Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Isla's had a crush on Josh forever - and during their senior year, he's started noticing her. Could he be a part of her future - a future she hasn't decided? Isla had no idea what she wants to do after graduation. Everyone seems to have a plan, except for her. What could be holding her back?

My Thoughts: Like most readers, I've waited ages for this book. And it was worth it. This book is utter perfection. Here are just a few things I loved
* The art. Ok so there isn't really art in the book, the the art is described and it's beautiful
* The trip to Spain - I loved seeing new places. Yes I looked up the buildings and park where they traveled
* The moments with Anna and St. Clair plus Lola and Cricket
* Kurt
* The banter between Isla and Josh before they fell for each other
* The Falling
* The moments with her sisters
* The way it ended

Cover Thoughts: I like it - but most of it takes place in Paris.
Source: My Library

Review: Courting Magic

Five years have passed, Kat's still the same as ever. She's still a bit wild. She's still a magical guardian. Most importantly, Kat's about to make her debut into society.

Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse.

There's a rogue magician using illusion magic to elevate himself into society to steal jewelry. Kat's been summoned along with Alexander and two other gentlemen to discover the identity. Can they find the culprit without ruining Kat's debut?

My Thoughts: I love Kat's stories and I'm so excited to read this novella. I've been wondering what happened to Kat as a teen for ages and this answers all my questions. I love that Kat's coming out and that in five years, she hasn't changed much. Although I did notice that her patience seems to be a little bit stronger when dealing with her family. I love her over-protective family, especially seeing Lucy again. The magical battles, the dancing, the garden moment were all perfection. Happy sigh. I love visiting characters again and this was a fabulous visit with Kat. 

Cover Thoughts: Great
Source: Sent for review

Books I'm Dying to Read: October Edition

I love October books because that's finally when I start reading Holiday books. It's also a great time for cozies. Plus it's a big month for publishing, so lots of fabulous books are coming out this month. Here are a few I can't wait to read.

Maybe this Christmas: I love this series set in Vermont and I'm excited about Tyler's story.

Heart of Christmas: Eve's story in the Whiskey Creek series

Lodge on Holly Road: Book 6 in the Life in Icicle Falls series - with a man playing Santa Claus for the town as the hero

In the After Light: The third book in this amazing dystopian trilogy - can't wait to see what happens. 

Talon: Secret Dragon Slayers - Dragons hiding as humans - what happens when they come together?

Famous in Love: I read this and really enjoyed it! 

My True Love Gave to Me: Teen short stories about Christmas romance

Snow Like Ashes: A broken kingdom with one hope at survival

Exquisite Captive: Really excited for this one - grabbed an ARC at BEA. Jinni - slavery- and hope (Inspired by Arabian Nights)

Double Vision: Alias Men: Love this spy MG trilogy, excited to see read the last one set in Hollywood.

Pennyroyal Academy: Looks super cute - have an ARC from BEA and I can't wait to read it - school for Princesses and Knights

One in a Million: Lucky Harbor series where a girl returns home and sees her high school crush again - after swearing off love.

Runaways: Also read this one, which surprised me. Really enjoyed it. Love story from the wrong side of the tracks - a murder - and people speculating about their relationship. 

Side Effects: Just read this one and I liked it - very similar to Party of Five TV show.

Princess Black: Read this from BEA - super cute! Love that the Princess has a huge secret and she's feisty. 

Rain Reign: A dog story that sounds sad, but also powerful. Plus Ann M Martin!

One Potion in the Grave: Really enjoyed the first book in the series - looking forward to reading more about Carly Bell and her love potions

Picked to Die: 8th book in this cozy series about a small town and an apple orchard owner.

 Stray: Love the cover of this mixed up fairy tale (It was also talked about on Epic Reads Tea Time)

Not in the Script: Another book in the IF ONLY series - set in Hollywood

Doughnuts: After a recent purchase of a doughnut pan, I'm excited about the possibilities of baking them.

Scissors, Paper, and Craft: I love paper crafting - excited to see some new craft ideas.

Shooting Stars: A WWI book on the Christmas Truce.

Tween Tuesday Review: Lucky Me

Meghan believes in luck - and now thanks to the forwarding of a chain letter through email, she's cursed. With bad luck following her around, she's determined to break it. Her BFF tells her the only way to break the bad luck is to explain what happened to everyone in the chain and ask their forgiveness. If they say it's no big deal, than a double handshake is in need. Once that's completed the curse will be lifted.

The chain letter came from Ireland - luckily Meghan and her family are headed there on a family vacation. While her family makes it, they're luggage doesn't.

