If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Lena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, especially at the start of her senior year. She’s ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, to finish college applications and to maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him. For Lena, the upcoming year is going to be epic—one of opportunities and chances. 

Until one choice, one moment, destroys everything. 

Now Lena isn’t looking forward to tomorrow. Not when friend time may never be the same. Not when college applications feel all but impossible. Not when Sebastian might never forgive her for what happened. 

For what she let happen. 

With the guilt growing each day, Lena knows that her only hope is to move on. But how can she move on when her and her friends’ entire existences have been redefined? How can she move on when tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed? 

Source:  Advance copy in exchange for an honest review.  

This is a terrible review to write because it's impossible to discuss this book without spoilers and I don't want to spoil this experience for you.  It's something you have to discover on your own, in your own time, and with lots of freaking kleenex handy.

Lena reminds me of Katy from Armentrout's Lux Series - bookish, nerdy, homebody, which is good.  I liked Katy.  Sebastian is a great YA book boyfriend and if I were younger, I would totally claim him as my book boyfriend.  Alas, I am not younger, so I will leave him to my neices.  

Me, while reading Tomorrow.  I will definitely be giving this book to my neices.  There are so many great messages in Tomorrow - friendship, honesty, love, forgiveness, redemption...  It's a cautionary tale, but so much more. And sooo many kleenex!

Me, after reading Tomorrow...

Ok, I will stop tormenting you.  Tomorrow is a thought provoking story written in the enthralling manner as most Armentrout stories.  You won't be able to put it down, but you will want to.  The foreshadowing will fill you with apprehension and terror.  You will suffer and cry and then feel a glimmer of hope and you will finish the book with so many feels and be a mess.  

I'm not much for heartwrenching books, but every once in a while, when it's done well, this kind of book is exactly what I didn't know I needed.  I'm sorry, but you have to read this one.  You have to.

~ Shel 

Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman

* * * 1/2

Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea...

After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn't himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn't know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn't let him kiss her. But she can't resist, and when they're caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it'll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.

With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review


It's been some time since I've read anything bordering on angsty and Kissing Max Holden is being hit with it on almost every page. I know it sounds like I'm disparaging the book but I'm not; it's just that this story features people who are deeply discontented and how they deal (rather badly) with their circumstances. 

Jillian and Max have been friends forever, essentially having been each other's shadow since childhood with their parents being just as good friends. But as it happens as years go by, they grow up and apart and then it seems like they're hardly recognizable to each other. At least that's how Jill feels about Max. Ever since his dad had a debilitating stroke months before, Max has done nothing but lash out in various ways like getting drunk, and it's fueled in part by his tempestuous relationship with his girlfriend, Becky. Jill doesn't get why two people who are so miserable together would still wanted to stay together. Max makes things awkward when he shows up inebriated in her room one night and they wind up kissing. Not cool since he still has a girlfriend but it's all that's needed to send Jill into a spiral. Worse is that she doesn't feel she can confide in anyone about what's going on since her dad and her stepmom who are expecting their baby soon are constantly fighting, too. Jill and her dad haven't been on the best terms lately so it only makes matters worse when he notices Max hanging around her more. He doesn't want his bad behaviour influencing her. It just seems like everyone is trying to escape something by finding a distraction and when Jill finally gets her head cleared she tells Max she doesn't want to be the reason he and Becky break up. That he has to get things in order before they can be together. 

With almost everyone simmering in their own bitterness this isn't a light-hearted read. If anything, this is a story about how hard relationships are and about the value of honesty. I find it interesting that Jill's initial indiscretion with Max serves as a parallel to what's happening between her parents. It brings some perspective to the seventeen year-old who's witnessing her own family's implosion. By contrast, Max's turnaround is a timely change that gives Jill a steadying shoulder to lean on should she need it. Now that he's attempting to clean up his messes, he's able to offer insight and persuade Jill that she has to be honest about their relationship to her parents. 

There's more that unfolds in the plot which spurs Jill on towards maturity much faster than she anticipated. I'm amazed by how Upperman managed to add the twists without it getting too out of hand. In the end, Kissing Max Holden is not the sugary sweet, cute boy next door love story I thought I was going to be reading but I do believe I got something even better!

~ Bel

The Hard Count by Ginger Scott Cover Reveal

Check out this amazing cover for THE HARD COUNT by Ginger Scott! Don't forget to add it to your TBR and pre-order your copy today!

