Top Ten Fall 2020 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Fall 2020 TBR List.

1. Beholden (The Fairest Maidens, # 1) by Jody Hedlund
2. Well Played (Well Met, # 2) by Jen DeLuca
3. Bewitched (Betwixt & Between, # 2) by Darynda Jones
4. Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews
5. Game Changer (The Field Party, # 6) by Abbi Glines
6. Layla by Colleen Hoover
7. A Wild Hope (Wild Swan Trilogy, # 1) by Celeste De Blasis
8. The Other Side of the Sky (The Other Side of the Sky, # 1) by Aime Kaufman
9. Dark Age (Red Rising, # 5) by Pierce Brown
10. Thorn Queen (Dark Swan, # 2) by Richelle Mead

Which books are on your Fall 2020 TBR List? Let me know!

Can't Wait for Game Changer

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

Game Changer (The Field Party, # 6)

By: Abbi Glines

Expected Publication: November 17th 2020 by Simon Pulse

336 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The sixth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a Southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.

Welcome to the Field Party. Where you bring the party to the field, where you dance all night, where anything goes. From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines comes the next book in this series about a small Southern town filled with cute boys in pickup trucks, Friday night football games, and wild parties that stir up some major drama.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Making a Play - Review

Making a Play (The Field Party, # 5)

By: Abbi Glines

Publication: August 20th 2019 by Simon Pulse

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The fifth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.

Ryker Lee is finally enjoying his senior year—he has great friends, hangs out with hot girls, and is on track to get a football scholarship that will set him up for college. Despite this, a small part of him wonders if there’s more to life than parties and meaningless hookups—and if football even means as much to him as it does to his fellow teammates. And when he meets the new girl at school, his world totally changes…

Aurora McClay is new to Lawton. She’s grateful that her twin brother, Hunter, is star of the football team and can help her adjust to her new school, but she’s not grateful at how overprotective he is over every person she meets. Just because she is deaf does not mean people have to treat her differently. When she meets Ryker Lee, the two of them spark an instant and intense chemistry, one that proves to be controversial not only because of Ryker’s reputation as a player, but also because of Aurora and Hunter’s father’s bigoted views about who Aurora can and can’t date.

Aurora and Ryker know in their hearts that they are meant for each other. But can their relationship endure the turmoil of rumors and prejudice?

I say this pretty regularly, but Abbi Glines is an author that can easily pull me into her characters and story, but I often have issues with her books that keep them from being 4 and 5-Star reads for me. Each book varies when it comes to the things that bother me, yet I consider her to be a pretty consistent author. Because Losing the Field was tame with the physical descriptions, I kind of expected Making a Play to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. I was happy to find that it was not. I will say that language was fairly common and on the more frequent scale for my preferences, but I can mostly skim over that.

love the representation of deaf culture in Making a Play. My friend's 4-year-old daughter was born deaf and I have witnessed a lot through her journey. I can't speak to the accuracy of the representation entirely, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Ryker and Aurora have an instalove kind of story. Ryker is the typical bad boy that Abbi Glines is famous for writing. And even though we know he's been affected by his relationship with Tallulah, his cousin Nash's girlfriend, due to some harsh and mean things he's said about her in the past that he's already had to face some uncomfortable facts about himself and change, but he goes from player to committed in literally the span of an eye lock. To make the instalove comment even more true, the majority of the book spans a week. Aurora is sweet and innocent and never has to see Ryker at his worst because he basically changes upon meeting her.

The other big conflict for these two characters is the racial differences. Ryker is black and Aurora is white. And Aurora's father is labeled as a racist throughout the book because he wouldn't be happy knowing that his daughter is dating a black guy. Now I just don't know how I feel about all of this. Certainly, racism still exists. Stereotypically racism exists in the South. Even more stereotypically, racism exists in Alabama. And this is true. To an extent. I will say though that I have watched interracial relationships grow in increasing numbers from when I was in elementary school to today when my nieces and nephews are in high school and college. And the stigma just isn't the same as it used to be. Are there some who still look down on interracial relationships? Of course. But I have some mixed feelings upon whether disapproval of interracial relationships equals racism. One thing is for sure, I don't have all of the answers.

