The Bad Boy's Girl (The Bad Boy's Girl #01) - Blair Holden

Title: The Bad Boy's Girl (The Bad Boy's Girl #01)
Author: Blair Holden
Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Trident Media Group for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

Tessa O'Connell is a girl as ordinary as they come-or so she thinks. Her aim for senior year is to keep her head down yet somehow manage to convince her childhood love Jay Stone to love her back. What she isn't prepared for is for Jay's brother, Cole, to return to town and change the life she's always been seemingly content to live. Tall, gorgeous as all hell and a bad boy with ocean blue eyes and the perfect edge of adorability, he was her greatest tormentor, her number one enemy. But the guy that's come back is like no one Tessa's ever come across. He challenges her, he tests her limits, he forces her to bring out the girl she's long ago buried under a veil of mediocrity and most of all he compels her to consider that perhaps the boy that infuriates her to the point of no return might just her guardian angel.

This book has got some great reviews and some very negative ones. I can't understand why people complain about the author's writing when to me, it was very good, actually. Not once did I think this book had been published on Wattpad by a no-name-author first. Surely, Blair Holden can write! However, I can't see myself rating this any different than three stars. Maybe half a point extra, but that's it. The Bad Boy's Girl started off great, I really enjoyed it. It was like a teenage comedy turned into a novel - I could picture every single scene in my mind. But then the story went on and on without actually developing.

Cole's an awesome book boyfriend, I'll give the author that. But his motives are low. Like, really, really low. I didn't buy that story of his for a second. Sure enough, bullies sometimes treat their victims bad because they secretly like them. But that's so kindergarten and thinking of a teen still doing it for that reason... Just, no. I don't even want to think about that, nevertheless if it happens or not. And when Tessa started thinking about how she always liked him... No, either! I couldn't understand why. Did she like being bullied by him so much? Did that enchante her? Yes, I liked their chemistry and loved their scenes, but the story behind it didn't seem right to me.

And then there's Jay. I'll be the first to admit that I liked him. That's probably because Tessa crushed on him like crazy and he seemed nice enough to be worth it. Of course, his relationship with Tessa's enemy Nicole is kind of a turn off and his behaviour is as well, but sometimes I got the feeling the author put him in some place he didn't belong. He wasn't that much of a douche bag. He was turned into one. I would have liked to see more of his good sides, yet somebody had to be the bad guy, I guess.

I hate to think that girls only get confidence by having a boyfriend. I'm sure the author didn't mean to make it sound like that for her book, but it was only after Tessa started going out with Cole that she started being more confident, stood up to Nicole and Jay. She didn't do these things on her own. She didn't do a lot of growing up on her on, it was all about Cole. It sounds like I'm hating this book, but let me tell you that's not the case. It's just that writing this review makes me think of so many aspects I didn't like.

Let's get to Tessa's friends. Because those were awesome (and I can finally quit complaining). I had Beth's future romance all figured out very fast and I just adored Megan and her boyfriend. They were so super cute. Also, I usually tend to dislike the main character's best friends, but that didn't happen with Beth and Megan. They were supportive of Tessa, always held her hand. In most books it's that the friends at one point of the story get into a fight, just to make things more interesting. I'm so very glad that didn't happen with The Bad Boy's Girl. It would have made zero sense to me. And Tessa was going through enough. No need to add things to the existing problems.

So, this review is probably not that useful. But... If you're looking for cute young adult read with a hero that knows exactly what he wants and fights for it, who's swoon-worthy and makes you wish you were the heroine of the story, then I suggest you pick this one up.

German Review: Forbidden Love Story - Anna Savas

Titel: Forbidden Love Story - Weil ich dir begegnet bin
Autorin: Anna Savas
Bewertung: 3/5

Danke an NetGalley und den Impress, Carlsen Verlag für das digitale Rezensionsexemplar dieses Buches.

Schon als Vesper dem gut aussehenden Alex zum ersten Mal über den Weg läuft, fühlt sie sich unwiderstehlich zu ihm hingezogen. Seine leuchtend grünen Augen scheinen direkt in ihr Herz zu blicken und sein umwerfendes Lächeln bringt sie dazu, den ganzen Mist um sie herum zu vergessen. Zumindest für einen kurzen Moment – bis Vesper Alex bei einem Abendessen wiedersieht, das ihre Mutter mit ihrem neuen Verlobten und dessen Tochter ausrichtet. Als sich dort herausstellt, wer Alex wirklich ist, wird ihnen klar, dass ihre Liebe niemals sein darf… aber Gefühle lassen sich nichts vorschreiben.

