The Start of Me and You - Emery Lord

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
Published by Bloomsbury on March 31, 2015
Pages: 384
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

Amazon • The Book Depository • Goodreads 

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

How do you talk about one of your favorite books? I just really don't know how to make justice to this book and I can't think of anything that will make you realize how good this is, but yeah "The Start of Me and You" is one of my favorite reads of 2015 and definitely a book that I will be wanting to pick up whenever a need a motivational read.

Paige is a girl that shut out the world two years ago when she lost her boyfriend on an accident, the books starts when Paige finally says enough for her solitude and elaborates a plan to get back on track and re-start enjoying her life. At first, I thought Paige wasn't suffering that much from grief because well, she didn't even thinked that much about her dead boyfriend on a sad/reminiscent way but them I discovered that they dated like 5 seconds when both were 14 and I was like "ooh, now it makes sense" - this is much more about how losing him and being defined by this fact than a sad grief sort of book.

My favorite part of this story was seeing how important was the friendship between Paige and her three best friends, the four of them have a really great dynamic and it felt so real, each one of them complement each other and they are so completely different from each other making all of them necessary and needed on the group - is like, each are irreplaceable and together they form a puzzle, ya know? I really liked the addition of the boys too! Seeing friendship between attractive people from different sexes without romantic feelings (for most of them) was a great addition, and their group dynamics also was great, between all of them.

And the romance, basically when I start to think about Max and Paige I go kind of like

Can't contain the giggles 

I absolutely freaking love them together and yeah, Paige does takes her sweet time to realize what is right behind her nose and I wanted more of them actually together and kissing and stuff 'cause why not but still, I loved every second of it. Max Watson is basically the best love interest that I've come across in a long time, he is nerdy and attractive and funny and smart and gentle and everything I ever wanted (please, mom give me a Watson for christmas).

 If it didn't become clear by this attempt of review I loved this book and you should ready it too because I'm still to know someone who doesn't fall in love with the writing and way of story telling of Emery Lord - but especially if you like contemporary romance, stories about figuring out what you want for your life and deep stuff, like coming of age.

Popcorn Corner: Legally Blonde (2001)

Hey guys, a new thing here, from time to time I'll do posts talking about some movies that I watched on the last times and giving you my opinions on it - this will probably be shorter than my book reviews and it will probably be all over the place because I never reviewed movies before, but let's rock on, right?

Legally Blonde (2001)

Directed by Robert Luketic 

Written by Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah Lutz

Runtime: 1 h. 36 min. 

Rating: PG-13 (for language and sexual references) 

Genre: Comedy 

Elle Woods has it all. She's the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner's East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday.

The thing that makes this movie worth watching for me can be summed on one gif

True story Haley, true story 

Ever since I first watched Legally Blonde, when I was 7 and pink was my favorite color, I thought about Elle Woods as a role model, she was literally everything I wanted to be as a adult - pretty, blonde, had a super cute small dog, used the best outfits (hey, I was 7!) and most of all, she was smart and determined to get what she wanted (even if it was a boyfriend). Years had passed but I still think that Elle Woods is a great character to look up too, she is there to show that pretty does come with brains, and with nice too! 

Of course that right now I realize that her initial motives were completely wrong (applying to a college and a curse you know nothing about/has no interest on just because of a boyfriend is totally a no, no for me), the drama on this one is over the top and the characters are somewhat ridiculous with the stereotypes (Warner really takes seriously his role as the ex-boyfriend dickhead), and the outfits don't tempt me anymore. But Reese Witherspoon performance turns this into a laugh out loud comedy, full of heart, making impossible for you to not cheer up for Elle and hope she finds her patch on Law School. Also the romance is so sweet, it doesn't get much screening time but it still manages to win your heart, because every talk Elle and Emmett have is so funny and cute you will probably be glad when she finally realizes what a looser Warner is. 

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

That Other Time When I Was Too Lazy #2

Hey guys, today I'm here with more mini reviews because this is really more easy than setting up a whole review to one book at each time and I'm lazy so let's just roll with this. This time around we have two contemporary reads one that is out for some time already and that gave me mixed feelings and another that just came out and it's totally amazing and you NEED to check out if you like contemporary reads

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Published by Headline on April 2, 2013

Ellie is a (almost) regular girl from a small town of Maine and one day an e-mail about taking care of a pig comes for her, it turns out it was an accidental error from movie star Graham Larkin and everything changes from them on, on both of their lives. 

This is my second experience with Jennifer E. Smith and I have to say that she is great for when I need a good chill romance read - this book is as cute as you can imagine, it was all teenager girl dream of a romance between a regular girl and a super start in all the right kinds and the best parts are definitely the talks between Ellie and Larkin, it was really easy to get lost on the story when they were together and read tons of pages on one sitting. 

That being said I did had some problems with this one, the main issue is that this book is cute and light and fun to read but that is all, really. I never felt head over heels for the romance between Ellie and Larking, I felt like the ending was so abrupt for a book of 416 pages - there should have been at least one talk between Ellie and her dad, there was pages enough for that to happen but it did, which kind of let me down, I really would have liked a more clear resolution for this part of the story - also there was some small issues with the plot, like how they when things get hard, Ellie push Graham away, forcing them to stay most of the book apart and when they do get back together they never really talk about what drove them apart, like the problem didn't existed at all anymore (except that it totally did), soon after that Graham makes some poor decisions that can make them drive each other away, again - it's just I don't have any problems with cliches, but moderation please. Oh, also (spoilery things ahead, not that much but yeah) Ellie has money problems and always says no to help but them in the end she is totally fine with the situation Graham put her on (at the restaurant, if you read you probably remember) and if some guy/friend/whatever person made me that thing of proposition when I clearly had not been comfortable asking/getting their help before I would have been so pissed and not all happy like Ellie was. 

Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz

Published by Simon Pulse on March 3, 2015

[This book was give to me from the Publisher and in no way this affected my opinion.]

Etta isn't a regular girl meaning she isn't white, straight, skinny and definitely doesn't fit her small Nebraska town - specially after the fall out with her ex-group of friend, the Dykes, but then she meets new friends, that were completely the opposite of the Dykes, like Bianca who doesn't eat, and can sing, and is Christian and straight, and new things that Etta never hoped for start to happen.

I just... I don't know what to say about this book because he is so damn amazing. At first look I hated the cover and was thinking on passing it out, but then I saw some early reviews really positive and read the synopsis and found out it was about a bissexual girl and well, it's pretty rare to read about bisexual characters so I couldn't let this pass. And I'm so glad I took a shot.

Etta tells her story on a stream of thoughts and at first I was uncertain if it was for me this kind of writing, even so that I read the first 10% on one day and then stayed without continuing for ten days BUT when I did picked up again I finished the others 90% on one night, so that tells you something. Also Etta = Queen, I came to this conclusion very early on the book, on a particularly scene when her ex-girlfriends prank her and she just roll with it on such a way that made me smile (it's the condom scene for those of you who already read this). 

Basically this is a book about finding yourself and being true to it, despite your friends/parents/relatives/boyfriend-girlfriend, it's a powerful story that made me ugly sob from the 70% until the end not because it was super sad but because it was so damn true, I'm not from a small town, I don't have religious parents/friends and still managed to connected so much with all that Etta was going through. So if you like contemporaries that are touching, and emotional, and a little bit romantic and sexuality positive, and diverse and funny too you need to read this. 

Ps.: Oh, I also loved the way religion/religious people were portrayed. Seeing Bianca's journey was pretty cool too. 

That Time When I Got Too Lazy to Write Actual Reviews #1

Hey guys, so lately I had not had the time to write actual reviews and when I do have the time I just want to watch Netflix and be lazy, so now I'm gonna be lazy here too! Mini reviews is something very common among book blogs and I'm sure you already know the drill - I review some books that I didn't had that much to talk about but that I did had some opinions on. This time around it will be all about the paranormal gender, so if you like this gender be sure to check out these two reads:

Missing You by Meg Cabot
Series: 1-800-Where-R-You #5
Published by HarperTempest on December 26, 2006

Okay, so for those who don't know 1-800-Where-R-You is a series about Jess, who was a normal girl until she got hit by a lighting and started finding people and this is the last book of the series.

The first thing that put me off on this book was the fact that it had passed so much time since the last one! On the fourth one Jess isn't even finished with high school or old enough to officially date Rob but them we start this one and years had passed, Jess had went to the army (!!) and was all messed up and I didn't even knew why she was messed up (I mean, in theory I knew, but I would have liked to read about that time too).

Taking that away I had a great time with this book, as I always have with the books on this series (or just Meg Cabot books in general, really). We have a new case and Jess has a lot of things to over but most important, SHE IS FINALLY OLD ENOUGH TO DATE ROB!!! So yeah, lots of interesting things, super recommended to lovers of this series or of Meg Cabot books.

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #1
Published by Harlequin Teen on February 25, 2014

Layla is a normal seventeen-years-old except for the fact that she lives with Wardens since she was a little girl, and also she is half a demon, half a gargoyle who can  "mark" demons to make them easier for the Wardens to hunt them. So yeah, not normal at all actually.

This was my first Armentrout book but I'm for sure reading her other stuff because damn this was a fun read! Layla is sorta of a snowflake character but she also isn't at all - she struggles and has a lot to go from the beginning till the ending, also the boys and the whole love triangle - it was kind of unnecessary for me (and weird), Layla and Zayne where raised together since kids I just can't help but feel that their feelings should be more brother-sister like than romantic, Roth was okay, he was totally the bad boy type that turns into not so bad after all but yeah, at least he was funny.

As much as I liked the paranormal aspects I did get a bit bugged by the fact that everyone knows that the Wardens exist but no one seems to question why, suddenly a bunch of gargoyles came to life, no one even suspects the existence of demons, I mean like seriously?? Everyone just accept that gargoyles are real and moved on?? I just don't buy it. There is one religious group that does question the existence of the Wardens but it was such a small part of the plot overall.

Other thing that I didn't enjoyed was the fact that the regular friends of Layla only showed up when plot necessary, I mean I know this is a book but it was so not done on a subtle way, they would go chapters and chapters without showing up and them Layla needed something and BOOM! There they were. But I did said that I enjoyed this one, and it's true, despite these nitpicks this was a fun paranormal romance read and I do love some paranormal romance from time to time, there was some action scenes that let me very anxious and I think the overall plot was well done. so if this is one of your favorites genders don't go without picking this one up!

A Wicked Thing - Rhiannon Thomas

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Series: A Wicked Thing #1
Published by HarperTeen on February 24, 2015
Pages: 352
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings

Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

Amazon • The Book Depository • Goodreads 

Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of what happens after happily ever after. Vividly imagined scenes of action, romance, and political intrigue are seamlessly woven together to reveal a richly created world… and Sleeping Beauty as she's never been seen before.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

This book is the definition of fantasy fun or retelling fun or fairy tail fun idk whichever you want to name it, it was a fun ride. I don't know exactly why it was so fun to just sit and read this book, honestly most of the characters didn't feel all that fleshed out, the plot only started happening at the very ending of the book and there wasn't all that much fantasy to keep me distracted from this flaws, yet while I was reading I kept wanting to pick it up everytime I put it down and now that I finished I found myself wanting the sequel.

Probably the biggest reason for this is Aurora, our princess is nothing like the one from Sleeping Beauty, she just waked up and is confused as hell, everyone she knows is dead and she isn't very found of the idea of marrying some random guy that woke her from her sleep after kissing her, soon she finds out that isn't only for her that she needs to worry but for all her kingdom and who can she trust? I have to say that I liked Aurora, and this was probably one of the reasons that this book didn't dragged for me - even on the middle, when she still doesn't know who to trust and is confused with the current politics of her kingdom and is still figuring out what happened after her curse -, I just always felt her confusion really genuine and liked the fact that despite that she goes on search for answers.

The other characters, unfortunately, didn't felt as real - especially the boys. We have the prince who kissed her awake, Rodric, which I liked he always managed to make me smile on his interactions with Aurora mostly because he was so shy and awkward around her, he is the clear good guy and only wants what is best for his kingdom. Then, there is Tristan, the guy who works on a pub and is the definition of everything Aurora can't have being a princess, he mostly annoyed me they interactions and sudden interest on each other felt fake and forced and I couldn't care for Aurora day dreaming about him. And the visiting prince, Finnegan, which was the one that most interested me, he is ironic and that bad boy type, you know with secrets and maybe he is bad or maybe he is good but who knows? Not me. Also there is a promise of dragons on his kingdom. DRAGONS I'M ALWAYS IN FOR DRAGONS.

For the world building we don't really get one, things are basically there and you have to roll with it, I don't really mind it because it's a retelling so I just imagined some medieval village of sorts but I would have liked a little bit more of descriptions of how the people of that land where, there was one scene with a sort of carnival that was cool, I would have liked more that - cultural things about this land, or geography, or anything really. The plot too wasn't really happening until 90% in and them it happened like it hadn't a yesterday and now I'm at wait of book two for centuries to come.

Recommend this book for readers that like retelling looking for a fresh take on the Sleeping Beauty tale, readers that like fantasy but want something more light or readers that don't usual read fantasy but would like to try it.

When Joss Met Matt - Ellie Cahill

When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill
Published by Ballantine Books on February 24. 2015
Pages: 352
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult

Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

Amazon • The Book Depository • Goodreads 

Ellie Cahill is poised to coin the term “sorbet sex” with her charming twist on the age-old ‘friends-with-benefits’ story.

Dating can be fun, but it can leave a nasty taste in your mouth. For Joss, ever since her longtime boyfriend cheated on her, she doesn’t want her last memory of a guy to be that jerk. Enter her college friend, Matt. They come up with a theory: after a bad break-up, a person needs to cleanse the palate with a little sorbet sex. Lovers for a night, but always back to being friends in the morning. The two can handle it because they have a contract: rules they wrote, rules they follow and rules they can sometimes bend. The arrangement works: everyone needs a little sorbet now and again … until it starts to be the only thing you want. And then Joss breaks the one rule they never wrote down: don’t fall in love.

I came across this book in a very, well, quickly way - one day I was looking through friends updates on Goodreads and it showed up a review saying that Ellie Cahill was a pen name for Liz Czukas, which for those who don't know wrote Ask Again Later & Top Ten Clues You're Clueless (both released last year by HarperCollins), so it was a non-brainer to request it once it was up on Netgalley. I'm pleased to say that this book does contain the best of Czukas banter and you should pick it up too!

This is story of Joss and Matt, we have the present narration which takes place before graduation of college when both are already on jobs and living independently all very grow up stuff, and the past, which goes since the freshman year when they meet each other and started a friendship that latter on turn into a friends-with-benefits thing. I have to say that Czukas is the best at doing banter-y relationships the way I liked, each interaction of Matt and Joss was beyond adorable and at each of their conversations I would end up shipping them more and more - their past selves always put a silly smile on my face, there was so many laugh out loud interactions too and cute moments, like their list of rules for the sorbet sex.

I also think this is a good bridge between YA and NA, it doesn't really have a NA feel (and by this I mean that nobody has troubled pasts and heavy steamy sex full of orgasms that will cure said troubled past). It also isn't graphic about the sex, despite we having a lot of sex scenes between Joss and Matt (since a good deal of the plot is they getting together for the sorbet sex) none of them were really steamy and I think that YA readers will not have a problem reading it, even younger ones, but I do think that readers that came to a NA novel expecting NA sex will be highly disappointed on this aspect, I particularly wasn't disappointed, I don't read erotica or much NA to feel let down if the book doesn't contain more steamy scenes, it really just read like a YA novel that is set on college and adulthood.

If there was one thing that let me down was the character development, this is a romance book, I get that, and being a romance the plot and main focus is on developing the story of these two characters and how they got together. But at the same time I really like my contemporary reads to be problems that main character have to overcome + romance + friendship/family aspects <<<< this is a winning formula, when well developed, but on this one we basically had this problems that main character have to overcome  don't exist + romance + friendship/family aspects very, very on the side, just when necessary to get the two main characters together for the said sorbet sex. Now, I liked the romance a lot, I was 100% aboard with it and I read this with a grim on my face the whole time BUT I would have liked more character development, especially since this book is from Liz Czukas, her other YA books had a little more than 200 pages and yet I felt like I got to know that characters more than I got to know Joss and Matt.

Overall it was a good book that it did what it proposed to do: present a friend-with-benefits story that turns into something more, and it did it really well, I think that lovers of rom-coms will fall absolutely in love with this story and readers that love a good friends-with-benefits story.

Geek Girl - Holly Smale

Geek Girl by Holly Smale
Series: Geek Girl #1
Published by HarperTeen on January 27, 2015
Pages: 384
Genres: Contemporary, Humor

Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

Amazon • The Book Depository • Goodreads 

Geek + runway = a hilarious runaway hit! This bestselling UK debut is full of humor and high-fashion hijinks—and now it’s coming to America.

Harriet Manners is tired of being labeled a geek. So when she’s discovered by a modeling agent, she seizes the chance to reinvent herself. There’s only one problem: Harriet is the definition of awkward. Does she have what it takes to transform from geek to chic?

Geek Girl is the first book in a hilarious new trilogy. It was also the #1 bestselling YA debut of 2013 in the UK, where it was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Best Book for Teens. With all the humor and fabulous shenanigans of Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson and Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries, Geek Girl is about to become an international superstar.

This book was so much fun! I downloaded it from Edelweiss and started reading on an impulse and it was the best decision ever, it was a one read sitting kinda of book that made me laugh out loud and had the most crazy plot ever. Also, this is the first time that I have to agree with the comparisons on the sinopses, this book is a matchup of Georgia Nicolson - with its crazy plot and characters, the british slang and hilarious lines - and The Princess Diaries - Harriet is such a Mia with her freaking out over everything and making a big deal out of things.

One of my favorite things about this was the family dynamics, Harriet lives with her father and stepmother and I absolutely loved their relationships, her dad and his nerdy references, his funny way of dealing with things and (sometimes to much) laid back way; her stepmother being the opposite of that, a lawyer always on suits and with a plan of action. I specially loved how Harriet locked up to her stepmother, there isn't enough books out there that represent a positive relationship between a teen and their step-relative.

The friendships presented here also were great, Harriet has one best friend and they relationship was portrait in a very truthful way - they fight but on the end are always there for each other (+ always ready to kick some bully ass, which is that what friends are for right?). We have a stalker on this one too, but I didn't found it alarming, like I'm totally against stalking and all but this one was so clear to a funny part, also he is also ready to jump on and defend Harriet against bullies (or at least stay behind her, for support of course) so it was all good on my view.

The romance was a bit "meh", I could have done without it but Harriet is a 14-years-old girl so isn't a mystery to know why she feel so head over heels for a supermodel. Also about Harriet having 14-years-old, because of this the narrative turns really juvenile and sometimes too young, it didn't really bothered me much, but it also isn't the book if you're looking for a more mature YA.

I recommend this to readers who want a laugh out loud funny book, a quickly mindless candy-brain read, and also people looking for books to give for a younger teen.