LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER GIVEAWAY HOP: SOMETHING BORROWED

Five years ago, one random day at the airport I was super pregnant and kind of out of it, and I wandered into the airport bookstore before my flight. I picked up Something Borrowed because I like weddings and it sounded kind of fun. One chapter into it I was in love. Now here is the important thing for me. I wasn't a reader. I never liked any books that I was assigned in High School. My mom loved to read, but we have very different tastes and I  never liked most of her suggestions. It was amazing to me to find out that there were books like Something Borrowed even out there. Here I was at 30 years old and I didn't even know that anyone wrote silly, cute, romantic books like this.

Reading Something Borrowed was the beginning of my obsession with books. I think we all have a certain book that ignited our love of reading and this one is mine.

These kinds of books are often associated with summer and enjoying a lazy read so I thought this book would be perfect for my giveaway hop. I will send a winner a paperback copy of the book that changed it all for me (reading wise anyway). Also I am asking you to share your special obsession kick book in the comments so I can add some more books to my TBR pile! Be sure to check out the other awesome giveaways and thanks to both blogs hosting this hop.

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FOREVER CHANGES: BRENDAN HALPIN

This is a really beautiful book. It wasn't until I finished reading it that I realized that Halpin did not take the typical route of the "sick girl dying" book. There is no magical boyfriend who bestows first love, or a series of bucket list moments. This is just a pretty story about a girl who is real, and tries to be a good friend and person while she deals with a disease that cripples her life. It is just lovely to read about her. On top of that this book has my favorite daddy-daughter relationship ever. Great read.

BOOK BLURB:

5:30 a.m., Brianna Pelletier gets ready for her daily pounding. As she lies on the couch, her dad beats her chest, then her back, coaxing the mucus out of her lungs. The pounding doesn’t take care of everything. Brianna’s held out for a long time, but a body with cystic fibrosis doesn’t last forever. It doesn’t matter that Brianna has a brilliant mathematical mind or that she’s a shoo-in for MIT. Or even that her two best friends are beautiful, popular, and loyal. In the grand scheme of things, none of that stuff matters at all. The standard life, lasting maybe seventy-five years, is no more than a speck in the sum total of the universe. At eighteen, and doubting she’ll make nineteen, Brianna is practically a nonentity. Of course she’s done the math. But in her senior year of high school, Brianna learns of another kind of math, in which an infinitely small, near-zero quantity can have profound effects on an entire system. If these tiny quantities didn’t exist, things wouldn’t make the same sense.


Funny, tear-jerking, and memorable, the author’s second novel for teens introduces readers to an extraordinary girl who learns that the meaning of forever can change, and that life – and death – is filled with infinite possibilities. 

Read more about it HERE.

NOBODY'S GIRL: SARRA MANNING

I'm kind of in love with Sarra Manning these days. In fact, I feel like I might be having some kind of one-sided book affair with her. I picked up my first Manning book on a whim, and devouring her past books has been ever so wonderful.

Nobody's Girl might be my favorite yet. A lot happens in this book, and it is one of the best coming of age stories that I have read in a long time. It might have been a bit slow going for me at first because I do not like mean girls and Bea takes some time to get a backbone, but after the big girl blow up things take a turn for the wonderful. Being in Bea's head is a delight, she is such a loveable, strong, vulnerable, real girl. Also, the love interest, Toph is so freaking adorable. He just might be one of my favorite male characters ever. 

BOOK BLURB:

Bea thinks she's the most boring seventeen-year-old in the world. She's not pretty or popular or funny, unlike her mother who had Bea when she was 17. The only glamorous thing about Bea is the French father who left before she was born and lives in Paris. She yearns for la vie Parisienne every moment of her dull existence. So when Ruby Davies, the leader of her school's most elite clique picks Bea as her new best friend and asks her to go on holiday with them, she's wary but delighted. If nothing else it's two weeks away from her over-protective mother . But when the gang arrive in Spain, Bea is crushed to realise that Ruby and her posse have simply been using her. Bea wreaks vengeance on her so-called friends, and plans to decamp to Paris to find her father. But when she falls asleep on the train and wakes up in Bilbao, she meets a group of American students who are backpacking around Europe and bonds with them straight away, especially the gorgeous Toph, who helps heal Bea's hurting heart. And though Bea has a shock in store when they finally get to Paris, the 'City of Lovers ' really works it magic on Bea and Toph, who spend a week wandering the sun-dappled streets of Paris, talking, holding hands and falling in love. When it comes time to go home to confront her Mum about her mysterious father, the new version of Bea is determined that she 'll never go back to her old, boring way of life - she's no longer Nobody's Girl; she belongs to herself and to Toph...But with an ocean between them, will he wait for her?

Thank you Sarra Manning for writing again and again the most amazingly real and loveable characters! 

Read more about this one HERE.

PILGRIMS DON'T WEAR PINK: STEPHANIE KATE STROHM

 There are several cutesy books about girls working in reenactment camps, but this one stands above the rest. I was laughing out loud in the first few pages and kind of fell in love with Libby's sassy sweet voice. The plot is still kind of predictable, and the gay best friend was maybe a bit too cliché for my tastes. However, it is sweet and fun and I really enjoyed myself while reading it. 

BOOK BLURB:

A story of crushes, corsets, and conspiracy

Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem.

This would have been a completely innocent read if it wasn't for a very few scattered harsh swear words. I am not really sure why the author felt like they needed to be in there at all since the rest of the book is so sweet. 

I was excited to find this was going to be the beginning of a series, because I was excited to read more with these characters (rare for me these days).

Read more about it HERE.

JOHNNY BE GOOD & BABY BE MINE BY PAIGE TOON

I have been going through a real British chick-lit phase these days. I don't know what it is about them, but I can't seem to get enough. I recently read and reviewed and LOVED Paige Toon's Chasing Daisy. I couldn't wait to read another one of her books, so I bought myself a copy of Johnny Be Good. And guess what? It doesn't have a real ending! I was totally furious until I realized that three years after Johnny Be Good came out there was a sequel, Baby Be Mine. And I tell you, I was so glad I didn't have to wait three years to see what happened next. (I did however, have to wait for the book to be shipped...which was torture!)

In my normal life, I never like the bad boys. However in books I love them, and Johnny Jefferson is the ultimate bad boy. I also love reading about relationships that I cheer for, even though I think maybe they shouldn't work out. That is why I enjoyed these two books more than Chasing Daisy. There is nothing more perfect in the summer than getting lost in a Paige Toon book, and you can quote me on that. :)

BOOK BLURB: (for Johnny Be Good)

If your boss was the hottest rock star on the planet, would you mix business with pleasure?

I'm Meg Stiles. This is my leaving party. And that song we're making a mockery of? That's written by one of the biggest rock stars in the world. And I'm moving in with him tomorrow.

Seriously! I am not even joking. Well, maybe I'm misleading you a little bit. You see, I haven't actually met him yet...

No, I'm not a stalker. I'm his new PA. His Personal Assistant. And I am off to La-La Land. Los Angeles. The City of Angels—whatever you want to call it—and I can't bloody believe it!

Celebrity PA to wild boy of rock Johnny Jefferson, Meg's glam new life in sun-drenched LA is a whirlwind of showbiz parties and backstage passes. Cool, calm Christian, in town to write his famous friend's biography, helps keep Meg's feet firmly on the ground. But with Johnny's piercing green eyes and a body Brad Pitt would kill for, how long will it be before she's swept right off them again?

As a note Toon has scattered use of foul language, but not a ton. She also does not write overly descriptive love scenes.Also reading about Baby Be Mine will give away a few plot points so read about that book with caution if you don't like spoilers.

Read more about Johnny Be Good HERE.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME: SARRA MANNING

Since I loved Sarra Manning’s YA novel Let’s Get Lost, I didn’t waste much time getting me a copy of You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me to see how she writes for adults. This book is long, and I loved that getting lost in the length. I was able to enjoy the day to day events of Neve and they weren’t boring to me because I think Manning is a great writer. It reminded me of how I felt reading One Day by  David Nicholls (without the part that made me so mad I wanted to throw the book across the room), because I got such an intimate glimpse in a friendship and relationship. 

BOOK BLURB:

Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don’t get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William’s been in LA for three years, and Neve’s been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he’ll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her.

So she’s not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she’d better get some, well, experience.

What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia’s colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he’s such a man-slut, and so not Neve’s type, she certainly won’t fall for him. Because William is the man for her… right?

Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve’s lost her heart – but to who?

This book has some saucy scenes. They are not written in “bodice ripping” style, but just a straight forward “this was how it was" way. And it might be too much for those who don't care for romance books, but I personally prefer the tell it like it is approach to the flowery fake one when it comes to love scenes. 

Read more about this book HERE.