The Boys Next Door (Simon Romantic Comedies) by Jennifer Echols

The Boys Next Door (Simone Romantic Comedies) by Jennifer Echols
Publication Date: June 26, 2007
Versions: paperback, kindle

Summary (from barnesandnoble.com):
Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends -- including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori's always been one of the guys.



But while Lori and the "baby" brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can't deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean's been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way.


But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she's girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girl friend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard....

This was the only book written by Jennifer Echols that I have not read yet (she's such an amazing author). So I thought, what the heck, and bought it. Was it worth it? Defiantley. Did I love it? Defiantley. Do I recommend it? Oh yeah! This book is about a girl named Lori and she lives next door to the Vader boys. Adam, the youngest brother, has always been her friend since they were younger and Lori has had a crush on Sean, the oldest Vader boy, forever. And since Lori's turing sixteen, she needs to impress him before he goes off to college. She ends up wearing tight and short shirts, skimpy bathing suits and pretending to date Adam just to make him jealous. But maybe Lori and Adam both have ulterior motives.

Oh boy this book was so cute! I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. Well, except for some of the things Lori did which made me so uncomfortable (just from reading it) and embarrased for her that I had to put it down, but I picked it right back up.

Will I reread it?
Defiantely, right now I would have to say that Jennifer Echols is my favorite author. And I can't wait for the sequel which comes out this month.

Love Me Some Bad Boys (1)

I love everything about bad boys: the way they smirk, laugh, touch you, throw you against the wall to kiss you (wow that kind of sounds abusive) and defiantly much much more. There's just something about them that makes me swoon. And since I'm so obsessed with bad boys, I decided to make a meme about them. Every week I will pick one boy character from a book I have read that fits these "bad boy" qualifications. So here it goes:

Carlos in Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

How he is a bad boy:
He does drugs, isn't afraid of what people think, wears black and run down shirts, isn't aftraid to speak his mind, he always teases Kiara about what she wears and about how "hot" she is. He also doesn't follow Kiara's parents rules when he stays with their family, swears even though he's told not to, makes dirty jokes and threatens jerks at his new school.

Favorite bad boy moment:
When Carlos plays a trick on Kiara on her locker. It was so funny and cute.

Dateable?
Oh yeah, even though he's very tough on the outside, he's so sweet and funny in the inside and lets his true personality shine through when Kiara's around.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells (ARC)
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Versions: paperback
Recieved from: Around the World Tours

Summary (from goodreads.com):
After getting dumped by her boyfriend, sixteen-year-old Mia Gordon is looking forward to spending a relaxing summer in the Hamptons with her glamorous cousins. But when she arrives, her cousins are distant, moody, and caught up with a fast crowd. Mia finds herself lonelier than ever. That's when she meets her next-door-neighbor, Simon Ross. Simon isn't like the snobby party boys her cousins seem obsessed with; he's funny, artistic, and utterly adventurous. And from the very first time he encourages Mia to go skinny-dipping, she's caught up in a current impossible to resist. Timeless in feel, The Summer of Skinny-Dipping is a poignant, literary read sure to dazzle tweens and teens alike.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping starts off with Mia going to her cousins house (in the Hamptons) for the summer. But everything she remembered about them has changed and they don't even seem like they want to spend time with her anymore. Then one night at a party, she meets Simon and starts hanging out with him at night. He tries to get her to go swimming and skinny dipping and it turns out to be a fun little romance.

I expected more from this book, because I loved the summary but I wasn't too dissapointed with it either. The book was overall a little too wordy and got very dry and boring-but the plot line was interesting. I wasn't pleased with the characters either. The cousins were annoying and I could hardly stand reading about them.

Will I reread it?
Um, maybe. I guess if I'm in the mood for a fun summery book then I might pick it up. But I will have to say, that even though I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked, I'll probably give Amanda Howells writing another go, so I'll be keeping my eye out.

Poll Results

This weeks poll I asked the question: What team are you on? It was posted on my sidebar for about a week and has officially ended.

Now for the results:

• 3       Team Edward
• 2       Team Jacob
• 11     Team Peeta
• 3       Team Gale

Most eveyone voted for Team Peeta which makes me wonder, do you like The Hunger Games better than Twilight?

Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch by Lauren Barnholdt is officially on sale now!

Seven-year-old Hailey Twitch knows three things for sure: who she’s the boss of, how to throw a tantrum, and above all, how to get exactly what she wants. But all that changes when Hailey gets paired up with annoying Addie Jokobeck on the class project. No matter what Hailey does, she can’t seem to change her teacher’s mind.
At home, a cranky Hailey is feeling sorry for herself when – poof! — Maybelle, a magic sprite, comes flying out of Hailey’s dollhouse. Maybelle’s on probation with the Department of Magic, and on a special mission to get Hailey to have fun.

The only problem? The invisible Maybelle starts causing a lot of trouble, and when Hailey’s teacher wants to know who’s to blame, Hailey takes responsibility. After all, Hailey Twitch is not a snitch! Now if only Hailey can convince the Department of Magic that Maybelle has reformed…
You can buy Hailey Twitch from amazon by clicking here, and find out how to win a free book from Lauren by clicking here!

Author Guest Post: Cynthia Roberts

Cynthia Roberts is the author of Wind Warrior (The Iroquois Series) which will be available at Amazon and all other venues on June 15, 2010.

Wind Warrior by Cynthia Roberts

Summary (from Cynthia's website):
Leslie Michaels is a visionary, and only those close to her know of her special gift and the visions that come when her mind and body surrender to sleep. Fate has a way of righting many wrongs, and for Leslie it is a destiny that changes her life dramatically. But not before she is forced to flee into the wilderness to escape a murderous trapper bent on claiming her for his very own. Faith and a strong will to survive are her only companions, until she encounters Winnokin, the handsome Seneca war chief who first came to her in her dreams. Not only does he prove to be her rescuer and protector, he teaches her that tragedy can breed happiness and the passion to live and love deeply once again.



So here is Cynthia's post which tells a little more about herself and how Wind Warrior came to be:

Hello everyone. Like all of you, I lived and breathed reading romances … it filled many long, lonely evenings when my husband worked nights in law enforcement and I was raising our children Jason and Alyssa (now 31 and 29). It proved my constant companion later when my “Cinderella” marriage of twenty-five years came to an unexpected end. There is a quote I heard once I can’t remember verbatim but goes somewhat like … “There is no greater loss than a love once known.”

I’m a true believer that when tragedy strikes and you’re standing at the edge of a fathomless abyss and all you see is darkness looking back at you, faith lies in knowing one of two things will happen. You can either let fear consume you, roll up into a ball and waste away or, you can take a leap of faith and learn how to soar like an eagle.

I’ve always had a passion for writing from that very moment a Crayola was placed in my hand and throughout my career in marketing, public relations and sales writing creatively came easy. When my marriage ended at the age of 45, life as I knew it was never the same. It was a time of unrest, uncertainty, losing friends and family and financial ruin because I also found myself jobless which continued nearly two years.

Wind Warrior became my salvation. One evening I sat in front of the computer and decided to write instead of read. I loved Cassie Edwards Savage Series and read every one of her books and figured all I could do was fail. It proved my therapy back then but not quite up to par to win the favor of publishers. I received so many rejections I could have wallpapered a small room in my house and almost gave up on my dream. That is, until I realized it just wasn’t my time. I needed to live through and get beyond the pain in my own life before I could transform that experience into the kind of passion and emotion I wanted my readers to feel personally through my writing.

Wind Warrior is book one of five of my Iroquois Series and will officially be released by Tate Publishing June 15th. It is, however, available now for purchase through Tate’s website and it is my heartfelt hope readers will find it as enthralling to read as it was for me to research and bring to life. Book #2 Captive Heart is finished and expected to be released the end of this year.

Now that the writer in me has been unleashed … look out world! If I can leave my beautiful five grandchildren any legacy, it will be the strength, conviction and passion put into every story I bring to life. Please stay tuned for future projects which will include a series introducing contemporary shape shifters and two mainstream romance thrillers entitled Pawn For Malice and The Keeper’s Watch.


You can read an excerpt from Wind Warrior here or order the book here off of the Tate Publishing website. Thank you so much Cynthia!

In My Mailbox (vlog) 1

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and inspired by Alea at Pop Culture Junkie. This meme spotlights books you have reiceved in the mail, bought or borrowed from the library.

Here is my first ever In My Mailbox and first ever vlog which I had a blast with so I hope you enjoy:



Books mentioned:
-Raised By Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
-The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
-Albatross by Josie Bloss
-Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter
-Flirting With Boys by Hailey Abbott
-First Kiss (Then Tell) by Cylin Busby
-Four Summer Stories (Fireworks) by various authors
-Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
-Caleb + Kate by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

People mentioned:
Princess Bookie's (review of Swoon at Your Own Risk)


Now that you've seen what's in my mailbox, what's in yours?