Crash into You by Katie McGarry

Crash into You (Pushing the Limits, #3) by Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia
Publication date: December 1st, 2013
Number of pages: 464 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | Kindle | The Book Depository

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

There is nothing that Katie McGarry cannot do. I don't say this about many YA contemporary authors, mainly because I am very hesitant when it comes to this genre. Not every author can pull off an amazing story that sucks me in every time. Katie can do that. Every time.
She is definitely on my Must-read list. I have all the faith in the world when it comes to her and to this series. When I got the opportunity to review this title from Harlequin Australia, I could not pass up the chance to score an early copy and discover Isaiah's story. I badly wanted him to have happiness after the stuff he had been through with Beth, which did not end very nice at all.

 When things pick up, Isaiah is determined to find a way to gather some money for the place he and Noah live in, otherwise things are about to go to hell. He'll have to go back to Beth's aunt's and Noah will live in the dorms on campus. He'll do anything not to go back there, not since Beth...
He only sees one option. To race again, but when he makes a deal he can't get out of, he is determined to make the best of it, until a girl turns up at the race and he makes a deal to protect her.
Isaiah has six weeks to come up with what is needed, otherwise, there will be hell to pay.. and he'll refuse to let anything come to this girl.

Rachel goes to the best school, comes from a wealthy family and has to put up appearances for her family. She tries to be the best daughter she can be, but there is only so much she can fake. This is why she loves speed and racing her car. It takes her away from life, to a place where she can be who she wants to be.
But the moment she agrees to race in a street race, everything changes. Not only does she owes a debt to the owner of the race, but a rough around the edges guy named Isaiah has taken the debt on for himself, and together they will have to try raise the money before the deadline.  But what happens in six weeks can change their lives forever...

I have to say ---  I loved Noah's book.  I really liked Beth and Ryan's, but.. MY GOD.  This book? My favourite, no doubt about it.  I have always adored Isaiah. I wanted him to find love and happiness. I wanted him to take control over his life and find some resolution. He find the things he wants most in life.  THIS BOOK ...  has it all.  Not only is his relationship with Rachel just beautiful. But he is so flawed, so vulnerable and takes things on himself. He has so much inside of him that just makes you want to go and hug him.
He and Rachel are just made for one another.  They have so much in common, minus the part about their backgrounds and pasts. But they are both troubled, damaged in some way or another. They both love cars and racing. And other things.
They are like two peices of a puzzle slowly connecting into place. Two halves of a whole finally coming together where they belong.

We meet some newcomers who, some I adored, like Rachel's twin, Ethan and West. Then she has other brothers who are a bit older, but were understandable and I liked by the end.
Her brothers have this protectiveness over her that was kind of adorable. Nothing I wouldn't expect from older brothers for their younger sister, especially when boys are involved. Along with some friends of Isaiah's, this was a page-turner from the very first page.
Bring on the next installment. I will be so there.

5 Stars

Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, #2) by Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Australia
Publication date: June 1st, 2013
Number of pages: 479 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

I said this during my review for Pushing the Limits -- but YA Contemporary has never been my favourite thing, and I am very picky at which books in this category I choose to read. After the first book in this series I knew I had to follow through and read the next one, and boy was I glad I did.
At first I was a little weary about the book being Beth's as I was never a big fan of her in Noah's book, but she did prove me wrong, and showed me she was capable of more than I assumed at first.
Katie McGarry just knows how to hook you in, not only with the story but also with the characters and mystery which these characters seem to have attached to them.

Our two main characters, Beth and Ryan couldn't be more different from one another if they tried. Ryan is the sort of boy who has dreams and thinks he knows what he wants in life, or at least, what his family wants from him. He is the golden boy.  With Beth though, she is the opposite of that. She takes life by as each day comes. She has had a rough life and is still going through the rough patches.  When these two meet though ---  it's like you just know they are just meant to be.  It won't be easy, but the things they bring out in one another just make everything else worth it.

Beth and Ryan find themselves playing a game of cat and mouse after Ryan's friends get him involved in a dare. As he gets to know her... will he have to decide whether the game is over, or has it just began?
Our lead characters each have their own demons that lurk in their personal lives, but the cure to make everything disappear just may be in each other's arms.

That's not the only relationship that changes in this book.  Beth's relationship / friendship with her closest friend, Isaiah  splits down the middle when he basically makes his feelings for her known, and she has to decide how to feels, and try not to hurt him in the process.
Some of their conversations just broke me heart. Just seeing him so hurt.. after being in love with her for so long... I just wanted to hug him, and tell him he will find the girl for him.

I admit, at first.. I was a bit disappointed that this story was not going to be Beth and Isaiah, because I adored them and how it was obvious he really liked her, but after reading the book, I know now that Ryan is the best person for her.  And now, Isaiah will just have to find that person who is the one for him.

This was a absolute stunning book,. but I should not have expected anything less when it concerns Katie McGarry. I can't wait to see Isaiah's book.. who broke me heart more than almost anyone. Hopefully he'll find the perfect girl for him.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Hysteria by Megan Miranda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
Publication date: February 14th, 2013
Number of pages: 352 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository | Bookworld Aus

Mallory's life is falling apart.

Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can't remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear...

When Mallory's parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There's the hand that touches her shoulder when she's drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory's name is on their lips.

Her past can be forgotten but it's never gone. Can Mallory live with that?

This was my first book by Megan Miranda. I had heard about this for ages before I actually bought it. I was glad I did. While this may be a contemporary book, I fell into the world which Megan created. I loved the mystery to it. That's what draws me in when it comes to contemporary books. They need to have some sort of twist or mystery to the story to make it extra compelling..

Mallory's life couldn't get any worse. Her boyfriend was killed in her kitchen and she was a witness. The thing is.... she can't remember the events of it, or what happened at that moment. She doesn't know if she was the one who killed him or whether it was someone else and she just happened to be there at the time.
Soon after the funeral, Mallory's parents send her away to boarding school to get away from it all, to give her a new start. But things aren't as easy as that.
Just when she thinks she might be able to be happy --- someone ends up dead and the evidence points to one person. Her.

Mallory feels like there is someone watching her. Something has followed her to her new life and can't stand of her moving on.
Who is it, and what do they want?
She knows she needs to put this whole mess behind her. But when her past keeps being brought into the present, it's hard to go forward.

This was a pretty impressive book. There was plenty of action, mystery and some romance.  I loved the flashbacks we got to understand how everything came to be.
There was twists and turns. Unexpected things happen, and people turn out to be not who you thought they were.

All in all, an action-packed story that I was glad I decided to pick up. I wouldn't mind reading other things by this author in the future. A great read indeed.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington
Publisher: Harper Collins Australia
Publication date: May 1st, 2013
Number of pages: 336 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Bookworld Australia

Above all else, though I try not to think about it, I know which life I prefer. And every night when I Cinderella myself from one life to the next a very small, but definite, piece of me dies. The hardest part is that nothing about my situation has ever changed. There is no loophole.

Until now, that is...

For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ′other′ life - a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she′s a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she′s considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other.

With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments which bring her dangerously close to the life she′s always wanted... But just what - and who - is she really risking?

Jessica Shirvington has debuted her very first standalone, YA contemporary, but with a twist novel. If you loved her Violet Eden series and waiting her final book, then you are sure to love this novel.

I found the premise for this story very compelling and interesting from the very first moment Jess spoke about it. I personally don't know how I would deal if I were in this kind of situation, so Sabine is a strong female character on that merit alone.

The story brings us to Sabine, who is about to turn eighteen and looking forward to what the future brings her. But her life is  not like anyone else's. For she, you see, has two lives. She doesn't know how it came or be, or when it started, but after midnight she switches from one life to another, never missing one moment of each of her lives.
She is the same girl. Same name. Same physical appearance, but different family and friends. Different life.
When Sabine realizes that things have started to change through each Shift, she becomes to the realization that this may be the time she will have to choose ONE life, but the question is, which one?

In one life.. she has everything she could have wanted. Friends, popularity, wealth, the perfect boyfriend. But everything is not as it appears to be, because the boyfriend she can't stand, her brothers she doesn't really get along with.
In the other, her family could not have been any different. She isn't popular. She is more like a rebel. But she has a best friend. Her parents are on hard times financially, but she has a bright spot and that is her little sister who she adores and who adores her. But when it comes down to deciding.... how does one decide which life to lead?

The moment she meets Ethan, changes everything. Everything she wanted to feel in her 'perfect' life's boyfriend happens with Ethan. If only she could take him to her other life if she decides to choose that one. But who said ANY life was easy? Most of us only have one to deal with day by day, but Sabine has twice the trouble as she deals with not one, but two of them.

