Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Teaser Tuesday - 12/18/12


Photo credit: Goodreads

Guys, I'm really sorry for sucking as a blogger lately. I feel like things haven't calmed down since the end of October. So if I'm not around here or Twitter much until January, I apologize. One of my new year's resolutions is to really get active again online.

After finishing the Allie Beckstrom series (and the latest Kitty Norville book), I decided to depart from my usual book genre and reread a classic: Little Men. If you don't know it, it's the sequel to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, both of which are two of my all-time favorite books. Then I went on Netflix to see if I could find the movie--which I bought awhile back for $2 on VHS and is so bad it's good--and I found something even better. They made a Little Men TV series in 1999! So that's where the rest of my year will go...

Jo March, the tomboy heroine of Little Women, has grown up! She returns in this beloved sequel as a young woman with a family of her own. Jo and her husband, Professor Bhaer, open their hearts (and their home) to educate and care for a handful of rowdy yet well-meaning youngsters.

Plumfield, the school where the boys learn "how to help themselves and be useful men," has a spirited student body that includes -- in addition to the Bhaers' two sons -- Nat, an orphaned street musician, cold and frightened when he first appears at the Bhaers' door; business-minded Tommy; Dan, a "wild boy" eventually tamed by love and kindness; and other endearing little mischief-makers.

Outside the classroom, the boys rush headlong from one prank to another -- from playing matador with the family cow to nearly setting the school afire with a smoldering cigar stub. But in the end, they prove to have a positive effect on the lives of the entire Bhaer family.

With tales ranging from tearful to cheerful, this heartwarming unabridged classic promises young readers an exciting and fun-filled visit to nineteenth-century America.

Follows the adventures of Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer as they try to make their school for boys a happy, comfortable, and stimulating place.

The rules for Teaser Tuesday are:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  • Then hit up Should Be Reading to add your link.

And the teaser:

Charlie was both amazed and indignant; and after prancing for a minute, set off at a gallop, and away went Dan heels over head. If he had not belonged to the class of boys who go through all sorts of dangers unscathed, he would have broken his neck; as it was, he got a heavy fall, and lay still collecting his wits, while Charlie tore round the field tossing his head with every sign of satisfaction at the discomfiture of his rider.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Blindsided Review

blindsided2
Synopsis:

After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?


Review:

I'll be honest, when Kyra told me I could have an advance copy of Blindsided to review for her blog tour, I may have made some inappropriate squealing noises. Just a few, and they were very quiet. OK, sort of quiet. For all values of quiet that equal loud.

That's a colorful way of saying I was excited for this book. I liked Game On, but the real stars of it, for me, were the secondary characters: Freya, Bryce, Miguel… and Jesse. I liked Jesse a lot. Now, to be fair, I already knew Kyra was writing his story, but I don't think that would have changed my opinion of him at all. He's the sweet side of the team, the complete contrast to Radleigh McCoy's brash cockiness. He was endearing and showed a lot of potential in the first book, so I was really looking forward to getting his story.

And I wasn't disappointed. Jesse developed into a fantastic character in this book, the kind of guy everyone should have in their lives. Sure, he has some flaws--what 18-year-old doesn't?--but, when it counts, he's the guy you want to depend on. He's smart, he's kind, and when push comes to shove, he always has your back. But he's also got his priorities in pretty good shape. He knows that he needs to take care of himself because his career depends on it. He may get exasperated by his family, but he clearly loves them too. At times he may be a little too perfect, but the end result is an all-around good guy that you're going to root for no matter what.

Both Radleigh and Leah make appearances in this book. Leah's pretty much the same from Game On, and I liked seeing her relationship with Jesse expanded upon. She's sort of a big sister/second mother to him, and it suits her. Radleigh's a little different than the last book, and I think being in a committed relationship with Leah has really changed his character for the better. It's like the nicer parts of his character were magnified, and the more offensive parts were diminished. His relationship with Jesse is a little more complicated than Leah's, and it was nice to see Jesse waver between hero-worship, slight resentment, and ultimately true friendship.

As for the new characters, I loved them all (you know, except the ones you're really not supposed to love). The main one is Isabelle, who was really a wonderful match for Jesse. She was sweet, insecure, and relatable. I think everyone has some aspect of Isabelle in them. As soon as their romantic interest is established, I was rooting for them. And even when she made decisions I didn't necessarily agree with, I still liked her, which isn't always the case with some characters.

So short summary: If you liked Game On, go read Blindsided. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. I thought this book was even stronger than the first, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. The only complaint I had was that it ended too soon.


Author Bio:

Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites. Check out her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.


Buy Blindsided on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.