Just Pru by Anne Pfeffer

Just Pru
Anne Pfeffer
Published: 2nd March, 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Age: New Adult
From: CBB Book Promtions

Summary:

“My mother once joked that my dad had wanted to name me Obedience. As if Prudence wasn’t bad enough. I was not a Prudence and I never would be.”

When twenty-five-year-old Pru Anderson—braless, pajama-clad, and clutching her cat, Chuck—is rescued from her burning Los Angeles apartment, the thing that scares her most is meeting the neighbors. New people make her hide in the bathroom, counting by sevens, but when her home is destroyed, she must turn strangers into friends … or crawl back to the controlling parents she only recently escaped.

What would her idol, Pepper Hathaway, do? That’s a no brainer: the detective-slash-supermodel heroine from Pru’s favorite TV series would take no prisoners while looking fierce in a tankini and stilettos. So when the chance comes to live with her upstairs neighbor, Ellen, a playwright, Pru goes for it.

Thus begin the adventures of Pru, who’s never had a job, a friend, or a first kiss. Swept into Ellen’s whirlwind life, Pru begins to build her own, as director’s assistant for a new play, muse to brooding actor Blake, and possible love interest to adorably neurotic neighbor, Adam.

Only one thing can derail Pru’s exhilarating ride. Well, actually, it’s two things—and they’re in a car headed straight for LA to torpedo her life. When the past that nearly destroyed her comes calling, who will she be: a Prudence or a Pepper?

99 Days by Katie Cotugno

99 Days
Katie Cotugno
Published: 21st April, 2015
Balzer + Bray
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Age: Young Adult
From: Edelweiss

Summary:

Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.

Content warning: bullying

Books, Blogs, & Reality by Ryan Ringbloom

Books, Blogs, & Reality
Ryan Ringbloom
Published: 24th October, 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Age: New Adult
From: Xpresso Book Tours

Summary:

Life can suck…

When reality becomes overwhelming, seeking comfort in fictional fantasies keeps hope alive. And while this escape may be a little delusional, it’s also therapeutic.

Sharing secrets is daunting, but virtual friends don’t often judge and they are always ready to share a glass of wine…or three…while typing out life’s latest endeavors.

Brooke believes obstacles only add to romance, not detract. Rachael longs for a more intense relationship, or so she thinks. Lizzie misses the excitement in her life, but sometimes new situations find you when you’re not even looking. And Jess believes a tiger can change his stripes. It can’t.

Bound by a shared passion for blogging about happily ever afters, these four young women use keyboard therapy to work through their expectations, anxieties, and inadequacies, all with the hopes of achieving the perfection found in romance novels.

Completely blinded by what they think life should be, they navigate their unique paths in search of what they envision is right. But when reality taunts them with persistent curve balls, will they be strong enough to choose wisely? Or will their happy endings escape them?

Content warning: mostly non-descript sex scenes

Wicked Sense by Fabio Bueno

Wicked Sense (Singularity #1)
Fabio Bueno
Published: 9th August 2012
Booklings Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
From: Ebooks For Review

Summary:

Witches inhabit our world, organized in covens and hiding behind a shroud of secrecy—the Veil.

Skye’s London coven sends her to Seattle’s Greenwood High to find the Singularity, an unusually gifted witch who may break the Veil and trigger a dangerous new era of witch-hunting. Things get complicated when Skye meets a charming new classmate, Drake. Skye’s job becomes even trickier when she clashes with Jane, an intimidating rival witch.

Drake falls for the mysterious Skye, but odd accidents, potion mix-ups, and the occasional brush with death kind of get in the way of romance. Once he discovers Skye is a witch, he goes to war for her, even though his only weapons are a nice set of abs and a sharp sense of humor.

Fighting off wicked Jane and the other dark forces hell-bent on seizing the Singularity’s immense power, Skye and Drake will risk everything to save the covens.

Going on a date has never been harder.

Crazy in Love series by Lauren K. McKellar

The Problem with Crazy (Crazy in Love #1)
Lauren K. McKellar
Published: 12th February, 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Age: Young Adult, New Adult
From: Purchased via Amazon

Summary:

The problem with crazy is that crazy, by itself, has no context. It can be good crazy, bad crazy … or crazy crazy—like it was when my ex-boyfriend sung about me on the radio.

