Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan

By: Miranda Kenneally

Pub. Date: December 1, 2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 288

Source: Netgalley..then I purchased my own copy!

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

Oh my god!! Catching Jordan is definitely one of my favorite books that I read in 2011. This book is amazing. It was fun, cute, and sweet. The plot was really interesting and original and the characters were great! I just really loved everything about this story. This whole review is going to be me gushing over how great Catching Jordan is and how everyone should read this book!! Even the one thing that did bother me about the main character was changed by the end!

I loved the writing. It flowed so nicely and it was hilarious!! I found myself laughing out loud so many different times.

Jordan is one of my favorite characters that I've ever seen in a book. She's a 17 year old girl who is the captain and quarterback of her high school championship football team. How freakin' cool is that??  Some of my favorite lines of the book are from her:

"...I top off the outfit with flip-flops and chapstick. Ty better appreciate how hard I've worked to make myself attractive for him this morning, because I am fucking spent"

"I snort and chocolate milk comes out of my nose. Yeah, I know, I'm the sexiest creature on the planet"

This girl is me! She was just so great. No matter how confident she was on the football field, when it came to guys she was completely clueless and it was adorable!

Jordan is in her senior year of high school and about to get a full ride to college. Everything changes when Tyler Green moves from Texas to Tennessee. Ty was star quarterback at his old school, but due to some very sad circumstances he has had to move in the middle of the school year. I really thought that Ty was going to be a douche. I thought that he was going to do whatever he had to do to take away the quarterback role from Jordan-even by romancing her. I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case at all. Ty really was a really sweet guy and would never want to hurt Jordan-or anyone else for that matter.

The best part of Catching Jordan was Jordan's teammates and friends. These guys were awesome! They had no problem taking orders from a girl, which I thought was a great touch. These guys were your typical football player type-yet they respected and protected Jordan and I loved that about them! Jordan's best friend, Sam Henry is hilarious. You can totally tell that he is in love with Jordan, and he was just so much fun!

My one teeny-tiny problem was Jordan's issue with other girls. She never gave any of the girls a chance. She was always thinking "girls are horrible, they are so stupid, they only care about shopping". It definitely started to bother me. But by the end, she started to give them a chance, and realized that girls can be just as cool as guys!

Seriously though, this book was AWESOME! I think that everyone needs to read it! It had everything that I could want in a book and more.

I also really loved the cover. I say loved because on further inspection, the guy is missing a foot. A FOOT!! I hope they fix that on second publication. And yes, this book better get a second publication because everyone should read it!!  

In My Mailbox (32)

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren to share with everyone the books they bought, borrowed, or received for review.


I didn't do an IMM post last week because my parents were in town, so this is two weeks of books and I had an excellent two weeks!

~Bought~

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Tommy Nightmare by J.L. Bryan

Alexander Death by J.L. Bryan

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey 

For my nook:

Treachery by Andrea Cremer

A Little Harmless Gift by Melissa Schroeder

Exiled by M.R. Merrick

The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

~Review~

Notes to Self by Avery Sawyer (via author)

Supergirl Mixtapes by Meagan Brothers (via netgalley)

~Book Signing~

Last night I went to the Sophie Jordan and Mary Lindsey book signing at Murder By the Book in Houston. Both authors were super awesome. I got some books signed and also got some swag!

 What did you get in your mailboxes? Leave me a link so I can check it out.

Follow Friday # 15

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read! It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

This weeks question is:

When you've read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it..?)

Answer: Right before I moved (about 2 1/2 months ago) I gave away a few massive boxes of books to my book loving friends. I tried to donate some to the library, but they didn't want them!

Lately, I've been getting a lot of books from the library, so I return them when I am done. If it is a book I bought, or received for review, I find a place for it on my new bookshelves :).

What do you guys do with your books? Leave me a link in the comments so I can check it out!

Review: Antara by Marilena Mexi

Antara

By: Marilena Mexi

Pub. Date: March 22, 2011

Publisher: Lulu

Pages: 146

Source: Author

Peace and tranquility on the island of Aster, home to both humans and 'merfolk', has long been broken by a devastating phenomenon, recurring every five years. A storm including gusting winds and huge waves mysteriously appeared and eradicated much of the population. The misunderstandings, suspicion and hate born of this disaster have torn the two races apart, and the peace loving merfolk are now in a never-ending struggle to prove their innocence and restore peace to the island. On the human side, things are even worse; under the tyranny of cruel king Orestis, the people suffer and all their king cares for is vengeance against the "fish", as he spitefully calls them, executing merfolk after merfolk for just being near his lands. Secrets, intense emotions and strange phenomena will upset their lives forever.

When the author emailed me asking to review her book, I was instantly intrigued with the story. I've read a few other mermaid stories and really enjoyed them, and Antara had a really interesting premise to it.

Once upon a time, humans and the merfolk were friends and lived in peace. Until one day, a massive storm destroyed most of the human land, and killed countless merfolk and humans. The humans blamed the merfolk for the destruction and since then, the two groups have been enemies. King Orestis, the king of the humans, will have any merfolk killed if they go on their land.

Now, the merfolk know that another storm is coming and they want to warn the humans. Asteria, the King of the merfolk's granddaughter, comes up with a plan to disguise herself as a human and bring out the good in Orestis so he would trust the merfolk and save his people.

As I said earlier, I really liked the story. I thought it was interesting that the humans knew about the merfolk and at one time, lived in harmony with them.  Also, the illustrations in Antara were beautiful! Marilena Mexi is a very talented artist.

The main issue I did have with Antara was the actual writing, especially the fact that whoever was having a conversation with each other used their name in every single sentence. People don't do that in a conversation. One or two times, I could have overlooked it, but it happened a lot. It was too the point that I wanted to skip over many conversations.

The other thing that bothered we was the connection between Asteria and Orestis. They knew each other less then a day and the King was ready to change everything he ever knew, and they were both madly in love. It just didn't seem realistic too me.

Even though King Orestis was a bastard, inside he was a really sweet guy and I enjoyed reading the parts when he was the real him. He was polite and always saying please and thank you. But then he would turn a switch and be a douche again. He was an intriguing guy and I look forward to reading more about him.   

I did enjoy Antara. It was an interesting read. Even if I hated it, the drawings would have been worth picking this book up!!

Two of my favorite drawings: 

 

Review: Touch by Jus Accardo

Touch

(Denazen # 1)

By: Jus Accardo

Pub. Date: November 1, 2011

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Pages: 251

Source: Purchased

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there's something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she'll turn to dust if he touches her.

It's not until Dez's father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there's more to this boy, and her father's "law firm," than she realized. Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation -- an organization devoted to collecting "special" kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons -- his entire life.

And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills.

The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they're caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.

This book is fantastic and amazing and awesome. I loved everything about it. From the writing, to the characters, to the plot-everything was perfect and it all came together for a wonderful story! It reminded me a lot of the TV show Heroes. But even with that similarity, Touch was still a very unique and original read!

The main character is Dez. She is an adrenaline junkie and will do anything to get her father's attention, who basically ignores her. She would rather her father think she is a slut that sleeps around, because at least she is getting a response from him. One night on her way home she runs into a young man named Kale. He looks terrified and is obviously on the run from someone. She decides to help him, because if her father comes home and sees a guy in her room, she will get a rise out of him. What happens next is intense and the rest of the story is never-ending action.

I loved Kale and my heart broke for him. He spent his entire life being a prisoner at the Denazen Corporation basically being tortured. He's been through so much and forced to do some very horrible things, but he was still so innocent and loving.

Dez was hilarious. I loved her! My absolute favorite quote in Touch is from Dez:

I wonder what the FML post would look like- Today, when my father tried to shoot me, I found out he was an assassin monger who's been keeping my mom locked away in a secret facility for freaky killers. FML.

How can you not love that she created her own FML post. I think it's hilarious!

I found the romance between Dez and Kale very sweet. Dez had to explain basic romance to Kale, from holding hands, to kissing, to sex. I love the questions Kale asked and the explanations Dez gave him. It was so cute and innocent. Kale sees the world in a completely different and refreshing way and I loved it. His innocence is just adorable.

The entire story was terrific. There was never a dull moment and you never knew where Jus Accardo was going to take us next. You never knew what was going to happen, and you never knew who to trust. The ending was completely satisfying, and while it didn't really end on a cliffhanger, the story is still open for a second book, and I can't wait to read about Kale and Dez again!     

Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Darker Still

(Magic Most Foul # 1)

By: Leanna Renee Hieber

Pub. Date: November 8, 2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 317

Source: Netgalley

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
 
New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

The main character of Darker Still is a 17 year old named Natalie. Since her mother's death as a child, Natalie has been mute. As much as she has wanted to talk, she just wasn't able too. Despite this, I think that Natalie was strong-willed and overall a good person. Many people that she comes across thinks that she is slow due to her disability, but Natalie very quickly puts them in there place. I loved that about her!

Darker Still is being compared to Pride & Prejudice, and Lord Denbury definitely reminded me of a character in an Austin novel. He was such a gentleman!

I enjoyed the secondary characters as well. I loved Natalie's father specifically and Mrs. Northe was a lot of fun too!

I thought the plot was very interesting. It revolves around Natalie trying to help Denbury, who is stuck in a painting due to some really bad dark magic. This was so intriguing me and I couldn't wait to find out more.

Overall though, I was disappointed with Darker Still. Don't get me wrong, it was a good story and I liked the characters, but I was expecting something different. A lot of people have been raving about this book and I definitely see this book being popular with a lot of people!  

Follow Friday # 14

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read! It's a great way to meet new blogger friends!

This weeks question is:

Keeping with the Spirit of Giving this season, what book do you think EVERYONE should read and if you could, you would buy it for all of your family and friends?

Out of the books that I have read in 2011, I would choose:

1. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
2. Sophie & Carter
3. Touch
4. The entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

What books would you guys recommend? Leave me your link in the comment section so I can check it out.

Happy Friday!