Most Likely to Succeed by Jennifer Echols #BookReview #Playlist #Giveaway

Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3)
by Jennifer Echols
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: August 4th 2015

In this sexy conclusion to The Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Sawyer and Kaye might just be perfect for each other—if only they could admit it.

As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers, and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school—student government, cheerleading, stellar grades—has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate—and their friends—keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge to themselves…

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it’s finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed—or will it be their favorite mistake?

     


 

Most Likely to Succeed by Jennifer Echols is the third book in the Superlatives series. The superlatives have struck again and now Kaye is looking at Sawyer anew after finding out in Perfect Couples that the votes had been tallied incorrectly. Kaye and Sawyer should have been the perfect couple that never was. Similar to Harper, Kaye is in a relationship with a controlling boyfriend who has crazy high expectations of her. When he wanted to push her out of student council, I was like really. The difference with Aidan and Kaye is that I think their relationship had been dead for a while. They just didn’t realize it. With Sawyer cleaning up his act and being a little bit more transparent and Kaye finally noticing him. Things really start to change. Every time Kaye stands up to Aidan, I’m like bully for you!

Kaye and Sawyer. I think I was looking forward to them the most out of the superlatives couples. They lived up to my cuteness expectations. I loved them together and how awkward them getting together was. Plenty of misunderstandings a foot.

Kaye is my favorite character in the series and I was excited to finally be in her POV. It sometimes it seems like she lets Aidan and her mom push her around. Really though I think she is to tired for big confrontations. She has her own victories like being captain of the cheerleading squad. (which they audition in front of the school I thought that was interesting. ) I think of Kaye as more of the picking your battles type. She might not always handle stress the best but she is a very strong and intelligent girl.

Sawyer balances Kaye out because he is more relaxed. He’s that smart kid that doesn’t have to try. You know that one that frustrates other smart kids because he hardly works for it. The only thing with Sawyer is you would never know it. He’s more of a class clown and holds his cards close to his chest. He has not had an easy life but he manages to stay awesome. I loved when he explained to Kaye why he choose to clean up his act.

I liked the family aspect. Kaye and her mother butt heads quite frequently. Her mom came from a bad neighborhood and even though she is able to provide her kids with a good life she wants them to understand where she came from. My parents were similar so I could understand her mom on this. Of course my parents aren’t driving me to the South Side to show me their old neighborhoods that are bad now, Kaye’s mom takes it the next level. It’s a good example of a mother daughter relationship that is close but not best friend style. Her mom pushes her because she wants the best for her and the world can be a cold place. Although I was getting mad ather mom too.

I really liked this one. I think it’s definitely my favorite of the series. You could easily read this as a standalone if you really wanted to. There is enough information to get the gist of the other books. So if you like the series, this is a good one, if you are curious about the series. This is a good one.



Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son.

      




Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid #BookReview #Playlist #Giveaway

Never Always Sometimes
by Adi Alsaid
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: August 4th 2015

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.



So I admit the reason I wanted to read Never Always Sometimes is because I’ve run into Adi Alsaid unintentionally many times at conventions. It’s like there are some book gods causing divine book intervention saying you need to read something he writes. It’s also because talking to him, he put so much thought into a dying hair scene and making sure it was right that you have to respect that.

Without a doubt I absolutely loved Never Sometimes Always and it is by far one of my favorite contemporary reads. It blew me away with it’s amazingness honestly.

This is a great plot. Two best friends take one list that they created before high school and decide to do the opposite of everything on it. By taking on the list it forces the characters to kind of separate and grow in different directions. You really see Dave and Julia evolve as they take on each new challenge they’ve put before themselves. It also takes on an interesting time period of the end of high school. I think everyone did/does treat it differently so it was a good area to grapple.

Dave and Julia, Julia and Dave, two peas in a pod or so it seems. I loved Dave but was kind of not the biggest fan of Julia.It didn’t hinder me liking the book or anything. I like having characters that I’m not head over heels for, I don’t necessarily like everyone in real life either. Especially with a contemporary there is not always a villain so it makes things more well rounded. Even though I wasn’t a Julia super fan, I loved her relationship with Dave. Dave and Julia are not outcast but they live on the fringe. Dave is more down to Earth/shy and Julia is more eccentric/bold, they manage to balance out.

