Book Review: First Date by Melody Carlson

First Date by Melody Carlson
Publisher: Revell
Publish Date: October 15, 2013
Paperback, 224 pages
ISBN: 9780800721312
The Dating Games #1


My Review:
First date is the story of five girls, Emma, Cassidy, Abby, Bryn and Devon and their quest to go on a first date. I love Melody Carlson and wanted to read this book to see how she handled the friendship dynamic and also to see how the whole idea of girls that are Juniors going on their first date.

Overall I think this was a fun story. I really had to suspend disbelief though to think that 5 girls who were witty, smart and mostly attractive had never been on dates. Even worse was suspending disbelief that guys would listen to a teacher and decide not to date during their Junior and Senior years. Maybe things are different now and different at a Christian high school, but 20 years ago, I know we were all about dating in 11th and 12th grade.

So once you get past that let me move onto what worked for me in the story. The girls and their friendship worked. Why? Because Devon is the new girl but she's been friends with Emma forever. So when she starts at Northwood Academy she falls right into the role of Emma's best friend and becomes part of her group. But of course this causes problems. Cassidy had been Emma's best friend so now she's feeling left out. All of this is normal. Also when one or two do something in the group at least one of the others becomes paranoid and feels left out. Also normal. So I think Ms. Carlson really captured the girl group dynamic well in this novel.

Another thing I liked is when the girls decided to form their secret club and go after the boys, a couple of them needed makeovers. The nice thing is even though Devon was a little outspoken and could seem mean, she and the others could always mainly play up and fix small things about the girls. Just a little makeup that suited them or a wardrobe update. So it wasn't as much about looks as it was appearance. Here's one quote that I loved:

"Maybe I don't base my self-worth on my looks," Emma said. "I know I'm smart and I have a few talents. I'm a good artist. I'm not a beauty queen. I never will be. Besides that, it's not healthy to obsess over your appearance."

As far as characters go, Devon was a little brash and unlikeable in the beginning but as the book progresses she becomes more likeable. Cassidy seemed too goody-two-shoes, but by the end of the book she was one of my favorite characters. Emma and Abby are the sweet girls, and Bryn is the attractive one that offers competition for Devon. They all have their niche and I liked getting to know each one. I found ways to relate to each one as well. I was sometimes the loner like Cassidy, feeling a little left out. I was Emma thinking people should see me for what was inside not outside. I was Devon, looking for a good time and wanting to liven things up at times. I am Bryn now because she found ways to improve herself, by working out, updating her clothes but she's not completely obsessed with herself. And finally I was Abby because she respects her parents, has a tight-knit family and constantly wants to please them. So I think girls or adults reading this would find something relate-able in each girl. Not necessarily what I did, but there are many facets to the girls.

Concerning the plot, again suspending disbelief, it's mainly centered around the girls getting the boys interested in taking them to the homecoming dance. Along the way their are bumps. The girls learn lessons. Christianity is discussed but in a low-key kind of way. There are examples of the girls going to church and Devon's not going to church. There is talk of prayer and Cassidy consults with a youth group leader about dating. All of this worked for me. Melody Carlson is a Christian writer so all of this was expected.

What I didn't like. The whole not dating in high school thing. It was just hard to wrap my head around that. Also sometimes the secret club and the tactics the girls used just seemed a little middle school. But that was just me. These definitely weren't technical problems with the book, just things that bothered me personally. I still enjoyed reading the book.

All-in-all, First Date was a quick read and an interesting introduction to Ms. Carlson's new series. I will be reading the next book just to see what is up next for the girls because I really felt a connection to each one. The characters were interesting and while the plot was a little out there, it was fun.

