I had some wonderful reviews to write up today, but it seems our local movie theater decided to not only charge outrageous prices for their popcorn, but they also decided to give us a dose of food poisoning as well.  My whole family is sick with it.  So, please forgive me for not posting today!! If I feel a little better later, I might cruise around some blogs and comment. 

Just a few reminders:

Be sure to check out my contest page! The contest for the Lara Adrian book ends tonight and only a few more days before my Fall Giveaway ends as well.

Don’t forget that Princess Bookie is having her Contest Craze begin today! Tons of great prizes and fun challenges to join in!

HER BEST FRIEND
Author: Sarah Mayberry
Source: Harlequin Ambassadors
* I received this book free of 
charge in exchange for an 
honest review*

  • Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Harlequin (April 13, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0373716265
  • ISBN-13: 978-0373716265

SUMMARY:

What’s a girl to do when she’s secretly in love with a friend and he’s married to someone else? She gets over it. That’s what Amy Parker has done. Rather than lose her best bud Quinn Whitfield with an ill-timed, crazy confession of affection, she’s taken the smart route. She’s eased away from him. Just enough to get past the unrequited bits. And you know, it’s working.

Until the day Quinn announces he’s now single. That’s right. He’s single. And he wants to hang out. With her.

Oh, this is so not good for Amy’s equilibrium. Daily doses of Quinn remind her of everything she loves about him. But if he’s free…and she’s free…well, maybe the time has come for one of those crazy confessions.  Get reconnected the way they used to be.

MY THOUGHTS:

As a lover of sweet and romantic reads, Harlequin is one of my favorite escapes when I am in the mood for a category read mood.  They always have the best short reads that fill in the time between review books. 

Amy Parker lived next door to her childhood best friend, Quinn Whitfield.  They were two peas in a pod and rarely apart.  They shared secrets, adventures and even a teething ring when they were babies.  Then at age 14, things change for Amy.  She harbors a secret crush on her best friend.  Unfortunately, Lisa who is their newest addition to the friendship, has decided to set her sights on Quinn.  Amy keeps her secret attraction to Quinn to herself and lets her two best buds have a chance at a relationship.  Lisa and Quinn eventually marry, with Amy standing in as Best Person, and tries to never show how she really feels toward Quinn.  She feels that her friendship with Quinn and Lisa is far more important than the secret crush she has kept to herself for more than 16 years. 

When Amy finally buys the Grand Theater, she is finally moving on and fulfilling her dreams.  When she has a few legal troubles during the purchase though, she knows she must make contact with Lisa and Quinn once again and seek their legal advice.  Quinn and Lisa are both successful lawyers, but have failed on the marriage front.  Lisa has an affair and Quinn files for divorce.  To Amy’s surprise Quinn comes to her rescue in court and also agrees to stay a few weeks to help with the remodel of the Grand Theater.  During this time, their love for each other blossoms into more than friendship. Neither one wants to make the first move in fear of losing the friendship the both have together.  Amy also doesn’t want to hurt Lisa, who is still her friend as well, since the divorce is still pending.

Through it all, the author had witty and laugh out loud moments that had me smiling the entire time.  I liked the whole friends before lovers theme and the love that Amy and Quinn had for each other.  Harlequin was even on the money for a cover that represents the story for a change! The couple on the cover is actually how they are described by the author and it features a scene from the book as well! Yes, it is a predictable theme and story, but you can’t help but read about first crushes, long time friendships and happily ever afters.

Author Sarah Mayberry delivers a sweet contemporary romance guaranteed to make you swoon!

MY RATING:


Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

CRESCENDO
Hush, Hush #2
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Source: Publisher
* I received this book free 
of charge in exchange for 
an honest review*

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (October 19, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416989439
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416989431

SUMMARY:

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can’t figure out if it’s for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. 

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn’t answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine? 

MY THOUGHTS:

Where can I start with this book without spoiling not only this story, but the previous book in the series? I will say that since it has been awhile since I read Hush, Hush, I had to sit and think about some things as I was reading Crescendo.  That is one of the drawbacks about books that are part of a series and the long wait between them.  After a bit though, everything started clicking back in place for me.

In Crescendo, Nora seemed a little whiny and needy.  She even bordered on stalker behavior at one point.  Patch was….Patch.  He still had the bad boy persona and the mouthy dialogue we loved about him in the first book.  He is still acting mysterious and frankly, it got to a point of making me want to jump in the book and slap the crap out of him!  You will get to see some familiar faces in this installment, including Rixon, Marcie, Vee and Detective Basso.

The ending wraps some parts of the story up, but be prepared for a new shocking ending that makes me desperately hoping the next book in the series will release a lot sooner!  Heartbreaking and an emotional roller coaster that will keep your emotions all over the place!

MY RATING:


Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

As an official Splash Team Member, I have the great joy of sharing with everyone the new cover and blurb for the sequel to Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs.  I give you the wonderful and beautiful cover for  
Fins Are Forever!!

FINS ARE FOREVER
Release Date: June 28th, 2011
On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mer girl, true, but signing the renunciation paperwork will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being human thing once and for all.
Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer-bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody?
The seafoam on the surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up. Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her dreams?
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I just wanted to share with my readers the shocking news I just stumbled upon.  Author Jennifer Rardin, passed away unexpectedly on Sept. 20th, 2010.  She is the author of the Jaz Park series. You can visit her blog found HERE to see which books I am referring to.

I want to send my deepest sympathies to the family.  May she sing beside the Angels and watch over you from above. She will be deeply missed by her fans as well.

 Jennifer Rardin
April 28, 1965 – September 20, 2010
No farewell words were spoken,
No time to say goodbye,
You were gone before we knew it,
And only God knows why.