This Is My Brain On Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer

Cute, quirky, and just the right amount of silly. 

Addie Emerson is incredibly intelligent, more so than the average teenager.  Addie doesn’t believe in love. In fact, she and her lab partner, Dexter, are working to prove that you can make anyone fall in love under the right circumstances.  Then she meets Kris, a boy with a major secret, a secret that affects Addie.  Now she’s struggling to figure out these new romantic feelings while making sure her experiment doesn’t fail, and her chances to go to Harvard along with it.

Have you ever read The Rosie Project?  This felt like a young adult version of that novel. 

Have you ever watched The Big Bang Theory?  You can picture Addie Emerson like a young, female version of Sheldon Cooper, albeit very toned down and not nearly as frustrating. 

Addie is a very bright senior at The Academy.  She speaks directly, misunderstands typical teenage speak, and struggles with everyday social skills (something her best friend Tess is working with her on).  Addie is funny, adorably awkward, and smart without being annoying.  She has three friends that she treasures dearly, but when she meets Kris she considers a romantic relationship for the first time.

This book was entertaining from start to finish.  I found myself laughing often, frustrated occasionally, and constantly ready to turn the next page.  I would definitely recommend This Is My Brain On Boys to people who want a charmingly innocent young adult novel. 

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald is one of the most quirky, unique, and downright hilarious books I've read this year, and perhaps last year as well. 

You'll have to cut me some slack because this is not a romance novel in the way that we romance novel enthusiasts would define a romance novel (i.e. no scenes of an sexual manner), but I still thought it had enough love to warrant a review on my blog.  In fact, I don't think you will find a book with more love in it than Broken Wheel.  There's people loving their town, people loving complete strangers, friends loving friends, parents loving their children, and most importantly, people loving books.

In The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, Sara Lindqvist arrives in Broken Wheel, Iowa to meet her long time pen pal, Amy.  She's eager to finally see the beautiful town and hilarious friends that Amy has been describing in her letters, but is dismayed to find that she has arrived on the day of Amy's funeral.  The town is elated to have a tourist in their midst and do everything they can to make Sara feel welcome.  Sara, however, feels quite overwhelmed in this new arrangement and seeks a way to pay back the townspeople for their kindness.  The townspeople think Sara must be crazy to open a bookstore in a dying town like Broken Wheel, but soon they find themselves under the bookstore's spell.

This is the warmest, most enchanting story I have read in quite some time.  It is impossible for me not to love a book about loving books.  It would be completely out of character for me.  From the first moment I started reading Broken Wheel I knew it was going to leave an impression on me.  I couldn't put it down.  It was too wonderful.

The characters were some of the funniest individuals I've had the delight of reading about. Their passion and disdain for their town is something we've all felt (re: I can make fun of my hometown, but god help the stranger who does it).  Not to mention I feel that anyone reading this blog will have felt like Sara at some point: nose in a book, oblivious to the world, head in the clouds.  I'm, also, quite sure that most of us have dreamed of opening a bookstore at some point of another.  We've all been these characters, we've all felt what they feel, and I think that's what makes this book so wonderfully relatable.

Don't be too disappointed that this isn't a romance novel for there is  a little romance in it.  I don't want to spoil it by talking it to death, so I won't.  Just know that it's heart-warming, frustrating, and downright ridiculous, in the best way.  You'll love it.  

The secondary character's stories are just as, if not more, important than the budding romance.  All the stories come together to build a perfect picture of Broken Wheel in your mind.  I would find myself laughing, crying, smiling at times as though the townspeople were my very own friends and family, and as if Broken Wheel was my own town.  

This book isn't totally realistic.  The author certainly took some liberties, especially with the legal aspects of the book that arise, but while the story was at times improbable, you'll be too busy laughing, to care much about it.   

Intercepting Daisy by Julie Brannagh

Grant Parker is a quarterback for a popular football team.  His PR team works hard to make sure he appears to be a squeaky clean, church attending saint.  Grant prefers to spend his free time sleeping with women… lots of women.  After one such night of entertainment Grant discovers an e-book on the e-reader of his date for the night, a book about him.  The author certainly has some interesting ideas about what she’d like to do with Grant, but who is this anonymous author?  Soon Grant discovers that the sweet, funny flight attendant he’s seeing is the author of this raunchy story that’s threatening to end his career.

When I first started reading Intercepting Daisy by Julie Brannagh I was instantly drawn in.  The writing style was familiar and comfortable and the Grant Park seemed likeable enough.  I don’t usually read sports romance, but I liked the “mystery” aspect of the story.  Obviously, we as the readers know who wrote the story, but it was entertaining to watch the story unfold with Grant Parker unaware.