I'll leave with one of my favorite profound statements in the book, it's a little long, but I love it:

This is when Cassidy talks to Julia, one of her church's youth leader about whether she should be dating or not since she made a personal pledge not to date in high school. Julia's answer is:

"I think you need to ask God those questions. For sure, if God tells you not to date, then you better listen and obey. But sometimes we run ahead of God and start making up rules for ourselves. Rules that aren't eally from God. It's almost like we think we can impress God, which is totally ridiculous. The next thing we know we're caught up in legalism - you now where you make a rule and think God is going to be pleased with you for keeping it. That's not how it works. That's how religion works. But God doesn't want us to be religious. He wants us to have a relationship with him. Not a bunch of rules."

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

*** Available October 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  ***

About the Book:
Five high school friends have one thing in common as they start their sophomore year: none of them have ever been on a "real" date. With homecoming looming, they make a pact and start a secret club they call the DG (Dating Game). They're sworn to secrecy--and to purity--but the club is their way to set each other up on their first dates so they can report back to the DG. Of course, they all make different choices about how to deal with their parents and how to act on their dates, and they discover that they all have totally different experiences. Still, the things they learn about boys and dating will stick with them throughout high school. 

Bestselling author and teen favorite Melody Carlson starts off her newest series with a good dose of fun, tackling two topics teen girls love to read about--friends and boys.
 

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Book Review and Great Excerpt: Undeniable by Shannon Richard

Undeniable by Shannon Richard
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publish Date: October 1, 2013
Paperback, 400 pages
ISBN: 9781455547425

My Review:
First note, I did not read the first book in the series, yet. Yet being the key word. That said I would say there is a small spoiler of something that happens in the first book in the beginning of Undeniable. The fact that Brendan and Paige get together is not surprising and I don't think this spoiler will change anything for me reading the book, I will just know one thing that happens. So you can start with Undone or read Undeniable as a standalone.

Next I'll start with the Prologue. Oh my gosh, how darling and it really sets the stage for the rest of the book. I was hooked right from the beginning. I loved Grace, she's smart, she's independent, but she knows just who she wants for her man even though she thinks she can't get him to see her as anything but a little sister. Oh and she's an awesome baker and an amazing friend. What is there not to love about her. Jax is equally awesome. He's good-looking, a hard worker and trying desperately to outrun his past and his Dad. He also hasn't been thinking of Grace as a sister (Brendan is his best friend and Grace's brother) since she was about 18. However he's a little harder to convince that he's good enough for Grace. There are other key player, of course Brendan and Paige factor in. There are Grace's friends, Harper, Mel and Preston. There is Shep the third in the trio that have been friends since forever (Brendan, Jax and Shep). And briefly I must talk about Shep who I am guessing gets the next book. Now Brendan and Jax are good-looking, but I am definitely intrigued by Shep and he sounds hot as evidenced by this quote:

Out of the three of them, Shep was most definitely the bad boy of the group. Tattoos were scattered across both of his arms and forearms. He had perpetual scruff on his wide, chiseled jaw and above his lips, which were usually quirked up in a smile. He had the darkest blue eyes that Grace had ever seen on a man and thick wavy black hair that was always shaggy and rumpled.

I can't wait to read more about him. And to round out the men there is Bennett a construction worker who was once in the service, and I hope to learn more about him as well. There is family, Jax's awful Dad, Grace and Brendan's wonderful grandparents. And finally there are the bad guys who have always been around Hoyt, Judson and Chad plus the nasty gossip blogger Bethelda Grimshaw. So with this wonderful cast of good and bad characters where can you go wrong?

As far as plot, it moves along well. Jax and Grace's on-again, off-again relationship being the main driving factor along with some breakins that Jax is investigating. There are some incredibly funny moments like this conversation with Shep early in the book (see the excerpt below to find out what leads up to this):

"So it was a good talk then?"
No, the talking hadn't been good. Every time Jax had opened his mouth he'd said something stupid. Who was he kidding? Everything he'd done with his mouth had been stupid.
Incredible? Yes. But also incredibly stupid.
"Is there a point to this?" Jax asked.
"Yeah. Two of them as a matter of fact and they're on your ass."
"What?"
"You've got some nice Grace-sized handprints."
"Shit," Jax said wiping his hands vigorously on the back of his pants.
"It's on the back of your shirt, too, and on your collar. You two roll around in flour or something?."

