The title of this book is perfect for the story. I really loved how Heidi McLaughlin kept referencing forever and "my girl" throughout the book. It was really sweet. This is one of those realistic love stories that you can actually picture happening. It wasn't rushed at all. In fact it was over 10 years in the making. Forever My Girl was precious.

I should state for the record that I would have been beyond pissed if Liam did what he did to Josie before the book even started. Simplified version is that he just up and left her without any good reason. but Forever my Girl deals with the aftermath 10 years down the road from that choice. I liked Liam. I really did. And even though I understood his need to take things slow to make sure it was what Josie wanted, I kind of wanted him to fight for her a littler earlier on. I liked the idea of them together, and it is obvious that they bought wanted it. Noah is beyond adorable. I really enjoyed watching Liam interact with him.

As sweet as this book was there were sad and angry moments for me as well. There is a pretty big tragedy that takes place and it broke my heart. There is also one character named Sam that I pretty much hated on sight, but I'm sure that I am not the only one that feels this way about that crazy lady.

Josie is a pretty realistic person, which was one of my favorite things about her. She was logical and didn't let her emotions rule her- most of the time. It was refreshing. She certainly didn't go easy on Liam when he showed up in town. Forever my Girl is a well developed story. It has a few flow moments in the middle but it progresses nicely. And I am really excited to read the next book in the series, because I think it is going to be about Harrison and although he appearance in this book was short, he really grew on me.

This is such a great trilogy. I loved so many of the characters in it. I really enjoyed the first book and the second book and the third book was just as wonderful. The world that Raine Thomas has created is truly epic. I am going to read the prequel trilogy next, but you don't have to read that one first to understand the firstborn trilogy. In my last review, I mentioned that I thought the index would be better in the front of the book instead of the back of the book and for Elder Raine put an index explaining the terms and names at the start of the book! I was so excited. It was a great refresher from the last book.

Elder picked up right after Shift left off and Tate and Arina are still in danger and are still captives. Elder is action packed from the start to the finish.

This story focuses on another one of the cousins. This time it is Clara Kate, or CK as they call her. I was happy to see that I really enjoyed Clara Kate. I loved Tate, from the first book, so much so I was a little nervous that the other characters would not measure up to her. But CK was pretty awesome! She takes charge and she is such a strong person. She fell in love with one of her kind in the human world and when he transitioned back into their world he forgot all of his human memories- including her! It would have totally broken my heart but CK held herself together beautifully. I really admired her strength and innate sense of justice. She is someone I had no problem looking up to.

Another thing I completely loved about this story is that there was still a good amount of Zachariah and Tate. I love them so much. They are just so intense, and man of man sometimes when Zachariah just looks at Tate it gives me shivers. Raine Thomas, hear my plea and make a short story or deleted scene about the two of them! I just can't get enough of them.

The firstborn trilogy is fantasy done right. I really loved it and I am sad to see that it is done. But the ending was really good and I am super happy with the way everything turned out. I would recommend this series to any fan of YA fantasy. If you are a fan of paranormal and you want to branch out a bit, give the Firstborn series a try!

I loved, loved, loved Ward Against Death. This book is deliberate and detailed and at the same time it is fast paced. It is the strangest mixture but it totally worked for me. The characters were on the run trying to solve a mystery and they were always doing something, but all the while it was also very descriptive and thorough in it's writing. Melanie Card did a really great job with Ward Against Death, and I basically need the second book right now.

Ward and Celia are so totally different but yet they work so well together. And honestly there wasn't a ton of romance in the book but what romance there was completely brought the book to life. I loved the scenes between Ward and Celia. The two of them have some crazy trust issues though. Holy cow! I really liked Ward. He is reserved but you can tell he has all this untapped potential if he would just open up a little. And he does as the story goes on. I can't wait to learn even more about him in the next book. I hope the two of them can finally just trust each other now because I really love the two of them.

The story in Ward Against Death was wonderful as well. I really enjoyed the complexity of the mystery. There was a lot going on, it was basically a whole new world being created. I'll admit that I sometimes got the names for people or things confused but it didn't detract from the overall story.

Ward Against Death is like a young adult historical urban fantasy. I don't read enough YA urban fantasy. Ward Against Death reminded me why I love the genre so much.

Wow, K.A. Linde can write her butt off! That is how I feel about Avoiding Commitment overall. Just so well written. Avoiding Commitment was one of those books where I was screaming at the characters to act one way and they just never listened to me, but I still couldn't help but totally love them and I got completely sucked into the story. There is just something about Lexi that even though I wanted to shake her most of the time, I was still on her team 100% the whole way though.

That is a testament to K.A. Linde's writing, I think. I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions while reading this book. Jack drove me nuts sometimes, but then he would what felt like some really honest moments and holy cow, he was even drawing me in and making me believe in him. I went back and forth with what I wanted more than a few times.

Lexi is pretty funny. She has zero control over her desires, which I didn't particularly like about her, but she just has this something about her. I couldn't help but like her. Maybe it was that whole law student bond. I will say this, she does lead a very exciting life for someone in a top ten law school. I am a little jealous. Haha! Lexi and Jack have this super strange relationship. It seemed pretty destructive for me. Honestly, I really liked Ramsey. I hope he shows up in the next book because he seems pretty genuine.

The writing was set up different. I really liked the style of it. The chapters would alternate between the "present" and then the next chapter would be 6 years ago. Then it would go back to the present and then the next chapter would be 4 years ago. And so on. Basically the chapters alternated between the past and the present and eventually the times met. It was a kind of cool way to see everything in Lexi and Jack's relationship.

Avoiding Commitment was like watching reality tv for me. It was drama filled and juicy. Something I just couldn't turn away from. It totally sucked me in and I loved it all. It was raw and gritty and seemed so real, and kinda dysfunctional. But I loved it all. I am definitely going to check out more of K.A. Linde's books.

Pursuing the Times was a funny read. The main character Mercury is quirky and super strong willed. I enjoyed the subject of the book. It felt familiar to me because of blogging. Pursuing the Times is about a published author that really wants her books to be reviewed by the New York Times. She also hates that her books are dubbed "chick Lit" and some people immediately write them off just for that fact. This is actually a real problem in the book industry and it drives me crazy. I can't stand when people think that YA or chick lit books are not "real literature". I felt indignant on behalf of Mercury.

Mercury is just the kind of person that you can't help but like. She is rash and impulsive, which are two things that I am not, but she is like a whirlwind and you can't help but get sucked in too. I thought it was a little sad that she couldn't just take a break and enjoy what she had accomplished. Her agent, Angel hit the nail on the head when she said that Mercury wasn't happy with anything she had. But she figured it all out eventually, and it made it even more satisfying. At one point in the book, she was talking about positive reviews being too "glittery". It made me a little nervous. I feel like Mercury would think of some of my reviews as glittery. Oops.

Pursuing the Times is full of a cast of intellectual characters. Almost all of them went to Yale, in fact. Except for Mercury and Angel. I liked reading about some smarter people, they actually had interesting things to say and the conversations in Pursuing the Times seemed important and worth while. There wasn't a whole lot of fluff and I really loved that. There was however, plenty of humorous one liners and chuckle worthy remarks. I also really loved that.

The one thing that kept nagging me after I was done reading. What happened with the bell boys and the gold pro's books?? I want to know what Angel thought of them! The titles were hilarious!

I think Pursuing the Times is a great book for bloggers and reviewers to read because it is all about crazy antics someone will go to, to get their book reviewed. I thought it was a fun and feisty read! I would read another book featuring Mercury Lauren in a second.

