2013 New Adult Challenge

Link Up Your April New Adult Challenge Reviews

May 3, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 1 Comment

I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to spring (or fall, if you live on the upside down half of the globe!). It’s been raining like crazy here for what feels like weeks, so there hasn’t been much opportunity to go out and do anything, but I’m itching to at least plant something pretty soon.

We’re a third of the way into the Challenge – how are you doing with your goals? I think there might be a little bit of burnout right now as the huge initial wave of contemporary NA has hit and there have been some disappointments because a lot of what’s out looks the same. There are some wonderful, highly-anticipated NA books to get excited about again though!

Down London Road by Samantha Young (May 7)
Dare You To by Katie McGarry (May 28)
Frigid by J. Lynn (July 30)
Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead (June 4)
Parallel by Lauren Miller (May 14)
The Repeat Year by Andrea Lochen (May 7)

And many more… (go over the 2013 NA Releases list, picking through the non-NA, non-2013 and things that look too been-there, done-that).

BUT! Now it’s time to grab that list from April and link up those reviews. Because you did one or two, right? As always, it doesn’t matter if you link up here or at one of my other wonderful co-hostesses sites’, it all ends up on the same Linky list.

Have a great month and keep reading!

Filed Under: 2013 New Adult Challenge, New Adult Challenge Links

Review: True by Erin McCarthy

April 26, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 24 Comments

By Erin McCarthy
Publisher: InterMix
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: Netgalley

When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

Goodreads Summary

I really like Erin McCarthy’s Fast Track regular romance series – it’s hot and sexy and the characters are usually exciting. Unfortunately, I don’t think McCarthy’s style has translated well to New Adult at all. I didn’t enjoy True – I actually found myself on the verge of DNF’ing it several times, which was completely unexpected.

I confess I heard a little buzz about a controversy surrounding the scene in which Rory first meets Tyler. It’s happening often enough in NA that it could almost be considered a trope: the innocent heroine is “rescued” from a sexual assault by the big strong hero, usually at a party where everyone is drunk. In this case, there’s a whiff that Rory was asking for it, since she knowingly drank past her limit, was considering sex with her attacker since he was a loser and she thought he was the best she could do and didn’t fight back when he initially kissed her. The scene was as horrible as I thought it would be, if not slightly worse, since the hero was kind of scummy himself. Tyler is the kind of guy who has no problem with casual sex and he’s just had some with Rory’s roommate.

Many that have been reading NA, especially this year, have been bemoaning the lack of originality in plots and characters. True doesn’t stray that far from anything that’s come before it. Rory is a nerdy, smart, pretty and virginal college student who comes from a nice middle-class family with one dead parent and one distant one. Tyler is an older experienced boy with tattoos who drinks, comes from a dirt poor family with a single, messed up parent and has brothers he takes care of. He does well enough in school and plans on getting a quick degree so he can graduate fast and get a good job so he can take care of his family, away from his alcoholic, druggie mother. Is any of this sounding vaguely familiar yet?

There’s just not that much that was unusual enough about the storyline for me to go into either. Rory thinks she’s too boring for Tyler and can’t figure out why he’s hanging out with her, he thinks she’s too good for him, they have sex and are a couple, tragedy strikes, etc. etc. I do have to give McCarthy some credit for introducing some bits of storyline that I didn’t expect her to that made me uncomfortable. I don’t want to spoil them since they come near the end of the book, but they’re shocking and unexpected enough that I thought that if she followed through on them, this could have been an interesting, powerfully realistic story given Tyler’s home situation and the things going on at college. Instead, she took the simple way out with a little deus ex machina and a couple of overwrought scenes to deliver an expected ending.

I didn’t connect to Rory or Tyler as a couple or individually, which didn’t help with the lackluster plot. Rory only had a few go-to emotions: embarrassed/self-conscious, devastated/crying and deliriously happy. Most depended on what was happening with Tyler and her character admitted it, like suddenly having emotions now that you’re with a guy is a good thing. She just seemed a little desperate and I felt sorry for her more than I liked her. I think I never came close to liking Tyler, mostly because of my first impressions of him. He seemed skeevy at the parties, passing out Oxycontin and sleeping with Rory’s friend (they had an “arrangement”), so even when his genuine side came out, I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Tyler’s older brother Riley is getting a book next and I hope he gets something edgier and different. I’ll still read her adult romance series’, but I just can’t read McCarthy’s NA.

