Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352

Summary:  Sophie Winters nearly died. Twice.

The first time, she's fourteen, and escapes a near-fatal car accident with scars, a bum leg, and an addiction to Oxy that'll take years to kick.

The second time, she's seventeen, and it's no accident. Sophie and her best friend Mina are confronted by a masked man in the woods. Sophie survives, but Mina is not so lucky. When the cops deem Mina's murder a drug deal gone wrong, casting partial blame on Sophie, no one will believe the truth: Sophie has been clean for months, and it was Mina who led her into the woods that night for a meeting shrouded in mystery.

After a forced stint in rehab, Sophie returns home to a chilly new reality. Mina's brother won't speak to her, her parents fear she'll relapse, old friends have become enemies, and Sophie has to learn how to live without her other half. To make matters worse, no one is looking in the right places and Sophie must search for Mina's murderer on her own. But with every step, Sophie comes closer to revealing all: about herself, about Mina and about the secret they shared.

My Thoughts: The first hundred or so pages of this, I had trouble connecting with it. I almost gave it up but I like to actually finish novels.

I am happy I stuck with it.

We are introduced to Sophie who is in rehab on the verge of getting out. She has gotten put in rehab due to an incident involving her best friend and her past. She has had trouble with drugs so when she is found at the scene of her best friend Mina’s murder, everyone suspects its Sophie’s fault. She was supposedly taking Sophie to get more drugs.

Sophie knows she wasn't using and there is more to the story than anyone knows. But of course nobody believes Sophie. Not even Mina’s brother Trev.

Sophie gets out and is determined to find out the truth and reveal Mina’s murderer.

When I started this one, I didn’t really enjoy it very much. I don’t know, I just didn’t like the characters or the plot and I just felt like something was missing. But once I figured out what was going on and all the details I had to keep reading to find out what happened to Mina and how Sophie was going to prove it.

This one surprised me quite a bit.

Overall: If you like mysteries you’ll probably love this one. I did end up enjoying it more than I thought I was going too and I’m glad I finished it. It was a beautiful story, it really was. This one is probably more of a 3.5 cupcake rating for me. I liked it, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a favorite of the year! Don’t stop that from reading it, you might enjoy it more than me! I’m ok with not loving every book so its all good!

Cover: Cute! Its dark but magical. 

What I’d Give It:

Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland

Release Date: May 13, 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Age Group:Young Adult

Pages: 288

Summary:  Cricket Thompson's lifetime of overachieving has paid off: she's headed to Brown University in the fall, with a spot on the lacrosse team and a scholarship that covers almost everything. Who knew living in the dorm cost money? An Ivy League education seems to mean living at home for the next four years.

When Cricket is offered the chance to earn enough cash to afford a real college experience, she heads back to Nantucket for the summer. But the faraway island challenges Cricket in ways she hadn't anticipated. It's hard to focus on earning money for next year, when she finds her world opening up in entirely new ways-to art, to travel, and, most unexpectedly, to a future completely different from the one she has been working toward her whole life. A friendship blossoms with Ben, the gorgeous surfer and bartender who encourages Cricket to be free, even as she smarts at the pain of seeing Zack, her first love, falling for her worst enemy.

But one night, when Cricket finally lets herself break all her own rules, she realizes she may have ruined her carefully constructed future with one impulsive decision. Cricket must dig deep to fight for her future, discovering that success isn't just about reaching goals, but also about listening to what she's been trying to ignore-her own heart.

My Thoughts: I really loved Nantucket Blue last year when I read it. I was hoping to love Nantucket Red just as much. I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it just as much as the first one.

We are back with Cricket and its her senior year of high school. Things flash by pretty quick and than it is the summer before college. She decides to go back to Nantucket to work because that is where the money is and she needs it for college.

Cricket gets a job as a waitress and meets a guy named Ben. He was just ok for me. I never really felt connected with him. We also see Zack quite a bit. I really liked Zach in the first story and during most of this one, I just wanted him to go away. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel connected to him either. Part of that may be the things that happen and the new girl in his life. ICK.

I like the list Cricket finds and I liked seeing her put two in two together. I also liked that Cricket isn’t perfect. She makes mistakes and she owns up to them. Jules also grew on me a bit more.

I really love the setting of Nantucket as well. I feel like I’m right there in the sun and with all the tourists.

Overall: I enjoyed this one, a little less than the first. I gave the first one 5 cupcakes. But I loved seeing Cricket grow as a person and overcome her challenges. I’m also ok with how things ended for her. I’m glad she is doing what she wants and not what is expected of her. I loved most of the side characters in this one even if at times I wanted to smack some of them! I really liked this one.

Cover: Love it! Its very cute just like the first one!

What I’d Give It:

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Release Date: August 27, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 304

Summary: Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

My Thoughts: I am a big time fan of Elizabeth Scott. I’ve read almost all of her books and she was one of the first YA authors I read when I started blogging.

We are introduced to Emma whose mom is basically dead. Her mother is being kept alive for her baby brother who is growing inside her belly. They have to keep her heart beating and make sure her body gets what it needs to let her brother develop properly.

Emma just isn’t happy about this, she feels like its wrong, and she had no choice in the matter. She’s upset, she’s confused, and she just hates things. She went from being really involved in school to basically not caring anymore about anything. Her best friend tries to help her but Emma is just having a hard time.

I felt for Emma, I really did. Sometimes I felt like she took it out on her stepdad a little too much. Yes, he was thinking about his son, but what choice did he really have either?

And, I really liked the introduction of Caleb. I loved the moments Emma spent with him. He was the real highlight in the story for me. Yes, I enjoyed this one, but I really really loved Caleb and I wanted to get to know him better.

I’m happy I read this one, and I’m happy with the way things ended.

Overall: I really enjoyed this one. It was also a very fast read for me. Still a fan of Elizabeth Scott.

Cover: I like it. Its simple but nice.

What I'd Give It:

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Release Date: April 15, 2014

Publisher: Simon And Schuster Books For Young Readers

Age Group:Young Adult

Pages: 368

Summary: Lara Jeans love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them, all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They arent love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones shes written. One for every boy she’s ever loved,five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jeans love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

My Thoughts: When I saw the summary for this one, I had a feeling I would love it, and I knew I needed to read it! And by Jenny Han? Yes Please!

I can’t even. I can’t even. I can’t even express my love for this book. I want to jump and down and scream at the top of my lungs. I absolutely adored it and loved it so much.

I can see where this one won’t be for everyone but I loved it to pieces. You have to take it for what it is, a cute story with a crazy plot. But one that every girl can relate to. If it happened to you, what would you do?

We are introduced to Lara Jean who has two sisters. A younger sister and an older sister. They live with their father. Her mother passed away.

She also lives next door to a boy named Josh who was dating her sister. They just broke up but Lara Jean has had feelings for him a long time, even before her sister was dating him. But she turned them off.

Lara Jean has loved five boys in her life. And, after each one ended she wrote them a letter. A letter for her eyes only. Words she needed to get off her chest.

Well, the letters get mailed. We get to explore each guy who gets the letters and how things go down. This is a very disastrous situation but its even worst for the two main guys who matter. Josh and a boy named Peter K who attends her school. Peter is a boy whose popular and Lara Jean couldn’t believe she ever liked. Its awkward with Josh and things get weird with Peter. Things go haywire and Lara Jean has to come up with a plan to make herself save face with Josh. She starts hanging out with Peter. There, for a few minutes I wasn't sure what was going to happen and who she was going to end up with. In the back of my head, I kind of had a feeling but I wasn't sure. I liked both Josh and Peter. I was drawn to both of them at times.

I really enjoyed this one. A lot of drama, and I loved Lara Jeans voice. She probably made things more dramatic than they needed to be, but I loved it!

This probably could be a standalone but the way it ended it makes me think it isn’t? I wanted to read more, I didn’t want it to just stop!!!

I loved this one. I love Han’s Summer series so I knew this one would be a hit for me as well.

Overall: YES YES YES! I loved it. Perfect Contemporary in my eyes. It was a book made for me! HAHA! I will devour anything Han writes! Loved it!

Cover:  Love it!! I love how she is just laying there and I think this girl could totally be Lara Jean! Cute neat cover! Love how she is writing as well!

What I’d Give It:

Broken Hearts, Fences, And Other Things To Mend by Katie Finn

Broken Hearts, Fences, And Other Things To Mend by Katie Finn

Release Date: May 13, 2014

Publisher: Feiwel And Friends
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 352

Summary: Summer, boys, and friendships gone sour. This new series has everything that perfect beach reads are made of!

Gemma just got dumped and is devastated. She finds herself back in the Hamptons for the summer—which puts her at risk of bumping into Hallie, her former best friend that she wronged five years earlier. Do people hold grudges that long?

When a small case of mistaken identity causes everyone, including Hallie and her dreamy brother Josh, to think she’s someone else, Gemma decides to go along with it.

Gemma's plan is working (she's finding it hard to resist Josh), but she's finding herself in embarrassing situations (how could a bathing suit fall apart like that!?). Is it coincidence or is someone trying to expose her true identity? And how will Josh react if he finds out who she is?

Katie Finn hits all the right notes in this perfect beginning to a new summer series: A Broken Hearts & Revenge novel.

My Thoughts: When I read the summary of this one, I knew I had to read it. It sounded right up my alley! A perfect fun beach contemporary. And, I was right!

We are introduced to Gemma who has the perfect life. She lives with her mother and stepfather, has an awesome best friend, and and even cooler boyfriend named Teddy. This summer she is going away with him on a trip.

A few days before they are scheduled to leave, Teddy breaks up with her. He tells her it’s just not working, blah blah blah. Well, Gemma is devastated. She and Teddy are perfect together! Well, now her whole summer is free so she figures she’ll just spend most of it in bed moping. Until her mom tells her that she and her husband are going away also so Gemma can’t stay there. Gemma has to go stay with her father. No big deal, right? Right, until Gemma finds out where exactly her father is right now.

Her father is staying in the place Gemma dreads. The Hamptons. A while back, Gemma had a friend and that friend’s mom was dating her dad. Well, Gemma did some pretty bad things to this girl and basically made her life hell. Gemma isn’t proud of it, but it is what it is, and Gemma has spent the last few years trying to make up for it karma wise, and make herself a better person.

As soon as Gemma gets to the new town, she runs into a boy named Josh. She then meets his sister Hallie. Oh no! But, neither of them recognize her so she says she is someone else.

This whole story is basically Gemma pretending to be someone she’s not and trying to make things better with Josh and Hallie and showing them what a great person she is. But, Gemma can’t catch a break. Everything seems to go wrong for her. Crap. Many funny moments.

I really liked Josh! I fell for him right away. He was sweet and caring and awesome. I did not like Teddy at all, and he’s in the story more than we know. And, I caught on pretty quickly about him. It just clicked in my head, and I laughed so hard.

Josh and Gemma get to know one another, and they really go good together. They have things in common, and things are just easy between them.

I loved the plot of this one, and the characters. But that ending almost killed me. And now I have to wait a while for the next one! I want it now! I need to know what is going to happen next!

Overall: If you like contemps you have to read this one! If you like revenge, redeeming yourself, best friends, beach reads, read this! I thought this was pretty darn interesting and it had its fun moments too. You have to take this one for what it is though. Its a fun beach read. Yes, there are some lessons throughout the novel but its just so much fun! I found myself laughing, wanting to tell Gemma things, and wanting things to go good for her!

Cover: I think its cute! I’d definitely pick it up for the cover alone! Colorful and neat!

What I'd Give It: