Discussion (sort of): Unfinished Books

I used to be the type of reader that had to finish what I started--series or book--and it would really annoy me if I didn't. But, over the years, that changed. My TBR pile got so big that I'd have to put books down and move onto something different...I still don't give up on books easily, even ones I leave unfinished are sitting in a pile I always intend to go back to.

But now, that pile of unfinished books has gotten so big and it's really starting to annoy me, and the whole starting books then leaving them unfinished for months (sometimes even years) has become a habit I really want to break.

With most of the books, it's not even that they're bad books, it's just I tried to read them at the wrong time or there was something I wanted to read more or something like that. Or some are just those kinds of books that you enjoy while you're reading them but they're easy to put down and forget about.

So I've decided to set myself a challenge to finish some of the books that are in my To Finish pile. I think I'll give myself a week to get through them, because there's other stuff I have to move on to after that.

These are the ones I'm going to try to finish (if the reviews show up on the blog, you'll know I succeeded):

1. Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy - These books are cute and fun, and this is a recent one I put down and didn't pick back up, it mostly got put down because I wasn't in the mood for it.

2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I love the mini-series, but with classic books I tend to be kind of bored by the writing in books like this, but because I already love the story I do really want to finish the book.

3. Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar - This book was pretty hyped up for me. A lot of reviewers that I trust said it was amazing and they threw it into the Melina Marchetta-type awesome category. I started it and read a few chapters and while the writing was good, I was just bored, so I put it down. I've wanted to pick it up again for ages but just...I didn't want to be bored again, but maybe it will pick up if I try again.

4. The Improper Life of Bezelia Grove - I think it was Stacey from ChapterChicks on youtube who recommended this one ages ago (years ago) and I remember reading it but I don't think I ever finished it, can't remember why.

5. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - Ah, Markus Zusak. His books seem to be frequent visitors of my To Finish pile. It took me more than a year to finish The Book Thief, and I loved it when I did but his books are just so easy put down and so difficult to pick up again.

6. Jessica Rules the Dark Side - I love the first book. I think I put this one down because it was just not even close to being as good as the first book, it lacked the spark the first one had.

7. Uglies by Scott Westerfield - Everyone seems to go on about how awesome this series is, and I'm not sure if I put this down because I was just underwhelmed by it or if it's because I'm so totally burned out on the dystopian genre, but it's annoying me that I've still not finished this one.

8. Wicked by Gregory Maguire -  Desire to see the musical made me pick this up. It's not bad, it's just really slow paced...it drags a lot in the beginning and it was taking too long to get to the parts I wanted to read so I put it down and just haven't gone back to it.

9. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - Melina Marchetta loves this series. People who loved Melina's Lumatere Chronicles recommend this series. Apparently the second or third book are amazing but I need to finish this one first to get to those. The book wasn't bad, it just didn't hook me.

10. Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves - I loved Bleeding Violet (I think this is a companion novel), this one wasn't bad it just wasn't addictive like BV was so I put it down intending to pick it up again and just didn't.

Do any of you have this problem? Or do you just give up on books entirely if you can't finish them within a certain time frame? Which books are in your unfinished pile?

Later.

Crash Into You by Roni Loren

Note: this is an adult romance, not YA. 

Crash Into You

by Roni Loren

Summary: Brynn LeBreck has dedicated herself to helping women in crisis, but she never imagined how personal her work would get, or where it would take her. Her younger sister is missing, suspected to be hiding from cops and criminals alike at a highly secretive BDSM retreat-a place where the elite escape to play out their most extreme sexual fantasies. To find her, Brynn must go undercover as a sexual submissive. Unfortunately, The Ranch is invitation only. And the one master who can get her in is from the darkest corner of Brynn's past.

Brynn knows what attorney Reid Jamison is like once stripped of his conservative suit and tie. Years ago she left herself vulnerable only to have him crush her heart. Now she needs him again. Back on top. And he's all too willing to engage. But as their primal desires and old wounds are exposed, the sexual games escalate-and so does the danger. Their hearts aren't the only things at risk. Someone else is watching, playing by his own rules. And his game could be murder.

So I was in the mood to read a trashy romance novel, and this one was cheap and in the romance section and the cover and title made it seem like it would be the kind of thing I was looking for, so I bought it without reading the summary.

Fortunately, I judged the book by its cover right--it was a trashy romance. Unfortunately, it also happens to be one of those ones trying to do the Fifty Shades of Gray thing.

It's important for me to mention before I get to the reviewing part that I don't like BDSM* romance novels (erotic novels in general really**).

So yeah...this book might be awesome for people who are into that sort of thing/enjoy reading about it, but my general opinion of the genre does cloud my judgement a lot. I can't really judge whether or not that aspect of the book was well done or not because I can't judge it fairly considering my issues with the whole Dom/sub thing.

Now, onto the story...I said this was one of those books trying to jump on the Fifty Shades of Gray bandwagon. It was definitely written better than FSoG, it angered me less, and it had better characters. Even the BDSM aspect wasn't as bad because it at least felt--mostly--like a genuine mutual thing, because when it's not mutual (like in FSoG) then it seems to cross more into abusive relationship territory. 

The book did deal with more heavy stuff though, like rape and murder, I'm kind of on the fence with how that was handled--I'm not sure if it was done well or not. On one hand, it did show the emotional trauma of it quite well, but on the other it did sometimes seem a bit soap opera-ish...like those things were thrown in purely for the sake of conflict in the story (which is fair enough really, but when you're writing about that sort of thing you should at least write it in a way that makes it feel like it's more than just a plot device thrown in for angst and shock value). 

I really didn't like the book through most of it, but by the end I did sort of like it (if I overlook the obvious things that put me off--like the D/s scenes), I'm not sure when my opinion of it changed but in the end it did feel like I'd gotten what I was looking for...a trashy romance novel to keep me entertained.

This review isn't very good or clear, is it? I guess what I'm trying to say is that I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either...there were moments when it pissed me off, and it still didn't change my opinion of BDSM books, but in the end I found that the characters had grown on me and I cared about what happened to them (at least enough to be rooting for them to work through their issues and Live Happily Ever After, handcuffs and all). 

I'd rate the book 2.5 stars out of 5. If you liked Fifty Shades of Gray, you'll probably like this. If you didn't like Fifty Shades of Gray but like reading that sort of stuff then you might like this one because I do think it was done way better. If I actually liked the erotic scenes then the rating would've probably been a little bit higher.

And I'll shut up now.

Later.

*I just don't find anything about it appealing...it's cool if some people are into that, but I'll just never find it attractive that some people actually take pleasure in hurting or humiliating others or treating them like possessions to be owned and used (especially someone they're supposed to care about...although, in this book, again it was better than FSoG because Reid was only into the D/s thing on a sexual level and didn't expect to be able to dictate her life or anything like that). 

**If I don't like them, why do I read them sometimes? Well, it's more that I don't like the supposed-to-be-erotic parts (I find those boring most of the time, laughable or cringe-worthy at worst), I usually skim-read those scenes just to get to other parts, because I do enjoy the cliche ways the romances (sex scenes excluded) usually play out in these types of books. Really, while I don't particularly like the sex scenes, I don't always hate them either--it's more indifference, so they won't stop me reading a book or even ruin a book for me.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein

Summary: I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

So, there was a lot of hype about this book. A lot. Up until about half of the way through the story, I was convinced I was going to be in the minority in not really liking it, but somewhere in the last half, something changed.

For a long time while reading, I sort of hated it, but I finished it crying and hugging the book to my chest because feelings. It gave me a lot of feelings...most involving tears.

I guess I should explain the hate part first. The main character...while I liked her and there were little moments when she'd make me laugh, I was so ridiculously bored reading the first part of the story. Seriously, the first 200-ish pages nearly bored me to tears (although, it should be noted that heatwave + me + the fact that most Scottish houses generally don't have AC = me being way more moody and likely to cry at stupid crap, like being really bored). It was only stubbornness and desire to see what all the fuss was about that kept me reading.

Those first 200 pages? They were kind of a chore to get through. They were just so dull and I felt indifferent to what was happening the majority of the time--I should have cared, because of the subject matter, but I just didn't give a damn through 90% of that part.

So yeah...that covers the hate part. It wasn't badly written, it wasn't an awful main character or anything like that, I was just bored and I hate being bored, especially when reading (especially during a heatwave when I just want a distraction from uncomfortable I am).

But then in the last half of the book, it gradually got a bit more interesting until I was actually really enjoying reading it and got caught up in the story. Then, eventually there was this one page that just hit me really hard and I realised that I had started to care and I kept on caring right until the end.

