Losing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux (Tour Review & Giveaway)

Losing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux
Release Date: February 23, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 132
Series: Ice #2
Review Source: eARC from author

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

Courtney and Josh are in love and excited to finally compete as skating partners. When they take the ice for their first competition, they want to show everyone, especially Josh's family, they are the perfect pair.

But ice is slippery, and one misstep puts all their dreams in jeopardy. Now they must show each other both their love and their partnership are strong enough to survive.

My Thoughts:
Losing the Ice is an exceptional novella. Seriously, it’s just so, so good: exactly what I’ve grown to expect from Jennifer Comeaux. Courtney and Josh are interesting, layered characters, and their story is told through clear, engaging writing. Jennifer is perfect at writing both sweet moments for the characters and total crises. She’s a pro at making her readers feel the emotions of her characters. Whenever I pick up a book from her I completely identify with the characters and feel like I’m on the journey along with them, feeling their anguish and their love.

Another thing Jennifer is great at is writing moments on and off the ice that have to do with skating, training, etc. You can tell that the author is a super fan of skating, because all the descriptions of Courtney and Josh’s work feel real. Admittedly I’m not into watching skating, but I love books about any type of sport, and Jennifer’s works always draw me in to the competition and artistry of skating.

This book is a sequel to Crossing the Ice, which is definitely something you should read to get the full picture of the characters and their situation. Here we have Courtney and Josh partnering in skating for the first time, but it's not at all smooth sailing for them. Beyond skating issues and emotional issues which I won’t get into (because reading about them yourself will be so much more fulfilling), Jennifer has done the most amazing job at creating a character you'll positively loathe. All of Josh’s family is pretty terrible, but no one can beat his mom. I already knew that Jennifer was a pro at writing characters you absolutely despise (see: Elena, for most of Edge of the Past), but Josh’s mom takes the cake, because I can’t find anything redeeming in her. She’s not exactly warm and welcoming to Josh, but she is beyond evil in her dealings with Courtney. As hard as these scenes are to read, I love how they show Josh’s loyalty and how much he’s grown as a character. He stands up for Courtney and he’s strong in his convictions, no longer willing to sit back and let life happen to him.

If you hadn’t already gathered, I absolutely loved this novella, probably even more than the first book in the series. Its short length just made me want more of the characters, so I’m glad that there will be a third book featuring Josh and Courtney. I love these books, just as I loved Jennifer Comeaux’s Edge series. If you haven’t read her amazing novels, I highly recommend you start with Life on the Edge and go from there.

The Cover:
Not bad, but it doesn't reflect how awesome the book is.

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble

About Jennifer:
Jennifer Comeaux is a tax accountant by day, writer by night. There aren’t any ice rinks near her home in south Louisiana, but she’s a die-hard figure skating fan and loves to write stories of romance set in the world of competitive skating. One of her favorite pastimes is traveling to competitions, where she can experience all the glitz and drama that inspire her writing. Jennifer loves to hear from readers!

Where to find Jennifer:
Website & Blog | Twitter | Facebook

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to follow along with the rest of the tour on Itching for Books.

All Fall Down by Ally Carter

All Fall Down by Ally Carter
Release Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 320
Series: Embassy Row #1
Review Source: ARC for review from Scholastic Canada

Synopsis: (from Amazon)

A new series of global proportions -- from master of intrigue, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter.

Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things:

1. She is not crazy.
2. Her mother was murdered.
3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay.

As certain as Grace is about these facts, nobody else believes her -- so there's no one she can completely trust. Not her grandfather, a powerful ambassador. Not her new friends, who all live on Embassy Row. Not Alexei, the Russian boy next door, who is keeping his eye on Grace for reasons she neither likes nor understands.

Everybody wants Grace to put on a pretty dress and a pretty smile, blocking out all her unpretty thoughts. But they can't control Grace -- no more than Grace can control what she knows or what she needs to do. Her past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

My Thoughts:
All Fall Down was a highly anticipated title for me, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people. I was so excited to start a new series from Ally Carter, and I wasn’t at all disappointed.

