Tag: ARC Tours

Review: The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski.

Posted May 18, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments


Main Character: Sheridan
Love Interest: Jack (highlight to find out)
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

A delicious confection for Sarah Dessen fans In the world of Sheridan Wells, life is perfect when she’s decorating a cake. Unfortunately, everything else is a complete mess: her mom ran off years ago, her dad is more interested in his restaurant, and the idea of a boyfriend is laughable. But Sheridan is convinced finding her mom will solve all her problems—only her dad’s about to get a cooking show in New York, which means her dream of a perfect family will be dashed. Using just the right amount of romance, family drama, and cute boys, The Sweetest Thing will entice fans with its perfect mixture of girl-friendly ingredients.

This was another one of those quick reads that for the most part, I enjoyed. I was looking forward to reading it because I’m a fan of the Food Network and baking so having those as part of this story did a lot to get me excited.

This story follows Sheridan as she tries to deal with the news of her father’s new television show that will ship their family to New York City. She doesn’t want to leave her town of St. Mary’s because she’s so sure that her mother will come back and their family will go back to normal. Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting your mother that took off YEARS ago to come back. That’s normal and it’s natural to want your family back to normal but what bugged me about Sheridan was how mean and bratty she was to the parent that stuck around.

I can’t stand snotty, bratty teens and Sheridan was totally one of those. She was snotty to her Dad, snotty to her Grandmother and snotty to her friends all throughout the course of this book. It’s understandable that she’s angry at having to move away from the only home she’s ever had. It’s understandable that she’s finally dating the guy that she thinks is super hot and her friends take a back seat for a while because, well that happens in real life but what bugged the snot out of me was how her Dad could do nothing right and yet her Mom could do nothing wrong.

Her Mom is not in her life anymore. She picked up and left Sheridan and their Dad years ago without a word and Sheridan still believes that her Mom is coming back. The birthday cards have stopped coming but in Sheridan’s head, her Mom is still coming back because she’s promised.

Sheridan’s attitude throughout the book tainted my enjoyment of the book because more than once, I wanted to backhand Sheridan for being such a little shit. She took her friends for granted, she was one of those I know what’s best for everyone and the blatant disrespect that she had for her Dad and her Grandmother at times made me not like her for a bit. I mean, she gets it right in the end but the single-minded way she thought was aggravating.

In the end, things worked out and I was glad that she finally saw the light but getting there was a trial in my patience which is why I can’t give this book a higher grade than the one I’ve given it. I adored Jack but I was never a fan of Ethan. I adored the secondary characters and thought Sheridan had some great friends that tried to keep her grounded and I appreciated them. Overall, this book isn’t a bad book but Sheridan’s attitude sucked for a good portion of this book and because of that attitude, it was easy for me to put this one down and read something else.

I’ve heard that fans of Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti will enjoy this and I think I’d have to agree with that because I’m sure others will enjoy this book more than I did.

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Review: Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors.

Posted March 23, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 5 Comments


Main Character: Alice Amorous
Love Interest: Tony Lee
Series: None, that I know of.
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

When you’re the daughter of the bestselling Queen of Romance, life should be pretty good. But 16-year-old Alice Amorous has been living a lie ever since her mother was secretly hospitalized for mental illness. After putting on a brave front for months, time is running out. The next book is overdue, and the Queen can’t write it.

Alice needs a story for her mother-and she needs one fast.That’s when she meets Errol, a strange boy who claims to be Cupid, who insists that Alice write about the greatest love story in history: his tragic relationship with Psyche. As Alice begins to hear Errol’s voice in her head and see things she can’t explain, she must face the truth-that she’s either inherited her mother’s madness, or Errol is for real.

I received this book for review through the ARC Tours that Holly from Good Golly Miss Holly runs and I really enjoyed it. Alice Amorous has a lot going on in her life for a girl who’s only seventeen. Her Mom’s got a secret and it’s up to Alice to make sure that the secret stays just that…a secret. Alice’s Mom is Belinda Amorous and she is the Queen of Romance. She’s a romance novelist and image is important to her. She’s also in the hospital and doesn’t want anyone to know about it so while she’s in the hospital getting better, she left her entire world/life all in her seventeen year old daughter’s hands.

Alice does everything for her mother, she pays the bills, she holds off her mother’s publishing houses who want another book out of her mother and if they don’t get it, they’re going to stop all royalty payments and Belinda will have to pay back $100,000 that the publisher gave her. To put it bluntly, that’s a lot of crap to lie at the door of a seventeen year old.

Alice is trying to keep everything afloat while her mother is getting better in the hospital but then this crazy guy comes into her life and complicates her already complicated life. He’s got a story that she has to write and when she gets the crazy idea that she’s going to write that story for her mother to appease the publisher, crazy boy’s story becomes her story. Throw in another boy who she’s totally been eye stalking every day that he skates by her window and then sprinkle in some angry Gods and Goddesses and a dash of magic and you have the jist of this story.

This book entertained the socks right off of me and what I enjoyed most about it was getting to know all of the characters, even Alice. There were times that I wanted to smack Alice upside her teenage head but for the most part, I felt for her character. She had to worry about so many aspects of her Mom’s life, as well as take care of her Mom and then the added responsibility of trying to keep her Mother’s job for her was a bit much. But even with all of this going on, Selfors did a great job of sharing a story that was both interesting and charming.

Errol and the rest of the cast were wonderful additions to the story and I enjoyed getting to know Realm (or Lily, whatever) and the many people that made up Alice’s life. She had a great support group and they made the story just that much more enjoyable. This story made for an entertaining few hours and I would definitely recommend it. Also, Tony Lee rocked!

For all my Moms out there, I’d give this book a rating of:


It’s a more mature book for the 13 and up crowd.

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Buy the e-book: Nook|Kindle
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Review: Stay by Deb Caletti.

Posted December 13, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 5 Comments


Main Character: Clara
Love Interest: Finn Bishop.
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

Clara’s relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it’s almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is—and what he’s willing to do to make her stay.

Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won’t let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough….

Wow, this book was one intense roller coaster of emotions.

I have never been through anything like Clara has been through with her relationship with Christian but man did Deb Caletti do a fantastic job of putting me in Clara’s shoes. She did a phenomenal job of making me feel what Clara felt. The confusion, the frustration, the fear. I felt it all while reading this book and right from the very beginning, I was gripped.

It started with a meeting of the eyes across a crowded basketball court and a love blossomed between two people that was intense and chock full of emotions that you can’t help but crave it, lust after it and then once it becomes too much, you’re unsure of what to do next. Do you stay or do you go? If you go, can you live with erasing someone who has come to mean so much to you out of your life? Learning to move on and learning to like yourself again after being in an obsessive relationship is hard.

This book follows Clara as she tries to do exactly that. Getting out of the emotionally abusive relationship she had with Christian was hard but over the course of this book, you see Clara trying to move on with her life and trying to come to terms with the person she was with Christian and the person she wants to be from now on. You see just how strong Clara is and you want her to get better right along with her Dad and her best friend.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first trek into the writing of Deb Caletti. This book was deep and it was wonderfully written because though I’ve never been through any of the things that Clara has, I connected with her and I wanted to hold her hand while she got her life back. Meeting Finn Bishop helped round this story out and I really enjoyed it.

From the secondary characters to Clara herself, this book is filled to the brim with awesomeness and a whole lot of ugliness too. There were times where I would get so frustrated with Clara but I understood that she’s not perfect and I was okay with it. It was interesting to see this kind of relationship. In YA books, we’re spoiled with great love triangles and awesome couples but Deb Caletti went another way in the telling of a story of a broken couple trying to move on with the rest of their lives. The ups and downs made for such an interesting story that I couldn’t put this down even when the book slowed a bit in the middle.

Deb Caletti did a great job of weaving a story that I totally fell in with and I totally recommend this book to lovers of Caletti’s previous work and contemporary YA stories with realistic themes.

Thanks to Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly for allowing me to participate in the ARC Tour for this wonderful book! If you want to see the rest of the tour stops on the way for this particular book, click here.

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Review: Aces Up by Lauren Barnholdt.

Posted November 17, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments


Main Character: Shannon Card
Love Interest: Max Heller
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old high school senior Shannon Card needs money. And lots of it. She’s been admitted to Wellesley, but her dad just lost his job, and somehow she has to come up with a year of tuition herself. But Shannon’s dream of making big bucks waitressing at the local casino, the Collosio, disappears faster than a gambler’s lucky streak. Her boss is a tyrant, her coworker is nuts, and her chances of balancing a tray full of drinks while wearing high-heeled shoes are slim to none. Worse, time is running out, and Shannon hasn’t made even half the money she’d hoped.

When Shannon receives a mysterious invitation to join Aces Up, a secret network of highly talented college poker players, at first she thinks No way. She has enough to worry about: keeping her job, winning the coveted math scholarship at school, and tutoring her secret crush, Max. But when Shannon musters up the nerve to kiss Max and he doesn’t react at all, the allure of Aces Up and its sexy eighteen-year-old leader, Cole, is suddenly too powerful to ignore.

Soon Shannon’s caught up in a web of lies and deceit that makes worrying about tuition money or a high school crush seem like kid stuff. Still, when the money’s this good, is the fear of getting caught reason enough to fold?

This was a really quick read for me. I’m not much of a card player (though I can get down in some Speed and Palace) and I’m a dismal poker player and in general, I have no interest in card games and stories centered around card games but for some reason, this book made itself onto my I WANT TO READ THIS list and I’m so glad that I was given the chance to read this book because I totally enjoyed the heck out of it!

Shannon Card was the bomb. She was such a likeable character, one that I connected with and wanted to be best friends with. I admired the way that she took her money troubles into her own hand and went after getting the money for her college tuition any way that she could. She was such a ballsy lass and I admired the way she just bumbled her way through her crappy job. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were times when I wanted to slap my hand over her mouth to get her to shut up but that didn’t stop me from wanting to find out what happened between her, Cole and everything else in her life.

I enjoyed the whole situation with Max, it was that part of the story that kept me glued into the book. I needed to know what happened between them and then I needed to hear Max’s reasons and I needed to find out the who, what, where and why’s of that whole thing.

This is my first Barnholdt and I can definitely say that it won’t be my last. I enjoyed this book greatly and would definitely recommend it to fans of contemporary YA romances or just fans of Barnholdt. She weaved a great story with likable characters and an interesting take on the poker world. Now, don’t go expecting something deep and thought provoking when you start this book. This story is all light, breezy and totally cute.

Thanks to Holly over at Good Golly Miss Holly for hosting the blog tour that brought this book to my house for some enjoyable hours of reading. I look forward to making my way through Barnholdt’s back list after this.

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Review: Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John.

Posted November 11, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 5 Comments


Main Character: Piper
Love Interest: Ed Chen (highlight to find out)
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band’s manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she’s deaf?

Piper can’t hear Dumb’s music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

I’m participating in another ARC Tour, hosted by the awesome Holly over Good Golly Miss Holly. I’ve received some pretty awesome stories from ARC Tours and I can’t say enough how awesome the ARC Tours is. Holly did a phenomenal job keeping track of everything and I appreciate her efforts in keeping things moving along.

You rock Holly!

Anyway, on with the review. This book follows Piper as she takes up the manager position of an up and coming rock band, Dumb. Yep, that’s their name. It’s pretty crazy how Piper gets roped into being the manager because she’s the manager of a music band and she’s….deaf.

How does this work, you ask? It just does. And while this book really does focus on the band and their emergence onto the Seattle music scene, the book was more than just a book about a manager and her band. It was about a deaf teenager struggling to find her place in the world. Piper is struggling with being deaf at school, at play and most definitely at home. The relationship she has with her family at the beginning of this book is totally dysfunctional and you can’t help but feel for her struggles with trying to talk to her parents and to communicate with her brother. Piper wasn’t born deaf, she started losing her hearing when she turned six years old and it got worse and worse as time went on until she was completely deaf. She now sports a hot pink hearing aid (the same one that she got as a kid) and she can read lips like a pro but she’s very self conscious about not being able to hear.

I really enjoyed this book and I can’t say enough good things about it. John did a phenomenal job of sucking me into the story right from the very beginning. As we watched Piper take on the responsibility of getting Dumb a paying gig and then seeing her battle it out with her parents over her baby sister’s cochlear implants that were paid with her college fund, you couldn’t help but sympathize with her. But as much as I sympathized with her, I never once pitied her. Piper was strong and she was smart and she totally grew into her own over the course of this book and I enjoyed every minute of it all.

I enjoyed getting to know the band right along with her and I enjoyed watching things build and build and build until she finally got it right because boy did she get it wrong quite a few times but when things finally work themselves out, you can’t help but be glad for Piper, for the band and for everyone really….except the dick of a lead singer.

I adored the friendship that blossomed between Piper, Tash and Kallie. All three girls were so different and yet they became such good friends that by the time the end came around, I loved the heck out of each of them.

The romantic element in this story was another great addition to the story. I loved Piper and love interest, I loved getting to know Piper’s family and really, I just adored the whole book. On Twitter, after I finished the book, I said that the book was cute but that was wrong. Cute is too light a word to describe this book. It was so much more than just cute.

John captured my interest with a deaf manager of a music band but he kept me interested with a delightful cast of characters and a story that fell right off of the pages. I enjoyed reading this book and I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking for a good contemporary story about a band then this is the book for you!

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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