The Book Of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler

The Book Of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Release Date: May 21, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 368


Summary: When all signs point to heartbreak, can love still be a rule of the road? A poignant and romantic novel from the author of Bittersweet and Twenty Boy Summer.

Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.

My Thoughts: Jude and her sisters made a pact a long time ago, to stay away from all the Vargas boys. They even have a book of broken hearts! The Vargas boys are heart breakers, and good for nothing!

But boy oh boy did Jude get a surprising when she ran into Emilio Vargas and noticed how hot and sexy he was! He made her mad, annoyed, and gave her butterflies in her stomach.

Jude and her father are going to fix his old motorcycle. All they need are the parts, the time, and a mechanic who knows what he’s doing. Pretty easy to find, right? Jude thought so too until she was paired up with Emilio who just happens to be good at his job and quite the guy to fix cycles!

Jude and her father’s relationship is so sweet. He isn’t doing well and Jude is spending her last summer before college helping him out. But she believes deep down in her heart, that if she can restore his motorcycle, he’ll remember and be ok.

And the chemistry between Emilio and Jude is so sweet. I loved the way he talked and the way they acted around one another. He made her blush and laugh.

I also loved Jude’s relationship with her family. Her sisters remind me a lot of my own. They have such funny and sweet relationships. They are there for each other, know when to get serious, and when to joke around.

I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved this story and how it triggered so many emotions in me.  I felt every emotion running through Jude as it was my own. I felt so sorry for her father and wanted to hug him and tell him it would be ok.

Amazing setting, amazing characters, amazing family dynamics, and amazing love!

I think this is the best Ockler book up to date!

Overall: Loved it! I think it’s the best Ockler book I've read! I thought it was amazing and I loved all the characters. Yes, it has romance but it also focused on family which was awesome.

Cover: I actually like it. I like the colors, the book, the heart, everything. I think its sweet!

What I’d Give It:

The Rules For Disappearing by Ashley Elston

The Rules For Disappearing by Ashley Elston
Release Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320

Summary: She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.

My Thoughts: When I heard about this novel, I knew I had to read it. It sounded so freaking good and it was! So happy I gave this debut a chance!

We are introduced to Meg aka the girl with more than one name. She’s in the witness protection program along with her mother, father, and little sister. They have moved town to town quite a few times already on what Meg believes something her father seen. She hates moving and changing her name but she deals with it.

She ends up in a small town and meets a boy at her school. His name is Ethan and he’s so adorable! She instantly clicked with him but knows she needs to stay away from him. No point in putting down roots just to have to leave him behind. She’s been there and done that.

She finds herself falling for him and actually liking the town. She gets a job making pizzas and things are setting down a little bit. She’s getting into a routine and she knows that is bad.

After a while, she becomes a little paranoid and things change for her. She starts to realize why the family is in witness protection and that scares her the most.  I loved Teeny. She was such a cute little sister.

I can’t go on and on about this one, because I’ll give away way too many details and I don’t want to spoil it for you. I saw a few things coming but never to the extent it went too.  

I adored all the characters and there were a lot of laugh out loud moments with Ethan. I loved his group of friends and even his sister a little bit.  Meg and Ethan together= Loved!

Awesome characters, even more awesome plot, great 2013 Debut!

Overall: I really loved this one to pieces! I loved Meg and the way she looked at things. I liked how she tried to keep a level head. I loved the plot of this and how fast it went. I got so wrapped up in the story, I lost track of time and I was down before I knew it! This will probably end up as one of my favorite 2013 debuts!  This rocked!

Cover: Love it! Love how she is barefoot!

What I’d Give It:

Golden by Jessi Kirby

Golden by Jessi Kirby
Release Date: May 14, 2012
Publisher: Simon And Schuster Books For Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 256

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost may be a distant relative of Robert Frost, but she has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a mystery in her lap—one that might be the key to uncovering the truth behind a town tragedy, she decides to take a chance.

My Thoughts: Whoa, I loved this one. A little bit mystery, a little bit of a road trip, plus a best friend and a boy to die for! HOT! So good! I don’t want to say much about this one since it comes out in quite a bit but I  have to say I loved and adored it.

I loved Moonglass and haven’t read Kirby’s sophomore novel yet but I jumped on the chance to read Golden!