Süß. Das ist das erste Wort, das mir zu diesem Roman einfällt. Ich hatte wegen der Beschreibung eine andere Beziehung vermutet, aber glücklicherweise wurde es dann doch nicht die typische Stiefbruder/Stiefschwester Romanze (ist das schon ein Spoiler?, die derzeit unendliche Begeisterung feiert. Und ja, das Thema ist toll, aber nach einer Weile auch ziemlich fade. Die Autorin hat sich mit ihrem Buch hier also Gedanken gemacht, wie sie den Leser bei der Geschichte behalten kann. Und das ist ihr auch gelungen - zumindest ab beinahe der Hälfte des Buches. Bis dahin hatte ich mich schlichtweg geweigert, es aufzugeben, obwohl ich einige Male wirklich sehr kurz davor stand.

Wie gesagt, es ist wirklich nicht schlecht gemacht. Der Schreibstil ist besser als bei manch anderen deutschen Kollegen, die bereits seit Jahren schreiben. Aber die zufälligen Aufeinandertreffen zu Beginn der Geschichte und die Sache mit Tom... Das war etwas überzogen und in die Länge gespannt. Als ich bei der letzten Seite angekommen bin, habe ich für mich gedacht, dass die Geschichte von Vesper und Alex bereits nach zehn Seiten hätte erzählt sein können. Die meiste Zeit über schmachten sie sich aus sicherer Distanz an und auch wenn es Funken zwischen ihnen gibt, das ist alles, was da ist. Bereits nach kürzester Zeit beschließt Vesper, dass eine Beziehung zwischen ihnen überhaupt nicht in Frage kommt. Und ja, das ist logisch, aber zu diesem Zeitpunkt kannten sich die beiden praktisch noch gar nicht. Deshalb hat das Buch erst ab der Hälfte angefangen, mir zu gefallen. Ab dann ist die Geschichte glaubwürdiger und nimmt an Tiefe zu.

Auf Vesper prasselt ziemlich viel ein. Viele Veränderungen stehen an. Da war es äußerst erfrischend über ein toughes Mädchen wie sie zu lesen, die ihren Eltern die Stirn bietet. Natürlich hat auch sie ihre sturen Momente, in denen sie in ihr Zimmer verschwindet und hofft, ihr Vater würde durch die Tür stürmen und sie in den Arm nehmen, aber ich finde es gut, dass sie ihre Meinung ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste geäußert hat. "Ein unbeliebtes Haustier", ja, das bringt es ziemlich auf den Punkt. Ich fand es überhaupt nicht schön, wie ihre Eltern sie behandelt haben, aber dafür, ist die Bindung zu ihrem Bruder umso stärker.

Ich werde aussprechen, was sich sicherlich jeder Leser gedacht hat: Wir brauchen mehr von Paul! Paul ist der beste Freund von Alex und der neue Schwarm von Vespers bester Freundin Toni. Und oh my, wir lesen nicht viel von ihm, und wenn, dann nur von Tonis verträumten Berichten über ihn, aber er wirkte so unglaublich knuffig, dass ich am liebsten eine Geschichte über ihn und Toni lesen würde. Obwohl mir Toni irgendwie zu hibbelig, aufgedreht und mädchenhaft war - eben alles, was Vesper nicht war. Was es mit ihrer Eisprinzessin-Sache auf sich hatte, habe ich selbst dann nicht verstanden, als sie sich dazu entschied, sie abzulegen. Die Scheidung ihrer Eltern schien für alles die Entschuldigung zu sein. Aber vielleicht ist das so, wenn sich die Eltern trennen und man ein Teenager ist.

Möglicherweise habe ich zu wenig gute Punkte genannt, aber nochmals: So schlecht fand ich das Buch gar nicht. Die Geschichte hatte Potential und wäre das Tempo vielleicht etwas angezogen worden, hätte sich schneller etwas zwischen Alex und Vesper entwickelt, hätten die beiden einfach miteinander gesprochen, statt sich über sehr, sehr, sehr viele Seiten anzuschweigen, hätte mir Forbidden Love Story möglicherweise besser gefallen.

