SKIN DEEP: LAURA JARRATT

I am always thrilled when a love story doesn't start out with: "Oh, she is hot." and "Oh he is hot and I want him, because we are both hot so of course we will hook up and fall in love." (Those of course are not direct quotes from any book, but mere examples of my own making.)

Skin Deep is a book about two really imperfect characters going through their own stuff and becoming friends first. It was adorable and very swoony watching the relationship grow between Ryan and Jenna. Jenna was a bit too young for my usual tastes (she is only 14), but it worked here. She felt 14 and her innocence and insecurities only added to her likeability as a character. Ryan was also layered and just lovely. He had some great lines in this. 

This is a UK book, and I hope it will eventually be published in the US, because it is a great read. For now you can still pick up a copy for yourself thanks to the wonderful world wide web.

BOOK BLURB:

Ugly people don't have feelings. They're not like everyone else. They don't notice if you stare at them and turn away. And if they did notice, it wouldn't hurt them. They're not like real people. Or that's what I used to think. Before I learned...

After the car crash that leaves her best friend dead, Jenna is permanently scarred. She struggles to rebuild her life, but every stare in the street, every time she looks in the mirror, makes her want to retreat further from the world. Until she meets Ryan. Ryan's a traveller. When he and his mother moor their narrow boat on the outskirts of a village, she tells him this time it will be different. He doesn't believe her; he can't imagine why this place shouldn't be as unwelcoming as the rest. Until he meets Jenna. But as Jenna and Ryan grow closer, repercussions from the crash continue to reverberate through the community. And then a body is found.

This book does mention some mature issues, but does not go into details. Except for the kissing, very detailed kisses...:)

Read more about this HERE.

ELEANOR & PARK: RAINBOW ROWELL

Hello folks, just letting you know that THIS book is one heck of a love story. I was really looking forward to this release. I enjoyed Rowell's writing in her previous book Attachments, but I didn't care for the story. Eleanor & Park struck a chord with me instantly. I don't know if I remember ever reading a book that made me equal parts heartbroken and giddy at the same time. It seems an impossible balance to maintain, but Rowell does a wonderful job of it. I also loved that it takes place in the 80's. It never mentions the year in the book, but you just know it is the 80's because of the appearance of tapes, acid washed jean jackets, and feathered bangs. I loved how there was no technology references like texting, facebook, or email to distract me. It also switches POV while using third person, which you would think wouldn't work, but it totally does. Anyway, loved it.

BOOK BLURB:

"Bono met his wife in high school," Park says.
"So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we’re sixteen."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
''I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I’m not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

Read more about it HERE. 

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the read.

A GIRL LIKE YOU: MARIA GERACI

This is a very light little story with a great voice and very interesting supporting characters. It is a twist on the traditional romance, and even though I figured out the ending I still loved it and think many might find the ending to be a total surprise. I loved how this book explores the idea of how often it is that the way we see ourselves is so different from how others see us. Also, our main character might be all grown up, but she grows a lot throughout the book and she is always likeable even at her unlikeable times.  As always, I also give this book extra marks for being a relatively clean read. No sex scenes and very little foul language.

BOOK BLURB:

What if you found out you were the ugly friend?

Emma Frazier is smart, hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine. Emma knows she’s no great beauty, but she’s pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher—until Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the “ugly friend.” In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend, Trip Monroe.

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it’s been fourteen years since they’ve spoken, Emma is certain she can score an interview with the elusive super star. But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined. Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shake up Emma’s views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.

Read more about it HERE.

THE REECE MALCOM LIST: AMY SPALDING

I just finished devouring Amy Spalding's debut. It is a rare thing when I wish a book would just go on and on and on and on forever. I just absolutely adored this book. The characters are fascinating and layered and are so alive from the moment they enter the story. It is sad and happy and simple and complex and just wonderful. It has been so long since I said this: What a freaking great debut!

BOOK BLURB:

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

A huge thank you from NetGalley and  Entangled Teen for this read. 

Read more about it HERE.

YOUNG ADULT GIVEAWAY HOP: SIGNED COPY OF THE GIVER

For this giveaway I happy to tell you that I am giving away a SIGNED copy of The Giver. Do you want it? I waited in line a long time for it...;)

Lois Lowry was in Provo, Utah this past fall promoting the next book in The Giver series. She shared that the books became a series because people kept asking questions about certain characters in the books and the stories just came to her.

One thing that she mentioned that I was glad to have cleared up is that The Giver is not meant to be sharing a particular message or agenda. Lowry said that your own personal belief system will mold this book to what YOU as a reader sees in it, not what she as an author was trying to say. I really loved that since I feel like too many books are about an author's agenda and aren't about just telling a story and letting you decide what it means. That is so very opposite to how we were taught to read literature in school isn't it? We were always so busy having to dissect what an author was trying to say that we couldn't just enjoy the darn books. Because of this, I didn't read until I was 15 years out of school, it is a shame really.

Anyway Lois Lowry is an icon, and I am happy to give away a book she touched with her very own hands.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ONE PERFECT SUMMER: PAIGE TOON

Paige Toon has done it again, she has delighted me from front cover to back in her newest book. Our MCs are in college for most of this book. It used to be very had to find books with characters of this age, now there is the growing genre of New Adult and you can now find college age characters in abundance. However, so many of those books aren't really very polished and just seem to me to be drawing readers in with scandalous sex scenes. (That is my opinion anyway...) 

Toon's One Perfect Summer isn't like that at all. Since I am always on the hunt for great college reads this book is a perfect little gem of a find for me. It is probably my favorite of her books (and I have read them all now), and it is one amazing story of first love. The book spans almost a decade and it is a wonderfully absorbing journey just like all of this author's books. (Can you tell I am a fan?) 

BOOK BLURB:

'And you still love him?'
'Every second of every minute of every hour of every day…'

While on holiday in Dorset one summer, Alice meets Joe, a guy working at the local pub. She's eighteen and on the brink of starting university, while Joe's life is seemingly going nowhere. But despite their differences, the pair fall hopelessly and desperately in love. And then summer comes to an end and they are dramatically torn apart.

Alice heads off to university in Cambridge where she gets a part-time job punting on the River Cam and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. One day Lukas - a gorgeous golden boy from Cambridge University - spies her and it's not long before Alice falls for his charms.

Months turns into years, but then Joe comes back into Alice's life again in a way that she could never have imagined. While Alice lives her ordinary life with Lukas, she has to watch from the sidelines as Joe's life becomes evermore extraordinary. She never stopped loving him, but he's out of her reach now, surely? And what about Lukas?

One thing that is consistent in all of Toon's writing is her talk of sex, and great swoony scenes without graphic sex scenes. She always has a little bad language skittered throughout, but never anything distracting. If you haven't ever read one of her books, I obviously highly encourage you to do so.

There is a short story called One Perfect Christmas available on Amazon that adds a bit more to the original book, I bought it even though it took me no time at all to read it. I think it was too much money for what I got, however I love Toon so much, I don't mind throwing $3.99 her way. 

Read more about it HERE.

TWO OF MY FAV BOOKS FREE WITH AMAZON PRIME!

Great news! I was just shopping on Amazon and saw that two of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors are kindle books you can borrow with your Amazon Prime account. (BTW, if you aren't a Prime member, and you love books what are you waiting for?) I know that both of these books aren't often carried at the libraries in the US, so this is a great chance to borrow them for free!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME

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