I liked the writing and thought there was plenty of great lines and quotables. If I was a quote writer down I would have included them. I’m all for joke witty banter. I liked the Uniqueness of how the story went.

I don’t want to give things away. I did not have a problem with the pacing of the beginning of the book. I had read it in smaller chunks though. I really liked the middle and end. I was a huge fan of the end. Just so you know Brett, I totally knew. I really enjoyed the book. I think I have a hard time explaining why I like it so much because I don't want to spoil anything.



Sometimes I will still add songs to playlist. So if you have Spotify and follow the playlist it's always a possibility :)


Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, then studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it's no surprise that after graduating, he did not go into business world but rather packed up his apartment into his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a writer. He's now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats or cooks as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas, and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him more places will eventually be added to the list. Let's Get Lost is his YA debut.

   




Resonance by Erica O'Rourke #BookReview

Title: Resonance
Series: Dissonance #2
Author: Erica O'Rourke
Published:Published July 21st 2015 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Buy: Amazon * Goodreads

As a Walker between worlds, Del is responsible for the love of her life—and the fate of millions—in this thrilling sequel to Dissonance.

Del risked everything to save Simon, and now he’s gone, off in another world with no way for Del to find him.

She’s back at the Consort—training to be a Walker like everyone in her family. But the Free Walkers have other plans for her. This rebel group is trying to convince Del that the Consort is evil, and that her parents are unwittingly helping the Consort kill millions of people. The Free Walkers make Del the ultimate promise: if Del joins their fight, she will be reunited with Simon.

In agreeing, Del might be endangering her family. But if she doesn’t, innocent people will die, and Simon will be lost to her forever. The fate of the multiverse depends on her choice...
I’m pretty sure I read Resonance the perfect way by binge reading it with the first book, Dissonance. The two books flow together perfectly and I was utterly captivated and submersed in the world. I’m still in a bit of a hangover from it. It might be hard not to spoil things in book 1 so reader beware.

Where I felt like the plot in Dissonance had a lot more focus on the romance and the Walker society, it felt like Resonance had more of that thriller, action-packed take on it. We rejoin Del who is mourning after losing Simon in an Echo but soon discovers he might not be gone for good. As Del tries to reunite and find Simon, it becomes a race against the clock when she gets caught up in a war between the Consort and the Free Walkers. Friends are Enemies, Enemies are Friends. There is a lot of gray areas. We get more about the Free Walkers and how they operate but not as much world building around the echoes. I don’t mean that in a bad way, we first got the framework and now we are filling how the gears actually turn. There is something that I wasn’t expecting and that ends up being explored more and I like how Erica digs into this. I felt like we were getting a whole different side that we didn’t get in Dissonance.

I really love the characters because they are all so different. Before I had thought maybe Addie didn’t even like Del but we can see now how she really cares about her. Same with Del because she sticks up for Addie even if she is not being accused of anything. Del’s parents are still the absent sort who decide to be parents when they have nothing else to do. Then of course there is Monty. What a complex guy and I think every time Del thinks she has him pegged, he changes. We meet some Free Walkers who are very driven and very cold.

Not only did I find this to be a great Sci-Fi but a great Duology too. I really liked how Resonance picked up the things left off in Dissonance and was able to introduce new things and expand. I missed having the snippets of the guides/rules to be replaced by the countdown but it felt appropriate.

Del and Simon’s romance has not sizzled out but they are preoccupied with other things. It’s more that they have settled into a comfortable partnership. Where they are able to support the others goals, they still have their sweet moments but you know, war and all that is a bit distracting.

Del is still impulsive and hot tempered as always. She’s kind of considered a ticking time bomb but that is almost what they need to mix things up. Someone who you can’t predict and is often underestimated. She uses her “flaws” to her advantage and also gets to see herself in a different light as she learns life is not a game.

I really loved this series. I loved the Multiverse and the logic behind how it works. If you are a Sci-Fi fan you should definitely pick this up.

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Erica O'Rourke will be signing with other YA authors at Anderson's Bookshop Wednesday July 29, 2015. You can order a signed book and have them send it to you by calling or ordering online. Make sure if you order online put in the comments that you want it signed and to who.

Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout Release Week #Excerpt #Giveaway


Some loves will last ‘til your dying breath

Every choice has consequences—but seventeen-year-old Layla faces tougher choices than most. Light or darkness. Wickedly sexy demon prince Roth, or Zayne, the gorgeous, protective Warden she never thought could be hers. Hardest of all, Layla has to decide which side of herself to trust.

Layla has a new problem, too. A Lilin—the deadliest of demons—has been unleashed, wreaking havoc on those around her…including her best friend. To keep Sam from a fate much, much worse than death, Layla must strike a deal with the enemy while saving her city—and her race—from destruction.

Torn between two worlds and two different boys, Layla has no certainties, least of all survival, especially when an old bargain comes back to haunt them all. But sometimes, when secrets are everywhere and the truth seems unknowable, you have to listen to your heart, pick a side—and then fight like hell…

“Armentrout is a major talent…I just can’t stop reading!”
--New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter

“Armentrout works her magic with swoon-worthy guys and a twist you never see coming.”
--#1 New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines on White Hot Kiss
Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** IndieBound ** Kobo ** BAM


Roth cleared his throat. “Shortie, look…look at your hand.”
Look at my hand? Why in the world would he be asking me to do that in the midst of all the cray?
“Do it,” he said quietly and too gently.
The dread exploded in my gut like buckshot, and my gaze dropped to my left hand. I expected to see the weird marbling of black and gray, a mixture of the demon and Warden that existed inside of me and a combination I’d become almost familiar with by now. My nails had lengthened and sharpened, and I could tell they were hard enough to cut through steel, as hard as my skin, but my skin…it was still pink. Really pink.
“What the…?” My gaze traveled to my other hand. It was the same. Just pink. My wings twitched, reminding me that I had shifted.
Zayne swallowed. “Your…your wings…”
“What about my wings?” I almost screeched, reaching be‑ hind me. “Are they broken? Did they not come out—” The tips of my fingers came into contact with something as soft as silk. My hand jerked back. “What…”
Stacey’s watery eyes had doubled in size. “Um, Layla, there’s a mirror above the fireplace. I think you need to look in it.”
I met Roth’s gaze for a second before I spun around and all but ran to the fireplace I was sure Stacey’s mom had never used. Clutching the white mantel, I stared at my reflection.
I looked normal, like I did before I shifted…like I was going to class or something. My eyes were the palest shade of gray, a watered-down blue. My hair was so blond it was almost white, and a mess of waves that went in every direction like usual. I looked like a colorless china doll, which was nothing new, except for the two fangs jutting out of my mouth. I wouldn’t show them off at school, but that wasn’t what caught my attention and held it.
It was my wings.
They were large, not as massive as Zayne’s or Roth’s, and normally they were almost leathery in texture, but now they were black…black and feathered. Like legit feathered. That soft, silky thing I’d felt? It had been tiny feathers.
Feathers.
“Oh my God,” I whispered at my reflection. “I have feathers.”
“Those are definitely feathered wings,” Roth commented.
I whipped around, knocking over a lamp with my feathered right wing. “I have feathers on my wings!”
Roth cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, you do.”
He was absolutely no help, so I turned to Zayne. “Why do I have feathers on my wings?”
Zayne shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, Layla. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Liar,” hissed Roth, shooting him a dark look. “You’ve seen that before. So have I.”






And don’t miss the first titles in the Dark Elements Series!
BITTER SWEET LOVE
Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** BAM ** Kobo
WHITE HOT KISS
Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** BAM ** iBooks ** IndieBound ** Kobo
STONE COLD TOUCH
Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iBooks ** IndieBound ** Kobo ** BAM






# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.

She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Novel Goodreads ** Author Goodreads