My Rating: D

Filed Under: *D Rating, 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 New Adult Challenge, 2013 Standalone Challenge, Contemporary/Romance, New Adult Tagged With: Erin McCarthy

Review and Giveaway: Faster We Burn (Fall and Rise #2) by Chelsea Cameron

April 23, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 25 Comments

By Chelsea Cameron
Published: April 20, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Follow the rest of the tour!

Katie Hallman is done with douchebags. Done with guys who treat her like crap and leave her broken. But then Stryker Grant is there anyway. With his numerous piercings and bleached hair, he’s the polar opposite of all of her past relationships, which makes him the perfect candidate.

At first, Katie just sees him as a physical escape from her previous rocky relationship, and Stryker doesn’t seem to mind just being a distraction from Katie’s problems. But soon he’s getting under her skin, peeling back layers she’d rather keep covered. She tries to make it clear that she doesn’t want a relationship, but keeps breaking her own rules.

Then a tragedy sends Katie into the only arms who are there to catch her, and she’ll realize that she needs him more than she ever thought possible. But is she ready to let herself trust another guy with her already-battered heart? Or will she push him away to protect herself from getting hurt again?

Goodreads Summary

Deeper We Fall (Fall and Rise #1)

Faster We Burn (Fall and Rise #2)

Breathe in and out with me, peeps. Okay, I cried during this book, but I didn’t end up in a depressed puddle! I’m officially out of my book purgatory, knock on hardcover. I know the rap contemporary New Adult is getting right now (deservedly), but this is better. It was upsetting to feel like such a cougar afterwards though. Rawr.

For anyone who’s read Deeper We Fall, Katie is Lottie’s friend and dorm mate and Stryker is Zan’s friend (this can be read as a standalone though). Katie and Stryker get along about as well as hot oil and ice water which means the sexual tension is off the charts too. Katie is kind of damaged goods right now though – she’s in a disaster of a relationship with Zan’s brother Zack. He finally goes too far and a post-breakup Katie impulsively decides to use Stryker for sex as a distraction from her problems. After that it’s pure selfishness on her part as she keeps on using him as her booty call, showing up and then dropping him when she’s done. Wham bam, thank you ma’am. Or sir. Whatever.

Stryker is a really nice guy who’s convinced Katie just needs to work her demons out, so he gives her what she wants, tries to work in a little more friendship and hopes for the best. Hot and cold Katie wants none of it though – as soon as he gets close, she shoves him back into the sex-only zone, or at least tries.

Katie. Drove. Me. Nuts. With her treatment of Stryker and bitchy attitude with him in the beginning. I had no idea what her problem was, so all I see is this nice guy who’s up (heh) for anything with her and she’s constantly treating him like nothing more than a plaything. I never got a full picture of what made her so insecure and damaged beyond her horrible relationships, although one of those would have been enough to send me screaming for the hills. There are several distinct nice moments that change their relationship; some of them Stryker’s but some of them are hers and she really redeemed herself for me.

I swear, I don’t know where this sudden infatuation for guys with piercings and tattoos came from, but it’s restricted to the literary world so far. Stryker has both and plays all sorts of musical instruments, is devoted to his sister and is willing to put up with Katie. Sign me up for one of him! He’s not really too perfect though. His past is really awful and he’s done terrible things in the past. With Katie, he makes several boneheaded mistakes and one giant one, but he’s generally pretty wise and romantic for his age. As much as he calls Katie on her crap, he learns to call himself on his own.

The supporting characters are all great, including Katie’s sister Kayla and her dad. Her mother is a horrible person and that’s all I can say. I love the close relationships with Katie and all of her friends, the way they text each other and have post-breakup ice cream sessions. There’s a lot of Zan and Lottie woven into this story too and it’s fun to see their relationship continue to grow. I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that Will’s story will be next.

So okay, there’s some angst, I did cry my eyes out at one point and once in a while, I wanted to club a character over the head with my Kleenex box. I still couldn’t put this down at all. Cameron has this great ability to tell a story I have to keep reading no matter how annoyed with a character I am and to make me root for a couple to make it from the moment they first kiss, even when that first kiss is so wrong I know she’ll have to figure out how to make it right. This felt like something different to me than most of the New Adult I’ve been reading – beneath the sex, there were genuine friendships and it made both Deeper We Fall and Faster We Burn stand out.

My Rating: A-

Chelsea is giving away ebook copies of both the first and second book in her Fall and Rise series – this is a giveaway I’m holding here and only here, so imagine the odds – mind=boggled, right? It’s open internationally, which we love, love. If you’re feeling like taking a chance on the big daddy of prizes, you can check out the tour-wide giveaway along with my guest post with Chelsea Cameron. She’s giving away a Kindle Paperwhite or a Nook Simple Touch Glowlight and that giveaway’s also open internationally. Good luck everywhere!