Meghan can't wait to sneak away from her family and track down the people from the chain letter and change her luck. Could it all really be that easy?

My Thoughts: I loved Cindy's previous books (They're now on the Summer Reading List for the the 6th graders), so I wasn't surprised at devouring this book. While the bad luck that descended upon Meghan wouldn't be funny in real life, it was amusing in book life. The poor girl had too many things go wrong for just one day. I love how she and her family traveled to Ireland to visit newly discovered family members. I loved how Meghan took off with two guides to track down the senders of the chain letter - it was a great way to see Ireland. I loved the descriptions of the country-side and the people. It made me long for green mountains and close-knit communities. Travel, luck, family drama, friendship, and a little romance make this book hard to put down. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute
Source: Sent for Review

About the author: 

Cindy Callaghan is the author of the middle-grade novels Just Add Magic (2010) and 2013’s Lost in London (Simon & Schuster). She is a full-time writer, animal advocate, and supermom. A native of New Jersey, Cindy lives, works, and writes in Wilmington, Delaware, with her family and numerous rescued pets. She loves hearing from fans, speaking at schools and conferences, and zip-lining.

Connect with the Author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindycallaghanauthor

Website: http://www.cindycallaghan.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CindyCallaghan

Mini Review: The Fault In Our Stars

Okay -so I finally read this one - and everyone was right, it was amazing. John Green certain has a way with words. It was a beautiful story with beautiful writing. I know why I waited (it was going to make me cry and when it came out, it hit too close to home).

I really do admire John Green and not because he's charming (Yes, I did meet him - sadly I didn't think to get a picture with him.) but because he's great at promoting reading and nerds. I love the nerdfighters.

In this book, I loved how Hazel loved a certain book and how much it meant to her.I liked how cautious she was - but how ultimately it didn't matter. I loved the banter between her and Augustus Waters. A beautiful story that made me laugh and cry.

SummerTime Review: Nantucket Blue

Books perfect for the beach or to read by the pool

Cricket and Jules are almost like sisters - they spend so much time together. Cricket's beyond excited when she's invited to spend the summer with Jules and her family in Nantucket.

Then suddenly, Jules's mother dies, devastating both girls. Cricket tries to be there for her BFF, but Jules pushes her away. She also rescinds the summer invitation, saying it's a time for just family.

Cricket decides to take on a baby-sitting job on the island, just in case Jules needs her. Once she arrives, she discovers that the job is no longer available. She lands on her feet with the cleaning job at a nearby hotel.

Jules had no interest in her, but Cricket remains. Soon she's getting into a routine and enjoying herself despite the broken friendship.  Instead, she begins to fall for a guy - one who's off limits to her - a guy that if Jules knew about, would cause further damage to her friendship. Does it matter what your BFF thinks if you're not friends anymore?

My Thoughts: The perfect summer book that features friendship drama and romance. I love how most of the book focused on the friendship between the two girls - how they were there for each other - what went wrong- and if their friendship can be fixed. The friendship was full of misunderstanding and betrayals and broken hearts. I really enjoyed the quirky secondary characters that Cricket meets at the hotel. I liked the romance and how it changed things. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel featuring the following summer.

Cover Thoughts: I like it, but I wish it had been two girls instead of a romance cover
Source: My Library

Series Books

I'm a huge lover of series books. While I like stand-alone novels, there's just something about going back and visiting old friends. I don't mind if it's a companion novel (Hello Isla and the Happily Ever After) or the fifth book in the series.

But I do have a growing problem about how to talk about series books in the sense of a review. I'm good with talking about the first one or two and then I'm not sure what to do. For example, I just finished Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead - part of the Bloodlines series. And no surprise, it was amazing. I need the next book - yesterday. How can I talk about it without giving away details to people who might have have read the series yet?

I don't want to spoil anything. I hate spoilers. Most of the time I'm rarely spoiled, but it does happen - sometimes on twitter or tumblr or even pinterest. Sometimes it's books and sometimes it's TV shows. I really try NOT to spoil things, but I can see it happening if you haven't read the series and here I am talking about book number five. Clearly there are details that you don't know yet.

So what do you do? Do you just say the book was amazing if you liked it and leave it at that? Sometimes at the end of a trilogy, I'll write up mini reviews and talk about the book that way - how satisfied I was with the ending, if I'm sad that it ended because I'm greedy and I want more time with the characters, or if there was a part that bothered me. That's harder to do with the series not being over.

So - bloggers, how do you handle it?