(Review & Tour) Boyfriends, Burritos & An Ocean of Trouble First Wild Card Tour

Posted on by Cindy

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

and the book:

Boyfriends, Burritos & an Ocean of Trouble (Real Life)

Zondervan (April 20, 2010)

***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.

Visit the author’s website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (April 20, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310714850
ISBN-13: 978-0310714859

PRESS THE BROWSE BUTTON TO VIEW THE FIRST CHAPTER:

MY THOUGHTS
This is the second book in a brand new series called “Real Life”. Each book in this series will be dealing with new characters and important teen issues. Also you don’t have to read the books in order because each book has new characters and new problems. The only thing that is the common bond in each book is a magical book that appears to offer advise to the person who needs it.

This magical book reminds me of the pair of pants from Sisterhood of the Travelling pants. Remember that? So instead of pants its a book.

In Boyfriends, Burritos & An Ocean of Trouble, Nancy Rue tackles the taboo subject of abuse. For some reason I think its still pretty much taboo only because I find we are a society that is telling girls/women etc to come forward but in the same instant we don’t want to help them. Does this make sense?

The main character in Boyfriends, Burritos & An Ocean of Trouble, is a fifteen year old girl named Bryn. On the outside Bryn is dating the perfect popular guy, Preston. He is pretty good and coming off as the good guy but in a blink of an eye he turns into a controlling and abusive jerk.

Reading this I felt bad for Bryn and wished I could give her the strength to be strong and tell someone. Thankfully it takes a car accident for it all to come out. Will Bryn suffer the consquences now?

I found this book to be an addictive read and managed to read this in one setting because I had to find out what was happening next.

I think this would be the perfect book to share with a teen.

Check back next week when I review the first book in this series.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Happy 4th of July

Posted on by Cindy

Happy 4th of July to all my South of the border blogging friends.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Local Happenings In My Neck of Woods #2

Posted on by Cindy

I literally just found out about this today when I was in the Chapters near me because I picked up a few things for Michael and I was given a few book marks in my bag at the check out.

Sadly I was there earlier in the week because I went in to renew my iRewards card and picked up a few books because they had the buy 3 get the 4th one free promotion happening and never got anything about this.

I am thinking that this is a commission author as I couldn’t find her book through the Chapters website. Also I didn’t see any other advertising for this in the store.

Anyway, tomorrow July 3rd Lesley Fletcher will be at the Chapters, Pointe Claire from 1 to 4pm signing her very first book called Prom Girls.

ABOUT THE BOOK

PROM GIRLS is full of surprises and adventure captured in the language of today’s youth. Encompassing four distinct paths, with focus on the year of being seventeen and graduating from High School, the reader is lured in all the glory, fun and realism of the celebration of youth. While reading the stories, it is inevitable that the reader will be at once inspired by memories of the past and anticipation of the future. In Prom Girls, the celebration of High School graduation is visited from the beginning of the final high school year until the Grand Event, with snippets of past events, multi-cultural references and some of the author’s personal encounters. It is written in a way that addresses questions and speaks directly to the reader. From the nostalgic, faceless characters of over fifty original water colour images to the realistic exploits and escapades of Prom Night , Lesley Fletcher captures the imagination and hearts of the very young and the very old. The memories that are gained at seventeen years old last a lifetime.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lesley Fletcher is an author with stories to tell using more than merely words. Her illustrations illuminate the way, not only to writing but to spiritual fulfilment and immense pleasure. She loves to laugh, listen to music, dance, exercise, travel and delve deeper into humanity and religion. Whether it is a five star hotel or a sleeping bag on the ground, Lesley will easily adjust to and enjoy the moment. Lesley is currently living in the West Island suburbs of Montreal where she continues to write, attend art classes and create art. Her involvement with Habitat for Humanity, Literacy Unlimited and her quest for truth and learning on an International level feeds the woman, artist and writer in her soul.

I am going to attempt to go tomorrow if I can because I love to support local authors and I think they deserve to be recognized.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Oh Canada (Official Video)

Posted on by Cindy

I have to send out a huge thank you to Cecil Castellucci for sharing this on twitter (@cecilseaskull) with her readers.

I just discovered Cecil Castellucci and I have to send out a huge thank you to Nikole at Scholastic for sending me an advance readers copy of her upcoming release Rose Sees Red. It will be released in August 2010. My review will be posted then. (Sorry I don’t post reviews of ARCs unless I was asked to by the author or publicist until the release date.)

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Num8ers Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Num8ers
AUTHOR: Rachel Ward
PUB DATE: February 2010
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

Source: I received this book from Nikole at Scholastic Canada.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

MY THOUGHTS
Thank you Nikole for sending me this book.

This is Rachel Ward’s debut novel and the first of a possible three book series. After reading Num8ers I have to say that I will be picking up her future books. Num8ers was originally published in the UK.

What would you do if you had a secret that was so terrifying and it forced you not to get close to anyone because you knew exactly when they were going to die?

This is exactly what Num8ers is about. Jem is a fifteen year old girl and she has the ability to look into someones eyes and know exactly when they will die. She is living with a foster mother because when she was a young girl she discovered one morning that her mother died from a drug overdose.

Jem attends a school that is basically for problem kids. There are days that she skips school because she just doesn’t want to deal with the problem of feeling and being like an outcast. Its on one of these days that she has skipped school that she runs into a fellow student in her class named Spider. Spider is the last person she wants to see. At first she pushes him away and wants nothing to do with him. Over a short period of time he quickly makes her change her mind. Spider is just like her an outcast. I think this is what bonds them.

After an incident at school both Spider and Jem are suspended from school and decide that they will spend the day together. Its when they go to London Eye Ferris Wheel that life for Jem and Spider are about to change and not for the better. Spider and Jem must run to save there lives before its too late.

I had to keep reading this and pretty much finished this in one sitting because I had to find out how Spider would end up dying and I have to say it wasn’t what I had expected.

As you can tell I did enjoy reading this book and after checking out Rachel Ward’s site I just discovered that book 2 in the Num8ers series called The Chaos is already out in the UK. I looked around and I don’t see a US/Canadian release date. Rachel is currently working on book 3 which just might be the last one in the series.

Here is the book trailer for you to check out:

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Last Dance Book 8 Carter House Girls Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Last Dance Book 8 Carter House Girls Series
AUTHOR: Melody Carlson
PUB DATE: May 2010
PUBLISHER: Zondervan
PAGES: 207

SOURCE: Tina from Bookshipper passed this book on to me.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the final book of bestselling author Melody Carlson’s Carter House Girls series, the Carter House girls are making prom plans and competing for boyfriends, as well as fighting for the limelight in a Mother’s Day fashion show. With graduation and last good-byes around the corner, will they resolve old differences or part ways as enemies?

With graduation looming, the Carter House girls are struggling with college visits, prom dress warfare, and boyfriend situations that are going from bad to worse. Mrs. Carter ups the stress level by planning a typical over-the-top Mother’s Day fashion show, and things get tense when the designer favors certain models. Through it all, surprises are in store for each girl as their time at Carter House comes to an end. As final good-byes approach, some friendships will deepen while others crumble. Will the girls resolve old differences or part ways as enemies?

MY THOUGHTS
Well this is the final book in the Carter House series. When Tina offered the book to me I was super excited to read it because it was the final book and I was curious to see how Melody would wrap it all up.

I was a little disappointed when I realized that there wasn’t going to be a tour of the book as there was with the previous seven books in the series.

Sadly its very rare that I don’t like a book as you probably can tell from my reviews. I am not sure if its because I only read books that I am interested in or what but I can honestly count on one hand the number of books I have not liked and I have to say that this way is now included in the list.

For some reason I felt as though the book was written for the sake of wrapping up the series. In the previous books I would have devoured them from cover to cover in a few hours to find out what was going to happen, not this one I found I was forcing myself to finish it.

Anyways about the book, the girls are all getting ready for the prom and a mother’s day fashion show. The girls are also anxiously awaiting college letters to find out where they are going.

As in previous books its never smooth sailing and it seems this time Casey is struggling with a heavy issue. What will she do? Will she go through with it or have a change of heart? For me I was interested in this because I was curious to see how it was going to play out and I was a little surprised.

Eliza is also in a bind as she is running for prom queen and it seems like someone is determined not to let that happen and they won’t stop at anything even if it means ruining her prom dress.

Will old rivals become friends?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Summer of Skinny Dipping Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: The Summer Of Skinny Dipping
AUTHOR: Amanda Howells
PUB DATE: June 2010
PAGES: 295
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

SOURCE: I received this copy from Sourcebooks Fire for review.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Sometimes I still wake up shivering in the early hours of the morning, drowning in dreams of being out there in the ocean that summer, of looking up at the moon and feeling as invisible and free as a fish. But I’m jumping ahead, and to tell the story right I have to go back to the very beginning. To a place called Indigo Beach. To a boy with pale skin that glowed against the dark waves. To the start of something neither of us could have predicted, and which would mark us forever, making everything that came after and before seem like it belonged to another life. My name is Mia Gordon: I was sixteen years old, and I remember everything.

MY THOUGHTS

When I first heard about this book I knew I wanted to read it for three reasons:
-this is Amanda Howells debut original YA novel (Did you know she was the ghost writer for the Sweet Valley High books? No neither did I until I heard about this book)
-Amanda lives near the ocean and she grew up on a small bay on the Atlantic Ocean (very similar to me where I grew up)
-The Summer of Skinny Dipping sounded like a fun read

I pretty much devoured this book in one sitting. For me this was the perfect book to start off the summer season. As I am reading this it brought back memories to when I was Mia’s age (16 years old) and a summer filled with romance and of course drama.

Mia is heading on family vacation from Georgia to the Hampton’s to visit with her aunt, uncle and cousins. She is excited to spend time with her cousins but quickly realizes that alot has changed since she last saw them. In my opinion they came off as spoiled rich brats. Mia tries to fit in but quickly realizes she doesn’t but she stays true to herself and makes it a point to never change herself.

To help Mia get through the summer she decides to sneak out at night and walk the beach because that is were she feels most comfortable. Its during these walks late at night that she meets Simon. The furthest thing from her mind is a summer romance because she is still getting over a broken heart from her ex cheating boyfriend.

It wasn’t long before Simon swept Mia of her feet and she began to trust again. This was the summer romance. We all know that some summer romances don’t last and that is exactly what happens here. Its a summer romance that has ended too soon. Its a summer that Mia will never forget.

My favorite part of the book is on page 95:

I’d always held back from boys. I didn’t fall for them the way my friends did. While Kristin and Lacey hooked up with different guys and had crushes that were returned or rejected or fizzled, I just waited. Sometimes I wondered if the boy I was waiting for even existed. Until Jake came to our school. Then I knew. Except I never thought he’d even look at me. He was far too cool and far too cute to notice a shy, ordinary girl in a sea of admirers. And yet here he was, my queen of hearts in his hand.

When I read that I instantly thought that Amanda spoke to me. Where was she when I need her some 25 years ago? That above quote was something I thought and felt alot about back then. So if you think you are shy and ordinary let me say you will stand out in a sea of admirers. It will happen trust me.

I want to send out a huge thank you to Carrie at Sourcebooks Fire for sending me this great debut novel to read. I really enjoyed it and I have to say it brought back alot of memories of my first summer romance when I was starting high school. He was my Simon in the book and will always have the little piece of my heart.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.