As Long As We Both Shall Live - JoAnn Chaney

What happens when you're really, truly done making your marriage work? You can't be married to someone without sometimes wanting to bash them over the head...
As Long As We Both Shall Live is JoAnn Chaney's wicked, masterful examination of a marriage gone very wrong, a marriage with lots of secrets...

"My wife! I think she's dead!" Matt frantically tells park rangers that he and his wife, Marie, were hiking when she fell off a cliff into the raging river below. They start a search, but they aren't hopeful: no one could have survived that fall. It was a tragic accident.

But Matt's first wife also died in suspicious circumstances. And when the police pull a body out of the river, they have a lot more questions for Matt.

Detectives Loren and Spengler want to know if Matt is a grieving, twice-unlucky husband or a cold-blooded murderer. They dig into the couple's lives to see what they can unearth. And they find that love's got teeth, it's got claws, and once it hitches you to a person, it's tough to rip yourself free.

So what happens when you're done making it work?

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy - Anne Eliot

            Hi there! Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot goes along with the theme of “celebrity falling for norm” but had a bit of an enjoyable twist.

After a car accident--an event he considers a prank gone bad--pop star, Hunter Kennedy is forced to hide out with his aunt in small-town Colorado. He’s supposed to rest, heal his scars and attend high school in disguise until the press dies down. But he only wants to get back to work.

Worse, the girl who’s been assigned to make him over into a geek is a major geek herself. Vere Roth is a chattering pixie, a blushing tornado and a complete social disaster. He’s never met a girl who’s never-been-kissed, believes in romance and thinks Hunter’s a 'nice' guy.

Funny thing is...Hunter is nice around Vere because she’s his first real friend. He also can’t seem to stop sharing his secrets or keep her out of his heart. Knowing he’d never deserve a girl as sweet as Vere, he resigns himself to the friend zone, and helps his new bestie with her own makeover.

She tortures him daily for ridiculous guy advice on how to snag her life-long crush. A guy Hunter thinks is totally wrong for Vere, and sadly, one who has taken note of Vere’s transformation.

When Vere asks her best friend for some kissing advice, Hunter can’t resist...

And that’s when things get out of control...

Driftwood - Elizabeth Dutton

            Driftwood by Elizabeth Dutton was a very wise choice for me to read…

How far would you go for your family? A smart and funny debut about road trips, music, love, and California for fans of The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Run River and Killing Yourself to Live.

Los Angeles, California: Clem Jasper is a trust fund kid with a world famous rock musician for a father. When he dies suddenly (playing ping pong) she discovers he’s left her a strange legacy—a series of letters that take her on a mysterious road trip around California. Ignoring her aunt’s suggestion that she pitch the trip as a reality show, she embarks on her own—to discover just what it was that her father meant her to find. What secret could be so powerful that he had to die before telling her?

The Accidental Movie Star - Emily Evans

Now I’m a sucker for all things celebrity… Surely every young adult is. The Accidental Movie Star by Emily Evans captures what I believe it’d be like to fall for someone you “can’t” have.

How did Ashley spend her summer vacation? Imagine the hottest guy in Hollywood. Do you see the girl next to him, the one handing him a cup of coffee? Yeah. That’s her.

Interning on a major motion picture is not all bad. She gets to watch some of the scenes and even offer her opinion. “That kiss looked lame. Laughably weak. There’s no chance at an MTV award with that kiss.” LOL.

Until the director says, “Hey, Intern. Yeah, you. Ashley. You’re right. So, teach Caspian how to kiss. Oh, and get in front of the camera. We're going to need you in this next shot."

OMG.

You Were Mine - Abbi Glines

            Hi there! I’m seeing a lot of negativity about this book and it has me confused. I’d like to start this review with: if you like Bethy and you like Tripp as characters, then you’ll enjoy this book. Honestly! The way Abbi Glines creates passion and realness in her stories in impeccable and for a little over 200 pages I was completely involved. If anything, I didn’t like Bethy in the beginning of the series when she was acting slutty! With that being said, I’d like to share my opinions on You Were Mine by Abbi Glines…

In the eyes of the wealthy playboys who frequent Kerrington Country Club in Rosemary Beach, Tripp Newark is a hero. Under pressure from his parents to become a lawyer and lead a conservative, upper-class life, Tripp disappeared from town five years ago to travel the world, forfeiting the opportunity to inherit millions. Yet few know what he was really running from...

Bethy Lowry was unraveling long before her boyfriend drowned in a riptide trying to save her after she'd had one too many drinks--again. A trailer park kid working as a cart girl among the wealthy patrons of Kerrington Country Club, Bethy has always been impressionable. But five years ago, before she earned her reputation as a hard-drinking, easy girl, she had spent a single summer with Tripp Newark that changed her life forever...

One More Chance - Abbi Glines

                                  One More Chance by Abbi Glines, yes.

Grant Carter did everything in his power to convince Harlow Manning that he was a good guy. More than a smooth-talker and someone she could trust. He had to overcome his reputation as a playboy, and his history with Harlow's half-sister, Nan, a woman with a reputation of her own.

Harlow had taken the chance, falling hard and fast for the guy who thrilled her with his all-consuming desire. After a lifetime of avoiding bad boys like Grant, she had opened herself to the possibilities of love...

But a life-changing secret has torn them apart, and now Grant and Harlow must decide if they have enough fight to make it work - or if the pain of betrayal has permanently destroyed their future.

Through to You - Lauren Barnholdt

            The story of Penn and Harper is one that can and will easily stick with me. Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt is short, sweet and simply delightful.

            It starts with a scribbled note in class: I like your sparkle. Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.

Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.

Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.

Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Hi there! So John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (TFIOS for short) was even better than I expected. I went into it thinking that the saddest part would be the ending but in retrospect the whole story itself it’s the saddest part. I honestly loved it and recommend it to everyone and anyone.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.