THE HARD COUNT

Mature YA Contemporary Romance-Stand Alone

Scheduled to release: July 15, 2016

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BLURB:

Nico Medina’s world is eleven miles away from mine. During the day, it’s a place where doors are open—where homes are lived in, and neighbors love. But when the sun sets, it becomes a place where young boys are afraid, where eyes watch from idling cars that hide in the shadows and wicked
smoke flows from pipes.

West End is the kind of place that people survive. It buries them—one at a time, one way or another. And when Nico was a little boy, his mom always told him to run.

I’m Reagan Prescott—coach’s daughter, sister to the prodigal son, daughter in the perfect family.
Life on top.
Lies.
My world is the ugly one. Private school politics and one of the best high school football programs in the country can break even the toughest souls. Our darkness plays out in whispers and rumors, and money and status trump all. I would know—I’ve watched it kill my family slowly, strangling us for
years.

In our twisted world, a boy from West End is the only shining light.
Quarterback.
Hero.
Heart.
Good.
I hated him before I needed him.
I fell for him fast.
I loved him when it was almost too late.

When two ugly worlds collide, even the strongest fall. But my world…it hasn’t met the boy from West End.

EXCERPT:

“Why are you mad at me, Reagan?”

He says my name, and the word falls from his lips soft and sweet. No judgement, no challenge. My lip falls loose from the hold of my teeth and my eyes flutter shut for a long blink. I open again to find him still waiting, still looking at me.

“I don’t know,” I say, with a small shake of my head.

“But you are,” he says, and I nod with the same slight movement, sucking in my bottom lip and breathing through my nose.

“Yeah,” I say, my lip falling away and my eyes only able to look at his cheek.

I’m holding myself tighter than I ever have, my fingers actually digging into my sides, my nails rough against my skin through the fabric of my gray Cornwall sweatshirt. Nico doesn’t flinch once. His eyes stay on mine when I give in, and his expression doesn’t shift from the gentle, sweet one he’s held.

His right hand lets go of my elbow, moving to the few strands of hair resting against my forehead, falling over one eye. Nico takes them with his thumbs, moving them behind my ears, his eyes watching his movement then settling back on mine.

“You’ve worn your hair down ever since I said I liked it,” he says.

I breathe in long and deep, letting myself feel this moment—all of it. I have worn my hair down. I did it hoping he would touch it, but never once actually thinking he would.

“That’s how I knew,” he says, and my forehead crinkles. He smiles on one side, repeating the gesture and moving the long wave of blonde hair from my face again.

“That’s how I knew I was more than just some guy you wanted on your dad’s football team.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless and In Your Dreams.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

CONNECT WITH GINGER:

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Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone

* * * *

What is Normal?

For Trevor normal was fast guitar licks, catching game-winning passes and partying all night. Until a car accident leaves Trevor with no band, no teammates and no chance of graduating. It's kinda hard to ace your finals when you've been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck-up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor—those beautiful blue eyes catching every last flaw.

For Everly normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor's daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed.

 Review:

It’s been a long fight but Trevor Lewis is out of the hospital, done with therapy and looking forward to moving to New York to pursue his dreams of being a musician.  The thing holding him back?  The last final before graduating high school.  Fortunately his guidance counselor has hooked him up with a tutor for the summer so he can study and complete the government test before the fall. Unfortunately, the tutor assigned to him is none other than Everly Jenkins, the pastor’s daughter.   

Everly Jenkins is counting the days since she found out her dad was cheating on her mom.  HER dad.  The Pastor.  Cheating on her mom.  What does a teenage girl even do with that information?  Everly has been trying to figure out the answer to that question for 382 days.  She still doesn’t have an answer.  But she does see how her parents’ relationship is deteriorating.  Tutoring Trevor Lewis isn’t necessarily her first choice for killing time but if it means avoiding the tension at home, she’ll take it.

Trevor and Everly are two people that have always noticed each other from afar but lived such completely different lives that their paths should have never crossed.  But now that they are spending a lot of time together they quickly learn how much the other has changed.  Everly, the girl that once gave a speech on the Perils of Delinquency (absolutely directed at Trevor and his friends), doesn’t look at the world with a black and white lens anymore.  Oh, she’s still straight as an arrow but she’s not nearly as ready to judge the choices other people make.  And Trevor, the guy that used to live life on the edge?  Well, on the outside, he’s still that guy.  On the inside?  He’s afraid.  The traumatic brain injury that put him in a coma is always looming.  Just because he’s awake doesn’t mean that it’s completely healed or that it ever will be.  And the fact that his memories are sometimes hazy, and that his ability to process information is often hindered (he loses words and can barely make music the way he used to) has made him frustrated and angry.