The way the first part of the book comes together with that second part (and I'm trying so very hard to explain things without spoilers), it was just done really well and in a really clever way and while I still maintain that that first chunk of the book was pretty dull, the latter part of the book made me appreciate all of the boring stuff and I was so glad I read it to the end.

The way the end plays out made the rocky start I had with the book worth it, and it's the love I felt for the last half of the book that lingered with me when I had finished, not the annoyance at being bored for days while trying to get through the first half (because it took me way longer than it should to read this).

It's really difficult to say more about the book without giving spoilers (which would ruin it), so I'll just sum up a few things I loved in a list:

• I loved the main characters, and have a soft spot for a few of the side characters too.

• I loved the fact that the book wasn't a romance and yet it won me over anyway (which doesn't happen often).

• I loved the friendship in the book, that was maybe the main reason I loved the book. The friendship was the reason behind all of the feels happening while reading.

• I loved that this was a book about WW2 that had women being totally bad ass in a way not often seen (at least not seen by me--usually the women are nurses or something, if anything).

• I loved that the book made me cry.

• I loved that it's one of the rare books I've read that portray a Scottish character in a way that I don't find inaccurate or infuriating (although, the phonetically written accents did still bug me when they happened, still definitely one of the best attempts I've seen).

I guess, in the end, I pretty much loved the book even though I spent roughly 200 of the 440 pages convinced I was going to hate it. I'd rate it 4 stars out of 5 (maybe 4.5, because it really is quite an achievement for a book to win me over so much that far into it). So, if you're like me and struggled through the first half, don't give up on it, because maybe in the end you'll think it was worth it too.

Anyway, I'm going to shut up now and go make fan art or a playlist or a fan cast or something for the book because...because this is what happens when a book gets under my skin like this one did. (Edit: see!)

Later.

Cover Reveal: Unafraid by Melody Grace

Hello everyone! Today I have a cover reveal for a New Adult novel that just...sounds really good. You may wonder what won me over on this one. Well...

ABOUT UNAFRAID:

The first time I saw her, I knew this girl was wilder than any stallion I’d ever trained. She was headstrong, wounded, passionate and free. And I had to have her…”

Brittany Ray doesn’t care about her bad reputation. Growing up in a sleepy beach town with a junkie mom and a runaway dad, Brit’s learned the hard way that the people you love will only let you down. It’s no use hoping for love or happiness. Some dreams aren’t meant for girls like her.

Hunter Covington is one of those dreams.

Gorgeous, charming Hunter is damn near perfect—and it’s killing him. Son of Charleston royalty, he’s been trapped in a gilded cage since the day he was born. Now he’s breaking free. He’s quit law school to restore his grandpa’s old horse ranch, trying to soothe the demons in his soul. But Beachwood Bay is full of old ghosts, like the mysterious girl who spent an unforgettable night with him—and then slipped away before dawn. Brit. 

Everything about her screams danger, but Hunter doesn’t care: he’s never felt a connection so deep. And try as she may, Brit can’t resist the desire consuming her —or the safety she finds in Hunter’s arms.

A reckless passion. An undeniable bond. Scarred by their pasts, Brit and Hunter fight to heal old wounds. But will dark secrets tear apart their new beginning? And when love is the biggest risk of all, can they find the courage to face the future unafraid? 

I mean...I'm intrigued by horses. There's something very different about that in a New Adult novel. I want to find out what's going on.

So...do you want the cover now?

I really like how it conveys the environment the story is in. And I REALLY like her dress. What do you guys think?

ABOUT MELODY GRACE:

Melody Grace is the USA Today bestselling author of UNBROKEN and UNTOUCHED. A small-town girl turned SoCal beach-lover, she spent years with her nose in a book before deciding it was time to write them for herself. She loves bad boys, good books, and pistachio-flavored ice-cream.

Links:

Website: http://melodygracebooks.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melody-Grace/329573187160227

Twitter: http://twitter.com/melody_grace_

UNAFRAID Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18039804-unafraid

Melody Grace Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6926290.Melody_Grace

--Julie

Cover Reveal Part 2: A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers

Remember a little while ago when I shared the cover of A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers (which I'm super stoke about)? Well, they decided to change it a bit more. So, without any more waiting...

Now, just a reminder of what this book is about before I give you more good stuff, okay?

SYNOPSIS:

Have you ever gone just a little too far?

Lexie Banks has.

Yep. She just had mind-blowing sex with her stepbrother.In her defense, she was on the rebound, and it’s more of a my-dad-happened-to-marry-a-woman-with-a-super-hot-son situation. But still, he’s been her best friend and confidant for better part of the last few years…and is so off limits. It’s a good thing she’s leaving in two days for a year abroad in Rome.But even thousands of miles away, Lexie can’t seem to escape trouble. Raised Catholic, she goes to Confession in hopes of alleviating some of her guilt…and maybe not burning in hell. Instead, she stumbles out of the confessional right into Alessandro Moretti, a young and very easy on the eyes deacon…only eight months away from becoming a priest. As Lexie and Alessandro grow closer, and when Alessandro’s signals start changing despite his vow of celibacy, she doesn’t know what to think. She’s torn between falling in love with the man she shouldn’t want and the man she can’t have. And she isn’t sure how she can live with herself either way.

Now, I have a couple of extra awesome things to further prove why you should read this book. First, some endorsement from J. Lynn/Jennifer Armentrout.

"More than a ridiculously sexy, HOT read, Desrochers takes you on a wild ride of self-discovery and bittersweet romance." —Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn), New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You.

Then, we have this wonderful little excerpt, in case you still aren't convinced.

Sneak Peek of A LITTLE TOO FAR by Lisa Desrochers

Now, what can you do to obtain this book? WELL, you can pre-order it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or iBookstore and wait for it to appear on your e-reading device/at your doorstep around September 17. Or, you can wait until this little countdown reaches 0 and go pick it up at your store of choice.

ONLINE COUNTDOWNS

And, now that you're totally convinced you need this sexy little book, how about a giveaway?

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy entering and hope you all have the patience to wait with me!

--Julie 

Adorkable by Sarah Manning

Adorkable 

by Sarah Manning

Summary: Jeane Smith's a blogger, a dreamer, a dare-to-dreamer, a jumble sale queen, CEO of her own lifestyle brand and has half a million followers on twitter.

Michael Lee's a star of school, stage and playing field. A golden boy in a Jack Wills hoodie.

They have nothing in common but a pair of cheating exes. So why can't they stop snogging?

This book was...odd. Not so much in its content (although, sometimes that too), more in the way it won me over. I went into it expecting it to be a cliché, cutesy, predictable high school romance novel (not a bad thing, I was craving a book like that) and it really exceeded my expectations.

It started out kind of blah and pretty much as I expected it to be. I wasn't expecting to love it, just to be entertained by it, and a few chapters in it seemed like that's what was going to happen. But then something changed along the way and I found myself really loving the story and loving the characters (even when I hated them) and loving the relationship between Michael and Jeane.

Jeane has an unusual life and she's equally weird to match it. Sometimes she really, really bugged me. She could be so nasty and judgemental, and it didn't match up with a lot of what she was preaching. But then she has little moments when it's impossible to hate her. And she's got a lot of good points too, she's opinionated (although sometimes to a fault), she's strong, she stands up for what she believes in, she's confident, funny, smart, generous, and she's kind of like a steel coated marshmallow--very snarky and cold at first, but actually kind of a total softy that loves kids and puppies and anything with a high sugar content deep down.

Basically, she was such an infuriating character at times but it was hard to hate her.

Michael was the perfect match for her, even though they shouldn't make sense, they kind of really did. He was just as flawed as she was, only in his own ways, and he managed to piss me off just as much sometimes. Jeane could be so loud and snarky that people are intimidated by her, but he stood up to her and gave as good as he got. Their romance was awesome because it's one of those rare ones in YA that isn't all insta-love and hearts and rainbows and butterflies. They argue a lot, and they hate each other to start with but then it morphs into something else and even in the end, when they're ready to acknowledge what they've become, that spark and the arguments are still there because it's them and it's part of why they work so well together.

What I'm trying to say is that I loved the characters, because they pissed me off but I still liked them anyway. And I loved the romance because it was something different than the usual romances I see floating around the YA shelves. And I loved that the characters changed without actually changing--like, they made mistakes, they learned from them and they changed into better versions of themselves without actually changing who they really are. All of this basically adds up to this: I loved the book.

There's a lot more I could say about the plot, and the use of social media in the story and all that stuff, but I'd probably get a bit too spoiler-y so I guess that's enough rambling for one review. I'd rate the book 4 stars out of 5. I really hope this whole books pleasantly surprising me thing continues.

Later.

Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

Brooklyn Girls

by Gemma Burgess

Summary: Pia is living the dream: fresh out of college and sharing a house in Brooklyn with her best friends. So why is everything so complicated?

A drunken indiscretion has led to the loss of her boring office job, while her love life is a dizzy mess of accidental hook-ups and heartbreak...

Her parents don't trust her and, if she doesn't sort her life out soon, they're going to make her move back in with them...

But all that's nothing compared to the kind of trouble she's about to face.

At least she can rely on her friends - Coco, Angie, Julia and Madeleine. But how much can she really expect them to put up with?

Do you ever have a book and you're looking at the summary and the cover and you're thinking that you're probably not going to like it? But you have the book anyway, so you give it a chance anyway? And then it turns out to not be anything like you expected and you kind of love it? Ever read a book like that?

For me, this was one of those books, and I pretty much loved it. Something about the summary or the cover or the title just seemed so...I dunno, it just didn't appeal to me at all, but it took me by surprise.

Pia (main character)...sometimes I really hated her. She was annoying and whiny and pathetic and frustrating and mind numbingly idiotic at times. But then she was also funny, brave and loyal and she really cared about her friends, and even though she screwed up a lot she was at least trying to change. Even when I hated her, I still liked her (contrary, I'm aware, but it's like with your family--you always love them but don't necessarily have to like them all the time?). She did a lot of things I wanted to scream at her for doing, but then I realised that I liked that because she was flawed.

I enjoyed the writing, too, which I was not expecting (not sure why, but I was expecting something very shallow and Gossip Girl-ish) and I actually laughed out loud quite a few times reading it--that doesn't happen much with books.

My favourite part? Her friends and the relationship she had with them. I loved that their friendship was the focus of the book (well, shared focus with the career/figuring out life stuff), with the romance kind of being just a subplot. It's rare for the romance to be at the bottom of the list when I'm saying what I liked about a book, but that was the case here--and not because it wasn't done well, it was sweet, it was just overshadowed by how awesome the rest of it was (although, most of the wanting-to-scream-at-Pia moments were during those scenes).

This review is all over the place, sorry. There were other things I liked about the book, like the other characters, and the setting had so much personality, and the kind of messy feel to their lives that made it seem more realistic, and the fact that Pia was half Indian and the way the book handled that, and I love the way it allowed female characters to have casual sex and not be totally slut shamed for it, etc. but I would be here all night if I went into detail about those parts so I'll leave it at that.

There's not much I didn't like really--things turning out a bit too conveniently is the only thing I can think of or some bits where it was kind of soap opera predictable. The romance was definitely the weakest part for me, while it was sweet, those scenes almost felt like they belonged in a different book.

I'd rate the book 4 out of 5.

Later.

Book Haul (155)

Welp, I'm rounding out what's probably the longest stay I've had at my parents' since Christmas today. As most of you read this, I'll probably be packing up and heading back to the city where I may or may not melt from lack of A.C.

I didn't really get a ton of books this week, but I've barely reported on ebooks in the past month, so it seems like a lot. Let's get to it, then, shall we?

eGalleys:

Infinityglass by Myra McEntire (via publicist/Netgalley) [you bet your ass I've already devoured this]

The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (via Netgalley)

Cherry Money Baby by John M. Cusick (via Netgalley)

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal (via Netgalley)

The Extra by Kathryn Lasky (via Netgalley)

My Favorite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron (via Netgalley)

eBooks Purchased:

Pretending He's Mine by Lauren Blakely

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

eBooks Gifted/For Review:

The Marquess of Cake by Heather Hiestand (via Heather's agent/Pam)

Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky (via author for review)

Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky (via author for review)

Addicted to You by Colina Brennan (via Alessandra)

Hard Copies:

Shadow of the Mark by Leigh Fallon (finished copy from publisher)

Precious Blood (The Blessed #1) by Tonya Hurley (paperback from publisher)

fml by Shaun David Hutchison (paperback from publisher)

So...yeah. That's...yeah. This is why I'm pretty sure I'm going to go on a book buying ban until the end of the month when I'm on vacation in my favorite place in the world with my tied-for-first favorite bookstore. Besides the order I'll be placing from Barnes and Noble.

Anything super exciting for you guys lately?

--Julie

Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

The Distance Between Us

Kasie West

HarperTeen

[July 2, 2013]

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

The Distance Between Us was pitched as Pride and Prejudice meets Pretty in Pink and I've never seen Pretty in Pink but Pride and Prejudice so...whatevs. I obviously needed this. And then can we take a moment to look at that COVER? Like...her dress! Her shoes! His outfit! The car! The hand holding! The lighting! The font! It's so utterly gorgeous and very road trip-esque and it still stands out quite a bit. I'm so utterly in love and kind of want to buy a bajillion copies just so I can surround myself in that beauty.

I loved Caymen. I really, really did. Kasie West created this heroine who was straight forward with their reader, if not with everyone else. She was wonderfully sarcastic, no holding back. It was very easy to relate to her situation and how she felt. And it was so understandable why she would be wary of Xander. But he was such a sweetheart and so good and just genuinely liked Xander. I loved his quirky family - especially his grandma.

I really just loved the plot of the story. Was it a little on the cheesy side? Yeah. But it made me giggly and happy and I just wanted to cuddle the book. There's a lot of harp on how YA has so much romance and why must there be so much romance, but usually the romance is a subplot, even if it seems overwhelming. But The Distance Between Us is a romance. It wasn't desperately aching to be anything else. It was very Stephanie Perkins'-esque in that it was cute and fluffy but also had some heavy tones to it. And it was largely romance-centric. Truly romance-centric books aren't that common in YA...at least what I've seen. And they're perfect for summer time.

Now that I've raved about...the cover and lack of true romances in YA, the take away from this review should really be you need The Distance Between Us. Go my friends. Go get the book. Or click over to your book-shopping website of choice and order it ASAP.

--Julie

New Adult on the Block: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Losing It

Cora Carmack

William Morrow Paperbacks

[October 12, 2012]

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible-- a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

Yeah, I know. Her name is Bliss. But guys. Oh, guys.

I'm such a sucker for love stories that are organically complicated. Somebody's royal/famous/super rich and the other person is not royal/famous/rich. New love interest is the best friend of a former love interest or the new love interest is the sibling of a deceased former love interest. Pretty much any historical fiction in YA. And teacher/student relationships? TOTALLY UNDER THAT BLANKET. Except, they have an even more complicated line to walk because with a teacher/student relationship can fall into the creepy-side of things super easily, especially as I still am a student (though, I have yet to have a teacher that's attractive. WAY TO BUILD UP MY HOPES, BOOKS). So that Losing It manages to pull off a teacher/student relationship that is NOT creepy and actually pretty sexy gives it SO many points right off the bat. 

I mean, first, ya gotta love how they started. Bliss is trying to lose her virginity. She chickens out and leaves the beautiful, British, motorcycle-riding guy in her bed. Wakes up the next morning to find out the guy she left is her professor. How can this not be, at the very least, hilariously awkward to read about? Don't worry, Cora didn't fail.

I loved Bliss. I got past her name and then I could relate to her. My major is considered one of the ridiculous majors, my friends are social butterflies and I'm...not, and I really could be that awkward. She also worries about the future and has some major doubts about what she's doing, even though she only has a semester until graduation. Bliss shows this underrepresented in media, but very realistic, college student.

And Garrick? Oh Garrick. He wasn't really much older than his students, he was an actor, he was British. He seemed like a real guy, if maybe a little too good to be true. But his motorcycle didn't make him a badass, his teacher status didn't make him a creep, and his British-ness didn't make him an automatic gentleman or a snob. He was a character, not a stereotype.

Back to the story - it did not fail to keep me entertained. Garrick and Bliss had this great banter and I was totally amused reading their interactions. They were sweet and awkward at times and funny and I adored it. It was very romance-centric, which is just what my poor, tired brain needed when I read this - a month before my semester ended and two weeks before I had to start looking at apartments. It was light and fun and enthralling, but also had a very real tone to it. Cora's writing kept me totally invested and in love with the story and the characters.

In case you hadn't figured this out, I loved Losing It. It was the second New Adult book I had read and it completely won me over. I will read whatever Cora Carmack wants to write in the New Adult category, and probably in other categories too. I even waited for almost two hours to get a signed copy of Faking It at BEA and I'll be devouring that book in the very near future.

--Julie