Spring break in Los Angeles with her BFFs has been Marisol's driving force to get through senior year. But when a falling out dents her plans, Marisol tucks the broken friendship into her back pocket with her cell phone and spring break bucket list.
Surf city Crescent Cove isn't exactly LA, but once she meets a tattooed brunette named Noah in the hotel elevator, Marisol really doesn't mind crossing off the items on her list without her friends - especially after Noah offers to help. Unaware that Noah fits the criteria for item #3 (meet a celebrity), Marisol is instantly thrown into the world of paparazzi, wild nights, and a spring break she'll never forget.
While her friends are making memories in LA, Marisol is making tabloid headlines. But after slipping a Spaceships Around Saturn secret to the media, Marisol has to fight hard to survive her fifteen minutes of fame and get back on Noah's good side before he crosses her off of his list for good.
At First Sight
The cover of this book is cute and fun. After reading the book I feel like it fits the vibe of the book really well.
Characters and Relationships
If you have read any of Nikki's books, you know that she is wonderful at writing characters you fall in love with. It was fun to watch Marisol and Noah's relationship develop while they worked on her spring break bucket list. I loved the fact that Marisol had no idea who Noah was (a member of Spaceships Around Saturn) and thought that added a nice element to the story. It was great to revisit the characters that I fell in love with in American Girl on Saturn as well as some favorites from her Drenaline Surf series that are in this book. I love the cross over between the series characters and think it adds such a new dimension to the book if you have read both series.
Is This A Kissing Book?
There is a bit of kissing going on in this one...but nothing I wouldn't let my teenagers read. There is a fade to black scene as well, but nothing that I found to be inappropriate for the target audience.
The Best Gems
Bucket List
Fashion
Strawberry Milk (This is Noah we are talking about here!)
Crescent Cove
Pier Jumping
Paparazzi
Nat
Mermaid Festival
Hanging with Aralie
Little Black Dress
The Sum Up
Cross Me Off Your List was a wonderful installment in the Saturn Series. I loved every page of it. It moves very well and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next. As I said before, Nikki is a master at creating new characters and reminding us why we love the ones we already know so much. I really liked Marisol (more than I thought I might at first) and felt like she was a lot of fun to be with throughout the whole book. I look forward to future installments in this series to see what is in store for Spaceships Around Saturn as Nikki takes us on this exciting ride.
Welcome to Feature Follow Friday! This post is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. This feature is here for everyone to be able to get their blog some attention and get more followers as well as give my readers a little more fun at looking what I do for the weekly topic. This week's Question: How many books do you have on your To Be Read list? According to my Goodreads account (which I keep pretty updated) I have... 715
How many books are on your TBR? Leave me your links so I can visit your blog and give you a follow back!
We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Week Launch for Katie McGarry's NOWHERE BUT HERE!
NOWHERE BUT HERE is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance and is a part of Katie McGarry’sThunder Road Series, published by Harlequin Teen.
An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible. Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she's curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn't mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear: nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both. Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They're the good guys. They protect people. They're…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club's most respected member—is in town, he's gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it's his shot at his dream. What he doesn't count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down. No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.
Set up: Emily is riding a motorcycle for the very first time and she's riding it with Oz.
THE MOTORCYCLE ACCELERATES AND THE FEW inches I had established between me and Oz: gone. My body slides forward, colliding into his, and we click together like two puzzle pieces. Heat rushes up my neck and onto my cheeks. My thighs are too close to his, too tight against his body and this is way more intimate than I have been before with a guy.
Even when the two of us kissed.
Oz veers left, away from Olivia’s, away from the main road, and the entire motorcycle pitches to the side. My heart thunders and my fingers clutch not only at Oz’s belt loop, but at the material of his jeans, and his hips.
Oz glances at me over his shoulder as the bike straightens out. “Lean with it, Emily.”
