ARC Review of "Making Pretty"

Making Pretty 

By Corey Ann Haydu 

Stars: 2 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: May 12th 2015 

Montana is used to her fathers girlfriends popping up in her and her sisters lives, moving in, bringing their collection of shoes with them, adding their own touches to the New York apartment. 

Shes use to them becoming fiances and eventually wives and ex wives. What she's not used to is the girlfriend in question turning out to be her best friend, Karissa, whose been hiding the relationship from her for months. 

While things at home quickly spiral out of control Montana seeks solace with her new boyfriend, one of her Dad's ex-wives and even Karissa, driving a wedge between her and Arizona. 

It doesn't take long for secrets to come out and lines to be drawn but whose side do you take when neither one is right? 

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Oh boy... 

Where do I start? 

I'm really surprised I finished this book, at the beginning I really enjoyed it, but how quickly the tables turned. 

Montana is one of my least favorite characters, she's so intent on writing in her journal about things she's grateful for and things that make her happy every day and yet she never physically shows her appreciation or gratitude. All she does is write it down and then in the next sentence she's complaining about how she hates her life. 

Karissa was beyond words. She was insane, downright mental and yet Montana babied her and made her feel like she wanted her there instead of telling her how she really felt about the relationship between her and her father. 

Arizona wasn't much better. She still blamed the ex wife (Natalie I think) who (along with their father) gifted them each certificates for plastic surgery on their 13th birthday and yet she freaking used it! She was so mad at Montana for still having a relationship with the only real mother figure she'd ever known all because of a horrible 'gift' that she used! Where is the logic in that?! 

Then there is her father... I refer to him as Frankenstein. He 'can't help' but to point out every single flaw in every single person he sees. He goes as far as coloring on family pictures of the girls with a sharpie to point out flaws and make notes on what he would change. His 'selective memory' was such a load of BS I couldn't even handle it and the way he was always guilting the girls into going along with things they weren't comfortable doing was manipulative and honestly quite creepy. 

I could go on, talk about Karissa's own manipulative tendencies, the fact that there was absolutely no character growth in the end or how much I hated Montana's 'relationship' with Bernardo but I think I'll stop here... 

Sadly I just want to make a note that while I (obviously) hated the story and the characters the writing was actually really good and it's the reason I finished the story at all. I'll still consider reading other books from Haydu but I definitely won't be recommending this one.

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

ARC Review of "Heat Of The Moment"

Heat Of The Moment 

By Lauren Barnholdt

Stars: 2 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: May 12th 2015 

Freshman year Lyla, Quinn and Aven each wrote themselves an email with something they wanted to achieve before graduating high-school. 

Now four years later the three aren't even on speaking terms and the emails have long since been forgotten, so when Lyla opens up her email to find an email from herself telling her to learn to trust she's less than thrilled. She's a trusting person. Right? 

The first in a trilogy told from each girls perspective over the course of their senior trip follows Lyla on her quest to trust not only those around her but herself.

Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Book Depository

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I've read a couple Lauren Barnholdt books over the past couple of years and every time I pick one up I get sucked in by the synopsis and the promises of a good summer/beach read. 

Yet every time I finish (if I finish) I feel so disappointed, let down and for lack of a better word, blah. 

In case you haven't guessed all ready, I was not a fan of this book. 

It pretty much centered around the main characters goal to lose her virginity to her douche bag of a boyfriend on their senior trip. 

She (Lyla) was so incredibly whiny and self centered and every other thing out of her mouth was a lie.

Lyla's one goal on the trip is too sleep with her boyfriend and yet anytime he's out of the picture she's flirting with the mysterious, attractive, moody, Beckett. Yeah, that makes perfect sense! 

I really don't know what else to say, this book wasn't plot driven or character driven, it was more like a bad car wreck that you just couldn't look away from and I will not be continuing with the companion novels/sequels. 

Until next time,

 Ginger  

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

ARC Review of "Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance"

Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance By Danielle Young-Ullman 

Stars:2

Source: Netgalley 

Release Date: May 5th 2015 

Lola Carlyle's life is less than perfect, her mother is more concerned with her career than her daughter, her father hasn't talked to her in months and her only friend to speak of is currently in rehab. 

So when Sydney calls Lola with new juicy gossip about Lola's old crush, Wade, suddenly being checked into the very same rehab facility that Sydney's currently staying at and drops not so subtle hints that Lola should join them Lola barley hesitates. 

It doesn't take long for her to get her mother to check her into rehab and Lola is excited to be spending the summer tanning, getting massages and mani/pedi's and lounging by the pool. After all, Sydney said it was more of a spa than actual rehab. And of course being able to catch up with Wade is the cherry on top. 

So when Lola gets to Sunrise Rehab and realizes that not only is it actually rehab but that boys and girls aren't allowed to fraternize she's about ready to kill Sydney. To bad Sydney checked herself out earlier that morning. 

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I was really looking forward to this book, I was sick when I started reading it and I wanted a light, quick beach read. Although that's what I got I still felt let down at the end. 

Lola annoyed me. To no end. I don't know what it was but every little thing about her got on my nerves. That would be okay if any of the other characters were somewhat likable but they were all awful. 

I realize that without her lying to get into rehab there would be no book but really? She may not have an addiction to alcohol but she's definitely addicted to lying. I don't know how anyone in that place could trust her when every other thing out of her mouth was a lie.  

It was a little too repetitive for me, Lola would lie, cause a mess, try to fix it but only make it worse and then finally the situation would be somewhat resolved and so it would continue, chapter after chapter.  

Sadly the story got old fairly quickly, it was like a Lifetime movie that you stumble upon while flipping channels and 2 hours later your wondering why in the world you kept watching. 

I feel like it had potential but it just wasn't for me. 

Until next time, 
Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

ARC Review of "City Love"

City Love 

By Susane Colasanti 

Stars: 2 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: April 21st 2015 

Three girls, one summer, no rules. 

Darcy, Rosanna and Sadie are sharing an apartment in New York City the summer before their freshman year of college. Surrounded by world famous restaurants, art exhibits and the occasional A-list celebrity it's hard not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle that is NYC but each girl has their own dreams, aspirations and goals and none of them are going to settle for anything less than extraordinary. 

Darcy is mending a slightly damaged heart, having been dumped by the love of her life before arriving in the big apple. She has deemed this summer her 'shiny new summer'. No boyfriend, but plenty of boys. 

Rosanna is dazzled by the city lights and can't believe she actually made it. She's always dreamed about living the New York and now it's finally happening. It doesn't matter that she can barley make ends meet or that her dinner for the next week is whatever cereal was on sale, she's determined to make it work. 

Sadie was born and raised in the West Village, she's barley a couple of blocks from her childhood home but already she feels like a whole different person being out on her own. Always the optimistic one she can't help but see the good in people, whether they deserve it or not.  

All three girls are world apart when it comes to their backgrounds, personalities and lifestyles but one thing they have in common is City Love, no matter the number of dates, relationships, breakups or heartbreaks, New York will never let them down. 

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I was really looking forward to this book, I saved it for a day when I needed a little cheering up, a light fluffy read to brighten my day... 

That didn't happen. 

While "City Love" started off on an okay foot it quickly went downhill fast. 

First off the timing, I kept having to remind myself that weeks, hell even days, weren't passing between each chapter, the entire book was around two weeks time wise and it drove me crazy! Especially when the girls were head over heels for guys they met... Yesterday. 

Yes that brings me to my next point: InstaLove... 

I kid you not there was a line in the book where Sadie is just gushing about Austin, how amazing he is, how sweet, how much she's falling for him, and then in the next breath she says something about "I can't believe I've only know him three days"... Oh lord. 

I hated how Rosanna, who comes from a poor family and can't afford to go out for coffee is suddenly with Donovan Clark who drops 200+ dollars on a dinner date. 

She kept having this inner dialog with herself about how she could never be with someone like that, who didn't understand the value of a dollar and who would never be able to relate to her situation and yet she kept going out with him. 

Darcy didn't annoy me too much, she was probably my favorite out of the three, her whole "Operation Shiny New Summer" actually kept me somewhat interested in the story (at least enough to finish it) but I still felt like she was missing something. 

If I was rating this book solely on the setting and the descriptions of the city I would give it 5+ stars but the characters and their 'love lives' just threw me. 

I forced myself to finish it just so I could see if the ending was any better but that may have been the worst part. Even though it's (apparently) going to be a series that was one of the worst endings I have ever read. It might as well have stopped mid sentence, that would have been less abrupt. 

I'm disappointed that I disliked it as much as I did because like I said I was really looking forward to it but after reading it I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I doubt I'll read the next installment in the series. 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.

Mini Review of "A Little Something Different"

A Little Something Different 

By Sandy Hall 

Source: Purchased 

Stars: 2 

"A Little Something Different" is a love story told from everyone's point of view but the two people falling in love, from their creative writing teacher to the squirrel in the park, they all know that Lea and Gabe belong together, this is their story. 

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So with my last review I told you all I took four pages of notes, well with this book I had half a page of 'notes' and at the end of the book I realized the only thing I had written down were the characters names... 

Sadly I don't have a ton to say about this book. I had such high hopes but it really ended up letting me down and I found myself forcing myself to finish reading it. 

It wasn't the 14 different point of views that I didn't like, to be honest I actually didn't mind it, I adored the bench (sassy little thing) and the squirrel, it was Lea and Gabe. I don't know if I didn't feel a real connection with them because it wasn't told from their eyes or if it was simply the fact that they felt rather one dimensional. 

I didn't care at all what was going on in their lives or what was about to take place. Lea annoyed me and Gabe was so awkward it made it hard to read chapters with him mentioned. 

It's kind of sad that the two 'characters' I actually liked weren't even human. 

I'm on the fence about whether or not I'll be reading more from this author so we'll have to wait and see but for now I wouldn't reccomend this book.

Until next time, 

Ginger

Mini ARC Review of "Who Is Mackie Spence?"

Who Is Mackie Spence? By Lin Kaymer 

Stars:2 

Source: Edelweiss 

Release Date: January 2nd 2015 

Jeremy has known Mackie all his life, but when Mackie survives a near drowning Jeremy notices strange things happening, things he can't put into words, let alone explain. 

He feels drawn to Mackie and finds himself falling in love with her and her new abilities. But Mackie's ex boyfriend isn't to fond of their new relationship and his possessiveness towards Mackie Spence has Jeremy worrying about what his next move will be. 

I was so close to DNF this book but something happened that drew me back in at the last second. 

I wasn't a fan of the mythological aspect of the story which is shocking to me because I love anything to do with mythology and Greek gods and goddess. To me it just wasn't executed well enough to keep me interested. I almost wish it had been left out completely. 

I found the relationship between Jeremy and Mackie weird, he goes on and on about how they've known each other since they were little but the back story was lacking any depth, it was as though he'd forgotten about her for the past ten years and only notices her when the story begins. And of course once he does notice her it's insta-love galore. 

This just wasn't a story for me. 

Until next time, 

Ginger 

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. 

My review is my honest opinion.