Tag Archive | Romance

Freshly Published – March

With March comes another range of freshly published Young Adult fiction! Are some of these titles on your hit list? I’ve tried to mix it up with a few stand alone books along with a couple First Books of a series. All summaries are from Goodreads.

Unremembered by Jessica Brody (Unremembered #1)

UnrememberedThe only thing worse than forgetting her past… is remembering it.

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.

Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.

Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.

Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?

From popular young adult author, Jessica Brody comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful new series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten.

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett (The Arkwell Academy #1)

nightmareSixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy, is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder.

Then Eli’s dream comes true.

Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

Poison by Bridget Zinn

PosionSixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart . . . misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Butter by Erin Jade Lange

I had the lucky chance to read this book early – find my review here.

ButterYou think I eat a lot now? That’s nothing. Tune in December 31st, when I will stream a live webcast of my last meal. Death row inmates get one. Why shouldn’t I? I can’t take another year in this fat suit, but I can end this year with a bang. If you can stomach it, you’re invited to watch … as I eat myself to death.

So starts Butter, the story of a lonely 423-pound boy everyone calls ‘Butter’. Worse than being ridiculed for his size at high school, he is simply ignored. Desperate, he pledges to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch. When he makes this announcement online, he expects pity, insults, or possibly sheer indifference. Instead, his classmates become morbid cheerleaders for his deadly plan.

Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline?

Readers will be surprised to find themselves identifying with both the bullied … and the bullies.

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg

ButterA hilarious new novel from Elizabeth Eulberg about taking the wall out of the wallflower so she can bloom.

Don’t mess with a girl with a Great Personality.

Everybody loves Lexi. She’s popular, smart, funny…but she’s never been one of those girls, the pretty ones who get all the attention from guys. And on top of that, her seven-year-old sister, Mackenzie, is a terror in a tiara, and part of a pageant scene where she gets praised for her beauty (with the help of fake hair and tons of makeup).

Lexi’s sick of it. She’s sick of being the girl who hears about kisses instead of getting them. She’s sick of being ignored by her longtime crush, Logan. She’s sick of being taken for granted by her pageant-obsessed mom. And she’s sick of having all her family’s money wasted on a phony pursuit of perfection.

The time has come for Lexi to step out from the sidelines. Girls without great personalities aren’t going to know what hit them. Because Lexi’s going to play the beauty game – and she’s in it to win it.

Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

ButterSeventeen-year-old “Hank” has found himself at Penn Station in New York City with no memory of anything –who he is, where he came from, why he’s running away. His only possession is a worn copy of Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. And so he becomes Henry David-or “Hank” and takes first to the streets, and then to the only destination he can think of–Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Cal Armistead’s remarkable debut novel is about a teen in search of himself. Hank begins to piece together recollections from his past. The only way Hank can discover his present is to face up to the realities of his grievous memories. He must come to terms with the tragedy of his past, to stop running, and to find his way home.

Any of them strike your fancy? What is on your current read list?

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The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary lives in a village where The Sisterhood rule and The Guardians keep everyone safe. Love is not encouraged, but commitment is what will keep their population alive. Mary dreams of visiting the mythical place called ‘the Ocean’ from her mother’s stories, but she’s never left the safety of village. It’s been decades since The Return, yet the Unconsecrated never stop in trying to breach the metal fence that protects the town from the unknown within the Forest.

As a childhood crush turns to love, the rules of marriage complicate Mary’s entire future. When an Outsider enters the town from the path that must never be entered, Mary sets her focus on reaching the ocean. Defying everything she knows, Mary refuses to give up on love and wondering what’s beyond the Forest. A breach in safety forces her to flee her home and explore what’s forbidden, but the Unconsecrated are relentless on the other side of the fence.

A YA book with zombies?? Let me just say that I’m absolutely terrified of zombies. When the Seattle Public Library wrote about this title in one of their newsletters, I knew regardless of my fear that I had to give this book a shot. I LOVED it. I finished it in four days. What I liked most is how the zombies are integrated as normal life in the book. Mary has never known a world without them, which brings a dangerous sense of desensitising about this evil that can’t be defeated. I loved that the book is set way after the zombie apocalypse, here’s an attempt of continuing after such a disaster, an attempt where no one remembers what the world was like before it ended.

My first five stars for 2012, and I am so happy to find such an amazing first in a series. For the first time as I was reading, I wanted to shout out loud, it was like reading a horror movie. I didn’t want to read the book because it scared but I had to know what happened. Just as heartbreaking as The Hunger Games, this is my newest obsession. Like Collins series, the reader is aware that many of the characters are not going to survive, but that doesn’t stop you from wishing there was some other way. Carrie Ryan is absolutely brilliant. Mary still feels like a modern girl despite growing up in surroundings that have regressed to the dark ages.

I had to break down and buy the second book. My library borough doesn’t have any of the series (grrrrr). This alone should tell you how much I love these books. (For those that don’t know, I work part-time, making buying books difficult) I can’t wait for the second to arrive and thankfully the third was published in 2011. Ladies and gentlemen, these are your spooky books for October!

The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

What would you do if offered the choice to live forever? Fourteen-year-old Seraphina didn’t think when her life slipped away, and was saved by the handsome Cyrus. A kind gesture at the moment but even a crush from the 1400’s eventually evolves over six hundred years. Cyrus may have the answer to eternal life but the price becomes too high for Sera. Their routines for survival are flawless, but Sera longs for the next stage in the afterlife.

After an attempt to escape Cyrus’ clutches go awry, Sera finds herself being a teenager with a normal family. Being sixteen with best friends, a secret neighbour boyfriend and parents all over her, Sera settles into this life she accidently stole. But Cyrus isn’t like any ex-boyfriend. He’s looking for Sera and will do anything and everything in his power to find her to bring her back to the fold…

The Alchemy of Forever is an unusual take on YA paranormal romance. Mixed with fantasy and urban magic, I was pleasantly surprised to learn this book is the first in a series. Seraphina gets an opportunity most people long to experience, living forever. It’s refreshing to see her take the side of being tired of having been there and done that. Sera is such a delightful character, a strange mix of naïve teenager and wise old voodoo priestess. Although living through her pasts could have been more prominent to give Sera a deeper sense of character. I hope this issue is further explored in the next book.

As Sera evolves into Kailey and discovers love, perhaps a true love for the first time in six hundred years, she’ll do anything to remain hidden from Cyrus. You can’t help but hope that Sera will find a way to be rid of him, or accept her fate and kill herself for real. The book finishes on such a cliffhanger that I was mad it had ended! With Goodreads showing it’s a series I can’t wait for the next book to be published next year. It’ll be interesting to see if this series will go the Twilight route, meaning focusing on obsessive love or if can dig a little deeper into this idea of living forever. Relevant and in the know it’s a quick read for young teens of today.