Contemporary

Book Review | Message Not Found | Dante Medema

Book Review | Message Not Found | Dante Medema

They say parents shouldn’t have to say goodbye to their kids, but best friends shouldn’t have to say goodbye either. Bailey can’t stop blaming herself. It was her house that her best friend left in the middle of a snowstorm. She was the one who didn’t ask Vanessa about the text message that made her frown. Now Vanessa is dead and Bailey wants to know why she was driving through the mountain pass instead of heading for home. Stealing her mother’s chatbot, Bailey compiles every piece of information she has about Vanessa, asking the bot questions in hopes that it can explain everything to her. But sometimes the truth is worse than your imagination.

Read More

Book Review | Loveboat, Taipei | Abigail Hing Wen

Book Review | Loveboat, Taipei | Abigail Hing Wen

When Ever is sent to a summer program in Taipei, she thinks that her world is over. There’s no auditioning for her dance scholarship, and her parents won’t even let her take her dancing gear with her. All they want her to do is focus on going to medical school in the fall. Yet this prestigious summer program is not what anyone expected. As soon as she arrives, Ever is informed of the rules – sneak out to the clubs at night, show up half drunk to your classes the next day, and try to meet your future spouse. Ever loves the break from her parents’ control, but rebelling against her parents’ wishes might just be the exact opposite of what she needs. As her life slowly spirals out of control, Ever is forced to come to grips with what she really wants.

Read More

Book Review | Meg and Jo | Virginia Kantra

Book Review | Meg and Jo | Virginia Kantra

The classic Little Women is retold in this contemporary version, bringing those timeless characters to the modern day and age. Which means that they also deal with the modern issues of our time. When her mother gets sick, Meg’s world flips on its head as she’s forced to balance motherhood, her sulking husband, and the need to take care of her mother. Especially as her father flits in and out of the picture, spending his time taking care of the local veterans. Jo, struggling to keep her head above water after getting laid off from her writing job, works long hours in a kitchen. Her time gains her insights to the world of food for her blog. But not everyone approves of food blogs. In the end, the two girls must find their way back to their roots to see the way home.

Read More

Book Review | Sprint Dreams | Faith Dismuke

Book Review | Sprint Dreams | Faith Dismuke

Makeda wants nothing more than to make it to college nationals and graduate college. But no matter how hard she runs, neither will come true if she can’t get a scholarship to stay in school. She fights harder and harder, trying to prove herself, but everything seems stacked against her. From her decision to change schools, to her other teammates, Makeda feels her dreams slip through her fingers until she’s forced to fight for the most important person in her life. Herself.

Read More

Book Review | Bossman | Vi Keeland

Book Review | Bossman | Vi Keeland

So he called you out on your behavior outside the ladies’ restroom as you tried to get your friend to pull you out of your bad date. Then invited himself and his perfect date to your table. But you never expected the creative story he makes up on the fly about your childhood together. And you’ve never met him before. Reese doesn’t know what to do with the man flung into her life that one night. She didn’t expect him to get stuck in her head, or that she’d run into him at her boyfriend’s gym, or that she’d be working for him. Chase on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted, and he didn't stop at making it very well known.

Read More

Book Review | The Bride Test | Helen Hoang

Book Review | The Bride Test | Helen Hoang

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection. With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.  - Goodreads

Read More

Book Review | The Kiss Quotient | Helen Hoang

Book Review | The Kiss Quotient | Helen Hoang

Stella has heard it over and over from her mom, it’s time to get settled down and make some grandchildren. But with someone with Aaperger’s, that’s no easy feat. Stella has her routine, her system, and every encounter she’s had with a guy hasn’t been enjoyable. When she’s given the idea to try escorting, she jumps at the chance. This could be a way to be taught how to be a good girlfriend. What she never expected to find was a guy that fit her in every way. A guy that didn’t judge her for being different. A guy that made kissing enjoyable. Can they convince each other that this is more than a lesson on dating?

Read More

Book Review | "Emergency Contact" | Mary H. K. Choi

Book Review | "Emergency Contact" | Mary H. K. Choi

Penny has her ticket away from her mom - college. It’s far enough away to stop daily visits but close enough to keep an eye on her. Sam is trying to keep his head above water. He’s just thankful to have a roof over his head and a job. A job that won’t be able to support the baby his ex-girlfriend says is his. Thrown together through a weird family connection with Penny’s roommate, Penny finds Sam on the side of the road feeling like he’s dying. Unable to pay for an emergency room visit, Penny agrees to play his emergency contact. But their little phone messages become so much more as they navigate the rough world of adulthood.

Read More

Book Review | "The How & The Why" | Cynthia Hand

Book Review | "The How & The Why" | Cynthia Hand

Cass was given a second chance on a family when she was adopted at six weeks old. Eighteen years later and thoughts about her birth mother have started to creep into her head. Who was the woman that gave her up? Where does she ultimately come from? People have always said she looks just like her adopted mother, confusing her as their real child, but she didn’t come from them. She came from someone else. When Cass’s adoptive mother needs a new heart and the doctors don’t think she’ll make it much longer, she tells Cass about letters her birth mother wrote to her before she was born. Letters that could finally answer all the questions. In the search though, Cass worries that she’s not seeing the family right in front of her eyes.

Read More

Book Review | "The Farm" | Joanne Ramos

Book Review | "The Farm" | Joanne Ramos

What if there was a chance to change your life? All you have to do is carry someone else's baby for nine months. The idea is very appealing to Jane who has hit a series of rough patches and just wants to do right for her infant daughter. From divorce to her sick cousin, she can’t seem to catch a break. So when the idea falls into her lap, she knows it’s the only way out of poverty. Leaving her daughter with family, Jane enters her nine month stint. Things don’t go as planned and she becomes worried the longer she’s away from her daughter. She tries to play the perfect host until she’s left with no other options.

Read More

Book Review | "Tunnel of Bones" | Victoria Scwab

Book Review | "Tunnel of Bones" | Victoria Scwab

If Edinburgh had been a ghostly nightmare, France feels like a walk in the park for Cassidy Blake. That is until she goes to the first recording location with her parents - the catacombs. It’s not the bodies that are haunting the place, pulling Cassidy to the veil, but the poor soul’s that have gotten lost in the twisting, turning tunnels five stories underground. Cassidy promises to stay on the side of the living. An accidental slip send her through the veil anyway. All she can see is a red light. A red light that is attached to something scarier than Cassidy has ever faced before. 

Read More

Book Review | "The Hunting Party" | By Lucy Foley

Book Review | "The Hunting Party" | By Lucy Foley

Life may be busy, but every Christmas break a circle of old college friends come together to celebrate the new year. This year, the newest member of the group has planned a trip to the Scottish Highlands at a remote lodge run by just two staff members. Everything starts out fine - champagne around the fireplace, a few drugs - but each others dirty little secrets start to reveal themselves as the snow begins to fall. Soon there’s no way out and no way to get help when one of them goes missing. 

Read More

Book Review | "Red, White & Royal Blue" | Casey McQuiston

Book Review | "Red, White & Royal Blue" | Casey McQuiston

Alex’s life is the perfect blend of dreams come true and chaos - his mother is the first female President. With his life now on a stage and his mother up for re-election, nothing can go seriously wrong. Like an altercation with a Prince across the pond. After a horrifying tabloid scandal, Alex and Henry are forced to play nice and convince the world that they’re friends. But the more time they spend together, the more they learn that there’s something behind all the angst. The two set down a dangerous path that could ruin their lives and Alex’s mother’s re-election.

Read More

Book Review | "Queenie" | Candice Carty-Williams

Book Review | "Queenie" | Candice Carty-Williams

One thing after another and Queenie’s life hits a dead spin. It all started at her doctor’s office - she ‘was’ pregnant. As her longtime boyfriend asks for a break, Queenie can’t make herself tell him that she had a miscarriage. That maybe a break up isn’t the best thing right now. Things go from bad to even worse as she makes one wrong decision after another. She lets guys use her, friends walk all over her, and barely scrapes by at work. Eventually she hits rock bottom at the same time that her Jamaican community begins to disappear before her eyes.

Read More

Book Review | "The Unhoneymooners" | Christina Lauren

Book Review | "The Unhoneymooners" | Christina Lauren

She didn’t eat the buffet. Thank God she didn’t eat the buffet. And because of that, there’s only two people who can go on the nonrefundable honeymoon, and they’re not the bride and groom - just their siblings. Olive begrudgingly accepts the dream vacation, dreading every minute she’ll be forced to spend with Ethan, her new brother-in-law, who’s hated her since the first day they met. Top it off with having to pretend to be her twin sister and Olive already feels like the trip is off to a rocky start. It’s made even rockier when the two have to actually pretend to be married.

Read More

Book Review | "You Owe Me A Murder" | Eileen Cook

Book Review | "You Owe Me A Murder" | Eileen Cook

It was supposed to be an experience to broaden her horizons. She was supposed to be going with her boyfriend. But right out of the gate, the trip has turned into Kim’s worst nightmare as she watches another girl sit on Connor’s lap. That’s why when Nicki, a girl on Kim’s flight, befriend’s Kim, Kim turns into an open book, spilling every last sorted detail of what happened between her and Connor. Nicki jokes that the two of them could take care of each other’s little problem - the police would never guess it was either of them. When Connor ends up dead, Kim fears Nicki has taken her own suggestion seriously.

Read More

Book Review | "Valley Girls" | Sarah Nicole Lemon

Book Review | "Valley Girls" | Sarah Nicole Lemon

Rilla is stuck spending the summer with her park ranger sister after her life falls apart back home. With a one way bus ticket and a pile of homework to keep her from failing out of school, she’s determined to show everyone. To show everyone that she’s really okay. And it seems like things could be okay after she stumbles into a rock climbing group in the park. They take her under their wings, showing her the literal ropes. However, she can’t let go of her haunting past and starts to see the new group judge her in the same way. Losing faith in them, in her sister, and in herself, she makes one wrong decision that could change her future again.

Read More

Book Review | "All Eyes On Us" | Kit Frick

Book Review | "All Eyes On Us" | Kit Frick

Amanda and Rosalie have nothing in common - except for dating the same guy, Carter Shaw. Golden boy, extraordinaire, Carter is set to inherit his father’s company and since the start of High School, Amanda and Carter have been pushed as the end goal, the power couple. But Carter can’t stay faithful. Players can be played however and Rosalie does just that by using Carter as a front, trying to conceal her true feelings from her fundamentalist church and family. Amanda and Rosalie’s futures become threatened when they both receive text messages from Private. Private promises to not just destroy their futures but also their lives if they don’t do as instructed.

Read More

Book Review | "City of Ghosts" | Victoria Schwab

Book Review | "City of Ghosts" | Victoria Schwab

One day Cass was just your normal girl; unpopular, a lover of cameras, and with crazy parents that write books about ghosts. Then the next day, she could actually see them… ghosts that is. With a tap, tap, tap, she’s drawn to the splits in the veil where she crosses over and watches ghosts relive their deaths. And all this with her best friend and sidekick, Jacob, the ghost that saved her on that frozen day. It’s not so bad, this new life. Cass figures out a rhythm. She can’t wait for summer vacation at the beach house, a place mostly devoid of the ghostly kind. But then her parents drop a massive bomb. They landed a TV show and will be heading straight to Edinburgh, one of the most haunted cities in the world. What was supposed to be a quiet, idyllic summer, turns into a crazy adventure where Cass learns what her new gift really means.

Read More

Book Review | "Incendiaries" | R. O. Kwon

Book Review | "Incendiaries" | R. O. Kwon

Will is running away from it all - his religion, his family, his past - to the prestigious Edwards College on the East Coast. Feigning that he fits in, he meets Phoebe, a glamorous girl who eats her own emotions for supper and hides her dark past in questions. She never knows why she stays with Will, more used to the one night stands of college life. But something keeps drawing them together until a former Edwards’s student, hailing the word of God, blows into Phoebe’s life. He claims he was sent by her father, but all he speaks are sinister messages that send Phoebe and Will on a wild journey.

Read More