I enjoyed Ryker and Aurora's relationship and story. It was a little "insta" for me, but I go into Abbi Glines's books expecting fun, light and fast. I don't expect every piece to be 100% realistic. So I don't hold it all under a microscope like I might for something else. Making a Play gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read Making a Play? What did you think? Let me know!

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books of Q3/Q4 2020

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Most Anticipated Books of Q3/Q4 2020.

 

Losing the Field - Review

Losing the Field (Field Party, # 4)

By: Abbi Glines

Publication: August 21st 2018 by Simon Pulse

336 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository)

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Losing his dream, his ultimate plan, and his future- Nash Lee never expected to be facing a life without football. One wrong move and it had all changed. Going back to school for his senior year no longer appealed to him. He’d rather not leave his house. Walking back into Lawton High School, seeing pity in everyone’s eyes was just another reality in his nightmare.

Revenge wasn’t a pretty thing. Tallulah Liddell had found it was rather controlling. The way you looked at life changed completely when you clung to the ugly notion. But she’d done it anyway. From the last day of her junior year when Ryker Lee had made a fat joke about her and Nash laughed with him, she’d been driven by pain. It wasn’t like no one had made fun of her weight before. She was used to that. What had hurt so deeply was Nash’s laughter. He’d always been the one person to notice her, include her, not treat her differently. But that one moment had changed it all. From the time she walked out of the school building to the moment she returned for her senior year Tallulah had been determined to lose weight and finally be the size her peers considered acceptable.

What she wasn’t expecting on her return was to find a broken Nash Lee who no longer smiled, rarely spoke, and didn’t care about anything or anyone around him. He was just existing. But the pain in his eyes she understood all too well. He was alone. He no longer fit into the perfect package.

Losing the Field is one of those books that I think needs to be read by so many these days. Oh man, this is going to be one of those books that stick with me I think.

I've not read all of Abbi Glines books, but I have read a significant portion of them. I enjoy her work--some books more than others. Mostly I find that I generally rate her books as 3ish Stars. I get sucked in quickly. I devour them. But I almost always have some issues with one aspect or another. Sometimes the books are too descriptive for my preferences. Sometimes the plot is predictable. Sometimes her characters aren't exactly likable for me. But I really think Abbi Glines got it right with Losing the Field. And I might even go out on a limb to say that this might be my favorite of her books that I've read to date.

Tallulah was overweight. She was used to being picked on. She was used to being a loner. I won't say that she liked it that way, but she did what she could to blend into the background. Yet Nash was always nice to her. He saw her when others didn't. When others made fun of her, he took up for her. Yet one day Nash's cousin Ryker makes a fat joke about Tallulah and Nash laughs. Tallulah is majorly hurt, and she makes the changes she needs to in order to lose the weight. I really appreciated how Abbi Glines dealt with this entire aspect of the storyline. Tallulah knows that her weight loss was started for the wrong reasons. She knows she made the changes she did out of revenge and pain and hatred rather than doing something good for herself. She also struggles with combining who she was before the weight loss with who she is now. She doesn't always recognize herself in the mirror, but on the inside, she's pretty much the same girl. She does have a bit more confidence than she once did, and she's willing to stand up for herself.

I expected much more of the storyline to be focused on Tallulah's plan for revenge than it ended up being, and I think that was a good thing. Tallulah's message is that words matter. How you treat other people matters. Yet she's learned (and I very much appreciate this being included) that you can't give anyone else the power to define your worth. Our thoughts, our emotions are all under our control. We can react and feel a certain way, but it is within our power to change the thoughts or emotions we have at any given point. Don't give your power away to someone else. (Not included in the book, but my own personal thoughts: God is the only one who determines your worth. And He thought you important enough to send His Son from heaven to earth, to live a sinless life, and die at the hands of those He created so that He could conquer death and pay the ransom for your soul. Now tell me that you don't have any worth! No way.)

Nash has always loved football. It's been his dream to go on to college to play. Yet he gets injured, and he's been told he'll never play again. He's broken. This was his future that he'd dreamed of...lost. He's not in the best mental space. Certainly, Tallulah supported him through some tough moments--times when he needed to be there to support his former team and teammates. But I do wish that a little more of the book was focused on him working through the grief and pain in a bit more depth. He does make some forward progress in the way of finding a path to still be helpful and be part of the team. And maybe even a potential career path. But I think there was room for more in this area.

The pieces of the story that featured Coach Dace were impactful. I cringed. I gagged. I felt so bad for his wife. Yet I find that I don't have too much to say about it. It was worked into the story nicely. I wish Haegan had stayed just long enough to record Tallulah's reaction and then Nash had found or been given the recording as the catalyst for reconciling with her. Plus I feel like it would have worked Haegan into the story a bit better. As it was, he felt a little unessential to me. I mean his journey certainly affected Nash in a big way, but he just felt so sudden. He appeared suddenly. He left suddenly. That's probably my biggest complaint about the book.

I do feel like I need to mention it since Abbi Glines can sometimes exceed my descriptive preferences. There was essentially only one scene that even touched on this area, and it was really tame. I very much appreciate this although I'm sure some of her normal readers might not. This is one of her most YA books when it comes to this. (Which I almost expect means her next book will make up for it with double the scenes or something. HAHA!)

All in all, I was very impressed with Losing the Field. I read it in one day even staying up until almost midnight to finish it--which is something I simply do not normally do since having kids. I appreciated the toned down physical descriptions which felt totally appropriate for the story and the characters. The messages to the reader were powerful and needed for this generation of youths (and even some adults I'm sure). Yet I never felt like she was preaching. The messages only felt true to the characters and what they were experiencing. Losing the Field gets 4 Stars. I took a star off due to some confusion with Haegan's part of the story and wanting to delve a little deeper into Nash's emotional healing. Have you read Losing the Field? What did you think? Let me know!

After the Game - Review

After the Game (The Field Party, # 3)

By: Abbi Glines

Expected Publication: August 22nd 2017 by Simon Pulse

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.

Two years ago, Riley Young fled from Lawton, Alabama. After accusing the oldest Lawton son, Rhett, of rape, everyone called her a liar and she had no option but to leave. Now she’s back, but she’s not at Lawton High finishing up her senior year. She’s at home raising the little girl that no one believed was Rhett’s.

Rhett is off at college living the life he was afraid he’d lose with Riley’s accusation, so Riley agrees to move back to Lawton so she and her parents could take care of her grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. But the town still hasn’t forgotten their hate for her, and she hasn’t forgotten the way they turned on her when she needed them most.

When town golden boy Brady Higgens finds Riley and her daughter, Bryony, stranded on the side of the road in a storm, he pulls over and gives them a ride. Not because he cares about Riley, of course, but because of the kid.

But after the simple car ride, he begins to question everything he thought he knew. Could Brady believe Riley and risk losing everything?

After reading several fantasy books, I needed a genre switch. So when I saw After the Game available on Edelweiss I snatched it up and started reading it pretty much immediately. I knew based on past experience with Abbi Glines in combination with the number of pages for this one that I could read it quickly which was exactly what I needed. And that's exactly what happened.

As the description says, Riley was raped two years ago and no one believed her--except her parents. As a matter of fact, people were even angry with Riley because they decided that she was lying about the town golden boy. Riley's gone through counselling, and she's worked through many of her feelings over the experiences. She's come out on the other side stronger and wiser. But mostly that's because she now has a daughter to take care of. You would think that Riley's experience and rape would dominate the emotional conflict and drama. Yet that wasn't the case. Brady had some things going on with his family that filled that role.

And speaking of, the conflict revolving around Brady's family was something that I predicted from the beginning of the book, but it was also one of the pieces that I connected with the most. Having been touched by this subject in my own life, I felt for him and his family for having to go through all of that.

