@GoddessFish, @jaquelinesnowe, #YoungAdult, #NewAdult, #Sports, #Contemporary, #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

No Easy Catch is the fourth book in the Cleat Chasers series, and the second one in the series I have read. You don't need to have read any of the others to get into this story.

This is an enemy to lovers story, set in the world of college with a whole host of dodgy dealings going on. To begin with, Jeff doesn't trust Ambar at all, even thinking she has been involved with it all. He soon learns she is innocent of all charges apart from being related to one of the men involved. This was a lovely tale, with a slow-build romance threaded through the mystery. As the reader, I got to see Jeff's first moments of realisation that Ambar was more than he had previously thought.

Although this is classed as a sports romance and Jeff plays baseball, it didn't take over the story, and there wasn't much there where he was actually on the field. The world is well established, with individual characters adding highlights to the story, or moving forward where necessary. The pacing was smooth and punchy when needed. I did find some words or phrases were used slightly repetitively but that's probably just me.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who enjoys a coming-of-age romance with sport elements.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

This is book #3, in The Cleat Chasers series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  For reader enjoyment, and to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading this great series in order.

Kenzie is finally in college.  Living with her brother and his teammates for the summer will hopefully not turn her off school.  With all the turmoil at home, she needs to start her life on a good note.  So how come she cannot get Tanner off her mind?

Tanner knows better then to scope out his best friend and roommates sister.  Knowing it, and doing it are two different things.  When she turns out to be a better friend than he has had in long time, he thinks he may have to change his plans.

Such a fantastic read!  I cannot believe how quickly I jumped in and started rooting for the main characters.  This story has it all.  Heat and believe me its hot!  Humor, and I really did laugh out loud.  An actually good solid story.  Good addition to this series.  I give this read a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was shared in exchange with getting an honest review in return only.

@GoddessFish, @hotchoc84 (Charlotte), @jaquelinesnowe, #NewAdult #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

Pretending to date your best friend is always a good idea…right? Wrong.

Greta Aske has a lot on her mind, and a string of bad dates has her giving up on men, at least for the time being. Her life contains a little too much drama, meaning she needs a break and to save money and get good grades. The perfect solution presents itself—pretend to date the campus playboy. That’ll keep the guys away for sure.

Aaron Hill is desperate to save his baseball career because, with his dad fighting cancer, he damn well knows he can’t ask for a single penny from his parents. Baseball is his past, present and future, so when a scandal threatens his chance in the MLB, he turns to his best friend for help. A fake relationship will keep him out of trouble. It’s perfect, really. Greta’s taking a break from dating and Aaron needs to focus on training.

Nothing could go wrong…as long as neither falls for the other. But when lines are crossed, what’s real and fake blurs and the two are forced to face their fears. Could Greta be the game changer Aaron needs?

Pushing Send is a yung adult novel with some very deep and intense situations, especially appropriate in this day and age.

Hadley's life has be turned upside down yet again as she and her family have moved again to a small town in New York. Her father lost his job after an accident and now her father has addiction issues. This leaves her nother as the sole breadwinner, overworked and continually making excuses for Hadley's father. All of this has meant that Hadley has not only had to grow up fast, but it has really damaged her ability to trust others. As a result, she just tries to fly under the radar and keep to herself. But being the new girl in a small school, it is hard to remain anonymous for too long. Soon after she moves, she meets Lana, her neighbor and soon her best friend. She also meets her older stepbrother Paxton, with whom she becomes friends as well.

It was at this point that I thought this was going to be the typical love story between a somewhat geeky, socially awkward girl and the gorgeous jock, but there is so much to the story. Pax likes Hadley and thinks she's a good influence on his sometimes tumultuous little sister. Their friendships are unexpected, as Hadley could not be more different. Lana and Paxton are well off and have had a lot of advantages in life, whereas Hadley and her family are struggling, financially and emotionally.

Things go better than Hadley expected for awhile, until something happens that ruins everything. It is at this point that everything goes into a horrific doward spiral for her and it becomes almost overwhelming. Just about everything that could go wrong does.

There are some important plot lines in this book, particularly appropriate for our time. It highlights the downside of such a digital age and how it can ruin lives. It shows how quick people are to assume the worst, to judge. There is also an important theme of mental illness and how much that can go unnoticed in teenagers. There are also themes of love and forgiveness, compassion and understanding. These plot lines and themes are well considered and important to the time.

However, there were times when it almost felt like various parts of the book were written for different demographics. It was something that was very noticeable to me, even as I enjoyed the overall story. It was only when I was preparing to write this review that I realized that this was written my a middle-school girl and her mother, which explains those variations. It also explained the massive fangirling going on throughout the book, although that was appropriate to the age of the main character. But if you haven't read the series fangirled (The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Fault in Our Stars, etc.),, you will find spoilers to those novels.

The only other thing that gave me pause was the time jumping. The book takes place over roughly 2 years and there were several moments when the time jumped forward. While I think the jumping was necessary for the story, I wish there was some kind of indication from the beginning like an italicized six months later or some such thing so as to eliminate confusion.

My Recommendation

All in all this was a good story that touched on some important issues, even with the couple of things that jumped out at me. I am hoping that there will be a sequel because I want to know more!

Opening Line: "Bob had left the food carton on the counter the night before and it now smelled of grease and fish."

As a dog lover I was enchanted by LOST AND FOUND but just about anyone will be able to find something to like within this story. Filled with love, loss, adventure and even a little mystery, this is a story about the ability of the human (and dog) spirit to carry on and just what grief can reduce us to. Full of very real and charming characters, a surprising whodunit storyline and a suspense filled yet ultimately uplifting ending.

As we begin, the main character, Rocky discovers her husband lying lifeless on the bathroom floor. She tries using CPR to revive him but for Bob it's just too late. This forever sets into motion the abrupt transformation of Rocky's world. Unable to continue with her job as a psychologist (can she really help anyone while she's insane with grief?) Rocky cuts off the hair that Bob loved, takes a leave of absence and moves to a small island off the coast of Maine. There, she takes a job as Animal Control Warden. A job of which she knows nothing about but one that's thankfully a million miles from her old life.

Not having told anyone about her past Rocky is able to settle into a rather anonymous form of island life free, from the "I'm so sorrys" and concerned looks of friends. But the grieving process is proving harder than she thought and its not until she discovers a black lab with a arrow sticking out of his shoulder that the healing truly begins.

Once Lloyd enters the scene he fast becomes the focal point of the story, pulling in a host of great secondary characters; like her crotchety but compassionate boss, a pained teenager suffering with anorexia or the delightful old woman with sythesia. Rocky then begins a search for the truth behind the arrow in Lloyds shoulder. Inadvertently taking up archery in the process and getting pulled into a mystery that will endanger both her and her new canine best friend's lives.

This was a surprisingly great read with characters so real and well done that I didn't want their stories to end. Jacqueline Sheehan has also managed to capture the inner workings of a dog perfectly, giving him a unique personality. I did find it a little strange however that half way through a singular POV book she suddenly decided to add some secondary ones, almost as an afterthought. I enjoyed their perspectives though, especially Lloyds. She also repeats some of her characters back stories unnecessarily. In the end I was just glad to read a dog story without the usual heartbreaking ending (think Marley or Enzo) Cheers.