Ten Books I've Read Because of Book Reviews

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 Books I've Bought/Borrowed Because....

1. Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, # 1) by Pierce Brown - Picked up because of Kimba @ The Caffeinated Reviewer.
2. Me Before You (Me Before You, # 1) by Jojo Moyes - Picked up because I first saw The Aussie Zombie's review (I'd link to it but her blog is no longer available), but then Paula and I went to see the movie and that settled my desire to read it.
3. All Lined Up (Rusk University, # 1) by Cora Carmack - Picked up because of Naomi @ Nomi's Paranormal Palace (she's since changed her blog name).
4. Breathe Annie Breathe (Hundred Oaks, # 5) by Miranda Kenneally - Picked up because of Anna Reads (her blog is also no longer active, but someone else has created a new blog with the same name).
5. Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones - I didn't actually read her reviews, but I saw Kimba constantly rating these books four and five stars so when I had the opportunity I checked them out and loved them.
6. The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord - I can't remember who I saw review this one, but I remember it sticking in my head.
7. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle - Read because of Jennifer's review on Goodreads.
8. Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich - Because of my sister's word of mouth review.
9. When It's Real by Erin Watt - Because of Holly's review.
10. Partials (Partials, # 1) by Dan Wells - Because of The Aussie Zombie's review.

So tell me, which books have you read based solely off reading someone else's review? Let me know!

Coming Up for Air - Review

Coming Up for Air (Hundred Oaks, # 8)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Expected Publication: July 1st 2017 by Sourcebooks Fire

320 pages

Genre: Young 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--Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat.

All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic try out, so she feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to lose to win?

I've been all over the place in my feelings for this series, but one thing has been pretty constant. I love the sports themes throughout each of these books (minus Jesse's Girl). And Coming Up for Air was no different. I've enjoyed how each book has covered a different sports. Miranda Kenneally does a great job of having the sport be such a large part of each book without taking completely over. Coming Up for Air covers swimming.

Maggie and Levi are both competitive swimmers, but they're not just on their high school teams only. They're striving for a chance to swim in the Olympics. And swimming at this level requires nothing but the utmost commitment. I loved that Maggie and Levi's friends are all committed to their own sports so they make a great team. None of them get angry because the others aren't there for them when they're busy with sports things, yet they all make an effort to continue to meet up on Friday nights--the only night they all have off--and hang out. Maggie and Levi are best friends and Hunter and Georgia are best friends. But they are all friends with each other. I enjoyed how they were able to be there for each other in unique ways but also call each other on their crap when need be.

Maggie hasn't had any time to have any kind of boyfriend or relationship because she's been so focused on swimming. This means she doesn't have any emotional experience or physical experience. The description makes it seem like Maggie makes out with Levi one time and then discovers that she has feelings for Levi. I don't want to spoil too much, but that's a bit prettier than the actual events. Maggie feels like some physical experience will give her the confidence she needs to go into college. Maggie's obsession with the physical isn't my preference, but it did ring true for what I feel like teenagers these days can relate to. I particularly laughed out loud over one scene in the beginning of Coming Up for Air because while I've never been in the situation Maggie finds herself in, I'm sure many of girls have.

I do, however, have a soft spot for best friends turned more stories. And even though the emphasis on the physical isn't my favorite, I very much enjoyed the building of Maggie and Levi's relationship. Stories where a couple has a physical encounter without any emotional foundation often get on my nerves, but Maggie and Levi have plenty of emotional foundation even if they never thought of each other in a romantic way until they moved their relationship into the physical realm.

Coming Up for Air had plenty of other aspects to factor in as well. There's the competitive swimming, practices, meets, Maggie's nemesis. Hunter's relationship with Shelby (Jack's younger sister from Racing Savannah). Georgia's baggage from being cheated on in the past. The quad going off to college/boot camp after graduation. And probably even more pieces that make Coming Up for Air a complete story.

Favorite quotes:

-He knows I want to make out, right? Not read aloud to each other.

-"Most people are so busy thinking about themselves they aren't worried about other people. It's human to think that everyone is always watching everything we do, but they aren't."

-"If you aren't comfortable enough to tell a guy what you want, you shouldn't be in bed with him."

-"By hooking up without the commitment, you set your own value short."

-"I can't let what other people do affect me."

I do have to say that I was up and down with the pop-culture references. It's a pet-peeve of mine to outright mention name brands, celebrities, current TV shows, etc because I feel like it automatically dates a book. However, I do love little nuggets that may or may not have been references to pop-culture. Like there's a reference to a cheerleader in a "tiny black and blue uniform that says Ravens" who happens to be a huge flirt at one of Georgia's cheerleading competition. Could this be a reference to Brooke or Rachel from One Tree Hill? Black and blue cheerleading uniform that says Ravens? I think it's highly likely, but it isn't spelled out. Perfect reference Miranda Kenneally. However, she turns around and mentioned a couple using Maggie's parents to plan them a "Game of Thrones-themed wedding." I guess this could go both ways for either the book or the TV show. For some reason, the book references don't bother me as much as TV references because books are a bit timeless. But even with her reference to The Raven Boys, Divergent, and some warlock book that I'm not familiar with, I just felt like these references were too much. (Also a reference is included to the movie Tangled.)

Coming Up for Air was a multi-layered book that had me blowing through the pages. While all of the aspects weren't my favorite, as Miranda Kenneally books go, Coming Up for Air was definitely a winner for me. Maggie and Levi were both likeable even when I wanted to bop them each in the head. I loved the swimming pieces that surround the story. Coming Up for Air gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Coming Up for Air? What did you think? Let me know!

Racing Savannah - Review

Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks, # 4)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Published: December 3rd 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports

Source: Borrowed from the 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--They’re from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boys. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin—cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries.

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules either. She’s not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack…

I think you guys know by now that I've had a rocky relationship with Miranda Kenneally's books. But I'm not going to focus on that, I'm just going to focus on Racing Savannah.

Savannah's mother passed away a few years back and her medical bills have really been tough on Savannah's father. He has been struggling to make ends meet and on top of that, his newish girlfriend is pregnant. But things are looking up as he's gotten a job as the head groom on the Goodwin's farm. And Savannah knows that she needs to try to get a job there as well to help with the bills and for herself. Yet she's never thought much about the future or what she wants.

Jack is trying so hard to prove himself to his father. His father's given him the run of the farm for the year. All decisions are Jack's, but it's a great opportunity for his father to help mentor him. While there's a lot of pressure on Jack, he manages pretty well. And he's not quite what everyone seems to think he is.

So that's the surface level stuff. But here's where we go deeper. I really liked both Savannah and Jack. Like really liked them. Savannah takes on burdens and responsibilities that shouldn't be hers. Instead of whining and moping all of the time, she takes on a huge part of her families problems. I respect Savannah mostly because of the level of respect that she had for herself. When Jack wasn't ready to go public with their relationship, Savannah doesn't stand for it. She's not fine being stuffed into the closet physically or metaphorically. Jack literally runs his father's farm. He's making big time decisions. He's helping his mother with a cookbook. His sister seems to adore him. I was just mostly impressed all around with these two.

That's not to say that Savannah and Jack didn't have their issues. Jack is sometimes more interested in his father's approval and appearances. Whereas Savannah had some insta-crushing going on. I also think these two were hasty in the physical department, but I felt like that is fairly realistic for teens these days. I enjoyed the side characters, particularly Rory and Vanessa even though they moved even quicker than Savannah and Jack.

Racing Savannah is not perfect, but the characters were some of the more respectable ones in YA literature despite their quick physical progress. I enjoyed the cameos from prior series characters. And I liked the story. Racing Savannah gets 4 Stars. Have you read Racing Savannah? What did you think? Let me know!

Defending Taylor - Review

Defending Taylor (Hundred Oaks, # 7)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Expected Publication: July 5th 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire

304 pages

Genre: Young 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--Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High.

Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it’s hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?

You guys, I never do this, but I finished Defending Taylor about two weeks before I sat down to write this book review. I've always had a self imposed rule of letting no more than 48 hours go by without writing my review for fear of forgetting too much. Of course, that also was from a time when I was reading much more frequently, and that amount of time might have had me finishing one or maybe even two other books in that time frame. So I apologize if this review isn't one of my better ones.

As the description says, Taylor made a mistake. But the biggest mistake she made was taking the fall for something that she didn't do. It was an honorable choice but one that wasn't without dire consequences. My biggest frustration with Taylor was how bitter she ended up being with the person who was at fault. If you're going to take the fall for someone then you can't exactly get mad when things go south for you. I mean it sucks, but that's a part of the choice that you made.

Ezra is Taylor's brother's best friend. So he's pretty much always been around. And well, Taylor has had a crush on him for years. She thought they might be moving toward something back when she turned 16, but Ezra missed his chance. Of course there was a misunderstanding that caused a long portion of time and distance between the two. The thing I really enjoyed about Ezra was his determination to find his own path. Despite his parents' money, he chose to follow his own desires. Yet, sometimes we really should ask for help, and Ezra could have made things easier on himself if he'd done just that.

Miranda Kenneally's books have been up and down for me. For the most part, I really like them or really hate them. I've really enjoyed Catching Jordan, Breathe Annie Breathe, and Jesse's Girl, but I really took issue with Stealing Parker and Things I Can't Forget. While Stealing Parker and Things I Can't Forget are much more in your face with their view of God, Miranda Kenneally decided for a much more subtle approach with Defending Taylor. My issue with this is that the comment wasn't necessary at all. It didn't further explain the characters or situations that the characters were facing. It was just placed there with no real benefit to the story. Even though Parker and Kate had more obvious things I took issue with at least their opinions can be defended against. The little "nugget" placed in Defending Taylor was so small it could easily be ignored. And I probably would have ignored it had it not been for my prior experience with Miranda Kenneally's work.

Other than that one thing, I really didn't have any problems with Defending Taylor. I was pretty interested in the storyline and read it as quickly as can be expected for my current stage in life. I liked the lessons that the characters learned even if I didn't fully love Taylor's bitterness from taking the blame no one asked her to take. Overall, I'd give Defending Taylor 4 Stars. Have you read Defending Taylor? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Defending Taylor

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

Defending Taylor (Hundred Oaks, # 7)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Expected Publication: July 1st 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire

304 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--Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor’s always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that’s what is expected of a senator’s daughter. But one impulsive decision—one lie to cover for her boyfriend—and Taylor’s kicked out of private school. Everything she’s worked so hard for is gone, and now she’s starting over at Hundred Oaks High.

Soccer has always been Taylor’s escape from the pressures of school and family, but it’s hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she’s going through is her older brother’s best friend, Ezra. Taylor’s had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it’s hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?

Miranda Kenneally and I haven't had a perfect author/reader relationship. Seems like I either really like or really hate her books. This one sounds pretty good to me though. I guess we shall see. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Things I Can't Forget - Review

Things I Can't Forget (Hundred Oaks, # 3)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Published: March 1st 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

308 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from 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--Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to some people at school—although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different...

This summer she’s a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He’s the first guy she ever kissed, and he’s gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt - with her.

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn’t that easy...

How in the world am I going to review this book without “preaching”? Heads up…I’m not. If you want to bow out now, feel free.

I’ll probably end up saying this in every review of this series, but I’ve read this series all out of whack. I read Breathe, Annie, Breathe (book 5), then Catching Jordan (book 1), Jesse’s Girl (book 6), Stealing Parker (book 2), and now Things I Can’t Forget. I really enjoyed all of the ones I read prior to Stealing Parker. That book just didn’t sit right with me for several reasons. One of the major issues I had with it was the religious aspects. Since 3 out of the 4 books I’d read in this series by this point didn’t have anything to do with religion, I wasn’t expecting this to be such a major aspect of Things I Can’t Forget. There’s nothing in the description to really hint at it either.

Kate goes to the same church that Parker went to in the beginning of Stealing Parker. She’s got strong beliefs about what’s right and what’s wrong. She has faith in God, but she’s realizing more and more that not everyone shares her beliefs. And I struggled with Kate. On the one hand, I did see where she came off as being judgmental, but on the other hand, she’s perfectly within her right to pick and choose what kinds of people she wants to socialize with. If she doesn’t want to hang around people who drink, that’s fine. It’s her right to feel that way. It doesn’t mean she’s an awful, horrible person filled with hate in her heart towards the people who do drink. It just means she doesn’t want to hang around them.

Between Stealing Parker and Things I Can’t Forget, it’s obvious that Miranda Kenneally is familiar with and hasn’t had the best experiences with an American Christian church. And you know, I don’t like her portrayal. I can’t say everything’s inaccurate, but I can’t say she’s right on most of it either. Granted experiences differ from congregation to congregation just as much as people vary within each congregation. But I said it with my review of Stealing Parker and I’ll say it again: I don’t buy into this “do whatever makes you feel good” message. Worship the way you want. Believe what you want to believe. God—the Creator—has told us what He wants us to believe and He’s told us how He wants to be worshipped. The book of James also tells us “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when He is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin…”(James 1:13-14 NKJV) It’s our own desires that tempt us to sin, so saying “do whatever makes you feel good” is a very slippery slope. Some people get some intense feel good feelings from chopping other people into tiny pieces…that doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t make it something that God would be okay with.

In both of these books similar statements are made about God. In Things I Can’t Forget Miranda Kenneally says “Why would God give me Matt, someone who makes me feel so good, only to take him away? Would God really do something that selfish and mean to me?” Why would God send His Son to earth to empty Himself of being in the form of God and take on human flesh (the Creator becoming the created) in order to live a perfect life and die on a cross, taking on the sins of His people? His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. He causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. But if you’re expecting God to be a supernatural genie answering your every whim and every demand then you’re in for a rude awakening. You try to make the story about you and not about God. Aside from that sin enters into the picture and distorts everything that God made beautiful. Plus free will has a role to play as well. I’m sorry guys…but the more I re-read that sentence “would God really do something that selfish and mean to me?” I can barely contain the eye roll, sarcasm, and downright laughter that wants to come out of my mouth. I’m pretty sure God wasn’t the one inching His hands down your pants or the one letting someone else do such a thing to you….that would be you sweetheart. And how God could be so selfish and mean? BAHAHAHAHA!!!! He sent His SON to die for you! How selfish! How mean! His Son who was spit upon, mocked, and killed without cause….for you. Yep. Selfish and mean are definitely adjectives I’d attribute to him! *rolls eyes*

What Kate went through with Emily…well I actually have to give kudos to Miranda Kenneally for tackling a topic that heavy. At the same time, I don’t think I would have picked up the book had I known that was the secret Kate felt guilty about. It’s just one of those things that I don’t think I would have sought out to read about. I also feel like the big fix or solution to this part of the conflict was just a little too easy. Something like that is a burden that weighs on the soul—how can it not?

Slight annoyances…at one point Matt says “See you Sunday” and then about 3 or 4 paragraphs down Kate says “The real adventure is waiting for Monday, when I’ll see him again.” And then as someone who has a knee injury and hasn’t been running or jogging in a really long time, I highly doubt that she could just jump in and jog for an hour straight—four miles. Especially when she later says that Matt helps her work up to being able to jog for four miles again. I just struggle with inconsistencies like this.

In the end, I just felt more uncomfortable with Things I Can’t Forget than anything else. I know others have loved this book. But because of my beliefs, this just wasn’t the right book for me. My rating system is subjective and based upon how I (and I alone) feel about a book. That being said, Things I Can’t Forget gets 2.5 Stars from me. Have you read Things I Can’t Forget? What did you think? Let me know!

Top Ten Favorite 2015 Reads (So Far)

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Faovirte 2015 Reads (So Far).

1. Confess by Colleen Hoover
2. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker
3. A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, # 5) by George R R Martin
4. The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines, # 6) by Richelle Mead
5. Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, # 1) by Pierce Brown
6. Catching Jordan (Hundred Oaks, # 1) by Miranda Kenneally
7. Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, # 1) by Susan Ee
8. Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks, # 5) by Miranda Kenneally
9. Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road, # 1) by Katie McGarry
10. Never Never Part 1 (Never Never, # 1) by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher

As always, it's so hard for me to narrow these down. Honestly, I've read a lot of mediocre books this year and not a ton of brilliant ones. These are the ones that stand out from the pack so far. Which books have been your favorite reads of 2015 so far? Let me know!

Jesse's Girl - Review

Jesse's Girl (Hundred Oaks, # 6)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Expected Publication: July 7th 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

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--Practice Makes Perfect.

Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?

I finished All the Rage by Courtney Summers the same day that I started (and finished) Jesse’s Girl. After All the Rage, I needed something much lighter. Jesse’s Girl fit that perfectly.

Jesse won a national TV show called Wannabe Rocker (reminiscent of American Idol/X Factor/The Voice), and his career took off from there. While Jesse’s still has an absolutely passion for music, for writing, and for performing, he’s become jaded by the fame. Everyone he meets wants something. Girls want to date him, sleep with him, or really just be seen with him. People who laughed at him in high school now want to borrow money or want him to get them a record deal of their own. He has no real interested in meeting anyone new—especially someone else who might want something from him.

But Maya isn’t anything Jesse expects or assumes her to be. Maya doesn’t even like country music (which is what Jesse sings), but she can appreciate his talent, voice, and experience. Plus he’s not so bad on the eyes. Maya’s also an extremely talented guitar player and a mediocre singer with potential to be really good. She wants to enter her band into the next season of Wannabe Rocker, but what she doesn’t expect is to get kicked out the band that she put together. Maya’s biggest fear is going solo. She always croaks (literally and metaphorically) when all of the attention is on her.

Once Jesse realizes that Maya actually does have her own talent and she’s not seeking anything from him but an opportunity to learn, he softens toward her and they end up spending an incredible day together that neither one of them want to end. I liked that the majority of the book took place within one day, yet this wasn’t a story about two people who fall in love in one day. They experience an awesome day together and what that means is that they realize they want to do so more. Yet Maya and Jesse both have some baggage. Jesse still worries that Maya might be using him to further her dreams. And Maya worries that Jesse’s going to move on as soon as he finds someone better.

Miranda Kenneally’s writing style is smooth and sucks me in quickly. While there is some language, I’m always impressed that she limits this. And the same with sexual situations. Her characters do find themselves in situations, but she never really dwells on that or gets too descriptive. I will say that I was rolling my eyes with Dave, Maya’s best friend. As I’ve established, it doesn’t seem like there are any boy/girl friendships anymore that don’t include one party being gay.

Favorite quotes:

-“This is our day, and I’m not sharing you.”

-It sucks to have a once-in-a-lifetime day, a day that changes you, only to hear the same old song repeated on the radio over and over. I don’t want yesterday to wither away and die.

-“So basically the band that I started said they’ll take me back because they don’t want to lose you?”

-I feel like I played the lottery and won. And then all the money got stolen.

I’ve totally gone about this series out of whack. I read Breathe, Annie, Breathe (book 5) first. Which as far as I can tell has no connection to any of the other books….but I could be missing something. Then Catching Jordan (book 1). And now Jesse’s Girl (book 6). And I was so glad that I did read Catching Jordan before Jesse’s Girl because there were crossovers here. As a matter of fact, Maya is Sam’s younger sister. At the time of this posting, I have also read Stealing Parker (book 2) and Things I Can't Forget (book 3, which I haven't review yet) and I didn't enjoy either of those two near as much as the three I've read before them.

Jesse’s Girl was just what I needed. It was light and fun and quick. I started and finished it in less than 24 hours. The characters were lively and yet still flawed. I loved how there really were very few and insignificant moments of stupidity for the characters. Jesse’s Girl gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Jesse’s Girl? What did you think? Let me know!

Stealing Parker - Review

Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks, # 2)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Published: October 1st 2012 by Sourcebooks Fire

242 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Borrowed from the 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--Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.

Parker Shelton pretty much has the perfect life. She’s on her way to becoming valedictorian at Hundred Oaks High, she’s made the all-star softball team, and she has plenty of friends. Then her mother’s scandal rocks their small town and suddenly no one will talk to her.

Now Parker wants a new life.

So she quits softball. Drops twenty pounds. And she figures why kiss one guy when she can kiss three? Or four. Why limit herself to high school boys when the majorly cute new baseball coach seems especially flirty?

But how far is too far before she loses herself completely?

So I have no idea where my original review went for this book. I know I typed it because I remember some specific things that I said about it. However, when I went to go prep this blog post, I couldn’t find it anywhere! UGH! That’s so annoying. Especially because this is a book that I had a lot to say about…or at least, I had a lot of feelings about. But just to be frank and upfront…this was not a book I enjoyed so I’m not looking forward to reviewing it again. That being said…this probably won’t be as long or as thought out as my original review. It might be a little nicer (but probably not).

First of all, this isn’t mentioned in the description so it might be considered as a spoiler, but I wish I’d known about it before picking up this book. Parker’s mom’s big secret…she “announced she’s a lesbian and ran off with her friend who was more than just a friend.” Parker is understandably hurt by her mother’s decision. Sexual orientation and preferences aside, 9.9 children out of 10 that have experienced a divorce will tell you that this severely impacted them emotionally. Add to that the other and you’ve got an emotionally screwed up Parker.

Parker’s family attended church and because of her mother’s decision Parker faces a lot of judgmental people. Her mother and father’s former friends now talk about them behind their backs, they turn their noses up, and they tell their children not to play with Parker because the lesbianism might rub off. (I’m exaggerating here, but only slightly.) That being said, Parker turns her nose up at the church. She still goes because her father makes her, but she’s not really interested anymore and even at one point blames God for her mother’s decisions. (“Why did God let this happen to me?” and then later “I don’t see how a loving God would split a family up like he did mine.”) The only person who’s stuck by her side has been her best friend Drew who she secretly wonders if he’s gay too. (Can you guys feel the amount of sarcasm I’m trying to hold back?) This hits on three of my biggest pet peeves in YA literature these days. 1) these types of Christian characters, 2) the best friends of the opposite sex can only be best friends if a, they’re in love with each other or b, one of them is gay, and 3) just gay characters in general being forced down out throats in another book about "acceptance". Tired. Overplayed. Worn out. Used up. Get a better storyline.

So not only does Parker respond to her mother’s behavior by rejecting religion, but she also decides that she has to do everything she can to prove that she’s not a lesbian like her mother. This leads her into dangerous territory with the opposite sex. She hooks up. A lot. She doesn’t move past making out, but her reputation is beginning to grow that she’s “easy.” She doesn’t see the harm. Besides she loves flirting and hooking up and making out. So much so that she doesn’t even blink her eyes at going after the new assistant baseball coach. He’s young for a coach/teacher, but he’s still a teacher nonetheless. If this freaks you out, it should. While I have no issues with age gaps necessarily (my husband’s 12 years older than me), the idea of my daughter hooking up with a teacher is not cool…at all.

My issues don’t stop there. While the idea of my teenage daughter having any sort of relationship with a teacher/coach at her school freaks me out, there’s something else that bothers me about their relationship. Parker and Bryan start off having a really good dynamic where their entire relationship is built around conversation. They have several things in common and so it’s easy to see how there could be an attraction there. However, once things crossed any kind of physical boundary it’s like all conversation went out the window. I guess this is possible. But it just felt weird to me that they had such a verbal relationship in the beginning only to swap to a relationship where no talking was really involved. It didn’t feel consistent to me. Despite that, I didn’t want these two together anyway, so I was okay with how things ultimately ended up as far as they’re concerned.

Another thing that bothered me is Parker’s relationship with her mom. In the beginning of the book, Parker wants nothing to do with her mom. This isn’t because she feels betrayed by her mom “choosing someone else over her family” so much as it is because Parker doesn’t want her own friends to think that she’s gay. So she avoids her mom totally because of this. For one, I think that Parker would be extremely hurt and betrayed by her mother’s actions regardless of who she left her family for. Yet at some point, she "just needs her mom" and all of a sudden everything’s forgiven. I found that hard to believe too. It takes years to work through the kind of pain and trauma that’s caused by a parent suddenly leaving the family. Some children never really recover from those hurts. This isn’t a pain easily recovered from.

And then we get into the overall message of the book which was “do whatever makes you feel good/happy.” You guys, this message is the biggest load of crock I’ve ever heard. Do what makes you feel good? Some people see possessions that they do not own and think to themselves “you know, it would really make me happy to have that,” or “I’ll finally feel good about myself when that’s mine.” Yet they don’t have the means or the money to just buy it. And what do they do? They go out and just take it. Some people find that it makes them feel insanely good by torturing other people and chopping their bodies into tiny pieces. I know that’s an extreme, but where do you draw the line? How do you make a distinction between doing what makes you feel good and when you’ve crossed the line into “wrong”? There has to be some standard of measurement. You can’t just make it up. Not that those who take this stance care much about what the Bible says, but Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things…” Sure as long as it makes you happy, bail on your family, your word, your kids, your promises, your spouse… whatever works best for you. Problem is...often times what we want or what would make us happy also hurts others. Does that make it okay? What feels good to you hurts me. But just so long as you feel good. Whatever. Moving on.

The only (and I do mean only) redeeming quality that I enjoyed about this book was Parker’s transition into finding the guy who is the best fit for her. Often times, people end up with spouses/significant others who are not a good fit for them. And often times those people are even aware of that, but they stay because they’re comfortable. They might not be happy, but at least they know what to expect. Yet Parker does evaluate the two options before her and has to make a decision about which one is right for her. I think she made the right choice in the end.

All in all, I just didn’t like it…period. I will look back on Stealing Parker with nothing but bitterness, annoyance, frustration, and even anger. While I’ve enjoyed Miranda Kenneally before and this book didn’t completely turn me off her other work, I did not enjoy this book. At all. 1 Star from me for Stealing Parker (a first ever). Have you read Stealing Parker? What did you think? Let me know!