As I've come to expect from Abbi Glines, the couple had some easy to overcome bumps toward the end of the book. We were so close to the end before these issues really even came up at all so I was semi-hoping that the conflict for the sake of conflict could be avoided. It was not. Thankfully, this wasn't drawn out. I mean it couldn't have been since it was so close to the end of the book.

I probably shouldn't even mention this since I read an uncorrected advanced copy of this book, but there was an entire page where Abbi Glines kept using the wrong character's name. I'm sure this will be fixed before publication, and it didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

The only quotes I highlighted revolve around the issues going on with Brady's family. Because none of that is shared or hinted at in the description, I'm going to keep those quotes to myself.

I do think I should mention that physical scenes were pretty non-existent in this book which I appreciated. But there were several f-bombs if you care to know about that.

After the Game was one of the better Abbi Glines books that I've read. The conflict was real. I appreciated Riley's attitude given the trauma she's experienced in her life. Brady's family drama had my tearing up multiple times. After the Game gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read After the Game? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on After the Game

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

After the Game (The Field Party, # 3)

By: Abbi Glines

Expected Publication: August 22nd 2017 by Simon Pulse

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.

Two years ago, Riley Young fled from Lawton, Alabama. After accusing the oldest Lawton son, Rhett, of rape, everyone called her a liar and she had no option but to leave. Now she’s back, but she’s not at Lawton High finishing up her senior year. She’s at home raising the little girl that no one believed was Rhett’s.

Rhett is off at college living the life he was afraid he’d lose with Riley’s accusation, so Riley agrees to move back to Lawton so she and her parents could take care of her grandmother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. But the town still hasn’t forgotten their hate for her, and she hasn’t forgotten the way they turned on her when she needed them most.

When town golden boy Brady Higgens finds Riley and her daughter, Bryony, stranded on the side of the road in a storm, he pulls over and gives them a ride. Not because he cares about Riley, of course, but because of the kid.

But after the simple car ride, he begins to question everything he thought he knew. Could Brady believe Riley and risk losing everything?

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Under the Lights - Review

Under the Lights (The Field Party, # 2)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: August 23rd 2016 by Simon Pulse

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary, Sports

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--In the follow-up to Abbi Glines’s #1 New York Times bestseller Until Friday Night—which bestselling author Kami Garcia called “tender, honest, and achingly real”—three teens from a small southern town are stuck in a dramatic love triangle.

Willa can’t erase the bad decisions of her past that led her down the path she’s on now. But she can fight for forgiveness from her family. And she can protect herself by refusing to let anyone else get close to her.

High school quarterback and town golden boy Brady used to be the best of friends with Willa—she even had a crush on him when they were kids. But that’s all changed now: her life choices have made her a different person from the girl he used to know.

Gunner used to be friends with Willa and Brady, too. He too is larger than life and a high school football star—not to mention that his family basically owns the town of Lawton. He loves his life, and doesn’t care about anyone except himself. But Willa is the exception—and he understands the girl she’s become in a way no one else can.

As secrets come to light and hearts are broken, these former childhood friends must face the truth about growing up and falling in love…even if it means losing each other forever.

I feel like that book description isn't really accurate. Here's what you need to know. Willa used to live with her grandmother until her mother decided to bring her into her finally stable family in Arkansas. But Willa made some bad decisions that ended with her mother kicking her back out so she's back to live with her grandmother again. She's permanently changed as a result of her decisions, and she carries a lot of pain, guilt, and grief around with her as a result. Brady, Gunner, and Willa were a best friend trio before Willa moved to Arkansas. Brady and Gunner as still friends but not as close as they once were. Both boys are interested in the grown up Willa, and she has to decide which one she wants.

Brady has gotten himself into a situation where the girl he's dating is altogether attached to him, but he's not feeling it. He's been with her because it was easier than not being with her. While Gunner has been the guy always looking for a sure thing that will be over before it's really begun. Brady is surrounded with a good and loving family. He's the star quarterback. He has it all. And to top it all off, he's a good guy. Except I personally find it completely annoying that he's only with Ivy because he "doesn't want to hurt her." Man up, grow a pair, and realize that you're not saving her any pain by remaining with her. Ugh. Pet peeve.

Gunner, like I said, has been the kind of guy who doesn't commit. He doesn't do relationships. Part of that is because his family life is so messed up. He's the younger son that doesn't feel wanted at all. And truth be told, he's not off base for thinking such things. His family life was even more messed up than I could have imagined and was just as bad as an episode of Days of Our Lives. Gunner's has precious few people in his life that have really cared for him and that's affected him deeply.

I thought Abbi Glines did a pretty good job keeping me guessing in the beginning over who Willa would choose. I thought she now had more in common with Gunner, but Brady was the one she was crushing on from childhood and those kinds of crushes can be hard to kill. I did predict who her choice was, and I was happy about that.

Abbi Glines has a few things that are pretty common in all of her books that tend to annoy me. While they all mostly seemed present in Under the Lights as well, I felt they were minimized in comparison to many of her other books. I really appreciated how tame this book was which is a completely opposite of almost every book by Abbi Glines that I've read since Breathe. Kudos man.

I do have a few small complaints. I felt like the last chapter--the "six years earlier" chapter--could have been completely left out. It felt a bit cheesy to me after everything that the characters had been through. And even though it never really came out and said "I've been in love with you all along" that was essentially the vibe that it gave off. Plus it really felt like the only reason that chapter was included was to make the title make sense. Oh and while I'm thinking about it...I've kind of felt like the whole football/sports theme has been promoted by the book covers much heavier than it is actually present within the books. While I don't want football to dominate the book, it feels like it's missing a bit considering how they're titled and covered. Also there was something that should have extremely bothered me based on my current life situation but the tears just didn't flow. It was sad, but I would have expected to be blubbering like a baby.

All things considered, Under the Lights gets 3.5 Stars from me. I appreciated the lack of physical scenes than Abbi Glines usually includes. The family dynamics were quite soap opera-ish. But I blew through this book and kept wanting to come by to it if I had to put it down for any reason. Have you read Under the Lights? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Under the Lights

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Under the Lights (The Field Party, # 2)

By: Abbi Glines

Expected Publication: August 23rd 2016 by Simon Pulse

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary, Sports

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--In the follow-up to Abbi Glines’s #1 New York Times bestseller Until Friday Night—which bestselling author Kami Garcia called “tender, honest, and achingly real”—three teens from a small southern town are stuck in a dramatic love triangle.

Willa can’t erase the bad decisions of her past that led her down the path she’s on now. But she can fight for forgiveness from her family. And she can protect herself by refusing to let anyone else get close to her.

High school quarterback and town golden boy Brady used to be the best of friends with Willa—she even had a crush on him when they were kids. But that’s all changed now: her life choices have made her a different person from the girl he used to know.

Gunner used to be friends with Willa and Brady, too. He too is larger than life and a high school football star—not to mention that his family basically owns the town of Lawton. He loves his life, and doesn’t care about anyone except himself. But Willa is the exception—and he understands the girl she’s become in a way no one else can.

As secrets come to light and hearts are broken, these former childhood friends must face the truth about growing up and falling in love…even if it means losing each other forever.

I enjoyed Until Friday Night better than I expected. I hope Under the Lights lives up. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Until Friday Night - Review

Until Friday Night (The Field Party, # 1)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: August 25th 2015 by Simon Pulse

352 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Sports

Source: Borrowed from Holly

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.

Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away.

As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.

West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…

I’ve read a lot of Abbi Glines. I wouldn’t say her writing is always my favorite. There are some aspects that tend to repeat in most of her books that I actually rather dislike. On average, I’ve rated her books around 3-3.5 Stars. But so far I’ve only read new adult books by her and most of these books have conflict that makes me roll my eyes at some point. But one thing is always for certain with Abbi Glines…she sucks me in and I usually read her books in a day. After seeing my sister-in-law say that Until Friday Night is actually kind of sad, I knew I wanted to read it soon. Plus…bonus, this book/series is young adult. YAY!! While there is still several f-bombs, the physical description is cut way back from her new adult books. And so, I started Until Friday Night not really knowing remembering much else about it.

West is the typical Abbi Glines leading male. He’s currently in a relationship, but he’s not invested emotionally at all. He’s basically in it for the physical perks and that’s it. West does the whole bit of pushing Maggie away in the very beginning because he’s not someone she needs to be hanging around. He’s too messed up in the head. Only to become a caveman and act super possessive when any other male is slightly interested in her. And this is BEFORE the two even have any sort of in depth conversation. I can see this being a real annoyance for some readers. For me, it was par for the course of an Abbi Glines book and not something that bothered me too much. Once he overcomes this stupid phase, he’s actually a fairly likeable guy.

On a realistic level, wow can I relate to what West had to go through with his dad. Having recently lost my father-in-law (although not to cancer and not really slowly), these parts of Until Friday Night really had me tearing up. I would have been all out bawling if I didn’t want to explain to my husband what I was reading. Along with the dedication, I really felt like Abbi Glines was drawing from some (perhaps recent) personal experience when she wrote these sections. The emotions were heartfelt and raw and real. And the events were very similar to our experience with my father-in-law. Pretty emotional…so beware.

Maggie is also similar to a typical leading female for Abbi Glines. She feels some kind of attraction or sees something in the leading male even when he’s being a total jerk. And so she continues to endure when most non-fictional girls would be running for the hills. As the description says, Maggie witness her father murder her mother. I wish this had been explored a bit deeper. I don’t know if the next book in the series will carry on with West and Maggie or move on to other characters. I’m assuming the later, but if we were sticking with West and Maggie, I’d really like to see more time spent exploring this aspect.

Maggie choosing not to speak to anyone except West really reminded me of The Sea of Tranquility. And of course, sharing something as vulnerable with someone else as Maggie shares with West has to bond two people. And the two really begin to develop a co-dependent relationship. Which leads into that eye rolling conflict I was talking about earlier. Fortunately, things didn’t remain in this state for too long and we were able to move forward without too much to complain about.

I feel like my review of Until Friday Night has come off more negative than I really felt. I did have a few annoyances that I felt like needed to be pointed out, but between the emotion I felt around West’s situation as well as how fast I read this book, I ended up really enjoying it. Plus the fact that this was a young adult book and not a new adult book means the physical content wasn’t as graphic which I also appreciate. Until Friday Night gets 4 Stars, and I’m excited to see what the next book in the series offers. Have you read Until Friday Night? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Until Friday Night

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Until Friday Night (The Field Party, # 1)

By: Abbi Glines

Expected Publication: August 25th 2015 by Simon Pulse

352 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Sports

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.

Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away.

As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.

West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…

Waiting are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most.

I expected this ask to be rather daunting, but it really wasn’t. Figuring out which authors I’ve read the most was pretty easy. Here they are…

