Between the Pages

I am immensely behind. That's just a fact. I have read so many books over the past couple of months. As we all know, I have not reviewed them. But here's a review:  The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan! SUMMARY Rebecca Porter isn't the fancy twin. She isn't the girly twin or the popular twin or the 'pretty' twin. Her sister Lacey is the one who should have all this. The one who should have this seemingly glamorous life. The one who should be in all the magazines and the topics of everyone's conversations. Nonetheless, Rebecca, Bex, found her prince charming. No really, she fell in love with Prince Nicholas, future King of England, when she found herself living down the hall from Nick at Oxford.  Dating Nick introduces Bex to a whole new world: one of lavish events, cocktail dresses, chasing Nick, his friends, and his charming brother Freddie around London, and learning to keep her legs together when getting out of cars to prevent unwanted paparaz...

OK cheesy, YA romance lovers - boy, have I got the book for you. Are you perhaps a dancer? Do you speak French? Do you love Paris? What about hot French guys? Yes to one or more of those questions? This one is for you. That's it. Now you can actually read the review.  Sorry - another thing - the book cover matched my smoothie. I was entirely too proud of that.  SUMMARY    Mia Jenrow knows exactly what she wants. Despite her mother's constant dismissal of her dreams, Mia wants to be, no scratch that, will be a professional ballerina. Accepting the chance of a lifetime to study under ballet-master Monsieur Dabrowski, Mia Jenrow is in Paris for the summer. Good things only come with hard work, and in Mia's case, it is very VERY hard work. Eat, sleep, dance, repeat - Mia's days become routine, but get harder and harder.     Soon, Mia meets (you guessed it) a devastatingly handsome and charming French guy that's....whaaaaat...her age! He drives a vespa and ...

  While The Simple Wild was a little over the top for me, it is a fine, romantic, early adult novel.  Summary Calla Fletcher leads a perfectly normal and fulfilling life. She has a boyfriend, a job, a good family life with her mother and step-father, a smattering of supportive friends, and a successful website and social media account. She is beautiful, fit, and has a diverse and expensive wardrobe.  She would not live in Toronto with her mother, Susan, and her psychiatrist step-father, Simon, if her mother hadn't have hated her life. Originally, Susan got pregnant with Calla, married, and lived with Wren Fletcher, Calla's father, in Bangor, Alaska. Calla's mother has instilled nothing less than hatred for the early darkness, bitter cold, the occasional outhouse, Wren's tiny-dangerous-plane-charter company, and the constant absence of Wren in Calla.  Over her 26 years of life, Calla has heard from her father in a serious, talking manner about five times. The occasion...

PLOT SUMMARY Ammy’s (like the “ammy” in Sammy) family (whatever this word means: she’s not even sure) situation is complicated. Her father left a year ago to marry a much younger yoga instructor, leaving Ammy with her mother’s heightened anxiety. Ammy, a year later, takes the chance to reconnect with her dad by going to his “commitment ceremony” (yeah, with the yoga instructor), tuning-out her mother’s objections. She decides to travel by train from Virginia to New York. All is peaceful, not glamorous, but peaceful, until she hears an, “’Excuse me. Can I get in there?’” (Konen 8). Noah’s got one thing on his mind: getting back with his ex-girlfriend, Rina. He’s going to New York on his winter break from college to win her back. The train is packed. He can tell frequent riders of AmTrak from amateurs. He spots a girl with a bag in the seat beside her. “’Excuse me. Can I get in there?’” She reluctantly moves the backpack, and the space is free. He slides in. Ammy an...

While young adult romance, especially in books, can be incredibly cheesy, who doesn’t love a sappy, love novel to read on Valentine’s Day. Ranging from one ultimate classic to several lighthearted, current novels, here are my top six books to read on Valentine’s Day Weekend. #6: The Fill-in Boyfriend By Kasie West The Fill-In Boyfriend is just what it sounds: girl’s relationship falls through in the parking lot at her senior prom, so she MUST have someone for her friends to meet; thus, she grabs the first boy in sight. A couple fibs, one night, half an hour of dancing, then it’s over, right? Wrong. Now, she’s totally involved… Predictability can be good and bad, but when the desired outcome is a sappy, heart-string  tugging novel, it’s great. #5: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight By Heather Hepler ( Read my interview with this author here. ) and Brad Barkley Cal needs a permanent home. She is tired of road tripping from state to state with her mother. She ne...

