Tag: Henry Holt and Co

Review: Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

Posted January 10, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Famous in a Small Town by Emma MillsReviewer: Rowena
Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends—loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for—she can weather any storm. But when Sophie’s beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it’s her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town’s only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival.

The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return.

What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything—along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own.

I used to read a lot of YA but in the last couple of years, my interest in them cooled off some but it seems to be back because this is the second YA book that I read in the last few weeks and I have another on my TBR pile. I tried to read Emma Mills when my interest in YA books was dimming and because of that, I wasn’t in the mood to read the book. I feel like I should go back and give that book another go because I really enjoyed this one.

Sophie is in her high school band and she’s in charge of the fundraising for the next school year. Her band won a slot in a huge competition at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California so it’s going to be expensive to try to raise money to send all 100+ band members to California from their small town in Illinois. Sophie gets the idea of trying to locate and procure one of the country’s biggest country stars who just so happens to be from her same hometown to come back home to do a concert that will help their band raise the necessary funds they need for their trip. It’s not going to be easy because Sophie has no idea where to start to try to lock down Megan Pleasant but she turns to her friends for help and grudgingly, they help.

Sophie is a very busy young woman. She has multiple jobs, one of them being a babysitter and she babysits for Kyle and Heather once a week. When Kyle’s younger brother comes to live with him, Sophie reaches out to him and invites him along with her and her friends so that he knows people when they start their senior year together in the fall. Sophie is attracted to Kyle’s brother, August, but he keeps putting out that this stay in town is temporary and he’s not trying to form any close attachments so anything developing between him and Sophie needs to stop. But the heart wants what it wants and Sophie and August burst onto the scene and Sophie hopes for the best.

I think fans of Sarah Dessen, Kasie West, and Meg Cabot will enjoy this book because it’s such a sweetly written book about a young woman who loves big time and wants to help everyone that she could. Sophie was the kind of young adult protagonist that I adore. She was kind, honest, and strong. She lived her life with heart and my heart hurt for her with everything that she had working against her. From her issues with trying to locate Megan Pleasant, to her text messages with her mystery friend and then all of the stuff she went through with August, I just loved her more and more with each turn of the page. She really shined in this book and I’m glad that I read this one.

I’m definitely going to read more by Emma Mills. She won me over with this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

four-stars

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Review: Supergirl Mixtapes by Megan Brothers.

Posted April 17, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments


Rowena’s review of Supergirl Mixtapes by Meagan Brothers.

Main Character: Maria
Love Interest: Graham(highlight)
Series: None
Author: Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

After years of boredom in her rural South Carolina town, Maria is thrilled when her father finally allows her to visit her estranged artist mother in New York City. She’s ready for adventure, and she soon finds herself immersed in a world of rock music and busy streets, where new people and ideas lie around every concrete corner. This is the freedom she’s always longed for—and she pushes for as much as she can get, skipping school to roam the streets, visit fancy museums, and flirt with the cute clerk at a downtown record store.

But just like her beloved New York City, Maria’s life has a darker side. Behind her mother’s carefree existence are shadowy secrets, and Maria must decide just where—and with whom—her loyalty lies.

I’m not really sure where to start with this book because well, this book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. In the blurb, we’re led to believe that Maria was bored in South Carolina and wanted out but in the book, that’s not why she left South Carolina. She had a bad year and convinced her Dad to let her move to NYC with her Mom. She moves to New York with her Mom and her Mom’s boyfriend Travis. Travis is only 6 years older than her and for me, growing up the way that I did- it was a big wowzers for me.

Maria’s Mom hasn’t been around much in Maria’s life and well, her Mom got on my nerves. There was so much about her Mom that bothered me (being a Mother myself) and Ifelt for Maria because she deserved better than what she got with her Mom and I’m glad that she had Travis. Travis was a good friend to her and I really enjoyed their relationship. It wasn’t a disgusting relationship so don’t go thinking that.

As much as I felt for Maria, I didn’t connect with her as much as I hoped to. To be honest, most of the characters were pretty one dimensional for me. I mean, they were great but not much about them pulled at me to want to know more about them. They were great to read about while I was reading the book but I can’t say that they were memorable characters that will stay with me forever and ever. I liked Graham and I could see why Maria liked him but that was about it. I liked him but I didn’t adore him the way that I usually adore the love interests in books. He was great but that’s about it.

I will say that I loved the way that New York is described in this book. It was almost like New York was a character itself and I really got into the scene. I could see everything so clearly in my mind and I’ve never been to New York but after reading this book, I wanted to go there…bad. I wanted to smell the food in the air, ride the subways and drink in all of the sights. I wanted to experience what it was like to surround myself with all the noise and attractions that make New York one of the best cities in the world. Being a California girl through and through, that’s pretty big.

Overall, this book was good for what it was. A story to lose yourself in for a couple of hours but I can’t say that I was thoroughly engrossed in the story from beginning to end. I enjoyed parts of the book a great deal but I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I would have liked and my overall enjoyment of the book suffered because of it. Would I recommend this book? I’m not sure, it’s not a D grade of a book but I can’t give it more than a C because at the end, while I did enjoy it, I was left wanting more.

..and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Henry Holt & Co.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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Review: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride.

Posted December 14, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance


Main Characters: Sam
Love Interest: Brid (Highlight to find out)
Series: I don’t know

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

I received this book for review and was super thrilled because this book was on my wish list. I wasn’t sure what kind of book I would be getting but I’m happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Sam is a regular normal guy who works at a fast food joint and has his entire world knocked off its axis when he plays potato hockey on his break. That game of potato hockey breaks a tail light and brings a whole lot of crazy into his life…a lot of crazy and danger. Sam’s caught the attention of a very bad man and from this bad man he finds out that he’s a Necromancer. He can raise the dead. Now, Sam is understandably freaked the hell out because never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he’d wake up one morning and find out he can raise the dead.

After giving Sam a week to decide what he was going to do, Sam immediately sets about finding some answers and he goes to the one person who can give them to him….his mother. Without giving away too much of the story away, suffice to say that breaking the tail lights of Douglas Montgomery brought about some very weird crap into Sam’s backyard.

He’s taken captive by Douglas so that Douglas can find out if Sam would be of any use to him and once he gets a hold of the powers that Sam has, he goes ape sh*t crazy and it’s up to Sam to save him and Brid’s (another captive of Douglas’) life.

This book is such an entertaining book. It was filled to the brim with fantastic characters, a storyline that flowed right off the pages and into your imagination and McBride did a wonderful job of placing right in the thick of everything that’s going on. All the while that you’re rooting for Sam to come into his own, you’re worried about everyone else in the book. Brid, her pack, Ramon, Sam’s Mom and sister, just everyone. Douglas Montgomery was full of bad and he made the story interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t say enough great words about it. It’s not even my usual kind of book but that didn’t stop me from loving the heck out of this book. If you’re looking for adventure packed story with great characters then this is the book for you. This is one of those books that you can’t miss out on! Read this book!

The way that this book ended makes me think that another book with these characters is in the works and goodness I hope that I’m right because I would LOVE more from the characters in this book. There’s so many things left open. I’m itching to find out more about Ramon, I want more from Sam and Brid and really, I just want more. Lish McBride, I hope there’s more! =)

..and that’s your scoop!

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

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