Grace is a different type of heroine for Ally Carter, which I really appreciated. Grace is a lot broken. She's dealing (or not dealing) with her mom's death, she's been to a shrink, and you can just tell she’s not coping well. Grace swears that her mom was murdered, but no one will believe her, which sets up an incredibly interesting mystery.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was the setting of Embassy Row. Grace’s grandfather is the US ambassador to the (fictional) European country of Adria. I loved meeting the international kids and seeing the lifestyle there. I loved the action scenes (which we all know Ally does so well), and the conspiracy element to it.

This book has a lack of romance to it, but you can definitely see things developing in the future. That being said, it was refreshing to not have a romance plot line. I didn’t miss it at all, especially since Grace is a younger character who has way more important things to deal with. I liked that friendship was the primary type of relationship featured, especially since there was a great gang of supporting characters.

All Fall Down is a good first book in a new series. It has a whammy of a conclusion and a set up that will get you incredibly excited for Book 2. Awesome, as expected from Ally Carter. Definitely recommended.

The Cover:
Besides the girl looking intensely skinny, I love it!

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Take Them By Storm by Marie Landry

Take Them By Storm by Marie Landry
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 211
Series: Angel Island #3
Review Source: eARC for review from author

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

This book is a standalone companion novel to Waiting for the Storm and After the Storm.

Sadie Fitzgerald has always been different, and not just because she makes her own clothes and would rather stay home watching Doctor Who than party with kids her age. When it’s time to leave Angel Island for college, Sadie is eager to put her old life behind her. Small-minded people and rumors have plagued her for years, but with the love of her adoptive family, the O’Dells, Sadie has learned to embrace who she is. Now she’s not afraid to admit the rumors about her are true: she’s gay.

For the first time in her life, Sadie feels free to be herself. She dives into college life and begins volunteering at the local LGBT center, where she discovers her small-town upbringing left holes in her education about life outside Angel Island.

The world is a bigger and more accepting place than Sadie ever imagined. She’s finally found where she belongs, but with the reappearance of someone from her past, an unexpected new friendship, and a chance at love, Sadie soon realizes she still has a lot to learn about life, friendship, and love.

My Thoughts:
In full disclosure, Marie Landry is a Canadian blogger who I consider a friend. But you guys know that I am all about YA contemp books, and I don’t say it lightly that her Angel Island series is one of my favourites. So needless to say I was eager for more of these characters, but mostly just excited for another book from Marie.

This book is about Sadie, who we first met in After the Storm. I was really excited to hear her story, especially knowing what a tough time she had growing up. I think Marie did a great job of introducing Sadie to new readers, recapping enough that you can definitely read Take Them By Storm as a standalone, but without making it too repetitive for readers of the series.

I didn’t connect with the romance quite as much as I did for the first two books. It’s hard to talk about why, because it would completely spoil the book, but what I can say is that the romance felt like much more of a side plot. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the book has so many other things going for it, but it did stand out to me, mostly because I know how awesome Marie is at writing epically romantic scenes and I wanted more of them!

While there are some sadder parts to this novel, I loved how joyful it was for the most part. I loved seeing Sadie discover even more about herself, owning who she is as a lesbian and as a person. It was so amazing to see her thriving at her college placement and at her design hobby (which led to fun cameos by characters from The Game Changer). I also enjoyed seeing Sadie explore being in love and having a real relationship.

I loved the spirit of the book, and the fact that friendship plays such a huge part in it. There were such fun nods to the couples from the previous two books. I loved seeing how the couples were doing, as well as the five of them being such close friends. Overall, this is such a great book. I know a lot of people are looking for LGBTQ NA, and this is a fabulous example of one. More than that, this is a great book which shares the journey of one brave, awesome girl.

The Cover:
So, so cute! Perfect image for Sadie.

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 384
Series: n/a
Review Source: ARC from Razorbill Canada

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell.

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

My Thoughts:
If I had three words to describe this book, those (very fancy) words would be: So. Freaking. Gorgeous. (!!!) I've been anticipating this book ever since it was announced that Jandy Nelson had a second book coming out. I was so excited to receive an ARC that I was planning on dropping everything and reading it right away. But that didn’t happen. In fact, I've been holding on to the ARC, almost scared to read it. You know when you anticipate a book SO MUCH that you're terrified it will disappoint you? Yeah, I had that with this book. But yesterday I finally felt ready, and of course, OF COURSE, I'll Give You the Sun lived up to every expectation I had. I’m not sure why I ever doubted. Jandy Nelson, how do you write so beautifully?! You're in a club of few people (Melina Marchetta and Gayle Forman being a couple of the others) whose words inspire me so greatly, whose books make me feel SO MUCH. The Sky is Everywhere is one of my favourite books of all time (I read it pre-blogging days, so no review -- must get on that!), but I’ll Give You the Sun is definitely in good company with it.

I’ll Give You the Sun is the story of Noah and Jude, two twins who have little in common, and yet have a seemingly unbreakable bond. The story drifts between Noah and Jude, between “before” and “after” -- before the twins separated, before their mom died, after so many disasters have happened, after their family broke apart. The book switches between two time periods, but they’re very large chunks of time, and it’s easy to keep track of everything. As you read it, it’s a little bit of a mystery: why have the twins basically switched personalities? What did Jude do that was so awful? How did everything get like this?

Beyond that description it’s difficult (and perhaps even unnecessary?) to discuss a lot of the book’s plot. It’s a meandering story, and yet there’s so much going on, but a lot of that has to do with the emotions of the story. It’s a story where you don’t need to know a lot going in, because the joy of I’ll Give You the Sun is discovering Noah and Jude’s world and unraveling their stories. There are few books which have wrapped me up emotionally as this one did. Throughout the book I felt so full, whether it be in a happy or devastated way, and at the end of the book I just wanted to cry or burst out laughing -- maybe both. The real heart of the story is about the family and their relationships with each other, as well as the romantic relationships that Noah and Jude have. Also central to the story is art. Art is Noah’s lifeblood, it’s his oxygen, it’s all he can imagine doing. Art is also a part of Jude, but it’s almost something she resents, and then it becomes something of a punishment for her. The beauty of art and what it means to create and so many other things are discussed here in a gorgeous, completely non-pretentious way. I mean, this is fabulous literary fiction, but I like it think of it as accessible literary fiction.

I felt very protective of Noah’s character. He’s easy to cheer for and to like. He’s the outsider, the one who feels different and who expresses it through his art. That’s not to say he’s perfect, because he definitely has his moments of questionable behaviour. Jude, on the other hand, is prickly. She’s harder to like, especially at some points, but she’s a lovely character, too. Jude is flawed, but who isn’t? She’s not a bad person, she’s just made some mistakes that have come out very wrong. Ultimately, Jude is a girl trying to find herself and her place, dealing with crappy situations and reacting in the only way she knows how. I loved her for her flaws, and she seemed all the more real because of them.

This book is so much about relationships. It’s about the twins and how they fit together now that they’re older and have been through so much. It’s about the way they feel about their dead mother and how they communicate with their living, but emotionally absent, father. There’s also an incredible mentor-mentee relationship between Guillermo and Jude, Guillermo being a sculptor who has an unknown, but important, connection to Jude and Noah. There are also bits of romance. The romances here are not really the focus of the book, but I still loved Brian and Oscar. Brian is the perfect fit for Noah, and even though their relationship (or lack thereof?) is painful, it’s beautiful too. The energy between them is just perfection. Oscar is this sweet but messed up guy. He’s been through a lot, and while it’s not easy for him to deal with, the connection he feels with Jude is undeniable.

This book is sweet, it’s sad, it’s incredibly emotional. I really can’t say enough good things, so I’ll finish by saying that I absolutely loved this book, and I encourage everyone to read it.

The Cover:
I love it! So perfect for this book.

Rating:
[5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Boomerang by Noelle August

Boomerang by Noelle August (pen name for Veronica Rossi and Lorin Oberweger)
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 304
Series: Boomerang #1
Review Source: Edelweiss

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

The first book in a sensational New Adult trilogy from Noelle August.

