not the worst romance for the preteen set
585357
Sunfire romances were kind of a thing in the 80s for bookish young girls who wanted to feel like they were reading a grown-up bodice ripper, although of course nobody ever gets past first base in these. Plus, they sneakily added bits of American history so you were actually learning, although you didn't realize it until years later.

Josie is not the strongest of this set, and the romance arc is predictable (of course she's going to choose the nice, stable guy who can help provide for her siblings, as she would in real life), but there's a nice break in that where she attempts a Pony Express run herself and gets caught by bandits. At age 9 I thought the female outlaw leader, Lee, was pretty badass, and the book probably would have been way more interesting if Josie had followed her to Mexico instead of continuously dithering between her two beaus. But these things stick to formulas for a reason.
4876323
It was a cute story. You really never knew some of the stuff that was going on until the very end, which was a nice surprise with this type of story.

I hate stories that has the characters fall madly in love with each other in a matter of days or weeks, as what happened in this book. Could they care for each other a lot in a couple days? Sure. Could they decide to date after a couple of days? Yeah, why not. Could they fall head-over-heels in love in a couple days? Not a chance.

Other than that, it was a cute, simplistic read. Not one I would pay for necessarily, but it was free, so that made it better. Don't get me wrong, the writing itself isn't bad, it's just the story line and believe-ability was lacking a tad bit.

Not the best, but certainly not the worst I've ever read. Good if you're a hopeless romantic.
1960751
This story was a quick read for me.  Overall the story was cute, but I didn't really feel the romance that much, maybe because of the age difference of the main characters (16/17 year old with a 21 year old).  Im also not sure if I agree with how Hannah finds out shes pregnant and immediately breaks up with Cole, keeping it a secret from him for so long while turning to his older brother.  I do like that Hannah was a strong female character.  Despite getting pregnant, she finishes school, works hard and finds a way to make it work.  I feel like the writing could have used more editing, as there were many grammar errors.  I also found the frequent flashbacks to something that had previously happened to be a little confusing.
4963903
Summary:
Sam is a very sweet boy that just can't seem to put this one girl behind him.  Riley is a princess with a wild side.  When Sam saves Riley's life, she decides to help him win back the love of his lady.  Unfortunately, Riley is also rebelling, and Sam may have signed up for more than he bargained for.

My thoughts:
This is a cute novel.  If you go in with no expectations and just want to read a sweet contemporary YA romance, then this is a good book to grab.  There is nothing that is heavy hitting.  There is nothing that really stands out about it.  Riley gets annoying a bit with her pushing the envelope and attempting to meddle with everything, but at the same time, I feel like I understood why she was acting the way she choose.  Sam finds himself in situations he did not originally suspect.  I'm not sure if turning the sweet, quiet kid into a fighter is a great move, but his motivations are clear.  There is teenage alcohol abuse, parties, language, and violence within the novel, but nothing so descriptive that it would turn people away.  Overall, I think this is a good no-think novel that high school girls will enjoy over a weekend.
4923245
I am a little torn about how to rate Tempting the Marquess.  Parts of it were really lovely and then others, due mostly to the heroine, were less than stellar.  Overall this rates 3  stars.

Olivia Weston (Livvy) has decided to save a man from himself.  She arrives at Lord Jason Traherne's Welsh home in the company of her aunt; Jason is her aunt's stepson.  Livvy feels she almost knows Jason through a diary left behind by his deceased wife that she discovered when she was organizing an estate library.  Livvy read the diary and came to the decision that Jason needed her.

Jason on the other hand believes he does not need anyone and he is more than put out that Livvy has invited herself to his home.  He is reclusive and not welcoming.  Moreover, he is sparring quickly with Livvy as she has a tendency to forget that she is a guest in his house and engages in a verbal match with him within a day.

Jason can be chauvinistic but that is a malady most peers possessed in his time period.  What distinguishes him from other peers is his deep love and affection for his son and his appreciation for a woman's quick wit.  He has a teasing nature with no malicious intent.

Livvy can be trying.  I believe she is eighteen or nineteen and she acts like it.  This was a bit of a surprise as her inner thoughts are of a much more mature young woman, her actions, though do not match.  She is idealistic to the point of being a perfectionist, love has to be perfect with a perfect hero in a perfect setting, and she expects this even though she is far from perfect herself.  Livvy is supposed to be rational and a planner yet there is very little forethought in some of her actions.

What is really admirable in this novel is the basic story of a man carrying a heavy load from his past who needs the affection, love and patience of a strong woman to help him release weighty issues.  In this regard, the novel works well; it's just that heroine Livvy gets in the way of this a little too much with immature conversations and plans.
3806816
I have been a fan of the Hundred Oaks series ever since Catching Jordan was released. I get more and more excited with each book that is released and I am always anticipating yet another YA romance that will sweep me off my feet.

After Taylor takes the fall for something she didn't do, she is forced to leave her private school and attend Hundred Oaks High. With her dad as a senator, Taylor's decision could ruin her father's image of his perfect family and Taylor's hope of attending Yale. Taylor has always turned to soccer to deal with life, but on her new team, she feels even more excluded than before. The only person who seems to understand what she's going through is Ezra, her older brother's best friend. Taylor has had a crush on him forever, but can Taylor really be with Ezra after what had happened in their past?

So right after I read this book, I gave it four stars. Not my favorite in the series, but a cute read. Two weeks later as I'm writing this review, I had to knock the rating down to three stars after thinking about what I liked and didn't like about this book. While this did have a cute romance and dealt with the more mature side of YA novel themes, there were things that are still rubbing me the wrong way. First off, the thing Ezra did "way back" when Taylor was 16 was kind ofanticlimactic. She was really mad at him over that? And never talked to him about it to understand what actually happened? And he didn't try to talk to her to explain? Then, the whole thing with her ex-boyfriend coming back to talk to her was just a littleexpected? I guess I wanted to be more surprised with the storyline and not disappointed in the big secrets that were revealed and came to play out.

Going to the romance between Taylor and Ezra, I just didn't find myself connecting to their relationship as much as I wanted to. Taylor seemed a little too, I don't know, immature for Ezra? She was still in high school and he had a job and life he was trying to figure out. I think Taylor just seemed immature to me because of what went down at her private school. I didn't really think she had that great of a relationship with her ex-boyfriend to cause her to do what she did that got her kicked out. I guess what I'm saying is that I didn't connect with the characters, their motivations, and their relationships as much as I have in the past novels of this series.

As you can see, I'm still conflicted over my feelings for this one. Overall, this one was still an enjoyable read with endearing characters and a more mature YA plot line, but I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.
2051969
Despite ripping off the title from a Drew Barrymore movie, Never Been Kissed by Melody Carlson is a pretty good read for the YA (young adult) crowd.  Instead of a soppy love story involving a girl and an otherwordly creature, Carlson writes a novel that addresses real teen issues--cyberbullying, sexting (sex texting), and dealing with insecurity.  Instead of making her characters super mature or clueless morons, Carlson's characters, though lacking dimension, are pretty true to how the average teen thinks.

The sordid tale begins when Elise Storton starts her junior year at a new school.  The pretty 16 year-old finds herself landing in the lap of popularity when the cool kids accept her as one of their own, at least at first.  When senior Asher Gordon develops a crush on Elise, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, he begins to send Elise secret e-mails about his feelings, which she reciprocates.  All the while, on the surface, Elise pretends she hates Asher so his girlfriend (who he promises to dump after the homecoming dance) doesn't get suspicious.  Finally, Asher asks Elise to send him sexy pictures, something this Christian girl refuses to do.  So imagine Elise's surprise when she is arrested for sending Asher a pornographic image of herself naked!

Never Been Kissed is so different from the Christian teen novels I read when I was younger.  Carlson's characters are far from the perfect little Christians who never made any mistakes, always read their Bible, and were moral examples to tweens.  Elise's mother is a single mother who had her child while still in high school.  Elise, though a Christian, still has to grow in her faith.  She's definitely flawed and very much a teenage girl.

However, the characters in Never Been Kissed are flat and lifeless.  It is hard to empathize with Elise because she isn't all that interesting.  The "mean girls" are just mean and Elise's friend, Stacie, is a typical needy freshman.  Plus, the dialogue lacks dynamics.  Still, this is a YA book, not an adult mystery.

This is a good book for any youth leader (especially those working with seventh-ninth graders) to share with a girls' small group.  It makes the issue of sexting, the Internet, and cyberbullying so much easier to talk about.  Parents might want to buy this book for their teenage girls and have "the conversation." All in all, Never Been Kissed is a good read for younger teens.

*Available January 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.*
3137149
an older style romance, but good nonetheless.
2109202
This is what is known at our house as a "read-once."  Okay for an idle hour but not something I'll reread.

On second thought: A good choice for romantic teens-- might lead to looking at the high-school hero in a different light.
2026292
This is the first book in a new series by Cat Devon. It is cute and lighthearted quick read. Daniella is a likable heroine and Nick is the typical brooding vampire lead. While the book didn't make me laugh out loud there were definitely moments that made me smile. Unfortunately it was more than half way through the book before the conflict that would bring our lead character's together arose, and even then it was more Keystone Cop antics than the work of terrifying evil Vampire's. It also took a while for the love scene, and while it was sexy it wasn't extremely hot or erotic. This book was basically one step up from a YA novel. I won't be eagerly anticipating the next book in the series, but I did like the book enough to keep reading about the shenanigans in Vamptown.
4300802
This is an OK romance, a bit in the style of a classic regency with a little (really, not much) explicit sex. Nothing original but the writing is fairly good, if a little like an old fashioned melodrama as there's some excessive nobility and self sacrifice involved. That kind of thing usually annoys me but the story kept my attention enough so that I liked it overall. There's Lucy, a runaway heiress with a mysterious threat hanging over her, Colin, a wounded war hero whom she helps and the various villains they are each trying to vanquish. Lucy and Colin are appealing characters, with Lucy having an especially unusual background with both sniper and medical experience. The weakness here is that there seem to be three parallel plots going on - one involving the threat to Lucy, another involving Colin's political mission and then there's the romance between the two of them. The romance is straightforward but neither of the other two plot lines are sufficiently explained until the end. Lucy's threat plot line also turns bizarre and complicated, while Colin's gets pretty short shrift. We are instead introduced to several villains without knowing their ultimate purpose or motivation. This is the first of a series (so parts of these plots may show up again - who knows?) and the author chose to show it by leaving a dangling thread that will need to be tied up in another book. The different plots mostly get resolved in this one, but the story does get bogged down at times. I liked it enough to look for the next in the series, when it comes out.
970153
This made for a really fast paced read.  I usually hate love triangles, and this book does have the potential of that, but I have to say, overall, the romance was really non-existent.  Which, in this stories case, seemed to really help the character and plot development.  It was definitely young adult.  No sex, profanity etc.  Some violence, but I never found it to be overly brutal.  I liked all of the characters, and the world that was created.  The "fantasy" elements were pretty tame.  There wasn't an abundance of magic, etc.  I liked that the heroine was strong willed and independent as well.  I'm still undecided if I will continue this series.  My main complaint is the price.  Its currently listed at $9.78 and I feel that is WAYYYYYYYYYY overpriced.  I would more readily recommend this book if fairly priced somewhere around $3.99, which is what I feel it was worth.
1927774
Sarah, the workhouse girl of the title, is followed from age 6 to about age 20 in this young adult novel.  Poor Sarah rockets from one dismal situation after another, extricating herself (or being extricated) only to fall into another awful mess.  Along the way we meet several villains and a few heroes and heroines. The characters are stock characters with one noble rascal to relieve the standardization.
This is a quick read that moves from one unlikely situation to another, but does eventually reach a not quite foregone conclusion.  The writing is okay, the dialogue pedestrian, but the tempo is non-stop.  Tweens will love it. Teens will enjoy the action and like the very mild romance. Parents have nothing to fear beyond a few somewhat bad words, a few kisses along with some mild innuendo and lots of outright cruelty.
Adults will likely find the believable factor  too implausible to read past the middle of the book and may just skip to the conclusion. Then they will discover they have missed several plot points.
3 of 5 stars
4071340
A teenage romance that does not involve vampires, zombies or demons and just enough angst to remind you of high school.
3506020
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills is about a group of friends and how they help each other. Vera and Gabe are twins whose mother painted until she died. Remy is Gabes best friend, Tash and Aubrey are Veras best friends Frank is a wealthy friend who likes to party. Sloane is a new friend who gets attention when she embarrasses the bully who was picking on Gabe at a party. Sloanes dad is a teen romance writer who has writers block but gets inspiration from his daughters life. When one of the paintings gets sold that Gabe wanted to keep, Sloane decides to track it down for him and get it back.

This is an okay read if you like a bit of teen drama with a bit of romance. Of course, one of the relationships tossed in were a couple lesbians, but that was just a small part of the book. Overall, I thought the dialogue was well done but would have preferred less foul language. I liked how it ended and enjoyed the main characters.
615825
This is a solid teen problem / relationship novel -- Charlotte, our heroine, has to deal with a move to a new town, her parents' notoriety, her own conflicting desires for stability, normality, and adventure -- and being haunted by a historical couple searching for their daughter. The author changes some traditional elements up, e.g., Charlotte's problem is not that the cheerleaders hate her, but that they take her up immediately, so that other conflicts ensue, but in essence this is the sort of thing I could have been reading as a teenager. It's not clear why it has to have the supernatural theme, except that that's what sells these days. But otherwise this was fine. Not exciting, but well plotted and effectively written.
1573447
I like romances featuring Highlanders, I enjoy renaissance fairs and I occasionally read time travel novels, this book has all three, so I thought I would enjoy it.

It was an okay book; it felt written for YA readers, though it doesnt say that in the description. And I had to really suspend my belief because many of the plot devices were either improbable or weak. It is clean  no offensive language and no sex scenes. The female main character seemed very young and immature, there was no depth to the main male character and the willingness of the young womans parents to accept that their relationship was so serious so fast seemed far fetched.

By the end of the book, I had so many unanswered questions. I suspect they may be answered in future books of the series, but Im not yet sure Ill keep reading. But that is just me. If you are looking for a simple, clean, easy to read romance, this book could be for you.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.