My review: Freshman Forty by Christine Duval

     When eighteen-year-old Laurel Harris discovers she’s pregnant four weeks into the start of her freshman year at prestigious Colman College, she has all intentions of telling her father. But being away at school makes it too easy to hide. And while she can’t explain to her friends, or to herself even, the reasons why she doesn’t want the baby’s father to find out about the pregnancy, the rest of her world begins to unravel. 

Freshman year is hard enough. Most girls get through by forming close friendships, finding new boys and a phone call from mom or dad on Sunday. Laurel has to navigate all of it while hiding an unplanned pregnancy from a summer fling... 

An imperfect heroine plagued by bad choices and haunted by the memory of her deceased mother and grandparents, readers are sure to identify with Laurel as she navigates teen pregnancy, in secret, in a remote college setting


                                                My Review:

“Everyone warned me about Colman College. The workload is heavy. The professors don’t mess around. To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement. I have a math class, a writing seminar, a phys. ed. requirement that’s being fulfilled by taking a class in Swedish massage of all things, a course in molecular biology that I like, plus a lab to go with it, and an Intro to Legal Ethics class that I can’t stand. I also have a positive pregnancy test – two, actually. Way to get things started.”

This is Laurel's world . Being freshman is supposed to be an exciting experience for her. New school, new people to meet...everything is overwhelming and for Laurel , only 18 ...is already face to make a decision that will change her life forever.

While everyone decides which party to crash on.. She has to decide whether to keep her baby or not. She have not told her emotionally distant Dad. Her best friend. And even the baby's father. She decided to do this on her own. Though, I don't agree with Laurel's hasty decision of keeping it to herself. I still admire her. At a young age, she is strong to carry such a burden. And I'm so happy that she decided to go on with the pregnancy and not the abortion.

I love how Ms. Christine Duval presented the story. It was realistic and it gave me a clearer understanding about unplanned teenage pregnancy and how important is having someone for support . I'm glad that Laurel joined one of the support groups that clearly help and gained her a few friends with the same situation as her.

Being in college and being pregnant is never been easy for Laurel.. She has to keep up with her classes at the same time keep up with her prenatal visit. Plus she has to keep her"being pregnant" from everyone else. And when she met Mike whom she definitely like , all became confusing. Being pregnant and all is more than she can take.

As the story progresses, I surprisingly became involved in Laurel's life. I felt the hesitation, the pain every time she attempts to tell her Dad about her situation. ( and I'm holding my breath the whole time! ) And when she finally did , I feel like crying . I'm glad at the end that her relationship with her dad was restored. I love that they really communicate and get things cleared up. Acceptance and forgiveness are proven to be both powerful words and actions indeed.

“I want you to focus on acceptance. In other words, don’t try to control the uncontrollable, and don’t try to change a person who can’t be changed. People are who they are. With acceptance comes forgiveness, and with forgiveness comes inner peace, and we can all use some of that.”

Overall, this is a good story. But the ending left me with a lot of questions. Will Laurel tell Danny about their daughter? Now that she has the chance? How will Danny react? I guess all these will be answered on the next book which I would be happy to read.

My Verdict:

3 wonderful stars!

Loving pink! :D

My Review : Dizzy by Nyrae Dawn & Jolene Perry

Dylan doesn’t do relationships. He and his older brother watched their dad go through hell and back, so they made a pact years ago—no girl would come between the Gibson boys. But his brother sells out. He's getting married anyway. To the sister of a chick Dylan met at a party, who's probably the angriest girl he's ever met. Unfortunately, she happens to be hot, too.

Ziah’s life is upside down—her safe boyfriend turns out to be not-so-safe, and now her sister is getting married before college is over to the older brother of a spoiled, party boy who drives her crazy. And also makes her heart beat too fast.

There’s no denying the attraction, but there's also no denying how much they irritate each other. When they’re thrown together as forced wedding planners, they find an ally in each other--neither wants this wedding to happen.

But instead of putting a stop to the crazy nuptials they find themselves at fittings and cake testing. And maybe even…a few dates?
Dizzy is a novel about what happens when two people who are determined not to fall in love, maybe do anyway. Maybe.

My Review:

     This is my very first book from Nyrae Dawn ( and co-author  Jolene Perry) and what can I say? It was a funny, easy to love kind of a story! And the characters,  both Ziah and Dylan are quite ... unforgettable and lovable pair!  

