I Spy the Boy Next Door by Samantha Armstrong

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. These are my opinions. 

First off, I want to point out that even though the characters in this novel are in high school, some of the content (sex scenes in general) aren't exactly appropriate for the younger side of a YA audience. That being said, I did enjoy this book. 

Our main character, Mallory, has been home schooled her whole life. She has an online friend, and her only real hobby is staring at the cute boy next door. As she nears her 18th birthday she convinces her mom to let her go to a public high school, and comes face to face with the boy next door, Troy. 

After hearing the description of our bad boy, Troy, I couldn't help myself from swooning a little. Angsty, covered in tattoos, with a hidden sweet side? Sign me up! I thought that the couple progressed really fast, and I'm not a fan of instalove. One minute he's cold to her and hates her and the next he's sneaking into her room at night and she's not upset with it at all? That's just a little odd to me. But then when you learn more about their pasts it's a little more excusable. The mystery behind Mallory's past was fairly easy to figure out. I didn't guess the whole thing, but once the big pieces came out, I was able to put the rest of it together myself. That didn't take away from the book though. I liked how it ended, but I was sad to see my time with the characters end. This is definitely a book I could see being a hit with the YA crew, and I'm sure a lot of the teens at our library will read it. 

The McAvoy Sisters Book of Secrets by Molly Fader

I was given an ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own. 

First off, the copy I received was a VERY rough copy. The text was super choppy and the title would randomly appear in the middle of the page, which was a bit annoying, but since I'm assuming that will be fixed before the final copy goes out (in three days!) that doesn't deter from my overall opinion of the book. 

The story starts with an older woman walking down the street holding a flare gun. She is stopped by a cop, and she tells him to call her daughter to come down and see her. Thus, the prodigal daughter, Lindy, returns. There is obviously some tension between Lindy and her younger sister Delia, but we don't find out until closer to the end of the book what caused them to separate and whether or not they will be able to fix things and be close like they used to, at least for their mother's sake. 

The character of Delia really resonated with me for a few different reasons. She is a mother to a teenager and a baby (I was a teen when my sister was born, so I vaguely remember what that was like) she suffered from post partum depression, and is trying to manage a family, a business, and care for her sickly mother all at the same time. Everyone keeps saying how she's changed, but all I can think is: the woman needs a nap! At the same time though, I felt sorry for Lindy because she was known as the "wild child" in a small town, and being from a small town myself, I know that no matter how far away and how long you go away for, you can't ever really escape the opinions people have of you when you're younger. 

All in all I enjoyed the story. I read it while waiting for the hurricane to hit (hasn't yet) and it kept me interested throughout. I needed to get to the end to find out what happened to those poor girls. Admittedly I had an idea of what it would be, but I wasn't 100% sure. 

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of writers like Nora Roberts. It has that same almost sweetness to it as far as the family goes, with just enough mystery and a little romance thrown in 

Crashing the A-List by Summer Heacock

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Normally I LOVE celebrity romance type chick lit, but this one just didn't do it for me. Maybe that's because the romantic lead was modeled after Benedict Cumberbatch (who I'm not opposed to, I just don't get all of the hype for him #sorrynotsorry) I liked the main character, Clara, for the most part, but I hated the back and forth between her and Caspian. Also, I could hardly take his name seriously through the whole book. I know that was the point because of the jokes about Benjamin Cucumber's name, but come on now. When it got to the end and he just wanted to explain to her what happened and she just walked away all I could think was for the love of God just listen to him so that this can all end! 

The best friend CiCi, however; can I get a book about her? She was my favorite throughout the whole book, and I loved the friendship with her and Clara because it reminded me a lot of my best friend and I. Not to mention a shirt that says "My goal weight is Chris Evans on top of me" because absolutely YES.

Also, there were a few weird breaks in the typing that made it hard to follow, but I won't hold that against the book because I'm sure it will be fixed before the final copy goes out. This wasn't a horrible book, despite how my review might sound, but I actually enjoyed it and would read more from the author. 

Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

I've read and enjoyed a few of Hilderbrand's other novels, but her first take at a historical fiction was the book I didn't realize I needed at the time. I've been so caught up in thrillers and true crime that I needed a moment to flash back to a different time. Never mind the fact that that time period was before even my mom was born. I was big into the Kennedy history for a while so the fact that the Chappaquiddick incident was mentioned in this novel made me fangirl a little. This book is told in four different points of view of four different siblings. One of them is serving in the war, one is a teenager who is also half Jewish (half sibling to the other three), one is pregnant with twins (modeled after Hildebrand and her brother) and the other daughter is a political activist. Essentially the four siblings tell the story of their summer. This was the summer of the moon landing, and a very troubling summer for their family in particular. 

Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. We were supposed to be watching a movie last night (Ant Man!) but I was reading rather than watching. I just couldn't help myself! The story kept me hooked, no matter who it was telling it. The characters blended seamlessly, and it was easy to tell who was "speaking" which I think can be an issue with some books that have too many POV's. Hildebrand pulls this off perfectly. There were definitely a few times that each of the characters made me want to slap them, but I had to keep reminding myself that it was a different time. 

This book was published at the beginning of the month of June. I know our library will be purchasing it, and I can definitely see it being a book club read or something similar. I know I will be recommending it to our patrons who like historical fiction. 

4 out of 5 stars

Lost and Found by Danielle Steel

* I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.*

I've always said that for me, reading a Danielle Steel novel is like coming home. Lost and Found was no different. I've been reading them probably since I was in the sixth grade, so these are the books I turn to when I just need a bit of comfort food. You're not going to find a book here that will change your life, but it's an easy feel good read, and sometimes I just need a little bit of Happily Ever After. As of today, this book was published over a week ago, and I fully expect our library to get about 5 copies and they'll all circulate as soon as they hit the shelf. 

So, our main character, Maddie (in her 50s--- not usual for a DS heroine!) lives in a firehouse. She falls and injures herself and spends her time reading old love letters from former boyfriends. This causes her to go on a journey to look up those exes, and see if her life would have been any different if she had stayed with them. 

This book for me was a bit different than her usual ones. Nothing bad really happened. She broke her ankle, but it wasn't life threatening. She had an argument with her daughter, but they got over it. Her ex dies, but even that wasn't as heartbreaking as one of her novels usually is. There wasn't even a breakup between the main couple, which is almost a staple in a DS novel. It's like she all of a sudden changed the formula. But fans of hers are still going to read it. It wasn't a terrible read. Reading this was the equivalent of eating cotton candy made from Splenda while petting kittens in unicorn hats. 

Beautiful Liars by Isabel Ashdown

* I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. * 

Originally the title of this book is what drew me to it. I've also been really into books about missing teenage girls as of late (which sounds really creepy now that I put it down on paper), so it was a no brainer that I would pick this one up. As of today, Beautiful Liars  was published eight days ago, so if my opinion isn't enough, be sure to check it out yourself. Also, this is the second book of Ashdown's that I have read. 

The back story to this novel involves three teenage girls who go out one night, but only two of them return. No one knows what happened to the third friend, or who her secret relationship was with, though it was assumed an older man had something to do with it, but he is gone as well. So technically we don't even know if the friend is dead. Years later, Martha, one of the original three friends is preparing to host a crime show, and their first case is going to be her missing friend Juliet. (This show reminded me of Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke's series with the same premise-- not a bad thing just a similarity.

I won't go into too much detail for fear of spoiling the story. I will say though that I figured out the secret relationship pretty early on, and while the twist at the end threw me for a minute, I can't necessarily say that Ashdown didn't sort of give it away-- and whether or not you catch it is up to the reader. I was a little unsure about how the same sex relationship in this book was handled. For the time period it was written in, I understood the premise, but I still don't necessarily feel like the whole "if you don't come out to your friends you'll die" message was the best one to send. I have however seen it handled way worse though. 

 All in all this was a pretty good book that I can see being a hit among the thrill lovers in our library. 

3 out of 5 stars!

The Life of Death by Lucy Booth

I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley. The opinions of this book are mine. 

I saw the ending to this one coming, but it didn't make it suck any less. (I mean the ending, not the book itself. It was rather good). 

Our main character, Lizzie, trades her soul to the Devil to keep from dying when she is burned at the stake for a witch. In exchange for his help, she works with Him to ease peoples' transitions into death. To do this, she essentially turns into the person they love most, and comforts them until they cross over. The problem is that Lizzie falls in love and wants to return to Earth to be with him. In order to do this she makes a deal with the Devil. 

Of course, being the Devil, there's a twist to his game. I won't go into any more detail than that because it would ruin the book, but it made me mad. I knew it was going to happen that way, but I didn't like it. I was also icked out by the kidnapping/near murder of a child. I have been listening to way too many true crime podcasts lately, and it bothered me a lot. I almost didn't finish the book because I just couldn't handle that. I understand why it was written, because each of the deaths that Lizzie has to accomplish get harder and more thought provoking than the last, but it was tough. 

While reading this I was reminded a bit of my English classes in college when we were reading literature from the first half of American history. Between the imagery of the Devil, and Death, along with the whole "be careful what you wish for" lesson that the book gives, it had a ton of old school English vibes, which I actually enjoyed. 

All in all this was a quick read that made me think about things I might not necessarily have wanted to. It begs the question, how far would you go to get what you wanted?