ink Press anthology Naughty Bedtime Stories: In Three Words on October 10th. She will also have a short erotic horror story, “The Devil’s Dozen”, in the upcoming Hot Ink Press anthology Death, Love, Lust, which will be released in February of 2016.

Lily’s Links * Website – Amazon – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram – Goodreads *

* * *

*Coming Soon* Pledged by Louise G. White

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Pledged twit1

I’m super excited about this release as I really liked the first two books in the series.

Hi Res Pledged

The deal was simple: Carolyn and her friends could return home after 21 days. What could happen in 3 short weeks?

Rather a lot: Carolyn’s mother is livid about her “rescue” and Edward is being groomed for a chiefdom he doesn’t want. The Agency’s “elixir of life” has been perfected, and O.W.E. permits mean that certain humans have been authorised to work in the demon realms.

pledged twit2 copy

Pledged will be available for purchase from Amazon on the 22nd of October.

While we’re waiting lets take a look back.

23380120The Calling: On the run and hiding from ‘the suits’, Carolyn’s life is far from straightforward. After her mother and brother go missing in a most extraordinary way, (through a hole to another world which appears in the kitchen wall!), she is determined to track them down and bring them home. But life is never that easy! Rescued and protected by a group of unusual and like minded ‘people’, Carolyn hones her magic and fighting skills. Whilst answering a ‘call’ to retrieve a human from another world she’s faced with a quick decision and ends up bringing a demon back with her. Little did she know what effect this demon would have on her. As each day passes her strengths grow and her magic develops to assist her in her quest to track down her family, but there are decisions to make that will affect the rest of her life. GOODREADS

23454772Chasing the Demon: The system has been changing; the Agency flaunts its cruel practices, and the balance of the realms has been disrupted. Ethan’s enforcers are already stretched to the limits, and things get worse when alliances are forged between the worst of the demon realms. Meanwhile, on Empustat, Carolyn has spent an entire year being “reconditioned” – her memories being wiped and replaced in order to produce a limited and vapid princess. Under the constraints of the Chief, she is no longer the feared and mythical “destroyer” Carolyn’s life of privilege is marred only by the expectations held for her to marry Peter and produce heirs for the realm. Her friend, Mario, in contrast, has suffered hardship and humiliation at the hands of the Lilim guard – and a chance encounter will spur Carolyn’s awakening. The disabled gateway has frustrated the team’s efforts to reach Carolyn, and Ethan and Note can barely tolerate each other, but both mage and demon share the same goals. Hope by way of an unexpected source leads to the team embarking on a plan so daring that their survival hangs in the balance. With old and new friends from the realms, the fight for order continues. GOODREADS

My Review of #1 The Calling and #2 Chasing the Demon.

Thanks to the lovely Louise as her book The Calling was one of the first books I was actually given to read and review :-). I must admit looking at these two review posts from last year – I make my reviews much prettier these days :-).

My review of Pledged COMING SOON 🙂

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

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25327818

 

By Jenn Bennett – Night Owls (UK & AU) The Anatomical Shape of a Heart (US).

Published: 13th August 2015.

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Thanks to Jenn Bennett, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis mk3

Feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. Beatrix herself has an incredible artistic talent and is determined to become a medical illustrator. Across midnight buses, blog posts and through her artwork, Beatrix unravels the enigma that is Jack while the two of them fall passionately in love.

But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

Will the secrets Jack stubbornly guards come back to haunt him? Or will Bex’s own complex family fall apart first?

My Thoughts mk3

AWWWWWWWWWW!!! Just give me a second as I sit here and hug my HB pencils.

We follow the likeable Bex as she struggles to do what she feels is right. We see her deify her mother for the first time in her life, for good reasons. We see her fall in love with a broken boy who needs her. Find herself. And confront her absent father.

Both Bex and Jack families, even through from extremely different social standings, have issues. We get to see them all work through these issues and come out the other side.

Things I loved: Both leads were Artsy. Good old teen angst. Divorce and Mental Illness’s were addressed. Jack’s Adorable law breaking. Sexy Classic Cars. Happy endings for all the main characters that didn’t feel over the top or super cheesy, just warm and fuzzy.

Things I didn’t: Nothing.

I laughed out loud with this book. At once stage I got antsy, had to put it down and go for a walk because the characters dramas was stressing me out – I just wanted them to be happy! I finished Night Owls and just sat on the lounge with a big smile on my face.

There is adorable first time teen love heavily sprinkled throughout the whole story – Perfection!! I’m putting this on my re-read when needing a pick me up shelf 🙂 Five Stars.5s

Author’s Links mk3

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Newsletter

Purchase Links:

Amazon | B&N | Booktopia | Amazon AU

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

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trouble

 

Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

Published 6th August 2015

304 pages paperback

Thanks to the author, Hot Key Books and The Five Mile Press for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis mk3“Of course I didn’t like Digby when I first met him. No one does.”

