Summer in the City

By: Elizabeth Chandler
Published Year: 2006
Pages: 358
Publisher: HarperTeen

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Athletic Jamie isn't sure about spending the summer in the city with her romance–novel–writing mum. But when she meets irresistible Josh, Jamie realizes she could probably use all the romance advice she can get!

Lacrosse camp 9 a.m.–noon (can't be late! "Coach" Josh will freak out)

Basketball camp 1:00–4:00 (so many screaming kids. . . )

Shopping with Mona 4:30 (finally a break)

Date with Andrew 7:30 (he's so perfect. . . isn't he?)

First Impressions

I think this book popped up as a recommendation when I got my Kindle or as a ebook deal somewhere. This was definitely a cover that caught my eye and that alone was the reason I checked it out. I hadn’t heard anything about this book but it sounded right up my ally!

What I thought

This book was so enjoyably and pleasant.

Jamie is spending the summer before her freshman year of college in the city (Baltimore) with her romance novel writing mother. While she typically spends the summer in Michigan at the cabin with her high school football coach dad, he has a new girlfriend who he invited with and that is not Jamie’s scene. She signs up for a Lacrosse camp at the high school and ends up learning more about herself than the expected for the summer.

While some of the parts of this story were a bit silly (why is an incoming college freshman with a basketball scholarship attending a high school Lacrosse camp when she has only ever played Lacrosse in her backyard with her dad), overall, I loved this story.

Unlike Jamie’s mom’s romance novels, Jamie is not lucky in love. In fact, she’s a bit cynical when it comes to romance. The few relationships she had failed as a result of the boys only getting close to her to get close to her father. When she first spots Josh at Lacrosse camp, she writes him off as not her type since he’s just another jock. He also writes her off as being a bit cocky.

In addition to the fun but feisty romance, the friendships are great. Jamie has both female and male friends and I loved that it showed the different types of friendship that a person can have. Her friendship with Mona is the perfect teenage girl friendship, but then her friendship with Ted is a great sports boy/girl friendship with no level of flirty attraction. The balance between the relationships was very enjoyable.

There were also some pretty funny moment throughout the book. I can’t specifically pick one out (if you’ve read this blog for a while you’ll know I’m not really one for marking quotes) but this book was just pure fun all over.

If you love books about sports with strong female characters and solid relationships you need to pick up this book. It’s a quick read that will make you have all the feels. Jamie is an independent woman and Josh is swoon worthy. It was the perfect summer read and I loved the slow burn of their romance. I highly recommend this book and I’m glad that I purchased it so that I can read it again in the future!

As Bright As Heaven

By: Susan Meissner
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 387

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and A Bridge Across the Ocean comes a new novel set in Philadelphia during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, which tells the story of a family reborn through loss and love.

In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town, came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters--Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa--a chance at a better life.

But just months after they arrive, the Spanish Flu reaches the shores of America. As the pandemic claims more than twelve thousand victims in their adopted city, they find their lives left with a world that looks nothing like the one they knew. But even as they lose loved ones, they take in a baby orphaned by the disease who becomes their single source of hope. Amidst the tragedy and challenges, they learn what they cannot live without--and what they are willing to do about it.

As Bright as Heaven is the compelling story of a mother and her daughters who find themselves in a harsh world, not of their making, which will either crush their resolve to survive or purify it.

First Impressions

Ooooo! Very pretty! Meissner’s covers definitely speak to me. I was very intrigued by the summary. I enjoy historical fiction and I have never read a book that takes revolves around the Spanish Flu. Add in the intrigue of an orphaned child and I knew this would be one I would enjoy.

What I thought

As Bright as Heaven is split into two parts. Part 1 occurs before and during the flu, part 2 occurs after. I have to admit, that I think I was partial to Part 1.

Pauline and her husband, Thomas have 3 girls aged 15, 11, and 7. In the early 1900s, they decide to move their family from Quakerstown Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, not long after losing their baby boy. They move into the home of Thomas’s Uncle Fred, who is an undertaker. Shortly after the family arrives, World War 1 and the Spanish Flu leave their mark on the city. Amongst this chaos, Maggie, the middle child, finds an orphaned baby boy and brings him home. The family raises them as their own, filling the void left by baby Henry.

Without giving too much away, there is a bit off complication with how Maggie finds orphan Alex. This is explored in the second part, but it’s pretty obvious from the beginning that it’s going to come back and bite Maggie in the butt.

The story is told with alternating perspectives from Pauline and each of her daughters, Evie, the eldest, Maggie, and Willa, the youngest. It was a bit hard to get into at first because of that. I felt like I wasn’t quite getting far enough into the story to connect with any of them, so when it switched perspectives I felt lost. Luckily, the writing settled pretty quickly, and about 20% of the way through the book it really started to flow.

