Welcome to Armchair BEA Day 1: Introductions & Classics

Welcome to the first post in a series for Armchair BEA! If you're not sure what it's all about be sure to visit the Armchair BEA headquarters. They sum up the event with:

Armchair BEA is an online conference that runs in conjunction with Book Expo America in New York City. There are a large number of people around the world that are not able to join in the literary celebrations in the Big Apple, so Armchair BEA brings the celebration to you by allowing networking among other book bloggers, authors, and publishers as well as special coverage of the event, all from the comfort of your own comfy armchair.

Posted from Armchair BEA Registration is Open

I used to get really bummed out this time of year when I realized that once again I had not accomplished my goal of attending BEA. With Armchair BEA rapidly growing in popularity, I think I enjoy this more than I would walking around a giant convention center with thousands of people. This gives me the chance to save up my precious vacation time from work for more family-oriented events throughout the year.

1. Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. Feel free to share pictures. 

I am blogging from a small Illinois town outside of St. Louis, MO. I moved here in the fall of 2011 after my husband found better work here. As a born & bred Tarheel, with founding families on both sides, I am the first person in my family to move out of state! Fun fact: the town that I currently live in is actually the town that my husband grew up in before moving to North Carolina.

2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?

My favorite book is a three way tie. I adored Stay with Me by Paul Griffin, Just One Day by Gayle Forman, and If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. I hadn't read any books by the first two, so they were first time authors for me. All of these books took my breath away and were very different from one another. Fans of Simone Elekeles will like Stay with Me, fans of Jennifer E. Smith will like Just One Day, and fans of gritty/heartwrenching/heartwarming realistic fiction will like If You Find Me.

3. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you. 

I don't own a television. It's true. I sold my television in June of 2010 & haven't owned one since. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "I refuse to have a television" types, it's just not been practical to own one for a long time. Now that I've adjusted to life without it, I happily enjoying watching my television programs at my leisure. I've been able to discover so many more shows since I got rid of my television thanks to Netflix & the public library that (since I'm all caught up) I can watch them online (more that 90% for free). Some of current favorites are: Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Doctor Who, Revolution, Covert Affairs, Army Wives, Once Upon a Time, & Bones. All of those (with the exception of Doctor Who) air online within a week of the live airing & are held in a queue for approximately 4 weeks, so even if I miss a week, I can just let it roll into the next week & then I get two episodes!

4. Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read? 

I'm going to kind of cheat on this one. If I had to direct you to a series of posts that I want everyone to read, it would be anything with the Genreflecting tag. I decided to do an educational experiment with genres & subgenres. One of my favorite (and most useful) tools when I did teen reader interest surveys was the Teen Genreflecting book. It contained the descriptions of the genres, the subgenres, & so many examples divided out. If my teen said they really wanted a book about survival adventures, I could pull this book out & give them a list. For each month of 2013, there will be a specific genre that will be analyzed. On Fridays there will be a basics post, a details post with author excerpts, and 2 reviews of books in the genre with a giveaway in the final post of the month. I'd love some input on your thoughts about genres, subgenres, & what they really mean for readers.

5. If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? 

I gotta say, I've had the great fortune to meet some awesome authors: Maggie Stiefvater, Sarah Dessen, & Patricia Briggs just to name a few. Last year I said I'd love to meet Jennifer Echols, but this year it's a tie between Jackson Pearce & Rachel Hawkins. Both of these women are bada$$es for creating such incredible worlds for their books. Jackson Pearce has brought fairy tale retellings into a whole new ballgame. Her twists on the classics tales & the way she interweaves details connecting them all is incredible! Rachel Hawkins has a witty sense of humor that shines through her books so well. I feel instantly connected to her characters and enjoy their adventures. I was sad to hear that Hex Hall was ending, but ecstatic to hear that it got a spinoff in School Spirits.

As for classics, I am a lover of traditional classics & newer agey classics. While I wasn't thrilled with being forced to read & over analyze books in high school, I do appreciate the breadth that we covered over my four years. I loved Shakespeare from childhood, but found myself falling in love with the more contemporary books that I read in class like Nectar in a Sieve & All Quiet on the Western Front. For quite some time I hosted a feature here on Tattooed Books called Nostalgic Fridays where I covered a classic YA or middle grades book or series. While working on that feature I realized just how many classic books I had read that I really liked. From The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott to The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I even covered authors in general because I couldn't choose just one book to cover (Lois Duncan & Roald Dahl being my biggies).

I think what makes a book a classic to me is it's ability to be timeless. When I say timeless, I don't necessarily mean that it's so generic that it can't be pinpointed as belonging to a certain era; I mean that the premise of the story & the point of the story is timeless. The message that you take away at the end of the book & the way that it makes you feel should be always be able to happen no matter when someone reads the book. With that in mind, I have no qualms about calling some newer books (newer agey is my technical term) as classics. Things like Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Hate List by Jennifer Brown, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, & The Luxe by Anna Godbersen are all classic YA books to me. I cannot fathom a time when these books will cease to stir something within the reader. 

Now that I've give you my humble opinion, what are your thoughts? Do you stick with the traditional classics or have you expanded your definition to suit the changing climate of reading?

ARC Review: Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.

Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…

From Goodreads

There are a few names that will get my attention when it comes to books. Jennifer Echols is one of the fastest ways to get me to focus on what you're saying. Her books are just so real. She does contemporary romance, almost always with a theme, unlike anybody else. Such a Rush, Forget You, & Love Story are some of my favorites by her. I think part of the draw to read her work stems from the memorable situations & characters she creates. Like I said, there is always a theme in her books. Planes, writing, and music have all taken center stage in her books allowing a wonderful medium in which to create the ideal situation for her stories.

Bailey's story is unique because she's not struggling to prove herself; she is an accomplished musician. She's struggling to create her own self rather than the self that everyone is trying to thrust upon her. Her parents expect one thing, her sister another, & the new band she joined definitely has other opinions in regards to her actions. She has to decide what's best for her & it's clashing with her relationships.

Sam is a fairly typical wannabe-megastar musician except that he's almost as conflicted as Bailey. While he has a clear sight on his ultimate goal, he's conflicted about the best way to get there; not who he has to go through, or what it's going to cost him, he simply knows he has to get a recording contract. He sees an opportunity in Bailey that he didn't necessarily plan on, but the disharmony between his heart's desire & his career goal are striking all the wrong chords with everyone.

Naturally this book is set in Nashville as it is about country music. I really like the breath of fresh air with the musically style. By throwing in the curve balls with the band's musical stylings I think Jennifer has done a fabulous jobs blending classic country with modern music. I would LOVE to have actually been able to hear some of these renditions. 

The only think that I can think of that would have made this book even better would be some closer glimpses at Bailey's life between the announcement of her sister's contract & the accident that lands her in her grandfather's care for the summer. We get some big details that are pertinent to plot development, but I think there could have been some more set up just so that the reader is better able to more closely identify with the protagonist.

While there is only one actual steamy romance scene, plenty of sexual acts are alluded to between Bailey & several guys. The same can be said for Sam & his girlfriends. For what they are, I don't think they're any more risque than you might read elsewhere in YA. There is also small mentions of drugs & drinking and driving, but they are used in a cautionary way. I liked how she handled these situations because sometimes when I hear that a book is about the music scene all I can think about it sex, drugs, & rock 'n roll. This was not the case in this book and I loved it!

January Genreflecting: Contemporary Life: The Basics

I wanted to do a reading challenge for the subject of Genreflecting, but I didn't get much feedback (maybe because it asked you to read 2 books for each genre and discuss them or because it's not really a "reading challenge" per se, but more an educational experiment), so I've turned it into a monthly feature! For each month of 2013, there will be a specific genre that will be analyzed. I'm planning to have author input and at least 2 reviews of books in the genre as well.

January's genre is contemporary life. Contemporary life books are real-life or reality based books. These books are placed in a contemporary setting that readers can relate to in real time. Usually the reader is following a teen protagonist as they work through their daily lives. While there can be a science-fiction (or other) slight twist in the story, that is not the primary focus. The primary focus of these books is the life of the protagonist and his/her cohorts, not necessarily the issues that they face in that life. (paraphrased from Teen Genreflecting 3, 2010)

Just a few authors you may recognize who often write in this genre are:
Sarah Dessen (Along for the Ride)
John Green (Paper Towns)
Deb Caletti (Stay)
Jennifer Echols (Going Too Far)

While there are many more, these are some of my favorites. I'm excited to say that I've chosen my two books, one older and one newer, to read for this challenge. The older book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (originally published in 1999) and I'll have a review and analysis up on Friday, January 18th. The newer book is The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees (originally published in 2008) and I'll have a review and analysis up on Friday, January 25th. I'll also be hosting a giveaway, so stay tuned!

Be sure to check back each week for the next installment in this exciting and fun new feature!

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry review

--"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.--

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

From Goodreads

Echo used to be as vibrant as her red hair is wild, until that fateful night. Now, almost two years later, she still can't remember what happened or why she is covered in hideous scars. What scares her more though is that she knows it involves her imbalanced mother & Echo is afraid she is becoming just like the woman she fears. Add on top of that her social outcast status & you've got a recipe for a miserable senior year of high school.

That is until the new social worker/counselor at school assigns her to tutor another student struggling with personal issues. Noah is the strong & silent type for the most part. After losing his parents, he also lost his little brothers to the same system that swallowed him up. With a string of nasty foster homes in his recent past Noah is determined to put his family back together by gaining custody of his brothers. In order to do that he needs to resemble a responsible adult, so excelling in school is on his to-do list.

The pair reluctantly circle one another & through several attempts and hits & misses they finally come together, but not at all how either of them pictured it.

This book absolutely stole my breath away. I found myself tearing through page after page in this story because I couldn't get enough of the characters. Katie McGarry has created such wonderful people & such a realistic world that I truly felt like I was living out the book myself. The humor was right on & the dialogue was very engaging. This was definitely a laugh out loud & cry alongside the characters kind of book.

While the basic plot isn't much new (you can't really create much new when you strip these things down to their bare bones) the layers of story that she creates around it are what make the book well worth reading. Echo & Noah are so dynamic & multifaceted that they continued to surprise me with their actions & motivations. You don't go into this story knowing everything. You have to earn your stripes for the appropriate knowledge right alongside each character. Even more entrancing was the situations in which we find the characters. Love & loss are two intertwined emotions in this book & both Echo & Noah do a fabulous job working their way through them.

Wit, humor & humility are such wonderful components of this story that I cannot convey through words. Even better though, these two main characters (along with their supporting cast) give a face to the difficult decisions that many people face. Some of these are mega decisions & some of them are more passive decisions, but all of them affect how the character is shaped.

Easily one of the best books of 2012, I strongly recommend you read Pushing the Limits. Simone Elkeles, Jennifer Echols & even Sarah Dessen fans can totally relate to this book & I hope you all enjoy it as much as  I did. I leave you with 2 quotes from the book.

"Noah had muscles, looks and trouble stalking him. Somehow, he made jeans and a T-shirt look dangerous."

"Luke used to give me butterflies. Noah spawned mutant Pterodactyls."

-Both quotes are from the ARC which was graciously provided by Around the World Tours

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols review

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.    

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly.

From Goodreads

I can't do any better a job of summarizing the book than the blurb itself. Usually I like to throw my own view in because I don't think the blurb does the storyline much justice, but this one pretty much takes the cake.

Jennifer Echols has managed to capture my heart the same way these banner-flying crazies catch their banners. This woman has an amazing ability to take a basic plot (girl from wrong side of tracks stuck between 2 brothers) and make it into some extraordinary! The background that she set this book in is what really gives the story its extra oomph. How many girls are engrossed in airplane knowledge? Not many, but Echols makes this semi-closed off world accessible with just the right amount of detail that the reader is comfortable without being overwhelmed. 


I adore Leah in this book. She's the best Cinderella story I've read in a long time. Despite all the shortcomings of her upbringing & how hard life has been made for her, she has persevered & found something special. That is a rare quality of character that this world is lacking & I am beyond thrilled that Echols has made her so accessible as a role model. Leah is far from perfect, but she's still struggling & doing her best to do what's right for her.


The Hall brothers make quite an impression as well. Neither of them really fit a stereotypical "bad boy" or "sensitive boy" role, but you can see qualities from several types in each of them.It was also a lot of fun getting to know them via other people. You don't necessary learn much about them from the boys themselves, more from their actions & the thoughts of others. Personally I find Grayson more attractive, but that's because I need someone who can deal with my acerbic wit.


In short, this is a great read that takes no time at all to get lost in. A wonderful story about perseverance, dreams & the ability to trust, Such a Rush is the perfect summer read!

ARC graciously provided by Around the World Tours.

Armchair BEA Day 1: Introductions First

Welcome to the first post in a series for Armchair BEA! If you're not sure what it's all about be sure to visit the Armchair BEA headquarters. They sum up the event with:

So, what exactly does being a[n Armchair BEA] participant entail? First and foremost, you'll be able to celebrate and participate in an event that happens each year in New York City, Book Expo America, from the comfort of your very own home, hopefully a snugly armchair! Secondly, and we hope equally as important, you'll be able to meet new book bloggers and join together in a celebration of the wonderful community that comes out of book blogging. Last year we had over 600 participants, so you're bound to meet some new great bookish friends! Lastly, it means participating, however you're able to. This can be by posting, tweeting, discussing, or even by simply reading and commenting on participating blogs. Your level of participation is entirely up to you, but we hope you'll find something to get you involved in this fabulous event! 

Each of us has an entirely valid reason for not being able to make to BEA in NYC, including many of the organizers. Because of that the organizers and publicity team are working hard behind the scenes to give you an event that you won't soon forget!

-Posted from 2012 Participant Registration Now Open

Needless to say, for another year I am unable to attend BEA. Having recently moved 800 miles from my home state of North Carolina to the corn-filled fields of Illinois, it just wasn't in the budgetary plan to spend a long weekend in a very expensive city. One of these days I will make it. In the meantime I am perfectly content to sit at home in my green, oversize, covered-in-cat-hair armchair with my tea & computer to participate in Armchair BEA.