“Preparing to survive a typical day of being Digby’s friend wasn’t that different from preparing to survive the Apocalypse.”

The first time Philip Digby shows up on Zoe Webster’s doorstep, he’s rude and he treats her like a book he’s already read and knows the ending to.

But before she knows it, Zoe’s allowed Digby—annoying, brilliant, and somehow…attractive? Digby—to drag her into a series of hilarious, dangerous, and only vaguely legal schemes all related to the kidnapping of a local teenage girl. A kidnapping that might be connected to the tragic disappearance of his little sister eight years ago. When it comes to Digby, Zoe just can’t say no.

But is Digby a hero? Or is his manic quest an indication of a desperate attempt to repair his broken family and exorcize his own obsessive-compulsive tendencies? And does she really care anyway?

This is a contemporary debut with razor-sharp dialogue, ridiculously funny action, and a dynamic duo you won’t soon forget.

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After her parents get divorced, high school junior Zoe Webster moves with her mother from Brooklyn to upstate New York, determined to get back to the city and transfer to the elite private school her father insists on. But then she meets Philip Digby–the odd and brilliant and somehow attractive?–Digby, and soon finds herself in a series of hilarious and dangerous situations all centred on his search for the kidnapper of a local teenage girl who may know something about the tragic disappearance of his kid sister eight years ago. Before she knows it, Zoe has vandalized an office complex with fake snow, pretended to buy drugs alongside a handsome football star dressed like the Hulk, had a serious throw down with a possible religious cult, challenged her controlling father, and, oh yeah, saved her new hometown.
For fans of John Green and David Levithan, this is a crime novel where catching the crook isn’t the only hook, a romance where the leading man is decidedly unromantic, a friendship story where they aren’t even sure they like each other, and a debut you won’t soon forget.

+Goodreads button

My Thoughts mk3My first thought upon finishing this book was “God, I hope they do a sequel! I want to know what Digby finds out off of Ezekiel about his sister.”

I think the synopsis above comprehensively lays the story out. If your not hooked by that hook, then I’m not sure what I can tell you. I’m giving this book Five Stars. I had a lot of fun reading it.

Hot Key Books labels this book as 50% Mystery, 30% Humour, 20% Friendship. There is a twisting and turning Who-Done-It-vibe the whole way though. Teenagers just trying to survive being teenagers. Heart warming moments. Multiple creepy bad guys. And tonnes of fun.

By the end of the second page I was hooked on the story and hooked on Digby “the local troublemaker”. Sixteen year old me would have been eating her heart out over Digby.

Right from the start Digby causes Zoe grief and gets her into trouble, and that trouble is addictive. The way Digby sasses every one rubs off on Zoe and it’s for the better as she finally stands up to her ass of a father.

While the kidnapping of the local teenage girl is solved. The mystery of Digby’s little sisters disappearance deepens and we are left with a Kiss and open ending to the book.

I loved Digby, Zoe, Henry and Felix. Especial Felix when he comes flying out of the Ambulance towards the end – Ok I’m just going stop, I wouldn’t want to give any of the surprises away.

I tweeted Mrs Tromly in regards to the unfinished business at the end of book and bless her she tweeted me back within minutes saying that YES, a sequel named Trouble Makes a Comeback will be out next year. I’m excited.

5sAuthor’s Links mk3

tromly

 

Stephanie Tromly was born in Manila, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives with her husband and son in Winnipeg. She is working on her PhD in English Literature.

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Amazon AU

Twitter | Goodreads| Hot Key Books

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

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8909152Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Published April 14th 2011 by Dutton Adult

Synopsis mk3

“Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . “

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

+Goodreads buttonMy Thoughts mk3 I am seriously fan girl-ing right now, I just went and followed all Rowell’s social medias so I could stalk her, umm I mean see what book she has coming out next.

I was in love with this book by the first few pages. I think this is the fastest I’ve ever devoured a book. I got the book that morning and read it all that day. That’s a new record for me. (i’m writing this review two days later). I came up for air, once, to put up a Goodreads update – Page 48: Loving this book and thinking “why have I not read any Rainbow Rowell until now”.

I finished the book late-ish Friday night – Page 322: Love Love Loved this book. I’m jumping up and down and smiling, LOVED IT – review to come 🙂. I only open it it intending to have a look and reading it later when I was on holidays. Just the first few pages had me hooked and I didn’t go to bed until I’d finished it. I loved Rowell’s writing, her humour, snappy dialogue and devour-able prose.

