Review: 17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen

17 First Kisses
by Rachael Allen
Series: Standalone
Released on: June 17th, 2014
Published by: HarperTeen
Rating: 5 stars
Word rating: !!!!!!
Reviewed by: Blythe

No matter how many boys Claire kisses, she can’t seem to find a decent boyfriend. Someone who wouldn’t rather date her gorgeous best friend, Megan. Someone who won’t freak out when he learns about the tragedy her family still hasn’t recovered from. Someone whose kisses can carry her away from her backwoods town for one fleeting moment.

Until Claire meets Luke.

But Megan is falling for Luke, too, and if there’s one thing Claire knows for sure, it’s that Megan’s pretty much irresistible.

With true love and best friendship on the line, Claire suddenly has everything to lose. And what she learns—about her crush, her friends, and most of all herself—makes the choices even harder.

In her moving debut, Rachael Allen brilliantly captures the complexities of friendship, the struggles of self-discovery, and the difficulties of trying to find love in high school. Fans of Sarah Ockler, Susane Colasanti, and Stephanie Perkins will fall head over heels for this addictive, heartfelt, and often hilarious modern love story.

Now and Forever by Susane Colasanti Book Trailer

Now and Forever
by Susane Colasanti
Released: May 20th, 2014
Published by: Penguin

What if your boyfriend was the world's biggest rockstar?

Sterling is crazy in love with Ethan. Not only is he the sweetest boy she's ever met, but he's an incredibly talented guitarist, singer, and songwriter. And since forever, he's believed he has what it takes to be a star.

When Ethan becomes an overnight sensation, he's thrown head-first into the glam world of celebrity-and so is Sterling. Before she knows it, she's attending red-carpet premieres, getting free designer clothes, and flying around the country to attend Ethan's monumental sold-out concerts.

It's a dream come true...but whose dream is Sterling living? And what do you do when "forever" comes to an end?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Lately I've been reading all the contemporary romances I could get my hands on (as has been and will be further evidenced by the reviews on the blog this week), so when I got an email about the trailer for Susane Colisanti's new Now and Forever, I jumped at it; this book looks really cute, and I've heard really good things about this author. Also you guys, the love interest is a hugely famous rock star which I am so excited for because that makes way for a lot of relationship conflict, which you all know I eat up. Plus, the trailer makes it look like it'd be just the swoony read I've been craving lately. AND, the trailer has some lost shirts of the male variety. So. 

Review: Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

Say What You Will
by Cammie McGovern
Series: Standalone
Released on: June 3rd, 2014
Published by: HarperTeen
Rating: 4.5 stars
Word rating: MY EMOTIONS
Reviewed by: Blythe

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.

Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.

When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

Review: Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon

Take Back the Skies 
Lucy Saxon
Series: Take Back the Skies, #1
Release Date: June 3rd, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 3.5 stars
Word Rating: Romance of doom
Reviewed by: Blythe

Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.

So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .

Review: One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

One Man Guy
Michael Barakiva
Series: Standalone
Release Date: May 27th, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Rating: 4.5 stars
Word Rating: Pure, pure joy
Reviewed by: Blythe

Funny and heartfelt, One Man Guy serves up the raucous family humor and gentle romance of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, as told with David Sedaris–style wit.

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.

Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.

Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

The Assassin's Blade
Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass, #0.1 - 0.5
Released: March 1st, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Rating: 4 stars
Word Rating: SHIPSHIPSHIPSHIP
Reviewed by: Mel

Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

Review: Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Second Star
Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Series: Standalone
Release Date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Rating: 1.5 stars
Word rating: WENDY, NO
Reviewed by: Blythe

A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.

Review: Life By Committee Corey Ann Haydu

Life By Committee
Corey Ann Haydu
Series: None
Released: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Rating: 2.5 stars
Word Rating: Eeh. Whatever.
Reviewed by: Mel

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

DEEP BLUE Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

If you follow me on Twitter or have read my review, you know how much I enjoyed Jennifer Donnelly's Deep Blue. It was just the read I needed: fun, well-written, and puntastic. With that having been said, I am excited to have Jennifer Donnelly on the blog today for an interview about Deep Blue, mermaids, magic, and more! Below you will find information about the novel, and then after the jump, the interview with Jennifer Donnelly and two chances to win Deep Blue, which the publisher was generous enough to provide. Enjoy! 

Deep in the ocean, in a world not so different from our own, live the merpeople. Their communities are spread throughout the oceans, seas, and freshwaters all over the globe.

When Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, awakens on the morning of her betrothal, her biggest worry should be winning the love of handsome Prince Mahdi. And yet Sera finds herself haunted by strange dreams that foretell the return of an ancient evil. Her dark premonitions are confirmed when an assassin's arrow poisons Sera's mother. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Led only by her shadowy dreams, Sera searches for five other mermaid heroines who are scattered across the six seas. Together, they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood and uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence. 

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