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Filed Under: *A Rating, 2013 Contemporary Challenge, 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 New Adult Challenge, Barbara Recommends, Contemporary/Romance, Giveaway, New Adult Tagged With: Chelsea Cameron

Review and Giveaway: Stages of Grace by Carey Heywood

April 20, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 6 Comments

By Carey Heywood

Publication Date: April 22, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: SupaGurl Tours

Stages of Grace

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance…

When facing death a mourning period is to be expected. But what if it’s not a person but a relationship that dies? Grace and her boyfriend Jon have been together for three years. They live together and have shared many beautiful memories. Those memories are what keep Grace from admitting Jon has changed and is no longer the man she fell in love with.

Afraid of being alone and holding on to something that no longer exists Grace is a shadow of her former self. Her daily objective is to hide her pain from the world. Then, an unexpected letter sets off a whirlwind of potential life changes. In life sometimes the hardest thing to do is let go.

Goodreads Summary

Grace is at the tail end of her relationship with her boyfriend of three years and it’s ugly. Jon has become emotionally abusive and she’s become the perfect victim for him – she takes it, constantly wondering what she’s done wrong, how can she make him happy and what can she do to not make him angry. The only decent parts of their relationship are seen in flashbacks, as Grace remembers the better times. I really, really didn’t like this Grace – maybe it’s because the story just launched into things with Grace the Victim rather than giving me some sort of look at Grace with a backbone or a normal Grace, I would have had some reference. Instead, I was completely depressed by her.

When she hit the next stage, I didn’t feel any differently. She was as bad as Jon had been, it seemed. These two couldn’t find a constructive way to talk after three years and it was just sad. I didn’t have any good feelings at all from word one about Jon and nothing from any stage of Grace’s healing changed that. I don’t know why she loved him and the flashbacks didn’t help. The story took a major 180 about halfway along, when Grace was contacted by a grandmother she didn’t know she still had and went to Florida for a visit.

If the first half of the book was moody and depressing, the second half was light and happier. From the moment Grace’s plane touched down in Florida, I liked her better, just because she didn’t make me want to play a funeral dirge. She meets her grandmother’s very cute Kiwi friend Ryan and through long discussions with her grandmother, learns more about her late mother, troubled relationships and the power of letting go. There was a lot of symbolism, wine, knitting and cheeseburgers involved in it, but it made for a much lighter tone that made me like Grace so much more. She actually showed character progression, even though there were flashes of Old Grace in there.

Stages of Grace was a less than pretty book, but it showed the end of a messy, painful relationship, so it was appropriate. I had a rollercoaster of reactions towards Grace, but was glad that I was given the opportunity to see her at her worst so I could appreciate her when she was better, although I didn’t exactly like starting out with the worst. I liked that the story ended on a hopeful note with endless roads of possibilities ahead for Grace. I wouldn’t say this is a light read, but if you’re looking for something that really spotlights the changes a character goes through when moving out of a long-term relationship to singlehood, this is it.

My Rating: B-

About the author:

Carey Heywood lives in Richmond Va with her husband, three children and nine pound attack Yorkie. Unabashedly silly, she spends her free time bonding with candy loving strangers on Twitter. Right now she is probably eating Swedish fish.

Author Links:
Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Carey is giving 5 lucky people a chance at winning ebook copies of Stages of Grace. The giveaway is open internationally – check the Terms and Conditions in the Rafflecopter form for the fine deets. Good luck!

Go To The Rafflecopter Entry Form!

Click image for the rest of the tour dates for Stages of Grace

Filed Under: *B Rating, 2013 Contemporary Challenge, 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 New Adult Challenge, 2013 Standalone Challenge Tagged With: Carey Heywood

Review and Giveaway: The Only Exception by Magan Vernon

April 17, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 10 Comments

ONLYBANNER

By Magan Vernon

Publisher: Beautifully Broken Books
Publication Date: April 9, 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Source: SupaGurl Tours

Fiercely liberal Monica Remy prefers to blend in. Despite her tattoos, piercings, and outspoken personality, she transferred to Central to escape—before she finds out that her next door neighbor is the uber conservative governor’s son, Trey Chapman.

No matter how hard she tries to avoid Trey, he still finds a way to get under her skin. Monica can’t stand his crisp white shirts or his staunch views on women. But she can’t help counting every freckle on his face and wondering what it would feel like to have him stop talking politics and kiss her.

