ARC Review: DON'T HATE THE PLAYER by Alexis Nedd

DON'T HATE THE PLAYER

by Alexis Nedd

Release Date: June 15, 2021; Bloomsbury YA

From Goodreads:

By day, Emilia is a field hockey star with a popular boyfriend and a mother obsessed with her academic future. But by night, she’s kicking virtual ass as the only female member of a highly competitive eSports team. Emilia has mastered the art of keeping her two worlds thriving, which hinges on them staying completely separate. 

When a major eSports tournament comes to her city, Emilia is determined to prove herself to the male-dominated gaming community. But her perfectly balanced life is thrown for a loop when a member of a rival team—Jake—recognizes her . . . 

From an exciting new talent, this sweet and charming YA romance will win the hearts of gamers and non-gamers alike.

ARC Review: THE SHAADI SET-UP by Lillie Vale

THE SHAADI SET-UP

by Lillie Vale

Release Date: September 7, 2021; G.P. Putnam's Sons

From Goodreads:

In this witty and heartfelt rom-com debut for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Emily Henry, and Tessa Bailey, an Indian-American woman signs herself and her boyfriend up for a matchmaking site to prove they’re a perfect match, only to be paired with her ex instead. 

High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency. 

ARC Review: LUCKY GIRL by Jamie Pacton

LUCKY GIRL

by Jamie Pacton

Release Date: May 11, 2021; Page Street Kids

From Goodreads:

A hilarious and poignant reflection on what money can and cannot fix 

58,642,129. That’s how many dollars seventeen-year-old Fortuna Jane Belleweather just won in the lotto jackpot. It’s also about how many reasons she has for not coming forward to claim her prize.

Problem #1: Jane is still a minor, and if anyone discovers she bought the ticket underage, she’ll either have to forfeit the ticket, or worse . . . 

Problem #2: Let her hoarder mother cash it. The last thing Jane’s mom needs is millions of dollars to buy more junk. Then . . .

Problem #3: Jane’s best friend, aspiring journalist Brandon Kim, declares on the news that he’s going to find the lucky winner. It’s one thing to keep her secret from the town — it’s another thing entirely to lie to her best friend. Especially when . . . 

ARC Review: SUNKISSED by Kasie West

SUNKISSED

by Kasie West

Release Date: May 4, 2021; Delacorte Press

From Goodreads:

A lighthearted and swoony contemporary YA romance by fan-favorite author Kasie West about a girl who finds that a summer spent at a family resort isn’t as bad as she imagined…and that falling in love is filled with heartache, laughter, and surprises! 

After being betrayed by her best friend, Avery is hoping for a picture-perfect summer. Too bad her parents have dragged her and her sister to a remote family camp for the entire summer. And that’s not even the worst part. Avery also has to deal with no internet, a cute but off-limits staff member, and an always-in-her-face sister. 

But what starts as a disaster turns into a whirlwind summer romance as Avery embarks on an unexpected journey to figure out what she truly wants and who she wants to be.

ARC Review: SHIPPED by Meredith Tate

SHIPPED

by Meredith Tate
Release Date: May 18th 2021; G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

Can two IRL enemies find their happily ever after online? 

Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are Gene Connolly Memorial High School's biggest rivals. While the two have been battling it out for top student, it's a race to the bottom when it comes to snide comments and pulling the dirtiest prank. For years, Stella and Wes have been the villain in each other's story, and now it's all-out war. 

And there is no bigger battle than the one for valedictorian, and more specifically, the coveted valedictorian scholarship. 

But Stella and Wes have more in common than they think. Both are huge fans of Warship Seven, a popular sci-fi TV drama with a dedicated online following, and the two start chatting under aliases--without a clue that their rival is just beyond the screen. They realize that they're both attending SciCon this year, so they plan to dress in their best cosplay and finally meet IRL. 

ARC Review: 10 TRUTHS AND A DARE by Ashley Elston

10 TRUTHS AND A DARE

by Ashley Elston

Release Date: May 4, 2021; Disney-Hyperion

From Goodreads:

It's Senior Week, that magical in-between time after classes have ended but before graduation, chock-full of gimmicky theme parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn't be more ready. Class salutatorian and confident in her future at LSU, she's poised to sail through to the next phase of her life. 

But when the tiny hiccup of an unsigned off-campus P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to set things straight without tipping off her very big and very nosy extended family. Volunteering to help at a local golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia's mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there'll be no hiding the fact that she's at the golf course instead of all the graduation parties happening at the same time. Unless, that is, she can convince the Fab Four--her ride-or-die cousins and best friends Sophie, Charlie, and Wes--to trade phones with her as they go through the motions of playing Olivia for the week. 