I think part of the reason I preferred the first part to the second is that the first part had a bit more drama and suspense. The second part was a lot about relationships and was a bit more predictable to me than the first part. I did enjoy seeing the relationships between the sisters grow and I also appreciated seeing what they did with their lives as they grew, but it wasn’t my favorite part.

Again, it’s hard to talk about certain parts without giving things away, but I wasn’t crazy about Evie and Willa’s stories in the second part. I was more so irritated by Willa’s storyline than Evie’s, but there was one aspect of Evie’s story that just didn’t sit well with me. It is meant to be romantic, but it just rubbed me the wrong way a bit.

If you enjoy historical fiction and want something a little different, then I’d recommend this book. It does focus more on family and familial relationships that romance, so if you tend to prefer the romantic historical fiction stories, this will not be it. Surprisingly, even though it can be a dark/heavy book at times, that isn’t the overall feeling that I was left with, so if you’re intimidated at all by the storyline, I would say it’s lighter that you will expect it to be. The writing is solid and enjoyable and I look forward to reading more from Meissner.

The Queen of Hearts

By: Kimmery Martin
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 352

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers--Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years. 

As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie's life--both professionally and personally--throughout a tragic chain of events in her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick's unexpected reappearance during a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers. As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend. 

First Impressions

Ooooo! So pretty! I almost don’t care what this book is about because the cover is so pretty. Luckily, the summary appealed to me as well. A friendship with hidden secrets in their past that comes back to haunt them? I was completely sold and this became one of my most anticipated novels of 2018.

What I thought

Queen of Hearts is pretty much what Grey’s Anatomy would be if it was a book and I loved it.

Emma and Zadie became friends when they met at a high school program for aspiring doctors. They then stayed friends as they went through the same programs and both ended up working in their specialties in Charolette. At this point in their lives, tey are both married with children and still consider each other their closest and dearest friends.

When they were in medical school, the experienced a traumatic event that was fraught with drama and mystery. Ten years later, a doctor from their past, who was right in the middle of this mystery and drama, shows up in their hospital.

The story alternates between Zadie and Emma’s perspectives as well as the timeline of current day and their pasts (mostly their third year of medical school). I liked the way that this novel was laid out. I think the story would have lost a lot if it had only been told from one perspective, and I liked that we learned about their past slowly over time and not all at once.

Martin also balanced the medical terminology with real world drama. I never felt like I was reading a textbook, but there was enough there that I felt as though Emma and Zadie were real life med students and doctors. The only issue I had with the writing was the character descriptions. I felt there was a lot of discussion about Emma and Zadie’s appearances. Not only did it come up a few too many times for my liking, but it was always the same description. If I had to read that Zadie was “slim but voluptuous in a curvy way” one more time I was going to scream.

I loved the medical drama, as I am a fan of the early Grey’s Anatomy seasons. The friendship was beautiful to see too. I loved seeing that Emma and Zadie were supportive of each other throughout their lives. Watching the way their past came up on them was fascinating too, and ended in a satisfying (if maybe not fully realistic) way.

I really enjoyed this book. I would have loved to read it with book club, just to have someone to talk about it with. If you are a Grey’s Anatomy fan, or a fan of books with friendship at the core I would highly recommend this book. As a debut, I think Martin has a few kinks to work out with her writing, but her story telling is solid and I was entertained the entire time. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future!

Top Ten

By: Katie Cutugno
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 320

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Ryan McCullough and Gabby Hart are the unlikeliest of friends. Introverted, anxious Gabby would rather do literally anything than go to a party. Ryan is a star hockey player who can get any girl he wants—and does, frequently. But against all odds, they became not only friends, but each other’s favorite person. Now, as they face high school graduation, they can’t help but take a moment to reminisce and, in their signature tradition, make a top ten list—counting down the top ten moments of their friendship: 

10. Where to begin? Maybe the night we met.
9. Then there was our awkward phase.
8. When you were in love with me but never told me…
7. Those five months we stopped talking were the hardest of my life.
6. Through terrible fights…
5. And emotional makeups.
4. You were there for me when I got my heart broken.
3. …but at times, you were also the one breaking it.
2. Above all, you helped me make sense of the world.
1. Now, as we head off to college—how am I possibly going to live without you?

First Impressions

I recently went into the library for the first time in forever. Our library has a drive thru, so I typically place books I want on hold and pick it up there. Otherwise, I go inside for one book and walk out with like 7. When walking around this time, I spotted Top Ten by Katie Cutugno. I really liked Fireworks, so I immediately grabbed this one off the shelf.