1. Richelle Mead – (16) Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice, Bloodlines, The Golden Lily, The Indigo Spell, The Fiery Heart, Silver Shadows, The Ruby Circle, Storm Born, Succubus Blues, Gameboard of the Gods, The Immortal Crown
2. Jessica Sorensen – (16) The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden, The Redemption of Callie and Kayden, The Destiny of Violet & Luke, The Probability of Violet & Luke, The Secret of Ella and Micha, The Forever of Ella and Micha, The Temptation of Lila and Ethan, The Ever After of Ella and Micha, Lila & Ethan: Forever and Always, Breaking Nova, Saving Quinton, Nova & Quinton: No Regrets, Wreck Me, Ruin Me, Tristan: Finding Hope, Delilah: The Making of Red
3. Abbi Glines – (16) Fallen Too Far, Never Too Far, Forever Too Far, Existence, The Vincent Boys, The Vincent Brothers, Twisted Perfection, Breathe, Because of Low, While It Lasts, Just For Now, Sometimes It Lasts, Misbehaving, Bad for You, Hold On Tight, Until the End
4. Colleen Hoover – (12) Slammed, Point of Retreat, This Girl, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Maybe Not, Ugly Love, Confess, Never Never, Never Never Pt 2
5. Janet Evanovich – (10) One for the Money, Plum Lovin’, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Sizzling Sixteen, Smokin’ Seventeen, Explosive Eighteen, Notorious Nineteen, Takedown Twenty, Top Secret Twenty One
6. Maggie Stiefvater – (10) Lament, Ballad, Shiver, Linger, Forever, Sinner, The Scorpio Races, The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue
7. Amanda Hocking – (9) Switched, Torn, Ascend, My Blood Approves, Fate, Flutter, Wisdom, Hollowland, Hollowmen
8. Cassandra Clare – (9) City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess
9. Katie McGarry – (9) Pushing the Limits, Crossing the Line, Dare You To, Crash Into You, Take Me On, Breaking the Rules, Chasing Impossible, Nowhere But Here, Red at Night
10. KA Tucker – (8) Ten Tiny Breaths, One Tiny Lie, Four Seconds to Lose, Five Ways to Fall, In Her Wake, Burying Water, Becoming Rain, Chasing River

I’m pretty sure Lois Duncan and Lurlene McDaniel have to fit into this category too, but as these are both authors I read in my early teens and I wasn’t keeping up with my books read on Goodreads way back when, I can’t really remember which books I’ve read by them and which I haven’t. I KNOW Lurlene McDaniel surpasses 10 books read though. The ones I can remember reading for sure by her are: Six Months to Live, I Want to Live, So Much to Live For, No Time to Cry, To Live Again, Angels Watching Over Me, Lifted Up by Angels, Until Angels Close My Eyes, Till Death Do Us Part, For Better, For Worse. I know I read a few of the One Last Wish series and a few others. I just can’t remember which.

What about you guys? Which authors have you read the most? Let me know!

Misbehaving - Review

Misbehaving (Sea Breeze, # 6)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: December 17th 2013 by Simon Pulse

352 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from Holly

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--An unexpected affair leads to mind-blowing harmony in this Sea Breeze novel from New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines.

Jason is sick of living in his rock star brother’s shadow. So when he ships off to Sea Breeze, Alabama, he’s looking for a much deserved escape and a chance to blow off some envious steam. Falling for the local bad girl was definitely not the plan. But as the new duo enjoys some naughty fun in the Alabama sun, Jason learns that even though Jax is the musician in the family, he’s not the only brother who can rock someone’s world.

We’ve met both Jess and Jason in previous Sea Breeze books. Jess wasn’t a character I was excited to read about because of how she’s treated some of the other female leads in the past. However, I find that even if there’s a character I absolutely hate, once I read from their perspective I find myself understanding their thought processes and why they behave the way that they do. It’s an interesting philosophical concept. In contrast with not being excited to read about Jess, I was excited to read about Jason. I’ve been waiting for him to get his own book since Breathe and Just For Now.

I liked seeing how Jess’s insecurities have influenced her life, her view of men, and her expectations for how she deserves to be treated. I don’t always enjoy reading from a character that has a low self-esteem. And truthfully, I’m not sure I can say that Jess does have a low self-esteem, but she definitely has insecurities. We all do. She just wants to be loved, and above everything else, I connected with her desire for someone out there to simply put her—her feelings, her needs, her desires—first.

Jason was a bit more difficult for me to connect with in this book than in other books. I find that leading new adult male characters are all so very similar. Even when they appear to be completely different in previous books, when we get inside their heads they turn out just the same as every other new adult male. I enjoyed that Jason made an effort to show Jess how she should be treated and how she deserves to be treated by not acting on his desires immediately. But I found myself annoyed at how much he fought their relationship.