I have a few bones to pick with the novel, however.  While I don’t need my romance novels to be one hundred percent realistic, per se, I demand a certain amount of believability.  There were a few areas of the books that had me rolling my eyes with the stretches that the author was willing to make.

First, I don’t believe that a star quarterback’s career would be threatened by rumors of a sexual nature.  At one point in the novel Grant is almost fired from being a star quarterback because it got out that he wasn’t the religious saint he was pretending to be.  I mean, there are star football player who beat their wives, do drugs, and participate in animal cruelty and I’m supposed to believe that a few rumors are enough to unseat an amazing player?  I don’t think so.

Second, I find it hard to believe that a self-published e-book about a football player would be enough to unseat Nicholas Sparks in the best sellers list.  I strongly dislike when authors “date” their books, i.e. reference pop culture, it always pulls me out of my read and back into the present, which isn’t what a reader wants to happen.

My final disappointment in this novel is the lack of drama.  A football player, a flight attendant, and a secret raunchy novel?  How is there not drama?  The reveal, the confrontation, the aftermath… all boring compared to what they could have been.

So, while I appreciated the writing style and genuinely enjoyed the idea for the story, I just wasn’t feeling the slow moving, pretty unrealistic, easy-going aspect of the novel.  I am confident that there are people out there who prefer their novels this way, in which case, I would whole heartedly suggest this book to those people who don’t mind when the author takes a few artistic liberties and keeps things relatively clean.  It just wasn’t for me.

This book is on sale 9/6/2016 in e-book format.

The Mane Event by Shelly Laurenston

Do you like shapeshifter romance novels? 

Have you ever given one a try?

I received The Mane Event as a Christmas gift in 2009.  That was a really risky move on the part of my friend for two reasons:

1. I’ve read a ridiculous number of romance novels.  So it was sheer luck that she happened to pick one that was unfamiliar to me.

2. I am super picky regarding my romance novels.

However, she’d written “Merry Christmas” on the inside of this one, so I had no choice but to keep it and read it.  And thank gosh I did! The book was wickedly funny, totally sexy, and thrilling from start to finish.  Usually I find romance novels to be either funny and cute, or dark and sexy.  I don’t know that I’d ever found a romance novel to be both hilarious and spine-tingling, but holy hell, this book did it.  Instantly, Shelly Laurenston became one of my favorite authors.

The Mane Event actually houses two different stories: Christmas Pride, and Shaw’s Tail.  In Christmas Pride we meet Mace Llewellyn and are introduced to the idea of shapeshifting.  Mace and Desiree met as gangly, awkward teenager in high school but Mace moved away before anything could happen between them.  Now Mace is back from the Navy Seals, tall, sexy, and built to kill, and he’s ready to claim what’s rightfully his… Dez.  The only issue is convincing her to stick around after she discovers that he can shift from man to lion in the blink of an eye. 

In Shaw’s Tail Brendon Shaw is rescued from certain death by shape-shifter wolves, including one cowboy boot wearing babe, Ronnie Lee Reed.  Ronnie doesn’t have time to be messing around with lion shifters when she should be settling down with a nice wolf mate, but something about Brendon Shaw is calling to her.  Brendon Shaw’s lion side instinctually knows that Ronnie Lee Reed is his mate… he’s just got to convince her.

These men are everything you want in a romance novel.  They’re tall.  They’re dark.  They’re handsome.  They’re everything in between.  Her men all have very different personalities that can relate back to the animals they shift into.  Her lion shifters are total alpha males, arrogant, and a little selfish, but the women quickly put them in their place.  Her female characters are take no prisoners type of women whose confidence and independence rival the men’s.  The relationships in these novels are explosive and wickedly naughty, but still with enough romance to make you believe that these characters are meant to be together.

While the two men in these novels are lion shifters, Laurenston also delves into the swoon-worthy shifter lives of wolves, bears, hyenas, wild dogs, and a few more.  Laurenston does an amazing job creating character personalities based on the animals they shift into (i.e. Bears shifters are as curious and easily startled as their wild Bear relatives). I swear, sometimes I spew out a fact about wild dogs without thinking and then realize I only know that fact because of these shifter novels (that can get… embarrassing). 

If you’re looking for romance novels unlike any other I implore you to give Shelly Laurenston a chance.  There are nine books in the Pride series and Laurenston does a fabulous job keep the books consistently amazing and the plots interesting.  Characters do flit between the books, so while it isn’t necessary to read them in order it will be more enjoyable if you do. 

Shelly Laurenston has recently started a new series Call of Crows involving Viking Gods and their sexy followers, and she also writes dragon shifter novels under her pseudonym G.A. Aiken.  Her dragon kin novels are like the Game of Thrones of romance novels.  They’re incredibly detailed novels with sexy dragon shifters, temperamental gods, intricate plot lines, and more than enough erotic scenes to keep your romantic side sated. 