Love & Gelato Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch is a sweet take on summer love, family’s true meaning, and being out of one’s comfort zone.  Summary: Since her mother died of cancer, Carolina (that’s pronounced Caroleena) finds herself wishing for everything ordinary; however, her mother’s dying wish is that she gets to know her father...in Tuscany. All Lina wants to be is back home in Seattle with her best friend Addie.  When Lina arrives at the cemetery where her father, Howard, lives, she receives her mother’s journal she kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly, Lina is discovering her mother’s past one difficult day at a time. With the help of charming, half Italian Ren, Lina uncovers her mother’s past step by step. Carolina discovers an identity altering secret kept from her for far too long.  Tourists come to Italy for gorgeous landscapes, stracciatella , and infamous sunshine, but lucky people find delicious gelato and love. Author Praise/C...

Royals Royals by Rachel Hawkins is a royally funny story that is also serious and sophisticated all at the same time. Plot Summary: Daisy Winters is completely overwhelmed. No, no, and no. She is everything, but royal. Daisy works at the Sur-n-Save in Florida and is getting excited about going to Key West for a week with her best friend Isabel. Eleanor (Ellie) Winters, Daisy’s older sister who is a newly accepted member of the Scottish royal society, is engaged to sweet, shy Prince Alexander James Lachlan Baird of Scotland. Daisy is blindsided by the news of Ellie’s engagement. Of course, Daisy and her parents must visit Scotland to meet Alex’s mother, the Queen of Scotland, and Alex’s trouble-maker brother, Sebastian. Now that Alex and Ellie’s engagement has been officially been announced to the public, Sebastian is the most eligible bachelor in the world. Daisy finds herself in Scotland in under a week leaving behind Isabel, the trip to Key West, and her summer. As soon ...

Sleepaway Girls Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita is the perfect spin on a classic summer camp filled with friendship, hilarious situations, and sweet romance. Plot Summary: Samantha Montgomery, or Sam, is fed up with Malomark. (Malomark is her ship name for her best friend, Mal, and her new bad boy boyfriend, Mark.) She couldn’t stand another “No, baby you’re cuter” or another instance where she ended up the third wheel. Sam decides she will be a CIT, counselor in training, at Whispering Pines sleepaway camp in the Catskills. (2 hours away from her home in New York City Suburbia.) To camp, she brings a small palm recorder that she plans to record message to send back home to Mal. At camp, Sam meets Courtney, a beautiful, boy-crazy girl, who likes to be called Court, Grace, a super athletic, outgoing young lady who reaches out to Sam and holds the group together, and Emily, a girl who loves romance novels and wishes she has a boyfriend like most of those characters. Thes...

Between the Lines Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer is a captivating story about an adolescent girl, Delilah, and a boy the same age, Oliver, who both want to be somewhere else and live someone else’s life. Plot Summary: Delilah is a 14 year old girl who is miserable. She and her father split after he decided she and her mother just were not good enough to live with. She is completely depressed until she finds a beautiful, hand illustrated, children’s fairy tale hidden between an assortment of books on the shelf. She had never seen this book before. She becomes obsessed with the book because she can connect very well to the main character of the fairy tale, Oliver. Oliver’s father died in the beginning of the story. Oliver is a 16 year old boy who, much like Delilah, is miserable. He acts the same part every time a Reader opens the book. He hates being stuck in the same boring world day after day after day. When Delilah starts reading the b...

My Lady Jane My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows is a story focusing around a page-turning plot, well developed characters, and a love story (or stories) that will make your heart melt. Plot Summary: Edward is the King. Keep in mind, he is only sixteen. Sadly, he is dying from an infectious disease called The Affliction. His cousin, sixteen also, is named Jane. He and she have been best friends well, always. When he becomes ill however the Grand Duke, Dudley, decides he needs to pick who will be King, or Queen *squeal*, when he dies. No one is suitable for the job in his family but Jane, the redhead, spunky girl with a book permanently glued to her face. Dudley suggests that she wed his son, Gifford. (He likes to be called ‘G’.) He also suggests that she bear a child, a son, to rule the kingdom. This leads into  complex, but understandable story, that keeps you on your toes. Author Praise: This story combines romance and a dash of ...