A class debate project forces the unlikely pair to work together, and the political lines are blurred in late-night make out sessions. But despite their fiery chemistry, Trey’s politics threatens to smother their relationship for good.

Goodreads Summary

Insane conservatives, you can’t live with them and you definitely can’t have family dinners with them. Wait, did I type that out loud? Okay, I’m just kidding – having been married to one and having one in the family, I think I can lovingly jest about the hard right and anything left of it getting along. I thought this sounded like a good read because politics is a surefire, built-in conflict creator, no additional fireworks needed.

Even though this started off quickly for Monica and Trey, things took a while to warm up for me. They meet when she moves into her apartment next door to his and she assumes he’s the landlord at first because of the way he’s dressed. Ultimately, she figures out he’s the very conservative governor’s son and immediately writes him off, which only makes him extremely interested in her. She’s a fierce liberal, completely hot-headed, and every time these two lay eyeballs on each other, they’re arguing politics. He calls her Miss Remy, she insults his dad and tells him to go away, etc. etc. They’re both majoring in Political Science and have classes together so there are plenty of opportunities to bicker/flirt.

It’s not all Fox TV vs. MSNBC though. Monica transferred to Central State because of something horrible that happened to her at her last college and coming in contact with Trey’s fraternity is bringing it all back. It wasn’t a twist that I didn’t see coming, but having things happen that ended up involving Trey’s dad made things interesting.

There’s one negative to the story that I just can’t avoid: the characters are all stereotypes. In some cases, it ends up not mattering because their story overcame any personality flaws, but even they started out as something out of Central Casting. The Conservatives all dress in slacks, pressed shirts and have American flag pins, all of the time. The Liberals wear jeans, flip flops and t-shirts from the thrift stores and buy date dresses from the clearance rack. Frat brothers are drunken pigs, sorority sisters are either vapid cheerleaders or mean girl tramps, the roommate with dreadlocks is a pot head and the Governor’s kids are named Tripp, Trigg and Trey (no lie).

There are nice moments to counter those: a sweet development in Monica and Trey’s sex life gave me a shock and even their subsequent argument was refreshing. The way Trey helped her deal with the incident in her past was a little high-handed, but it was an empowering thing to read and the ending, while just a teeny, tiny bit clichéd, was so cute.

The romance may not have been perfect, but I still enjoyed The Only Exception overall. Vernon has a wonderful way with dialogue that made even the most frustrating arguments fun to read and I loved her obvious passion for the issues she wrote about. I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

My Rating: B-

About the author

Magan Vernon is a Young Adult and New Adult writer who lives with her family in the insurance capital of the world. She is in a very serious, fake relationship with Adam Lambert and constantly asks her husband to wear guyliner. He still refuses. She also believes her husband is secretly an alien, disguised as a southern gentleman.

Find Magan:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

(I don’t know the specific details of the giveaway – how many winners, where it’s open – right now, but I’ll add that information as soon as possible. Right now, assume that the signed copies are US and ebooks are internationally available)

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Filed Under: 2013 Ebook Challenge, 2013 New Adult Challenge, Contemporary/Romance, Giveaway, New Adult Tagged With: Magan Vernon

Review: The Lonely by Tara Brown

April 15, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 12 Comments

By Tara Brown

Published: February 2, 2013
Genre: New Adult Realistic Fiction
Source: Purchased

The truth is subjective to what the lonely lets in.

Emalyn Spicer has lived with it for a long time. She thinks it goes back further than her memories do. She knows it goes back further than the OCD.

When she arrives at college, her OCD’s and the lonely refuse to let her have her wish to be normal.

When she meets Sebastian and starts to fall for him, she lets herself believe it’s possible to outrun the things chasing her from the past. But how to you get away from the things inside of you? How do you run from yourself?

Just as she gives up and succumbs to the lonely, the unthinkable happens. She finds herself once again trapped in the dark, once again held against her will.

This time she meets the lonely head on. In the darkest corners of her mind, she discovers there is more to her world than she ever imagined. She discovers that the lonely was there for her, protecting her from herself and her secrets.

How far would you go to find yourself?

This is a dark and captivating novel, tread lightly.

Goodreads Summary

I first read The Lonely right after it came out and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t something I’d purchased thinking I’d review it for the blog. It has some uncomfortable material which is a little weird, so I let it go. I liked it enough to re-read it last night though, so I finally decided to share it. I will say there’s not really angst involved, but there’s dysfunction everywhere – but that’s part of what made it so compelling to me.

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