Book Review: Love Story (ARC)

Love Story
by Jennifer Echols
243 Pages - Paperback
Expected publication: July 19th 2011 by MTV Books
Source: ARC from S&S Galley Grab

Summary:

SHE'S WRITING ABOUT HIM. HE'S WRITING ABOUT HER. AND EVERYBODY IS READING BETWEEN THE LINES.

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

Review:

As an heiress to a wealthy millionaire, Erin Blackwell’s grandmother wants her to pursue business course. But Erin has other plans for herself. She wants to be a writer. As a result, she is stripped off of all her inheritance. Worse, her grandmother had to give it to Hunter; the stable boy from her childhood. Now, Erin has to balance life from work and college. It’s already hard enough that she has to study and work her butt off. The only place she could relax is in the creative writing class. So when Hunter enrolled in the same class, all hell break loose. It doesn’t help that Hunter has to read the story she prepared on his first day, inspired by the same stable boy she met from childhood.

The story opens with a short story written by Erin about a forbidden tryst between a stable boy and his lady. I pretty much enjoyed this short story as well as the others. Though between Erin and Hunter, I enjoyed the latter’s works much better.

The plot is quite predictable, but what I love about Echols’s works is that no matter how predictable the plot is, you just can’t help anticipating the next events. However, no matter how much I liked how the events were unfolding, I gotta say that I was seriously disappointed with the last quarter of the book. Erin and Hunter had an argument. And although both parties were responsible, I was disappointed by how fast the fight ended. Without a single apology from either of them. It was a WTF moment for me. That said, I think the ending is rushed. I felt like it could still go on for 20 more pages, but unfortunately, it was cut short.

Erin also talked about the final story she wrote for the creative writing class before she and Hunter went back to the horse farm. The story is not featured in the book though, unlike her other stories. I thought that it was going to be an epic epilogue to the novel since it’s her and Hunter’s story. But all in all, I enjoyed reading Echols’s Love Story. Just not as much as her Going Too Far and Forget You.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Disclosure: This e-ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster (via S&S Galley Grab) for free in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Between Here and Forever

Between Here and Forever
by Elizabeth Scott
258 pages - Hardcover
Expected publication date: May 24th 2011 by Simon Pulse
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Summary: (from Goodreads)

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it’s nothing compared to living without her.

She’s got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn’t always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could..

Review:

Between Here and Forever is a powerful novel that delves deeply into the topics of sexuality, racial discrimination and self-acceptance. Abby has been living in the shadow of her sister, Tess, for all her life. In Abby's eyes, Tess is the most perfect girl in town. She has learned how to deal with having a sister who is loved by everyone. That is, by accepting that she is nothing compared to Tess. Although she claims that she is perfectly contented with who she is, it is clear that she is insecure and tries to hide it by flat out downgrading herself.

She also claims that she hates her sister; how she always gets everybody's attention, including the first boy she ever loved. Which could be true but despite whatever she says, it is obvious that she truly loves her sister. She does everything to make her sister wake up; bringing a good-looking boy to her hospital room and making him talk to her. As if his swoon-inducing voice could make her sister magically open her eyes and start conversing with him.

Between Here and Forever has a lot of depth and surprising turn of events, but despite that, this book didn't quite work out well enough for me. The characters and plot were okay. Eli and Abby are not the most likable characters there is. The atmosphere in this book is quite gloomy as well. I didn't like how Abby always sees the worse in herself. Like when Eli told her that Clement called her a 'firecracker', she thought Clement just compared her to 'a thing that people blow up on holidays'. Or when Eli compared her to a dragon, she thought '[I] ...got called a big scaly-firebreathing monster'. It's amusing at first but when you find out that she's actually serious, it suddenly gets annoying..

But nevertheless, the story in its entirety is still worth the read. I finished this in a little over than four hours. This is my third Scott book and although it didn't quite reach my expectations, I'm still on the look out for her future works. And as well as past.

Rating: 3/5 stars

*This e-ARC was provided by the publisher (Simon & Schuster via S&S Galley Grab) in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Sixteenth Summer (ARC)

Sixteenth Summer
by Michelle Dalton
320 pages - Paperback
Expected publication: May 3rd 2011 by Simon Pulse
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Summary:

Anna is dreading another tourist-filled summer on Dune Island that follows the same routine: beach, ice cream, friends, repeat. That is, until she locks eyes with Will, the gorgeous and sweet guy visiting from New York. Soon, her summer is filled with flirtatious fun as Anna falls head over heels in love.

But with every perfect afternoon, sweet kiss, and walk on the beach, Anna can’t ignore that the days are quickly growing shorter, and Will has to leave at the end of August. Anna’s never felt anything like this before, but when forever isn’t even a possibility, one summer doesn’t feel worth the promise of her heart breaking…

Review:

I’ve never really been in love before. But if you count the many hot fictional characters I’ve fallen in like and lust with… er, no. I don’t think you’d count that. So I’ve never really been in love before. But reading Anna’s narrative about how she fell in love with Will; from the first awkward moments up to the time they really fell for each other and the time when they finally had to part... I don't know why, but I really felt like I was an old woman whose reliving the moments of her first love. And mind you, I'm only a teenager. While Anna's describing the emotions Will's making her feel, I swear I keep nodding my head like I know exactly what she's talking about. I'm not saying that this book makes readers feel like old people though.

Anyway, it was a little hard to connect with the characters at first. Anna and Will's blooming relationship seemed plenty awkward and forced. I couldn't feel the spark between them. But as the story moved forward and they grew more familiar with each other, the connection became more and more apparent as well. This is where I started feeling like a nostalgic old woman. I love Anna and Will's moments together. They are so adorable and sweet. I liked that both of them seemed like ordinary people. They are not popular or outcasts. They don't have mysterious past. Both are not over the top gorgeous. They are plain, ordinary, uninteresting. But throw them together and you get a sweet and special summer love story.

Sixteenth Summer is very light without family and peer drama. Unlike other contemps that never fail to sport those kinds of drama. This is a pure summer love story that involves heat, beach, ice cream, ghost crabbing, sand castle making, baby turtles and love, love, love! I really enjoyed reading this book. I especially like the different activities Will and Anna did on the island. Dalton's description of the bits and parts of the island were vivid enough I felt like I could see what the characters were seeing.

My only complaint in this is the ending. At the beginning of the book, Anna tells about how she knows the feeling of being in love. Which gave me the impression that she's telling her story as it happened in the past and not as it happens in the present. So the abrupt ending didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Rating: 4/5 stars

This e-ARC was received from the
publisher (Simon & Schuster via S&S Galley Grab)
in exchange  for an honest review.