I cannot stress this enough.  You will not be disappointed. 

Swoon Reads by Macmillian Publishing

Two of my first reviews on here were Swoon Reads and they were less than favorable.  So, I was hesitant when some new Swoon Reads came across our advanced reader table at the store.  However, I’m a sucker for young adult romance and took them home to give them a chance.

If you don’t remember what the idea behind Swoon Reads is, I’ll remind you.  Macmillan publishing created a website swoonreads.com where writers can submit their original manuscripts.  Then, readers can browse the site, read from the submitted manuscripts, and rate their favorites.  Those submissions with the highest ratings are chosen for publication. 

The novels are usually between 200 and 300 pages, so they’re rather quick reads.  They’re understandably a bit cliché, but I was actually pretty surprised by the more unique story lines this time around.

My first read was Kiss Cam by Kiara London.  In Kiss Cam, we meet Juniper, Jasper, and Lenny, three teenagers who run a very popular vlog (video blog, for those who don’t know).  When their fans dare Juniper and Jasper to kiss, and then go crazy over it, the crew decides to start a kiss cam segment on their show.  They promise they won’t fall for one another, but as the novel develops, one of them realizes that they’ve already broken the promise.

I don’t really understand vlogging, or people being famous from YouTube.  I was probably too old when these sorts of things started getting popular, so the novel was a little difficult for me to get into.  I have no doubt that a teenager would find the basis for this story very entertaining.  While the plot was unique, the overarching storyline was pretty basic as far as romance novels go.  Still, this is a young adult romance, not a New York Times bestseller, so I had to remind myself to cut it some slack.  Overall, the novel was a fun read that reminded me of when I was a teenager. 

The second novel I read was No Holding Back by Kate Evangelista.  Same as the last time they sent us Swoon Reads, this one was a romance between two young men.  One thing that’s great about Swoon Reads is the diversity.  In this novel we have Nathan and his best friend of over ten years, Preston.  Preston is on track to be an Olympic swimmer and Nathan is the support he’s needed all those years of training.  The only problem is that Nathan has been harboring romantic feelings for Preston and has finally decided that he can no longer keep it a secret, even if it means losing Preston as a friend.  While Preston waits to hear some important news regarding his swimming career, Nathan whisks him away for a fun European vacation.  However, Nathan’s plan to admit his feelings for Preston goes awry and their friendship may be irreparably damaged.

As a former swimmer, I enjoyed the sports twist on a romance novel.  I liked both Nathan and Preston as characters and, while the unrequited love plotline is played out, I still found myself unabashedly rooting for the two of them.  There were a few times that I found myself frustrated by the slow moving plot line, but the author would manage to bring my interest back to the characters and their developing romantic relationships.

As these are young adult romance novels, you’ll find that the actual romance is pretty tame.  The books keep to a couple kisses and some heart fluttering, but they’re entertaining for a couple hours.  If you’re the sort of person who enjoys giving a new author a chance and might appreciate the idea behind Swoon Reads then I think you’d like these and other Swoon Reads novels.  If you’re a picky reader who wants the best of the best and doesn’t patience for clichés or predictable story lines then you might want to steer clear.  I fall somewhere between the two, but I’ll pretty much read anything once.

Black Night Series by Julie Ann Walker

When I started working for a bookstore I learned that books don’t sit on the shelf until they’re bought.  Sometimes, sadly, a book that has been sitting there too long gets sent back to the publisher.  Even sadder, sometimes the publisher doesn’t want the book back and asks for it to be destroyed.  The cover gets ripped from the book and usually it gets tossed into the recycling bin.  My bosses, being the kind souls that they are, give us booksellers a chance to dig through said recycling bin to rescue the coverless books and take them home with us.

This is how I came to be acquainted with Julie Ann Walker’s books.  I have no idea how her books have been sitting on the shelves for so long because they are masterpieces.  I managed to grab a few books from her Black Night series.  Book 2: In Rides Trouble.  Book 5: Born Wild.  And Book 7: Full Throttle.  Her Black Night series follows some really hunky ex-military men who have come together to form their own off-the-books special ops team, using their friend’s motorcycle shop as a cover.

I have read books 2 and 5 and let me tell you, Julie Ann Walker does a fabulous job of creating standalone books.  I hadn’t even a clue that I wasn’t starting with the first book when I read In Rides Trouble.  I never thought I would find the name Frank hot, but I do now.  Becky wants Frank, Frank wants Becky, there’s just one issue, he’s hiding a major secret from the group and he isn’t about to give it up, even if it means losing Becky.

He and Becky have some off the charts passion in this book, so much so that I think I was actually panting at one point.  In Rides Trouble has drama, a stubborn man, a strong-willed woman, and mistakes that will make you laugh and curse in frustration.  The secondary characters will have you cracking up even as the main characters refuse to kiss when you desperately want them to.  My only complaint with this was that there was so much build up that I was practically foaming at the mouth for them to finally get together, but when they did, wowza, it was worth the wait.

Book 5, Born Wild, was a fantastic second read for me because it told the story of Becky’s brother, Billy, and her best friend, Eve, which were two characters from Book 2 that I wanted to know the story behind.  Billy and Eve dated once upon a time.  Young, passionate, and madly in love the two had everything going for them, but add in one elitist father and suddenly Eve was marrying some rich guy before Billy could even get an objection in.  Now many years later Eve’s life is in danger and she’s come to Billy to help save her life. 

There were a maddening amount of misunderstandings between Billy and Eve.  I was clutching at my hair wanting to scream at the characters to buck up and talk to one another.  This isn’t a complaint, however, I do so love the drama associated with misunderstandings.  Julie Ann Walker writes sex like people have sex.  Do you ever read a romance novel and the characters are just saying the most ridiculous things (“Let me love you, my beautiful beacon of light”, you get the picture)?  You won’t be rolling your eyes at these novels.

Overall, if you like the Alpha male novels, unbelievably well written sex scenes, women who know what they want, and dangerous situations, you are going to love these novels.  Give them a chance and you won’t be disappointed.  In fact, if you’re anything like me, you’ll just be 104 degrees, panting, and wishing you knew some special ops guys to jump.

The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr

Have you ever read a piece of fiction, but it felt like you were reading a memoir?  The characters were just so real that they couldn’t be fake?  That’s what happened while I was reading The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr.  I snagged this book from the BookExpo a couple months ago and it has been sitting on my shelf since then.  I was hesitant to start reading because, even though I was pretty sure that Robyn Carr wrote romance, the back of the book made zero mention of any sort of intimate relationships, outside of friendship.

Emma Compton and Riley Kerrigan were inseparable as children.  They knew each other’s secrets, fears, hopes, and dreams.  So when Riley slept with Emma’s boyfriend it was understandably one of the most painful moment of Emma’s life.  To outsides, Emma recovered nicely enough. She moved to New York City, met a wealthy financier, and got married.  When Emma’s husband is found guilty of stealing his client’s money he commits suicide and leaves Emma to deal with the repercussions. Though Emma knew nothing of his theft, no one believes her, and she’s forced to leave New York and return to her small hometown in an attempt to hide out.  Trying to rebuild her life she confronts ex-friends, ex-boyfriends, and angry ex-clients while trying to balance feelings for a man from her past.

This book made me feel a whirlwind of emotions.  At times it felt as though Emma Compton was a real woman and I was reading her diary from the most depressing time of her life.   I wanted desperately to reach through the pages and just give her a hug.  I felt her anger and her sadness and her frustration at her situation.  I had to remind myself, frequently, that this was just a novel and Emma was safe in the imagination of Robyn Carr.  Anyone who has ever had a falling out with a friend will commiserate with Emma, or maybe Riley, depending on who was at fault for the falling out. 

This was an excellent novel.  After reading as many novels, from as many different authors as I have, I can say that Robyn Carr has a pretty interesting writing style.  I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is that makes her different, but I’m confident that it had something to do with how real she made the whole experience.  I, also, enjoyed the characters and the story that Robyn wove.  It was a tale that I had not read before, and we all know that romance novels can get a little bit repetitive sometimes.

I had a few frustrations with the book, of course, but it’s hard for me to explain what they are without giving away a somewhat interesting twist in the plot.  So, I’ll just try to vaguely explain my one major disappointment. Due to her husband’s actions Emma is constantly being watched by people to see if she got away with any of her husband’s stolen money.  When it finally becomes clear that Emma does not have any money (other than 9,000 in savings of her own money) I expected more of a moment.  I wanted to demand apologies from the assholes (pardon my French) who didn’t believe her and I wanted to laugh in their faces.  I was denied that and I am still a little bummed about it.

I, also, felt that there were one too many plot points.  There’s her friendship with Riley, her love interests, the ex-boyfriend, her shitty step-mother, the issues with her husband’s ex-clients, her new job, the FBI… and more.   I could have done with a little less, but overall I was very pleased with my read. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their romance contemporary and realistic, and their books full of plot.  The romance certainly doesn’t dominate this novel like it might others which gives other relationships a chance to shine, like that of the best friend. 

The Life She Wants come out September 27, 2016!