What I thought

Gabby and Ryan have been best friends since freshman year. It is now the night of their high school graduation and they decide to talk about their top 10 moments of high school.

The book is broken up by each top ten moment. The moments are not in any order which can be a bit confusing. For example, I think number 9 is the first time they hang out, but then you find out that they had met previously. No information is given about that until I think number 3. And there are also times where, let’s say, number 8 is Spring of Junior year, and then number 7 is fall of Junior year. It can be a bit confusing to follow.

Gabby and Ryan’s friendship is a bit different. He is a varsity hockey player as a freshman, and she is an anxious loner (with one close friend). But for some reason, their friendship works. At the beginning, Ryan and Gabby hook up on graduation night. Not knowing anything about their past, I was rooting for them. But as their past got revealed, I just got a bit annoyed with them.

I didn’t quite understand why a lot of their top moments were top moments. To me, it shared a lot of bad moments from their friendships. While I’m sure they had great ones, otherwise they wouldn’t have been best friends, most moments involved them fighting, or not talking or misunderstanding each other. It made it a bit difficult to root for them to be together.

I think that Cutugno’s writing saved this story a bit. She did write it in a way that kept me intrigued and involved in their relationship/friendship, even if I didn’t like them much.

Unfortunately, I think this is my least favorite book of Cutugno’s. I liked the idea behind it and her writing was still enjoyable, but the story itself didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t much care for Gabby or Ryan and felt their friendship was a bit dysfunctional. The ending also felt like it came a bit abruptly. My friends and I always comment with endings like this by asking if the author had a page limit that they had to wrap up by, and this definitely felt like it. It’s not a bad book, but just not one of my favorites.

Book Club February 2018

By: Ayobami Adebayo
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 260

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage--after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures--Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time--until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does, but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine. An electrifying novel of enormous emotional power, Stay With Measks how much we can sacrifice for the sake of family.

What I thought

This book was my pick and I found it last year. In fact, I found it right before my last book club choice and almost switched to this one.

Yejide and Akin have been married for 4 years. They have been trying to have a baby, but she has not been getting pregnant. Then one day, Akin’s family shows up at his door with a second wife. This story follows Yejide and Akin through the ups and downs of their marriage as well as the ups and downs of the Nigerian culture and life.

I picked this book for a few reasons. The first was that the drama of a married couple being given a second wife to have a child just sounded too good to pass up. The second reason was that I had never read a book written by a Nigerian author, with Nigerian characters, that takes place in Nigeria. It was a bit outside my comfort zone, but the storyline itself was enough within my comfort zone that I thought it would be a good choice.

I think the best way to describe this book is exactly as I stated above. Outside my comfort zone. A lot of the cultural aspects made it difficult to connect with the characters, which I didn’t expect. I enjoyed reading about how they handled situations, but some of it was so foreign to me. In the end, I don’t think I ended up liking any of the characters and that was hard.

The book is told in 4 parts. It starts in 2008 with Yejide on her way to Akin’s father’s funeral. It then jumps back to the 1980s where a second wife is being presented to Yejide. From that point on, the parts of their marriage and relationship are filled in. At the beginning of each new part, it starts off in 2008 and then flashes back to the 1980s. Most of the book, at least at the beginning, is told from Yejide’s perspective with a few chapters here and there from Akin’s.

I don’t want to say much because a lot of this story relies on the slow reveal of information. There were a lot of pieces that I didn’t expect that definitely made the story what it was. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this format. I liked that pieces of information were revealed over time and not all at once, but there were parts where I was definitely confused and felt like I should know what was going on but didn’t because that piece had not been revealed yet.

Overall, I’m glad that I read it and I did enjoy it. It was definitely a different experience. I don’t know if I would read it again, and I don’t think it would be a book that immediately comes to mind for a recommendation. But, if someone specifically asked me about it I would recommend it for sure.

What Book Club Thought

It seemed like we were all pretty much on the same page with this one. We all expected this book to be completely different than it ended up being. It took a lot of turns that were unexpected and because of those, we were all a bit unsure how we felt about it. There were a few of us who liked it more than others, but none of us were in love with it. I was also glad to see that I was not the only one who found these characters so unlikeable. The difference in culture and the seeming insanity of the events led to a good discussion. It was interesting to see that this book wasn’t as polarizing as I thought it would be. I thought that there were going to be members that came in saying “this was the worst book I have ever read” but they didn’t! There was some discussion about it being a little hard to get through at times, but we’ve definitely had books that people have liked less.

I’m glad I picked this as a book club read, because it was fun to discuss it after reading.

Killer Choice

By: Tom Hunt
Published Year: 2018
Publisher: Berkley Books
Pages: 352

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): His wife is sick.
He needs $200,000 to save her.
A mysterious man offers to give him the money with just one catch: He has to murder someone to get it.

Gary Foster’s life is finally heading in the right direction. After years of trying, his wife, Beth, is pregnant, and he recently opened a business with his brother. But one phone call changes everything.... 

After collapsing suddenly, Beth has been rushed to the hospital. Tests reveal a devastating diagnosis: an inoperable brain tumor. Their only hope is an expensive experimental treatment available abroad, with a cost that’s out of their reach. And Beth’s time is running out.... 

Then a strange man approaches Gary and offers the money he needs, on one condition: that he kill someone, no questions asked. End one life to save another.

In this nail-biting debut novel of domestic suspense, one man makes a choice that forces him to confront the darkest reaches of his soul and betray those closest to him. As he’s swept up in a nightmare of escalating violence, he must question his own morality—and determine just how far he’s willing to go to save the woman he loves.

First Impressions

The cover did not appeal to me at all, and honestly, the summary didn’t either. I almost passed on reviewing this book, but some part of me went “give it a chance. Maybe you’ll be surprised!” Basically, the first impression on this book was not good.

What I thought

Full disclosure, I got through about 65% of this book, felt I couldn’t continue, and skipped to the final 10%. Also, as a warning there will be spoilers ahead so that I can talk honestly about what I disliked.

Gary and his wife have been married for almost 20 years. After years of trying, they are finally pregnant. But their lives are changed when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor. When traditional treatment doesn’t work, they apply to an experimental trial and find out that it will cost them $200,000 to take part. One day, a stranger calls and offers Gary the $200,000 with one catch. He must kill someone else.

Initially, my reaction was ugh, no. But then I thought about it and I thought that the psychological part of it could be really interesting. Then the book started and it alternated between Gary’s perspective and a drug dealing ex-con, Otto. Turns out that HE is the one who wants Gary to commit murder. He wants him to (spoiler) murder a bad cop. But! And this is the big but, it’s not for any righteous reason. It’s because he has gotten himself into a situation where he owes too many people money. He only has enough money to pay one of the people, and if he doesn’t pay both his life is in danger. So he decides to take advantage of an extremely emotionally vulnerable man, by offering him $200,000 to get him out of a situation he got himself into.

Surprise surprise, when Gary does murder the bad cop, Otto doesn’t give him the money. Now, I don’t mind psychological thrillers, but the level of a drug dealer who was dealing with his own issues is not my thing. I actually almost put the book down at 17% because I knew it wouldn’t be my thing. I think part of the hard part of reading about this was that you do get so much from Otto’s perspective and you get to see how terrible of a person he is.

I just honestly couldn’t deal with a lot of it. I could tell it was starting to get too violent and too convoluted for me.

The saving grace of this novel, and the reason I even made it to 65%, was the writing. It was easy to read and I honestly had no issues with the writing. I would easily pick up another book by Hunt if the synopsis piqued my interest. It was honestly just the story that I couldn’t handle. It was not my thing at all.

Obviously the writing got me a little bit, because even though I didn’t want to read the rest of the book, I wanted to see how it ended. The good (and maybe bad?) thing was that when I read the ending I was left with a feeling of “I definitely made the right decision.”

While this book was not my thing at all, the writing was decent. I’m glad that I gave it a chance, even if I couldn’t finish it. This might be the first review book that I haven’t finished, but it just was not my thing. I think that if this review sounds interesting to you then you will enjoy the book. However, it is not one that I would recommend.

The Hating Game

By: Sally Thorne
Published Year: 2016
Pages: 387
Publisher: William Morrow

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 

Nemesis (n.) 
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

First Impressions

I love this cover! I think I added it to my TBR without reading the summary. Then this past summer it started popping up all over the place on everyone’s reading lists. So many people were raving about it that it bumped it a little higher on my TBR list. Plus I’m a sucker for relationships that start as hatred and turn into love.

What I thought

This book was really cute!

Lucy has been working with Josh for a while now. They are assistants to co-CEOs and work across from each other. And according to Lucy, they’re mortal enemies. They don’t talk to each other than to insult one another and they constantly play games to one up the other. When a new promotion is offered that only one of the will receive, their relationship starts to change.

This book was a bit more like a romance novel than I initially expected. I’m totally ok with that, but I thought it was going to have a contemporary feel to it and it was a bit racier than that.

In all honesty, I didn’t like Lucy much, loved Josh, but felt like he definitely does not exist in the real world. Lucy was annoying and I felt like so many of her behaviors were childish and unacceptable. From the beginning I could understand why this guy would hate her. She reads into everything and is wrong pretty much 100% of the time. Over the course of the book, she grew on me, but I was a little worried at the beginning that I wouldn’t be able to continue because of how much I disliked her character. In fact, she grew on me so much that a few days after finishing the book, I realized that I missed her and Joshua and their relationship.

The relationship between Joshua and Lucy was fun. I really enjoyed their banter. They had some funny moments that I appreciated. I also really appreciated that their relationship didn’t fall into some cliché romance novel tropes. For example, Lucy dates a guy named Danny at the beginning of the book (meaning like, goes on a date or two), and I got nervous that he was going to somehow come back and ruin the relationship but he didn’t. It was such a relief to read a romance book in which the conflict was just the characters and not additional outside forces that are ridiculous. There are enough issues that one can come up with without including unnecessary outside influences.

While I don’t think I am in love with this book as a lot of the book community seems to be, it was a very enjoyable fluff novel. I am definitely looking forward to more of Thorne’s books. She is similar in style to Susan Elizabeth Phillips who is my favorite romance novelist. I like that there is more to the story than just the sex scenes. There were some character issues that I had, but luckily it did get better as the book went on. If you like hate to love romances you will enjoy this book. I would also recommend it to people who need a light, fluffy, fun, and humorous book.

The Season

By: Jonah Lisa Dyer & Stephen Dyer
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Viking Children's
Pages: 346

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Megan McKnight is a soccer star with Olympic dreams, but she’s not a girly girl. So when her Southern belle mother secretly enters her in the 2016 Dallas debutante season, she’s furious—and has no idea what she’s in for. When Megan’s attitude gets her on probation with the mother hen of the debs, she’s got a month to prove she can ballroom dance, display impeccable manners, and curtsey like a proper Texas lady or she’ll get the boot and disgrace her family. The perk of being a debutante, of course, is going to parties, and it’s at one of these lavish affairs where Megan gets swept off her feet by the debonair and down-to-earth Hank Waterhouse. If only she didn’t have to contend with a backstabbing blonde and her handsome but surly billionaire boyfriend, Megan thinks, being a deb might not be so bad after all. But that’s before she humiliates herself in front of a room full of ten-year-olds, becomes embroiled in a media-frenzy scandal, and gets punched in the face by another girl.

The season has officially begun…but the drama is just getting started

First Impressions

I think this book first caught my eye as a part of the Debut Author Challenge. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for books that involve soccer. Plus the addition of a debutante ball definitely caught my eye. The cover made a good first impression and definitely made me want to pick it up so it did its job.

What I thought

Megan and her twin sister Julia are signed up for the debutant ball by their mom. While Julia is excited and ready to go, Megan is less than looking forward to it. She is a college soccer player whose last thing on her mind is dressing up and acting like a lady. But when she finds out that their parents are struggling to keep the ranch, she agrees to participate in the ball per her father’s request.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the story. I liked getting to know Megan and Julia. Megan is a bit feisty but she is passionate about soccer. It was fun to see the contrast between her and her sister as well as the difficulty she has with the first debutant tea.

That’s about where I started to have some issues with the book. I’ve read a lot of romance novels and watched a lot of Hallmark movies, so maybe that’s why I had issues with this book, but it was frustratingly predictable. Right before the first tea, Megan meets a cute stranger. However, that stranger already has a girlfriend. She then meets a different guy at a different ball who she immediately falls for. But stranger number 1, doesn’t like Megan’s new guy because there’s a “history”. Now, I really hoped that Megan’s new guy, Hank, wouldn’t turn out to be evil, but (semi-spoiler) he does.

Also over time, I started to dislike Megan. She was quick to anger and definitely irrational. The development just wasn’t there for me. For example, she didn’t trust Andrew (stranger 1) at all for no reason other than he was rich. She also didn’t like one of the other debutantes for completely superficial reasons, and then changed her mind based on the party she threw. Megan turns our to be pretty shallow and self-centered and hard to like and root for.

There’s another storyline with Julia and her ex-boyfriend that I felt was seriously underdeveloped. It brought about an interesting plot point later in the book, but it was out of nowhere. I felt like some of the lack of development almost cheapened the seriousness of the issue.

There were a lot of bright spots in this story that I did enjoy. I liked the debutant moments and parts of watching Megan grow. But overall, I think the writing was lacking. The characters were underdeveloped and the whole story was predictable.  I do think that if Hallmark made teen movies this would be one they’d pick up. It could make a cute movie with a bit of fixing up. It’s a cute book and I would never not recommend it, it just has some tweaks that need to be worked out.