Right. Lean with Oz and the bike. Got it. The narrow road curves ahead and this time when Oz and the bike tilt, I move along with it. Oz releases one of the amazingly high handlebars and massages my knee before returning his hand to the grip. Whether in reassurance or to affirm I mastered the curve I don’t know, but either way, I sit higher.
The wind whips through my hair and onto my face and I shut my eyes for a brief second and pretend that I’m flying. There’s something energizing, something hypnotic, something inside me that begs to burst out of a cage in search of freedom.
The motorcycle kicks forward and our speed increases. Beams of sunlight filter through the towering trees and green foliage blurs together as we fly over the road. From head to toe, my body vibrates with the loud growling of the powerful machine.
My knee still tingles from where Oz laid his fingers on me and I’ve never been more aware of my hands in my life. I should let go of Oz’s body, but I can’t. Belt loops weren’t enough and my fingers have somehow edged up and onto his sides. Oz is solid. Yes, definitely solid. Every inch of him that I touch is tight muscle.
Oz is a year older than me, but somehow he seems older, wiser and hotter than any other guy I’ve known. Just the way he rides his bike creates this overabundance of confidence.
Warm sensations I’ve never experienced before blossom through me. We enter another curve and I lean with him. I like how in sync I’ve become with Oz and the motorcycle. Like we’ve merged into one.
The purr of the engine deepens and Oz eases the bike to a stop. His feet hit the ground and he turns the machine off. It’s as if all sound in the world ceased, or maybe I’ve gone deaf because there’s no way anything can be this still or silent.
The wind picks up and the silence is frightened away with the roar of the trees bending. Both Oz and I shift with the flow of air and Oz doesn’t move the bike until the breeze gentles.
Oz kicks down the stand and the bike tilts, but not too much. He sets a hand over the fingers that I laced together across his stomach. Oh, hell, I’m plastic wrapped to him. I drop my head onto his shoulder and it places me closer, and closer is not what I need.
I go to unglue myself, but Oz squeezes my fingers, sending a jolt of electricity up my arms. “You okay?”
I have to clear my throat to speak and that just sucks. “Yes.”
Oz slides his fingers against mine and a fluttering occurs in my stomach. It’s a light fluttering.
Ticklish even, and my survival instincts scream at me to get off this motorcycle.
NOWHERE BUT HERE Trailer
About The Author
Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.
that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!
Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To: - find the liquor cabinet blindfolded - need a liver transplant - drive his car into a house
Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To: - well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.
For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.
Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.
And Alice is caught in the middle.
Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more.
Release Date for The Boy Most Likely To is August 18, 2015
That's what I'm waiting on this week. What books are you excited for?
that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!
Kenley Hunter finally has everything sorted out. Fresh from studying chocolate making in Europe, she's
gambling everything on her new business, Confection Consultations.
All Kenley wants in life is people to take her seriously, to see the person on the inside rather than the
blonde beauty on the outside. While pursuing her passion of chocolate, Kenley discovered people seek her
knowledge. They see past the exterior and fall for the chocolate delights in front of them.
So with work as her focus, Kenley is ready to start her career in Dallas. Men are out of her recipe, because she fears that once they get past her looks, they’ll be disappointed in what they find. Kenley decides she's all about the chocolate now.
Or is she?
Because a chance meeting with new Dallas Demon hockey star Nate Johansson might change everything. Sent to Dallas in a blockbuster trade, Nate is somewhere he doesn't want to be, for reasons that have caused him heartbreak on multiple levels. Nate knows he will never trust a woman again after what happened to him in Minnesota.
But when he meets a woman with an intriguing name and a passion for chocolate, Nate isn't so sure about his theory. And he might just learn a definition of icing other than the one used in hockey with Kenley as his guide...