Sure, certain members of the golf team are none too pleased with Olivia's sudden "passion" for the game. And sure, a very cute, very off-limits boy keeps popping up in Olivia's orbit. But she is focused! She has a schedule and a plan! Nothing can possibly go wrong . . . right?

ARC Review: WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE

by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Release Date: April 20, 2021; Viking Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

An academic enemies-to-lovers YA with all the nerdy drama, high school antics, and heartpounding romance of the Netflix original series Never Have I Ever 

Since high school began, Alison Sanger and Ethan Molloy have competed on almost everything. AP classes, the school paper, community service, it never ends. If Alison could avoid Ethan until graduation, she would. Except, naturally, for two over-achieving seniors with their sights on valedictorian and Harvard, they share all the same classes and extracurriculars. So when their school’s principal assigns them the task of co-planning a previous class’s ten-year reunion, with the promise of a recommendation for Harvard if they do, Ethan and Alison are willing to endure one more activity together if it means beating the other out of the lead. 

ARC Review: TWICE SHY by Sarah Hogle

TWICE SHY

by Sarah Hogle

Release Date: April 6, 2021; G.P. Putnam's Sons

From Goodreads:

Can you find real love when you've always got your head in the clouds? 

Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start. 

Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn't the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who's as grouchy as he is gorgeous--and it turns out he has very different vision for the property's future. 

Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley's scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one's comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

ARC Review: DATING MAKES PERFECT by Pintip Dunn

DATING MAKES PERFECT
by Pintip Dunn
Release Date: August 18, 2020; Entangled: Teen

From Goodreads:

The Tech sisters don’t date in high school. Not because they’re not asked. Not because they’re not interested. Not even because no one can pronounce their long, Thai last name—hence the shortened, awkward moniker. But simply because they’re not allowed. 

Until now. 

In a move that other Asian American girls know all too well, six months after the older Tech twins got to college, their parents asked, “Why aren’t you engaged yet?” The sisters retaliated by vowing that they won’t marry for ten (maybe even twenty!) years, not until they’ve had lots of the dating practice that they didn’t get in high school. 

In a shocking war on the status quo, her parents now insist that their youngest daughter, Orrawin (aka “Winnie”), must practice fake dating in high school. Under their watchful eyes, of course—and organized based on their favorite rom-coms. ’Cause that won’t end in disaster. 

ARC Review: BOOKISH AND THE BEAST (Once Upon a Con #3) by Ashley Poston

BOOKISH AND THE BEAST (Once Upon a Con #3) 
by Ashley Poston
Release Date: August 4, 2020; Quirk Books

From Goodreads:

In the third book in Ashley Poston's Once Upon a Con series, Beauty and the Beast is retold in the beloved Starfield universe. 

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills. 

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he's forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual. 

ARC Review: KISSING LESSONS by Sophie Jordan

KISSING LESSONS
by Sophie Jordan
Release Date: June 2, 2020; HMH Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

A steamy contemporary YA romance by New York Times best-selling author Sophie Jordan about a girl with a bad reputation giving lessons on how to attract guys for some extra cash—only to fall for her client’s golden-boy brother. For fans of Kami Garcia, Katie McGarry, and Netflix’s Sex Education. 

Wild, beautiful, and (as rumor has it) experienced, Hayden Vargas doesn’t have time for love or relationships. She’s learned the hard way that the only person you can count on is yourself, and she’s hell-bent on earning enough money to leave her small, judgy Texas town as fast as possible. So when nerdy Emmaline Martin offers to pay Hayden for lessons in seduction, the money is so easy, there must be a catch. Enter the catch: Emmaline’s older brother, popular, all-around nice guy™ Nolan Martin, who doesn’t want his sister’s reputation tarnished by the school’s resident bad girl. 

Blog Tour, ARC Review & Giveaway: THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY by Jamie Pacton

THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY
by Jamie Pacton
Date Published: May 5, 2020; Page Street Kids
Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

About the book:

Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant. 

Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college. 

Blog Tour, ARC Review & Giveaway: BY THE BOOK by Amanda Sellet

BY THE BOOK
by Amanda Sellet
Release Date: May 12, 2020; HMH Books for Young Readers
Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

About the book:

Mary Porter-Malcolm has prepared for high school in the one way she knows how: an extensive review of classic literature to help navigate the friendships, romantic liaisons, and overall drama she has come to expect from such an “esteemed” institution. Her love of literature even inspires her to imagine herself the heroine of a nineteenth-century novel. Not the sort who makes poor life choices and ends up dying of consumption while still in her teens, but the noble, virtuous, quick-witted type.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Lian Dolan

THE SWEENEY SISTERS 
by Lian Dolan 
Date Published: April 28, 2020; William Morrow
Fiction, Contemporary

About the book:

An accomplished storyteller returns with her biggest, boldest, most entertaining novel yet—a hilarious, heartfelt story about books, love, sisterhood, and the surprises we discover in our DNA that combines the wit of Jonathan Tropper with the heart of Susan Wiggs. 

Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one cool June night, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home. They aren’t quite sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature.

But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister.

ARC Review: HOW TO QUIT YOUR CRUSH by Amy Fellner Dominy

HOW TO QUIT YOUR CRUSH
by Amy Fellner Dominy
Release Date: May 4, 2020; Entangled: Crush

From Goodreads:

Mai Senn knows Anthony Adams is no good for her - no matter how hard she might crush on him. She’s valedictorian; he’s a surf bum. She’s got plans, he’s got his art. Complete opposites in every way. Vinegar and baking soda, they once joked. A chemical reaction that bubbled. 

Yeah, they bubbled. Maybe still do. 

Good thing Anthony’s got the perfect plan: two weeks to prove just how not good they are together. Whoever can come up with the worst date—something the other will seriously hate, proving how incompatible they truly are—wins. 

Like taking a snake-phobe to the Reptile House at the zoo (his idea). 

Or a cooking class where they don’t even get to eat the food (her idea). 

ARC Review: YOU DESERVE EACH OTHER by Sarah Hogle

YOU DESERVE EACH OTHER
by Sarah Hogle
Date Published: April 7, 2020; G.P. Putnam’s Sons

From Goodreads:

Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They're preparing for their lavish wedding that's three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him. 

Naomi wants out, but there's a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare. 

But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they're finally being themselves--and having fun with the last person they expect: each other. 

Blog Tour + Meet the Characters ft. THE EDGE OF ANYTHING by Nora Shalaway Carpenter

The Edge of Anything 
by Nora Shalaway Carpenter
Date Published: March 24, 2020; Running Press Teen
Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Mental Health

About the book:

Len is a loner teen photographer haunted by a past that’s stagnated her work and left her terrified she’s losing her mind. Sage is a high school volleyball star desperate to find a way around her sudden medical disqualification. Both girls need college scholarships. After a chance encounter, the two develop an unlikely friendship that enables them to begin facing their inner demons. 

But both Len and Sage are keeping secrets that, left hidden, could cost them everything, maybe even their lives. 

Review: MOMENT OF TRUTH (Love, Life, and the List #3) by Kasie We

MOMENT OF TRUTH (Love, Life, and the List #3) 
by Kasie West
Date Published: March 3, 2020; HarperTeen

From Goodreads:

At sixteen, Hadley Moore knows exactly who she is—a swimmer who will earn a scholarship to college. Totally worth all the hard work, even if her aching shoulders don’t agree. So when a guy dressed as Hollywood’s latest action hero, Heath Hall, crashes her swim meet, she isn’t amused. Instead, she’s determined to make sure he doesn’t bother her again. Only she’s not sure exactly who he is. 

The swim meet isn’t the first event the imposter has interrupted, but a little digging turns up a surprising number of people who could be Heath Hall, including Hadley's ex-boyfriend and her best friend’s crush. She soon finds herself getting caught up in the mysterious world of the fake Heath Hall. 

Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: THROW LIKE A GIRL by Sarah Henning

THROW LIKE A GIRL
by Sarah Henning
Date Published: January 7, 2020; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance

About the book:

Friday Night Lights meets Morgan Matson's The Unexpected Everything in this contemporary debut where swoonworthy romance meets underdog sports story. 

When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she'll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched... Every. Single. Day. 

Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he'll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the Spring. But it will take more than the perfect spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland's halls, and behind that charming smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all. 

Blog Tour and Giveaway: LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI (Loveboat, Taipei #1) by Abigail Hing Wen

LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI (Loveboat, Taipei #1)
by Abigail Hing Wen 
Release Date: January 7, 2020; HarperCollins
YA, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Travel, Asian Literature

About the book:

For fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land.

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life. 

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.