Catching Jordan - Review

Catching Jordan (Hundred Oaks, # 1)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Published: Published December 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire

252 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports

Source: Borrowed from library

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

Goodreads description--What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

I read Breathe, Annie, Breathe earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time I requested it, I didn’t realize that it was part of a series. Granted, each of the books in this series can be read as standalones. That was certainly true of Breathe, Annie, Breathe. But reading that book made me realize that I definitely want to read the other books in this series as well. One day I was browsing the e-library for potential audiobooks that might be available immediately, but instead what I found was Catching Jordan, and I jumped on it.

The description above gives a good bit of information even though it’s pretty brief. But here's the deal. Jordan is the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. She loves football. Her father happens to be an NFL quarterback, and her brother is a college quarterback as well. It is her dream to play college level football for the University of Alabama. Being on the football team does have her surrounded by jocks all day, but she loves those jocks. They’re her family. Her brothers. Her best friends. The guys closest to her are her best friend, Sam Henry, and two other players, JJ and Carter. She’s always been just one of the guys even though she’s really not.

When Ty Green shows up at practice one day, Jordan is thrown all off her game. For one, he’s hot. He’s not the first guy that she’s ever found really attractive, but he is the first guy that’s given her butterflies. But then come to find out, Ty is also a quarterback—an extremely good quarterback. He had to move from Texas to Tennessee after his father died and his mother was paralyzed in a car accident. He, his sister, and his mother move in with his paternal grandfather. So Ty’s got a lot on his shoulders. He’s not really trying to take Jordan’s position, but he really just loves the game and wants to play whenever he can.

It’s obvious that Ty is interested in Jordan almost as immediately as Jordan is interested in Ty. Ty pursues Jordan, and even though it’s what Jordan wants, she’s pretty much freaked out. She’s never dated anyone before. She’s never kissed anyone. Never made out. Definitely never made it as far as all of her male friends have.

And there’s plenty to distract Jordan from Ty as well. Her father doesn’t support her decision to play football. He’s worried that she’s going to get seriously injured. That’s a feeling that I can understand, but he was totally hypocritically in his application of his concerns when it comes to Jordan and her brother Mike. I know they’re not the same. But that was something that Jordan has to battle. Plus she’s trying to secure a scholarship from her dream school which isn’t really being upfront with her. Personally, I don’t follow college football, but if I did, I’d be an Auburn University fan myself (the arch-rival for the University of Alabama). However, it was still pretty cool for the state to be mentioned so frequently throughout this book. And then there’s something going on with her best friend, Sam Henry. Something’s been up with him since his girlfriend, Carrie, broke up with him. Personally, I really enjoyed the direction that this took the story.

I don’t want to say too much or give anything away, but I really, really enjoyed this one. There were many dynamics at play within Catching Jordan, but I was never confused or overwhelmed with truly how much was going on. It was all executed just right. There is the fact that Jordan is a girl and plays a predominantly male sport. Then Jordan is crushing on the one person who could take her dream away from her. Her father doesn’t support her and their relationship has really struggled as a result. Jordan’s relationship with her mother and brother were great though. Jordan is confronted with her femininity due to her recent romantic life as well as realizing that sometime you just need to talk things out with a friend who’s also a girl. There is a love triangle if those bother you, but in my opinion, it was a triangle done right. Jordan has to figure out how she feels. What’s hormonal and what’s real. She has to figure out what’s superficial and what will last. Jordan has to face the possibility of not getting what she’s dreamed of, but potentially getting something even better.

Personally, I will say that while this book isn’t descriptive during these scenes, Jordan does lose her v-card. This was handled so casually that if anything bothered me, this did. It wasn’t a big deal to her that she went through with something so big with no commitment from the guy and with little thought to how important that moment is/was. And even after the event was over, I feel like there wasn’t enough regret that almost any girl would feel in her situation.

Side note: I did love the way that Jordan writes in a journal. She doesn’t feel like she can talk to her mom or her guy friends about her feelings and she doesn’t have any girl friends that she trusts enough. So she seeks to put her thoughts to paper. If nothing else, to get them out of her head. That’s totally how I ended up journaling through my teenage years as well.

Favorite quotes:

-I love the way his curls flop around
and hang across his forehead.
I love how he never just lets me win.
I have to earn it.
I love how he touches me just because.
I love his loyalty. …

-When unrequited love is the most expensive thing on the menu, sometimes you settle for the daily special.

All in all, I really enjoyed Catching Jordan. It was different from what I was expecting, but it was also exactly what I needed for the mood I’ve been in lately. Catching Jordan gets 4 Stars. Have you read Catching Jordan? What did you think? Let me know!

