Once Upon a Twilight!: Lisa Brown Roberts

Welcome to the first stop on The Replacement Crush tour for Lisa Brown Roberts. This tour is hosted by Chapter by Chapter.

The Replacement Crush
Author: Lisa Brown Roberts
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: September 6th 2016
Publisher: Entangled: Teen

True love can’t be strategized.

After book blogger Vivian Galdi’s longtime crush pretends their secret summer kissing sessions never happened, Vivian creates a list of safe crushes, determined to protect her heart.

But nerd-hot Dallas, the sweet new guy in town, sends the mission and Vivian’s zing meter into chaos. While designing software for the bookstore where Vivian works, Dallas wages a counter-mission.

Operation Replacement Crush is in full effect. And Dallas is determined to take her heart off the shelf.

Excerpt

“Long-distance relationships are hard.” Dallas shrugged. “But even if I was still there, we wouldn’t have lasted.” He took a sip of his chai, eyes fixed on me. “Just wasn’t meant to be.”
My heart ricocheted in my chest. Why was he telling me this? He wouldn’t tell me about his secret trophies, but he’d just told me about his girlfriend? Ex-girlfriend, I corrected myself.
“Maybe I’ll try your strategy.” His eyes roved across my face.
“What strategy?” My voice sounded raspy.
“Your replacement mission. Make a list of what type of girl I want.” He paused. “But I’m interested in something longer term. Not just a date for a dance. Want to help me make my list?”
I stared at him as if he’d just asked me to plan a kidnapping.
He smirked, then reached for my notebook again and tore off the sheet of paper he’d written on. “So how does this work?” He inclined his head toward my bag. “You have your replacement notebook with you?”
I gaped at him. Who had told him about my notebook? “Um, this isn’t, uh, why we’re here, Dallas. I’m supposed to be interviewing you, not helping you find a…a…”
“Replacement girlfriend.” Laughter danced in his eyes as he watched me squirm. “Why not? Don’t you want to help out the new guy?”
I huffed a sigh of frustration. “You’re mocking me.”
“No, I’m not. Think about it logically, Spock. You know everyone. You can help me narrow the field.”
I sucked down cold tea, trying to compose myself. Help Dallas narrow the field? Introduce him to potential girlfriends? Everything in me protested, and I knew why.
Because I wanted to be the replacement.
But I couldn’t. That was the whole point of my own mission: not to fall for someone who could make me lose control. Because even if that someone seemed like an amazing person…well…letting myself get carried away again was just too scary.
“We can help each other,” he said. “Since I’m new here, I can give you an outsider’s opinion on your…what do you call them?”
“Targets,” I whispered.
His dimple flashed, deepening as he chuckled. “Targets. Right. So yeah, I’ll give you the outsider’s opinion on your targets. And you give me the inside scoop on my targets.” He paused. “Logically, this should work, Spock.”
“But…but…” I sputtered like a cartoon character. “I don’t know you well enough. To help.”
“You’re getting to know me. Working together in the store. Asking probing interview questions.” He flashed another grin. “And I’ll tell you some of my…criteria. That’s what you call it, right?”
I nodded. My hormones pounded on every nerve in my body, dying to escape and capture Dallas as their personal love slave.

Lisa Brown Roberts still hasn't recovered from the teenage trauma of nearly tweezing off both eyebrows and having to pencil them in for an entire school year. This and other angst-filled memories inspire her to write YA books about navigating life's painful and funny dramas, and falling in love along the way.

Her almost forever home is Colorado, though she occasionally pines for the days when she lived within walking distance of the Pacific Ocean. Her house is full of books, boys, four-legged prima donnas, and lots of laughter.

One (1) winner will receive
A signed copy of The Replacement Crush
Nerd glasses necklace
Button
Signed poster
Bookmark
Spock Funko Pop!

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Welcome to our stop on How (Not) to Fall in Love tour for Lisa Brown Roberts. This tour is hosted by YA Bound Book Tours.

How (Not) to Fall in Love
Author: Lisa Brown Roberts
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: February 3, 2015
Review Source: Entangled Teen

Seventeen-year-old Darcy Covington never had to worry about money or where her next shopping spree was coming from. Even her dog ate gourmet. Then one day, Darcy’s car is repossessed from the parking lot of her elite private school. As her father’s business hit the skids, Dad didn’t just skip town, he bailed on his family.

Fortunately, Darcy’s uncle owns a thrift shop where she can hide out from the world. There’s also Lucas, the wickedly hot fix-it guy she can’t stop crushing on, even if she’s not sure they’ll ever get out of the friend zone.

But it’s here among the colorful characters of her uncle’s world that Darcy begins to see something more in herself...if she has the courage to follow it.

First of all, I love, love, love the title and cover. The silhouettes, the sun shining behind them, and the font choice are a perfect combination for a young adult contemporary. If I saw this book on a shelf, I would definitely pick it up. I have a mixed review for this one, but overall, I really enjoyed this book. Why is it a 4 tree review and not a 5? I loved the book, but there were a few things missing I would've liked to see more of.

What I loved about the book were the characters. When we first meet Darcy she's spoiled rotten and a bit shallow. I wasn't quite sure if I liked her. You have to give her a little pass though, I mean, her car did just get taken from the bank because her dad stopped paying the bills and then disappeared. After really getting into the story and you could see Darcy changing and morphing into something a little deeper, I fell in love with her character. She's pretty strong for having to deal with so much and only being seventeen. The love interest, Lucas, was a character that I really liked as well. He was a little too typical for me since I've read so many young adult romances, but I think he was the perfect fit for this book. I could totally picture the two of them together and felt a little giddy inside when they were around each other.

So, what would I have liked to see more of to give it a five tree review. In a romance novel, even a young adult one, I was looking for more of the romance. It just felt a little too secondary for the plot of the novel. I wanted to see MORE from the romance department with Darcy and Lucas. It was almost there, but I just wanted MORE. I also felt that there seemed to be a lot going on for Darcy. I'm not sure if I would be able to handle a lot of the things that was thrown at her. You can only throw so many grown-up issues before you just have to wave the white flag for them.

Would I recommend this to my students? Sure! Like I said earlier, there are a lot of grown-up issues that I think the younger crowd wouldn't get or understand, but I could see some of my eighth grade girls enjoying this book.

Her almost forever home is Colorado, though she occasionally pines for the days when she lived
within walking distance of the Pacific Ocean. Her house is full of books, boys, several fourlegged

prima donnas, and lots of laughter.