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

Stealing Home by: Becky Wallace

40599855

ARC may contain spoilers

Ryan, the daughter of the Buckley Beavers divorced owners, has grown up with baseball in her life and has always dreamed of owning the team when she gets older. When Sawyer shows up, she feels like her plans have been thrown a curveball. She has always been good at “no the fraternizing” policy, but his cool swagger is throwing her off her game.

When Ryan learns that her mom is going to sell her half of the team due to both financial reasons and the fact the she doesn’t want to be stuck with them any longer, Ryan has an idea that might just help her save her beloved team. Sawyer, who has been injured and is sitting on the sidelines, offers to help her out. She is in need of sponsors that will help her remodel and upgrade the Buckley complex. Sawyer gives her the idea of using an events center to host summer camps and special days for handicap or underprivileged kids.

The doctors are wanting Sawyer to see a major league doctor, and since its Ryan’s duty to drive him where he needs to go, they take a three hour trip. While at Ranger Stadium, Ryan gets a look around with her tour guide, and she actually gets even more ideas of how to help save Buckley’s. After his visit with the doctor and her tour, they are about to head back home, but Sawyer ends up scoring tickets and they decide to stay and watch Ryan’s first major league game. While at the game, they get caught on the kiss cam. Because they’re fighting their attraction to one another, let’s face it that’s what two teenagers are gonna do, they try to stay away from each other after the kiss and hope no one sees the picture.

Once his injury heals and Sawyer is back to playing, he ends up in a rut. And when Ryan tries to talk with her mom about her plan to save Buckley’s, she finds out that it’s a done deal and her mom already sold the team. After a heated exchange, she leaves her mom at a food joint. Then things finally start to turn around.

It’s actually baseball season as I read this so the time frame fits perfect in real life. It brings back memories of me out on the field when I was younger. I’m not really a sports fan but if I had to choose a favorite sport it would be baseball. I like the reference to the BBQ place and the fact that it serves your meat on brown butcher paper. Not too long ago I ate at a BBQ place that served their meat that way- to say the least, it was a first. All in all, this was a fairly quick read for me.

Publication Date: July 9, 2019 Pages: 320 Hardback YA Baseball