My Thoughts: Shuffle Repeat by Jen Klein

4 sweet frosted sugar cookies.

Cover Love:  Darling!  I don't think they needed to add the illustration at the bottom with the car and the road, but I like the photo of the guy and girl holding hands, I wish that was bigger, more of the focus.  But I know it will be eye catching on display in my library.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
This came in my first book order of the fall and I was looking for something light and fun.  I started this right when I pulled it out of the box!  Here's the synopsis:

June wants high school to end and real life to begin. Oliver is soaking up senior year’s glory days. They could have coasted through high school, knowing about—but not really knowing—each other.

Except that their moms have arranged for Oliver to drive June to school. Every. Single. Day.

Suddenly these two opposites are fighting about music, life . . . pretty much everything. But love is unpredictable. When promises—and hearts—get broken, Oliver and June must figure out what really matters. And then fight for it.

Romance?: Yes, of course.

My Thoughts:
To be perfectly honest, I almost gave up on this book.  June was so closed off and judgemental and righteous in the beginning that I had a very hard time liking her.  She was just so certain that Oliver and his group of friends were awful and she and her group of friends were right to dislike everything and everyone. I was afraid her attitude would last too long in the book and turn me off on it completely.  However, I stuck with it and her attitude didn't last too long. She started to see that there was some value in most people and while some people are exactly what they appear to be, a lot of people aren't, including some of her "non-conformist" friends.

I LOVED OLIVER.  Seriously, new book boyfriend.  He's such a good guy.  And I know he does give off a certain type of attitude with his appearance, he's just so much more than that.  He is who I would totally have crushed on in high school, especially once I got to know him!

I would like to give this book to all the girls who judge people before they can be judged, that put up that wall to protect themselves.  I work in a middle school and there are A LOT of girls like this who I want to read this book, but most of them wouldn't read a romance because it's not dark enough!

To Sum It Up:  Darling romance that could teach people a lot about judging others before getting to know them!

Book from school library collection.

My Thoughts: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

 4 yummy soft snickerdoodles!

Cover Love:  Yes.  It looks romantic, but also friendly.  No kissing, just two people hanging out.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
I like this author for contemporary teenage romances!
Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

Romance?: Of course!

My Thoughts:
My first impression of Gia was not that favorable.  She seemed bossy and shallow right from the start.  She calms down a few pages in, but the way she is with her friends gave me pause.  These are seniors in high school, they have history.  She and Claire have been best friends for 10 years and she and Laney for five.  Does she really think they don't trust her or love her enough that they will believe anything Jules tells them?  Their whole friendship seemed like middle school girls rather than seniors. They were just really immature for high school seniors!

Unfortunately, they didn't improve as a group, but Gia made a lot of progress!  Sometimes the moment where you are ready to change just comes upon you and for Gia that moment was prom.

One thing that bothers me is that we never did find out why Jules was so awful to Gia.  And there was never the Gia/Jules showdown I longer for, but by the end, Gia had grown and matured enough that it wasn't necessary for her, just for me :).

Oddly enough, while Gia and the "Fill-In" have an attraction, the best part of this is Gia's growing friendship with his litter sister Bec.  It's through Bec's eyes that Gia sees how awful she has been and how she needs to change.  And she has won Bec's loyalty, it makes her feel more worthy of maybe a relationship with the "Fill-In" but also stronger to be without her friends.

Gia's family is kind of ugh.  Her brother is a butt head who does something that, while I didn't think it was awful, did warrant an apology that he provides a little too late and insincerely in my opinion.  And her parents are so sugar coating with everything.   There just wasn't a lot real there.

I adored the "Fill-In."  He had his own issues and was willing to give Gia the benefit of the doubt for a lot of things.  They start off having a nice friendship, which I greatly enjoyed.  It wasn't a jump right into a relationship, it was getting to know each other.

To Sum Up:  Very good story.  Would be good to hand to those girls who think that their friend's opnions are all that matters (I see a few of those in my middle school).

ARC requested and received from HarperCollins.  Thanks so much!!

My Thoughts: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

5 oatmeal butterscotch chips cookies.

Cover Love:
I don't love it but I do like that it is generic and a boy could be seen reading this as easily as a girl.

Why I Wanted to Read This:
I actually wasn't caught up by the synopsis and hadn't planned on reading it, but all the buzz and gushing reviews (some by people who don't normally gush) got me interested.  Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

Romance?: Oh yes!

My Thoughts:
This book was very moving.  You can't help but feel for Sky because she needs to get out of Creek View.  There is no getting around that.  She has to go to save herself and everyone knows this--her best friends, her mother, even Josh.  But, she has a hard time actually taking the steps.  Even though everything is in place, her acceptance and scholarship to college, I think she spends most of the summer looking for excuses as to why she shouldn't leave.  Oddly enough, Josh never becomes an excuse, it mostly has to do with her mom.  I think this is very typical because most teens really want to leave home, but a lot of them have a hard time actually doing it.  Sometimes, they need a push.

I loved Skylar though.  I hardly ever got frustrated by her actions.  The author did a great job of helping us understand the situations Sky encounters so that how she reacts seems very realistic.  Once again, it all comes down to communication and when she and Josh finally are able to really talk great things happen.

I loved Josh.  Although very little of the book was written from his point of view, what we saw was painful and real.  There are so many layers to what he has to get through to figure out what he finally wants to do with his life.  He has so much survivor's guilt and so little self worth.  He is a very well written character.  Already in his life he has had to deal with things many of us never have to see.

Sky and Josh coming together is so natural.  She doesn't treat him any different than before and she doesn't Florence Nightingale him.  Their attraction is real and wonderful.  This book made me cry and smile and blush.  I just adored reading it!

To Sum Up:  I feel this is a little mature for my library--lots of swear words and sex talk and acts.  But, if I were a teen girl this book would be one I would read over and over.