Cover Love: United We Spy by Ally Carter

Apparently, I totally missed out on this but... there is a cover for the final Gallagher Girls book (and a title) UNITED WE SPY.

I actually saw the UK cover first, and then went to look the US one.

I think I like the UK one more, actually.

Anyway, summary, such as it is now:
Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever

Book Review: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald

The Deal: Hallie and Grace Weston are going through a rough time: their father has died and left everything to his new wife (the woman he left their mom for) and baby; and their artist mother is more distracted than ever. 

Soon, their step mother Portia kicks them out and the gils are forced to move to L.A. with relatives, where ever the Drama Queen Hallie seems to thrive in her own way while younger sister Grace is trying to keep it all together.

My Thoughts: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood is basically and upside-down modernized version of Sense and Sensibility, and for the most part I rather liked it. The twists and updates were pretty smart  and ballsy and I think the spirit of the story was kept.

I liked the characters even though I thought Hallie was a bit over the top and annoying, and Portia was so mean and I got so mad at Hallie and Graces dad and, and their mom too, for their neglect.

Aside from that, it was okay. I really disliked the title (sounds like a lazy title to me, somehow) but the writing was fun. Didn't like it as much as I did Abby McDonald's previous book Getting Over Garrett Delaney but it was a fun way to pass time anyhow, and I've certainly read worse Jane Austen Retellings. 

1/2

Book Review: It Had To Be You by Jill Shalvis

At First Sight: Ali Winters is having a pretty rotten week. Her seemingly perfect boyfriend turns out to be a cheater, he didn't renew the lease on their shared house which left her homeless and everyone in town thinks she's a thief because Teddy lost 50 grand and it's blaming her. And her former landlor Luke Hanover showing up is not helping matters. Or is it?

Luke is returning to Lucky Harbor for the first time in almost ten years, to stay at the house he inherited from his Grandma. A police detective, he needs a break from his last case (which ended in disaster) so he just wants to hole up in the old house and lay low.

He didn't expect to find Ali standing in his kitchen, yelling on the phone and wearing nothing but her undies. Luke can tell she's going to complicate his life, but he still lets her stay the night, and when Teddy's accusations surface, he sides with Ali almost right away, and lets himself be dragged into trying to find out who really did it and clear her name.

Second Glance: I do so enjoy going back to Luck Harbor every once in a while. And one of the things I love best is how, through the scope of the series there are this mini-trilogies that you can just pick up and enjoy without having to go back and read from the beginning.

It Had to Be You is the beginning of one of such trilogies, and it does a lovely job of it. It doesn't waste time introducing you to the town just to the new set of characters, starting with Ali and Luke. They were nice and likable.

Ali was very independent, loved doing artistic things and was close to her family even while she tried to live a different life from theirs. Luke had a few more hangs ups with what happened to his family years before, he's the type that often blames himself for everything and always tries to help.

It was good to see them together, I did believe them as a couple. And I loved the other characters introduced, like Luke's best friend Jack and Pastry chef Leah (they are set up to be the couple of the next book, Always On My Mind).

Bottom Line: For me, going back to Lucky Harbor is like chatting up with an old friend and It Had to Be You turned out to be a very nice conversation. It's a sweet story without it being overly complicated and, even though I could tell who had stolen the money from the start, I still enjoyed it a lot. 

Review Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Speed Date: Forget Me Not by Nina Blake

The Plot: After nearly 10 years together, Stefan and Claire were over, they had even been separated for 6 months already... when Stefan woke up on a park bench not knowing his name, what city he was in or who he was.

Claire swears she has moved on, and it's not like she owes Stefan anything - he left her, not the other way around - but she can't turn her back on him when she learns what has happened to him, so she takes him in and tries to help him get re-adjusted to life.

And she's surprised to find that this new, amnesic Stefan resembles the guy she fell in love with years before a lot more than he resembles the starched up one that left her; as they try to make their way around his memory loss and the painful memories she just can't forget. 

First Date: Oh, I love me some amnesia plot!! I know these are totes unrealistic but I LOVE a good Amnesia book. A bit sparse on the details of what happened but otherwise taking off to a good speed. 

Second Date: Some mysteries are hinted at, I think I'm pretty sure that I know what it is but this is entertaining me so much. I like seeing the two sides of Stefan. His parents suck though. I do love Claire's family, but it's kind of weird she doesn't seem to have any friends. 

Third Date: *happy sigh* Oh, that was sweet. I liked the ending, though it was still a bit sparse on the details. 

Relationship Status: Just Friends, but that's a good thing.
I'm not exactly sur if Forget Me Not is the kind of book that rocks your world, but it totally made me relax. I liked Claire and Stefan well enough, and I loved the whole amnesia thing and how they had to work around their issues. That was fun.

It took me about 2 or 3 hours to read the whole book, and by the end I was feeling happy and relaxed. That's the kind of book this is.

2/3

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Ps -Review copy provided by the Publisher via Net Galley

Speed Date: The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider (or The Book Formerly Known as Severed Heads and Broken Hearts)

The Plot: Ezra Faulkner was the boy who had it all: the hot girlfriend, the sweet ride and he was at the very top of the high school food chain... until the end of Junior year when he caught his girlfriend cheating and got into a car crash, which ended his budding tennis career.

A summer later, Ezra is starting senior year with a limp and no idea where he's supposed to belong. He's angry: at life, at the SUV that blew through the stop sign and shattered his knee, at Charlotte for cheating, at his friends for never visiting him in the hospital. He wants things to go back to what they were but is intensely aware that they can't.

Enter Cassidy Thorpe. She's a prep school transplant and the new girl in town. She's not quite like any of the girls Ezra has ever been around: she's smart and not afraid of showing it, she is quirky and original and always seems to have a plan for an adventure. At first they don't get along all that well but when they do, Cassidy also becomes a link to Ezra's former best friend Toby Ellicott, whom she knows from Debate tournaments.

Toby and Ezra were best friends up until they were 12, when Toby's tragedy struck him and their friendship was lost in the war zone of middle school. Now, Toby is kind of cool among the geeky/nerdy set of the school and, against the odds, willing to embrace Ezra into his group of friends.

As Ezra loses himself into new friendships, new interests and Cassidy Thorpe, he starts to find himself, even if he does stumble quite a bit. 

First Date: Oh Ezra, I don't usually like boy-narrators but I'll make an exception for you, since I like your voice. And I like Toby!!! I mean, he's not on a lot yet but I like him already. Cassidy seems rude though, and a bit snotty in the Manic Pixie Dream Girl -way that MPDGs have. 

Second Date: Cassidy is a definite MPDG, and the variety I like the least. BUT! I like the rest of the characters a lot, like Phoebe and Toby and the others. And Cooper! I love Cooper, total team Cooper!  Ezra, you are a compelling narrator, but even Toby can see the sucker punch that's coming your way. 

Third Date: Well... I'm a little conflicted. I like the ending in theory but I'm not sure I LOVE the execution. Like, I like the spirt and where the story ended, but the writing felt a little forced right at the end. But maybe I was just... yeah, I had a very emotional reaction to something that happened before the end so yeah, might be clouding my impression of the third date. 

Relationship Status: Going Steady with Ezra
I really liked The Beginning of Everything (or The Book Formerly known as Severed Heads and Broken Hearts) (and I hope I'm not a total jerk for reviewing a book that comes out in August 27th).

Ezra was a great narrator and I quite liked him, I loved the debate crowd and how they embraced their nerdiness like it was a given without making a bug fuss about it, they were what they were and that was that. Plus, they were cleaver and smart without being annoying (except fo Cassidy, but Cassidy annoyed me the whole way so I'm not counting her), and they sounded like teenagers at the same time.

Cassidy was my one big hang up with this book because I found her kind of annoying most of the time. She's one of those MPDGs that try too hard and are kind of needy at the same time, though they keep pushing you away. I was okay with the way her story interwove with Ezra's, and the big reveal was kinda obvious by that point, but still, that wasn't the problem, I just didn't like her very much, though I can totally see why a guy like Ezra would fall for her.

All in all, I loved reading The Beginning of Everything.. It starts a little slow but once it hits its stride is hard to put down. I liked Ezra's dry wit and I actually liked the beginning a lot, where he talks about the tragedies that mark our lives and how we all have one. 

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm