Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Kiss Me In Paris by Catherine Rider

Book info:

Title:  Kiss Me In Paris
Author:  Catherine  Rider
Series:  Companion book to Kiss Me In New York
Genre:  YA contemporary romance
Release Date:  September 4th, 2018
Publisher:  Kids Can Press
Source:  ARC received from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:

Serena has just flown all the way to Paris for a special pre-Christmas weekend with her sister, Lara. They plan to retrace the steps of their parents' long-ago honeymoon in Paris, and create a scrapbook for their bereaved mother to remember it by. 

It's supposed to be serious sister bonding...until Lara takes off with her boyfriend instead.

Jean-Luc is Serena's Plan B, a friend of a friend of Lara's, who has some space in a place where Serena can stay. Just like his latest relationship, his photography final has been an epic fail. He has one night to retake all his pictures if he is to stay in school. 

Jean-Luc can't stand Serena's loud voice or her bright orange sneakers.

Serena can't stand his haughty manners or the way his camera is always in her face.

Together, though, they set out into a cold night that will warm their hearts, creating unforgettable photos and fresh romantic sparks in the City of Lights.

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

My Review:

So, I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Kiss Me In New York.  This one was almost as good.  I liked it enough that I could barely put it down, just had a few times that the main character would make me mad.  But in the end, I got her, right about the same time she kind of figured some stuff out for herself as well.    

Just like with the first book I was immediately sucked in and was turning pages as fast as I could read the words on them so I could find out what was going to happen.  Right along with Serena I was a bit grumpy with Jean-Luc, who really seemed a bit grumpy himself, as well as really trying to sway her to what he wanted to do, instead of letting her follow her own planned out adventure.  

I did really feel for Serena as each of her family members cancelled on this trip she had planned for them to do together.  But as the day went on, and she got to thinking about it, I also understood how it would be hard for her mother to do this same trip.   All the things that she realized on her trip, about making her own memories, not just following another person's, that made so much sense, and really made me think about some things in my own life.  I love that both Jean-Luc and Serena basically got the exact same pep talk from two completely unrelated different people, right at the time they needed it.

I enjoyed Jean-Luc's discovery of what he should be taking photos of.  That was also a really neat aspect to the story.  I felt for Serena when the kiss disaster boy just happened to show up in Paris as well.  And I cringed right along with her when he went through all his reasoning of why they were perfect for each other.     

About the Author:

Two writers sharing a pseudonym. "Kiss me in Paris" (@KCPLoft, Sept 2018).

Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway:

• 3 winners will win a finished copy of KISS ME IN PARIS, US Only.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/27/2018- YA Book Nerd- Excerpt

8/28/2018- Sophie Reads YA- Review

8/29/2018- Lisa Loves Literature- Review

8/30/2018- Confessions of a YA Reader- Excerpt

8/31/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous- Review

Week Two:

9/3/2018- Belle's Book Blog- Review

9/4/2018- The Heart of a Book Blogger- Review

9/5/2018- Sincerely Karen Jo- Review

9/6/2018- Eli to the nth- Excerpt

9/7/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

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Review: Textrovert by Lindsey Summers

Book info:

Title:  Textrovert
Author:  Lindsey Summers
Genre:  YA  Contemporary romance
Release Date:  May 2nd, 2017
Publisher:  KCP Loft
Source:  ARC from publisher for honest review
My rating:  5 stars

Summary:
Can you fall in ♥ with someone you’ve never met?

Summer is nearly over and Keeley is about to start her senior year when disaster strikes: she picks up the wrong cell phone by mistake. 😞 Just her luck that it belongs to Talon, a totally arrogant jock 🏈 who’s just left for football camp—with herphone. Keeley doesn’t know him, but they’ll need to rely on each other to forward their messages for an entire week.

Talon is so full of himself, but Keeley quickly discovers he’s funny, too—at least his texts are. 😅 And he listens to Keeley—which is more than anyone else does. Texting Talon, she can be more than just the quiet twin sister of a popular boy. Texting Talon, she can be the outgoing person she’s always wanted to be. Soon the two are falling for each other, hard.

But when true identities are revealed and secrets are exposed, will Keeley’s feelings stay the same? 

My Review:
Once again I am proven wrong that I don't like YA contemporary stories. Because this one, I loved it!  Probably part of it could be that there is a lot of the story that is told through texts, and I always have liked when stories are partly or mostly told differently than just the words on the page.  In the past it has been through emails, letters, notes, diary entries, etc.  It only makes sense to have one told through texting these days.  Now that's not in any way the whole story, most of it is still told with regular words on the page.  

I think one thing that I really liked about the story is how it shows that it is so easy to be a different person when you're not talking to someone in person.  I know that online, where I have time to think about what I'm going to post for a status update or a tweet, I find myself often posting the humorous thoughts I have that usually I think of after a conversation in person is over.  Or else maybe I'm too embarrassed or unsure about how a person might take a sarcastic comment that pops into my head immediately.  And that is how Keeley is with Talon through their initial texting relationship.  Once they meet in person though, Talon wonders why Keeley seems different.  And it's the same with Talon kind of at first in person as well.  

I had a bit of a guess about who Talon would end up really being.  And I also had a bit of an idea on what was the reason between her brother and him ending up having an issue.  Also Keeley's best friend was being a bit rude to her, and when that all came to a head, I was just as annoyed as Keeley when her friend tried to act like Keeley was the problem, when really she wasn't doing anything different than she'd just had done to her.  

This was a very cute, very fun read.  I guess the author is on Wattpad, and you can check that out HERE.   When I was looking at the new teen books at the bookstore where I work, I saw we didn't have any copies of this in.  So I ordered some to put as one of my staff recommendations this month.  I really did love it, especially with all the things that I identified with Keeley about.  And I loved the smart-ass, cocky Talon as well.  

Review: After Dark by James Leck

First, thanks to Kids Can Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an egalley of this title.  I definitely enjoyed it.  It is more of a middle school level title, but not in a bad way.  I loved the main character who was just constantly sarcastic.  I mean even in the middle of danger his responses were snarky.  And I probably love it because my brain works that way so that I have to stop myself from saying those things all the time.  But it was fun to read a story where someone did just let it all out that way.  The reactions he got, well, I've gotten those myself before.  I also love how the names of many characters are from the original Dracula story, even though this isn't necessarily a vampire story, although it is kind of.

The main character is Charlie Harker, who moves to a small town where his mom is renovating a family bed and breakfast for them to live and run.  (Jonathan Harker was the guy in Dracula who went to his castle to help him with his affairs).  He's just finished the school year at his private school, where as usual, he was up to a lot of mischief and causing problems.  He arrives in this small town and is not real excited about it.  For one thing, in the past his family has always gone to the beach or other fancy vacation spots.  Now he's going to have to help his mother renovate the inn, and he doesn't want to spend his summer working, he wants to relax as in the past.  His older brother is an actor in a popular supernatural tv show.  His younger sister is kind of a severe girl, vegan, very into yoga and meditation, as well as martial arts.  They have a crazy uncle that lives there, and after a first strange meeting with him, the uncle disappears. This all leads into the conspiracy theory or whatever you'd call it, that the new boy he meets, Miles Van Helsing, is trying to prove.  (Van Helsing was the vampire hunter in Dracula, if you didn't already know that).  Miles is kind of the town crackpot. The sheriff knows all about him, and when he shows up the first night and is supposedly running from something, he makes Charlie and his mom stay in the house and lock the door because he says they are in danger. And then he won't leave.  So Charlie's mom calls the Sheriff who comes and picks Miles up and takes him home. 

But when people do start acting funny, Charlie can't quite explain away all that Miles is saying.  And soon the whole town seems to be taken over, so Charlie and Miles must figure out a way to save their families without getting sucked into the zompire/virus or whatever it is that is going on.

Like I said, it was a fun read.  Loved how the craziness just went from one incident to another, and Charlie just happened to stumble into Miles and helping him out whether he wanted to or not.  The characters were fun to read.  This kind of left it open for a second book.  Not sure if one is planned. But I will have to read if it is, to find out just what will happen to Miles next.