Love-Triangle Crack: DOUBLE CLUTCH by Liz Reinhardt

I read a lot of different kinds of YA.  I enjoy everything from dystopian to historical to urban fantasy, supernatural, contemporary and everything in between.

But no matter what kind of YA I’m reading, I can always be guilty of turning the pages in search of one thing:  

The romance.

Sometimes the romance in the story kind of feels like the cream filling in an oreo cookie.  You nibble and pick at the chocolate cookie but all you really want is the good stuff in the middle. Throughout all the life-threatening situations, the mystery, or the mind-control I can’t help but feel an involuntary flair of excitement when the MC and the love interest are finally getting some attention.  And if there’s a love triangle- I am usually one happy girl.  Don’t ask me why, but I’m a sucker for a really well-done bad boy/good guy face off and if the lines that determine which is which are blurred enough so that I’m not really sure who the MC should end up with? - Even better!

If you’re like me and have ever been guilty of getting more excited about the love triangle in a story than about the bigger picture, I’ve got something special for you here.  I discovered Liz Reinhardt through the blogosphere the same week she self-published her first novel ‘Double Clutch’.  The premise sounded like something I’d enjoy so I downloaded it onto my kindle.

I started it one evening earlier this week.  And finished it the next day.  

Brenna Blixen is living a double life. She goes to two different schools- regular public school in the morning and the technical institute in the afternoon as a participant of the program ‘Share Time’.  She has two sets of teachers, two sets of friends and two very different boys vying for her attention.  

But what happens when the two worlds collide?  Brenna might discover that the lines that connect Saxon and Jake could make or break her relationship with either.

The pacing in Double Clutch was fantastic, the characters charismatic (Jake and Saxon were just awesome.  I totally wanted them both. I mean *ahem*I wanted her to end up with both. Of course.) and the dialogue authentic.  I honestly enjoyed every minute.

This book has officially become my love-triangle crack-- totally addictive, sexy, and Reinhardt captures the exhiliration of falling in love for the first time perfectly. 
'Double Clutch' is the oreo cream without the cookie; made up of only the good stuff I find myself constantly looking for in other books.

Congratulations Liz on a job well done!  Wishing you tons of success and I look forward to reading your future books!

If you want your own love-triangle crack, get your copy here!

A Book That Rocked My World

I don’t do book reviews very often.  It’s not that I don’t like/love most of the books I read, but more often than not, I find the majority of my to-be-ordered/read list from reviews I've found through the blogosphere.  Plus, I am  an incorrigible ‘mood reader’-  I go looking for books I’m in the mood for, whether its YA, Romance, Historical, Paranormal, etc…I read a little bit of everything but one thing that really seals the deal on if I order a book or not is the reviews.

This week I read my first book by Kristan Higgans entitled ‘Just One of the Guys’ and after finishing, I not only went and gave it five stars on Goodreads but I also did a quick review (which I never do).  I couldn’t help it!  The book totally rocked my world. 

Back cover description :  So when journalist Chastity O’Neill returns to her hometown, she decides it’s time to start working on some of those feminine wiles.  Two tiny problems : #1—she’s five feet eleven inches of rock-solic girl power, and #2—she’s cursed with four alpha male older brothers.

While doing a story on local heroes, she meets a hunky doctor and things start to look up.  Now there’s only one problem :  Trevor Meade, her first love and the one man she’s never quite gotten over—although he seems to have gotten over her just fine.

Yet, the more time she spends with Dr. Perfect, the better Trevor looks.  But even with the in-your-face competitions, the irresistible Trevor just can’t seem to see Chastity as anything more than just one of the guys…

Well, the back cover description pretty much blows chowder compared to what this little beauty actually holds.

What I love about Higgan’s characters is that they are all flawed in some way but she was very clever in choosing flaws that would help advance the plot.  In the very first scene Charity chokes on a hors d’œuvre and struggles to give herself the heimlich all while her boyfriend of three weeks  (who doesn’t notice her dilema) tries to ‘put her down’ gently.  I knew from the first page that this wasn’t going to be a normal chick lit/contemporary romance. 

Not only are the situations themselves funny as hell, but the way the main character explains and shares her thoughts is right on the money.  –and I’m not talking about that faint pleasant smile and head bob I usually get while reading witty dialogue or even a mild-mannered ‘snort’ here and there when something silly happens.  I’m talking about having to put the book down and laugh for a good minute, replaying the episode in my head while my husband looks at me like I’ve finally lost it.   --From being chased down by her female dog in heat during a first date to realising she’s been chatting with her BROTHER on eharmony.com, we laugh and cry by Chastity’s side as she struggles to find her way through the dating pool towards Mr. Right. This was just too good not to share !

I hope ya’ll have a great Monday !

*CQG*

Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me

After a bunch of great blogger reviews helped fill up my bookshelf- I wanted to return the favor!  I ordered the recently released 'Wolves, Boys, and Other Things that Might Kill Me' by debut author Kristen Chandler:

KJ Carson arrives at the surface of the puberty pool pretty much unscathed.  But between her tense relationship with her father, the arrival of Virgil- a shaggy haired city slicker and his hippie mother Eloise, and the town’s hysteria over whether or not the wolves in Yellowstone park should be hunted- her small world in her small town are growing more and more complicated.

The characters in this book are wonderfully flawed and believable.  KJ is not some over confident smart ass like we often see in YA lit.  She has her own set of insecurities, including a constant fear of never succeeding at anything or living up to who her father wants her to be.  Virgil isn’t a ripped Abercrombie model come to sweep her off her feet.  He’s a ‘real’ sixteen year old boy and a genuinely ‘good’ character, which is rare. 

I love how we observe KJ develop over time. She grows a backbone and succeeds in creating change in a place where things seem like they’re stuck in a time capsule.  Chandler also does a great job of showing us both sides of the story so that there’s no distinct ‘villain’, but a situation that escalates and leaves everyone the victim in some way.

What immediately drew me to this book was its title and cover art.  ‘Wolves, Boys & Other Things That Might Kill Me’  Awesome, awesome title and flashy cover art. 

However, everything you see when you pick up the book (even the back excerpt) plays on the popularity of paranormal stories about werewolves and vampires when it has absolutely nothing to do with either.  It gives the impression that we’re in for suspenseful and dark YA when it’s really a humorous mainstream middle grade novel. 

The book is written entirely in present tense, which I found a bit disconcerting but eventually got used to.  And many of the secondary characters could have done with more physical description.  The only characters I found really well described were Virgil and his mother Eloise.  I had to let my imagination do the work for the rest, even for the main character KJ.

I stress the point that this book should be considered middle grade.  The dialogue and action were anything but edgy, with ‘Holy Smack’ being about as bad as it gets.  I was able to put it down but still thought about the characters and the story.  All in all, I found this book really ‘cute’ and would recommend it for kids eleven and up or people who enjoy middle grade in general.

Hope this helps!

Creepy