      I love their first meeting... and again, not my typical first meeting!  If there's  love at first sight? Their's ?! Hate at first sight! Who would  love to  be the recipient of "The Look" ?! Yes, that's what Dylan get from the super annoyed Ziah at his very own party! And who would be so happy if beer is spilled over your favorite white shirt? Ziah is definitely NOT happy about it.  Talking about making a good first impression here! Tsk.. tsk.. tsk!  That's super  hot -spoiled-party boy Dylan meeting angry-girl Ziah! Looks like disaster but no... it's just the beginning! Though they seem to not stand one another, deep down, in an unexplained way.. both find each other... attractive. ( though both would rather be caught dead than to admit! ) 

    If destiny decided to play...well, this one's well played! And these two are the unsuspecting victims! When Dylan's older brother, Derrick got engage to Ziah's older sister , Lora ... their paths crossed again. And they are not so happy about it! And to make matter worse.. Both Dylan and Ziah are assigned to be the wedding planners! How can they coordinate when they can stand being together? 

    Forced to be together  with no choice.. they stick together and slowly ..gruesomely .. with a lot of snark and constant banters,  which  is super funny! Dylan and Ziah are both caught off guard of this "new feelings" they have for each other.  I love love  reading Dylan's thought! I can't help but smile and chuckle at the same time.  It was so amusing to get inside  a guy's head ... both Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry did a great job!  Here's one of my favorites:

"Awkward silence, and then she reaches for me. Holy crap, she’s going to kiss me! Hanes is totally about to kiss me! Mayday, mayday! I don’t think I want her to kiss me. Her arms wrap around me, and it’s totally a hug. I don’t know if I’m glad or disappointed." 

     

    It is not just funny... it's hilarious! And I can even picture out how  Dylan looks like at that  very moment!  And their first kiss?  Oh. there's a lot going on.. specially in Dylan's mind! (again!)  And then he is thinking of his dad, his brother.. and his mom?  while kissing?! I can't restrain my laughter!  HE must be very confused!

    I enjoyed every chapter of this book. It's  such an easy read till the end. And the ending, falls perfectly into my "Happily-ever-after" category which really works for me!  

    The collaboration between N. Dawn and J. Perry is awesome.  I'm looking forward for more from them in the future! 

       And I have the perfect song for  Ziah and Dylan! Here's the  link:

     My Verdict:  3 wonderful swoony stars!

My Review : Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart

My Review:

First of all, I love the cover! It is what I imagine Helen to look like.. like a Greek goddess! :)

Helen  grew up knowing that her mother abandoned her and her father. With Helen's "heavenly" beauty more are drawn to her as well as most girls at school hated her for it. Not only she is beautiful, she is also exceptionally strong.. and deep down she knows she is nothing like ordinary...but she kept it to herself and became super self conscious and shy to the point of losing her self confidence. Even she cannot confide to her best friend Claire on what's really bothering her inside.

         

     Everyday she tried to make herself invisible  thus , the slouching, not to draw any unnecessary attention her. Until one day, news about a Delos Family coming over and moved in ...  stirred the sleepy town. Everybody is pretty excited and curious about the Delos family. Most specially the members of this family is ultra gorgeous?! I don't know why this reminds me of the Cullen family from Twilight. There are so much similarities. Aside from disturbingly perfect looks , did I mentioned they are Scions? like the demigods! Each one of them has exceptional gift... Hector the strong one -- Like Emnett Cullen?! , Cassandra, who can foresee the future --Like Alice Cullen?! and Lucas, who can sense lies or more likely like going to one's head? -- Well? Hello Edward Cullen! The only missing element here is that the Delos family are not immortal ( yet!) But no matter how I hate it to be like Twilight, still,  I was both curious and fascinated of the idea of Demigods/Scions living with us. And of course, I wanted to find out the story of this two star crossed lovers?!

         And Lucas and Helen's first meeting is far from our typical "Disney moment" . While I was expecting it to be like in the most romantic flicks , like time freezes when their eyes met.. the slow motion of everything they do? Not happening. The moment their eyes me and with "the Furies" intervention, Helen felt all the rage in the world and went for Lucas' throat. Yes, like to literally kill him?! I was wide eyed and mouth hanging open. What the...?! Never  expecting their first meeting to be..Uhm, super intense?! Helen officially  became the "talk of the school" forever! And to make the matter even worse, she is  always having nightmares and sleepwalks almost every night!

             A midst all their efforts to stay away from each other, so not to end up bloody kill each other... fate keeps on playing on them..thus one fateful night,  with some saving and sacrifice , the Furies left them alone. And from that time on... Helen and Lucas became inseparable. Like, always holding hands like it's the most natural thing to do ?! 

        Since they are star crossed , being together brought about more dangers... specially on Helen's life .  And of course there is always Lucas who saves the day! ( though Helen needs no saving because she has super powers too!) As Helen gradually discovers what she can do... so do revelation about who she really is was uncovered.  And as she is reunited with  her long absent mother, Helen is exposed to the truth and have to decide if what she had with Lucas is worth fighting for?  Can they stop history from repeating itself? Or will they watch their families be destroyed? 

        This book is definitely a page turner. The ending? A cliffhanger... leaving me more questions unanswered that will definitely make me want to read the next book!

                                                                                     My Verdict:

3 swoony stars!