Now down to business for the day! It's introductions day so here are my five self-interview questions.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

So there is a little bit of confusion surrounding who I actually am. My handle usually says loreleimarsh & my blog URL is lisettebes. In reality these are both variations on my real name. My name is Laura. I'm a 25 year old, cataloging assistant at a private college in the Midwest. I started Tattooed Books in the summer of 2009 as a way to get my opinion about books out into the world. At the time I was a YA program specialist in my local public library. Teens found it easy to relate to me & often asked my opinion about books. As I have been writing personal book reviews since elementary school, it was only natural for me to transfer my thoughts into a digital format. I will admit though that it took the convincing of the lovely Terra Elan McVoy for me to finally take the leap & commit to blogging.

Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I have been with my husband for 12 years as of this fall. That's right, do the math. Accounting for the fact that my birthday is before our anniversary, I was 14 when we started dating. He was 17. We are that sickening couple that despite all our time together still act as though we're newly dating. It helps that we are both the children of older parents, so many of our values & ideals are a little old fashioned for our contemporaries & we just seem to get each other. I truly hope our future children can find that same kind of happiness & support.

Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read?

It's hard to believe that I wrote it over 2 years ago, but my post on Age Appropriateness & Content is my favorite. After working in libraries for several years, you expect all sorts of issues, but working with young adult/teen readers lends itself to a special set of rules or rather guidelines. There are no hard & fast rules for what books are appropriate for specific age groups at any particular time. There are a number of factors to be included in the decision making process & this post highlights that issue as seen from a public library worker's standpoint.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?

It took me FOREVER to decide on this one. Obvious answers would be Shakespeare, Harry Potter, or Scout (from To Kill a Mockingbird), but I decided to go with the author Jennifer Echols. While I have met some incredible authors and there are so many more I would like to meet (Ellen Hopkins, Rachel Vincent, Patricia Briggs to name just a few) I can't shake the desperate wish that I could meet Jennifer Echols. I have reviewed several of her books & I can't imagine a better lunch/dinner discussion partner. She creates such strong, independent characters, even if they don't start out that way. I really would have given almost anything to have some of those kinds of characters in my books at a younger age. Seriously, realistic fiction for teens doesn't get more powerful than her writing.

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

When I first started this blog I was reading YA almost exclusively. I just didn't like "adult" books because the ones I had been exposed to were murder mysteries, psychotic thrillers & hum-drum "woe is me" fiction. As I spent more time exploring my options I found several adult authors who carried on the themes & character-driven books that I found myself drawn to in the YA genre. I've even read somethings outside of my comfort zone & preferred reading niches just so I can say that I've tried them. Some I've liked & some I haven't. While my reading tastes are ever-evolving, I try to review books that are still mainly geared toward teens & young adults looking for books to help bridge the gap between children's books & adult books.

There you have it folks! Please feel free to ask me any questions you like & I'll be sure to give you the best answer I can. You can find me on Twitter & Goodreads as well. Let the Armchair BEA fun begin!

Waiting on Wednesdayy: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I can never get enough of Jennifer Echols' books. I have adored every one I have read & eagerly anticipate her next release. I have to admit that Such a Rush due out July 10 doesn't sound too much like most of her other works. While the main character is still a girl & she is still struggling to find herself, I feel that this one will be different. maybe it's the addition of the two brothers fighting over her, but something tells me that this one is going to play out differently than the others. Hopefully that will be in a good way!

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.    

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are determined to keep the banner planes flying. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business — until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers — and the consequences could be deadly.

From Goodreads 

Even if this wasn't written by Jennifer Echols, I probably still would have picked it up since the premise is one you don't hear of very often. The last book I read about a teenage girl & flying was Flygirl & that's been a ways back. I can't wait to see what she does with that storyline because it can only go up from there.

What are you waiting on this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I'm quite enamored with Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith that is set to come out December 27. It might make a great "after the holidays" gift to myself. :D Read on...

Leah has the life most high school girls would kill for—popularity, glowing grades, a rich, athletic boyfriend. So why does she feel like she can’t breathe? And why can’t she stop thinking about the boy from the country club? The one who isn’t her boyfriend, the one that her mother would never, ever approve of, the one that her perfect older sisters would never, ever look at twice. The one who is always looking back at her. Irresistible attraction, smoldering glances, the bad boy and the good girl—Kiss Crush Collide has everything that a steamy forbidden romance should, and then some.

From Goodreads

Seriously. *swoon* It sounds so much like Simone Elkeles & Jennifer Hubbard that I'm really excited. There might even be a touch of Jennifer Echols in there somewhere. It sounds like a typical "good girl falling for wrong boy" type of story, but something about that cover & the background (no father? sisters? pressure?) lead me to believe that this one might be a gem of a story. Let me know if you've gotten a chance to read it. If not, I'll be sure to keep my eyes open. What are you waiting on this week?

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

Erin Blackwell has fallen into a horror story of her own device. A headstrong young lady, heiress to a multi-million dollar horse farm in Kentucky, this former princess is living the poor artist life in New York City. After refusing to major in business, so she would be groomed for taking over the farm, in favor of her passion writing, her grandmother disinherits her & takes Hunter the stable boy as her new protege.

As if being stabbed in the back by a pseudo-childhood friend isn't bad enough, it turns out that Hunter will be attending college with Erin & that he'll also get to read all about himself... through her stories in class. And so begins the tit for tat, back and forth banter of two opposite people. Hunter, having grown up in the barn & earning his own keep, can't seem to keep his mind off the previously-pampered & rather naive Erin. These two circle one another like wild cats, searching for a weak spot. That is until they discover that each others weak spot is the other.

Jennifer Echols has done it again! A masterful piece of work that begs to be let loose to run free! Erin is a pampered princess, but not in the completely oblivious way. Some folks who grow up with money never even realize what it's like for someone less fortunate, but Erin does not have that problem. Having grown up around Hunter, she knows first hand how cruel life can be to folks of lesser income. She's a compelling character that you can't help but admire since she is fighting for herself, albeit in the wrong way.

Hunter is a mesmerizing character to follow. He's got so many different faces it was sometimes hard to keep track of everything he was into. His smugness was even entertaining to a point. He never really wanted to come right out to say "I told you so," but he didn't have to. He sounds like he'd be easy on the eyes too. That never hurts. :)

The best part of the whole book though was the background. All the horse facts & information gave this book a more elegant/regal feel that any other novel I have read. There was something more majestic about the storyline that gave the reader a different feeling. I hope that makes sense.

By all means, run out & find this book on July 19th! If you've enjoyed her other works (Going Too Far & Forget You) then you won't be disappointed with this next one!

Book graciously provided by Around the World Tours

Waiting on Wednesday: Love Story

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I am super-stoked about the July 19th release of Love Story by Jennifer Echols. While I am highly disappointed in my library for not purchasing her better books (we only seem to get the "Romantic Comedy" series that she has contributed to), I love that I can get them through Inter-Library Loan from outside of our system. This one though, I am fortunate enough to be reading right now. You'll get my opinion soon... I promise. In the mean time, here's the teaser:

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW.

Erin Blackwell is headed to college in New York City to study creative writing and earn a living as a romance novelist. Her grandmother has other plans: she approves of the college, but she wants Erin to major in business and then come back home to Kentucky to run the family’s famous racehorse farm. There is no way Erin will agree. Studying in New York and writing her way into a career is her escape from the farm and the family tragedy that happened there. So Erin’s grandmother decides Erin really will live life as a starving artist. She takes Erin’s future job running the farm, her inheritance, even her college tuition, and gives them all to Hunter Allen.

Hunter has lived on the farm for years. He’s Erin’s age, he’s the stable boy, and he’s the romantic dream of every girl in her high school. But he was involved in the family tragedy. Erin has always given him a wide berth. And he’s a slick opportunist. She’s furious that he fooled her grandmother into giving him Erin’s birthright and sending him to Erin’s college.

At least she’s free of him in her creative writing class. So she pens a story that has haunted her lately, in which the horse farm heiress at the very first Kentucky Derby starts a forbidden affair with the lowly stable boy. Unfortunately for her, the day she’s sharing this story with her New York classmates, Hunter walks in. He’s switching to her class. And after reading about himself in Erin’s story, he writes his own sexy assignments that lure Erin into dangerous fantasies about what could have been between them, and what might be.

From Goodreads

A longer description than usual, but one that definitely needs the extra words. I think I would absolutely FLIP if my grandmother did that to me! And of course in Echols's books there is always a guy who just happens to be right there. :) The outcomes tend to be at least a little predictable, but the way we arrive at the destination is never short of fantastic! If you've never read any of her work, I strongly recommend you give it a try!

What are you waiting on this week?

Armchair BEA: The Best of 2011 (so far)

Welcome back! Today's topic is the Best of 2011. While this list is by no means comprehensive, these are my favorite releases I have read & the releases I look forward to most for the rest of the year.
Demon Glass (Hex Hall 2) by Rachel Hawkins
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
XVI by Julia Karr

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Love Story by Jennifer Echols
Tris & Izzie by Meete Ivie Harrison
Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace
Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen

What are some of your votes? Agree or disagree with with above? :D Let the debate begin!

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Zoey wishes she had done a lot of things differently. Had she spoken up about her father's affair before his mistress got pregnant, maybe her parents wouldn't have gotten divorced. If Zoey had gotten home a few minutes earlier from her duties as swim team captain, maybe her mom wouldn't have been able to overdose on her sleeping pills. So it comes as no surprise that she really wishes she didn't suffer from amnesia about the night she had a horrific car accident.

Enter Brandon and Doug. Brandon is Zoey's boyfriend, well sort of. They've had a close friendship all summer long while working at her dad's sleazy water park. When it comes time for school to be back in session, Zoey and Brandon get together. But ever since her accident he's been acting funny. He's avoiding her calls and dodging their few chances at hanging out, while Doug, the devastating handsome boy with a record, keeps popping up in unexpected places.

As the days go on and Zoey still can't remember what happened that night, or with whom, she starts to question everything she has ever presumed about every one. Most of all, herself.

Jennifer Echols has done it again! In another magnetic read about a boy and a girl, Echols manages to spin a new tale about truth, facades, and connecting with others. Zoey is an exceptionally bright girl, with many things going for her. She's trusting, academically gifted, and a leader. Unfortunately, these are also the things that flaw her. All of these attributes contribute to her inability to see the truth that's right in front of her the entire novel. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as I'm sure we all know people in our lives who are either, as I like to say, "book smart" or "street smart."

Undoubtedly, Zoey is the "book smart" kind of gal, while Doug is definitely a "street smart" kind of guy. He knows the truth, not only because he experiences it with Zoey, but because he's not blind. He doesn't ignore signals and obvious hints. His facade is what allows him to peacefully exist in a world full of people to afraid to admit the truth.

My favorite part about the whole novel are the connections that all the characters make with one another. There are quite a few subplots and Echols's ability to intertwine all those into one cohesive storyline is incredible. I have to hand it to the woman, she really knows how to create a wonderfully enticing story about real people with real problems and how they deal with the ramifications of their actions and choices. A must read, Forget You is, in a word, stunning.

This is What I Want to Tell You by Heather Duffy-Stone

Twins Nadio & Noelle has lived in the gatehouse on the professor's property all their lives. As children, they befriended Keeley, the daughter of the professor, and have been inseparable ever since. Keeley and Noelle have always been like two halves of the same person with matching mannerisms and behavior. Nadio was always along for the ride, but never up front and center stage.

After spending a summer all separated, the trio come back together to find that nothing is as is was when they left. Nadio spent his summer running alone and writing imaginary letters to his absentee father. Noelle found a new friend into new things and managed to fall hard for tattoo-covered fry cook Parker. Keeley is still reeling from her summer at Oxford and has an awful burden from that experience.

Each of these three are hiding the truth from one of the others and everything culminates when Nadio and Keeley admit that their feelings for one another are no longer strictly platonic. What will they do to persevere, what will they have to sacrifice to be happy, and can they all be happy together?

Heather Duffy-Stone has done an incredible job with this novel. Told in the alternating view points of the twins, This is What I Want to Tell You is unparalleled. I can't think of another book that handles this common and yet complex a situation. There are at least three different stories told in the narrative, but if you include the smaller characters, there are a few more. Each story has its own attributes and complexities and at the same time they're all standard issues that teens face every day. There's drugs, issues at school, peer pressure, sex, and heart ache at every corner.

I really felt as though I related to each of the characters on some level and that they were all meant to be recognizable. I'm sure you could place someone from your high school in each of these roles and better understand their situation. The writing style really lent itself to an omnipotent presence because when one chapter left off, the next picked up from a different point of view. I know that many books can accomplish this, but (for lack of a better explanation) this was just different.

The situations were believable, the characters superb, & the writing was, in a work, magical. I truly hope to see more from this writer. She knows her stuff well and if she can pull it off again, I'd place her in the same AMAZING category as Simone Elkeles & Jennifer Echols. While my library didn't own this one, I was able to InterLibrary Loan it from another institution. Let me reiterate, it was well worth it. Find out if your local library can do the same for you!

I leave you with a fabulous teaser quote from the book:

Why don't people ever see the way other kinds of love can wreck you? What about the way being left out of love can wreck you? p.148

Bringing in the Loot

This is part of the In My Mailbox series hosted by The Story Siren. This meme allows book bloggers around the web to showcase what awesomeness we bought, swapped, borrowed, or got this week. Check out my loot below!

I have been very good and haven't bought any books in a few weeks because of my tight living quarters & uber-tight budget. But I couldn't resist the dual coupons I had to Borders, so I treated myself to a little retail therapy. Hope you look forward to reading my thoughts and much as I look forward to writing them!

Review:
Fallout (Crank #3) by Ellen Hopkins HUGE thanks to Simon & Schuster!!
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala Thanks to Around the World Tours

Bought:
Forget You by Jennifer Echols
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Library:
Glass (Crank #2) by Ellen Hopkins (I'm rereading this since I got Fallout and I want to refresh my memory.)

That is the AMAZINGNESS that was my week. What loot did you score this week?

P.S. You might be able to score more loot for next week by entering my contests at the top of the page or the contests on other blogs on my sidebar. Good luck!

Book Blogger Hop (7) & Follow My Book Blog (4)

Hello again from the Book Blogger Hop & Follow My Book Blog hop! This is a weekly get-together so that we can showcase our blogs and discover new ones!

NEW part of the Book Blogger Hop ~ Crazy Question:

Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!

Ooo, I love this question. Hmmm... Mary Oliver's poetry inspires me like nothing else ever could. ("Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" ) Shakespeare obviously has a very special place in my heart. Rachel Vincent and Patricia Briggs create the most kick-ass heroines in urban fantasy! Stephen Clarke captures the essence of French life that j'adore plus que la mienne (I love more than mine)! Jennifer Echols & Simone Elekeles's books are amazing and powerful for young adult novels.

I review mostly YA books with a definite slant towards paranormal/fantasy & realistic fiction. Historical fiction & prose work occasionally pique my interest as well. This week I reviewed Paper Towns & posted The Terrorist in my Nostalgic Friday feature. Be sure to look around, follow if you like, check out my reading challenge or grab my button! Comments are a pleasure too, so fire away!!

I'm planning a giveaway for my blogiversary on 7/30/2010. If I get 200 followers it will be 1 book, I've made 200!! That means there is guaranteed at least ONE book for a lucky follower. The winner will be allowed any choice of book under $20 from the Book Despository. If I get 225 it will become 2 books and 2 winners, and so on (one extra book per 25). The winner will be randomly drawn from my followers. Good luck!

BBAW Nomination Post

I've thought long and hard about it, and I have decided to go ahead and self-register for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. I don't think that my blog is the best out there, but I figure why not toss my hat in with the rest? So I am self-registering in the Best Young Adult Book Blog category and the Best Author Interview category. Here are the requested links for those categories. Wish me luck and be sure to check out the BBAW site. We're all bloggers and we all deserve support for our love. This is a part of the support we need!

Best Young Adult Book Blog—This blog offers the best consistently excellent reviews, recommendations, analyses, and other content for books written for a young adult audience.

Reviews:

1. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
2. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
3. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

Other Posts:

1. Extra, Extra: What Do You Think?
   
2. Nostalgic Friday: Dr. Seuss Favorites
   

Best Author Interviews—This blogger does his or her research and asks the questions no one else does. These interviews are top-notch. Note that this award reflects the quality of the interviews, not the popularity of the person being interviewed.

Interviews:

1. Interview with Jennifer Hubbard
2. Interview with Beth Fantaskey
3. Interview with Rachel Vincent
4. Interview with Jandy Nelson

Other Post:

1. Beautiful Creatures signing in Raleigh, NC

Well folks, there are my choices. I hope they're as enjoyable to read as they are for me to write!

Waiting on Wednesday: Forget You

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week I am desperately awaiting the July 20th arrival of Forget You by Jennifer Echols. I fell in love with Going Too Far recently and have been on the lookout for her other books. I mean, just read the summary of this one:

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four-year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. With her life about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.

But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people—suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

-From Goodreads

Really?! What the holy-cow-craziness?! In a way this reminds me of two of Simone Elkeles's books: Leaving Paradise and Perfect Chemistry. This book seems to be filled with mystery, intrigue, love, loss, and hope. I absolutely ADORED Jennifer Echols's other book Going Too Far and I am hoping that this one will live up to my hopes. So what are you waiting on this week?

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Blue-haired, girl-felon seeks hard-working, semi-stable cop. Wait, huh? Meg is just your typical teenage rebellion with a wild side a mile long and more arrests and tickets than any parent wants to believe. Her bad attitude and outlandish hair keep everyone at bay so she can have some peace. Doing what she wants, as she sees fit, is just part of life to her. That's where Eric comes in. The rebellious, drug-imbibing, son of a lawyer gives Meg what she wants when she wants it. That's exactly what they were up to the night they got arrested.

Officer John After routinely patrols the "No Trespassing" bridge that trains cross over. It's a compulsory habit. So the night he catches Meg, Eric and two other teens out on the bridge is no coincidence. Officer After wants to make sure these teens learn their lesson about following the law. So he strikes up a deal with the DA to make them all ride along with the local emergency service crews during Spring Break; except for Eric, whose daddy gets him off the hook. Lucky for Meg she gets stuck on the overnight shift with Officer After.

Pretty soon though, Officer After is revealed to be Johnafter from high school. He's only a year older than Meg, but he's already graduated from the police academy and is on patrol duty. This provides Meg with an endless supply of ammo to poke holes in his armor. She knows that he was captain of the track team and quite decent at art and starts questioning his choice of immediate profession. Over the course of the week, Meg and Johnafter start to develop an understanding of one another based on her passive aggressive (and sometimes out right aggressive) tactics and his bob-and-weave maneuvers. It's clear that something's gotta give between these two if their little town is to survive.

A no-holds-barred, anti-punch-pulling novel, Going Too Far is in a word: amazing. Meg is such a badass chick who apologizes for nothing. I found her tough outer appearance very abrasive (which was the point) but it also set up an alarm that there was something else going on behind that front. I have found that people are not usually that rough and tumble unless they are hiding something. And boy does she have a whopper of a secret!

Johnafter was as secretive and mysterious as Meg, only in a different manner. He wasn't as "in your face" about much, except when it came to the law. He took his job and himself very seriously and it was something that I rarely see in a character. There was so much too him and yet so little at the same time.

The base storyline was kind of obvious, but the execution of action was more nuanced and unexpected. I kept thinking that it was going to go one way and then it ended up going another. Their situation was a unique one in that, only in a smaller town would a suitable punishment for trespassing in a dangerous area be to ride along with emergency service crews for spring break. The character interactions were colorful and entertaining, while still maintaining a sometimes serious tone.

This book is great for fans of realistic fiction (obviously) and those who have enjoyed other books like Perfect Chemistry, Lock and Key, or The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove will find this story very much to their liking. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than a day, I truly recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Potential mild-spoilers may follow if you haven't read Perfect Chemistry. Be sure to check my review of that here before continuing. Just in case.

Carlos Fuentes likes to think he is nothing like his brother Alex. Carlos is tougher, is taking better care of the family in Mexico than Alex did in Chicago, and Carlos is a one-man show with no extra baggage to worry about. So then why is it so hard for Carlos not to follow in Alex's footsteps.

After getting in trouble with the local gang in Mexico, Carlos is sent to Alex in Colorado to be straightened out and finish up his last year of high school. Carlos of course has no intention of listening to his brother's warnings and decides to continue living his life on the edge and doing whatever makes his feel numb. Unfortunately those activities land him on the local drug lord's radar. When Carlos is caught with a substantial amount of drugs, he's sentenced to completing an after-school enrichment program and living with a guardian, who just so happens to be Alex's former college professor.

The professor has a lovely home with a tea-house-running wife, a rambunctious six-year-old son named Brandon, and a frumpy-looking senior-in-high-school daughter named Kiara. Things are starting to look up for Carlos. As he continues to rebel and push those nearest to him away, Kiara dares to push Carlos back. She's certainly not afraid of him and manages to pique Carlos's interest. Too bad the local drug lord isn't letting Carlos go easily. Can he protect those he cares for without having to destroy everything?

This is the exciting second volume in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy starring the mesmerizing and scrumptiously yummy Fuentes brothers. While each book can be read as a stand alone novel, it helps to have read the first one for the back story that is referenced in this book. Simone Elkeles really knows what she's doing with this series. The characters are hauntingly accurate and enticingly fascinating. They are all very unique individuals with their own hidden talents. Believe me, there were a few surprise abilities that were showcased in this novel.

The storyline was along the same lines as the first novel with a change in setting and ending mostly. I found that, while basically the same, Carlos was more ardent in his need to prove himself to everyone than Alex was in the first novel, but the girls were opposites. Kiara was much more personally vulnerable than I ever imagined Brittany. Yet in a way, Kiara's vulnerability made her more accessible to the reader. The strength that emanates from the main characters is just phenomenal and something that I think more people should possess.

While there were a few plotlines that dropped off and left me wondering what happened to them (the obligatory mean girl went poof, etc) I found that they didn't bother me as much as usual because they allowed Simone to focus more on the important part of the story. A pleasurable read that I'm sure I'll visit time and time again, Rules of Attraction is a wonderfully pleasant book that I think fans of Sarah Dessen and Jennifer Echols will appreciate. Be sure to check out my thoughts on Perfect Chemistry if you haven't already.

P.S. I LOVE this cover so much. I really want a poster size version of it, but haven't managed that yet. Next on my to-do list after moving. :)

Bringing in the Loot

This is part of the In My Mailbox series hosted by The Story Siren. This meme allows book bloggers around the web to showcase what awesomeness we bought, swapped, borrowed, or got this week. Check out my loot below!

Fun stuff this week! My husband let me use my HUGE 40% off coupon at Borders, so I got some stuff I've really been wanting to pick up that I can't wait for at the library. Woo hoo!

Library:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Leviathan
Heist Society by Ally Carter


Bought:
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Going too Far by Jennifer Echols

Whatcha think? Good stuff, right? :D Remember, posting is light while I'm packing and moving, but I'll be sure to have some extra fun stuff when I get back! What loot did you score?