ARC Review: Off Trail by Rick Polito

“you know,” i said, “the road to hell is paved with good wintentions.”

rick polito

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 3rd 2021

Publisher: Wise Wolf Books

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | Historical Fiction | Humor | Romance

Page Count: 249

Source:ย I received an advance readerโ€™s copy of this book from the publisher. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: A laugh-out-loud coming of age story of one teenโ€™s preposterous experience in a wilderness therapy program.

Daniel grew up in the shadow of his older sister, the brash, self-assured, and utterly reckless Jackie, now living with her dirtbag boyfriend and wandering through dead-end jobs. When his parents find her marijuana stash in his closet and decide they do not want him to turn out like his sister, Daniel suffers the โ€œtrickle-down parentingโ€ effect and is sent to Quest Trail. Surrounded by other similarly uprooted teens, Daniel endures a series of preposterous self-discovery exercises and gets caught up in a rivalry with Troy, a too-tough poser, as they vie for the attention of Vera, a charismatic California teen who grew up with too much money and not enough emotional connection. Just as Danielโ€™s confidence begins to grow and things start to look up, the Quest Trail program dissolves into complete chaos.

Sometimes humorous, sometimes painful, Off Trail shows an authentic account of all the embarrassing and heart-wrenching moments of being a teen.

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Review: By Mist@ke by Sigal Ehrlich

“doing the right thing isn’t always the right thing to do.”

sigal ehrlich

Series:ย Poison & Wine #1

Release Date:ย January 5th 2021

Publisher:ย Self-published

Genre:ย New Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Romance

Page Count:ย 239

Source:ย I received an advance readerโ€™s copy of this book from the author via NetGalley. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: Thereโ€™s so much going on in Annaโ€™s life. Teaching countless hours at the studio and nurturing the three major relationships of her life โ€“ her group of tight-knit friends, all while attempting to not screw up this whole adulthood thing leaves very little time to waste on yet another dating app. At this point, a relationship is off the menu. Being โ€œself-partneredโ€ is more than enough.

A serious relationship has been crossed off Liam Brodyโ€™s list of goals, at least for the foreseeable future. Completing his residency and becoming a trauma surgeon is his only priority. Casual relationships, his friends, and books are the only things heโ€™s willing to lose his precious free time to.

When an accidental email starts a deep online connection, both Liam and Anna dive in with zero concern . . . because thereโ€™s really no harm in getting close to someone who youโ€™ll never meet in real life, right? Wrong. When a turn of events brings their โ€œsafeโ€ virtual connection to an unexpected face-to-face, Anna and Liam learn their online chemistry pales in comparison to the real deal. A realization that brings along the bazillion-dollar question โ€“ what do you do when you meet The One at the most impossibly wrong time?

by Mist@ke is book 1 in a standalone series with connected characters, but independent storylines.

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ARC Review: Chaos Theory by Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount

i’d totally done exactly what the non-contract indicated i shouldn’t. i’d fallen for her.

lynn rush & kelly anne blount

Series: Twin River High #3

Release Date: May 24th 2021

Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Romance

Page Count: 303

Source: I received an advance readerโ€™s copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: Corey Chaos, teen YouTube sensation, just needs a break from his hectic schedule. Ever since his musical talent was “discovered” by the right person at the right time, his life has been a steady stream of interviews, screaming fans, TV shows, screaming fans, Instagram lives, and did he mention the screaming fans? He’d give anything to be a normal teen again, even for five minutes. So, when his agent suggests staying at his pool house for a month to get away from the stress, Corey is on the next plane to snowy Twin River, Wisconsin. As soon as he gets there, though, his agent’s gorgeous teen daughter, Victoria, asks for his helpโ€”and Corey can’t bring himself to say no to her. Not after the video of her boyfriend dumping her in the school cafeteria went viral with its own hashtag, #LunchDump. Ouch. That’s not the way you want to get a million views. No one, especially a sweet girl like Victoria, deserves to be treated that way. But then she tells him about her big plan to get revenge on her ex. And Corey’s certain his starring role has chaos written all over it.

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ARC Review: Project Personality by Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount

it was like he was a hydrogen molecule and i was the oxygen. i was drawn to him. we completed each other.

lynn rush & kelly anne blount

Series: Twin River High #2

Release Date: May 17th 2021

Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Romance

Page Count: 274

Source: I received an advance readerโ€™s copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: Hope Chambers has a major problem. Sheโ€™s spent the entirety of her four years of high school focusing on being perfectโ€”perfect grades, perfect extracurriculars, perfect essaysโ€”to the point that she forgot to get a life. And now sheโ€™s perfectly boring. Sheโ€™s got exactly two weeks before her admissions interview for MIT to spice up her life and get a personality, dammit. And she knows exactly who can help her: soccer star and Mr. Popularity himself, Landon Watkins. But how does a nerdy, socially awkward girl ask the most charismatic guy in school to help her become interesting? Saving his life in the school cafeteria is a pretty good start. No one is more surprised than Hope when Landon agrees to help her. But what he proposes they do takes her so far out of her shell, she’s practically in a different ocean. And when she starts falling for the last guy she ever expected to, it has her second-guessing every decision she’s ever made… 

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ARC Review: Words Composed of Sea and Sky by Erica George

“i hope that when people look for something that is left of me, all they’ll find is you.”

erica george

Series: Standalone

Release Date: May 25th 2021

Publisher: Running Press Kids

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Historical Fiction | Romance

Page Count: 368

Source: I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: This modern summer romance set on Cape Cod features two young adult poets divided by centuries.

Michaela Dunn, living on present day Cape Cod, dreams of getting into an art school, something her family just doesn’t understand. When her stepfather refuses to fund a trip for a poetry workshop, Michaela finds the answer in a local contest searching for a poet to write the dedication plaque for a statue honoring Captain Benjamin Churchill, a whaler who died at sea 100 years ago. She struggles to understand why her town venerates Churchill, an almost mythical figure whose name adorns the school team and various tourist traps. When she discovers the 1862 diary of Leta Townsend, however, she gets a glimpse of Churchill that she didn’t quite anticipate. In 1862, Leta Townsend writes poetry under the name Benjamin Churchill, a boy who left for sea to hunt whales. Leta is astonished when Captain Churchill returns after his rumored death. She quickly falls for him. But is she falling for the actual captain or the boy she constructed in her imagination?

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ARC Review: Gutter Girl by Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount

this is why people always act so ridiculous in the movies when they’re getting swept off their feet by their crush. he kissed the english language right out of my brain, yet again.

lynn rush & kelly anne blount

Series: Twin River High #1

Release Date: May 10th 2021

Publisher: Entangled Publishing LLC

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | Contemporary | Romance

Page Count: 294

Source: I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Thank you!

Goodreads Summary: Star football player Jace Rovers has a secret. And not just any secretโ€”a shocking secretโ€ฆ He writes romance. The kind with swords. And dresses. And kissing. Nobody knows. Not the other kids at Twin River High. Not his overbearing parents. And certainly not the millions of fans whoโ€™ve read his book on the writing platform Scribbles. And thatโ€™s the way he plans to keep it. Except suddenly one of the other football players grabs his notebook in jest and starts reading a kissing scene out loudโ€ฆand Jace knows heโ€™s busted. But then McKenna Storm, resident goth girl who avoids the spotlight like a virus, snatches up the notebook and tells everyone she’s the author. And lucky for Jace, she later agrees to continue the ruse…for a price. Heck, he’d give her anything not to reveal his secret. But when they start to fall for each other, he knows he’ll have to keep the biggest secret of allโ€”his darkest character is based on herโ€ฆ

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Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

โ€œwhen everyone knows youโ€™re a monster, you neednโ€™t waste time doing every monstrous thing.โ€

leigh bardugo

Series: Six of Crows #1

Release Date:ย September 29th 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Genre: Young Adult Fiction | High Fantasy | Romance | Adventure

Page Count: 465

Source: Purchased

Goodreads Summary: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right priceโ€”and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he canโ€™t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who canโ€™t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Kazโ€™s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destructionโ€”if they donโ€™t kill each other first.

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