Release Date for The Definition of Icing is May 27, 2015
Tattered Altered Love by K.D. Ferguson Release Date: 05/2015
What
if you had the chance to change the future, would you take it regardless of the
cost? Could you find the strength to overthrow a corrupt government that filled
your life, and the lives of countless others, with lies and sadness? Krissa Channing seemed to be a Headquarters prodigy, on track for a successful
pairing and a lifetime of living by government standards. But her destiny was
far more than that which was mapped out for her. Upon the discovery of an
underground revolution, Krissa is thrown into a world she never knew existed.
The devastating losses she has endured have placed her in the position to help
lead the movement. The glittering future offered by the takeover seems to be bright, but how much
of the life she once knew is Krissa willing to sacrifice?
"I never wanted any of this. I always thought I’d be a Headquarters girl. I knew we were controlled and given limited choices, but it made sense to me. I accepted the house, the car, and the limited television, movie and music choices. I even accepted the inadequate information regarding our country’s history. And then, in such a short time, Braiden changed everything. Everything I knew about love, life and myself. I never expected to be here in the position that I was, but I accepted it. I just wish that he was by my side. And if I couldn’t have him along side of me, at the very least I wish he were still alive."
"Braiden’s life was over, and my story with him would now be uncomplicated. There was no more searching for rhyme and reason with us because there was no us when one half was dead. But as for Duke, I didn’t know up from down and what was wrong or right anymore."
Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance by Danielle Younge-Ullman Release Date: 05/05/15 Entangled Teen Lola Carlyle is lonely, out of sorts, and in for a boring summer. So when her best friend, Sydney, calls to rave about her stay at a posh Malibu rehab and reveals that the love of Lola’s life, Wade Miller, is being admitted, she knows what she has to do. Never mind that her worst addiction is decaf cappuccino; Lola is going to rehab. Lola arrives at Sunrise Rehab intent solely on finding Wade, saving him from himself, and—naturally—making him fall in love with her…only to discover she’s actually expected to be an addict. And get treatment. And talk about her issues with her parents, and with herself. Plus she has insane roommates, and an irritatingly attractive mentor, Adam, who’s determined to thwart her at every turn. Oh, and Sydney? She’s gone. Turns out, once her pride, her defenses, and her best friend are stripped away, Lola realizes she’s actually got a lot to overcome…if she can open her heart long enough to let it happen.
Thanks for having me! For today’s blog post, I am posting an excerpt from my debut YA novel, LOLA CARLYLE’S 12 STEP ROMANCE. In this scene, Lola finally gets the chance to spend some time on the beach with her crush, and the boy she faked her way into rehab to rescue/forge a love connection with.
We both laugh, and water swirls around my ankles.
“But Carlyle, what happened?” he says, his expression getting serious again. “Last I knew, you were a kid and now you’re here. What’s the deal?”
“Oh,” I say with a dismissive wave, “just a bit of a drinking thing. You know how it goes.”
“Right…”
“Yeah…”
“I wondered about something,” he says, coming closer.
“What?”
“You, ah, you kissed me, Carlyle.”
“Oh, you noticed,” I say, trying to be nonchalant even as my heart rate increases.
“Yeah, I noticed. Hard to miss.”
“Well then, so I did.”
“So…? What was that about?”
“Poor impulse control?”
“Really?”
“No.” I swallow. “Actually, I always wanted to kiss you. Figured I’d check it off the list.”
“Off the list?”
“Yep.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, even though my legs feel like Play-Doh. “So, now I have.”
“And?”
“And it was fun,” I say, and then turn and start walking back along the shore toward Talia.
Wade follows, half walking, half paddling in the shallow water.
“Wait, wait! So…you had a crush? During the movie? Are you saying you had a crush on me?”
“I wanted to kiss you, that’s all,” I say over my shoulder.
“That’s a crush, Carlyle. I call that a crush.”
“Maybe.”
“Why didn’t you say something? I know we lost touch for a bit, but you could’ve called me. Or friended me on Facebook, followed me on Twitter,” he says, all the while struggling to get out of the water and balance his board.
“Followed you on Twitter? Please. I’m not some cheesy fangirl.”
I searched Facebook early on, but he wasn’t there. By the time I looked again he had three thousand “friends,” most of them female. And I do follow him on Twitter, but not as me and not that I’d admit it, ever.
“But you’d have been my cheesy fangirl.” He comes up beside me, carrying the board by his side. “I’m very fond of cheesy fangirls.”
“You have enough of those.”
“My loss.”
“I’d be a bad cheesy fangirl. I’d get bored. I’m too fickle, I’m crap at the adulation thing, and I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing you on a T-shirt.”
He howls with laughter.
“Plus, I have trouble sharing.”
He stops laughing and looks at me. “Sharing, huh? You sure?”
I feel a moment of eww, but brush it away. “Very.”
We get closer to Talia on her rock and the lifeguard station, and our walking slows almost to a stop, as if by silent agreement.
“By the way,” Wade says, “I’m sorry about your parents.”
“Aw, no big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal. It’s your parents.”
“Sure, but it happens all the time, right?”
“Not where I’m from. Well, not as much.”
“That’s why you started out sweet, W.A.D.E.”
About the Author
Danielle Younge-Ullman is a novelist, playwright and freelance writer. She studied English and Theater at McGill University, then returned to her hometown of Toronto to work as professional actor for ten years. Danielle’s short story, Reconciliation, was published in MODERN MORSELS—a McGraw-Hill Anthology for young adults—in 2012, her one-act play, 7 Acts of Intercourse, debuted at Toronto's SummerWorks Festival in 2005, and her adult novel, FALLING UNDER, was published by Penguin in 2008. Danielle lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters.
that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating!
She closed her heart long ago. He just wants to open her mind. For fans of Toni Aleo and Sawyer Bennett, the debut of Sophia Henry’s red-hot Detroit Pilots series introduces a hockey team full of complicated men who fight for love.
Auden Berezin is used to losing people: her father, her mother, her first love. Now, just when she believes those childhood wounds are finally healing, she loses something else: the soccer scholarship that was her ticket to college. Scrambling to earn tuition money, she’s relieved to find a gig translating for a Russian minor-league hockey player—until she realizes that he’s the same dangerously sexy jerk who propositioned her at the bar the night before.
Equal parts muscle and scar tissue, Aleksandr Varenkov knows about trauma. Maybe that’s what draws him to Auden. He also lost his family too young, and he channeled the pain into his passions: first hockey, then vodka and women. But all that seems to just melt away the instant he kisses Auden and feels a jolt of desire as sudden and surprising as a hard check on the ice.
After everything she’s been through, Auden can’t bring herself to trust any man, let alone a hot-headed puck jockey with a bad reputation. Aleksandr just hopes she’ll give him a chance—long enough to prove he’s finally met the one who makes him want to change.
In the new series by Tiffany King, the USA Today bestselling author of the Woodfalls Girls novels, six friends—fresh from high school graduation—discover that the future can come at you from out of nowhere.
This is Mackenzie’s story…
Mackenzie Wilson once had hope for what life had to offer, but everything changed on the night of her graduation. A year later, the only way she can find comfort is by keeping her head down and hoping she remains unnoticed at college.
When Bentley James discovered Mac in that twisted SUV, he was just a newbie EMT on his first call. It was a gut-wrenching moment that made him realize not everyone can be saved—and sometimes they don’t want to be.
A chance encounter on campus brings Bentley back into Mac’s life. Despite her initial resistance, he sets out to discover the girl hiding beneath a shield of seclusion. He evokes painful memories in Mac—but also feelings. As the spark between them grows, Mac must decide if she can let go of the past and believe in something as fragile as love…
Congratulations to Tiffany King on her latest release! I am always so excited when she has a new book coming out because her writing is amazing. Make sure and pick up your copy of A Shattered Moment today!
We listen to music all the time in our house so we thought it would be fun to share some of the music we love with you in a blog post every month. Get ready, because everyone is grabbing their iPods and then...
WE ARE GOING TO HIT SHUFFLE!
Coconut
Female ~ Age: 10
Favorite music groups/artists: One Direction, Justin Bieber,
Cody Simpson, Austin Mahone
Coconut's Playlist
One Way Or Another ~ One Direction
Rain Is A Good Thing ~ Luke Bryan
Magnetic ~ Jessie J (City of Bones Soundtrack)
Need A Little Love ~ Hannah Montana
Now Or Never ~ High School Musical 3 Soundtrack
Riff Off ~ Pitch Perfect Soundtrack
The Best Day ~ Taylor Swift
Right Here, Right Now ~ High School Musical 3 Soundtrack
Right Here ~ Justin Bieber (Featuring Drake)
All Time Low ~ The Wanted
Toucan
Female ~ Age: 14
Favorite Music Groups/Artists : One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Shawn Mendes, Jack and Jack
Likes to listen to Top 40 Radio Hits.
Toucan's Playlist
By The Grace Of God ~ Katy Perry
You & I ~ One Direction
Be My Baby ~ Ariana Grande (Featuring Cashmere Cat)
Summer Love ~ One Direction
Bring It Back ~ Shawn Mendes
Awakening ~ Yellowcard
Blank Space ~ Taylor Swift
Stitches ~ Shawn Mendes
Brak Free ~ Ariana Grande (Featuring Zedd)
Secret ~ Austin Mahone
Flamingo
Female ~ Age: Adult
Favorite Music Group: Bon Jovi
She will pretty much listen to and enjoy anything.
Flamingo's Playlist
It's Gonna Be Me ~ *NSYNC
Rough Water ~ Travie McCoy (featuring Jason Mraz)
Hard Habit To Break ~ Chicago
If She Only Knew ~ 98 Degrees
Diana ~ One Direction
Firework ~ Katy Perry
Heartbreak Girl ~ 5 Seconds Of Summer
Make Me Lose Control ~ Eric Carmen
Somebody To Love ~ Justin Bieber
Country Girl (Shake It For Me) ~ Luke Bryan
Banana
Male ~ Age:17
Likes to listen to pretty much any kind of music.
Doesn't have a favorite Artist.
Banana's Playlist
Noise ~ Colton Dixon
Sure Fire Winners ~ Adam Lambert
Where Have You Been ~ Rhianna
Problem ~ Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea
The Way ~ Ariana Grande feat Mac Miller
Tell Me That You Love Me ~ Victorious Soundtrack
She's Not Afraid ~ One Direction
For the First Time in Forever ~ Frozen
Your Love ~ Nicki Minaj
Everywhere ~ Michelle Branch
Last up ~ Surfboard
Male ~ Age: Adult
Doesn't like any particular artist, just songs.
Surfboard's Playlist
Mrs. All American ~ 5 Seconds of Summer
Check Yes, Juliet ~ We The Kings
Party In the USA ~ Miley Cyrus
When Love Comes to Town ~ U2 (featuring BB King)
Enjoy The Silence ~ Depeche Mode
Oops!...I Did It Again ~ Britney Spears
Tubthumping ~ Chumbawamba
Trashy Women ~ Confederate Railroad
What Have You Done For Me Lately ~ Janet Jackson
Sledgehammer ~ Fifth Harmony
Do you want to join us in the Sarcastic Song Shuffle? We love finding new music and would love to know what you are listening to as well. From now on, Sarcastic Song Shuffle is going to be a blog hop! Grab the Sarcastic Song Shuffle sticker at the top of this post and join the linky so we can see what you are listening to as well. We will be doing this on the FIRST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH so put it on your schedule now and join us in the Sarcastic Song Shuffle!
(If you would like a monthly reminder email about the Sarcastic Song Shuffle, contact me at sarcasticpalmtrees@gmail.com)