A Life of Her Own, With a View

Published:  January 27th, 2015

Love, Lucy

By: April Lindner

Poppy

ISBN-13:  9780316400695

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician.  After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation."  But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse have to be, does it?

Review

       I'll go right out there and say that I don't think this book is for everyone and it definitely could have been better.  The original source material for this retelling is A Room With a View by E.M. Forster.  It is a comedy of social errors and the class divide, somewhat reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel, but not quite.  This is less about following the rules of society and finding love with someone who might be slightly inappropriate, in terms of class.  But in say, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth at least has some social graces and knows how to act in society.  Also, she's not THAT far beneath Darcy, no matter what his pride says.  She's a gentleman's daughter.  Lucy Honeychurch in the original Room, falls in love with a young man named George who has no social connections, isn't rich and can't offer her anything other than his love.  She has to choose between socially unacceptable happiness and marrying a man named Cecil (for whom she feels nothing), who could give her every comfort she's used to and more - plus she'd still be accepted in society with her family/friends if she married Cecil.

       When you're adapting a story like that for a modern-day audience, set in the modern United States, it's difficult to translate quite what Lucy would have been giving up by marrying outside her social circle, in a downwards direction.  So Lindner tries to resolve this by making Lucy an actress, who is going to the college her father wants, majoring in business and never acting again, all so he'll pay for college.  That alone is somewhat far-fetched, due to the type of family she lives in and the time period.  It's an upper-middle class, caucasian family, with no obvious religious affiliations and no real obvious reason for this strict point of view.  Also, he forbids her to even continue acting as a hobby.  Alrighty then...and she's supposed to take a trip to Europe in exchange for forgetting her dreams?  On the trip, which she takes with Charlene (the daughter of her Mom's friend), she meets Jesse in Italy and he forces her to question how easily she's giving in to her parents about her future.  I did like the little love-hate thing they had going on at first, but once she's into him she ditches Charlene and is downright mean to her, which I wasn't super fond of.  Being a bitch to your traveling companion is just wrong, even if it's supposedly true love at stake.

       Probably the stupidest thing about this for me, was Lucy's romantic life once she gets to college.  While growing a backbone about being in plays/acting, she seems to lose all sense of self in regards to dating.  Thinking that it's over between her and Jesse, Lucy starts dating someone who seems like the absolute perfect guy.  Yet, she doesn't really have feelings for him.  But he's the perfect guy, so she should just stay with him anyway, right?  Then Jesse comes back to town, to be with Lucy, so she sleeps with him and goes on a date with the other guy the next day anyways, a "weekend away" on which he thinks they're going to have sex (I'm pretty sure it was the next day, I could be mistaken, as it's been a little while since I read this one).  It's like she just wants to miserable.  I think this novel should have been adapted in a different country/culture/place with other social expectations.  Or at least there should have been better reasoning behind Lucy's actions and lack of self-worth.  It made for an unlikeable protagonist which is never fortunate, unless it's on purpose.  Sadly, I don't think it was on purpose in this instance.  Overall, I give this one three stars because I could see the original glimmering underneath.  I also know what it's like to give up the direction of your life to the needs/wants of others.  But there was a lot of wasted potential in this one.  Maybe as a fluffy beach read, if you decide to pick it up?

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Hopeless For You - Release Blitz and Giveaway!!!

Release Date:  September 19th, 2013

Purchase: Amazon

Goodreads Page

Synopsis

"If I am more alive because love burns and chars me, as a fire, given wood or wind, feels new elation, it's that he who lays me low is my salvation, and invigorates the more, the more he scars me."
― Michelangelo

Ash Jensen, a squeaky-clean sophomore at the University of Tennessee, has a trail of baggage a mile long―she buried her fiancé only a year and a half ago. She swore she'd never love again but when she finds herself interned to a yummy Canadian conservation officer that promise is tested big-time. Kade Gyllenhahl sports wild tattoos, a rebellious attitude and a fohawk to die for. He's definitely the wrong man for her and she knows it.

