Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Title: Twenty Boy Summer
Author: Sarah Ockler
Blurb:
"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."
"Okay."
"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"
"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.

Links:
Twenty Boy Summer on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I felt so sad throughout most of this book. It starts off with the main character, Anna, finally getting what she's always wanted - a kiss from her best friend's brother, Matt. Anna and Matt had this absolutely adorable first kiss and relationship, which they kept hidden from Frankie (the best friend/little sister). It's no secret that Matt dies, but I fully admit the whole time I was reading about their relationship I sat there going "please don't die, please don't die" ... it didn't work. He died. And every reference to him for the rest of the book just tore my heart out.

A year later, Anna tags along on a family vacation to the beach with Frankie and her parents. This is the first time the family has done this vacation since the death of Matt and it becomes obvious that everyone has been putting on a show and no one is completely over him. Frankie's coping mechanism has been to throw herself into attracting boys and she tells Anna that they're going to meet 20 boys on vacation with the hopes that Anna will lose her virginity to one.

The rest of the novel is mostly about the vacation, the boys, and the family (plus Anna) finally coming to terms with and dealing with the heartache and loss of Matt. It's also about Frankie and Anna and how the death of Matt has evolved their friendship into something completely different, which neither of them quite know how to handle.

I struggled through the book, not because of the writing (which was beautiful) or the characters (which were mostly well developed and compelling), but because it was just so sad. I'm not going to give it a bad rating for that, because I knew going in that it would be a depressing novel, but I tend to prefer happier novels. I see enough depressing stuff in real life.

It does have a mostly happy ending, and a realistic ending, that I appreciated. I did like the book and would definitely recommend it - just have tissues on hand.
 
4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/398609599

My Top Ten Books of 2012

Kala's Top Ten Books of 2012

In no particular order, here are my ten favorite books from this year.  My favorite genres are, in case it wasn't obvious by my reviews, young adult/new adult romance and paranormal.  Some of these books were published prior to 2012, but I didn't read them until this year. 

*  Slammed by Colleen Hoover *

When I bought Slammed, it was still a self published book and I had zero expectations.  I was absolutely blown away by Hoover's story and have since bought and read and devoured and enjoyed her other two books.  Can't wait to see more!


* Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

I heard about this from some reviewers I follow on Goodreads, all of whom LOVED it.  I definitely did too!  Can't wait to read the sequel in 2013.

* Easy by Tammara Webber *

Easy is another one that was self published when I first read it and it totally WOWed me.  This was the second "New Adult" book I read and it's what got me hooked on the genre.

* Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama *

The best mermaid story I've ever read.  Hands down.  Every other mermaid book I've read has been fluffy and silly.  Monstrous Beauty blew me away.

* Daughter of Smoke and Bone / Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

These two books are probably the best books I've read. Ever.  Laini Taylor is not only obscenely creative, but also ridiculously talented. 

* Saving June by Hannah Harrington *

I wasn't sure what to expect when I was approved for this one on Netgalley.com, but I was really pleasantly surprised when I finished this amazing novel about a girl dealing with the aftermath of her sister's suicide.

* On Dublin Street by Samantha Young *

I call this book "What 50 Shades SHOULD Have Been" because it's all the good parts (the hot, sexy alpha male lead, the steamy sex scenes, the romance) without all the bad (abusive stalker male lead, wussy pathetic female lead).  I haven't read any of Samantha Young's young adult stuff, but she's definitely a huge talent in the erotic romance field.


* Insurgent by Veronica Roth *

The sequel to Divergent wasn't quite as good as it's predecessor, but it was still pretty amazing!  I love this series - it's unique and interesting and fun.  Roth has done a great job creating a world that will suck you in from page one.

* Something Like Normal by Trish Doller *

This one is told from a male point of view about a soldier dealing with PTSD after coming back from the war.  That sounds pretty heavy, but the book is actually a sweet love story between him and a girl he used to know from high school who helps him deal with his demons.  Great book!


* Onyx / Opal by Jennifer Armentrout *

Who would have thought an alien love story could be this awesome?  Not me!  But it IS!  I absolutely LOVE the Lux series and, fortunately, Jennifer Armentrout is a prolific and quick writer.  No waiting years for sequels in this series!  THANK GOD! 

Hope you guys enjoyed the list!  Happy New Year to everyone, and here's to a bunch more great books in 2013!

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Blurb:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
Links:
Hopeless on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:Colleen Hoover is so ridiculously talented. Slammed was, by far, one of the BEST books I read in 2012. The sequel wasn't as good, but still miles and miles ahead of almost everything else I read this year. As soon as I found out about Hopeless, I put it on my to-read list and bought and read it the day it came out.

SO GLAD I DID.

This book is amazing! I'll admit, I liked Slammed better, but only because Slammed was a little more innocent and fluffy compared to this. Hopeless tackles much bigger obstacles and Colleen Hoover handles them beautifully.

SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

There is another book with a slightly similar premise - The Boy Who Sneaks in my Bedroom Window. When I got it, I was looking forward to reading a book about a girl dealing with the aftermath of childhood molestation. That author completely screwed it up. When I started reading Hopeless and realized that it was also about a girl dealing with the same issues, I was a little worried... but I shouldn't have been. It was handled so perfectly, and so realistically.

The main character of Hopeless, Sky, is a messed up 17 year old girl. She has been home schooled her entire life and her mother has finally agreed to let her go to a real high school for her senior year. Unfortunately, Sky's best friend, Six, has helped her get a reputation as a slut.

Sky has made out with several of the local boys, but she mostly does it to try and feel something. Unfortunately, she doesn't feel anything but numbness when she's with them. She spends the entire time staring at her ceiling, bored out of her mind.

Because of this, Sky is surprised to meet Holder, a guy who sparks something in her that is new and scary and exciting.

As Sky's relationship progresses, the secrets about her past begin to unfold and WOW. I wasn't expecting some of it! The molestation part isn't a big secret - that is pretty obvious from the first or second flashback. But the rest of it? Definitely wasn't expecting!

I absolutely fell in love with Sky and Holder. They're both flawed but likable, something so rare in YA/NA these days. I'm constantly hating the main characters of novels but in this case, I adored both of them.

Pretty sure Colleen Hoover was already on my auto-buy list, but if she wasn't she has definitely solidified her spot there now!
 
5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/461069569

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Blurb:
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Links:
Beautiful Creatures on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I have mixed feelings about this one. I think it was way too long and in ways it reminded me of A Discovery of Witches - not in the plot so much as in the writing style and pacing.

Beautiful Creatures is really slow. It starts off decent, but slows wayyyy down. Ethan Wate is the main character, and he falls for new mysterious girl Lena. We eventually learn that Lena is a witch who is scared to start a relationship because at age 16 she will be "claimed" by either Light or Dark. She has no choice in the matter and is afraid she will become Dark.

The premise is not bad, but I found most of the book to be quite dull. There are constant flashbacks to a Civil War version of Ethan who is in love with relative of Lena's. The flashbacks are uninteresting and predictable and way too long.

The thing is, I felt like Beautiful Creatures was RIGHT THERE on the edge of being good, but just kept falling short. Lena's uncle was good in the few scenes that he's in, but he's used sparingly. I wanted so badly to like it, but kept getting bored between the sparse action sequences. I found myself skimming and I didn't miss anything important - a sure sign that stuff could have been cut without it being a big deal.

It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but I had to rate it two stars as that's Goodreads' version of "Eh, it was okay." I have zero interest in checking out the sequels either.
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/473825926

Make it Last by Bethany Lopez

Title: Make it Last
Author: Bethany Lopez
Blurb:
In a small town, it's hard to recover from being dumped by your high school sweetheart. That's just what Briana has to do after Colin leaves her to follow his dreams. She focuses her energy into her friendships and the pursuit of her own goal of becoming a chef. Just when she finally feels like she's on the right path, he comes back to town.

Colin knew breaking up with Briana before leaving for college was the right thing to do. He was determined to leave small-town life behind forever, and that included his high school girlfriend. But when a sports injury puts him on the sidelines, he's forced to return home. Seeing Briana again brings back a lot of memories, and Colin wonders if he made the right decision. It doesn't take long for him to realize he wants her back, and this time, he wants to make it last.

Links:
Make it Last on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
I didn't hate Make it Last, but I was really unimpressed by it. The book is short - very short. I read the entire thing in about an hour, give or take a few minutes. Not sure on the page count, but it's barely longer than a novella.

The basic storyline is simple and sounded good, but the biggest issue for Make it Last was lack of conflict. Briana and Colin dated during high school. Colin went away to college and dumped Briana because he didn't want to do the long distance thing and he wanted the freedom to have fun at school while playing football and joining a frat. Three years later, he got injured and lost his chance at the NFL and returns to town. Briana, still bitter about him dumping her, supposedly hates him.

This is where the conflict should have been, but just wasn't. There was a tiny bit the first few times they run in to each other. Briana is a little snarky, but generally just is politely cold to him. They finally have their big blowup and within minutes are having sex and "back together." That happens around the halfway point. From there on, there is nothing. They make out, have sex, talk about their future. It's just dull.
 
2 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/485210873

In Flight by R.K. Lilley

Title: In Flight
Author: R.K. Lilley
Blurb:
When reserved flight attendant Bianca gets one look at billionaire hotel owner James Cavendish, she loses all of her hard-won composure. For a girl who can easily juggle a tray of champagne flutes at 35,000 feet in three inch heels, she finds herself shockingly weak-kneed from their first encounter. The normally unruffled Bianca can't seem to look away from his electrifying turquoise gaze. They hold a challenge, and a promise, that she finds impossible to resist, and she is a girl who is used to saying no and meaning it.

Bianca is accustomed to dealing with supermodels and movie stars in her job as a first class flight attendant, but James Cavendish puts them all to shame in the looks department. If only it were just his looks that she found so irresistible about the intimidating man, Bianca could have ignored his attentions. But what tempts her like never before is the dominant pull he seems to have over her from the moment they meet, and the promise of pleasure, and pain, that she reads in his eyes.

Links:
In Flight on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book is about as blatant of a 50Shades knockoff as you can get.

Bianca is a drop dead gorgeous (but she doesn't think so) flight attendant who is a 20-something year old virgin (of course) and has a traumatic past.

James is a billionaire who is the absolute best looking guy in the entire world (nicknamed Mr. Beautiful by Bianca).

Their first real meeting is on a plane while he is in first class and she's his flight attendant. He propositions her. She declines. He does it again. She declines again. Forcefully. He continues to try and proposition her. She VERY CLEARLY and VERY PURPOSEFULLY declines him AGAIN. What does he do at this point? He corners her in the galley in the plane and forces himself on her. Of course, he has magic lips and she immediately loses control and starts willingly making out with him because OMG SHE JUST CAN'T STOP IT FEELS SO GOOD.

After he stops half raping her in the galley, she tells him again she's not interested. So what does he do? He talks her other flight attendant best friend in to telling him where Bianca will be partying that night and he shows up. James arrives at the bar and starts berating Bianca for drinking (the girl is 23 and hasn't had a drop of alcohol in 2 years). Of course she gets really drunk and her BFF roommate decides that this creepy stalker is JUST the right person to take Bianca home while he stays at the bar. (Best friend ever!)

So James takes her home. He starts stripping her naked and she resists at first, but then because he's so super awesome she lets him get her naked. But he is a stand up guy. He tells her he is going to fuck her so hard she won't ever want another man again. But not while she is drunk! He just waits til the morning and in an really unsexy scene he grabs her boobs (and OMG IT IS SO AMAZING SHE PRACTICALLY HAS AN ORGASM RIGHT THERE!). He then gets her off with his fingers in about three seconds flat and of course, virginal Bianca feels bad for leaving him unsatisfied so she gives him a blowjob (her first time ever!). And of course, her first blow job ever, and she swallows on purpose (suuuure!).

I'm only 17% of the way through this book and I don't think I can take it anymore. I should have stopped after the airplane scene because it was so revolting. Do you realize what he did in that plane is ILLEGAL? If I girl declines you multiple times and you force yourself on her, THAT IS A

Schedule

CRIME. Of course it's not in this book because "No" means "Yes" for Bianca (GREAT MESSAGE TO SEND TO ALL WOMEN!).

I am obviously NOT the audience for these types of books. I think it's absolutely disgusting to romanticize an ABUSIVE STALKER. Ladies. A man forcing himself on you after you said no is BAD. I don't care how hot he is. He just FORCED HIMSELF ON YOU AFTER YOU SAID NO. THIS IS NOT SEXY. THIS IS NOT ROMANTIC. A man who keeps purposely showing up at places where you're going to be AFTER you've told him you're not interested is called a STALKER. This also is NOT romantic or sexy!

What the fuck is wrong with people? Seriously?
 
1 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/478920406

Avoiding Responsibility by K.A. Linde

Title: Avoiding Responsibility
Author: K.A. Linde
Blurb:
Lexi has finally given up her once destructive relationships and moved onto bigger and better things with a sexy new man in town. Just when she is starting to figure it out with him, her world is tilted once again with a phone call from none other than Ramsey Bridges. A year after his entrance into her life, Ramsey is trying to make amends and does the one thing she never expects—invites her to Jack's wedding.

The wedding she had evaded at all costs. But no matter what she does, Lexi can't seem to escape her past with Jack. But does she really want to?

Despite the explosive chemistry between Lexi and Ramsey, she is skeptical about trusting him after everything that has happened. When things are amiss with him, she starts questioning his motives. Can Ramsey be the one to remove Jack from Lexi's life permanently or should she move on with her blossoming new life?

Links:
Avoiding Responsibility on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
This book was almost as much of a roller coaster as the first.

When Avoiding Responsibility starts, it's a year later and Lexi isn't speaking to Jack or Ramsey. She's dating some unknown mystery guy and is surprised when Ramsey calls to ask her to Jack's wedding. She is a badass and says HELL NO. At first.

Then we start flashing back to see what happened over the last year, and we find out about the relationship that started and ended between Lexi and Ramsey.

I admit, I was left feeling unsatisfied at the end of Avoiding Commitment. Not because it was a cliffhanger, but because I felt like Lexi just got totally shit on by the end (by Jack and Bekah) and it felt like the "bad guys" won. The only part of the ending of Avoiding Commitment I liked was Lexi finally standing up to Jack and realizing how poisonous he was to her.

Then Ramsey asks her to the wedding. She says no, of course, but then she finds out Ramsey is in New York WITH JACK for Jack's bachelor party. Somehow, Lexi ends up at Jack's party where a drunken Jack begs her to come to his wedding.

Of course, Lexi agrees. This part bugged me. I hated that she would agree to go to his wedding to Bekah. There was absolutely no reason for her to go, other than to make herself feel like total shit. Again.

But she does go. And there is a bunch of the same sort of underhanded passive aggressive conflict between Lexi and Bekah, ridiculous sexual tension between Lexi and Jack, and the hint of something really special between Lexi and Ramsey.

At the end of Avoiding Commitment I was completely Team Jack, hoping and praying for some sort of redemption in this book.

**SPOILER ALERT**

That redemption doesn't come. However, I was okay with it. While the end of this book has some loose ends, I felt better about things. I felt that Bekah finally got a tiny bit of what she deserves. I felt like Jack stooped so low that I didn't even want him to redeem himself anymore. And Ramsey stepped up and I'm really hoping that things work out for him and Lexi in book 3. I'm really hoping that Bekah and Jack both end up alone, but I'm starting to realize they deserve each other and will probably make each other miserable.

K.A. Linde has a real talent for creating these realistic and flawed characters that you can't help but feel SOMETHING for. Her books also flow so well that you just lose yourself in the pages and suddenly it's two hours later and you're done and you're wondering what the heck just happened.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what else she comes out with and she's going on my auto-buy list for sure.
 
4 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/471712861