Speed Date: My LIfe Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

These actually seem to resemble
 Jase and Sam. Huzzah! Huzzah!!!

The Plot: Sam Reed has lived next to the ever growing Garrett clan for the last 10 years, watching them from afar and wondering what would it be like to be part of a family like theirs: full of chaos, people and love. 

Sam's own family is a self-contained unit of three: her always in control State Senator mother, her often absentee older sister Riley and herself. From the moment they moved next door, Sam's mom Grace took a dislike at the Garretts, but Sam was always fascinated by them. 

Until the summer when Jase Garrett (third kid and second oldest son) climbs jumps the fence between their houses and pulls her into his world. There, Sam is accepted almost instantly and feels part of something, taking refuge with them as her mom loses herself in a re-election battle and and a new boyfriend (who's a douche but no one but Sam seems to care). 

And there is Jase, of course, who makes her feel happy and special and loved. 

Until something happens that might change the lives of the Reeds and Garretts alike. 

First Date: Oh, Sam. Your mom kind of sucks. Talk about demanding!! Jesus!! And your best friend and sister seem a bit flaky. But Jase! Oh, Jase, how does he make our hearts skip a beat!!! I want a Jase of my own. George is ADORBS too. 

Second Date: Jase's littlest brother George is the bomb, totes a scene stealer. I'm growing to love the Garretts more and more with each page. Also growing to love Tim, such a broken guy but makes a better friend than his sister (when he's sober), and he has a puppy crush on Hot Alice, Jase's oldest sister. 

Third Date: Sam, that was a rough deal with your mom, but you held it together pretty well, made a few mistakes a long the way but at least you didn't whine. That's major props right there! 

Relationship Status: And they lived Happily Ever After. 

My LIfe Next Door is a rare hyped-about-book that's actually worth most of the hype. It was fun to read, I fell in love with all the Garretts. And I genuinely liked Samantha and Jase, they are so good together that I find myself not only crushing on Jase a  bit, but also hoping these two crazy kids last forever. 

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Cover Love: United We Spy by Ally Carter

Apparently, I totally missed out on this but... there is a cover for the final Gallagher Girls book (and a title) UNITED WE SPY.

I actually saw the UK cover first, and then went to look the US one.

I think I like the UK one more, actually.

Anyway, summary, such as it is now:
Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever

Book Review: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald

The Deal: Hallie and Grace Weston are going through a rough time: their father has died and left everything to his new wife (the woman he left their mom for) and baby; and their artist mother is more distracted than ever. 

Soon, their step mother Portia kicks them out and the gils are forced to move to L.A. with relatives, where ever the Drama Queen Hallie seems to thrive in her own way while younger sister Grace is trying to keep it all together.

My Thoughts: Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood is basically and upside-down modernized version of Sense and Sensibility, and for the most part I rather liked it. The twists and updates were pretty smart  and ballsy and I think the spirit of the story was kept.

I liked the characters even though I thought Hallie was a bit over the top and annoying, and Portia was so mean and I got so mad at Hallie and Graces dad and, and their mom too, for their neglect.

Aside from that, it was okay. I really disliked the title (sounds like a lazy title to me, somehow) but the writing was fun. Didn't like it as much as I did Abby McDonald's previous book Getting Over Garrett Delaney but it was a fun way to pass time anyhow, and I've certainly read worse Jane Austen Retellings. 

1/2

Book Review: It Had To Be You by Jill Shalvis

At First Sight: Ali Winters is having a pretty rotten week. Her seemingly perfect boyfriend turns out to be a cheater, he didn't renew the lease on their shared house which left her homeless and everyone in town thinks she's a thief because Teddy lost 50 grand and it's blaming her. And her former landlor Luke Hanover showing up is not helping matters. Or is it?

Luke is returning to Lucky Harbor for the first time in almost ten years, to stay at the house he inherited from his Grandma. A police detective, he needs a break from his last case (which ended in disaster) so he just wants to hole up in the old house and lay low.

He didn't expect to find Ali standing in his kitchen, yelling on the phone and wearing nothing but her undies. Luke can tell she's going to complicate his life, but he still lets her stay the night, and when Teddy's accusations surface, he sides with Ali almost right away, and lets himself be dragged into trying to find out who really did it and clear her name.

Second Glance: I do so enjoy going back to Luck Harbor every once in a while. And one of the things I love best is how, through the scope of the series there are this mini-trilogies that you can just pick up and enjoy without having to go back and read from the beginning.

It Had to Be You is the beginning of one of such trilogies, and it does a lovely job of it. It doesn't waste time introducing you to the town just to the new set of characters, starting with Ali and Luke. They were nice and likable.

Ali was very independent, loved doing artistic things and was close to her family even while she tried to live a different life from theirs. Luke had a few more hangs ups with what happened to his family years before, he's the type that often blames himself for everything and always tries to help.

It was good to see them together, I did believe them as a couple. And I loved the other characters introduced, like Luke's best friend Jack and Pastry chef Leah (they are set up to be the couple of the next book, Always On My Mind).

Bottom Line: For me, going back to Lucky Harbor is like chatting up with an old friend and It Had to Be You turned out to be a very nice conversation. It's a sweet story without it being overly complicated and, even though I could tell who had stolen the money from the start, I still enjoyed it a lot. 

Review Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Speed Date: Forget Me Not by Nina Blake

The Plot: After nearly 10 years together, Stefan and Claire were over, they had even been separated for 6 months already... when Stefan woke up on a park bench not knowing his name, what city he was in or who he was.

Claire swears she has moved on, and it's not like she owes Stefan anything - he left her, not the other way around - but she can't turn her back on him when she learns what has happened to him, so she takes him in and tries to help him get re-adjusted to life.

And she's surprised to find that this new, amnesic Stefan resembles the guy she fell in love with years before a lot more than he resembles the starched up one that left her; as they try to make their way around his memory loss and the painful memories she just can't forget. 

First Date: Oh, I love me some amnesia plot!! I know these are totes unrealistic but I LOVE a good Amnesia book. A bit sparse on the details of what happened but otherwise taking off to a good speed. 

Second Date: Some mysteries are hinted at, I think I'm pretty sure that I know what it is but this is entertaining me so much. I like seeing the two sides of Stefan. His parents suck though. I do love Claire's family, but it's kind of weird she doesn't seem to have any friends. 

Third Date: *happy sigh* Oh, that was sweet. I liked the ending, though it was still a bit sparse on the details. 

Relationship Status: Just Friends, but that's a good thing.
I'm not exactly sur if Forget Me Not is the kind of book that rocks your world, but it totally made me relax. I liked Claire and Stefan well enough, and I loved the whole amnesia thing and how they had to work around their issues. That was fun.

It took me about 2 or 3 hours to read the whole book, and by the end I was feeling happy and relaxed. That's the kind of book this is.

2/3

What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).

If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Ps -Review copy provided by the Publisher via Net Galley