But more than that, Undeniable tackles some issues not in tons of detail, but enough to bring them to your attention. And I love how it does that while still being a romance novel. Some of the things it brings to the forefront are hate crimes, child abuse, bullying, homosexuality, losing a parent at early age and not even knowing who your father is. This is a light and fluffy book, but then again it isn't. Ms. Richards finds the perfect balance to deal with issues while still keeping the focus on Jax and Grace.

I would say the only thing that really bothered me about this book was Jax's struggle. Sometimes I wanted to beat him over the head. But I realize he had to have it to grow and for the book to move and him to finally come to his senses. Though it frustrated me, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Ms. Richards weaves a wonderful tale of a community of friends who will do anything to protect each other. And with a wonderful lesson that sometimes your family is not blood-related but those who have surrounded you, loved you and cared for you all along.

Sometimes blood wasn't the strongest bond. Sometimes your friends were your real family.

It's a beautiful book with a great romance and I can't wait to go back and read Undone and be drawn in by more of Ms. Richards magic. And I'm all set for Unstoppable, the third book in the Country Roads series as well! I love small town novels and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite series.

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

About UNDENIABLE

Grace King knows two things for certain: she loves working at her grandmother's café and she loves the hunky town sheriff. She always has. As she bakes him sweet treats, Grace fantasizes about helping him work up an appetite all night long. But whenever she thinks she's finally getting somewhere, he whips out some excuse to escape. Growing up, he never looked twice at her. Now Grace won't rest until she has Jax's undivided attention.

Jaxson Anderson can't deny that his best friend's kid sister is the sexiest woman in Mirabelle, Florida. Unwilling to burden Grace with his painful past, Jax keeps the sassy blonde at arm's length. Yet one heated kiss crumbles all of his carefully built defenses. But when a town secret surfaces, threatening to destroy everything they have believed in, can the man who defended Grace from bullies as a child protect her now?

About Shannon Richard
Shannon Richard grew up in the Panhandle of Florida as the baby sister of two overly protective, but loving brothers. She was raised by a more than somewhat eccentric mother, a self-proclaimed vocabularist who showed her how to get lost in a book, and a father who passed on his love for coffee and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor's in English Literature, and still lives in Tallahassee where she battles everyday life with writing, reading, and a rant every once in a while. Okay, so the rants might happen on a regular basis. She's still waiting for her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination. Oh, and she's a pretty big fan of the whimsy.

Excerpt:

It was then Jax did the most impulsive thing he’d ever done in his life. He knew exactly where the impulse came from; he’d had the desire for years. He just wasn’t sure how the overwhelming need overran all of his sense. He grabbed Grace before he even realized what he was doing. He gripped her elbows and brought her body flush up against his. His mouth came down hard on hers. She inhaled, startled, and Jax took full advantage of the tiny opening of her mouth, dipping his tongue in and finding hers.

Holy shit.

Never in his life had Jax kissed a girl and felt like his whole body was on fire, burning from the inside out. This was incredible, like nothing he’d ever known. She was warm, and sweet, and soft. How could the inside of someone’s mouth feel this way? Taste this good?

Grace sighed in pleasure as her body relaxed against his. Her arms wound around his neck. He wrapped his hands around her waist as he walked her backward. When her back hit the counter he put his hands on her bottom and pulled her up to sit on top of it, their mouths never breaking.

Holy shit, his hands were on Grace’s ass. Her perfect, incredible ass.

Her shoes hit the floor a second before she pulled her legs around him, her bare feet running up the back of his thighs. Her hands were on his chest, as one of his pulled out the tie in her hair so that he could run his fingers through it. She grabbed on to his side, and her hands slid around and lowered until they were on his butt. She squeezed and he thought he was going to go off, right then and there.

He pulled away from her mouth, letting his lips travel down the slope of her neck. How many times had he fantasized about this? About feeling her soft skin underneath his lips? God he loved her neck, the soft delicate space at the hollow of her throat.

“Jax.” She said his name with so much need that he abandoned his exploration of her neck.

He palmed the back of her head in one of his hands as he slanted his mouth over hers. Grace moaned when their tongues found each other again. The sound of it rumbled in Jax’s chest and settled low in his abdomen.

 Jax wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, wrapped around each other in more ways than one, before a crackling noise filled the kitchen. Mary Landers’s voice squawked through the speaker attached to Jax’s shirt.

“Seventeen, what’s your location?”

Jax pulled back from Grace, both of them breathing hard. Grace’s hair was everywhere, courtesy of his hands. She opened her eyes slowly, as if she was delaying coming back to reality, but Jax slammed into it hard.

What the hell had he just done?

 

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Entangled Teen October Releases + Giveaway

Today we're celebrating the release of Entangled Teen's October books! Read all about them and enter to win the giveaway below! 

Allure by Lea Nolan

Worst. Summer. Ever.

Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries.

Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Faced with the horror of a soul-eating boohag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.

Amazon | B&N | Indiebound

Made of Stars by Kelley York

When eighteen-year-old Hunter Jackson and his half sister, Ashlin, return to their dad’s for the first winter in years, they expect everything to be just like the warmer months they’d spent there as kids. And it is—at first. But Chance, the charismatic and adventurous boy who made their summers epic, is harboring deep secrets. Secrets that are quickly spiraling into something else entirely.

The reason they’ve never met Chance’s parents or seen his home is becoming clearer. And what the siblings used to think of as Chance's quirks—the outrageous stories, his clinginess, his dangerous impulsiveness—are now warning signs that something is seriously off.

Then someone turns up with a bullet to the head, and all eyes shift to Chance's family. Hunter and Ashlin know Chance is innocent...they just have to prove it. But how can they protect the boy they both love when they can’t trust a word Chance says?

Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | Kobo

Evanescent by Andria Buchanan

Trapped in the deadly land of Nerissette, Allie has all but given up on any return to the mortal realm. Unless she can find the two elusive artifacts that have the power to get her and her friends back home.

But she’s got even bigger problems as the newly crowned queen of Nerissette: she must unite her people in the midst of a civil war and capture the Fate Maker—the evil puppet master responsible for the conflict—before he can find another army willing to return him to power.

On top of it all, Allie is just a normal teenager. Her feelings are growing for the guy she’s certain is her true love, and balancing her personal life while being the queen isn’t as easy as it sounds. Allie must learn the true meaning of bravery, love, and kinship, regardless of the world—and danger—around her.

Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | Kobo

Sidelined by Kendra Highley

After being pushed to excel her entire life, high school basketball star Genna Pierce is finally where she wants to be. University scouts are taking notice, her team is on its way to the state tourney, and Jake Butler, the hot boy she's daydreamed about since ninth grade, is showing some definite interest. When he asks her out and their relationship takes off, Genna believes things can't get better.

Then, it's over.

A freak accident ends her career before it's even begun. Her parents are fighting more than ever, her friends don't understand what she's going through, and she's not sure who she is without basketball. And while he tries to be there for her, Genna doesn't understand how Jake could ever want the broken version of the girl he fell for.

Her life in a tailspin, Genna turns to the only solace that eases her pain: Vicodin.

Amazon | B&N | Kobo


To celebrate the launch of these books, Entangled Teen is giving away three ebooks. Check out the Rafflecopter for more information!

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***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Cover Reveal: The Accidental Marriage by Annette Haws (+ $25 cash giveaway!)

It's time for another exciting cover reveal.  Today it's for The Accidental Marriage by Annette Haws from Cedar Fort Publishing and it will be released on December 10, 2013.  So find out what it's about and then check out the great cover!

About THE ACCIDENTAL MARRIAGE: 

Publication Date: December 10, 2013

ISBN: 9781462113743

Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing

Nina Rushforth was born with a silver spoon caught in her throat. She and her father have mapped out a future that includes a brilliant legal career, a marriage to an equally stellar attorney or Wall Street whiz kid, and eventually the production of three perfect children. A semester at St. Andrew's University in Scotland, was part of the plan, but falling in love with a handsome missionary was not.

Six months later, after Elliot returns from his mission and after a tumultuous courtship, Nina finds herself teaching at a junior high school, learning to keep house in a minuscule apartment, and living with a man who doesn't know any more about being married than she does. Intimacy, cooking, laundry, lesson plans, and a tug-of-war with a possessive mother-in-law prove to be more overwhelming than Nina can successfully manage. The newlyweds awaken to realize the head on the adjacent pillow belongs to a stranger.

This novel captures the heartbreak of young love caught in the turbulent social crosscurrents of the 70's, at a time when brave women struggled to find dignity and equality in the workplace, as well as peace at home.

And now for the cover:

Buy Links:

Praise for THE ACCIDENTAL MARRIAGE:

“A thoughtful, heartbreaking, and often laugh-out-loud romp… Annette Haws explores the interesting question: What keeps a marriage together?”

--Terrell Dougan, a columnist for the Huffington Post and the author of That Went Well: Adventures in Caring for my Sister

“Haws delivers a story that makes you want to rush to the end to find out what happens and prose that makes you want to slow down and savor it.”

--Karey White, author of For What It’s Worth, Gifted, and My Own Mr. Darcy

“If you want a story with plot, character and real, deep meaning that will leave you thinking long after you’re done, this is the book for you.”

--Shannon Guymon, author of Do Over

About Annette:  

Annette Haws’s literary strengths are based upon her experiences in the

classroom. She began her teaching career as a junior high teacher in Richmond, Utah and ended it teaching Sophomore English at Murray High School in Salt Lake City. However, her favorite assignment was a five year period at Logan High School teaching English, coaching debate and mock trial, and watching the antics of her own three children who were also students in the same school.

Her first novel, Waiting for the Light to Change, won Best of State in 2009, A Whitney Award for Best Fiction, and the Diamond Quill Award for Best Published Fiction in 2009 from the League of Utah Writers. In July of 2008, the Midwest Book Review selected it as a Top Pick for Community Library Fiction Collections.

Social Media Links:

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Book on Goodreads

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Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Ruined by Jus Acardo

Today I have a great cover reveal for you.  It's Ruined by Jus Accardo.  You know you want to see this and be sure and enter the giveaway as well!

Ruined

by Jus Accardo

Hell is looking for a way to break loose…

Jax lost the genetic lottery. Descended from Cain, the world's first murderer, he's plagued by a curse that demands violence in exchange for his happiness. He left everything behind, including the girl he loved, but thriving on the pain of others is lonely… And it's killing him.

After a series of heartbreaking losses, Samantha put rubber to pavement and headed for college as fast as her clunker could carry her. But she can't outrun her problems. When an attack at school drives her back home, she's thrown into the path of a past—and a guy—she's been trying to forget.

Sam strains Jax's control over his darkness, but running isn't an option this time. Someone—or, something—followed her home from school: a ruthless monster with a twisted plan centuries in the making. Forced together to survive, and fighting an attraction that could destroy them both, Jax and Sam must stop a killer bent on revenge.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18545084-ruined

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ruined-Entangled-Embrace-ebook/dp/B00FILC2FM/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ruined-jus-accardo/1117003674?ean=9781622661848

About Jus Accardo

JUS ACCARDO spent her childhood reading and learning to cook. Determined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a chef, she applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America. At the last minute, she realized her path lay with fiction, not food, and passed on the spot to pursue writing. Jus is the bestselling author the popular Denazen series from Entangled publishing and is currently working on the first book in a new adult series due out summer 2013. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald.

Website: http://www.jusaccardo.com

Blog: http://www.jusaccardo.com/category/blog/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JusAccardo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJusAccardo

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