Trailer Thursday: Frankly in Love by David Yoon

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FRANKLY in LOVE

Author: David Yoon

Release Date: September 10th 2019

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Frank Li has two names. There's Frank Li, his American name. Then there's Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California.

Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl--which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white.

As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he's forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don't leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he's found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he's left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.

In this moving novel, debut author David Yoon takes on the question of who am I? with a result that is humorous, heartfelt, and ultimately unforgettable.

Trailer Thursday: The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

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The Merciful Crow

The Merciful Crow #1

Author: Margaret Owen

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Released: July 30th 2019

One way or another, we always feed the crows.

A future chieftain

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

Book Review: Every Moment After by Joseph Moldover

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Every Moment After
Author: Joseph Moldover
Reading Level: Young Adult | Teen
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Released: April 9th 2019
Review Source: Nicole Banholzer PR, LLC

Best friends Matt and Cole grapple with their changing relationships during the summer after high school in this impactful, evocative story about growing up and moving on from a traumatic past.

Surviving was just the beginning.

Eleven years after a shooting rocked the small town of East Ridge, New Jersey and left eighteen first graders in their classroom dead, survivors and recent high school graduates Matt Simpson and Cole Hewitt are still navigating their guilt and trying to move beyond the shadow of their town's grief. Will Cole and Matt ever be able to truly leave the ghosts of East Ridge behind? Do they even want to?

As they grapple with changing relationships, falling in love, and growing apart, these two friends must face the question of how to move on—and truly begin living.

High school graduation is a time of celebration. Not only are you done with adolescence, but you are making your way to adulthood. For Cole and Matthew, graduation means something different. They, along with their fellow graduates, stare at the black memorial chairs meant the symbolize those lost in a school shooting. Summer is not just the relaxation and excitement awaiting for the fall, but a final moment to really decide who they are as adults.

Every Moment After is a story following Cole and Matthew, best friends, who are survivors of a school shooting. One of the themes this book touches on is the survivor mentality. Cole was present during the shooting, while Matthew was home sick. Something the Moldover, the author, does is give the audience the ability to walk through this perspective of survivor's guilt that is not explored enough in media. Matthew suffers with guilt for not being present during the shooting. He doesn't feel like he deserves his success and life when so many of his friends have suffered. Matthew struggles with the idea of being a survivor when he spent the day in bed reading comics. Cole blocks the events of the day. He is known as the boy in the photo. Made famous because of the actions of another. Being in the spotlight gives Cole anxiety and he struggles with being able to express himself to a girl he loves. Most people would think surviving would be enough to give a person a renewed sense of life, but as we read, this is something Matthew and Cole question about themselves.

Every Moment After is a thought provoking read. I thought about my own adolescence and could only imagine how similar our issues were. The biggest difference is I didn't have to struggle with the feeling that I should be grateful to be alive. Being alive is something most of us take for granted. We don't realize how the actions of one could have drastically changed not only our life, but who we become. Moldover gives us the chance to see how life changes and how it stays the same. We all struggle on who we are suppose to be and act. I saw this book as a chance to self reflect and truly think on how we want to be in our on life.

New Book Alert: Beau and Bett by Kathryn Berla - June 25th!

Coming this June, from Amberjack Publishing, award-winning author Kathryn Berla's BEAU & BETT. They are calling it a modern retelling of the classic Beauty and The Beast. OUaT will be posting a review closer to publication time. Here are more details on Berla's latest novel.

Beau & Bett

Author: Kathryn Berla

Release Date: June 25th 2019

Publisher: Amberjack Publishing

Level: Young Adult

After Beau LeFrancois's mother wrecks Bett Diaz’s luxury SUV, his family faces an impossibly large bill—with no car insurance to help pay it. To pay off the debt, Beau spends his weekends working at the Diaz Ranch.

Beau’s prepared to work, but he’s definitely not prepared for the infamous temper of Bett Diaz, also known as "The Beast" at school. As Beau learns the secrets behind Bett’s tough exterior, he finds himself falling for her . . . until he catches Bett in a lie.

A contemporary twist on a classic fairy tale, Beau and Bett is a timely story of family, friendship, and the power of speaking out and standing up for yourself.

Book Review: Playing With Demons by Cally Edwards

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Playing with Demons
The Devil's In The Details #1
Author: Cally Edwards | Facebook | Instagram
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Paranormal Romance | Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 6th 2019
Review Source: Author

The Devil’s in the Details…

In a world where humans are unaware of the demons that roam amongst them, it’s left to the Nephilim to keep it that way—or at least that’s what Grace Campbell was brought up to believe. Grace might have been born half-Nephilim and half-demon, but her loyalty is wholly on the side of the good guys. She’s dedicated her life to protecting the innocent, and her mixed lineage only makes her better at her job. Unfortunately, her blood also makes her the only one capable of entering Hell’s hidden wards.

