Sex, Lies, & Cruising ARC Review -- What A Lifesaver

Sex, Lies, & Cruising | Cathryn Chapman
Release Date: July 16, 2015
Genre(s): New Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 280
Edition: Kindle
Source: Author
Rating:

Exotic locations, sexy men, and crazy crew parties… Ellie has her dream job… or does she?

When Ellie's fiancé cheats on her with a younger, slimmer, blonde from the office, she boots him out of her life and finds solace in a fabulous photography job aboard a Caribbean cruise ship. Twenty-four hours on board and she’s already shagged her sexy Texan colleague, who happens to love her muffin-top. Unfortunately he’s leaving in a week, and his ex-girlfriend, a hot-headed Brazilian with stripper moves right out of the 90s and a talent for stealing boyfriends, is still on board and out for revenge.

Ellie must work out how to deal with the loco ex, sort the lying scumbags from the good guys, and figure out how many crew members in a cabin it takes before officially becoming group sex. Who the hell knows? (It’s five, actually.) It’s a world completely unlike the one she left behind, but as she tries to find her place on board, Ellie discovers laughter and tears in equal measure. And in the midst of the craziness, she realises the greatest thing this lifestyle change has given her is the chance to rediscover herself.

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.

For the entire month of July, my good friend Sanovia from over at Creatvybooks, hosted a wonderful blog event called A Month Of Indies. As you can most likely tell from the title, all participants were asked to showcase one, two, or however many authors to not only spread the word, but to support the indie movement. I had 3 indie authors patiently waiting in my queue, so I decided to kill multiple birds with one stone. ICYM my first AMOI review post for The Beginning Of Never by O.E Boroni, you can check it out here. 

Sex, Lies, & Cruising was truly a lifesaver for me. It felt as if I was drowning in all my past crappy reads, and with this book being so awesome, it threw me a rope and life jacket, and hauled my non-swimming ass right back to safety. 

If I haven't mentioned this enough, New Adult is my all time favorite genre, and after flicking (use I FLICKED it) the last page to chapter one, I just knew this would be the " one " to pull me out of my slump. Ellie our main character wasn't exactly my personality twin, but she was someone I could easily see myself befriending in real life. Newly single and a tad bit heartbroken, (okay more than a tad lol) she boards " The Galene " a cruise ship, where she'd be working as a photographer for 6 months. By the title I should've assumed this story would be a raging party in a nutshell, however, I wasn't completely prepared for the fun ride I received.

Not To Deep. If it's one thing I didn't need as a recovering slumper was a book with a complex plot, so imagine my excitement when I realized just how light and fun the story turned out to be. It's fast paced, and packed with some ridiculously over-the-top scenes, giving me a good laugh I seriously needed. This definitely was a breath of fresh air from what I was reading.

Oh Hey BFF. Another one of my favorite aspects of this story would be the characters. OH MY LAMB, I haven't read about a bunch of wild & crazy individuals in sooo long, that I was actually caught off guard by some of the situations and dialogue. (In a good way) Ellie was my homegirl, but her roommate Caitlin could definitely be labeled as my spirit animal. I just loved how sure of herself she was, I mean this girl gave two shits what anyone thought about her! I will admit that some things she did were a little . . . questionable, but she was so full of life that you couldn't help but to be drawn to her. Cait and I could so hang out . . . if she was real that is.

Mad Dash. The only downfall to this novel was the pacing. I loved that it was a fast and easy read, but I felt most of the scenes moved a little too quickly for my taste. Some situations were resolved in an unrealistic timing, causing the plot to bounce around and be a bit all over the place. After a while I was able to get used to it, but if there was anything I could change, I would slowwwww the story down just a notch . . . maybe two.

All in all, I am forever grateful that I read Sex, Lies, & Cruising. There were a few minor hiccups here and there, but with the pleasant writing, easy going plot, and loco characters, it was really hard for me NOT to enjoy this novel. Besides, how can I not love a book that rescued me from my 2 month slump disaster? New adult apparently never lets me down . . . okay that's a lie but whatever

The Beginning Of Never Review -- YA, You Don't Like Me & IDC.

The Beginning Of Never | O.E Boroni
Release Date: April 20, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 326
Edition: Kindle
Source: Author
Rating:

Twilight meets Eleanor and Park in this contemporary romance story about a love that insists on forever.

When Lenora Baker and Nathan Roqué run into each other in their boarding school courtyard, they have no idea that they are about to begin a journey that will take them the rest of their lives to recover from. Both scarred from parents who were once in love but ended up destroying each other, they are sworn off the possibility that there can truly exist a love that will never end.

But when with each other they find a passion so strong that it heals as powerfully as it burns, a love that will run out is no longer an option for them. Together, they discover just how far they are willing to go to preserve what they know they will only find once in their lifetime.

This is the start of their journey, and here you will come to realize, that falling in love is only the first part of the story...

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.

My bookish tastes have clearly changed. When I first started blogging I was more patient, more willing to read a book without looking " too deep into it, " meaning I would read what's given to me on the surface, and could still come out with a decent experience. Now . . . not so much. I scrutinize. I compare. I pick apart a book until I get to it's core, and even then I continue to dig for the " good stuff ". I'm less patient with books now, so imagine my disappointment when The Beginning Of Never ended up being the beginning of alot of issues I had with the story.

When you put a tagline like " Twilight Meets Eleanor & Park, " idc. idc. idc. you HAVE TO DELIVER!! I'm a huge fan of Twilight, (talk about Edward and I will kick your ass) and come on, Rainbow Rowell is one of the queen's of contemporary, so you can't just give me anything less of perfection. It wasn't so much the plot I had a problem with, but the characters. I just didn't care for them, and they kind of made it impossible to do so in the first place.

In the beginning, I loved Lenora's attitude. She was still dealing with the death of her mother, making her closed off to everyone. She was a bit standoffish, resulting in her having no friends (you seriously can't count Kate as a friend) until Nathan (Alexandre) comes along. The thing is, she began to annoy me with her demeanor. I mean I understand, trust me I do, but this girl was always so. damn. angry. all. the. damn. time and after awhile I was ready to kick her out of the story. 

Nathan did nothing for me, and I couldn't understand why all the girls in their school was obsessed with him. I did like how he didn't take any shit from Lenora, so I guess that's one thing I enjoyed about our love interest. Speaking of love, I just didn't get their relationship. It wasn't as genuine or realistic like Eleanor & Park's, and the only similarity I pulled from Twilight was Nathan's constant need to protect Nora. I found myself desperately seeking some type of compassion from the two -- some type of emotional connection between themselves and others, but of course with my bad reading luck, I never got it.

I remember skimming some reviews and seeing where readers stated they loved the " diversity " aspect of the story which kind of confused me. I know I'm blind, but I'm not THAT damn blind, so let's be honest here people. Nathan was Portuguese but he could've been a damn Zebra from Tanzania for all I know. Nothing bothers me more than when people call a book diverse when there's nothing that actually MAKES it diverse. It would've been nice to see some research done on Portuguese culture. Let me live it through this fictional world, let me imagine having a Portuguese friend that eats carne de porco à Alentajana, or curses me out in Mirandese or Spanish. (Thanks Google) Give me something that makes him the ethnicity that he is -- that makes him stand out as a diverse character, because wants the point if you don't?

I've probably given you guys the impression that I didn't like this novel, but in some ways I did. The writing was descriptive through most of the book, (it fell a bit flat towards the middle - end) and let's not forget how the story is set in a boarding school. HELLO MY FAVORITE! The author has a ton of potential, and with a bit of tweaking and polishing, maybe just maybe the sequel will be a step up from it's predecessor. 

Max The Brave (A Game Of Cat & Mouse) -- Spotlight + Trailer

Max The Brave | Ed Vere
Release Date: September 8, 2015 | Puffin Books
Genre(s): Children's Fiction
Pages: 32
Edition: Hardcover
Preorder: Amazon

Max the Brave is a brilliant new picture book from Ed Vere. This is Max. Max the Brave, Max the Fearless, Max the Mouse-catcher...But, in order to be a Mouse-catcher, Max needs to know what a mouse is, so off he goes to find out. This hilarious new picture book from the phenomenally-talented Ed Vere introduces a new and lovable character, with Ed's trademark bold illustrations and clever story. Other Ed Vere titles to look out for: Banana; Bedtime for Monsters; Mr. Big; The Getaway Ed Vere studied fine art at Camberwell College of Art and has been writing and illustrating children's books since 1999. He is published in both England and the US. Ed is also a painter, working from his studio in east London and is represented by galleries in London and Los Angeles. After a year and a half living in Barcelona, Ed now lives and works in London.

Every kid, and even some adults like myself, love the classic scenario of " Cat & Mouse, "  and now our kiddies have a fresh, brilliant take on this! Think of a cute and fluffy version of Tom & Jerry starring a fearless cat who is on the mission of catching a mouse . . . except he doesn't know what a mouse looks like! Join Sourcebooks and I, as well countdown to the celebration of Max The Brave's release, coming this September, and while you wait, peep the adorable book trailer below

Isn't it just the cutest thing? Well PRE-ORDER IT NOW!

“A cat-and-mouse game to be laughed at and reread.” – Kirkus

“Full of playful humor...enhanced by the humorous text, character expressions, and a not-scary monster to boot. Highly recommended.” –School Library Journal

“Both the punchy text and illustrations command attention, and plenty of readers will get a kick out of feeling superior to Max.” –Publishers Weekly

TCH Episode 2: Has The fANGIRL Warrior Been Defeated?

The blow comes out of nowhere catching me by surprise. I fly through the air like a torpedo, so fast that when I finally do hit the concrete, I'm slicing through debris and rubble as if I'm cutting melted butter. My side hits an abandoned squad car, surely crushing a few ribs, but before I could even register the pain, a boulder comes up, shadowing the sun from my eyes. I blink, confused at first before realization dawns on me. YoungAdultus Prime is standing before me, a joker's grin itched into his steel face. 

My cracked ribs render me pretty much defenseless, but it doesn't matter, shit face wants me dead, and he won't stop until it's done. I muster all strength I can to lift myself into a fighting stance. Coughing as dirt and dust fill my lungs, I whip out my wand, my secret weapon Young Adultus knows nothing about. Panic crosses his face before he hides it with his signature sneer. He then floats in the air, gearing up to attack from above, but I've anticipated his moves. He's fast, but very predictable. I got this. As soon as he lifts the boulder to toss it at me with incredible force, I shout a spell I learned from my ex-husband Harry Potter . . . 

AVADA KEDAVRA !!

The spell hits him full force causing him to plummet back to the ground at an incredible speed. His body finally meets the pavement, sending dirt and rocks soaring in every direction as if he performed a cannonball. I walk towards him slowly making sure he makes no sudden moves. Looking down at his battered frame, I know instantly that he's no longer alive. I smile and an evil cackle rattles my bones. Squatting down, I tap my wand on his forehead and whisper. 

" I'm Tika the fANGIRL Warrior, and I'll never go down without a fight. "

I'm 100% sure that the title and the short story I gave you guys is a clear indication of what this post will be about, so to cut straight to the chase . . . YOUNG ADULT IS KICKING MY ASS! Seriously guys, it'll be a year on the 31st that I've been blogging, and I've NEVER, EVER have stumbled into a slump like the one I'm in now. The thing is, it didn't start off as a slump. I remember around May, I found myself struggling to keep up with all my arcs and things became so overwhelming, that I just didn't know which way was up. I was barely reading for leisure, which is actually an issue I'm still having today. In June I figured it would be a better month for me, however, towards the end of June early July, I started to notice that NOTHING I read warranted over 3 stars from me.

As of today, I have read 10 books in a row that were either DNF's or below 3 stars, and all of them are from the Young Adult genre. Of course I want to switch my reading up, try some titles that I've been wanting to read for a while, or indulge in genres I don't normally choose, BUT the problem is . . .

ARCS!

I have tooo many to read, and just when I think I can curl up with a random book, here comes an advanced copy stopping me in my tracks. Now don't get me wrong, I love my arcs, however, for those bloggers that get them on a regular basis like I, then you KNOW how stressful they can become. At this point in my blogging career, I feel as though I'm talking about more upcoming releases than I am about backlisted titles, and I definitely don't want that to be the case. I feel that with so many review copies, it makes it so difficult to read for leisure! The last book I read just because I wanted to was Uprooted by Naomi Novik (which I was LOVING btw) and I had to put it down because . . . you guessed it . . . arcs.

So now that you know my situation, just please bare with me guys. I've been getting tweets and dm's about how some of you miss my reviews, and trust me, I definitely miss sharing my thoughts with all my readers. Being in this slump or whatever it is, causes me to be extremely lazy, and I find it hard to be motivated about doing anything blog related. So this week I want to muster up as much creative juice that I can. I'll be digging deep inside my brain to come up with some posts to get myself back into the swing of things, but in the meantime, I'd love your feedback!

& yes I brought back my good ole' pal " Pollie "!

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Even When You Lie To Me -- Teacher's Pet

Even When You Lie To Me | Jessica Alcott
Release Date: June 9, 2015 | Crown Books
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 352
Edition: Kindle
Source: Purchased | Amazon
Rating:

Fans of John Green's Looking for Alaska as well as Lauren Oliver and Sarah Dessen will embrace this provocative debut novel, an exploration of taboo love set against the backdrop of a suburban high school.
Charlie, a senior, isn't looking forward to her last year of high school. Another year of living in the shadow of her best friend, Lila. Another year of hiding behind the covers of her favorite novels. Another year of navigating her tense relationship with her perfectionist mom.

But everything changes when she meets her new English teacher. Mr. Drummond is smart. Irreverent. Funny. Hot. Everyone loves him. And Charlie thinks he's the only one who gets her.

She also thinks she might not be the only one with a crush.

In this stunning debut, Jessica Alcott explores relationships-and their boundaries-in a way that is both searingly honest and sympathetic.

I must be cursed by the bookish gods. That HAS to be the explanation as to why EVERY book I've read for the past 3 or so weeks have been a disappointment. What in the world did I do to deserve this? Did I love A Court Of Thorn & Roses too much, The Wrong Side Of Right, I'll Meet You There? Have I raved about my favorite books to the point it pissed the gods off? Whatever I did, reading book after book and not finding ONE that I actually love, and barely enjoy is probably the cruelest punishment ever.

* Cue The Tears *



I'm currently feeling like the evil witch of a substitute teacher, ready to raise all kinds of hell for my crappy reading month.

* Grabs ruler and chalk *

So have a seat kids . . . class is now in session.

Even When You Lie To Me, was one of those books I just knew I was going to love. I mean come on, who doesn't love a good ole' scandalous student-teacher relationship? I couldn't help but to assume that the story would be similar to Unteachable by Leah Raeder, (which I loved btw) so as I read the first couple of chapters I started mentally screaming,
" OMG I'M GOING TO LOVE THIS! I'M FINALLY GOING TO LOVE SOMETHING! "

 Well, obviously you can tell I didn't love it, and I'm sure it's an even easier guess to know that while I was reading, I stupidly made comparisons between both stories, something you should NEVER, EVER do if you don't want to ruin your own reading experience.

WRONG MOVE TIKA, WRONG DAMN MOVE.

So when I turned the last page, and chucked my kindle off to the side, I came to 3 different conclusions.

 (A) The story wasn't at all what I expected, and the " For Fans of John Green's Looking For Alaska, Laura Oliver, and Sarah Dessen " comparison in the blurb was SUPER MISLEADING!

(B) The main character was a huge thorn in my side.

(C) This would be the 9th book that I rated 3 stars and below. Ahh, I'm so over this reading funk.

* Cue The Tears Again *

 The characters, plot, etc, just wasn't what I thought it would be. I envisioned this forbidden romance between the student and teacher, and even though it's young adult, I still expected there to be some type of " steamy scenes " throughout the story. Instead the author took a different route, fluffing out what's usually explosive, intense, spicy, and okay yes all types of WRONG, which really disappointed me. In my opinion, if you're going to write a novel around the aspect of such forbiddeness, (is that even a word?) then you MUST push the envelop! Screw watering it down to fit the mold of YA, cross that damn line and blow us out of the water! GO BIG OR GO HOME DARN IT!

One thing that I noticed about myself, is that I don't have much patience for YA these days, and boy did it show this time around. Our main character Charlie, was a difficult perspective to read from. Yes she was intelligent, witty, and in the beginning very sensible, but mid-way through the story her flaws shined brighter than ever, and to be honest, I grew incredibly annoyed.

My issue with Charlie didn't have anything to do with the weird crush she had on her charming teacher Mr. Drummond, but had everything to do with her childishness and blooming insecurities. One minute she was crushing on her teacher from afar, then the next she's stalking him, throwing temper-tantrums when something involving him didn't go her way, even going as far to show up at his apartment (drunk btw) on her birthday. But to cut Charlie some slack, she wasn't the only character that I had a hard time connecting with. Her mother was incredibly weird, and was partially the reason for her daughter's insecure ways. I didn't like how she constantly nagged Charlie about wearing makeup so that she could feel " beautiful ", or how she always seemed to want Charlie to have a boyfriend. The lack of love/support from her mother in my opinion, was one of the reasons why Charlie was so desperate for male attention.

 Lila, her bestie was an SAD excuse for a friend, and our main attraction Mr.Drummond was a pretty entertaining character, however, he entertained a little too much if you know what I mean.

The upside to Even When You Lie To Me was that on top of it being well-written, it was super fast paced. Readers will have no problem finding themselves engrossed in the story of Charlie and Drummond, however, in my case, the story left me longing for something MORE. I wanted a risky plot, something that would get my heart racing with not only anticipation, but of fear for what was coming next. I found myself craving characters that were passionate and capable of turning up the heat within the pages. The author did manage to give us a little intimate scene that was meant to be sexy, but ended up being a complete disaster to witness . .

He shifted uncomfortably and caught my hand. " Seriously kid, it's okay. I'm happy just to have made you happy. Suddenly I felt like I was going to cry. " Please, " I said. His expression changed as if he'd heard the catch in my voice. He took his hand off mine. " I guess if it's that important to you. "

You're going to cry because he doesn't want you to play with his penis?  

Finally, slowly, I pulled his boxers down. I touched it experimentally; it was warm and firm but not rock hard as I imagined it would be. It wasn't angry-looking or alien. It looked hot -- like a physical manifestation of how much he wanted me.

This sounds weirdly like she's explaining a 5th grade science project. 

If you pick this up, good damn luck to you. Class is now dismissed.

The Invasion Of The Tearling By Erika Johansen -- Promo Post

The Invasion Of The Tearling | Erika Johansen
Release Date: June 9, 2015 - Harper
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 515
Edition: Paperback ARC
Source: TLC Blog Tours
Purchase Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion.

But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling —and that of Kelsea’s own soul—may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out.

About The Author

Erika Johansen grew up and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She went to Swarthmore College, earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and eventually became an attorney, but she never stopped writing.

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YA Contemporary Mashup -- Season Of Awkward Situations & Love Triangles

I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.

After finishing A Million Miles Away, I jumped straight into You And Him And Me, and I immediately noticed a subtle " connection " between both books. While their stories were completely different, they shared common concepts or aspects as I like to call them, and because they were so similar, I decided to create what I call a " Contemporary Mashup " for this review.

So sit back, relax, and let's break these titles down!

A Million Miles Away is centered around two twins. Kelsey and Michelle. Kelsey is the wild child of the two, the popular party girl, handstand-keg-drinker, and co-captain of her high school's dance team. Michelle -- my personal favorite, is more laid back. She's a bit of a hipster, is incredibly artsy, and had an obsession with my FAVORITE artist Andy Warhol. Both had boyfriends, (OF COURSE) Kelsey with the wannabe comedian Davis, and Michelle with Peter, a guy enlisted in the military. The story takes a turn for the absolute worst when Michelle suddenly passes away, leaving her twin sister behind to pick up the pieces. Well if you ask me, Kelsey picked up one piece too damn many, but we'll get to that.

#girlwhatareyouthinking?


You And Me And Him follows our main character Maggie, and her best friend Nash. Being overweight and having a gay bestie really isn't the formula for " popular " in their small hometown, so our duo is casted as the " outsiders ". Mags works at a vintage record shop, which is pretty dope, while Nash worked as the over-bearing friend, meaning he did nothing but irk my nerves. In comes Tom, the new guy on the block, and soon the story becomes a tangled mess of feelings and wrecked friendships.

#thisbookwasoverdramaticallyconfusing

A Million Miles Away


Twin Power -- I absolutely loved the fact the girls were twins! They didn't have this perfect relationship where they wore the same clothes, and finished each other's sentences. Instead, the only thing they had in common was their ability to beat each other up! Yep, our main characters were fighters, and to be honest, I loved their violent behavior lol. My brother and I fought like cats and dogs as kids, so it was pretty realistic for me.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe -- I've seen many reviews for AMMA floating around the blogoshere, and I immediately realized that there is a great mix of readers that like eitherd Michelle or Kelsey. It was never both, which didn't strike me as odd, mainly because Michelle dies pretty early in the story, but for some reason I felt more connected with her than Kelz. As I mentioned earlier, Kelsey is an " okay " character, but I adored Michelle. She was smart, goofy in her own little way, a complete hipster, and come on, she loved Andy Warhol! The girl scored HUGE cool points with me off that alone. I was pretty disappointed when the plot twist came and Michelle was no longer in the picture, because well -- I honestly wanted to learn more about HER instead of her sister.

Computer Love -- Fun Fact: I am OBSESSED with online dating & long distance relationships. I don't partake in these . . . (activities?) but I love hearing stories, or watching documentaries on successful and not-so-successful relationships. Even though Kelsey pursuing any type of connection with Peter was oh-so-wrong, I enjoyed the aspect of them communicating through Skype calls, emails and letters.


You And Me And Him


Jazz It Up -- Surprisingly, this story had an aspect that I wasn't expecting at all . . . music. Our main character Maggie worked at a vintage record store where she sold old vinyls of various music. Rock, Jazz, Pop, Rap, you name it - it's there. Her gay boss Quinn was so funny and he easily became one of my favorite characters. The author tied music into the story pretty well, having Maggie and Quinn play music in the store according to her moods, or situations she was going through. Imagine how shocked I was to see that Billie Holiday was played quite often.


MAGGneficient -- Maggie wasn't the best character I've ever read about, but I enjoyed how she stood out in her own way. She was overweight but also active, loved to bake, had a great ear for music, a was an extremely loyal friend.

A Million Miles Away

Maybe In Another Universe -- My biggest problem with this story, was that it was too damn unrealistic. There were situations that were sooo absurd, and other occurrences that were too much of a coincidence for it to feel REAL you know?

Love Triangle? Square? -- As I read, I seriously had a huge debate with myself. The question I kept tossing around in my mind was, " Even though Michelle is dead, is she still included in this love affair? " My answer is both YES and NO. Of course we know that Michelle is gone, however Peter isn't aware of this, and Kelsey is PRETENDING to be her sister, so this very much allows Michelle to be in the story, without really being in the story. Does that make sense? Probably not lol. Anywho, Kelsey has an entire boyfriend named Davis, who she breaks up with when things get serious between her and Peter. Poor Him. I just thought how she pursued Peter in the first place was in poor taste, and then dropping Davis like a bag of hot soggy potatoes wasn't cool either. Get it together Kelsey.

Disconnected -- Even though I really enjoy when certain media (texts, emails, letter's etc,) are included in a story, it just didn't work for me here. I felt as if I was disconnected from the characters. It didn't help that I didn't care for Kelsey at all, and it also hindered my ability to get to the know Peter. The main problem was that he isn't aware he's talking to the wrong twin, making it hard to establish a genuine relationship between the two.

You And Me And Him

Weird Love Triangle -- I'm such a huge fan of love-triangles, but this is the first I've ever encountered that has left me utterly confused. Maggie and Nash start crushing on the same guy, Tom the new kid in town. They have this stupid thing where they put dibs on their crushes, and Nash wanted a piece of the " fresh meat " first. Here's were things get complicated. Nash is gay. VERY OPENLY GAY. Tom is straight. BUT, he's a bit OVERLY FRIENDLY as he flirts with both Nash and Maggie sending very MIXED signals to both of them. In the end, nobody gets the boy because A. He isn't gay and B. He apparently doesn't like Maggie either. Sooo, he led her on because??? Ugh, it was just too dramatic and messy for my tastes.

Directionless -- After finishing this book a whole entire week ago, I still have no clue as to what the point/message, or what direction the author was going with this story. The characters in my opinion were a bit underdeveloped, leaving much to be desired in the plot. This also didn't help with Tom's character because we don't know WHY he did whatever it is he thought he was doing, and WHAT the point all of it really was. I felt lost, as if the story was incomplete after finishing, and unfortunately alot of my questions will never be answered.


All in all, both books turned out to be " okay " experiences for me. I went in with very high expectations, and sadly, I was left pretty disappointed . . . again. If you're willing to overlook some of the issues I encountered, and can hurdle over a few hiccups here and there, then I'd recommend both titles for readers looking for some quick, scandalous, contemporary reads.