Jenuine Cupcakes

Thank to you NetGalley and Flux for this copy of Pieces of Us.  It's not often that I'm at a loss for words but this book that's full of hurt and pain left me speechless and emotionally drained.  It's gritty and real, dealing with issues that run the gamut from parental neglect to a taped date rape that goes viral.  Four teens, two brothers and two sisters.  For years they've spent their summers at their grandparents lake house, the one place they feel they can be themselves, unlike at home where they spend their school year trying to be who everyone else expects them to be.  They think the choices they make in their "winter" lives won't carry over to their "summer" ones but every choice has a consequence.  When one of those choices goes horribly wrong, all four will be forced to face the truth before it threatens to destroy all of them.  What this story lacked was understanding and forgiveness from the characters. Each is so broken it...

Aria lives in a world full of endless possibilities.  In the blink of an eye she can go anywhere, do anything, with anyone, the only drawback?  None of it is real.  The reality that Aria and the rest of the Dwellers living in the enclosed city of Reverie experience is a virtual one but it's the only kind she's known for the past 17 years. When her mother's work takes her to the Bliss pod and she goes missing Aria devises a plan, using an illegal outing with friends as an attempt to gain information from Soren , son of the head Consul.  She's convinced he knows something about her mother's whereabouts and hopes she'll be able to get him to share what he knows.  Soren has others plans for Aria and as a result the outing goes horribly wrong ending with Aria being accused of a crime she didn't commit and her subsequent banishment into The Death Shop where danger lurks everywhere.  Dwellers don't live long in The Death Shop because their bodies aren't...

Fascinating, Intoxicating, Electrifying..."Shatter Me" will draw you in with it's poetic prose, hold you in it's grasp with it's heart racing romance and keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.  A must read! 17 year old Juliette hasn't been touched in 264 days.  The last time she touched another human being, it had deadly consequences.  Since then, she's been locked away; her world consisting only of the four concrete walls that separate her from the outside world.  The world where The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things but the animals have all disappeared, the seasons are mixed up and the sky is the wrong color.  She dreams of fresh air, birds that fly, of feeling the touch of another human being, of having a choice. What Juliette doesn't know is her world is about to change.  The Reestablishment has changed their minds about her and she'll have to decide who to believe, who to trust.  She'll ha...

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for this heartwarming story of sacrifice, obedience and love.  What do you get when take "The Bachelor", "Survivor" a little bit of "Miss America" and give them a good dose of Biblical principals?  "The Book of Love" of course!   This modern day version of "Esther" has all the same elements that the Biblical version does; a young girl is chosen to live in a world that is unlike her own, a place where her "kind" has been persecuted but through her example of God's love and obedience to him, she's able to fulfill His purpose for her life. In "First Date", we meet Addy Davidson, the orphaned daughter of missionaries who reluctantly finds herself as a contestant on "The Book of Love" -  a reality T.V. show where teenage girls are vying to become the prom date of the President's only son, Jonathon.  Addy, who lives with her Uncle Mike is used to living a l...

Does anyone really enjoy being the new girl? With the anxiety of the unknown and the pressure of whether or not you'll fit in, the position of "new girl" is not usually a coveted one. However, the upside to being the new girl is, if you don't like you who you are then you can choose to be someone else. In this story of one girl's struggle to hold onto her identity and self worth amidst the craziness around her, she finds the strength to let go while not allowing others to decide who she is. In doing so, she might just find the love she's been hoping for. This book has a little of everything, truth and lies, love and deceit, friendship and betrayal. It also has an unsolved mystery and an old boathouse that leaves the lines between dreams and reality blurred. Callie finds herself in the role of "new girl" as she prepares to start her Senior Year at Manderly Academy in New Hampshire, a far cry from her home in warm, sunny Florida. She has no id...

Let's take a moment to drool over, I mean, appreciate the pretty cover, shall we? *sighs* Once again, Cassandra Clare has managed to suck me into her colorful story of adventure, intrigue, love, romance and excruciating heartbreak.  *clutches chest*  Normally, I blast through books in a few hours, but I purposely took my time with this one because I wanted to savor every minute with Will, Jem and Tessa but HOLY CUPCAKE!!  Could you find another way to rip my heart out, do a "stomp the yard" dance on it and throw it back at me with demon pox all over it?!  *clutches chest*  How anyone with a heart can NOT be "Team Will" after this book, I'll never understand but if they aren't, then I say, in the words of giddy Will, "A demonpox on all your houses!" OK, so that's a tad harsh but still. "Clockwork Prince" picks up right where "Clockwork Angel" leaves off, with Tessa still trying to discover who she is and what Mortma...

This is the story of 17 year old Jasmine and her struggle to not only follow her dreams of playing guitar in a real band but of finding out who she really is apart from her controlling father.  She'll find the band but will she be able to convince them she has what it takes?  Will she be able to convince herself? Jasmine quickly discovers the life of a true musician is a complicated one, especially when there are egos, reputations and even hearts to protect. If she can keep her focus on her dream and not let her own heart get distracted by a certain bass player she just might make her dreams come true and prove something to both herself and her father. Being a music lover myself, I enjoyed how author, Tara Kelly gives the reader a backstage pass into the music world and we get to see the good, the bad, and the mundane.  Being able to experience the performance through the eyes of the characters whether it's hearing the roar of the crowd, feeling the guitar strings sli...