Right away, I loved the name Normalish. And after reading the book, I think it is the perfect title. Normalish kind of reminded me of Forgiving Trinity by Liz Reinhardt. It is a modern coming of age story for a 15 year old girl. The book read kind of like a dairy and had plenty of ups and downs. And through it all, it just seems so real. Normal in the way that everyone's like is not really normal at all.

Stacy starts the book out by listing everything in her life that she doesn't have. I should have paid a little more attention to that list at the time because it is like a preview into the rest of the book. One thing after another happens to Stacy and to the people around Stacy and I was really interested in seeing everyone's reactions and how they dealt with things. What I liked about Stacy was that she was so real. She was just like a normal teen. Everything was heightened. Every guy was a true love, everything was vastly important. But, here's the real kicker- she didn't seem annoying or petty to me. It all just worked for her. Margaret Lesh did a great job of making very realistic characters.

Normalish also shocked me more than a few times. I couldn't believe two of the big things that happened. (and, nope i'm not going to tell you what they are. :p) These were real emotional events and honestly, I'm surprised that the majority of the characters handled the day to day life as well as they did.

The writing of Normalish was a real treat. I enjoyed Margaret Lesh's writing style. The chapters were all varied in length but most of them were pretty short. That's why it reminded me of journal or diary entries. Sometimes the book was choppy, sometimes the book was more flowing. All of it matched the events of the story. It was really well done.

Fans of realistic ya and some of the more raw and gritty contemporary books, Normalish would be a great addition to your bookshelves. Especially where nothing is "normal", normalish is great!

I can't even get over how much I loved the idea of Date with the Dead! Girl can see ghosts so she starts up her own ghost hunting/mystery solving business, and hijinks ensue. It was like Nancy Drew meets Medium. Plus the name of her business is called RIPSTERS- Rest In Peace Sophisticated Technology For Efficient Removal Of Spirits. Way too cute!

Jolie and Drew are adorable. I loved the ghost hunting duo they made. It kind of seamed like Jolie was a loner but then right at the start of the story all of these new people started popping up in her life. Looking back, it seemed a little sudden but I didn't notice it at all while reading it, so it didn't bother me. Jolie is just a likable girl. She is quirky and brave. In some ways she seems like just a normal teen, with crushes and hilarious nicknames for everyone.

"Pretty in Pink", aka Brittany joins Jolie's group and she can actually touch the ghosts, and I think I actually felt Jolie and Drew's pain. Did I say already that they are adorable? Anyways, once Brittany joins the group and tells us who she liked, my jaw literally dropped open. I didn't see it coming at all but I loved it. I will say that I don't really love the cover, but don't let that affect your decision to read Date with the Dead. It's a really good book!

The murder mystery in Date with the Dead is pretty good too. I really enjoyed the thought out story of John Distal and his death. It was all really interesting. What I liked most about Date with the Dead is that it wasn't quite like anything else that I had been reading. It was unique. And that was really refreshing to see. I can't wait to see what RIPSTERS will be up to next!

Tidal was so much better than what I initially thought it would have been. I went into Tidal expecting to enjoy it, obviously, but it went in a totally different direction than I thought it would. I think this is a great example of the New Adult genre. Tidal is edgy, it deals with real and serious issues, and it is relevant to pop culture in todays society. Plus the romance is great.

Tidal follows the story of a young actress who has just gotten out of rehab for her pill problem. Her drug problem started because of a secret she has that she is ashamed of. At first I wasn't sure what I was going to think of Willow. I liked her but I wanted to see some real change in her. I didn't want her to just make excuses for everything. And she did really try and change! I was so happy. I thought Willow was a great character. She has problems and issues, insecurities, and family issues. But she is also thoughtful and smart and much stronger than she knows. As soon as leaving rehab, Willow's parents sign her up for a remake of a surfing movie. Without even telling her about it. Side note: I wanted to smack her parents in the face.

At first I was a little worried that Cooper was just attracted to Willow and that their relationship would be unrealistic. But man, oh man was I wrong. Cooper was so much more than meets the eye. He is so loyal and unwavering. Even when some of Willow's other friends were awful, Cooper was always there for her. He melted my heart.

Tidal takes all of these serious issues and still somehow manages to create an awesome and fun beach romance. It sounds strange that a book can be both deep and heavy and dark and still romantic and happy. Tidal is a great book.

Whew! There is a lot going on in Supernatural Freak. If you like paranormal adventure mysteries, you are in the right place. Supernatural Freak drops you right in the middle of action and the main character has to fend off a werewolf attack within the first 5% of the book, and it doesn't stop afterwards. That is action packed!

Robyn seemed like she was getting attacked left and right throughout the story. She is a tough cookie though, that's for sure. She would not give up. I admired that about her. I also loved her sense of humor. It was perfect to break of up some of the more action packed scenes. Along with Robyn we meet her eclectic group of friends. I really liked them too, especially William.

My favorite thing about Supernatural Freak was the variety of paranormal/supernatural creatures. It kind of reminded me of Paranormalcy by Kiersten White in that regard. I love it when a book is not a pure vampire or witch book. If the world can incorporate a bunch of different creatures and have them make sense in the story, that is a lot better in my opinion. And Louisa Klein did a great job of not only including a bunch of different creatures, but also giving them all their own little role or place in the world. Those details really added to the story.

The writing style was a little off for me at times. I wasn't the biggest fan of the first person. It was kind of jarring for me and I found myself getting confused early on in the story. Once the mysterious "tree handed kid" came into the story, I found myself getting more interested and the first person didn't throw me off as much. And now this is a small point but I caught myself thinking it a bunch of times while reading. There are a lot of really long paragraphs(some multiple pages long) that I would have liked to seen broken up a bit more. It was kind of hard on my eyes to read one huge block of works on the page.

I think Supernatural Freak would appeal to both guys and girl readers because the romance is not a big element in this story at all. There is a little bit of romance but this is a paranormal book, not a paranormal romance.

I read the first book in the Escape to New Zealand series and I couldn’t get enough of the rugby captain Drew and sweet Hannah. I thought for sure they would be my favorite couple of the series, (each book focuses on a different “All- Black” rugby player) but now I think the favorite couple honor goes to Finn and Jenna from Just for Now.

There are so many things that I love about the Escape to New Zealand series. The writing is great, the setting is beautiful, and all of the characters- ALL of them- are so well developed and you get to see them pop up in all of the books. The All Blacks (kind of like the all star rugby team) are like a big family and I love that each book focuses on a different player. And each book is a unique situation, it is not just the same storyline told over and over again. You don’t have to read them in order either. Each book is complete and can stand on it’s own. I have read the 1st and 3rd books so far, and I have loved them both so much that I need to read book 2!

Jenna is such a sensible girl. And she is so great with kids. She is a grade school teacher and she becomes a live in nanny for Finn’s kids. I loved that she is also a no –nonsense kind of girl. She doesn’t let everyone just walk all over her, and she still manages to be super sweet. There is just something charming about her. Finn kept saying that she made everything seem to easy around the house and he was completely right. Jenna just has this attitude about her that makes everything seem possible. She is kind of awesome.

Finn is equally awesome. He is thoughtful and sweet and kind of fierce at the same time. I loved that he is this big tough enforcer on the rugby field and at home he is completely different. He loves his kids so much. The funny thing is, normally I don’t like to read books with kids in them, but it worked really well with this story. I think it has everything to do with Rosalind’s writing style. I am kind of in love with it. She can tell one heck of a story.

Finn’s kids are adorable, by the way. His daughter is a huge sports buff and I loved watching her explain the games to Jenna. And his son is beyond cute with his obsession of animals and insane knowledge of random animal facts. Even the kids were well fleshed out as characters.

Anyone looking for a a great story and a sweet and REAL romance, you need to read the Escape to New Zealand series. I would recommend it to all fans of contemporary romances.