Breathe, Annie, Breathe - Review

Breathe Annie Breathe (Hundred Oaks, # 5)

By: Miranda Kenneally

Published: July 15th 2014 by Sourcebooks Fir

306 pages

Genre: Young Adult/New Adult, Contemporary

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--Annie hates running. No matter how far she jogs, she can’t escape the guilt that if she hadn’t broken up with Kyle, he might still be alive. So to honor his memory, she starts preparing for the marathon he intended to race.

But the training is even more grueling than Annie could have imagined. Despite her coaching, she’s at war with her body, her mind—and her heart. With every mile that athletic Jeremiah cheers her on, she grows more conflicted. She wants to run into his arms…and sprint in the opposite direction. For Annie, opening up to love again may be even more of a challenge than crossing the finish line.

"Breathe, Annie, Breathe is an emotional, heartfelt, and beautiful story about finding yourself after loss and learning to love. It gave me so many feels. Her best book yet." — Jennifer Armentrout, New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You

Breathe, Annie, Breathe was a book that I had decided I probably wouldn’t invest my time in initially. There was nothing wrong for me with the cover or the book description, but you know, there is a limited amount of time to read, right? Well that was until I started seeing Breathe, Annie, Breathe get some really good reviews. I can’t remember anything specific except I think I saw one person who said that this book made them cry.

I’ve been in a real Contemporary mood lately, and after picking up a mystery/thriller that had such a slow start, I needed something that I could finish quickly. I wanted a book to give me all the happy feels that I’ve come to associate with my love of reading. And Breathe, Annie, Breathe did just that. It did not, however, make me cry…at all…in case you were wondering. Maybe I was misremembering what someone else said. I'm not sure.

As the description says, Annie’s boyfriend Kyle died recently. He had been training to run a marathon. Annie feels a level of guilt over Kyle’s death that was a bit annoying. I mean it’s easy for an outsider to see that obviously Annie was in no way responsible for Kyle’s death, but it’s also easy to see how Annie gets stuck into the traps of asking “what if”. While I found myself rolling my eyes over Annie’s guilt, I was thankful that Miranda Kenneally didn’t dwell on this issue to the extreme of completely turning me off to what Annie was feeling.

Annie does decide to run the marathon that Kyle was aiming for, and so she signs up for training under Matt. Matt has everything planned out. Each day has a run scheduled by distance, he provides a meal plan, and I have got to give Annie kudos for sticking with this plan. I’ve done workout programs in the past, but the meal plans just aren’t always doable for me. Annie finds the training to be much more difficult than she expected it to be. Her stomach revolts against her and she also has issues with her knee. I don’t want to spoil too much here, but I will say that I was terrified that something really wrong was going on with Annie’s body. I really loved how Miranda Kenneally worked this aspect. It wasn’t too obvious. Just enough conflict. Nothing to have me rolling my eyes over.

Matt’s brother, Jeremiah, also helps with Matt’s clients. Jeremiah is a pacer. He helps to train the athletes looking to achieve a certain finish time in each race. He’s basically an adrenaline junkie. Jeremiah is game for any and every extreme sport out there. And he’s pretty good at everything he tries. Even still, injuries happen. Annie finds herself drawn to him, but not only does she hold herself back for fear of moving on from Kyle, from the guilt she feels over Kyle’s death, but she also fears opening up to someone who seeks out dangerous situations. I could really understand how she was feeling when it came to this. When you’ve been hurt in a specific way before, I think it is human nature that our brains seek to protect us from that same pain ever happening again.

Breathe, Annie, Breathe was my first Miranda Kenneally experience, and since finishing I’ve added all the other Hundred Oaks books to my TBR list. I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work. Breathe, Annie, Breathe has some language and some sexual situations. There wasn’t anything too graphic for me, and I was appreciative that the cursing wasn’t overboard, but if you’re sensitive to these things then be aware.

Ultimately, I think Breathe, Annie, Breathe was exactly what I needed. I picked it up and finished it within 24 hours. It gave me all the feels I was looking for, and I didn’t find myself groaning too much over the repeating patterns I’ve been seeing in YA/NA lately. I also loved that even though Annie wasn’t training for the purpose of getting fit, she was active, and Miranda Kenneally did a good job showcasing the difficulty but rewarding nature of a good workout. Breathe, Annie, Breathe gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Breathe, Annie, Breathe? What did you think? Let me know!