Together they slowly form a relationship while fighting their individual battles.  Trevor with his inescapable diagnosis and Everly with her family that is quickly falling apart.  When both of their issues come crashing down on them on the same night, they will have to find ways to deal with the new realities of their lives while still finding a place for each other.

I was very curious about this story.  I enjoyed the first book in the series, Boys Like You.  It was very uncomfortable (guilt always is) but it was also very, very good.  And, of course, I wanted to know what happened with Trevor.  He is both a likely and an unlikely hero.  He’s broken in some ways that will never be fixed and I loved that Juliana Stone portrayed him in a way that left the reader no doubt that those broken parts were NOT the only thing that defined him.  He’s a complicated teen hero which I greatly appreciated.

And I can say the same thing about Everly.  She’s a girl that has always been secure in her faith.  Now, not only has that faith been put into question but the person responsible for raising her and instilling the faith is the one that has given her doubts.   Her struggle to understand how the father she loved so much could tear her family apart is heartbreaking and real.  I wanted to reach in and just give her a hug.

Trevor and Everyl’s story is so much more than the bad boy and the good girl.  It’s about change and acceptance and learning what things are worth fighting for.  Juliana Stone has yet again gifted us with a wonderful contemporary YA romance.  I can’t wait for her next one.

Nat

Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark

****

Abram and Juliette know each other. They’ve lived down the street from each other their whole lives. But they don’t really know each other—at least, not until Juliette’s mom and Abram’s dad have a torrid affair that culminates in a deadly car crash. Sharing the same subdivision is uncomfortable, to say the least. They don’t speak.

Fast-forward to the neighborhood pharmacy, a few months later. Abram decides to say hello. Then he decides to invite her to Taco Bell. To her surprise as well as his, she agrees. And the real love story begins.

Review:

I am not ashamed to admit that I requested this book based on the title.  I mean, I DID read the synopsis.  But if I am going to be honest, this Killers fan was going to request this book from Netgalley no matter the subject matter.   Fortunately, I’m smart enough (sometimes) to know that this wouldn’t likely have any Killers references.  And unless I’m seriously missing something, it didn’t.  However, that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying Abram and Juliette’s story.

Abram has been watching Juliette for a while now.  Even he admits it’s kind of creepy.  But to be fair it’s kind of hard to figure out how to approach the daughter of your dead father’s dead lover.  Yeah.  Awkward.  When he runs into her at CVS he doesn’t waste the opportunity.  They talk and he even convinces her to go with him to Taco Bell.  But only for ten minutes.  Juliette’s rule, not his.  But, hey, Abram will take what he can get.

Whether it was nurture or nature, Juliette’s mother has greatly influenced Juliette’s outlook on life.  Since she is always suspicious, Juliette doesn’t fully trust her attraction to Abram.  Nor does she trust Abram’s obvious attraction to her.  So she proceeds with caution and distrust.  It’s the only way she knows how to approach anything in life.   But all that suspicion doesn’t stop her from carefully navigating a fragile relationship with her the son of her mom’s lover.

Both Juliette and Abram (Juliette especially) worry that their attraction to each other can’t be separated from their dysfunctional shared history.  But as they spend more time together they find that the chemistry is real.  They also find a way to come to terms with their parents’ mistakes and to remember some of the good things their parents did when they were alive.

Being a fan of contemporary YA and Adult romance/fiction, I try to be a little more forgiving of character flaws.  Because, for me, that’s the point of contemporary fiction.  To read about real people with real life problems and personalities.  And, as we all know, real people are imperfect.  These two main characters are young.  And although they have experienced more than any teen should, they still lack some of the life experience and sensitivity that comes with time and age.  At times, this is obvious in the way they refer to people and things.  

But that doesn’t take away from the growth they both experience.  They both lift each other up.  Abram helps Juliette be spontaneous and see the joy in the little things around them.  Juliette helps Abram find the motivation he lost when he lost his dad.  Their relationship had the possibility of being unhealthy but together their positive influences shine through.

This ended up being another great addition to the world of contemporary YA.  Not only are the main characters well developed, the adult characters are great too.  Although they were originally connected because of mistakes made by their deceased parents, the real adult influences in their life are their surviving parents.  Abram’s mom is full of love and laughter and it’s no surprise where he gets his ability to enjoy life.  Juliette’s dad, although a bit absent-minded, is full of love for his daughter.  A trait that makes all the difference in Juliette’s life by the end of the book.

If you love contemporary YA as much as I do, I highly recommend you pick up and read Finding Mr. Brightside.

Nat

Waiting on Wednesday (108)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

By Kasie West
Publication Date: July 1, 2014

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Fun, original, and endearing, On the Fence is a romantic comedy about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect.