Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

Title: Where I Belong

Author: Gwendolyn Heasley

Pages: 304

Genre: YA/Teen

Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Meet Corrinne. She's living every girl's dream in New York City—shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. . . .

When Corrinne's father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she's stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she's supposed to be living. She doesn't care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R.—before the recession—was as perfect as it seemed. [via GoodReads]

I love this type of story... instead of it being a rags to riches one, it's a riches to rags tale.  Where the mean, snobby, rich girl learns that there's more to life than just money.  I love this type of story because you will always find great character development.  And that is exactly the type of character Corinne is.  At first, you don't truly like her.  She's spoiled, obnoxious and quite frankly annoying when it comes to her selfishness.  But when her lifestyle takes a nosedive after her father loses his job and she ends up living in small town Texas with her grandparents - she'll learn that not everything revolves around her wants and needs, where she'll make true friendships, learn the importance of family and enjoy the stirrings of a new love.

I enjoyed seeing the many changes in Corrine.  Her internal diaglogues were very entertaining and you fully and believably grasp the strenuous situation she believes herself to be in once she realizes that she has no money.  I found it funny that in the first pages you are forewarned about what an unlikeable character she is but to give her a chance because she just might grow on you... and that she does.  I found myself taken in by the story.  I loved reading of the town of Broken Spoke and its quirky residents. 

All in all, Where I Belong is a fun and quick read - a sweet contemporary YA story of one girl's path to self-discovery.  It definitely made me want go out and buy me my own set of boots and cowboy hat.

My Rating:

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Title:  Moonglass
Author: Jessi Kirby

Pages:  240
Genre:  YA/ Teen

Source:  Amazon Vine Program

Anna's life is turned upside down when her father accepts a job offer far from her home, her friends, her beach, and the waves that took her mother's life.  Now, at Crystal Cove, she is even more haunted by the loss of her mother... for it is the same place her mother and father once met and fell in love.  Although she and her father have always maintained a good relationship, she feels that mentioning her mother and her loss is taboo.  So instead of dwelling in the past, she plans on enjoying her summer.  After all, she has a new beach to swim in, new boys (one hottie lifeguard in particular) to fall for, and new friends to make... but uncovering family secrets may be just what she and her father need to finally begin to truly live.

Moonglass is the ideal summer read.  There's the beach, the sand, the lifeguards (wink wink), the search for the perfect moonglass and even a mystery to unravel.

While I truly enjoyed reading Moonglass, and getting to know Anna - whom I must say I truly liked, my favorite aspect of the story was the setting... the beach - Crystal Cove.  Ms. Kirby does a phenomenal job of describing everything from the sand in your toes to the smell of salt in the air.  It was a very visual experience for me.

Although the story did have a slow start for me and there were a few moments that lost their momentum, I was still very intrigued by the relationship between Anna and her father.  How strained it had become since the loss of her mother and my hopes that they would somehow begin to accept their loss and eventually heal.  I also found it a nice surprise that while there was some mild romance it wasn't the main focus of the story.  Instead I found Moonglass to have a more serious tone... bittersweet and heartbreaking, yet sweet and inspirational. 

Moonglass will have you yearning for summer and a chance to stick your feet in the ocean.  A lovely read, one that you should not leave out of your beach bag this summer.

My Rating:

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Title: Starcrossed
Author: Josephine Angelini

 Pages:  496
Genre:  YA/ Teen

Source:  Kismet Book Touring

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart. [via GoodReads]

Well let's start with the eye candy... yes, that cover!  Hello lovah!!  Needless to say, from the moment that I saw the gorgeous cover of Starcrossed I knew I just had to get my hands on a copy.  Secondly, after a quick skim over the synopsis and my ensuing realization and utter joy that there is a thread of Greek mythology running through our story... well hello (insert Gollom voice) my precious... 

I absolutely fell in love with this story.  Helen is such a likeable leading lady - she was a breath of fresh air.  She came off as a strong and decisive young lady, normal in the eyes of most, but with a big secret.  We instantly realize that she is far from normal and no matter how hard she tries to hide her strength, speed and breathtaking good looks (a lot like me - ahem), she cannot help but stand out.  When the Delos family arrive in her small and sheltered Nantucket island, acting normal is the least of her worries.  For shortly after their arrival, she must face not only the reality of who and what she is, but the tragedy that fate has in store for her.

I love a strong heroine and, Helen was definitely that!  She is the type to roll with the punches (sometimes even in the literal sense).  If life gave her lemons, well she made lemonade.  I liked this so much about her and I found it so refreshing.   She has so much character growth throughout the story - from a hunched over young girl trying to hide away who she is, to a brave and proud young woman who would not let something as trivial as fate stand in the way of what she wanted her outcome to be.

Ms. Angelini also gives us an abundance of great characters to pick and choose from - aside from the awesomeness that is Helen, we meet Lucas - the super cute and utterly romantic love interest, Claire a/k/a Giggles - Helen's BFF, her father, the Delos' and their extended family... I mean there were many that instantly became favorites. 

The storyline was very attractive and I instantly became immersed in it.  Ms. Angelini is not only a phenomenal writer but she definitely knows how to keep you on your toes.  Just when I thought I had it all figured out there was a twist... then a turn... then a curve... well needless to say, I never knew what was going to happen next.   I loved the suspense, the drama, the angst... the love (le sigh).   I'm a sucker for starcrossed lovers, what can I say?

All in all, Starcrossed blew me away.  I felt that it had the perfect amount of humor, action, drama, friendships, relationships, family, etc.  It was fun, fast-paced, action-packed and had the a great, modern twist on Greek mythology.  Ms. Angelini has got a winner on her hands that I'm sure will appeal to many readers - no matter the age.  In conclusion, this reader highly recommends it!

My Rating:

Listen up Starcrossed Blog Tour Followers: you have a chance to win a Kindle 3 and quite possibly, the most gorgeous skin I've ever seen...

To enter you must be following the blog tour and collect words from a love letter that Lucas wrote to Helen. Here is today's piece of the letter:

Contest rules for the Kindle Giveaway:

• In order to enter to win a Kindle3 WiFi, including a copy of Starcrossed, a personal letter from Josie to the winner and covered in a GelaSkin of Starcrossed's cover art, you must collect the pink highlighted words from Lucas's love letter to Helen that are provide each day at the individual tour stops. The daily words can be joined together in sequential order to create the winning secret message. Once you've constructed the winning secret message, you will need to enter that message on Starcrossed's tour home page (http://www.kismetbt.com/upcoming-tour/starcrossed-by-josephine-angelini-on-tour-mayjune).
• No purchase, affiliation, status as follower to a certain blog or any other association is required to enter.
• Full rules for the contest can be found at the Starcrossed tour home page here.
• Winner of the Kindle give-away will be announced on Josie's homepage on Tuesday, June 7th.

Tour Stops:
Monday May, 16th - Bewitched Bookworms/ Tour Kick-off!
Tuesday, May 17th - Becky,  Stories & Sweets
Wednesday, May 18th - Elie, Ellz Reads
Thursday, May 19th - Heidi, YA Bibliophile
Friday, May 20th - See Scoot Read / Character Interview with Helen's BFF Claire
Monday May, 23th - Missie, The Unread Reader / "When I'm not Writing"
Tuesday, May 24th - Savanna, Books with Bite
Wednesday, May 25th - Natalie, The Mindful Musings / Character Interview with Helen
Thursday, May 26th - Heather, Buried in Books /Interview with Josie
Friday, May 27th - Nely, All about {n} / "Josie's Bookcase"
Monday May, 30th - Candace, Candace's Book Blog / Interview with Josie
Tuesday, May 31st (Starcrossed Book Birthday!) - Kristi, The Story Siren / Vlog post by Josie
Wednesday, June 1st - Small Review
Thursday, June 2nd - Jenny, Supernatural Snark / Character Interview with Lucas
Friday, June 3rd - Cynthia - A Book About Nothing

Tuesday, June 7th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Josie's Blog!

My thanks to Kismet Book Touring and Josie Angelini for providing me with my copy of Starcrossed for review.