The Main Characters: Lincoln O’Neill, Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder; I love them all and they are now my imaginary best friends 😛 what I wouldn’t give to have a working friendship like Beth and Jennifer’s. The characters are all 28 (my age) and it’s nice to see other people not having there s**t together. It’s a funny, heart-warming story that feels real. My favorite books usually involve magic, mythological or paranormal creatures, but Rowell’s left me feeling happier than any book has in a long time. I was smiling like I’d just won the lotto when I finished the last page.

The story swaps between Lincoln “page shots” of Beth and Jennifer’s emails and Lincoln in the 3rd person. The story is set back in 1999/2000, the whole point being that people didn’t have iPhones etc. back then so we see the two female leads converse using inter office email. Then there is the poor smuck Lincoln that has to monitor those inter office emails. At this time 1999/2000 I was in high school and they did monitor your computer use, I know this because I got in trouble off the librarian once for some “inappropriate” story I was writing.

The girls are immediately like-able. But for me Lincoln became the star of the show. He was lonely and stuck in a rut. He hated his dead end job that made him feel like a perverse nut job. Now I can see why some people mightn’t like this, they might write Lincoln off as a creepy loser. But I love how we get to watch him grow, watch him try to be a better person and succeed. He gets out of his rut, he gets his s**t together and he gets the girl, the right girl! Go Lincoln Go!

I love Lincoln, yeah so what if he fell for Beth while reading her emails –Ah hello, he gave Jennifer his MacDonald’s while he changed her flat tyre in a storm, super hero! – Beth did some Lincoln stalking as well, so meh, all’s fair in love and war. I did some house drive by stalking when I was younger LOL and he married me, my husband the silly man.

So Five Stars. I’m going to leave it at that because if I try to tell you anymore about the story I’ll give it all away.

5sAuthor’s Links mk3 Rainbow Rowell writes books.

Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline).

Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On.).

But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they’re screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she’s not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.

Website – http://www.rainbowrowell.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rainbow.rowell.author

Instagram – https://instagram.com/rainbowrowellbooks/

Tumblr – http://rainbowrowell.tumblr.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell

The Field Trip by R.A. Andrade

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The Field Trip by R.A. Andrade

Published: May 1st 2015 by Selladore Press, 272 Pages

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Synopsis mk3An adventure mixed with a touch of fantasy. Add a twist of love.

Although clumsy with women, botany professor Ross Barton possesses the quality of fearlessness when confronting danger. Relieved to be escaping routine school work and a bad relationship for a field research trip, a strange woman and danger are the last of his expectations.

Jay, an awkward young woman unwilling to disclose her past, begins a solitary hike into the forest with a pet concealed in a box. She claims the pet is a cat.

Rumors are spreading about odd lights in the night skies of New England.

A flight instructor reports that the government quarantined an area of Vermont woods.

All trails intersect on The Field Trip.

My Thoughts mk3

I’ve struggled writing this review, while there were some good qualities in this book; I just didn’t connect with it.

Ross: Professor of Botany Ross Barton is 35, terrified of woman and single. He is sweet, naive, gullible and later on in the story bizarrely develops into an action hero.

The story starts off alternating between following Ross and a group of unnamed men in white lab coats at an unnamed facility. Ross is easily likable and the mysterious white coats are interesting, driving the story forward.

We meet Jay via a run-in Ross has with her while getting supplies for his trip. It’s not long after Ross starts his trip that the two story lines meet up and we are just following Ross through.

Jay: I guessed Jay Jay and Oswald’s secret earlier on and at first I really liked Jay’s character, she was aloof, aggressive and mysteries. The emotional turn around she does just felt too fast and rushed. I would have liked to see Ross and Jay’s relationship build more before blooming.

Oswald: Funny, twisted, sarcastic, but far too intelligent to be believable as a pet on any planet.

I could never tell where the story was going and that unpredictability was at times frustrating, but also one of the books better qualities, as more often than not you can guess what’s going to happen in a story.

The ending was a little hard to swallow. I liked that Jay was back. I was over the moon that Oswald was back. But no one asked Marsha what she wanted – It felt like body snatching and didn’t sit well with me.

I feel bad giving it only Two (It was ok) Stars, but I can’t bring myself to give it Three (I Liked It) Stars. I would be willing to read more work by R.A. Andrade, as the story wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me.

Two Stars

Author’s Links mk3

Ron writes from a small community in Michigan, sometimes at three in the morning when ideas wake him from sleep. He was born and raised in New England, sometimes drawing on those childhood and teen experiences for his novels. Driven to write, his goal is simply to entertain by bringing you the unexpected.

Website – http://www.raandrade.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10531683.R_A_Andrade