Audience: Upper Elementary

Format: Hardcover/Library Copy

 

 

 

Jen Wang draws on her childhood to paint a deeply personal yet wholly relatable friendship story that’s at turns joyful, heart-wrenching, and full of hope.

 

This is a fantastic story of friendship between two girls who couldn't be more different. One of them is carefree and relaxed, the other feels like she has to be perfect for her parents and never feels good enough. Jen Wang does a great job depicting the challenges of teenage friendships. Another one for fans of Raina Telgemeier.

loved it!

 

Bethany Waterbury left Hollywood and the shadow of her mother's death to give herself a fresh start. Her main intention—to connect with the family she’d never really had the chance to know.

 

Author Kent Black is enjoying his chart topping success and living freely wherever his travels take him. But when he meets the illustrious Bethany Waterbury his wanderlust subsides and the thought of a steady future begins to take over.

 

Kent believes in happily ever after, but the burden of Bethany’s past might be too much for him to embrace —unless true love is more powerful than a Hollywood tragedy.

 

Excerpt: Bethany gripped the front of Kent’s shirt as he moved in to kiss her. His eyes had closed and his warm hands pressed against her face.

 

The world around her spun, much as it did when she took those pills with her mother’s name on them.

 

She closed her eyes and let her body press against him.

 

His lips were pliant against hers. Warm and soft. Hungry yet gentle.

 

He didn’t pull back with just a press of the lips. He deepened the kiss.

 

Kent’s hands slid from her face, down her arms, and to her hips where he pulled her even closer. Lifting her arms around his neck, she opened her mouth to him and he took.

 

His tongue swept across hers and the moan that escaped between them could have belonged to either of them, but she was sure it was hers. Kent’s hands slid to the small of her back and pressed her even closer than she’d thought was possible.

 

Was this rhythm? She suddenly began to hope so, because with all the men she’d been intimate with, this topped the list. This one kiss was wildly passionate and gentle all at the same time.

 

She’d nearly forgotten they were standing on the sidewalk as people drove by. Kent eased back, but his eyes didn’t open. He looked as though he were holding on to the moment, just as she was. “I seriously didn’t expect that,” he said opening his eyes and gazing into hers.

 

“It was nice.”

 

“It was more than that.”

 

Purchase it at: Amazon / iTunes / Kobo

 

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

 

 

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always… and says she can write it, because she lives it.

 

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

 

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

 

Bernadette Marie is also the CEO of Illumination Author Events.

 

Connect with Bernadette on her: Website / FB / Twitter / 5 Prince Books

 

 

Stargazing In Your Eyes - RedPhoneBooth *sigh* This was probably one of the sweetest Sterek fics (on Derek's part anyway) that I've ever read. It was basically one big ball of fluff, which happens to be one of the tags. I'm not used to Derek being this romantic or sweet with Stiles. He has his moments in the show and there are fics that do a good job, but this was just... I have no words.

“Look, Derek! A shooting star! Close your eyes and make a wish.” Stiles stated in glee. He retracted his arm again.

Derek turned his head and looked at him with a loaded smile. “I don’t need to,” Derek whispered. Stiles faced him confusing clearly drawn on his face. “I already have everything I could wish for.”

Those were my favorite few lines of this fic. Even the parts that were kinda funny didn't live up to that section for me.

Recommended for fans of Sterek!

http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/2014/01/StargazingFromNowhere.html

I finished reading this book quite some time back but gave it sometime before writing this review because this book raised so many emotions in me that I did not know what to do about it. Now that I have given it some space, gone back and some of the portions that kept nagging at me, I think I have come to a place from where I can write an unbiased review this book .

Kristen Morgana, a.k.a, "Stargazer" from the very popular Blog - Stargazing from Nowhere, is a regular teenager. When Rising Tide, a band she loves to bash on her blog comes to town, she poses as a fan to be able to gather more info on the band. But once she is there and she meets the drummer, things start to get complicated.

First of all, the plot. It is quite simple and predictable. And that would have been okay if only it hadn’t been filled with much too clichéd situations and scenes. And then as we talk about characters, Kristen is a typical teenager. Smart, hyper, frustrating at times… you know how we were during those years. Kristen though has a habit of getting herself into awkward and embarrassing situations and as a result the readers have a fun time reading about her. The author has captured the characters very well and reflected them in her book in a way we can all relate to – especially with Kristen and her friend Maggie. I loved Maggie for her straightforward nature and her friendship. I absolutely enjoyed hating Kristen’s mom. But one character that really irritated me was Peter. I just don’t get his pole opposite behaviours in the book. Also, even though I do love a love story between a star and an average person, Kristen & Michael’s chemistry just didn’t have that spark. But what stands out is Kristen’s dilemma regarding her blog and her love interest and how she deals with it.

The author’s story-telling style is simple and engaging which really made it easy to get into the flow of things. Overall, this is a light and fast read and good for when you have just finished reading a heavy book.