Kade doesn't have time for a girl like her. She's a pretentious, unreadable princess who lives her life by her parents' rules. Kade knows nothing about her past and he'd prefer to keep it that way. Besides, he'll lose his job if he sleeps with Ash. Now if only he could get his mind off her.

When the two of them end up alone and isolated on a routine field trip in the woods, things get a little complicated...

One man afraid of commitment.
One woman afraid to love again.
Two lives.
Two hearts.
One life-changing journey.

Excerpt

"You like vodka?" Kade said.

"What?" I glanced at him uncertainly. "That's kind of an odd question. From way out in left field."

"You're half Russian." He was staring at me intensely. "You must like vodka."

"Oh, no." I returned his gaze with equal intensity. Had he felt that tingle when our hands touched, too? Our conversation was all innocent on the outside but I could sense the sexual tension seething on the inside. Neither of us broke eye contact. He wasn't sitting all that far from me. It wouldn't take much to close the gap and wrap my lips around his. "I had vodka once when I was in tenth grade. Almost threw up. Scotch is more my thing."

"Scotch? That's a man's drink."

I shrugged, but didn't break eye contact. "Not really."

"Any preferred brands?" His voice sounded deeper, more sexual. I was starting to lose myself in those eyes.

"I don't know." My voice sounded strange, too. A little breathy. "All kinds of brands. I don't like Jack Daniels, though."

"That's not even scotch. That's whiskey."

"Same thing."

Kade stood up now and edged a little closer. His eyes never left mine. "How can you not like Jack Daniels? That's, like, a Tennessee institution. They make it there, don't they?"

"They do." My heart was beating fast. "But Collier and McKeel is more my thing."

"How do you know so much about all these drinks, anyway?" he said in that deep, slow voice. "The legal age is twenty-one in Tennessee."

I knew my eyes were broadcasting sheer want. He felt it. I'm sure he did, because his eyes fed that want right back at me. "I'm a delinquent."

"You are." He took another step closer. I could hear his breathing now. Deeper. Faster. "Collier and McKeel... remind me to let you try Seagram's 83 sometime. Canadians make the best whiskey. Perfect for a delinquent like you."

"I'm actually more of a wine person. At least I used to be." We were so close now, barely a hand-span away. Those green eyes never left mine, and consumed me.

"Wine? I can see that. I'd peg you as a fan of white. You speak Sauvignon Blanc?" The way he said those French words sounded so sexy.

"I speak champagne," I said huskily. "Dom Perignon makes the most amazing Cristal. White Gold is--" I choked off the words, feeling suddenly like I was drowning, and I turned away from Kade. I couldn't hold back the sudden tears.

After all this time, something so simple as the name of a drink still affected me. I almost hoped Kade would wrap his arms around me and carry me away from the horrors of the past and save me from the guilt, but when I looked at him I saw he'd retreated to the shade again. He was sitting on the log with his arms crossed, facing away from me, staring at the river.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hayden Hill is a New Adult Romance author. Her debut novel, Hopeless for You will be released in September 2013.

Writing HOPELESS FOR YOU was an emotional rollercoaster for Hayden. It started out as a rosebud of an idea which grew into this all-consuming tree. She poured everything into the book, heart and soul. It was a labor of love that’s for sure. They say that great art comes from pain. Well then Hopeless For You is her greatest work yet.

Thanks for giving the book a chance!

Official links: haydenhillbooks.com | twitter.com/haydenhillbooks

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Even Better Than The Original

Expected Publication: October 16th, 2012

Beta (Annex # 1)

By: Rachel Cohn

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13: 9781423157199

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist. 
Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers--soulless clones like Elysia--are immune to. 

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under-current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care--so why are overpowering sensations cloud-ing Elysia's mind? 

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi-ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive. 

Review

     Elysia lives on Demesne, an island paradise that can only belong to the wealthy of the world.  She's sixteen years old and has live their her whole life - which is only the past few weeks.  Elysia is a beta model, an experimental model of a teenage clone.  She was cloned from another girl, who is now dead (the real person has to die before a clone can be made).  The purpose of the clones in general is to serve the residents of Demesne in any way they wish, once they are bought by their "owner."  Elysia is no different and when she is bought to be a companion to the children of one of the most important couples on the island, in essence to replace their own daughter who is away at collge, Elysia is glad that she has found a purpose.  But then she starts having strange visions, memories that belong to her First and shouldn't be available to her.  Elysia starts showing Olympic swimming abilities (another quality of her First) and has a sense of taste that should be absent as a clone.  She begins to feel discontent with being treated like a cross between a pet and a slave, like many of the other Demesne workers and begins to feel lust, anger, happiness and other forbidden emotions.  How can she find a way to survive, when if discovered she will be recycled as defective?  And why is she displaying the qualities of a soul when she supposedly doesn't have one?  

     This book was something that I have been dying to read for months, ever since I first saw the cover.  But I am a major fan of Rachel Cohn's to begin with, especially her Cyd Charisse Trilogy.  I was excited to see her expand into the realm of science fiction.  I was not disappointed in the least.  The book starting out with Elysia working in a boutique as living merchandise and waiting to be bought, elicits a very strong reaction and caused me as a reader to instantly connect to this poor being who is caught between being an object and a real person.  I liked the in-depth world building that explains why regular people can't serve the rich residents of Demesne and they "need" to engineer clone slaves for their menial tasks.  The differences between the clones were also highlighted when Elysia interacted with the Governor's secretary clone (who was also his sexual slave), one of the house clones who is an active member of the rebellion, and the other 'defective' Beta clone, Becky who lashes out at her creators.  The development of Elysia into her own person over time is very gratifying and especially heartbreaking when she is mistreated near the end of the book in an unforgivable way.   Her adoptive 'brother' Ivan and his friends play a big part in her development, especially his friend Tahir who was in a horrific accident and almost died.  Elysia and Tahir start a romantic relationship and he, Greer, Dementia and Ivan introduce her to the drug 'raxia' which puts you in a blissful state and allows clones to "wake up."  There were a few very good plot twists involving the identity of another, secret clone among the wealthy families, but there was major plot twist near the end that I thought was highly unnecessary.  Overall, a very interesting sc-fi debut and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 16th, 2012.*

How Else Could It Be, Anyone Would Notice Me

Published: August 21st, 2012

The Sweetest Spell

By: Suzanne Selfors

Walker Children's Books

ISBN-13: 9780802723765

Emmeline Thistle, a dirt-scratcher's daughter, has escaped death twice-first, on the night she was born, and second, on the day her entire village was swept away by flood. Left with nothing and no one, Emmeline discovers her rare and mysterious ability-she can churn milk into chocolate, a delicacy more precious than gold.

Suddenly, the most unwanted girl in Anglund finds herself desired by all. But Emmeline only wants one-Owen Oak, a dairyman's son, whose slow smiles and lingering glances once tempted her to believe she might someday be loved for herself. But others will stop at nothing to use her gift for their own gains-no matter what the cost to Emmeline. 

Magic and romance entwine in this fantastical world where true love and chocolate conquer all.

Review

    Emmeline Thistle has a shameful heritage - she is descended from the Kells, invaders of the land of Anglund, who killed a beloved Queen in a bid to take over the land (or so all the Flatlander descendants have been led to believe) and as such were banished to the  most uninhabitable tracts of land found, that flooded easily and were a harsh place to grow crops.  Due to the fight for survival, Emmeline's people are known as dirt-scratchers and have a harsh, physically demanding life.  Which is why when she was born with a twisted foot, she was put next to the woods to be taken by predators.  But the cows of the village saved her and ever since she's had a special bond with them.  Emmeline is ostracized because of her deformity and called a witch because of the cows, so she thinks marriage is just a dream.  But at the yearly marriage market her Father and all the unmarried men are taken by the King to supposedly fight in a war (they are not allowed to leave the Flatlands unless summoned).  That night a rain starts and within a few days the village of Root is washed away in a flood, taking Emmeline down the river with it and into adventure.  When Emmeline discovers that she has a magical talent, it puts her very life in jeopardy.  Will she be able to find love and freedom when almost everyone only values her for her gifts?  And can she find freedom for the rest of the Dirt-Scratchers from the nefarious purposes they are being forced to serve?  I was wary about this, because I didn't see how churning butter into chocolate could be all that interesting - boy was I wrong!  I love that the book starts out with Emmeline explaining how she was cast out and the cows saved her.  I love that she is such a strong willed girl, even though the other villagers treat her horribly and speaking out just gets her more ridicule.  Never once does she just sit down in defeat.  Emmeline is always fighting to survive and more than that, to be free.  When she's saved by Owen Oak, son of a dairyman, from dying on the riverbank where she washes up it really shows the distinctions between the Flatlanders (a.k.a. dirtscratchers) and the rest of Anglund's people.  They're viewed to be barbarians and no better than animals.  Emmeline blooms when the oaks treat her as an equal, even after they discover her gift of making chocolate after it's been a myth for such a long time.  I liked the side characters of Prince Beau, Duke of Lime, Peddler, Griffin, Emmeline's Father and Owen's parents.  The King and Queen were deliciously evil and the shocking reality about Anglund's history was a truly fun plot twist.  The romance was very sweet and I was pleased with how it developed over the book, which shifted between Emmeline's POV and Owen's.  It was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  Plus, for once in a YA novel the cover is actually highly representative of the story within and doesn't make me want to vomit from looking at it's insipidity.  It was enchanting, magical and beautifully descriptive.  I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy that showcases alternate histories, originality and a whimsical quality that is a breath of fresh air.  

VERDICT:  5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

It's All Been Done Before

Published: March 27th, 2012 (Originallly Published: May 22nd, 1998)

Titanic: The Long Night

By: Diane Hoh

Open Road Young Readers

ISBN-13: 9781453248188

Two teenagers discover true love aboard the doomed ocean liner

Elizabeth Farr never wanted to return to America. During her family’s vacation abroad, she has fallen in love with England, and is despondent when her father refuses to let her stay. Returning to New York means having her debut into society, and that means a swiftly arranged marriage. Elizabeth will never go to college, never learn to be a reporter—as she sees it, her life is over as soon as the Titanic reaches port. Of course, if she’s unlucky, her life will be over far sooner than that. As Elizabeth and her family settle into their first-class cabins, Katie Hanrahan, a young Irish girl with dreams of finding fortune in America, makes her way to a steerage berth. Both girls have plans for the future, but love and death are about to intervene. 

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Diane Hoh including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Review

   Elizabeth Farr is an heiress who has never wanted for anything in her life - except the freedom to make her own decisions.  Now she is stuck on the Titanic with her parents, who plan on marrying her off to a man she doesn't love when they reach America again and refuse to listen to her pleas for a college education.  Elizabeth is prepared to spend most of the voyage in arguments and misery, but then she meets fellow passenger Max Whittaker, who is dressed like a third-class passenger, but comes from her own level of society.  He has been studying art in Paris against his family's wishes and plans to return to New York and study some more, without the support of the family money.  Elizabeth is intrigued by him and the life he's made for himself, by striking out without his family's support.  Although her Mother tries to separate them at every opportunity, she finds herself falling in love with him slowly, as much as she is infuriated by him.  Third-class passenger Katie Hanrahan is a young Irish girl, with dreams of becoming a famous singer in the big cities of America.  Traveling alongside her are brothers Patrick "Paddy" and Brian Kelleher, who respectively dream of being a writer and going west to own their own land.  The three young people have a complicated relationship, with Paddy assuming romance between Katie and Brian, but Katie falling in love with Paddy and Brian befriending a Dutch girl on board.  As both girls struggle to figure out what they will do with their lives once they reach the shores of America, everything around them changes in an instant.  When tragedy befalls the Titanic, who will survive and who will be consigned to a watery grave?  This book had me intrigued, because of the fact that it is actually is a republication of a novel written in the late '90s.  I have been meaning to read it and I finally managed to get around to it.  This was a book with some decently written characters, but I found myself annoyed at the cliched approach to the disaster, with a split narrative focused on a first class girl and a third class girl.  I was happy that it wasn't one of those horrid, cross-class romances that seem to pop-up constantly for the Titanic (I support intra-class romance, but it is unlikely it happened quite as much as portrayed).  I found Elizabeth annoying in her bratty approach to getting her parents to see her side of things and her complete indecision about breaking away.  Max came across as a smug, arrogant jerk with occasional moments of nicety.  Katie was a well drawn character and I loved the fact that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, especially when the first class passengers toured third class and gawked like it was a zoo.  I enjoyed the fact that a majority of this book focused on the panic, frantic action and overall sadness of the disaster itself - as it was happening.  But one thing that TRULY irked me into leaving off a star and a half (at least) was the fact that four out of five of the main teen characters survived.  How likely is that?  Not very and it really bugged me a lot, during and afterwards.  Overall a decent novel, but not one I would recommend to anyone who will be bothered by the unrealistic survival rate of the characters.

VERDICT:  3.25/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published March 27th, 2012.*

You Are Not My Beloved

Expected Publication: September 25th, 2012
Dearly, Beloved (Gone With the Respiration # 2)
By: Lia Habel
Del Rey
ISBN-13: 9780345523341

Can the living coexist with the living dead?

That’s the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.

Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety.

Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren’t the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder’s crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.

As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora’s scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of “The Laz” and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus—and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.

Review

   Nora Dearly has had enough adventure to last her a lifetime.  But it doesn't seem like her life will be slowing down anytime soon, now that she has her Father back in her life (as one of the undead affected by the Lazarus virus) and she is involved romantically with a zombie soldier named Bram.  Also, now that the zombies have proved that they aren't all flesh-eating monsters, they're trying to peacefully co-exist in society with the living.  It isn't working out all that well.  With a new group of the living called the 'Murder' committing hate crimes against zombies, and a group of hostile zombies wanting to strike back against all of the living in New London, Nora and Bram have more to deal with than they can handle.  The novel is told from the points of view of Nora, Bram, Pamela (Nora's best friend), Michael Allister, complicated mean girl Vespertine Mink and a new zombie named Laura who grows plants from her rotting body.  Dealing with terrorist attacks, possible outbreak of a new strain of the virus and a possible apocalypse, Nora and her friends may not all make it out alive.  And how do you move on from a betrayl so deep that it could crush your heart completely?  I wanted to love this book.  The first one was new, exciting and well-written with characters that had distinctive voices, even with multiple points of view.  That wasn't the case in the sequel.  I felt like the divide between the six p.o.v.s was clunky, not at ALL well-executed and I lost track of who was supposed to be narrating quite a bit more than was acceptable.  Nora has basically become a petulant brat now that she is living with her Father again, Bram is annoying and without any real purpose anymore and the only character I could really even stand was Pamela.  Even she managed to get on my nerves a lot.  I felt like the author was trying to cram too much plot into one book and yet it still moved at a glacial pace that bored me to tears for the most part.  I found myself no longer caring if the characters lived or died and I was sorely disappointed with Habel's treatment of the formerly strong and admirable Coalhouse.  I loved the scene with Vespertine and Renfield (unfortunately there was only one, at almost the end of the book) and learning the badass backstory of Drs. Samedi and Chase.  I however feel cheated by the poor follow-through of the first book's wonderful set-up and execution.  I have wasted some time reading this and will not be reading the next book in the series.  I just don't care anymore.

VERDICT:  1.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is September 25th, 2012.*