Without going into much detail so I can try to avoid spoilers, I really appreciated the part about 50% through where Jason and Jess weren’t together but Jess decided that she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for Jason. Despite being extremely hurt by him, she makes an effort to move forward. And I loved the exposure this gave us to a certain other Sea Breeze character that will remain nameless, but that I can’t wait to read more about. I’m thankful this happened because I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this character, but I’m already invested and I want this happy ending probably more than any of the other characters in this series so far.

Although I appreciated the part I just mentioned above, Misbehaving fell into that category of books where at the 70% mark (roughly) our characters make stupid decisions simply for the sake of conflict needed to move the story forward. This particular conflict was so similar to Sometimes It Lasts that I wasn’t as sympathetic as I would have been otherwise—not that I would have been sympathetic to dumb decisions anyway.

In the end, Misbehaving was both better than I expected and a disappointment. Aspects I really enjoyed, and others I really disliked. All of that keeps me around the 3.5 Star mark. I read Misbehaving in about a day which shows that I was hooked, so there’s that. Have you read Misbehaving? What did you think? Let me know!

Sometimes It Lasts - Review

Sometimes It Lasts (Sea Breeze, # 5)

By: Abbi Glines

Published: August 27th 2013 by Simon Pulse

288 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from Holly

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Cage York has to choose between a love of the game and a love of the girl in this sultry Sea Breeze novel from New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines.

After waiting for his big break, bad boy Cage York is finally called up to prove his worth in the college baseball arena. But when Cage’s girlfriend, Eva, mourns the sudden loss of her father, it’s not Cage’s comforting arms she runs to, but those of her former fiancé’s twin brother, Jeremy.

Torn between his baseball dream and the girl of his dreams, Cage must prove he’s worthy of Eva’s love, or risk losing her to Jeremy forever.

I think anyone who reads my book reviews knows that I struggle with books that give my characters (yes they are mine) a happy ending and then later stirs the pot of their happily ever after by throwing in a big curve ball that just doesn’t belong (mixing my analogies here…not a good sign for this review). And so yeah, when I first saw that Sometimes It Lasts was going to be another book about Cage and Eva, I can’t say that I was excited. I knew the happily ever after they found in While It Lasts would get disturbed. Yet at the same time, we know that life doesn’t end for these characters at the happily ever after. Real life has highs and lows. Periods of calm and happiness, and periods of conflict and depression. So I’m torn. I really just wanted to read about another Sea Breeze character so we could have ANOTHER character’s happily ever after.

On top of that after reading the description for Sometimes It Lasts, I went into “I can predict the future” mode. I was so sure that I would be able to predict exactly what was going to happen in Sometimes It Lasts. Cage and Eva are faced with time apart because Cage has always dreamed of this baseball scholarship thing. Being able to play ball for a living and move forward in his life from where he started has always been his focus. Eva threatens that. He doesn’t want to leave her behind, but she can’t follow him now. So they’re forced into time apart. Here’s where I made my assumptions. I assumed that Cage would end up drunk one night and would slip in his faithfulness to Eva. While that is somewhat close to what actually happens, I enjoyed that Abbi Glines wrote this conflict in a way that wasn’t completely predictable for me.

That being said, Cage and Eva both make some pretty stupid decisions throughout this book. I was following them up until that point. It’s true that had Eva not released Cage to follow his dream that he would have probably ended up resenting her for that later. But that was about as far as I could follow them. They both let their insecurities and hurts from the past prevent them from fighting for each other and trusting each other.

Ultimately I was fine with the ending. I’m thankful that even though a large portion of this book was predictable, every detail wasn’t as I expected. These books suck me in every time. I find myself getting so annoyed and frustrated while reading them but yet giddy when they find their happy endings. Maybe that’s why I like these books so much. They swing so far in each direction. Are these books literary works of art? No I probably wouldn’t classify them as that. But once I get past my frustrations with circumstance, predictability, and dumb character decisions, I love that these characters always find their way back to each other and to their happy endings.

All in all, Sometimes It Lasts gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read Sometimes It Lasts? What did you think? Let me know!