Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

***

From Random House:

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilarating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.

But on the inside, Ayla is still Annie.

So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?

The choice isn't as simple as you think.

Don’t You Wish is definitely a lesson in “the grass is always greener” philosophy of life, because Annie desperately wants to be rich, beautiful and popular and once she gets it, she wants her old life back – sort of.

As Ayla, Annie tries, and fails, to keep the status quo. She messes things up with Ayla’s boyfriend (not much of a loss) and her besties (also not much of a loss). She befriends the social outcasts, such as Charlie, who is at the exclusive private school on a scholarship. Charlie is a brilliant science student heading to the ivy leagues. Once Annie confides in Charlie that she is not Ayla and has somehow ended up in Ayla’s body, Charlie kicks into science geek mode and attempts to help Annie find her way back home. Along the way, Annie discovers there is more to Charlie than meets the eye and the tragedies that have changed his life affect her deeply.

Don’t You Wish is well written with an incredibly interesting and thought provoking premise; however, I had a bit of a problem relating to Ayla/Annie. She’s a little self-righteous, especially for someone who was so desperate to be the popular girl. When she begins to think that she should stay in Ayla's dimension to "save" everyone, I was definitely rolling my eyes.  There are some complex physics principles involved, but overall the book is sweet and has an ending to satisfy the romantics out there.

Roxanne St. Claire is a popular and prolific mystery and romance writer and I can definitely see why, she is a talented writer. Don’t You Wish is her first foray into the world of YA. You can learn more about Ms. St. Clare’s books at http://www.roxannestclaire.com.

~Shel

A Peek In The Biblio-Bin (In My Mailbox) - #9

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.

This week Nat shares her finds.

T.J. has always looked out for his little sister, Angela. When Momma used to go out and leave them home alone, he'd lock the door so they'd be safe, keep Angela entertained, and get out the cereal and milk for her. When Momma's boyfriend got angry at them, he'd try to protect Angela. Later, at their foster homes, T.J. was the only one who knew how to coax his little sister out of her bad moods. The only one who understood why she made origami paper cranes and threw them out the window.

But now T.J. is sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, wondering if Angela, unconscious after a fall, will ever wake up. Wondering, too, if he will ever feel at home with his and Angela's new parents—Marlene, who insists on calling him Timothy, and Dan, who seems to want a different son.

Going back and forth between Now and Then, weaving the uncertain present with the painful past, T.J.'s story unfolds, and with the unfolding comes a new understanding of how to move forward

 

 

 

Teenage twins Ysabel and Justin Nicholas are lucky. Ysabel's jewelry designs have already caught the eyes of the art world and Justin's intelligence and drive are sure to gain him entrance into the most prestigious of colleges. They even like their parents. But their father has a secret—one that threatens to destroy the twins' happy family and life as they know it.

Over the course of spring break, Ysabel and Justin will be forced to come to terms with their dad's new life, but can they overcome their fears to piece together their happy family again?

 

 

 

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.

But on the insde, Ayla is still Annie.

So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?

The choice isn't as simple as you think.

 

 

 

I'm dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end

Tell us what you are reading this week!