Broken Girl vs Fix-it Boy by: Jordan Ford

Broken Girl vs Fix-It Boy (Forever Love #2)

After reading book 1 I could not wait for book 2 to come out, and I have to say, Jordan did not disappoint. Each chapter is told by either Harper, Tane or Bianca. Disclaimer: Make sure you have tissues handy.

Harper is still struggling with the loss of her parents and taking over as caretaker of her siblings and the household. While trying to fight her feelings for Tane as she is still grieving the loss of her parents puts her on a slippery slope that is leading to a major breakdown. Her best friends come over for a surprise visit and they go out and party. Harper ends up spilling all that she is going through a drunken rant.

Tane spends his time split between school, farm work and trying to win Harper over. I like the fact that it’s not a rushed relationship, but I do feel like Harper could’ve been a little more willing to try sooner, but there is a book 3, so maybe it will continue there.

Bianca is a loaner who is still lost and trying to find her place in her new school and new life. Stacey is trying to force her to hang out with her friends. After the family realizes that they forgot Harper’s birthday they plan to throw a surprise party for her which ends up falling in Bianca’s lap to put together. She has to get over her shyness to ask one of Tane’s friends for help.

Beck seems to have come out of his shell in this book, fulfilling his role as guardian. You will read several scenes of him having one on one time with the characters and watch them all grow as a family. When it comes to Oscar, Beck is the best at getting to him. And poor Willow is still struggling so hard but making great progress.

There is so much I want to say but once again I feel like the more I talk about it the less you will need to read it and you can skip it, but since that is not my goal, I am going to stop here.

There will be a book 3 out in November that follows Bianca and…you’ll just have to wait and see who catches her eye. Once you read Broken Girl vs Fix-it Boy you will know exactly who I’m talking about but I can’t give away spoilers, now can I?

I received this as an ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Publication Date: October 24, 2019 Pages: not sure about 3 hours reading time Kindle Edition YA Family, Friends, Romance

City Girl vs Country Boy by: Jordan Ford

City Girl vs Country Boy (Forever Love #1)

Oh! Where do I even start…Let’s see-in this book, you have characters who have suffered tremendous loss that changes everything they have ever known. I have been not so patiently waiting for this book to release since the author first started talking about it and now the time has come where I can share it with you.

When tragedy strikes and three families become one, some major changes take place. After losing their parents in a car crash Harper and her two siblings along with Stacey and her twin Bianca end up going to live with their “uncle” Beck and Tane, who is living with Beck since his mother’s indiscretions. Beck and the kids’ fathers where all best friends growing up and made a pact that if something ever happened to any one of them, the remaining family would take care of their children/family.

Everyone deals with grief differently, and in this story that holds true, as Harper’s sister becomes mute and her brother gets lost in the online world and develops anger issues. Stacey and Bianca, who used to be super close, let past mistakes come between them.

Beck, even though he is still dealing with his own trauma, does what any good person would do and takes the kids in and helps them through the difficult time as best as he can, which turns out to be really good for Harper’s brother. When things blow up with the kids, Beck takes all of them out to sit around a fire and finally tells them the story of how the guys all became friends and what happened in the past. He ends in telling them they are all welcome to stay with him for as long as they need and no one has to leave.

Harper, who is 18 and about to start college, has to make a tough choice of choosing between continuing to live with Beck and have help, or take her younger siblings back home to their house and become a single parent/college student.

It is told from Harper, Tane and Stacey’s pov. Where getting back to who they used to be and friendship is more of the forefront instead of a romance but you can feel the pull between Harper and Tane. I wouldn’t say it ends on a cliffhanger per-say, but the story is continued in book 2 Broken Girl vs Fix-it Boy which comes out in October.

The author informs you in the beginning that it is based in New Zealand, so some of the wording might be a little different than what you are used to but I have to tell you that I loved seeing a different part of the world.

I received this as an ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Publication Date: September 26, 2019 Pages: 317 Kindle Edition YA Family, Tragedy, Romance

15 Days With You by: Ara Grigorian

This is my first book by this author but I am glad I was given the chance to read it. I had not read a blurb when I got this book so I was going into it blind but the cover intrigued me as I am still wishing it was summer and I was at the beach.

Shep, who has recently lost his mom to cancer, loads up her old truck and moves from Texas to California to live with his uncle and aunt. When he arrived there he meets Sam, who is basically a sister to Carmen, his cousin. She is known as a clutz to the family and when she tries to help Shep move in, she breaks a picture frame of Shep’s, his uncle comes in saying “what has Sam broke this time” only to find out that behind the picture was a letter for Shep to only be read after talking with his uncle. So they all head down to the kitchen to talk and it comes to light that his mom was a surfer back in the day and went on a 15 day surfing trip up the coast and wants Shep to take the trip and spread her ashes at each of the spots she visited.

In her letter to Shep, she tells him that she is not proud of the choices she made when she was younger but she wants him to take this journey and on each day there will be a letter for him to read that will give insight to her life 18 years prior. Shep and Carmen decide they are going to go on the 15 day trip but Sam wants to go as well and it takes a little convincing for his uncle to let Sam go, with the rule being that Shep has to sleep in a tent so they are not in the RV together.

During the 15 day trip, Shep learns a lot about his mom, which as she warned was not all good, but he learned to push past his own barriers and do what she wanted him to do. When Shep left his old home and school he left some, let’s say demons, behind and it has been eating at him while on the trip. As the three of them travel, Shep and Sam get closer but she can tell he is hiding something from her, but he tells her he is not ready to talk about it. When he was younger he had learned to surf but had a traumatic experience so now being afraid of the water feels like he can’t honor his mother’s wishes and as time goes by, he finally asked Sam to teach him how to surf.

I want to keep talking about the book, but I feel like if I do then you won’t even need to read the book. So I’m going to stop there and tell you that the lessons he learns while on the trip are much needed to help him heal. I felt like this book was very well put together and it sucked you in from the beginning.

I received this as an ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Publication Date: September 24, 2019 Pages: 348 Kindle Edition YA Family, Loss, New Beginnings

The Playmaker by: Jordan Ford

The Playmaker (A Big Play Novel Book 1)

In this story, you have the football star Colt and the freaky little hipster Tori. They used to be best friends when they were younger, but after high school starts and the social standards are put into place, they drift apart.

With it being their senior year, Tori has come up with a plan to make Colt fall for her under the guise of liking one of his teammates. At first he turns her down, but after some consideration he agrees to help but only in secret. They start spending time in the meadow that they frequented when they were younger, leading to hanging out at his place and watching games.

After some hints about changing her wardrobe, the guys start to take notice of what she hides underneath her homemade tye-die flowy dresses she wears. Which in turns makes Colt realize that he has feelings and/or thoughts about her that he tries to ignore due to her being “weird”.

After Colt is injured in a game, Tori shows up at his house the next day to check on him. They start talking about a paper he has to write and it comes out that he has dyslexia and the letters get mixed up. Deciding to put Operation Fall for Tori on hold, she comes up with a solution to the problem. The next day, she goes back over to his house with research to show him that a lot of famous people have suffered from dyslexia and found ways to overcome it. So now instead of him teaching her, she teaches him.

Still struggling with his feelings for Tori, Colt tells her she is ready and she doesn’t need his help anymore. So she decides it’s time to “man up” and tell Colt that he is the one she likes so she dresses up to go to a party. Come to find out the whole football team skipped out on going due to a rival school attending. Things don’t turn out well for Tori and she is found in a bad position.

Oh, I so want to say more, but I think it’s time you went and picked up The Playmaker and read it for yourself.

Originally released March 2016-new look/new cover released September 2019
Pages: 328 Paperback Edition Teen YA Football, Family, School Drama Nelson High Raiders Book 1

Wipe Out by: Jordan Ford

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The Ryder Bay series continues in this story about Jace and Scarlett, aka Bass and Lettie. If you read the Boys of Summer Riptide novela you got a preview into this one.

When Jace makes one bad decision too many, he is shipped across the country to live with his mom’s cousin until he can learn to straighten up. At his new school, Jace finds some kids he fits with, until lunch, when he is busted for having a vape pen that’s not even his. Not wanting to become a nark on his first day, he takes the punishment and gets a day of dentition, along with the message to stay away from those kids and make new friends. When he gets out of detention, Marshall is there to pick him up and lecture him, telling him he needs to hang out with a different crowd such as Griffin’s girlfriend Savannah, along with her friend Harley and their crew. Not wanting to make friends but keep the calm he’s like whatever and goes to his room.

Lettie is having her own bad first day. Starting high school, she thought she would have at least one friend, come to find out that over the summer her friend decided she wanted nothing to do with her and made new friends, the popular kind, who go out of their way to make fun of Lettie for being a loner and bookworm.

Lettie and Bass have still been emailing back and forth with each other and growing closer until Lettie starts getting confused by having feelings for Jace and feeling like she is cheating on Bass.

Jace, not wanting to tell Snap Dragon about Lettie and his confusing feelings, starts slacking off on his emails to Snap. That all changes when he tells her if she misses her email buddy that she needs to write him and tell him that. So she does and ends up giving off enough clues that Bass figures out that Snap Dragon is Lettie, but he doesn’t know how to tell her he’s Bass without causing problems between them.

When she finally decides to tell Bass who she is, and he decides to come clean as well, when Reed comes in a screws it all up. But that’s all I am saying about that, you will have to read to find out for yourself what happens.

What another great read by Jordan. I loved the interactions with previous characters, but I think Harley and her stubborn streak just might be my favorite.

Publication Date: July 20, 2019 Pages: 398 Kindle Edition YA Summer, Friends, Family

Riptide by: Jordan Ford

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Boys of Summer

Jace, a.k.a. Bass, is a 16 year old boy who thinks no one will ever want him and that he is always being pushed away. His dad moved overseas when he was younger, leaving him with his mom. Now his mom is remarried and they are expecting a baby, making Bass feel like he lost his mom to Tony and their baby.

While at a party, after Bass thought it was a good idea to jump from a two story balcony into a pool, a girl he was dancing with gave him the email address to someone who could get him something to give him that rush feeling he is always seeking. After a night of hanging with his buddies and drinking, Bass decides to email SnapDragon and see what’s up.

The next morning, his computer dings to let him know he’s got a new email. Bass discovers that in his drunken state last night, he added numbers that did not belong in the email and sent it to someone else. What happened in his drunken haze ends up being a good thing as he makes an online email buddy. After a few emails back and forth they decide to keep things anonymous because they don’t want to mess up what they have with each other, which happens to be finding out that someone else out there knows what you are going through. They get to know each other, and as things turn bad for Bass and he gets grounded to his room, he turns to S and she helps him through things.

Bass is a typical teenage bad boy, hanging out with his buds, surfing, drinking on the beach, going to parties and a little law breaking good time, until one too many nights roof jumping end up being his downfall. You find out a little more in the end of the book but be warned you will be waiting on the edge of your seat until August 2, 2019 when Wipe Out comes out and you find out just who S is. This is going to be a long summer!

I received this as an ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Publication Date: June 18, 2019 Pages: ?? Kindle Edition YA Summer, Friends, Family

In Another Life by: C.C. Hunter

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What would you do if you walked into a store and saw someone who resembled a person who had been missing for 15 years?

The first thing Cash does after bumping into Chole is tell her “whatever you’re trying to pull, don’t do it.” Chloe has no clue what he is talking about; she’s just kinda stuck in life right now. Her parents are getting divorced and her dad is in the process of taking her back to her mother in Joyful, Texas. Her mom has just gotten the all clear from the doctor regarding her cancer and her dad has moved on to some hussie just a few years older than Chloe. Chloe’s mom has such a strong hatred for her dad that she lets it consume her to the point of depression.

When Chloe starts her new school in her senior year of high school she tells herself it won’t suck as bad as she thinks it’s going to. Having had made friends with her neighbor Lindsey, she takes her to school and is given the rundown of whos who and all that high school drama information that is needed to survive; including but not limited to, the name of her current crush, who ends up hitting on Chloe later that day.

When the school day is out, Chloe and Lindsey head out to her car only to stop when Jamie pulls up and offers Lindsey a ride home, which turns out to be a good thing when Chloe has a flat tire. She doesn’t notice Cash hanging around until he offers to help fix it. Her dad and her used to have races to see who could change a tire faster so she knows what she is doing and tells him no thanks. He keeps offering to help, even offering to give her a can of fix-a-flat that he has in his jeep. Chloe keeps refusing his help-until she can’t get the lug nut off. As they get to talking, she discovers he knows a lot about her for her being new to town and to the school. Then he confesses to stalking her on social media because he thought she was someone else who might have been kidnapped. Chloe tells him she was adopted and explains that her parents would never do something like that.

The more they get to talking, they decide to find out the truth on their own before they confront either one of her “moms.” Cash eventually reveals he is the son of a bad guy who had him doing illegal things since he was eight, and he had been in foster care for many years. As time goes by, the pair get closer to what happened regarding her adoption and possible kidnapping-revealing long buried secrets that could be deadly.

To me it was an insta-love story. I was on a non-stop reading binge for hours then kinda got stuck in the book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great read; but I got to the point where, in some books, I’m just ready for it to be over and end up skipping until the last chapter or two, but this time I put it down for a couple of days then picked it back up and was back into that non stop reading until I finished it.

Publication Date: March 26, 2019 Pages: 336 Hardback YA Contemporary, Adoption, Family

Invisible Ghosts by: Robyn Schneider

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Siblings, Rose and Logan who are best of friends who share a connection to each other that is usually only shared between twins, are told by their parents to watch out for each other.

Rose and her friends were doing junior rep at the Harbor Playhouse. She had tried out for a lead role but did not get cast, instead getting her name on the backstage helpers list. When she got home, Logan was watching tv and asked her if she wanted him to start it over. When he looked at her he knew something was wrong. When he asked, Rose told him that all her friends were cast and not her. Leaving out the part where the teacher told Rose that she didn’t see any potential in her. He tried to tell her it was okay that they could just hang and watch Doctor Who. Being a stubborn teen she didn’t listen.

After getting into a fight with him, she runs out the door heading to a tree fort that Sam’s dad had built for the neighborhood kids. Thinking Logan would come after her, she sat there reading, waiting for him to show up. After awhile she realizes that Logan would have shown up already if he was going to, so she decides to head home. On the trail back home by the honeysuckle bush, she finds Logan on the ground. Thinking he is playing a trick on her, she yells at him until she gets close enough to discover that he has been stung in the arm and leg and has died from his bee allergy.

After his death, Rose distanced herself from her theater friends. Rose has been seeing Logan’s ghost for 4 years and when Jamie, an old friend, moves back to school they rekindle their friendship. Rose and Logan go to Blitz after school one day and she spots her theater friends sitting in a corner booth. Jamie goes up to talk to her and sees Logan, going pale. Later, he goes over to her house and confirms that he too can see Logan along with other ghosts. He asks if Rose has seen any other ghost besides Logan and she figures out that she has seen one before. At first, Logan is excited to have someone else to talk to.

As Rose grows up and starts to fall in love with Jamie, Logan starts acting out. Jamie wants to exorcise him and it causes problems between him and Rose. Logan is happy to hear that cause it means Rose is all his again. When Logan realizes that Rose is planning on leaving for college in two years he gets upset and causes her alarm clock to fly and hit her in the cheek. Feeling bad for hurting his sister, Logan stays away for a couple of days and in that time Rose realizes that the reason Logan is acting out is because she is growing up and not needing him to look out for her. After talking with Logan, and then with Jamie, they decide it would be best for Logan to cross over.

Having a close relationship with a sibling then losing them would be hard for anyone, but when your brother comes back as a ghost you never really get say goodbye and have the closure that is needed. When the time comes for them to say goodbye, Rose knows it’s the right thing to do for Logan and herself.

13+ Publication Date: June 5, 2018 Pages 308 YA Fiction-Romance, Family, Death