Now her latest assignment will see Grace endure the trials of the seven deadly sins in order to win a barbaric tournament to secure an important prize for the Nephilim. To survive, Grace will be forced to embrace her dark side and accept the help of her greatest opponent yet, Lucifer’s son. The very sexy Prince of Hell, Zadeon, will have Grace questioning just how bad, the bad guys are.

Playing with Demons is a story that brings the audience into a fantasy world of demons and angels in our world. Grace is a young woman with the unique background of being a half nephilim half demon. She trained her whole life to support the Nephilim in their quest to keep the human world safe from demons. Grace has to face her biggest challenge when her very self is brought to question. Who is Grace Campbell and what is the truth of her world?

Playing with Demons takes an unusual stance of turning our perceptions of good and evil on it's head. Most people would say demons are evil and angels are good, keeping the balance of the world as black and white. Cally Edwards, the author, takes these mythical beings and humanize them to the concepts that we are all familiar with. The audience follows Grace as she needs to discover the side of herself that she is loath to embrace, her demon blood. Cally not only explains how Grace could come about into existence, but we are able to believe it in the context of the story. What I liked most of this story is Cally researched the basic mythology of demons and angels so the story has a physical hold on what people's basic understanding of God, Lucifer, and the creation of demons.

This story also gives us a love story between Grace and Zadeon. Though he is a demon, Grace overcomes her indoctrinated hatred of demons and falls for Zadeon. Though I love the idea of them together, I was a little disappointed on how easily they fell in love. For me I wasn't truly for or against the relationship and that's why when they got together it didn't further or hinder the story. I hope as this series continues I find myself, as a reader, more engaged with the success of their relationship.

Playing with Demons is a fun read especially for those who love the supernatural elements. Cally has left the story open for more adventures for Grace and I cannot wait to see what awaits our little hunter in future books.

Book Review: Moonlight Scandals by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Moonlight Scandals
de Vincent #3
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Reading Level: Adult
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Released: Avon Mass Market
Review Source: January 29th 2019

The culmination of a darkly sexy, compellingly eerie, and totally binge-worthy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout, MOONLIGHT SCANDALS (Avon Books, on-sale 1.29.19) is the perfect read for anyone who found themselves absolutely entranced by The Witches of East End! This series is such a gothic soap opera, and MOONLIGHT SCANDALS provides drama, sex and suspense in equal measure to Moonlight Sins and Moonlight Seduction.

The de Vincent brothers, Lucian, Gabriel and Devlin are cursed – or, at least, the women they fall in love with are. Family legend is that de Vincent women are fated to die early…and tragically. And tragedy is something the de Vincents excel at: this dysfunctional family has a dark past: their mother fell prey to the curse, their father died under mysterious circumstances (with many in their upscale Louisiana community whispering of murder or suicide), their sister is catatonic after having been thought missing for ten years…and their uncle is just a power-hungry bastard. The brothers all live in an antebellum Southern mansion, which is not in the gentile districts of New Orleans, but deep in the bayou. Everyone knows, bad things happen in the bayou.

Moonlight Scandals is the final book in the de Vincent supernatural series. This book has the elements of drama, passion, supernatural, and intrigue. Readers of the previous two books will be in for a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

Moonlight Scandals is set in modern New Orleans, and the reader is taken through the romantic tensions of the eldest de Vincent son. We are introduced to a new heroin in Rosie Herpin. She is a widower paranormal investigator who always had an interest in the de Vincent house. Little did she know how her path would cross with Devlin de Vincent. Devlin being the eldest of the de Vincent brothers, always felt his job was to protect his brothers. Never really letting himself have anything for himself. Devlin and Rosie had a Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth relationship, fueled by their own stubbornness and pride. Their relationship, however, is not the only theatrics both of our protagonists find themselves in. Noisy reporter, troublesome uncle, and possible haunting shape the ebb and flow of Devlin and Rosie's story.

I started reading this book without having read the first two books, oops. I was able to follow the story due to the author, Jennifer L. Armentrout, giving the little back story I needed on the de Vincent family through out the book. Devlin and Rosie really reminded me of a sexually charged Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth relationship (Pride and Prejudice). I was in awe of how I was infuriated and sympathetic with Devlin's inability to trust Rosie, because of assumptions based on his past interactions with people. Rosie was the kind of woman that reminded me of myself. She was lost after the death of her husband going into psychology to understand his passing and not really pursuing any career path with her degrees. The only thing she truly pursued with any pleasure was paranormal investigations. Though set in a supernatural setting, I thought it was missing those true elements of ghosts and paranormal story. I also thought some of the extra characters were set up to be elements of dramatic, but fell short. Other than those critics, this book was engaging and easy to read the night away. I recommend to read the first two and then this one just to have the context of Devlin's previous interactions with his brothers. Definitely a fun read and now I'll be finding the first two so I can complete my interactions with the de Vincent brothers.