Falling For Forever (Before Forever #02) - Melissa Chambers

Title: Falling For Forever (Before Forever #02)
Author: Melissa Chambers
Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for letting me receive a digital copy of this book before its official release date.

The second Jenna Quigley turns eighteen, she’s headed to L.A. to extend the timer on her fifteen minutes of fame. Too bad her dad made her promise to graduate high school first. Silver lining? Her new school has a serious talent competition with a $25,000 cash prize, which would go a long way in L.A. Jenna’s got plenty of talent—she didn’t almost win America’s Newest Sensation for nothing. But it’ll take everything she’s got to bring down the music nerd with a stick up his butt...no matter how cute he is in those glasses.

Miles Cleveland needs to win that talent contest. When some hot girl stole his audition spot on America’s Newest Sensation, his chance to study music flounced off to New York with her. Now, not only can he win enough money to pay for his education, he can get revenge on that very same girl. He can’t start to question his plan, though...no matter how deep Jenna buries into his heart.

I wasn't able to read this one before the official publication date. Probably, because when I requested it, I wasn't sure whether I had made the right decision or not. I read the first book in the series called The Summer Before Forever and I absolutely loved it. Jenna's story, I wasn't interested in much, but I still wanted to give it a go since I adored Melissa Chambers writing style and her sweet teen story.

Unfortunately, the predictable happened - I didn't like Falling For Forever nearly as much as the prequel. Maybe I'm not being fair, since I just happen to always dislike stories about 'famous' people and while Jenna's path is mainly going backwards instead of aiming for Hollywood fame, I still struggled. And the teenage drama clique including a mean girl called Bianca didn't make it any better. Also the music competition itself didn't appeal to me, but that's all on me. I enjoyed reading about Jenna and Miles partnership on the song writing lessons, though. I wish we would have read about a song they wrote together. We all would have swooned.

Jenna isn't the typical shy teenage girl you read about in most YA reads. She's more like the opposite without being a rebel or a meanie. She's very unique and always speaks her mind, doesn't let anybody get her down. I think that's an improvement to the other girls we read about that want to become famous. They're not very confident and giving them self confidence is their whole path in a book. With Jenna there were other motives. Her story wasn't about overcoming fears or insecurities. It was deeper than that and Miles balanced it out with his problems that weren't real problems to me. But he's a cutie anyway, so I forgive him. He's no Landon, but well... Who is?!

I think the author did a good job with not answering a certain question by the end of the book. The story might have been ruined if she had. On the other hand, I'm curious to find out and will most likely think about a good solution for me.

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of Jenna's friends at her new school - especially Nicolette. You'll know why I disliked her when you get to that point of the story. Greta might be the exception, because Jenna and her bonded very well in a scene and I liked that. And then Shane... Gosh, can he please grow a pair? By the end of the book, I got the feeling he got more confident, but I think as soon as Bianca will come running towards him, he'll cave in and be the big stupid puppy he always was. I mean, he isn't that bad. There were good sides, too. In some scenes, he was a very good friend to Jenna and then he finally treated Miles like he wasn't his worst enemy anymore either. Let's work with that.

My heart was bleeding for Jenna during the toughest part of the story. She's such a strong character, I don't know how the author managed to give her such strength and make it seem believable. I didn't even ever question her strength, like I never thought it was an act. She had to grow up fast at a young age and I felt so damn sorry for her. I was glad she could still count on her father.

Alright, so... Again, I didn't like Falling For Forever as much as The Summer Before Forever. I will cherish that one until the end of time, but I liked diving back into this world - also reading about Chloe and Landon again. If you've read the first book in this series, I think you should also read this one. And if you happen to be have a weak spot for teen reads that include music, this one's it for you.

German Review: Feel Again (Again #03) - Mona Kasten

Titel: Feel Again (Again #03)
Autor: Mona Kasten
Bewertung: 4.5/5

Danke an NetGalley, Bastei Lübbe und LYX für das digitale Rezensionsexemplar dieses Buches.

Unter normalen Umständen würde Sawyer einen Typ wie Isaac keines zweiten Blickes würdigen. Er ist zu nett, zu höflich, zu schüchtern – und damit das genaue Gegenteil von ihrem üblichen Beuteschema. Doch als sie mitbekommt, wie sich ein paar Mädchen über ihn lustig machen, kann sie nicht tatenlos zusehen. Kurzerhand tut sie so, als wäre sie sein Date, und küsst ihn leidenschaftlich. Isaac, der ziemlich überrumpelt ist, bittet sie daraufhin um Hilfe: Er will dringend seinen Ruf als Nerd loswerden. Die beiden schließen einen Deal: Sawyer macht aus Isaac einen Bad Boy und darf dafür seine Entwicklung als Fotoprojekt für ihr Studium festhalten. Doch aus dem Deal wird schnell mehr…

Das krönende Finale der Again-Reihe. Das Grand Finale oder auch ausgedrückt: Der absolut tollste Abschluss einer Bücherreihe überhaupt!

Ich habe... 1) Feel Again am schnellsten beendet, 2) niemals gedacht, dass Sawyer mir so sehr ans Herz wachsen könnte und auch 3) niemals erwartet, dass Isaac Spencer seinen Thron als Book-Boyfriend streitig macht. Im Grunde hat mich dieser Teil mehr als einfach nur überrascht. Das Buch war all das, was ich nicht erwartet hatte. Als ich Begin Again gelesen hatte, habe ich Sawyer so tief verachtet, dass es mir im Traum nicht eingefallen wäre, über ihre Sicht der Dinge lesen zu wollen. Mona Kasten hat es dann mit Trust Again geschafft, mich neugierig auf Sawyers Geschichte zu machen, denn in dem zweiten Teil der Reihe ist sie weitaus menschlicher als noch im ersten Band. Und damn! Ich konnte das Buch (oder mein Handy, da ich es als eBook gelesen habe) gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen und war überaus verärgert, als mein Akku nicht mehr mitmachen wollte.

Es ist erstaunlich, wie viel Talent Mona Kasten in ihren jungen Jahren aufweisen kann. Es wäre gelogen, wenn ich behaupten würde, ich wäre nicht neidisch. Die Frau ist kaum älter als ich und haut in die Tasten, als wäre es nichts. Und was dabei rumkommt ist einfach unbeschreiblich schön. Außerdem erstaunt es mich, wie ungleich ihre Charaktere alle sind. Mit Reihen ist es häufig so, dass mindestens zwei Charaktere eine ähnliche Vorgeschichte haben. Bei der Again-Reihe ist kein Protagonist wie der andere - weder ihre familiären Backgrounds überlappen sich, noch liest man von denselben Eigenschaft immer und immer wieder. Jedes Buch ist anders und spannend auf eine eigene Art. Ich fand es äußerst toll mitzuerleben, wie sich die Autorin mit jedem Buch gesteigert hat. Den künstlerischen Prozess konnte man deutlichen spüren.

Und dann diese ganzen Nerd-Anekdoten. Oh, ich liebe sie. Besonders den Relaxo-Sessel! Den muss ich mir unbedingt zulegen. Alleine die Idee, solche Kleinigkeiten, die den Nerd-Lesern das Herz erwärmen, ist klasse. Nerds sind sowieso viel zu unterbewertet in den ganzen New Adult Romanen, die sich derzeit im Freien tummeln. Dabei sind sie so eine tolle Abwechslung zu dem typischen Bad Boy. Und wenn sie dann noch ein so perfektes Gegenstück wie Sawyer bekommen, von der man wirklich niemals denkt, dass sie und ein Nerd irgendetwas gemein haben könnten, wird es umso besser. Des Weiteren muss ich sagen, dass mir Isaacs süße Art, wie er mit seiner Familie umgeht und über sie spricht, sehr gefallen hat. Wo wir bei Abwechslungen sind, war das im Gegensatz zu den zerstrittenen Familien, die sich hassen oder den Eltern, die ihren Kindern alles verbieten und somit von sich stoßen, eine willkommen Erfrischung. Auch wenn es dort natürlich ebenfalls zu genüge Probleme gibt.

Ebenfalls glücklich war ich über die Begeisterung, die die Autorin beim Schreiben von den Fotografie-Szenen von Sawyer eingebracht hat. Ich konnte mir dieses Mädchen wahrlich vorstellen, wie sie gebannt vor einem Motiv sitzt, die Kamera in der Hand und auf den perfekten Moment zum Abdrücken wartet. In vielen Büchern spürt man die Begeisterung der Charaktere für ihre Hobbies nicht derart deutlich, was traurig ist, Feel Again dadurch aber noch mehr von ihnen hervor hebt.

Ich möchte gar nicht zu viel verraten, aber jeder der derzeit Begin Again liest und denkt, er würde Sawyer bis in alle Ewigkeit hassen, der sollte unbedingt zu Band 2 und 3 greifen und sich eines besseren belehren lassen. Zwischendurch leidet man sogar richtig mit Sawyer mit, wenn es um ihre Schwester und Sawyers Gefühle geht. Es ist es wert!

Darleens Playlist für Feel Again: (möglicherweise werden weitere Titel hinzugefügt)
The Summer Set - Don't Let Me Go
The Pretty Reckless - My Heart
Charlie Simpson - Parachutes
Olivver The Kid - 4AM
La Bouquet - Loveless
Dia Frampton - Crave

Tied Up In You (All Laced Up #02) - Erin Fletcher

Title: Tied Up In You (All Laced Up #02)
Author: Erin Fletcher
Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for letting me receive a digital copy of this book.

Everyone says hotshot goalie Luke Jackson is God’s gift to girls, but the only girl he wants is his best friend, Malina Hall. He’s always known how brilliant she is, but now that he’s “ accidentally” kissed her, he can’t stop thinking about her...or wanting to kiss her again.

Problem is, things have been a little...awkward since the kiss. Because she likes him, too? Hopefully, but even if she did, their futures—and the ridiculous schedules that come with them—are in the way. And now one of his teammates is showing interest, and the guy has more in common with Malina than Jackson ever will.

As her best friend, Jackson should get out of the way. But if there’s one thing he’s learned from hockey, it’s that you have to go for what you want, even if it means falling flat on your face. And he’s definitely falling for Malina.

This has got to be one of the sweetest stories ever. I saw so much potential and was left hanging when the story didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be and appeared to be more ordinary than I originally hoped. On the other hand, that's the good thing about Entangled Crush publishing - the authors never take a risk of creating adventurous scenes. It's always very light and sweet. So, chances are likely you'll find yourself swooning over a very charming guy and wanting to be the female's best friend.

I found it refreshing that the characters' miscommunication didn't last through the whole book. That would have been very annoying. But since the two are best friends, I think it's easier for them to get over things and talk about them. That's also something I liked. While there weren't exactly flashbacks, you could still read about the past time Jackson and Malina spend together - how they became best friends and what connects them. I liked their friendship very much and the first chapters were my favorites, by far. I'm usually very picky when it comes to friends-to-lovers kind of novels, but if it's as sweet as this one, then I'm all in.

And... The characters were smart. I was super impressed by Malina's project and her dreams. Though the novel focuses on the romance between Jackson and Malina, they still had other problems to deal with. Sometimes, I want to read more about these problems, but if so, then these reads are heavier, more mature. I'm glad the author wrote about Malina and Jackson's problems the way she did. They didn't outweight the story, it wouldn't have been right for the story. But the characters didn't have it easy, and I think that's important, because otherwise it would have been too light and too dreamy.

Hockey isn't something I read about every day and unfortunately, most YA novels are about football players or even soccer players now. Hardly any novel is about ice hockey players or baseball players. That's why I was glad to find that sport in Tied Up In You. True, there aren't many sport scenes in there, but you still got a glimpse of how hard it is to become a professional in this sport. It's Jackson's passion and he goes for it. Same with Malina and her astrophysics project and her dream of studying exactly that, although it takes her a bit more time to figure that out.

I've got a question: What's up with the grandmas? I can't even say why I dislike the ever returning grandmothers that are the only understanding adults in the books, but I do. I always want to skip these parts of the story. Why not an understanding parent? Why not an understanding sibling? Why is always the grandmother? They can be mean, too, you know?! But somehow, they never are. I think that's odd. I mean, good for the characters, but I wish some more people had faith in them but their own grandmothers. Doesn't matter how adorable Tutu is in Tied Up In You.

Any fan of a light romance that can be read within a few hours, should give this one a chance.