Book Review : Tender Loving Care

Book: Tender Loving Care
Author: Jennifer Greene

Publisher: Carina Press
Date Published: March 16, 2011
Pages: -
Source: NetGalley
Date Read: May 28, 2011

When tragedy strikes, Zoe Anderson finds herself in the one role she never expected to have: mother. Sharing guardianship of four-year-old twins with sexy Rafe Kirkland is a responsibility she simply cannot accept. Rafe is just going to have to take care of the boys himself.
Rafe's not prepared to be a single parent either, but deserting the children is not an option—and he's never been as attracted to a woman as he is to their godmother. He proposes a solution: Zoe and the boys will move in with him, at least until other arrangements can be made. Or until he can convince her to make their temporary family permanent.
Zoe reluctantly agrees to the plan, but even after she loses her heart to the twins, she can't possibly take that emotional risk with Rafe…

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

This was nothing like I thought it would be. I was sort of thinking something along the lines of that movie with Katherine Hiegl, Life as We Know It, and while the plot was similar, the writing just didn't sell it to me. One, it moves very fast. Its a shorter novel, which usually doesn't bother me, but when you are dealing which such an interesting topic as this, I was expecting some hijinks and funny situations that would throw the characters together.

Second, the book was just odd. The four year olds sounded like 12 year olds. The girl (can;t even remember her name now) had an interesting back story that wasn't developed the way I hoped it would be. And the death was hardly mentioned. Also, the spanking scene, just ugh.

The one redeeming part of the story was Rafe. Rugged and charming, who wouldn't fall in love with this volcanic personality. However, other than that everything just fell flat.

Ratings:

Plot: 2/5
Writing Style: 3/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 4/5

Review: Queen of the Dead

Book: Queen of the Dead (Ghost and the Goth Book 2)
Author: Stacey Kade
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Pages: 288
Source: ARC Tour
Date Read: March 16, 2011

Summary:

After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.

Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.

Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.

Packed with romance, lovable characters, and a killer cliffhanger, Queen of the Dead is the out-of-this-world sequel to The Ghost and the Goth.

Yani's Analysis:
I was sooooooo excited to read this book and that might have been my undoing. I loved the first one so much I just wanted to jump back in to Will and Alona, but alas something is keeping them apart. This book felt so long yet so short at the same time. The whole book takes place in a span of a couple of days, so its very action packed and detailed. The characters are still amazing, I really LOVE Will and Alona together, but this second book is more about the back story. We learn more about Will's father and Alona's family.Still I just wanted to spend some alone time with Will and Alona, hopefully the third book can give me some more of that.

Also, this book has a little bit of a more serious undertone, the characters are growing up, finding things about the world they live in, its a little more realistic. There is so much more I want to say about the book, but I don't want to give anything away. I am very curious to see where Kade is taking the story, which has grown from a ghost love story to a more mature growth story of a girl who thought she had it all, but didn't know what she was missing and a boy who because of his special ability used to keep people out and is now finally letting them in.

The writing is amazing as usual. Kade really knows her characters and makes me feel like I know them too.
I can't wait till the third books comes out in 2012.... Gah thats a long time from now!

Ratings:

Plot: 4/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 5/5

13 Reasons Why Project and Giveaway!

TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

PAPERBACK RELEASE + GIVEAWAY
Thank you Penguin & Big Honcho Media!

This week is the launch of Thriteen Reasons Why paperback edition and it's new website.

About the Site:

Penguin launched the 13RW Project at www.13RWProject.com as a place for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why to record their thoughts, stories, videos and photos relating to the book, and to view what other readers from all across the country have shared. Each review is logged on a map to show the many locations that viewers are posting from, and all content is shareable through Facebook and Twitter.

 

About the book:

Thirteen Reasons Why is the story of a girl named Hannah Baker who takes her own life. But before she does, she records several cassette tapes explaining why and sends them to the people she feels pushed her toward that decision. The story is told from the point of view of Clay Jensen who spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah’s voice as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah’s pain, and learns the truth about himself—a truth he never wanted to face.

The anti-bullying anthem was published in hardcover in October 2007 by Razorbill, and quickly became a word-of-mouth favorite among teenaged readers with fans claiming, “This book changed my life.” The novel has been on the New York Times children’s hardcover bestseller list for 65 weeks, foreign rights have been sold into 30 countries and it has been acquired by Universal Pictures and will star Selena Gomez.

FIND MY REVIEW HERE: (Coming Soon)

About the Author:

Jay Asher lives on the central coast of California with his wife and son. His favorite part of being an author is speaking with his readers at schools and libraries across the country.

Giveaway Prizes

Two winners from this site will receive:

·         Paperback copies of Thirteen Reasons Why

Giveaway Rules:

• US Only
• See general giveaway rules in policies
• 13 + only
• Runs until June 23, 2011 Midnight Eastern Time
• Extra entries:  
• Tweet (+5): Enter to win 13 Reasons Why at http://www.thesecretlifeofanavidreader.com/ and check out www.13RWProject.com @PenguinTeen #13RWProject
• Blog Follower (+2)
• Follow @avidreader15 on Twitter (+2), @avidyani (+2)

+++

Blogger LOVE

So HAPPY because today I was given the ...

Now you're probably asking why does this make me so happy?? If you know this blog then you know why...

These girls are awesome. Their blog is adorable, fun, and I ADORE their reviews. They are the girls who put together RAK (Random Acts of Kindness), the best blogger feature ever, where bloggers can share their book love with others. The fact that they appreciate my work in this blog just brings a big smile to my face =D

I have had the awesome pleasure of meeting Isa in real life and hopefully will meet Vanessa soon (they are local bloggers), but if you haven't checked out their blog GO RIGHT NOW! And while you are there be sure to sign up for RAK =P

http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com

Book Review : Between

Book: Between
Author: Cyndi Tefft

Publisher: Self-Pub
Date Published: April 21, 2011
Pages: 246
Source: Author
Date Read: May 19, 2011

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

Summary Taken from Goodreads

Yani's Review:

So I am still not really sure how I feel about this book. I was a little turned off by the christian aspect of it, but at the same time it wasn't preachy and actually had some steamy scenes. This Between world is interesting and unique premise, kinda of a limbo for souls, but I thought that things where too easy there. You could make whatever you want happen, and go wherever you want, then why have Heaven?

What I did love about this book was Aiden. Maybe its my thing for Scots after Shade and Shift, but I was completely won over by him and I could see why Lindsey would be too. I also like the struggle she went through trying to figure out whats real and whats not.

Overall, loved the romance (top notch cute/steamy scenes), the plot as a whole could use some work though.

Ratings:

Plot: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 4/5

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