(ARC Review) THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger

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THE DUFF
Author: Kody Keplinger
Source: Around the World Tours

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Poppy (September 7, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316084239
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316084239

SYNOPSIS:


Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face. 

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley. 

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. 

MY THOUGHTS:

Yes, I was The Duff, or as the cover states, “Designated Ugly Fat Friend”.  Now, I wasn’t really this in school, but more around the family members that are my age.  I was the chunkier, average girl while my 2 younger cousins were the pretty, skinny model types. When we went to clubs, I was on the sidelines while they were getting the attention. It wasn’t fun and I instantly related to the character of Bianca in this book.

Bianca has two friends that are hotter than she is.  She sits at the club on the sidelines while her two best friends get the attention.  Now, her best friends aren’t mean to her and don’t see Bianca as The Duff.  In fact, they have insecurities of their own, but Bianca doesn’t see it that way. Especially when Wesley–the school womanizer–comes up to her in the club and nicknames her The Duff.  He admits to talking to her just because the hot friends will notice him more if he is seen talking with the outsider of the group.  I wanted to jump into the book and slap the crap out of this boy!

Bianca has also had a crush on another boy for three years named Toby. When Toby breaks up with his girlfriend and finally notices Bianca, she gets confused because she thinks he is too perfect for her.  Wesley and Bianca have been hanging around a lot–doing term papers and basically having romps in bed–and she is now confused. I felt the confusion she went through.  I really started to enjoy Wesley in the book once we started to see what was really going on in his life.  I loved the smart mouth dialogue between everyone in the book.  Best of all, this could be about anyone really.  We all have our insecurities and feel like The Duff at one point in our life.

I really enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.  I was disappointed when the story ended.  I wanted more! I wanted to reread the book as soon as I finished.  A great read that every teen should read to let them know that no one is perfect.  Everyone has flaws, but this book was a perfect read!

MY RATING:


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

We interrupt your reading for…..

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A WEATHER REPORT! LMAO!!!!

OMG! What was I thinking when I let my parents move me to this God Forsaken Desert long ago? I know, I didn’t have much choice when I was like 6 years old, but COME ON!  I just looked at the temp outside, and can you believe it is 105 in the freakin shade??!!  What makes it worse is the damn water pump in our swamp cooler just went out! So yeah, it feels like 115 in the house.  Hubby came home from work and fixed it thank goodness!

When people refer to Dry Heat and such, don’t listen! There is only one kind of heat—FREAKIN HOT!  That’s right! HOT!  It is so hot outside my house right now that when you take one step outside you have instant sweat and its hard to breathe.  I hate that all winter long I whine about the cold, and then in summer I whine about the heat.  But here in our Southern California town, we have 2 seasons.  Hot and Hotter. Anyone else feeling the summer yet?? Is it Winter time yet??? Whats worse are the kids are on summer break and wanting to sit on my lap to complain about the heat. HELLO? Get the hell out of my lap because you are making me hotter!! They want me to cook them food and I tell them to go get a sandwich! I am not freaking cooking in this heat!

Okay just had to vent…resume your blog hopping! LOL

MY DANGEROUS DUKE by Gaelen Foley

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MY DANGEROUS DUKE

Author: Gaelen Foley
Source: Publisher
* I received this book free of 
charge in exchange for an
honest review*
  • Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Avon (June 29, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061733970
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061733970
SYNOPSIS:
The Inferno Club: In public, this scandalous society of London aristocrats is notorious for pursuing all manner of debauchery. But in private, they are warriors who would do anything to protect king and country . . .
They say that the very name of Warrington is cursed . . . 
From a time as old as the cold stone of the duke’s ancestral castle, the Warrington men have been plagued by tragedy. But Rohan Kilburn, the Duke of Warrington, has vowed to escape the predestined torment by forsaking love and devoting his life to the Inferno Club and its secret mission. 
And then she is brought to him unbidden by cutthroats hoping to calm the duke’s infamous temper—a sacrificial virgin of sorts. But even overpowered, Kate Madsen will be no man’s sacrifice. And the duke’s price for claiming her may be what he has sworn never to give—the heart he has so long and fiercely guarded—to the beautiful hostage he was never meant to love. 
MY THOUGHTS:
I am very picky about my Historical and Regency Romance books.  I have slowly started reading more and more of these type of books recently and was thrilled when the publisher sent me this book for review. 
First of all, lets go over the good points.  The story seemed to be like a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  I love it when authors do this intentionally or not even realizing they are doing it.  When a book is an adaptation of some of my favorite fairy tales, I am instantly attracted to it. We have the beautiful bookworm Kate, who is kidnapped and given as a gift to The Beast Rohan.  Now even though they call him The Beast, it is not because he is ugly or anything. In fact, he is very handsome.  He has a reputation though of killing, being hard core, and cursed to boot!  The treasure hunt near the end of the book was fascinating and fun.  There is witty dialogue that made some fun moments mixed into the serious moments.
Now for the bad of the book.  While I like the characters of Rohan and Kate, I just couldn’t get the two to click when put together.  There didn’t seem to be any sparks between the two.  The only time I really liked them together was when they were bickering and when they were on the treasure hunt.  The steamy scenes were in fact hot, but it felt too forced between the two.  I also couldn’t stand all the filler in the book.  I don’t want a crash course in history when I am reading the book.  Yes, some of it pertained to the plot, but a lot of it just filled like the author was trying to fill the pages to meet a page count.  Also, why do we have to hear the titles so many times? I know he is a Duke, and his friends are of royalty titles as well, but do we have to be reminded of it every time they are reintroduced in a chapter or scene? 
Overall, the book was good as a stand alone even though it is part of a series.  The plot was fun, the bickering was fun, but the rest was just okay.  I would still read something else by this author, but I would be hesitant in buying it first.
MY RATING:

 
Okay book, but it left me wanting more! 3 STARS

IMM: IN MY MAILBOX

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In My Mailbox is hosted over at The Story Siren. Thanks Kristi for hosting!

This was an awesome week for me! It seemed like all of my PaperBackSwap orders came in at once! I got 2 packages from 2 different book fairies, and lots of contest wins!  This is not an ordinary week for me.  The reason I have so many coming in my mailbox at the moment is because I am trying to get a bunch of books for the new tour site and for giveaways.  If you haven’t stopped by the new tour site, you should!  Lot’s of great books will be posting soon!

 These are my review books that came this week.  I know it looks like a lot, but I read very quickly. The box that they are sitting on is full of 56 copies of Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey.  They were sent to me by Bloomsbury Kids for me to pass out at the Eclipse premier to teens as they either enter the movie or when they come out.  I can’t wait to make some teens happy!

This from a wonderful book fairy! Anna from Anna’s Book Blog surprised me with these ARCs and already released books. She also knows I am  HUGE fan of swag, so she included a baggie of swag for me as well! THANK YOU ANNA!!!!!!

This is my other goodies from my Secret Book Fairy.  I am telling you, she is an awesome person and friend! She feeds my addiction so much and I can’t thank her enough!

This is my huge stack of books that arrived this week from PaperBackSwap!  Look at all that yummy bookness! Most of these are for the tour site to give you a little preview of what will be coming next month! Well, the smut books are for my personal reading and the rest is for the tour site. LOL

These are my tour books from Around the World Tours. I am reading Duff right now so be on the lookout for the review to be posted soon. If you haven’t checked out that tour site, you are missing out. Cindy does a wonderful and professional job! She has a lot of great tours open right now.

The first three books shown here I won over at The Story Siren in a contest.  Willow I won over at Anna’s Book Blog in a contest.  Thank you to both of you for the contests!!

This is my contest win from Larissa’s Bookish Life.  I won a signed copy that Keri Arthur sent along with candy and Tim Tam’s that I have heard so much about!

That is what I got in the mail this week. Hop on over to The Story Siren and share what you got this week in your mailbox!