Upcoming Review: The Art of Love and Lies

 

Rosanna can reproduce a work of art that most people can not tell is fake. Her employer sells her art to people who love to show off the art in their parlor. 

When an art exhibit opens in Manchester, she's delighted to see all the works of art. It opens her to new pieces to copy. 

And she meets a man there. Martin Harrison is in charge of the security. The two meet up often and spend their time flirting and strolling through the exhibit. Mr. Harrison is unaware of Rosanna's job. 

Given his past with criminals, he has a very black and white view of the law. In his eyes, Rosanna would be a criminal. Her forgeries deceive people. 

She comes clean to him, as she shares the exhibit has been robbed. Unbeknownst to her, her forgeries are hanging in their place. 

My Thoughts: I'm a sucker for books about art and heists. This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the flirtation between Martin and Rosanna. I loved the descriptions of the art showcased, the moments that Rosanna was creating art, and the Queen attending the exhibit. The heist was great - lots of misdirect and secrets. Reading The Art of Love and Lies is a delightful way to spend the afternoon.

Cover Thoughts: Charming

Release Date: August 1

Source: ARC sent for review

Library Recommendation: A great romance for your collection. 

On Your Radar (14)

Title:  Unclaimed Baggage

Author:  Jen Doll

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Publication Date: September 18, 2018

Why it Should be on Your Radar:

* Quirky Summer Job

* Finding new friends

* Facing your demons
* Life's baggage

* Finding yourself

* Balloon Fields

* Romance

* Standing Your Ground

* Friendship to the Max

I reviewed this title for SLJ

On Your Radar: (12)

Title: Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare

Author:  Shannon and Dean Hale

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication Date: September 25th 

Why it Should be on Your Radar:

Science and STEM 

Monsters

Friendship

Secret Identities

Team Work

Problem Solving

Pure fun!

Source: BEA book 2018

Cover Thoughts: Adorable

Library Recommendation: A must have for school and public libraries

Blog Tour: What to Say Next

About the Book:
When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David's blunt honesty--in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing at a time when everyone else is tiptoeing around her. David welcomes Kit's attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad's tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they'll find. Will it be a welcome relief for Kit? Or a devastating shock? And can their friendship survive the truth?

Release Date: July 11, 2017

About the Author: 
JULIE BUXBAUM (@JulieBux) is the author of the New York Times bestseller Tell Me Three Things, her debut young adult novel, as well as the critically acclaimed The Opposite of Love and After You. Her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two young children. Visit Julie online at juliebuxbaum.com.

My Thoughts:
I loved this book. I added it to my list of On Your Radar Books. I Loved Tell Me Three Things, so I'm happy to be part of this tour. I loved the unlikely friendship. I felt terrible for David - he had such a hard time understanding people and what they meant. I love how Kit seeks him out because she knows he doesn't have to fill up a silence with meaningless words. I enjoyed how they became friends and then something more. I like how Kit could hang out with David while dealing with her grief. I didn't see that twist coming and I love how it changed things. I liked how Kit is biracial, David is autistic, and grief brings them together. An excellent sophomore book; I can't wait to see what Julie Buxbaum writes next!

Library Recommendation: Purchase this one for your library - school and public! 

On Your Radar (5)

Title: What to Say Next 

Author:  Julie Buxbaum

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

Publication Date: July 11, 2017

Why it Should be on Your Radar:

Secrets 
Grief
Forgiveness
Honesty
Friendship
Diverse Characters 
Navigating Society
The Notebook
David
Social Interactions
Finding your people 
Being Yourself


I loved Julie's YA debut, Tell Me Three Things, so I was happy to receive the ARC for What to Say Next - and it's amazingly good.

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: ARC sent for Review

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for All Libraries! 

Blog Tour: Windfall

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Alice doesn't believe in luck— at least not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for the last few years, she's been pining for her best friend Teddy. She and he are alike: both are outsiders, both know tragedy. She lost both her parents when she was 9 and lives with her cousin now. Teddy's father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to grapple with the weight of his gambling debts and barely able to hold it all together. 

Then, on Teddy's 18th birthday, Alice buys him a lottery ticket, and to their astonishment, he wins 145 million dollars. In an instant, their lives are completely upended. But what at first seemed to be a blessing, soon starts to feel like a curse. As Alice and Teddy deal with the ripple effects caused by that one little ticket, they learn more about themselves than they ever could have imagined, and about the unexpected ways that luck and love sometimes intersect. Now, if only Teddy can see through his windfall and back to the ones who love him.

WINDFALL is a story about luck, love and fate, and what the world owes us. Jennifer E. Smith’s unique voice is one to watch and you are in for a for a treat!

RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2017
PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

JENNIFER E. SMITH (@JenESmith) is the author of seven novels for young adults, including The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. She earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and spent years working as an editor on a number of bestselling books, including Ballantine's New York Times bestseller Tell the Wolves I'm Home. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages, and four of her novels are currently in development for film. She lives in New York City.

MY THOUGHTS: I adored this book as expected. I'm a huge fan of the authors, so I was very happy to be asked to be part of this tour! I love the relationships in this book from Alice and Teddy and Alice and Leo. I love Alice bought Teddy the ticket for his birthday and it changed his entire life. I like how he and his mom needed the money. There were times when I wasn't Teddy's biggest fan, but I grew to like him again in the end. I like how Leo and Alice tired to help keep him grounded and not go crazy spending money left and right. I adore love how he tried to make all their childhood dreams comes true. I loved Max and Leo and their relationship.  I felt terrible for Alice and her past. I admired her determination. I admired her desire to help people - the way her parents helped people. But I also loved how she started to lean on her friends more and become part of something for herself. I love the romances and the friendships in this book. I love the idea of paying it forward and helping to change the world with a ripple effect of kindness - what a beautiful sentiment! 

I've often thought about what I would do if my husband and I won a huge lottery like this. There are so many options. Paying off debt would be first. Then traveling. I have lots of places I'd love to visit. Of course charities would be involved. And taking classes about all the things I still want to learn. 

How would you spend your money if you won the lottery?

Upcoming Review: Last Man Out

Tommy loves football. He lives for it both on and off the field. During one of the most important games of the season, he hears the fire whistle. He knows his dad's out there battling the flames.

It isn't until afterwards that he learns the truth - his father didn't make it out. He always said be the first man in and the last man out, but not this time.

Now Tommy, his sister, and his mother must learn to live without him. Tommy becomes angry at the world and a little reckless. His sister Em quits the soccer team and shuts out the world. And their mom just tries to keep everyone together.

My Thoughts: I really liked this book. It made me tear up twice in the first few pages and it certainly tugged at my heartstrings a few more times. I liked the football moments. I liked learning more about Tommy's dad. He had great philosophies. I liked the moments between Tommy and his sister - how he tried to coax her out of her shell after the death of their father. 

The one problem I had was Tommy's age. The back cover of the ARC didn't mention Tommy's age and it wasn't until page 170 that it was mentioned. From the rest of the book, I thought he was older at least 14 if not 16 from the way he acted.  It changed the perspective of the book for me. 

Cover Thoughts: Great - Love the placement of the two helmets
Source: Book sent for review
Release Date: September 13th
Library Recommendation: Perfect for tween library collection - both school and public libraries. 

Spotlight on Relentless

Title: Relentless

Series: The Hero Agenda, #2

Author: Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs

Pubdate: June 6^th, 2016

ISBN: 9781492638742

 Revenge is easy, but justice is worth fighting for…

Kenna is tired of being lied to—and hunted by the very allies she once trusted. Unearthing the dark secrets of the superhero world has not only endangered her life, now her boyfriend faces execution for crimes he didn’t commit and her mother is being held captive in a secret governmental prison. Kenna is determined to stand up for what’s right and save those she loves from unspeakable fates. It’s time for the betrayal to end. It’s time for the real criminals to face justice. But the truth is even more terrifying than Kenna could imagine. A conspiracy threatens the fate of heroes, villains, and all of humanity. If Kenna’s going to survive, she must draw on her deepest strength: her resilience. Because when Kenna’s pushed to the limit, she doesn’t break down. She fights back.

 Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning and bestselling author of teen fiction about a mythological high school, mermaid princesses, monster-hunting triplet descendants of Medusa, and dark fae princes.

 Tracy Deebs is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and critically-acclaimed author who writes under many pseudonyms, including young adult novels about surfing mermaids and technological armaggeddon.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1VLL9In

Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/1TLIGtY

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1WcvsdI

Chapters: http://bit.ly/1VLMEWQ

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1YbxuI4

Quiz Embed Link:

An Excerpt

“I got this,” Dante yells to me. “Work the plan, Kenna.”

I nod and leave him to deal with Rebel.

As much as I want to free my mom first—family instinct is begging me to save her—I don’t know what her power is, don’t know if she can help us. At least I know what Draven’s powers can do. And right now, we need all the help we can get.

Nitro is standing on top of the table, right above Rex’s seat, lobbing small, white fireballs in a never-ending stream. He has the entire stage basically surrounded, with most of the Collective cowering behind a wall of white-hot flame.

Riley has a couple of the others and two more guards tied to the track lighting in the ceiling and is going after a guard who is shooting potassium bicarbonate all over Nitro’s firewall.

So, in other words, all is going according to plan. Thank God.

Draven is struggling against his shackles, which are secured to a giant loop in the stage floor. I want so much to pull him close and physically assure myself that he’s fine, but there isn’t time for that.

Instead, I move behind him and find the latch on the powers-neutralizing helmet. An instant later, I yank it off and toss it across the room. It’s useless now, thanks to my circuit-destroying EMP.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Draven demands.

Does he really have to ask?

I flash him a more-confident-than-I-feel smile. “Saving your ass. As usual.”

He gives me the cocky half smile I’ve come to love, and that more than anything else makes me believe that things will turn out okay.

“Kenna!”

I turn at Riley’s shout, just in time to see Mr. Malone break through Nitro’s firewall. Right behind me.

I freeze. This is the first time I’ve been face-to-face with Mr. Malone since I found out all the terrible things he’s done.

Since I found out he tortures decent people for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom.

Since I found out the word hero was a big, fat lie and they aren’t the good guys after all.

Rage overtakes me and I lunge for him, forgetting the plan, forgetting everything but the need to make him hurt as he’s hurt so many of the people I care about. In a flash, Rex’s hands are around my throat. I’m completely immobilized, lifted to my toes and barely able to breathe.

Draven is enraged as he turns on Rex—his father—and shouts, “You’re not going to touch her!”

“Who’s going to stop me?” Rex sneers. “You?”

An instant later, he releases me and drops to his knees, howling in pain as Draven uses his biomanipulation to do God knows what to Mr. Malone.

I draw in gasping breaths, relieved at the oxygen now flooding my bloodstream.

“Never go near her again,” Draven snarls, ramping up his biomanipulation grip on his father.

I lay my hand on Draven’s arm. We aren’t here to kill Rex, and the last thing we need is anyone in this room learning that Draven has a second power.

His muscles relax beneath my palm, and so do mine. Just this brief contact with him is enough to center me even in the middle of all this chaos.

Rex collapses into a lump.

Draven snorts with disgust as he stands over his father’s prone body.

The faint thump-thump-thump of an approaching helicopter jolts me back into action. We have to move, now, before reinforcements show up and eliminate our escape plan.

Upcoming Adult Review: If You Only Knew

Rachel sees a sext sent to her husband. When she asks if he's having an affair, he denies it. She takes him at his word, but lately, she's wondering if her marriage is stale. How did she get into the rut being a stay a home mom?

Jenny's marriage fell apart in flames, but she's still friends with her ex-husband and his new wife.  She moves to the suburbs and opens her own bridal shop. Jenny moves into a house with a grumpy landlord, who just might be the one thing she needs right now.

Two sisters couldn't be more different, but they're there for each other when the going gets tough.

My Thoughts: I really loved this book - it's a little bit different from the author's other books. It's a women's fiction instead of romance. It had to the same humor, the same strong family bonds, and the same lovable flawed main characters who go through hell.

I loved Jenny - and her attempting to play nice with her ex-husband and his new family even though she was torn up inside. I loved learning more about her dress shop and how she dealt with her brides and their families. I liked her conversations with Leo - how she was more handy than him. I liked her interactions with Evander - he stole my heart. I want him to succeed so badly. 

I loved Rachel and her triplets. The triplets stole my heart - they were charming  entertaining, and sweet. 

I felt badly for their mother, who didn't have an easy life but who stung her daughters frequently. I hated that Jenny had to keep such a big secret to herself for all those years. 

While the men in the book moved the story, I felt that the heart of the novel happened between the two sisters.

Cover Thoughts: I like it, but it doesn't really tell much about the story
Source: Signed ARC at BEA!
Release Date: This book comes out August 25th

Final Thoughts: I devoured this book, loving the sisters' story. They've both brave independent women who find themselves. Right up my alley. Don't miss this one, add it to your TBR list now!

Upcoming Review: Court of Thorns and Roses

Feyre hunts to keep her family from going hungry. When she kills a wolf in the woods, everything changes. Without knowing it, she's broken a treaty between humans and the faeries. Tamlin comes to her house seeking revenge.

She's held hostage in his house, where she learns more about the treaty and more about the world of the Fae.  As her time with the Fae grows on, Feyre begins to feel more comfortable in their world and with Tamlin.

Just as she grows comfortable - Tamlin sends her back to her home. He orders her to stay there. With her heart torn, Feyre takes matters into her own hands - but will her actions mean the death of everyone she holds dear?

My Thoughts: I tried really hard to savor this book and read it slowly - but I just couldn't do it. I LOVED it and needed to see how everything turned out. I'm not sure I can saw how much I loved this book, but I'll try.

Tamlin ran cold and hot with his affections. He reminded me greatly of Mr. Darcy. I loved the slow burn of their relationship - how it changed from enemies to friends to maybe something more.

Lucien made me laugh, made me angry, and made me love him. I hope the next book contains his story. 

I liked learning more about the Fae world and their politics.

I loved watching Feyre paint - from the paintings in her home to the room Tamlin sets up for her. Painting is w way for her to express herself, but to also work out problems in her head. 

At first, I had mixed feelings about Feyre's sisters. But I came to really enjoy them. I hope they're more present in the upcoming books.  I don't like the way they treated Feyra in the beginning, but I like how they grew closer after everything. 

I really really really liked Feyre - she was smart, driven, determined, feisty, and sweet at times. She didn't always make the best choices (who does really?). She was brave and loyal to those she loved; she went through hell and back for them. 

Cover Thoughts: Love
Source: ARC
More New Adult than YA, I'd still place this in YA at my library.
Release Date: May 5, 2015

Final Thoughts: Emotions, choices, standing on the sidelines or getting in the game, good vs evil, loyalty, friendship, and a fantastic love story - this book has it ALL and more. Add this one to your reading list and move it to the top! You won't be sorry. 

Upcoming Book Review: Geography of You and Me

One night Lucy and Owen get stuck in an elevator when a black out hits the entire East Coast. It's only 30 minutes before help funds them, but it's enough to make a small connection,

They spend time that night walking about the city - eating ice cream and talking about why they love or hate the city. Finally they climb up to the roof of their apartment building where they talk about everything.

Lucy awakes in the morning - on top of the roof and alone. The spell is broken as she's not sure if she should find Owen and talk with him some more.

That one evening changes both of them. Soon, each of them are moving to new places. They start keeping in touch with emails and postcards, but eventually life gets in the way and their communication dwindles.  Was their friendship only meant to last that one night?

My Thoughts: I Loved this book - I loved how their short time together changed the way they viewed things in the world and how it changed both of them.I liked how they struggled to remain friends during their life changes - the moves, dealing with parents, exploring new cities, and finding new friends. I liked how they still thought about each other. I really liked  the short chapter portion - and how connected they were at that time. I really liked how they traveled around different parts of the world and how they saw the sights. I loved this sentence (the last one in this paragraph):

I Loved this book, a perfect read from one of my favorite authors. Add it to your TBR list!

Cover Thoughts: Love it!

Source: ARC for review

Release Date: April 15th