**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Flunked is the first book in an adorable middle grade series called Fairy Tale Reform School. I really liked this book. It put a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it. Yes, it was a younger read than I was used to, but it was perfectly suited for it's middle grade audience. The heroine is Gilly and is around 12 or 13. She is caught stealing a hair clip and is shipped off to the Fairy Tale Reform School for the mischievous children on the path to becoming a villain. I think this is such a cute idea for a magical and funny story.

I really like that we got to see the "crime" that Gilly committed to get sent to reform school as it played out, rather than just starting the book with her already there and flashing back on what brought her in. I thought it gave the readers a great perspective on what her family is like, and gave us an idea of who Gilly is. I had a hard time calling her a mini villain because she didn't seem even close to evil, but I thought she did have some flair and interesting qualities that are not anything like your typical heroine. It made her more likeable, as strange as that sounds.



I loved the fairy tale reform school setting. The professors were all ex-villains. Come on, you know that sounds like a fun school to be at! And Gilly's friends are great. This book kind of had an Ella Enchanted feel to it. I'm not completely sure why, because the story is not even close to the same, but I just kind of pictured the town and the schools to be the kind of setting from the Ella Enchanted movie with Anne Hathaway. That kind of colorful faux olde world setting? (I would really love someone else that has read the book to tell me if they felt the same way, or if I am just weird?)

Bottom Line: Flunked is a super cute book in what I think will be a great middle grade series. Heck, not just for tweens. I liked this series, and I will be continuing on with it. I loved the humor in Jen Calonita's writing. Not to mention Flunked was a whole lotta fun to read.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

3.5/5

Red is a standalone young adult paranormal. I found it very refreshing to see a standalone paranormal. And I thought it ended in a great place and the story actually felt complete to me, so kudos to Alyxandra Harvey for that. It is no easy feat. Red is a re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood. When I first started reading Red, I was calling it a "re-telling" in my head, but the further and further I journeyed inside the story, the less it felt like a re-telling of the same old tale and much more like a complete re-imagining. Yes there are wolves and a grandmother and all those classic ingredients, but after that just about everything is totally different and fresh. Kia's red "hood" so to speak is actually her ability to start fire. And the wolf if more like a whole menagerie of crazy and mythical creatures. Those woods around the Blackwood's estate felt so much scarier to me than the woods in Little Red Riding Hood.

Kia is a spitfire. I found her gift to make fire both curious and terrifying. For one thing, yes she can make fire, but she didn't seem to be immune to it. Every time she would conjure it, she would get blisters. And while she was trying to summon it, she said it felt like her insides were boiling and burning alive. That was so totally different than any other book I had read with someone that had abilities. I wish we learned more about her background and how her abilities came to be, but that aspect of the story was very mysterious. It was the one facet of Red that I wanted more detail on. Every other part was so vivid that every last claw and scale of the creatures came to life before my eyes.

I would give anything to take a (very well protected mind you) stroll through the castle's "zoo". I think that would be so unbelievably cool. I haven't mentioned it much yet, but there is also a great romance in Red. I loved the dynamic between Ethan and Kia. I also enjoyed that Kia was drawn to the mystery surrounding the castle and not the persona that Ethan put on as a front. That earned her brownie points in my book. And in Ethan's too I think. The romance was built up nicely and didn't feel rushed. It didn't even come to fruition until well into the second half of the book.

Alyxandra Harvey has a real talent for the paranormal genre. The writing and description were spot on, and I loved the creepy world she built. The creatures fascinated me and terrified me in equal parts. I figured out the main twist in this book, but just when I thought things were too easy, I was blindsided by another twist that I didn't even know was a thing until it was staring me in the face. I really enjoyed being surprised like that. Red is a really good read.

3.5/5

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Losing the Ice is the second book in the New Adult Ice Series. The Ice series is a contemporary romance series centering around ice skating pairs. You should read the first book, Crossing the Ice, before you read Losing the Ice as they both feature the same couple. Courtney and Josh. Crossing the Ice was one of my favorite books of 2014 so I feel confidant recommending it to fans of contemporary romance and ice skating everywhere. I love Jennifer Comeaux's writing. If you remember the first book, Courtney and Josh each had a different pairs skater so they never really got to skate with one another much.

In Losing the Ice they are finally paired up together and I was super excited to see them skating together. And don't worry the skating is every bit as vivid and great as it was in the first book. But the tone of Losing the Ice was much more somber than Crossing the Ice. Something bad happens with Josh pretty early on in the book and I was completely devastated. The remainder of the book centers around this one event and its' consequences. I am really hoping that there is another book in the series and that the next one is a little more happy go lucky. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the way everything panned out in this one, but it felt kind of on the shorter end and kind of sad a lot of the time. And well, I love Courtney and Josh so much that I just want the best for them.

I also hope in the next book someone just slaps Josh's mom into behaving properly. That lady really bugs me. Let's focus on the positive things in Losing the Ice. The writing is great, the characters have still completely stolen my heart, and I even grew to like someone that I didn't in the first book, which is always exciting for me. I also admired how solid Courtney and Josh seemed with each other. Their relationship is great, and they are both so supportive. It is admirable. Losing the Ice is a good continuation of the Ice series. I am ready for the next book please!

Other books in the Ice Series:

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

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Perfect Game is the fourth book in the Adult sports romance series, Night Games. The series each focuses on a different player on the baseball team, the New York Kings. Perfect Game focuses on Scott, who is a notorious womanizer. At this point, I am thinking that practically all the New York Kings are. The books are each complete standalones, but I will warn you that this one picks up right in the middle of a scene so it feels like you are initially missing something, but you aren't. That is just the way the book starts, but don't worry, once you get past those first two scenes everything starts to make sense and you get backstory. As a side note Perfect Game and the whole series is really an adult sports romance series, but it straddles the line between New Adult and adult because of the age of a few of the characters.

What I liked about Scott's story was that it felt very natural. Scott doesn't do commitment for his own reasons and while he stuck by that for a while he still couldn't get Carrie out of his head, so they kept hanging out. The funny thing to me was that Scott still felt like he wasn't committing when it was clear as day that he was. But anyway, the story is not without its ups and downs and roadblocks for the maybe happy pair. But throughout it all Carrie and Scott were a hoot and a half. I really loved their chemistry and their back and forth biting banter and bickering. They sure could keep each other on their toes. But they were sweet too. One of my favorite scenes was when Scott and Carrie were out at their first dinner and the waitress makes some kind of comment about Carrie getting a healthier dinner, and boy did she put her in her place. And Scott totally backed her up and then Carrie thanked him for having her back. I don't know why but I just thought that moment was great.

I love the winning formula that Collette West has with this series. The New York Kings are a great group of well developed (heh-heh) guys and each one of their stories is wonderful. I think Collette West really captures the world-wind universe of sports and sports players perfectly. This book is another home run in the series. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Fake Boobs is a standalone new adult contemporary. And before we even get started, yes it is about fake boobs, but it is really about the larger picture of self esteem issues. I went back and forth with this book a little bit. There were a lot of things that I liked about the book, Fake Boobs, but there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. And not just about the main character, Tori. After I was done reading I sat back and tried to sort out my thoughts on the book and I kept coming back to the same thing, that the positive outweighed my annoyances.

So let's talk about the positive. I really liked Grant and Tori together. I liked the big picture of their relationship. I was very happy with the way everything left off, and I was happy that Grant wouldn't put up with Tori's nonsense, and at the same time he was more there for her than anyone else in her life was. I thought that Tori's journey was relate able and no matter how misguided she may have been, it was something that I think a lot of young women and teens would benefit from reading about. Sure, she had a very distorted view of herself and she made lots and lots of bad decisions, and she bugged me multiple times but it was all a part of her self discovery and self growth. She bugged me in the moment, but when I stepped back I found that I actually liked Tori quite a lot. And I loved that the story switched from her point of view to Grant's about half way through the book. I wasn't expecting that at all, but the events kind of rewound and were retold through his eyes. I thought it was a great writing technique for this story.

And now for my annoyances. I just said that Tori did a lot of stupid things and she was really misguided, and yes that bugged me but that annoyance was actually very fleeting and minimal. A big annoyance came from Grant. And I loved Grant, but he did what I hate a character (or anyone) doing. He decided what he thought was best for someone else and he just unilaterally made that decision. I can't tell you how much this grates on my nerves. Just sit down and talk to the other person instead of doing what you think they need. It wasn't Grant's decision to make, and like always it was wrong and royally messed things up. But like I said, it is a pet peeve of mine so that is probably why I rubbed me the wrong way.

Fake Boobs is the story of Tori and Grant just as much as it is the story of Tori's personal growth and becoming ok with who she was. It worked well as a standalone and the story felt well developed and complete. So yes, Fake Boobs is about Fake Boobs, but it's also more than that. I think it is worth a read.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Tryst is a standalone new adult contemporary romance. It is a fun romp with the brothers best friend turned secret romance trope. It is a fun read that will have you fanning yourself. I am even more impressed when I found out that this was Alex Rosa's debut New Adult novel. Tryst is just what the name implies, a fun, sexy romance. It is the story of Skylar, a pre-med serious student and soccer player. She puts her schooling first, but after a nasty (and I do mean nasty) breakup she moves in with her older brother to continue attending college. I really did like the brother sister relationship that Skylar and Josh shared. I know she had her moments of doubt, but I feel like Josh really stepped up in the family department. (both of their parents passed away.)

And then you have Blake. Blake is josh's roommate and best friend out in LA. He is an enigma wrapped in a contradiction, but he is a yummy one at that. On one hand he seemed to open with Skylar, but in the other hand he didn't really open up about a lot of him at all. It takes a good part of the book to get to know Blake and the funny thing is, you don't even know that you don't know him until things start to get revealed. I know that sounds weird, but I was reading along and totally enjoying the story and I was thinking that Skylar was the one that needed to open up more, and that Blake was up front with her about himself. All that jazz and then bam, some stuff gets revealed about Blake and I was like "whoa! I had no idea he was even holding anything back." You just have to read to know what I am talking about. He is a complicated dude. But I really liked that about him. He is a good person at his core. And he has slamming chemistry with Skylar.

There are lots of roadblocks along the way and it has all the elements that you would expect this trope to have. The sneaking around leads to confusion and jealousy. It was a little predictable, but was nonetheless a very enjoyable ride. I can't wait to read more books by Alex Rosa. Tryst really delivered. If you are looking for a fun and sexy read, look no further than Tryst.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

I can't even accurately convey how much I enjoyed Boys Don't Knit (In Public). This book is kind of my new obsession. It has everything. It's funny, it's heartwarming, it has an awesome male protagonist. I can't say enough good things about this book. Other than, I think everyone needs to read it. Ben is a high school student in the UK and he has a pretty typical group of friends. They always seem to be getting into very minor teen trouble, but what's funny is that is so not Ben. He is kind of the opposite of all his friends in that regard, but he goes along with them anyway. And of course, he is the one that gets caught red-handed. So off to probation he goes, where is gets a "give something back" community service punishment and he has to take a local class. With slim pickings available he chooses knitting, thinking at least it was taught by his young and hot high school teacher. (Spoiler Alert- It isn't.)

Boys Don't Knit is told entirely from Ben's point of view through the form of journal entries. With letters and excerpts of things thrown in as well. I loved that Ben narrated this book through his journal. He is the most adorable, great, quirky, and totally funny guy. I want to hang out with him. I want to be his friend. Ben's antics of his knitting class and his Give something back project had me smiling and laughing on every page. I put this book down multiple times, not because I was bored, but because I just didn't want it to end.

The writing is perfect for the story. Very conversational, and packed with pop culture references and jokes galore. I can't imagine anyone not getting a chuckle out of something from Boys Don't Knit. If you don't laugh while reading this book, I don't trust you. (unless you are a robot)Readers will fall in love with Ben. They will fall in love with his ragtag group of friends, and with all of Ben's knitting creations. I love the pattern names he comes up with. I love how much of a worrier he is. (he takes a wholistic approach to worrying- that is, he worries about everything all the time.) I loved absolutely everything about this book, even the excerpts from his friends "novel"- "50 Shades of Graham" Not to mention I thought the way everyone in Ben's life came together was a really nice heartwarming message. This book just worked for me on every level. I think there is something for everyone in Boys Don't Knit. The book comes out March 24th so you should pre-order your copy today because this is one that you will not want to miss. Quirky fun and humor at its' finest!

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Shaken Not Stirred is the fifth book in the Last Call Series by Sawyer Bennett. Each book can be read as a standalone, but the series follows a group of friends so it is always nice to be able to read them all. I would recommend reading at least one other book in the series before Shaken Not Stirred because Casey's character is a little different than the others and I feel like you get to know her a little better and appreciate her story more if you see her in the earlier books as a secondary character. I didn't read the first 2 books in the series. Rather, I started with the 3rd book- Sugar on the Edge, and I fell in love with Gavin, so I knew I would have to continue on to see more of their stories. And then I liked Wyatt's story, With a Twist, even more. And then I met Tenn. He is my favorite of them all. (so far.)

Sawyer Bennett just knows how to write really good contemporary romances. I go into her books confident that I will enjoy the characters and the story. On the cover of Shaken not Stirred, it said it was Tenn's story, in keeping with the guy theme, but the character that we know from the series is Casey (and Tenn is the guy match for her) so I went back and forth on that for a little, but eventually Tenn won out because I just love him so much, so heck yea this can be his story!

Tenn has trumped all the other guys for me. I just love his determination to go after what he wants. I love seeing the warm gooey marshmallow center of big tough guys. And he is a tough guy- but also a great guy. He is my favorite guy in the series so far. He would not give up on Casey. Even when Casey tried her hardest to get him to back away.