We are introduced to Parker who always does the right thing. She is the perfect student. She has such a big heart, she never does the wrong thing, or takes risk. She’s a straight arrow.

She gets involved in a project and soon that project takes over her life. She has to know what happened to this mystery couple that died when she was a kid. It’s been the town mystery and when she gets the chance to unravel it, she must just take it, despite something inside her saying it's none of her business, really.

Throw in her crazy best friend, and the boy she’s pined after for years, and this is such a great contemporary novel.  If you get to read it soon, consider yourself very lucky!

I loved reading the diary entries, it made everything so much better and I wanted the full scoop too. I really enjoyed all the characters and the way they interacted.  I loved the plot. I loved the scenes, even when she gets covered in mud!

Like I said, I don’t want to give much away but this was one of my favorite books read this year!

Golden was awesome! Please please read this novel when it hits shelves!

Overall: AMAZING! If you liked Kirby’s other novels, you’ll probably enjoy this one. I read it in a day and I was so happy I did!

Cover: Like it. It’s really not all that bright and colorful but it still fits. I still like it. 

What I'd Give It:

On The Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

On The Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Release Date: July 10, 2012 (reprint edition)

Publisher: Plume

Age Group: Adult

Pages: 336

Summary: When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter.

Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

My Thoughts:  My sister recommended this book to me. I’m always weary reading adult books. I just tend to like Young Adult more. But this one really blew me away.

We are introduced to Anna who is in her late twenties. She is also a teacher and dating a guy who just won’t commit. They’ve been together 8 years yet they aren’t married and have no kids yet. She wants those things.

We also meet 16 year old T.J. T.J. is a survivor of cancer and his parents want Anna to tutor him and help him get caught up with his classmates. His parents flew over to Maldive and T.J. stays behind a few days. The plan is for him to fly over with Anna. She is going with them for the summer to tutor him. They get on a plane, and the plane never makes it to their destination.  They go down somewhere in the ocean and lucky for them, they are close enough to an island to actually make it to the island. This is crazy. They have to survive on their own, and just hope they can make it through the next few days until they get rescued.

I wasn't sure how long this was going to last, how long they would stay before they got rescued. As the book progressed, even though Anna is quite a bit older than T.J. I wanted her to end up with him. They understood each other, and the chemistry was there, especially once we really got to know them.

This one was awesome. I loved watching them survive. I loved they way they talked to one another, and I loved those “uncomfortable” scenes. I loved watching T.J. grow as a person and I just adored him. I felt myself laughing, smiling, and sniffling.

I won’t say much else about this one. I loved it even though it wasn't YA! I hope everyone gives this book a chance just to see what you think.

Overall: I loved the setting, the characters, the plot, everything that happened. I loved both Anna and T.J. and I loved it! I read it in one sitting and late into the night.

Cover: It’s alright. I liked how she’s just walking across the beach.

What I’d Give It:

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howard

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howard
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304


Summary: For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she’ll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn’t.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it’s the things Cricket hadn’t counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

My Thoughts: Cricket, what a cool name! We are introduced to Cricket who has a mother she lives with and a father who barely knows her. He has another family now.  Cricket spends most of her time with her best friend Jules' family. Jules has a mother, father, and a younger brother named Zack, the traditional family in Cricket’s mind.  She eats dinner with them, even has spent Christmas with them.

When Cricket is put into a rough spot concerning her best friends family, she is shut out. Jules just can’t handle having Cricket around and Cricket just wants to be there for her. She even gets a job in Nantucket for the summer. She thinks its a good idea since Jules will be there also.

Things don’t go as planned and Cricket has to find a place to stay and a place in her heart to accept the way things are now.

Cricket also connects with a boy this summer. She falls in love with him. He gives her feelings she’s never had before even if at times they are confusing.

I won’t say much else, I don’t want to ruin this one. I really loved it. I loved the story line. I loved how Cricket had to grow up a little bit and learn more about herself.  And I just love the guy she’s in love with! Whohooo!!

Overall: Loved it! Be sure to pick up this debut as soon as you can! This is one you won’t want to miss out on! I loved Cricket’s story and I will be reading more from this author when she writes another novel!

Cover: Sweet! Its super cute and super romantic. I would grab this up in a second.

What I'd Give It: