Off topic: what the hell, Blogger?

So I'm one of the hosts for the Wait for You blog tour. I wrote up my review last week and scheduled it to get posted this morning at midnight.

Do you think Blogger posted it? Do you think that calendar scheduler thingy did its job?

NO, it did not.

I am not amused.

Review and Blog Tour: Wait for You

 Wait for You
by J. Lynn
Published by William Morrow
384 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Thanks to TLC Tours for the preview
 4 / 5


At the risk of repeating myself, yet again, I enjoy YA lit. And NA lit too, for that matter. I think both get a bad rap and that people tend to assume all YA books are Twilight all over again. We fans know how mistaken they are.

That isn't to say that YA and NA are bereft of crap; like all of literature, there is garbage out there. Poorly written, dull, uninspiring.

And then you get something like Wait for You, and you realize that all of your YA/NA praise is spot on.

I enjoyed this book so much.

The story is fairly basic: Avery has escaped her stifling, rumor-ridden Texas hometown and decamped to college in a small West Virginia town. Out of sight does not necessarily lead to out of mind, however; Avery may be attempting to run away from a catastrophic incident in her past, but she won't get very far. Before too long, she begins receiving - actually, she continues to receive, as she has been getting them for some time - threatening emails and phone calls.

Like a lot of college kids, Avery reacts by hoping she can ignore the potential danger. One very hot distraction lives right across the hall: Cam Hamilton. Even the name sounds like College Stud material, doesn't it? And Cam surely is. He is drawn to Avery, perhaps because she's the first person to dismiss and reject him. The two dance around each other, although we readers know that there is no real mystery here. Cam and Avery belong together. They even share having survived past traumas, albeit in quite different ways. As Avery begins to open herself up to Cam, though, she first needs to face what happened to her in Texas.

The characters are lovingly drawn. Avery is someone we feel we know. She makes foolish mistakes, she suffers from that sort of collegiate sense of superiority, and she is awkward and insecure. She understands herself enough to recognize when she is irrationally jealous, just as she knows when she behaves childishly. But we forgive her, and we continue to side with her, because we empathize with her. She went through something terrible, she survived, and she is desperate to regain control over her life.

Cam, too, is real to us. He's gorgeous and popular and everyone loves him, but he's also sad and somewhat tortured. He sees something in Avery, something that pulls him to her. He knows how to translate her and make sense of her. He knows she's worth the frustration ... to a point, anyway. And when that point comes, he reacts in a way we accept and support.

If the secondary characters are not as fully developed, that's okay, and it does not diminish how enjoyable the novel is. Avery's parents are straight out of Central Casting for Distant and Removed, and her friends could show up in any novel we read. Avery and Cam, though, are rich and fully realized. Their story keeps us reading and engages us.

You should know that some hot headboard rockin' goes on in this book. While not wildly explicit, sex dos occur. If it weren't for the sexy times, this would be classic YA. But those scenes - which are pretty hot, I've got to tell you - make it more NA.

For more information about J. Lynn, check out her website, Facebook page, and Twitter. Better yet, pick up a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed. 

This is W.A.R.

This is W.A.R.
by Lisa Roecker and Laura Roecker
Published by Soho Press
289 pages
Genre: young adult
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
4 / 5


When Willa Ames-Rowan (the W.A.R. in question) dies in Hawthorne Lake and James Gregory survives, albeit soaked, Willa's friends and fellow townspeople arrive at one conclusion: James killed her.

Four of Willa's friends band together to declare war on the Gregory family and determine to seek justice for Willa. It isn't so much that James and his twin brother Trip act entitled, it's that they are entitled, and the town allows it. Their grandfather, Captain, controls everything, but the girls are undeterred. James and his family will pay, and that's all there is to it.

Except, of course, nothing is all that simple.

Each of the girls harbors her own reason for being a part of the war tribunal, and each feels she bears some of the guilt for Willa's death. As we learn their stories, we also learn what they were up to the night Willa died. The one head we don't get into is James's, but it isn't really necessary. We learn about him through others and through what we see and hear him do.

While there is a mystery surrounding Willa's death, the particulars of it soon are apparent. That's not why we enjoy this book, though. We like it because it's well written, the characters are interesting, and we want to know if justice actually happens.

More than simply a YA story, this is also a look at class consciousness. Most of the action takes place at the Club, where you're either in or you want to be. The help factors so little in the lives of the members that they don't bother to edit themselves when maids or bus boys are nearby. Some of the little people exact their own brand of revenge. (One of the workers is underwritten, which is unfortunate; her perspective would have been interesting.) Even the haves can't have enough, which renders quite a few of them rabidly jealous of the Gregorys.

This is also the story of a friendship between four very different teenage girls. There is distrust between them, but at the same time, they are on each other's sides. I liked that aspect quite a bit and appreciated that the writers didn't go for cookie cutter characters.

An enjoyable, fast-paced read.

Love Struck

Love Struck
by Chantel Guertin
280 pages
Genre: chick lit
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3 / 5


On the day that Poppy Ross discovers that her husband Parker is having an affair, she is informed that she must get to the hospital: Parker has been struck by lightning. The good news? He has no memory of the previous three months. Those three months include the time he spent in his affair.

So Poppy is on the horns of a dilemma: tell Parker what she knows, resolve to forgive and forget and renew her attentions to her marriage, or try to make over herself into the image of Parker's side piece.

Poppy of course chooses Door Number Three.

And here is where she becomes a somewhat unlikable character. Her decisions are so half-assed that you find yourself getting angry with her. When we're supposed to be on her side, we actually begin to think she's nuts and not worth our time.

Yet if she fessed up and bared her sins to Parker, she risks sending him back to his other woman. That motivation we can understand. She loves him, as she tells us several times. We may not see much evidence of it - she seems to spurn his attentions at nearly every opportunity - but she says she does, and we have to believe her.

I wasn't always sure what book Chantel Guertin was writing here. I had the same problem with her previous novel, Stuck in Downward Dog, which I did not enjoy at all. Is this a romance? A comedy? A searing examination of what women will do when they are desperate to keep a man?

The problem is that the book reads as all the above, never quite certain which it wants to be. Poppy is entertaining, if not completely enjoyable. Parker comes across as somewhat daft, but I liked him. Half the time I couldn't blame him for seeking out the companionship of another woman. In fact, Poppy herself acknowledges the cracks in her marriage, yet she does absolutely nothing to rectify them. If anything, she continues to perpetuate them.

Despite all of that, the book is not terrible (unlike Stuck in Downward Dog). You find yourself invested in the characters, somewhat against your will, and you want them to be okay. Happy and okay.

But with a premise like this one has, the book could have been much better.

Stuck in Downward Dog

Stuck in Downward Dog
by Chantel Guertin
Published by ECW Press / Key Porter Books
272 pages
Genre: chick lit (I guess)
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
1 / 5


I wasn't sure whether to post this review or not, because I do respect writers and am aware that it is tremendously challenging to write a novel.

But sometimes, kids, books just aren't that good.

Mara just got dumped by her boyfriend, has a job she hates, friends she doesn't particularly seem to enjoy all that much, and a life that is in a deep, deep rut. Thank goodness for yoga, which is the only positive thing she has going on.

And there you have it: the sum total of this novel.

Sure, there is some social commentary about plastic surgery and cosmetics. And social climbing. And societal notions about what women should be doing with their lives. But as far as a real story is concerned? I couldn't find one. It's more of a stringing together of events than anything else.

Oh, and romance? There is NONE. Not even the hint of one. The ex-boyfriend? Mara doesn't seem too bummed that he's out of the picture. In fact, her lack of reaction beyond the surface leads us to believe that she never cared all that much for him in the first place.

Her so-called friends are horrific. One gets married and fails to ask Mara to be a part of the festivities, and the other is shallow and critical. Between them and the boyfriend, you wonder if Mara is a poor judge of character. Or, worse, if she draws all this negativity toward her.

The only reason I finished this thing was because I was convinced it would get better.

I was wrong.

Adam's Boys

Adam's Boys
by Anna Clifton
Published by Harlequin Australia
157 pages
Genre: romance; chick lit
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
2.5 / 5


Okay, so. This book. It's cute, it's entertaining, it's sweet. But it's missing something, perhaps a couple of somethings.

Abbie and Adam had a three-week fling four years ago, fresh on the heels of the death from cancer of Adam's beloved wife. Adam credits his time with Abbie for giving him the emotional strength he needed to return home to England from Australia and be a father to his new son.

But now, four years later, it appears that Adam has more than one son. When Adam and his older boy return to Australia, he is in for a bit of a shocker: Abbie is his baby mama, and they share a son.

This being a romance novel, you know that nothing will be resolved quickly. Our happy couple has to deal with Issues in their lives, both involving their respective families. And that's not all. Adam is irked that Abbie kept his second son a secret, and Abbie is hurt that Adam didn't return to her as he promised.

So with all of this drama, why isn't there more tension? It's as if the outcome is a given from the first page, and all the words in between are just words.

That isn't to say that this is not a sweet little book. It is. Abbie and Adam are enjoyable - Adam more so, because Abbie does some dumb stuff - and the little boys are adorable. Perhaps it's the slim length of the story; maybe that's why it feels so slight. I'm not sure. But just when the conflict and drama would start to get interesting, it would get resolved.

And don't go looking for hot sexy times, because there is not one bit to be found. None. Nada.

Maybe that's the problem? Maybe what heat is lacking in the story could have been made up for with some headboard rockin'?

This is a good choice for those of you who prefer your romance chaste, clean, and nice.

Plus One is a Lucky Number

Plus One is a Lucky Number
by Teresa F. Morgan
Published by HarperCollins U.K., Harper Impulse
Genre: romance; chick lit
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3.5./ 5


Weddings bring out the best or worst in people. There really is no in between. You either are impressed by someone or completely turned off.

Even more insufferable are those occasions when you are a guest at a wedding - a solo guest. You know that "plus one" on the invitation? Isn't it far more comforting and satisfying to pen in the name of your plus one than it is to leave it blank?

Sophie agrees. When invited to her cousin's wedding, Sophie dreads returning home single, without a plus one. So she checks the box and hopes for the best. With just a few days to go, however, Sophie realizes she either needs a miracle or needs to not show up.

Fortunately, the former obliges in the comely form of Adam, a coworker who also happens to be quite the heartbreaker.

Adam agrees to accompany Sophie not out of any great kinship or kindness but rather because he's guilted into it by a mutual friend of theirs. He hardly knows Sophie, and even though it turns out that the low key look she sports at work does not reflect the gorgeous woman she is, Adam nonetheless is a little nervous. The more time he spends with her, the more he likes her. The same goes for Sophie, who's heard the rumors about Adam. But he's nice to her, he plays the game in front of her friends and family, and on those occasions he "has" to kiss her? Those are quite, quite nice.

Adam and Sophie are far more alike than they would care to admit. Both of them are focused on work, both move about life avoiding romantic entanglements, and both protect their hearts. Which means they clearly are made for each other.

You can tell that this is one of those Cute Romance Novels, can't you? It's all cute, from Sophie to Adam to their families and friends. They're both so darn likable that you almost need an insulin shot. In fact, that's perhaps my biggest complaint: I needed a little something to cut the sugar, and by "a little something," I mean a hot sex scene.

For a while there, it looks like you're going to get one. Or more. But just as the action heats up, there is either coitus interruptus or the curtain comes down.

Still, for all its predictability and cuteness overload, it's a fun, quick read.

Just don't expect anything hot.