Tag: Spencer Hill Press

Review: The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris

Posted April 22, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: The Natural History of Us by Rachel HarrisReviewer: Rowena
The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris
Series: The Fine Art of Pretending #2

Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 297
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

One class assignment. One second chance at love. The school player is all in. Now he needs to win back the sweet commitment girl who's forever owned his heart.

Justin Carter has a secret. He's not the total player Fairfield Academy believes him to be. Not really. In fact, he used to be a one-woman guy...and his feelings for her never went away. Too bad he broke her heart three years ago and made sure to ruin any chance she'd ever forgive him.

Peyton Williams is a liar. She pretends to be whole, counting down the days until graduation and helping her parents at the family ranch. But the truth is, she's done everything she can to get over Justin, and salvation is just around the corner. With graduation one short month away, she'll soon break free from the painful memories and start her life fresh. Of course, she has to get through working with him on one last assignment first.

For Justin, nothing ever felt as right as being with Peyton, and now that fate's given him a shot at redemption, he's determined to make the most of it. And for Peyton...well, Justin Carter has always been her kryptonite.

When I read The Fine Art of Pretending a few years ago, I was very interested in seeing if Justin ever got the girl that he was hung up on. I didn’t like Justin for Aly as much as I liked Brandon but thought he was a memorable character. I wanted this book so I was stoked to finally get it.

Freshman year at Fairmont Academy introduces Justin Carter to Peyton Williams. They were drawn to each other from the very first time they set eyes on each other and Justin was very much attracted to the new girl. With each passing day, they find themselves getting closer and closer and Peyton being Justin’s new coach’s daughter doesn’t stop them from hooking up. Of course, they keep things on the down low but the feelings that crop up between the two of them are very much real.

Their relationship really takes off and when things get really complicated, Justin blames himself and the way that he was raised so he makes a decision that affects him, Peyton and their relationship. Now, it’s senior year (three years later) and they’re about to graduate and leave Fairmont Academy behind for good. Peyton is counting down the days but Justin…he’s running out of time. His feelings for Peyton have never gone away and because of that, he wants his girl back. When a class project puts them together as partners, Justin has found his way in to win back Peyton’s love. He’s got just a few weeks to make things right, to explain what really went down Freshman year and hopes that it’s enough to fix what he broke.

Oh man this was a cute YA romance. I really came to love the hell out of Justin and every time he messed things up with Peyton, I wanted to give him a quick kick to the ass. The poor guy just couldn’t catch a break but I knew that Peyton still returned his feelings for her so I was excited to keep reading, to see them get it right after all this time.

Peyton was a great character. She was strong and she was smart and even when I thought she stayed with Cade too long, I liked her. I liked that she was young and trying to figure things out. I liked that she tried to keep things between her and Justin friendly, to not get caught up in the old romance between them and then I also liked that she couldn’t help the way she felt for him. I loved when Justin told her that they were inevitable and all those years later, it was still true.

Justin was everything that I hoped he would become. I loved seeing the guy that wasn’t all that beat up when his relationship with Aly didn’t work out. I loved that there was so much more to Justin than everyone knew. There was a depth to him that warmed my heart and charmed the socks right off of me. His story really lived up to the hype that I was building around it in my head.

The romance between Peyton and Justin was cute, it was fun and I wanted to cuddle this book close. I enjoyed the ride and was completely satisfied when the book ended. If I had a gripe with this book, it would probably be how long Peyton stayed with Cade, knowing how she felt about Justin but I chalked that up to her being young. Still, this was a fun book of two characters finding love again after heartbreak and I’m glad that I read this book.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Review: One of the Guys by Lisa Aldin

Posted April 15, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

one of the guys
Rowena’s review of One of the Guys by Lisa Aldin.

Tomboy to the core, Toni Valentine understands guys. She’ll take horror movies, monster hunts and burping contests over manicures. So Toni is horrified when she’s sent to the Winston Academy for Girls, where she has to wear a skirt and learn to be a lady while the guys move on without her.

Then Toni meets Emma Elizabeth, a girl at school with boy troubles, and she volunteers one of her friends as a pretend date. Word spreads of Toni’s connections with boys, and she discovers that her new wealthy female classmates will pay big money for fake dates. Looking for a way to connect her old best friends with her new life at school, Toni and Emma start up Toni Valentine’s Rent-A-Gent Service.
But the business meets a scandal when Toni falls for one of her friends–the same guy who happens to be the most sought-after date. With everything she’s built on the line, Toni has to decide if she wants to save the business and her old life, or let go of being one of the guys for a chance at love.

My favorite kind of books are contemporary stories filled with regular every day people who are living their lives and going through things. I love seeing characters evolve over the course of a book and seeing them come out on top at the end. This was one of those kinds of books.

Toni Valentine is starting her senior year with a bunch of strangers, in a new school and not with her best friends back at her old school. She’s attending an all girls school for her last year of high school and it’s her own fault because she thought it would be great to moon the principal while he was out on a date so her step-dad thought it would be a good idea to send Tom Boy Toni to Winston Academy.
Winston Academy for Girls isn’t ideal for a girl who burps as loud and as often as teenage boys do and who would rather hunt for monsters on the lake with her three guy best friends but it’s Toni’s reality for the next school year. Being at a new school is hard enough without adding keeping your grades up and making new friends but Toni is having a hard time with not seeing her old friends all that much. They’re all going in different directions and Toni is having a hard time letting go.

When Toni meets Emma at school, they strike up a friendship that takes Toni by surprise because Emma is a girly girl and Toni…is not. When Emma needs a fake date to open her ex-boyfriend’s eyes, Toni talks her friend Loch into helping out. Their plan works so well that Toni Valentine’s Rent-a-Gent opens up for business. Her friends Ollie, Cowboy and Loch all need money for different reasons and Toni feels that her Rent-a-Gent service for the Winston girls will bridge the gap between her old world and her new world and everything will go back to being as normal as she can make it.

Toni has always been closest with Loch and when he becomes the most popular date, feelings start creeping up that takes Toni by surprise.

This was a fun book. It was cute and fun and I enjoyed getting to know both Toni and Loch. Their story revolved around the best friends to more plot and I thought Aldin did a great job of telling their story. Toni was a normal teenage tom boy who wasn’t all that fond of change and learning that life changes all the time. I enjoyed getting to know Toni and what drove her to do the things that she did. She was a young girl with a big heart, who loved those in her life with all she had and was trying to make room for everyone and everything. I loved that her relationship with her step-dad Brian was touched on in this book. Loved seeing Toni grow closer to him and deal with the loss of her father.

Loch was a great guy from the very beginning. When they were in that boat at the start of the book, I knew that he was going to be the love interest because he was just interesting. I loved that he understood and accepted Toni as she was and didn’t all of a sudden open his eyes in her direction when she started wearing skirts and going to the All-Girl school. His feelings for her were real and the little bits that are revealed about Loch throughout the book made me all swoony. What a cutie pie he was.
There were times when I wanted to smack some sense into Toni, like when it took her so long to figure out what she felt for Loch and the whole running away from him on their weekend away together with that dumb girl from school but aside from that, I liked Toni. She was great.

Overall, this was a great debut from Aldin. This book had all of my favorite things and I zipped right through it. I definitely recommend this to readers who are looking for a cute, contemporary YA with great characters and witty dialogue.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Spencer Hill Press. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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