Waiting on Wednesday 8/31

Title: Shut Out

Author: Kody Keplinger

Release Date: September 5

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.

Sounds like a fun and dramatic read, and the cover is fierce!

Mini Reviews: Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover & Only The Good Spy Young

Title: Don't a Judge a Girl By Her Cover
Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #3
Published: 2009

When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills to save them...

It has been a couple of years since I last visited Cammie Morgan's world in the Gallagher Girl books, but it didn't take long before I got stuck yet again in the interesting and fun life of the spies-to-be!

I love the concept of an all-girls boarding school for spies, it is so fun! This third book in this series isn't just set at the Gallagher Academy though. It follows Macy's dad political campaign all over America, from city to city. Definitely a nice touch!

Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover is a fast-paced and fun novel packed with more than a few surprises and twists!


Title: Only the Good Spy Young

Author: Ally Carter
Series: Gallagher Girls #4
Published: 2010

When Cammie Morgan enrolled at the Gallagher Academy, she knew she was preparing for the dangerous life of a spy. What she didn’t know was that the serious, real-life danger would start during her junior year of high school. But that’s exactly what happened two months ago when Cammie faced off against an ancient terrorist organization.

Now the danger follows her everywhere, and even Cammie “The Chameleon” can’t hide. When a terrifying encounter in London reveals that one of her most-trusted allies is actually a rogue double-agent, Cammie no longer knows if she can trust her classmates, her teachers—or even her own heart...

After the surprising ending in Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover, Cammie is stuck with more questions than ever. Who is good and who is bad, and who can Cammie really trust?

Only The Good Spy Young is packed with action, mystery, secrets and most important of all; great friendship! I love how close Cammie and her pack of friends are, they really would never let anything happen to each other.

Zach, Cammie's love interest, is more mysterious than ever in this book. He has more than a few secrets he refuses to share with Cammie, but yet he is always there when she needs him - such a sweet guy!

Only The Good Spy Young is the most thrilling and surprising book yet in this series, and I can't wait for the fifth book in this series (coming March 2012)!

Waiting on Wednesday (8/24)

Title: Notes From An Accidental Band Geek
Author: Erin Dionne
Release Date: September 1, 2011

Elsie Wyatt is a born French horn player, just like her father and her grandfather before her. In order to qualify for the prestigious summer music camp of her dreams, she must expand her musical horizons and join - gasp! - the marching band. There are no French horns in marching band (what the heck is a mellophone??), but there are some cute boys. And marching band is very different from orchestra: they march, they chant, they . . . cluck? Elsie is not so sure she'll survive, but the new friends she's making and the actual fun she's having will force her to question her dad's expectations and her own musical priorities.

I've never been a band geek myself, but this book sounds light and fun!

Waiting on Wednesday (8/17)

Title: Soul Thief
Author: Jana Oliver
Series: The Demon Trappers #2
Release Date: August 30, 2011

Riley Blackthorne is beginning to learn that there are worse things than death by demon. And love is just one of them…

Seventeen-year-old Riley has about had it up to here. After the devastating battle at the Tabernacle, trappers are dead and injured, her boyfriend Simon is gravely injured, and now her beloved late father’s been illegally poached from his grave by a very powerful necromancer. As if that’s not enough, there's Ori, one sizzling hot freelance demon hunter who’s made himself Riley’s unofficial body guard, and Beck, a super over-protective “friend” who acts more like a grouchy granddad. With all the hassles, Riley’s almost ready to leave Atlanta altogether.

But as Atlanta’s demon count increases, the Vatican finally sends its own Demon Hunters to take care of the city’s “little” problem, and pandemonium breaks loose. Only Riley knows that she might be the center of Hell’s attention: an extremely powerful Grade 5 demon is stalking her, and her luck can't last forever…

The first book in this series was an okay read, but I have a feeling that these books will keep getting better and better! So naturally I want to read this one to see if I'm right! ;)

Book Review: Claire de Lune

Title: Claire de Lune
Author: Christine Johnson
Published: 2010

Torn between two destinies?
Claire is having the perfect sixteenth birthday. Her pool party is a big success, and gorgeous Matthew keeps chatting and flirting with her as if she's the only girl there. But that night, she discovers something that takes away all sense of normalcy: she's a werewolf.

As Claire is initiated into the pack of female werewolves, she must deal not only with her changing identity, but also with a rogue werewolf who is putting everyone she knows in danger. Claire's new life threatens her blossoming romance with Matthew, whose father is leading the werewolf hunt. Now burdened with a dark secret and pushing the boundaries of forbidden love, Claire is struggling to feel comfortable in either skin. With her lupine loyalty at odds with her human heart, she will make a choice that will change her forever?

My Thoughts:
Claire de Lune was a fast and easy read with a fresh take on the werewolf mythology.

I did like the idea of all werewolves being female, and that you inherited the gene from your mother. While the werewolves weren't a secret from the society, they were far from liked. When people turned up dead, the blame was soon put on the werewolves, and the hex hunt began...

So when Claire first learns that she is becoming a werewolf, she is less than thrilled! And her stiff relationship with her mother is not helping matters at all. At least she has Matthew. Too bad his dad is the leader of the werewolf hunters! Can you say forbidden romance?

This was a decent story, and I liked how Claire and her mother's relationship developed over time. But the characters felt a bit too plain and undeveloped to me, and I wished they would have been more three-dimensional.

Rating: 3.5 of 5

Waiting on Wednesday (8/10)

Title: Epic Fail
Author: Claire LaZebnik
Release Date: August 2, 2011


Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Sounds fun and charming - a perfect beach read!

In My Mailbox: Week 31

Bought:

The Body Finder - Kimberley Derting

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself

Won:

A Fairy Bad Day - Amanda Ashby

While most students at Burtonwood Academy get to kill demons and goblins, fifteen-year-old Emma gets to rid the world of little annoying fairies with glittery wings and a hipster fashion sense. She was destined to be a dragon slayer, but cute and charming Curtis stole her spot. Then she sees a giant killer fairy - and it's invisible to everyone but her! If Emma has any chance of stopping this evil fairy, she's going to need help. Unfortunately, the only person who can help is Curtis. And now, not only has he stolen her dragon-slayer spot, but maybe her heart as well! Why does she think it's going to be a fairy bad day?

I've heard great stuff about The body Finder, so I finally gave in and bought it. Fairy Bad Day sounds really fun as well! Can't wait to read both of these!

Waiting on Wednesday (8/3)

Title: Misfit

Author: Jon Skovron

Release Date: August 1

Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.

I've read very mixed reviews of this book, but I'm willing to give it a try!

Read and Watched in July

Books:

1. Forgive My Fins- Tera Lynn Childs
2. Beautifully Broken - Tera Lynn Childs
3. Someone Special - Sheila O´Flanagan

Movies:

1. Legally Blonde 2
2. Ice Castles
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2