This book is equally as addicting, compelling and heartbreaking as Jessica's  VEC series.  It has love. It has family, and heartbreak.
There was something that involved Ethan that I should have seen coming, but  I didn't. Maybe I just didn't want to believe it. But what Sabine has to deal with is so heartbreaking and tragic, I don't envy her for a moment.
I did love that by the end Sabine got closer to her brothers than she was before. She goes through a traumatic experience that will bond them forever, and she will never have to worry about going back to the relationship she had with them before ever again. And by the end of the book... while Sabine goes through everyone one could ever imagine---  there is hope for something for the future.

There could have been more to this story, but I did like the end how it ended on a note of hope.. just enough to leave you satisfied, but also enough to make you yearn for more as well.

Jessica can write the bible and I'd read it. She has this special knack at getting you involved in the world that she creates. I'm a fan for life, for sure.

Rating: 5/5

Teaser Tuesday 23

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Want to play along?

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers
• Share the title and author

I still can't get over Saving June Hannah Harrington. It was just full of amazing. Plus Jake was pretty much perfect.

 “He leans close and says, "It matters to me," right against my mouth, and then kisses me like he means it.
I've thought about what it'd be like to kiss Jake over the past few days, way more than I'd care to admit. But I don't even have time to register the firm press of his lips against mine, without breath, before he pulls back.

Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Saving June by Hannah Harrington
Publication Date: May 1, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia
Number of Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Add to Goodreads

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one — so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going — California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down — again.

Harper's older sister June is the perfect child. It was a complete shock when June committed suicide two weeks before her high school graduation. Harper decides to honor June's only dream by taking her ashes to California. Enter mysterious bad boy Jake Tolan who has a mysterious connection to June.  He insists he has to go with Harper and  her best friend Laney and even offers to drive them. There's instant attraction between Jake and Harper, even though they have nothing in common.

This book is filled with music and music references. Usually it bugs me when a book is filled with detail music references, but it works for this book. Harper can tell Jake is hiding something from her about June. But he refuses to talk about it.

With many detours, this book is more about Harper grieving for her sister and coming to term. Even though I understand that's what the book is about, I wished it had a little bit more romance for Harper and Jake. I just couldn't get enough of them. And when they do finally get together, it's my favorite scene in the whole book.

Beware, the book is a tear jerker, and pretty much the whole book is sad. I hate that this was a stand a lone book. Which is why I usually don't read them. I only want more. I spent days after reading this day dreaming about Harper and Jake. The end of the book, it felt like there were room for more. Everything was resolve, but there were so much more room to write a few more chapters.The only thing I didn't like about the book was the aspect of religion. Harper has decided she doesn't believe, but she has a very big religious aunt. And it's the stereotypical christian who pushes their ideals on everyone and is close minded. Not to mention the bible thumpers at a protest they attend. I feel like the author was on the verge of bashing it. Or how at the end of the story Laney is pregnant but it's convenient taken care of. The plot made no sense in the book, only to show that Harper puts those she loves and care about above her own feelings and needs.And Jake's secret? I felt disappointed. I didn't see the big deal and I thought the connection between him and June would of been something more. Seemed like the whole plot was headed towards this huge climax and then there were nothing. I do wish we learned exactly why June decided to take her own life.

In a few words this book is AMAZING! Definitely one of my favorites. I encourage everyone to give it a shot.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry
Publication Date: July 31, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Number of Pages: 392
Format: Hardback
Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
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"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Oh not sure why I've been on a contemporary YA kick lately. But this came highly recommended by a friend. The book was ok, not the best.

Echo used to be one of the popular crowd. But one night changed everything, only if Echo could remember. All she knows that she woke up in the hospital with scars all over her, knowing her mother tried to kill her. For the past two years she's kept a low profile, but her dad and step mom won't tell her what really happened that night. But seeing a new therapist might just change all of that. Not to mention the moment Noah walked into her life nothing will be the same again.

The book is broken into Echo and Noah's POVs. I couldn't stand reading Noah's POV. Writing in a guy's POV in YA is tricky, and very rarely can you find someone who can nail it. I'm sorry I don't want to read about a guy staring at someone's ass or telling her to shake it. Not to mention the over use of calling Echo a siren. Not only did I hate his POVs, I didn't connect with Noah, and ended up not liking Noah. Once a golden boy his life was turned upside down when a fire killed his brothers. Thrown into foster care and labeled trouble, his life was never the same. Now he uses girls and smokes pot. Now at almost 18 he's determined to win custody over his two brothers when he graduate. Since he was label trouble and unstable after his first foster home, I'm curious though. Why was he separated originally from his brothers? I know it happens but to just separate one brother from the family? Not to mention his brothers has been with the same family from the beginning. This is when I really can't stand Noah. This family is wealthy. His brothers can have a life that Noah can't provide for them. Not to mention he still smoking pot. What sense does that mean? Not to mention he claims they are abusing his brothers and there is no proof of it, nor any reason for him to accuse them of it.

The book is pretty dark and deals with some heavy stuff. I think the book would of been a lot better if it was solely in Echo's POV. I loved the ending. Overall the book was pretty good. Just didn't interest me enough to continue with the series.

Rating: 3/5

 

Review: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Forget You by Jennifer Echols
Publication Date: July 20th, 2010
Publisher: MTV Books
Number of Pages: 292
Format: Paperback
Buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
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There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four-year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. Feeling like her life is about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.  But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all--the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug--of all people-- suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life--a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

This book sounded so good, but it came out on the disappointing side. I should of known better since it's published by MTV. I loved the plot, it had the potential to be amazing but the actual writing sucked.  I felt like I was reading something written by a 14 year old. Not to mention the use of old phrases such as parking and petting. Or even using the word ugly to describe how a person is talking, acting, etc. Even use the phrase blank is my dearest friend. Who really talks like that?

My impression from the description that Zoey and Brandon were a serious couple. I was thrown through a loop when Brandon turns out to be a player with a new girl every week, and started out as really good friends with Zoey. But after Zoey's mom has a breakdown, she decides to sleep with Brandon. And even though knowing how he is with girls, Zoey immediately thinks this means they are dating. Even though it's pretty clear he's not boyfriend material, and he never calls/texts her or even comes to see her.

Zoey's dad is an asshole. I couldn't believe someone would wrote a character that mean and harsh towards his own daughter. The author could of tone him down a notch or two. And the whole mystery...I knew exactly what happened that night. And what is the hang up with the deer? Zoey is in a head on accident because both cars swerve to miss a deer and all she can do is keep asking if the deer was ok. Really?! Does she realize how lucky they all are?

Now Doug. Oh Doug how I love you. He's the best thing about this book. The little twist at the end, I just wanted to slap Doug. But for majority of the book I just wanted to hug him.

Overall the book wasn't that bad. I just wished the book was done better.

Rating: 3/5

 

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: July 25th, 2012
Number of pages: 376
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins--the smoking hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket--explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again

I will be the first to admit that I have never been that big on contemporary YA romance books, or maybe I am just so used to Genre type books that when a book in contemporary comes around it takes me awhile to adjust.
I had seen this book everywhere before I finally took the plunge and bought it. It sounded interesting, but I was never 100% sure until I was convinced from a friend who said it was her favourite YA contemporary of 2012,  I then decided to go ahead and and take the chance.
I am pleasantly surprised to say that I was glad I took that chance because of how much I loved it.

I like that it was different. I mean yes it was YA contemporary romance, but it also had this allure and mystery factor to the plot that pulled me in as well.
The story was not just about these two characters and how they connected to one another. It was also about how they became the people they are today and their dark pasts where mystery surrounds them to a point that your hearts will go out to them both individually.

From the very beginning I connected with not just Echo, but also Noah. As we see they have been through so much and continue to do so just made me feel for them so much more.
Echo is living a nightmare one she can't remember for the past few months. She knows something happened to her. She understands who is responsible, but what she doesn't understand is how it happened or why it happened. It's a big mystery surrounding this one big event that continues to haunt her very being and always will until she discovers the truth.

Noah is living his own nightmare; though a bit different to Echo's. His nightmare more has to do with his family. He too has been through a tragic event that has changed who he is. But in other ways he is still the same guy it's just certain things that circumstances has changed him.
He loves his brothers more than life itself and they are the one thing making him go through each day... until he sees them again.

Even though these two teenagers are damaged and scarred throughout their own personal issues going on, they somehow find a connection with one another that makes all the pain somehow a little more bareable.  Together they begin the healing process and maybe even find some sort of light amongst the darkness.

Even if you aren't big on contemporary like me; I'd suggest you take a look into this one because it will surprise the heck out of you. Guaranteed.

Rating: 5 stars.