I liked Casey, but part of me just doesn't get her. She pushes absolutely every guy away. She is sweet, smart girl, but it is hard for me to relate to her because her actions are so different than me. In the end I felt like I could relate to her and I felt like I got to know her and her motivations well throughout the course of the story, but the way she uses and throws out guy after guy was hard for me to get past initially. I couldn't imagine her settling down. And I was also feeling a bit protective of Tenn. But Sawyer Bennett worked her magic and made it all work out. That's why I love reading her books so much. I can count on a good story out of them. One that no matter what, I will feel invested in. I don't want to give too much away about their story because the magic is in reading this series for yourself. The Last Call Series are great contemporary romances.

Other books in the Last Call Series:

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net** 

Bound by Duty is the first book in a young adult Fantasy series called the Bound series. The second book in the series, Bound by Spells just came out a few weeks ago so now is the perfect time to start reading. I felt like Bound by Duty was more of an upper YA book or a YA/NA crossover because the main characters are in college. If you like YA fantasy, the bound series may be a good one for you to check out. I thought the book really built as the story goes on.

I have come to decide that heroines with magic or special abilities usually fall into one of two camps. First, that they had no idea they had abilities and/or there was a big secret kept from them and everything gets revealed at once and they are left to deal with the fallout. Or second, they know something about themselves is different, but they don't know the whole story. And that is the case here. Amelia knows she has powers and she knows she meant for the prince, but she only knows the tip of the iceberg. And Bound by Duty is the start of her journey to discover just what the heck is going on with her.

The start of Bound by Duty was kind of confusing, but if you stick with the book the anticipation and adventure really starts to build. My excitement level grew slowly overtime with the course of the story. In fact, it was complimentary to the progression that Amelia went on. As she learned more and found out more, I got more and more excited. That was kind of cool as a reader. It made me feel like I was right there next to her on her journey.

There are two guys in this story- Micah and Aiden and I am not going to say much more about them, because I feel like reviews that deal with multiple guys have a tendency to lean to one side and then before you know it, so much of the story is given away. Just be aware of the fact that there is a bit of a triangle here, and read on to figure where you fall. Or is it even a love triangle? (this is me, trying to be mysterious. heh.)

Bottom Line: Bound By Duty is an intriguing upper young adult fantasy. The beginning was a little hard for me to get through, but it got much better as the story goes on. So if you are like me, power through the beginning and see how you feel about the book by the end. I think you will enjoy it.

 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Note: Blood Rule is the Fourth book in the Dirty Blood Series. There will be series spoilers in this review (not spoilers from this book) You can find out more about the series, Dirty Blood HERE
There are some series that you can write spoiler free reviews for and some series that are so action packed, and that you must read in order that it is nearly impossible to write reviews of the later books without giving anything away from earlier books, so I am going to make it easy for you. These first two paragraphs will tell new readers everything you need to know about why you should read this series and the following couple of paragraphs are for people that have started the series already.

If you have not read the Dirty Blood series you are completely missing out. Tara is a kick butt heroine who is called a dirty blood because she is part werewolf hunter and part werewolf. You must read the books in order because there are so many things that go on in each book and they each pick up right where the other one left off. I recommend binge reading them all. They are that good. There is a love triangle and I am now firmly on one side (even if I fear it may be the losing side.) but both guys are wonderful and I give my stamp of approval on this as a love triangle done well. Heather Hildenbrand can write paranormal romance so well. Her characters, her action, her suspense is all spot on. All in all this series is one of my favorites. And I am petrified to read the 5th and final book because I don't want it to be over.

Ok if you are new to the series, you have been warned. There will not be spoilers from Blood Rule, the fourth book, but there will be mentions and spoilers from the previous books in the series. I can't find any way around that. Read on at your own risk. Blood Bound picks up right where the 3rd book left off. It took me a moment to get my bearings because Heather Hildenbrand has created such an immersive world with so many complex characters that it was a lot to be dropped back into after 1 year reading break between books. Tara has taken control of the pack of hybrids and she is having a tough time with them. I felt for her more in this book than any I have read yet, because it really seemed like the weight of the world was on her shoulders every single page.

Heather Hildenbrand tore my heart in shreds every time I had to watch Tara visit Alex in the hospital and he remained in his coma. It was too much, and I'm so not touching the love triangle aspect of the story because I just know I will give too much away. I like Wes. I like Alex. I like Alex more. That's all I'm saying. Like with the previous books, we get lots of answers and even more questions. I have no idea where Heather comes up with all the twists and turns and new layers of development, but she can write a book that will have you sitting so close to the edge of your seat, you will fall right off of it.

The fifth and final book in the Dirty Blood series just released, which is good because now you can read all the books one right after another. And trust me you will want to because they are beyond excellent and because they each have wicked cliffhangers. (this one included.) Here is a teaser from the fifth book, Broken Blood. I am sharing it because it features my wonderful Alex! Enjoy...and read this series!

Other Books in the Dirty Blood Series:
(click on the covers to find out more)

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs