college

Switched by Cassie Mae ~ Blog Hop and Giveaway!

At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ve read everything Cassie Mae has published. And I’ll continue to read everything she publishes.

In Switched, we start with a complicated love square comprised of Kayla, the protagonist, her best friend, Reagan, Reagan’s boyfriend, Talon, and Talon’s best friend, Wesley. So Reagan and Talon are dating and have been for a year. But Kayla is in love with Talon, and Wesley is in love with Reagan. It’s a mess.

As Kayla and Wesley team up to get Reagan and Talon to break up and date them instead (which, let’s be honest, is a reprehensible thing to do to your best friends and begs the question, is all REALLY fair in love and war?) they get closer and closer and feelings start to get confused as to who really loves who (or whom – whatever).

So I spent a fair chunk of this book really frustrated with Kayla for wanting a guy that belonged to her best friend, with Reagan for seeming like an honeslty crappy best friend, and with Talon for seeming entirely clueless. But then there was Wesley. He’s really a GREAT guy character. Total book crush.

Without giving anything away, I’ll say that Cassie turned my frustration right back around on me and, in a well-orchestrated “switch” that I didn’t see coming at all, redeemed the book and more than made up for the time I spent wanting to strangle everybody but Wesley.

Overall, highly recommended for girls in at least their junior/senior years. Some of the language and sexual content was a little much, but the story behind it is good.

You can find Switched here on Amazon, and if you COMMENT below on this post through midnight (PST) on Sunday, Dec. 8, you’ll be entered to win a FREE DIGITAL COPY of Switched! Yay!

Click here to visit Romance @ Random, and make sure you check out a Rafflecopter giveaway for awesome prize packs!

Don’t forget to connect with Cassie on Facebook and Twitter!

Image

Definitely, Maybe in Love by Ophelia London

Definitely, Maybe in Love is a fun example of what’s good about New Adult books. It features intelligent college students with tons of personality, and they’re all figuring out what kinds of people they want to be when they grow up. There’s funny stuff, chemistry between characters that jumps off the page and will forever change your thoughts on cranberry sauce, and plenty of adventure.

Spring, the main character, is a total green-living zealot who needs some insight from the opposition to take her thesis to the next level. Enter Henry, the opposition she desperately needs wrapped up in a super hot package, and the fireworks and debates take off from there. I enjoyed Spring as a character, though as a fellow vegetarian I was a little annoyed by some of her extremely stereotypical beliefs. But, it kind of added to her character and how she needed Henry in her life to disagree with her and make her grow, so it was a good place for her to start. There were a whole host of relateable, believable characters along with Spring and Henry, and I really enjoyed spending time with them as I read. I could see myself hanging out with them in college.

It’s definitely one that would appeal to upper high school and college students, and for those adults like me who like to pretend we’re still young!

You can find Defintely, Maybe in Love at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Read more about it on Goodreads, too. Enjoy!

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

I waited a long time to read this.

In Forman’s Just One Day, we met Allyson – a fresh high school graduate on a European adventure with her best friend. The student travel company didn’t take the group through Paris, much to Allyson’s chagrin, so when a couple of chance encounters with a seemingly professional traveler (and all-around hot guy), Willem, lead to a chance to go to Paris she can’t pass it up. And that day, even though it was just one day, was magical. But when an accident happens that separates the two before they say their proper goodbyes, Allyson spends a long time looking for Willem again. It’s really, really good. It made me want to go to Paris – and all around Europe in general – even more than I already did.

Now, since the story of Just One Day focused on Allyson, a lot of questions were left unanswered about Willem… and he’s really a fascinating character. In Just One Year, we get to see his side of the whole story. Why he was travelling aimlessly, how he felt about Allyson (though he only knew her as Lulu). Where he goes to look for her. How he restores a broken relationship with his mother. How he grows up and becomes someone ready for Lulu if he finds her.

I really liked this, but I do wish there’d been more of Willem and Lulu together. I mean, because of the ending of Just One Day, we go into this one sort of knowing how it’ll end… or at least that they WILL, eventually, be reunited.  But I really was hoping they’d find each other like halfway through so we could spend time with them together. I want to see them succeed and be in love and all.

That being said, though, Just One Year is beautifully written. It takes a character that was unforgettable but questionable in Just One Day and makes me absolutely adore the person he is – what he’s gone through in the past, what he goes through during the course of the book, and what he sets himself up for in a future with Allyson. Plus, we get to travel to all sorts of beautiful places with him, which I loved. Forman does a great job of making every new location jump off the page.

Overall, I really like this set of books. I do hope Forman has plans for a third so we can really see Willem and Allyson together… or even a companion novel where they show up as minor characters. They become people you care about and want to see again, which says a lot about how well Forman writes them.

Check it out from your local book store or online. You can find it here at Amazon.

Surviving Social Media and Cell Phones.

A recent Rolling Stone article titled “Sexting, Shame, and Suicide” is bringing national attention to an issue those of us working with teenagers have seen all to often – how easy social media and texting makes it to spread everything. Pictures, rumors, videos, and more can be sent out to seemingly everyone in a matter of seconds, and the impact can be startling. I highly encourage everyone, teenagers and adults, to read this article.

Now, after reading the article, how can you keep yourself safe? If you’re a parent, how can you protect your own kids?

Know that it won’t necessarily be easy, but parents and teens can and should talk about the hard stuff. Parents, your kids aren’t going to come talk to you if they’re convinced all you’ll do is yell and judge. And maybe you don’t think that’s how you come across, but you have to remember what it’s like to be a teenager. Teens, your parents have been through crap before, and they can help you through it now.
Mistakes are inevitable. Parental love is unconditional. Communication is essential.

Teenagers need to know that it’s not ok, no matter what mistakes they make (drinking, drugs, etc.) to be taken advantage of sexually. There are no exceptions to this rule. None. And an inappropriate picture or video spread around via texting or social media is included in that. They need to be spoken to about the potential consequences that come from snapping semi or fully nude pictures of themselves and sending them to anyone. On the flip side of that, teens also need to be counseled in how to handle inappropriate material that’s sent TO them. Delete it. Tell the person. Talk to parents. These are things that have to be talked about.

Know that the preteen teenage years are NOT the time to back off. Parents should be involved in every social media world their kids belong to. All logins, passwords, websites, etc. should be kept up to date and shared with parents. Not so that parents can spy, but so they can monitor and protect. Cell phones should be treated the same. This may not make you the most popular parent on the block, but parenting is NOT a popularity contest.

Know how to use privacy settings and insist that they not be altered. Every social media avenue offers some way of setting a user’s information to private rather than public, and every safeguard should be used to ensure teens are not broadcasting personal information to the world. In addition, most cell phones geotag pictures with “where and when” info, which can be accessed through social media sharing (for example, if you choose to use location services on Instagram and tag your #selfiesunday at “Home,” then anyone who follows you can see on the map exactly where “Home” is… that’s dangerous).

And finally, help teens really remember that on the other side of that electronic communication is a real person. I’m noticing more and more that teenagers often disconnect themselves completely from real human emotion when they’re sitting in front of a cell screen or computer monitor. It’s really easy to send out a tweet or message somebody a picture real quick without thinking through the face-to-face ramifications of that action. Help them understand that anything sent electronically is equivalent to yelling that thing out in the middle of a crowded hallway at school.

(Never) Again by Theresa Paolo

This is a great New Adult title full of swoony romance, college life, and difficult decision making.

Liz is perfectly happy with her group of friends, her somewhat stable boyfriend, and life in general. She had a great high school romance that teenage girls dream of… until her boyfriend, Zach, moved away and eventually just stopped calling, ripping her heart out and ruining her senior year of high school. When he shows up again, all the old feelings of love and pain show up again with him. Liz quickly goes from actually being ok to just pretending to be ok as Zach refuses to go away and let her forget him.

It takes Liz a while to finally realize what the reader knows almost instinctively – Zach let her go in senior year to protect her, not to hurt her. While I definitely wanted to scream at Liz a few times for being so very stubborn and relactant to forgive Zach, I also understood her hesitancy and desire to not let herself be hurt again.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it. I’m looking forward to reading more from Theresa Paolo.