Audiobook Review: The Season by Jonah Lisa Dyer & Stephen Dyer

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The Season
Author: Jonah Lisa Dyer & Stephen Dyer
Narrator: Erin Spencer
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller
Released: February 23rd 2016
Publisher: Viking Children's | Penguin Random House Audio | Living Language

She can score a goal, do sixty box jumps in a row, bench press a hundred and fifty pounds…but can she learn to curtsey?

Megan McKnight is a soccer star with Olympic dreams, but she’s not a girly girl. So when her Southern belle mother secretly enters her in the 2016 Dallas debutante season, she’s furious—and has no idea what she’s in for. When Megan’s attitude gets her on probation with the mother hen of the debs, she’s got a month to prove she can ballroom dance, display impeccable manners, and curtsey like a proper Texas lady or she’ll get the boot and disgrace her family. The perk of being a debutante, of course, is going to parties, and it’s at one of these lavish affairs where Megan gets swept off her feet by the debonair and down-to-earth Hank Waterhouse. If only she didn’t have to contend with a backstabbing blonde and her handsome but surly billionaire boyfriend, Megan thinks, being a deb might not be so bad after all. But that’s before she humiliates herself in front of a room full of ten-year-olds, becomes embroiled in a media-frenzy scandal, and gets punched in the face by another girl.

The season has officially begun…but the drama is just getting started.

The Season is a cute story and the audiobook is quick, which is perfect for a day at the beach.

Megan is a sporty girl. She loves being active and has a dream to play soccer in college. However, this is not easily accomplished and she is doing everything in her power to get a shot in her last year. Yet things gets more complicated as her mother enrolls her to a Southern belle competition and she is not very happy about this. I don't blame her, as she is not into make-up nor dressing up as a doll. But like her mother tells her, this competition is more than the eyes can see. And she was right, Megan does learns more than beauty and being a "girly girl", she learns a lesson from life.

Megan may not be a girly girl, but she is sure sarcastic and sassy! I liked her character as I myself do not consider myself as a girly girl. She's a well rounded character, one can easily like. But what I loved most about Megan is the fact that she loves herself and is not afraid to be herself. Although the story is cute, funny and somewhat entertaining, I didn't like the romance. Megan is such a fierce character, she really didn't need a love interest. This book could've been all about girl power.... no boys, no romance. Specially since I didn't feel the connection (more like the lack of) between she and Hank. It was more of an awkward situation... I don't know how to explain it but it felt rushed and pushed.

Erin Spencer does a great job embracing Megan's character. She had me laughing when Megan was being sarcastic, giggle when she was embarrassed and showed pride when Megan was being a good sister. I really enjoyed her narrating this book. So if you're looking for an audiobook to listen while you rest at the beach, then you should give The Season a chance.

Blogoversary Giveaway: Half Wild by Sally Green

As we reach the last day of our 5th year blogoversary celebration, we wanted to make sure everything we shared today was awesome. So of course this giveaway had to be a part of the festivities.

We are excited to share a giveaway of a hardcover copy of Sally Green's HALF WILD book, provided by Penguin Young Readers!!! Half Wild is the second installment in The Half Bad Trilogy.

Half Wild

Half Bad Trilogy #2

Author: Sally Green

Release Date: March 24th 2015

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

In Half Bad, readers were introduced to a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans. Seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most powerful and violent witch. Not fitting into any one world, Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. In HALF WILD, Nathan has finally come into his own unique magical Gift, and he's on the run--but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured him and destroyed his father. Forever torn between the worlds of darkness and light, Nathan must finally make a decision that could sever his tenuous connections to either side.

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And as we mentioned, this is a celebration. We're celebrating the release of Half Wild and our 5 year blogoversary with a hardcover copy giveaway to one lucky reader. The giveaway is for US and CA residents. So enter below to win today and make sure to check out all our blogoversary giveaways going RIGHT HERE.

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Trailer Thursday: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

Mosquitoland

Author: David Arnold

Expected Publication: March 3, 2015

Publisher: Viking Children's

"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange."

After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the "wastelands" of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland. So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane.

Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, "Mosquitoland" is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

Book Review: Just One Night by Gayle Forman

Just One Nigh
Just One Day #2.5
Author: Gayle Forman
Reading Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: May 29th 2014
Review Source: Purchased

After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter.

You know when have to do something and you forget about another important thing? Well this happened to me with Just One Night. Since I attended BEA the week the novella came out, I honestly completely had other things in mind. When I return, one night, moments before closing my eyes, my mind completely remember and I had to forget about sleep and read. OMG, it was worth it!

Just One Night is sweet, sexy and had me smiling so late at night. *sigh* It was a fairy tale. I finally got to read what happened next after Williem and Allyson reunite. It was an emotional moment for me. We get to see how their hard work paid off. Their love conquered fate. Maybe it wasn’t time for them to be together then, but NOW they have a lifetime to be together. Seriously, I was emotionally touched with their reunion.

As a fan of Gayle, I was thrilled to see her at BEA.I tried hard not to fangirl so much, but fail. Unfortunately, since I didn’t read Just One Night before seeing her, I couldn’t thank her. She made justice for these two and I am so glad she did. I would have thanked her in person. So, thank you Gayle. Thank you for making Willem and Allyson have their happily ever after and sharing it with your devoted fans.