Eighteen-year-old Kate couldn’t be more excited about finishing high school and spending the summer on tour with her boyfriend’s band. Her dad showing up drunk at graduation, however, is not exactly kicking things off on the right foot—and that’s before she finds out about his mystery illness, certain to end in death.
A mystery illness that she could inherit.
Kate has to convince everyone around her that her father is sick, not crazy. But who will be harder to convince? Her friends? Or herself?

The Problem With Crazy is a story about love and life; about overcoming obstacles, choosing to trust, and learning how to make the choices that will change your life forever.

The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes

The Distance Between Lost and Found
Kathryn Holmes
Releasing: 17th February, 2015
HarperTeen

Summary:

Ever since the night of the incident with Luke Willis, the preacher’s son, sophomore Hallelujah Calhoun has been silent. When the rumors swirled around school, she was silent. When her parents grounded her, she was silent. When her friends abandoned her … silent.

Now, six months later, on a youth group retreat in the Smoky Mountains, Hallie still can’t find a voice to answer the taunting. Shame and embarrassment haunt her, while Luke keeps coming up with new ways to humiliate her. Not even meeting Rachel, an outgoing newcomer who isn’t aware of her past, can pull Hallie out of her shell. Being on the defensive for so long has left her raw, and she doesn’t know who to trust.

On a group hike, the incessant bullying pushes Hallie to her limit. When Hallie, Rachel, and Hallie’s former friend Jonah get separated from the rest of the group, the situation quickly turns dire. Stranded in the wilderness, the three have no choice but to band together.

With past betrayals and harrowing obstacles in their way, Hallie fears they’ll never reach safety. Could speaking up about the night that changed everything close the distance between being lost and found? Or has she traveled too far to come back?

Anyone? by Angela Scott

Anyone?
Angela Scott
Published: 1st December, 2014
Evolved Publishing

Summary:

The end of the world? That’s the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters and deep philosophical exercises in school. No need to sweat it. So when sixteen-year-old Tess’s doomsday-dad builds a bomb shelter in their suburban backyard, everyone thinks he’s gone crazy….

…Until fire rains down from the sky, sinking whole cities into colossal craters and setting much of the world ablaze.

Tess’s dad gives her a few short minutes to gather her emergency bag and her freaked-out kitten, then leads her outside and into the underground shelter. Terrified, the last thing she expects is for him to leave her there all alone, but he has no choice—he must find her missing brother.

Before leaving, he makes Tess promise to keep the hatch door shut, not to open it for anyone but him, and to stay put until he returns.

But he forgot to tell her one thing: What is she supposed to do if he never comes back?

Child of Brii by Amanda J. McGee

Child of Brii
Amanda J. McGee
Published: 12th February, 2013

Summary:

Disciple to the Lady Brii, keeper of the memories of a hidden people, Amaya has always accepted her place. Since birth she has been trained to rule, and she even falls in love with one who shares her burden. But when her beloved is murdered, Amaya does the unthinkable: she flees her duty and runs to the land of humankind, age old enemies of all she holds dear. Amongst the skyscrapers and paved streets of a foreign city, she is saved by the kindness of strangers and meets Rin. He takes her in, shelters her, and offers her a new life. Will Amaya be able to accept his offer, or will the shadows that haunt her and the traitors who follow her take this life as well?

Content warning: implied sex scenes

Raven by Pauline Creeden

Raven (Chronicles of Steele #1)
Pauline Creeden
Published: 28th October, 2014
AltWit Press

Summary:

This is the complete Steampunk Fantasy novel – all four parts of the serial in one volume! Also includes bonus features not found in the episodes

Human life has value.
The poor living in the gutter are as valuable as the rich living in a manor.
The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint.
Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed.

Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in.

Just Perfect by Hanne Arts

Just Perfect
Hanne Arts
Published: 1st December, 2014
CreateSpace

Summary:

When sixteen-year-old Christina Jacobs comes to school one day and discovers that life will never be the same again, she soon finds herself sinking away into self-doubt, haunted by her troubled thoughts and experiences and striving for acceptance and equality.

Fate was never easy on her, having given her an appearance far from desirable and a family situation far from the norm, but when she is forced to face it all on her own, forced to battle her inner demons, she knows she needs to give all she’s got to fight her way back to the surface and get her life back on track.

“Just Perfect” is a grippingly honest account of love and friendship, betrayal and trust, and inner demons and the fight for a better tomorrow.

Content Warning: Mentions and somewhat light descriptions of self-harm; eating disorders;