Welcome to Boomerang.com, the dating site for the millennial gen with its no-fuss, no-commitments matchups, and where work is steamier than any random hook-up

Mia Galliano is an aspiring filmmaker. Ethan Vance has just played his last game as a collegiate soccer star. They’re sharp, hungry for success, and they share a secret.

Last night, Ethan and Mia met at a bar, and, well . . . one thing led to another, which led to them waking up the next morning—together. Things turned awkward in a hurry when they found themselves sharing a post hookup taxi . . . to the same place: Boomerang headquarters.

What began as a powerful connection between them is treated to a cold shower courtesy of two major complications. First, Boomerang has a strict policy against co-worker dating. And second, they’re now competitors for only one job at the end of summer.

As their internships come to an end, will they manage to keep their eyes on the future and their hands off each other, or will the pull of attraction put them right back where they started?

My Thoughts:
This book is so. incredibly. cute, and it made me very happy. If you’re looking for a romance that is relatively light and will make you smile, I absolutely recommend Boomerang.

This book features characters that are fully fleshed out, including the secondary characters. From the main characters’ co-workers to their friends and roommates, to their families: all of them were great. There’s quite a large supporting cast, but I found everyone so easy to keep track of because of how interesting and unique they were.

As for our main characters, Mia and Ethan had awesome chemistry. The forbidden nature of their relationship (because of their office’s no dating policy) helped keep their attraction at a drawn out sizzle, but either way it was clear that these two were fabulous together. I loved Mia's ambition and passion for film and creativity, and I adored Ethan's kindness and his love for coaching kid’s soccer. The joy he got out of motivating and helping people was adorable, and really spoke to his character.

Boomerang is an awesome New Adult read. It’s definitely romance focused, but it’s also so much about that important “what’s next?” question, about the characters figuring out their next step. I loved the swoony romantic tension and the fact that, while it features a couple of angsty moments, it mainly has a happy and sweet feel to it. New Adult fans, definitely pick this one up!

The Cover:
I don't feel like it represents the book very well at all, but purely based on looks I love the cover.

Rating:
[4.5/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapters-Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

London Falling by Chanel Cleeton (+ Giveaway)

London Falling by Chanel Cleeton
Release Date: July 7, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Pages: 282
Series: International School #2
Review Source: Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

We weren't a relationship, we were a ticking time bomb...

Maggie Carpenter walked away from the hottest encounter of her life when she left the seductive glitz of England for summer break in her South Carolina hometown. Now that she’s returned to the International School in London—and sexy, privileged Samir Khouri is once again close enough to touch—she can’t help but remember the attraction, the drama … the heartbreak.

She can’t help but want him even more.

Samir can’t afford to fall for someone so far removed from his world, not when his time in London is running out. It's his senior year—his last chance at freedom before he returns home to Lebanon. There, he’ll be expected to follow in his father’s footsteps—not follow his heart to Maggie. But when a scorching secret hookup becomes a temptation neither can resist, they’ll both have to fight to survive the consequences … and find a future together.

Don’t miss this explosive sequel to I See London, and the riveting conclusion to Maggie and Samir’s story. This is a New Adult romance recommended for readers 17 and up.

My Thoughts:
Samir + Maggie = OTP. Seriously. I've been dying for this book since I read the first one, and in spite of that fact London Falling completely lived up to my expectations. After the first book you kind of expect a swoony but completely angsty and painful read, and that’s exactly what you get here. In a masochistic way I liked that it wasn't easy for these two. Even when it was painful (and oh gosh it was PAINFUL), it was real. I mean, there are completely serious and realistic reasons why Samir and Maggie shouldn’t be able to make it work long term, so it made sense that things wouldn’t be easy.

Beyond the romance, which is obviously the focus of the book, I liked the character journeys that Samir and Maggie go through. It took longer than I'd like for them to stop being so dense, but again, I appreciated it at the same time, because it felt true to character. To put it simply, I loved this book. London Falling is a steamy, sweet, and emotional New Adult romance that I recommend to all fans of the category.

The Cover:
Generally like.

Rating:
[4/5]

Purchase Links:
Kobo | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Harlequin

Check out the author online:
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway