Mini Reviews #7 (the one with all my recent faves in Contemporary NA)
I've read SO much NA fiction lately, so I figured this would be a great mini reviews bundle. Thanks again to Alex @ Fiery Reads for the template!
Out of Frame by Megan Erickson
Perpetually shy, Quinn Mathers is content to remain in the shadow of his brash best friend Jess Hartman. But before their college graduation, he and Jess have planned one last hurrah: a spring break Caribbean cruise.
And it won’t be just any cruise. On board are members of the reality show Trip League, which follows young twenty-somethings on adventures around the world. Since the show’s beginning, Quinn has been fascinated by J. R. Butler, with his amazing body, warm eyes, and killer grin. Unfortunately, he’s straight—or so the world thinks.
At nineteen, J. R. signed a contract to play straight for the show, and there’s no way to get out of it now. Yet with each passing day, Quinn and J. R. find it harder to keep their hands off each other and to keep out of the camera’s frame. But when the lens finally focuses on them, J. R. must decide if he’s willing to risk his career by admitting his bisexuality, and Quinn must determine if he's bold enough to stand in the spotlight with the man of his dreams...
Release Date: March 15th, 2016
Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
STAR RATING: all the stars | 5 stars | 4.5 stars | 4 stars | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars | 2 stars | 1 star
COVER: not my favorite | goes well with rest of the series | boring | generic | pretty | series cover change | beautiful | HEART EYES
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
I started reading Megan Erickson's books when I first started blogging, and now she's one of my insta-buy authors. I love her, and I love me some good bi-representation, so I was excited to get my hands on this one. I was not disappointed. I loved watching Quinn and Jay get together, and it made my heart so happy to see them figure themselves out, especially Jay. This is my new favorite in the series.
On the lacrosse field, Cait Johannssen gets what she wants. Off the field is another story. Because what she wants is the school's hot new basketball student-coach, Lawrence Mason, who also happens to be the guy who broke her heart in sports camp two years earlier.
But it's Cait's new roommate who's got him.
Cait and Mase agree it's best to keep their past a secret, but she doesn't expect him to completely ignore their history...or how much it'll hurt when he does. So when a friend on the basketball team asks her to pose as his girlfriend for a night, Cait can't turn down the opportunity for distraction. (Okay, and a little spite.) But what starts as an evening of fun turns into a fake relationship with more lies than the usually drama-free Cait can handle, and it's only keeping her from the one truth that's nagged at her for years: Why did Mase cut her out of his life to begin with?
And is it really too late to get him back?
STAR RATING: all the stars | 5 stars | 4.5 stars | 4 stars | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars | 2 stars | 1 star
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
I started reading Megan Erickson's books when I first started blogging, and now she's one of my insta-buy authors. I love her, and I love me some good bi-representation, so I was excited to get my hands on this one. I was not disappointed. I loved watching Quinn and Jay get together, and it made my heart so happy to see them figure themselves out, especially Jay. This is my new favorite in the series.
Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler
On the lacrosse field, Cait Johannssen gets what she wants. Off the field is another story. Because what she wants is the school's hot new basketball student-coach, Lawrence Mason, who also happens to be the guy who broke her heart in sports camp two years earlier.
But it's Cait's new roommate who's got him.
Cait and Mase agree it's best to keep their past a secret, but she doesn't expect him to completely ignore their history...or how much it'll hurt when he does. So when a friend on the basketball team asks her to pose as his girlfriend for a night, Cait can't turn down the opportunity for distraction. (Okay, and a little spite.) But what starts as an evening of fun turns into a fake relationship with more lies than the usually drama-free Cait can handle, and it's only keeping her from the one truth that's nagged at her for years: Why did Mase cut her out of his life to begin with?
And is it really too late to get him back?
Release Date: March 15th, 2016
Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
TITLE: boring | nothing special | pretty good | caught my eye | perfection | music to my ears
COVER: not my favorite | goes well with rest of the series | boring | generic | pretty | series cover change | beautiful | HEART EYES
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
Like with Megan, I'll read anything Dahlia publishes. Total insta-buy for me. So I'm no longer surprised when her books are totally spot-on and give me all the feels. Second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, and I've recently found out that, though I don't like sports that much, I'm a sucker for sports romance. Right of First Refusal made lacrosse seem 12 times more interesting than I thought it was before I read it, and Mase and Cait are so shippy that it hurts. So if you're into sports and swoons and second chances, definitely give this a try.
TITLE: boring | nothing special | pretty good | caught my eye | perfection | music to my ears
STAR RATING: all the stars | 5 stars | 4.5 stars | 4 stars | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars | 2 stars | 1 star
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
Like with Megan, I'll read anything Dahlia publishes. Total insta-buy for me. So I'm no longer surprised when her books are totally spot-on and give me all the feels. Second-chance romance is one of my favorite tropes, and I've recently found out that, though I don't like sports that much, I'm a sucker for sports romance. Right of First Refusal made lacrosse seem 12 times more interesting than I thought it was before I read it, and Mase and Cait are so shippy that it hurts. So if you're into sports and swoons and second chances, definitely give this a try.
Second Position by Katherine Locke
Four years ago, a car accident ended Zedekiah Harrow’s ballet career and sent Philadelphia Ballet principal dancer Alyona Miller spinning toward the breakdown that suspended her own. What they lost on the side of the road that day can never be replaced, and grief is always harshest under a spotlight...
Now twenty-three, Zed teaches music and theatre at a private school in Washington, D.C. and regularly attends AA meetings to keep the pain at bay. Aly has returned to D.C. to live with her mother while trying to recover from the mental and physical breakdown that forced her to take a leave of absence from the ballet world, and her adoring fans.
When Zed and Aly run into each other in a coffee shop, it’s as if no time has passed at all. But without the buffer and escape of dance—and with so much lust, anger and heartbreak hanging between them—their renewed connection will either allow them to build the together they never had... or destroy the fragile recoveries they've only started to make.
Now twenty-three, Zed teaches music and theatre at a private school in Washington, D.C. and regularly attends AA meetings to keep the pain at bay. Aly has returned to D.C. to live with her mother while trying to recover from the mental and physical breakdown that forced her to take a leave of absence from the ballet world, and her adoring fans.
When Zed and Aly run into each other in a coffee shop, it’s as if no time has passed at all. But without the buffer and escape of dance—and with so much lust, anger and heartbreak hanging between them—their renewed connection will either allow them to build the together they never had... or destroy the fragile recoveries they've only started to make.
Release Date: April 13th, 2015
Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
STAR RATING: all the stars | 5 stars | 4.5 stars | 4 stars | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars | 2 stars | 1 star
COVER: not my favorite | goes well with rest of the series | boring | generic | pretty | series cover change | beautiful | HEART EYES
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
I've avoided this book for a long time, despite the fact that it's been rec-ed to me time and time again by numerous people because I've been big on fluff and nice, neat little HEAs, and this is not that book. But I'm glad I picked it up because it's a messy book that deals with real feelings and issues and tackles mental health and therapy very honestly and candidly. It's also a book about ballet, which I think we definitely need more of because I loved those aspects of the novel. Second Position is an intense read that I hope will be more widely read in the future.
POV: 1st | dual 1st |2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
I've avoided this book for a long time, despite the fact that it's been rec-ed to me time and time again by numerous people because I've been big on fluff and nice, neat little HEAs, and this is not that book. But I'm glad I picked it up because it's a messy book that deals with real feelings and issues and tackles mental health and therapy very honestly and candidly. It's also a book about ballet, which I think we definitely need more of because I loved those aspects of the novel. Second Position is an intense read that I hope will be more widely read in the future.
Call Me, Maybe by Ellie Cahill
Clementine Daly knows she’s the black sheep. Her wealthy, powerful family has watched her very closely since she almostgot caught in an embarrassing scandal a few years ago. So when Clementine’s sent on a mission to live up to the Daly name, politely declining isn’t even an option. Of course, the last thing Clementine does before departure is grab a stranger’s phone by mistake—leaving the hunky journalist with her phone. Soon his sexy voice is on the line, but he doesn’t know her real name, or her famous pedigree—which is just the way Clementine likes it.
Despite all the hassles, Justin Mueller is intrigued to realize that the beautiful brown-eyed girl he met at the airport is suddenly at his fingertips. They agree to exchange phones when they’re both back in town, but after a week of flirty texts and wonderfully intimate conversations, Justin doesn’t want to let her go that easy. The only problem? It turns out that Clemetine has been lying to him about, well, everything. Except for the one thing two people can’t fake, the only thing that matters: The heat between them is for real.
Release Date: February 9th, 2016
Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
STAR RATING: all the stars | 5 stars | 4.5 stars | 4 stars | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars | 2 stars | 1 starDespite all the hassles, Justin Mueller is intrigued to realize that the beautiful brown-eyed girl he met at the airport is suddenly at his fingertips. They agree to exchange phones when they’re both back in town, but after a week of flirty texts and wonderfully intimate conversations, Justin doesn’t want to let her go that easy. The only problem? It turns out that Clemetine has been lying to him about, well, everything. Except for the one thing two people can’t fake, the only thing that matters: The heat between them is for real.
Release Date: February 9th, 2016
Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
TITLE: boring | nothing special | pretty good | caught my eye | perfection | music to my ears
COVER: not my favorite | goes well with rest of the series | boring | generic | pretty | series cover change | beautiful | HEART EYES
POV: 1st | dual 1st | 2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
Ellie Cahill/Liz Czukas is an author that I've wanted to read for a while now because I've seen so much praise for her books. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the premise (and because my Amazon gift card was burning a hole in my wallet), and ohmygosh, guys, it is so cute. It was just the fun, fluffy story I needed, but it didn't lack substance. I will be reading all the EC/LC books from here on out.
What about you? What have you been reading lately? Any NA books that need to be on my radar? Let me know!
POV: 1st | dual 1st | 2nd | 3rd limited | 3rd omniscient | multiple POVs | too many POVs
CONCEPT: basic but well done | original as heck | run of the mill in genre | average | has potential | great idea, bad execution | favorite trope
MOOD: dark | hilarious | light hearted | romantic | depressing | suspenseful | fluffy | mysterious
PACING: snail’s pace | couldn’t keep up | mix of fast and slow | slow in the wrong places | fast in the wrong places | what even is pacing?
CHARACTERS: i’m in love | couldn’t connect | too many | well developed (all) | infuriating | annoying | precious babies | underdeveloped (all)| a mix of good and bad | okay | new favorite characters | book boyfriend
ROMANCE: none | steamy | slow burn | adorable | ship it | didn’t ship it | cheesy | predictable | love triangle | instalove | OTP
DIVERSITY: none | black | jewish | asian | indian | lgbt+ | mental health | male narrator | body | culture
Ellie Cahill/Liz Czukas is an author that I've wanted to read for a while now because I've seen so much praise for her books. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the premise (and because my Amazon gift card was burning a hole in my wallet), and ohmygosh, guys, it is so cute. It was just the fun, fluffy story I needed, but it didn't lack substance. I will be reading all the EC/LC books from here on out.
What about you? What have you been reading lately? Any NA books that need to be on my radar? Let me know!
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