UK Style - Presenting Natalie Standiford

Hey guys, today I have another treat for you, this time in the form of a lovely guest post by the awesome Natalie Standiford.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did :-)

Five Reasons Why I'd Love to Live in the U.K., given the chance, by Natalie Standiford:

1. British accents--I know everybody says that but it's worth repeating: yum!

2. British literature: I would love being surrounded by literary history, seeing towns and houses and streets mentioned in books by Jane Austen or Evelyn Waugh or Graham Greene . . .

3. British humor and wit are the best.

4. Damp weather is good for my skin.

5. I hear you have a beautiful, real spring there (unlike here in New York, where spring consists of frigid sogginess followed by a heat wave). To spring!

6. London!  I love big cities and London is one of the greats.

7. Music! I love British pop and rock.

8. Family history: like most Americans I'm a bit of a mutt, ethnically, but many of my ancestors came from England and Ireland.

9. If I lived in the U.K. for a good while I could get to know it well enough to set a story there--just like Jane Austen and Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene!

Okay, nine reasons. Obviously I could go on forever.

I am a big fan of books and stories (and movies) with a strong sense of place, and my favorite tip for writers these days is to use setting--a strong sense of place--to enrich your work. If you want to learn about Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where I grew up, read my book HOW TO SAY GOODBYE IN ROBOT--you'll get a glimpse of the real, oddball Baltimore. My next novel, CONFESSIONS OF THE SULLIVAN SISTERS (coming out in October 2010), is set in Baltimore too. Baltimore is so much fun to write about I'm thinking of setting all my books there from now on (unless I get the chance to move to the U.K.!). There are also some pictures of Baltimore on the "Mystery Page" on my web site,www.nataliestandiford.com/disc.htm.

You can follow Natalie on Twitter right here

-------

THANK YOU NATALIE :-)

Waiting on Wednesday - Swoon at your Own Risk by Sydney Salter

Published by Graphia
Published on 5 April 2010

It’s the summer before senior year and Polly Martin has sworn off boys. Who needs the hurt and confusion? Five recent breakups have left her with an unnatural knowledge of NASCAR, the ultimate hiker’s outfit, a student council position, the sixth highest score on the Donkey Kong machine at the mall, and a summer job at Wild Waves with ex #2 Sawyer Holmes.

Success seems a sure thing when Polly’s grandmother, the syndicated advice columnist, Miss Swoon, moves in for the summer. Polly almost doesn’t mind sharing a room with her little sister, Grace. Think of all the great advice she’ll get! Everything is going according to plan except... Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy septuagenarian! And then there’s Xander Cooper. If only he wouldn’t keep showing up at Wild Waves with his adorable cousins every afternoon — and what is he writing in that little notebook? 

No advice column in the world can prepare Polly for the lessons she learns when she goes on a group camping trip (with three too many ex-boyfriends). Polly is forced to see people for who they are — a blend of good and bad qualities that can’t be reduced to a list or a snappy answer in a Miss Swoon column.

-------

Okay, so I only started reading books I call "girly books" when I started blogging, before that I avoided them more than a scorned ex-boyfriend.  They just never really called to me or sucked me in, but boy, am I glad I gave them a shot.  Look at what i've been missing.  Swoon at your Own Risk sounds like such a fun book to read, can't wait for this one.  And the cover is lush!

Review - Vamped by Lucienne Diver

Published by Flux
Published on 1 May 2009

Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!
2. Free. Designer. Clothes.
3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.
4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.
5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.

I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death. 

Vampire books seem to have spawned up all over the place. They are everywhere, and I think we all know who to thank for this. Every bookshop I go in seems to have a full shelf dedicated to these blood drinking vampires. I really doubt they will ever go out of fashion, especially the ones that sparkle in the sun. I will admit, I love my fair share of vampire books, but to stand out from the crowd, you need something unique and a well drawn plot and fully formed, life-like characters, and sadly, Vamped didn't quite hit the spot for me.

The protagonist Gina has been transformed into a vampire by her nerdy boyfriend Bobby, who after under going the transformation morphed into a sexy vampire stud. But thats not all, the feisty Mellisande is after her boyfriend and is transforming all her school friends too, making her own little vampire army. I know, I should have realised what I was getting myself in for.

I found Gina as a character to be dull, un-lifelike and totally unrelateable. All she cared about was clothes, having her hair perfect and her boyfriend surgically attached to her hip. Now, i'm all for girls getting their rocks off with dead vampires, yes i'm talking about you, Rose and Demitri, however, this just didn't pack enough punch. I found it quite irksome that Gina and Bobby shared one kiss at Prom, and then they were this undead couple in love. She is the kind of girl that I would hate to be friends with, but maybe this is because i'm not so much fussed with fashion and girly nonsense.

Firstly, if some chess geek (I love geeks) turned me into a vampire, my first thought wouldn't be, oh boy, you are soooo cute, even if you are dead. My first thought would be "hey, you big $%&£, why the crap did you kill me". So, this is where I got a little stuck. Ginas reaction to her sudden transformation into the undead was waylaid and not all all explored, but would have made a brilliant sub-plot.

The polite line was unmemorable for me, to be honest, I had to re-read the synopsis, because my mind was drawing up blanks. This is one of those vampire books that just maybe didn't get it quite right, which is essential in a world where vampire books are popping up everywhere. I commend the author for writing a book that I know other people will grab at with glee, but not so much for me.

In My Mailbox #18

Idea is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie

Review

Dawn of the Demontide by William Hussey

Bought

That Summer by Sarah Dessen

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

The Returners by Gemma Malley

Gifts - Thanks Jenny!

Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moraity

The Girls by Tucker Shaw

Hope you all had a fab week :-)

Books in a Series:- Cliffhanger Endings Ruin my LIFE*

It seems recently that a lot of authors are going down the route of writing books in a series.  Maybe because they don't want to let go of their characters, maybe they have a path they need to follow that can't be resolved in the first book.  Maybe they just have so much to tell us, or maybe this is a marketing stunt to make the publishing houses more money.  Whatever, this isn't my point.  My point is, people get so angry with series, like angry enough to maybe throw books at walls or even deface them (been there, done that).  

What I want to know is this.  When people buy a book and they know it's part of a series, why do they get angry at the end because it's a huge cliffhanger?.  I know people do this, because I do this myself.  Some books make me want to rip the ending from them and pretend it never happened.  Mostly, they turn me into a big ball of jealousy, because I know someone out there knows what happens in the sequel, even if it is the author.  And yet, I continue to buy them.  I love books in a series, they make me happy.  They feel like my friends, because when the sequel or another book in the series comes out, it feels like i'm meeting with old friends.  But there is something that annoys me with them.

First off, the first book never really has much going on to be honest, or if it does, the action happens in a whirlwind at the end of the book, quite possibly a ploy to make us more interested in the sequel.  Now, I know for a fact that if a book without a cliffhanger had a sequel, I'd probably feel no urgency or need to read it.  Its the cliffhangers that hold sway over me, I have to know what happens next.  They are designed to make you want to come back for more.  It's called the Zeigarnik Effect.

The Zeigarnik Effect states that people remember uncompleted tasks better than completed tasks.  So in effect, our ass's are getting whipped psychologically by series of books.  Hell, even wikipedia agrees, and when is the master wiki ever wrong.  Take it like this, when we hold something, in this case a book plot, in our short term memory, we have to constantly be thinking about the book, or our minds just blank out.  This uses cognitive effort, and the more we are trying to remember (hello!!, a full freaking book) the more effort it takes.  So, if the story is incomplete, it gets filed away in our long term memory, and because we have not achieved closure, we worry about the outcome.  See?! No wonder we get crazy over sequels.

Plus, there's also Closure Principle.  One of the characterising factors of tension is when we experience some form of it, we drive towards the resolution.  Without the resolution there is no closure, so without reading the next books due in the series, we will never get closure.  Plus, our brains know when we get closure, because it releases natural opiates, telling your body that you have done the right thing.  Thus, making you feel good.  See?! <I know what your thinking.  

I have put way too much thought into this whole seires thing.  BUT, what else can I do whilst waiting for the next book in my current series luvin? Google, my friends, google is always the answer.  Can you tell I don't have closure?

* okay, so I exaggerated quite a lot right there, what of it?

Review - Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Published by Hodders Children's Books
Published 20 March 2008

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

I know, I know, why did it take me so long to read this book, I can hear you.  I have no excuses, I repent for my book sins.  I don't really know why it took me so long to read this book, I did buy it quite a while ago.  I think maybe I was worried about the content, or worried it would have a major affect on me, or maybe that I wouldn't relate to Melina as a character.  I will say, I shouldn't have been worried, I should have read this book a long time ago, because you know what? it was bloody brilliant.

When I first started reading Speak, I found it really hard to make much progress, I don't think it's a book you devour.  It's one of those books where you stop at regular intervals and just sit there thinking about it.  I wondered what horrific thing could have happened to this young girl to make her afraid to speak.  Would it be something that I would be able to process as a reader.  To tell you the truth, I did find it hard to process, it wasn't just a nice light read, which is surprising given the page count. 

Melinda as a character is smart and funny and I wondered why she chose to process what happened to her the way she did.  I'm a big talker, so I constantly thought to myself, would I do it the same way, would I curl into my own little universe, blocking off the most major way to communicate with people, by just not talking.  Maybe I would, because when i'm upset or angry, I go real quiet.  This is why I connected with her as a character, I felt her depression, her desperation to control something in her life. 

Lauries writing style just seemed effortless to me, the way she moulded this broken girl who struggles to communicate with people.  I think the way she expressed her emotions and anguish was done perfectly.  This book is one I found hard to stomach, but loved it so much regardless.  How even though this girl was emotionally stunted by the actions of others, but  still had a bright personality, streaked through with a wry sense of humour.  For teenagers who have been too scared or powerless to seek justice for things they feel ashamed of, this book would be a lifeline.  I know Laurie's books will have a permanent residence on my book shelves.  

UK Style - Presenting Lauren Oliver

Those of you who read my review of Before I Fall yesterday, know how much of a major fan girl I am.  

So, I was so chuffed when Lauren agreed to do a UK style guest post on my blog.  Presenting, the lovely and amazing Lauren Oliver, with her top ten reasons why she would LOVE to live in the UK:-

10. Accents, accents, accents. Boys with accents. (I agree, our boys are hot!!)

9. Because then I could say things like “lift,” and “chuffed,” and “snogging,” and no one would look at me weirdly. 

8. I could eat delicious scones every day!

7. AND CLOTTED CREAM. Yummm.

6. I would see my sister a lot more frequently. (She’s at Oxford.) 

5. I love tea. 

4. I could hang out with CARLA all the time, and my UK editor Kate Howard, and the whole Hodder team. (that would be bloody brilliant!!)

3. England feels like a magical place to me. Perhaps that’s why JK Rowling and Phillip Pullman had such success. (You try setting a children’s book in Detroit and see how far it gets you.) 

2. It’s only a short train ride to Paris.

1. Did I mention BOYS WITH ACCENTS? Swoon.

THANKS LAUREN!! For those of you who have been living under a rock, Lauren's debut novel Before I Fall debuts on 4 March 2010. 

You can visit Lauren on her blog right here and her website here

Review - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Published by Hodders Children's Books
Published 4 March 2010
2010 Debut Author Challenge

They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me.Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn't.

On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died.

Forced to live over and over the last day of her life the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash.

This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love... a little too late.

This has got to be one of the hardest reviews i've ever had to write, and i'm a talker, a big one, I always have something to say, always, but not this time.  I don't really understand quite how to put my feelings into words about how this book made me feel, because mere words will never comprehend just how amazing this book is.  It's one of those books that swirl around your mind long after you've turned the last page.  To put it lightly, I am in love.

I read this book back in the fall, after participating in a book tour with other UK bloggers, arranged by Lauren herself.  I didn't really know what to expect; I knew I wanted to read the book, but after being warned by Lauren that I may hate the protagonist Sam at the beginning of the novel, I felt a little trepidation.  I sat down expecting to read a few pages and test the waters. After reading the last two lines of page one, I was a total goner.  The last two lines on the end of the first page are this:-

"Is what I did really so much worse than what anybody else does? Is it really so much worse than what you do?"

Really, I didn't really understand what these two lines actually meant until I immersed myself in Sam's story.  I never once disliked her as a character, I even thought I might not relate to her as a character, but I did, I related to her almost immediately.  Does this make me a bad person? does this mean that what Sam does isn't worse than what I would do myself?

I was sucked into Sams world without even realising.  I compare it to that feeling you get when you just sit down on a roller coaster, fear takes over your body, followed by feeling so sick you could hurl on the person sitting next to you.  You hold on so tight your knuckles go white, hurtling so fast, leaving your insides back at the starting point.  But sometimes you feel brave enough to open your eyes, and when you do you get that feeling.  That feeling where you know you did the right thing, and you feel so light you could just float away.  That is kind of how this book made me feel.

For a debut novel to make me feel like I want to be a better person, that I want to cherish what I have and not be miserable when things don't run smoothly, is extraordinary.  That it's not possessions or money that matter in life, it's the people you share it with.  It made me realise just how important my friends and family are, and that even though death is something that is a part of that, it doesn't have to be the end of happiness.  Heart shattering events do happen in life, they happen to a lot of people.

I looked back on what I originally said to Lauren when I first read this book, and I still feel exactly the same way.  Only a few authors have managed to write a book so amazingly beautiful yet heartbreakingly sad, her words and story have affected me in a way I never thought words could.  To write about death that has so artfully been put into words and actions so realistic is breathtaking.  The way that through a plot line she was able to convey that life is really amazing if you just look hard and close enough, and that death is something that is soul destroying, but it's okay to happy.

I sound like a walking advert for this book, but this book really means a lot to me, the characters, the story line and the intensity of it all are all valid reasons why it would be a crime not to experience reading this.  You will fall in love with this book, you will watch Sam's character develop more than you could ever imagine, you'll cry a sea of tears and then when it's over, you'll want to start all over again.  This may just be the best YA book I have ever read.

Check back tomorrow, when I have a UK style blog post from the lovely Lauren Oliver herself.

In My Mailbox #17

Idea is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie

So, I got some crazy good books in the post this week.  Also, I got THE best signed book known to man, just wait, the picture is below.  Oh, and sorry about the two pictures, I found the other two books in my bed after I took the main picture :-p

Oh My Giddy God!!!!! SHIVER!!!!!! AND SAM AS A WOLF.....OMFG

No lie, when this came I think I couldn't breathe, I think I cried around 5 times and dreamt of vacuum bags because I fell asleep worrying that it would get damaged.   Danielle, you are more awesome than all the hotdogs in the whole wide world, as well as the buns that hold them.  Don't forget to be awesome!

Review

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - review here

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles - review here

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz - review here

Claire De Lune by Christine Johnson

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Vampirates - Empire of the Night by Dean Horowitz

Bought

The Ex-Games by Jennifer Echols - Love!

Major Crush by Jennifer Echols

A Match Made in High School by Kristen Walker

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost - so so hot!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher - signed to me :-)

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur - Gift from Jenny, cheers mon pip!

Hope you all had a fab week too :-)

UK Style - Presenting Lisa Schroeder

So, I have something extra special for you guys today!! A UK style mini guest post by the amazing Lisa Schroeder :-)

Lisa Schroeder is a native Oregonian, which means her childhood summers were spent camping, fishing, reading books (of course!), and playing in the sun, when it finally came out. These days, Lisa spends her summers, and every other part of the year, sharing all the wonderful things Oregon has to offer with her husband and two sons. She is the author of three verse novels for young adults published by Simon Pulse - I Heart You, You Haunt Me, Far From You, and Chasing Brooklyn. Her middle grade debut, It's Raining Cupcakes, will be published by Aladdin in March, 2010.

1. Us Westerners love accents, you know. And I always think of people in the UK saying "jolly good" a lot. That and Tally ho!  Do you say either of those very often, or is it more for old(er) people? What phrase do you say a lot (unless it's something not suitable to put on your blog, then never mind). OH, and I also like the word smashing!! Do you ever say that? I would use that word a lot if I lived in the UK I think. That book was smashing! :)

Oh, you do not know how much it makes me giggle with peoples preconceptions about the British accent and phrases we use.  I do say Jolly Good ha but it's not something I say a lot, BUT, smashing is a word I use a lot.  Yes! I say that book was smashing, or that book was bloody brilliant.  I've said Wotcher a few times too, but people always get confused when I say that, so I tend to just say hey!

2. When I was doing research for my middle grade book, coming out in March (IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES) I did a little research on England because one of my characters travels there. He ends up bringing a box of jam tarts home for the main character to try. Do you like jam tarts? Do you have them very often? I'm wondering if they're hugely popular like donuts in America, or are they more of a specialty item? Could you send me some? (Just kidding. Unless you really want to, then, please do!)

Jam Tarts are one of the best tarts in the whole wide world.  They are so so yummy.  We also have Lemon Curd tarts too which are lush, but jam tarts take the biscuit.  You've never had one? I thought they were like a worldwide tradition? Oh, you are missing out.  You really want some? I'm a team player, I can share.

3. Have you ever seen the queen in person? Does she ever wear a crown? That would be so cool to be a queen and wear a crown, wouldn't it?

I have seen the Queen in person, she's rather small.  She didn't have her crown on though, which was upsetting, because I always imagined her walking around with like a red robe on with a crown made of a thousand diamonds.  But no, she had a yellow skirt suit on, which was pretty, but not as awesome as my imagined clothing.  I have a crown, but it's a paper one :-(

4. Since I'm a writer, of course I LOVE book stores. What are the book stores like there? What's your favourite book store to visit, and what could I send them to bribe them to carry my books?

Oh, the bookstores are good, though where I live we don't have any independent bookstores, they're more mainstream. Waterstones tis the name, and I love it there!! I actually asked the children's specialist staff to order some of your imports! My friend, Jenny knows her, so we go in a lot and harass her for American imports.

5. There are a lot of castles in the UK, right? Do you live in a castle? If so, can I come and visit you someday?

Yes, I live in a castle, because I have a paper crown, so I am a queen.  No just kidding, I had you there for a second didn't I?  I have been to a few castles though, they're all over the shop here.  People do live in them as well, plus, they always hire out the big pretty ones for weddings. BUT, for you Jane Austen fans, i've been to the big house Jane based Pemberley on, it's called Chatsworth House, which was so so beautiful!

Thanks Lisa!!!

You can visit Lisa at her website right here and on her blog.

Please check back, as I have a lot more UK style guest posts of a different kind heading this way :-) Smashing!

Review - The Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols

Published by Simon Pulse
Published on 26 June 2007

Cute, available, and one cabin over.... 

Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends — including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori's always been one of the guys. But while Lori and the "baby" brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can't deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean's been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way. 

But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she's girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girl friend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard...

Girly books hold no sway over me.  The story lines are always predictable, the characters have little or no intelligence and they drive me insane.  They make me angry and generally not a nice person, but I decided to expand my reading knowledge when I started blogging.  For this I am exponentially grateful, because if I hadn't started blogging, I would never have tried and loved many authors.  Jennifer Echols tops this list.  Her books make me so happy I could burst.  They turn me into a girl, one who sometimes likes to look nice, wear pretty clothes and giggle like crazy.  She is one of those authors where you could buy any book she's written, even a book with a crazy ass story line. Maybe like people turned into giant blobs, eating all the worlds population, save two people who have to stop them, who are in love but don't realise (of course there would be romance), thus saving the world.  Man, even she would make that story line amazing, thats how much of a good writer she is.

Anyways, enough of the Echols loving.  The Boys Next Door is a fabulous book.  It's funny, romantic and makes me remember what it was like to have crushes on a guy who didn't know I existed.  Lori is a tomboy, but this summer she has gotten a rack, a rack she wants to show off to the hot guy next door.  She tries to get his attention by pulling girlish stunts, like wearing a bikini for the first time, and wearing clothes like skirts and heels.  But Lori is not your regular girl, she's cool and feisty, and sometimes more than a little dense when it comes to the feelings of those around her.

The dialogue in this book is what makes it a winner, the way all the characters interact with each other makes it a book thats hard to put down.  Lori likes Shaun, her best friends Adams brother, but the problem is she's not sure if he likes her back, and why did Adam get so hot all of a sudden.  Adam was a perfect character, he's my kind of guy.  He's witty, lovely and most of all he made me laugh with the things he said or done.  Lori too, the thoughts that ran through her mind made me think back to when I was her age, and laugh that Echols has managed to find a pitch perfect teen voice.

This is where Echols power as a writer lies; her ability to make the interactions and behaviours of all her characters seem to life like and believable.  You connect with them.  You feel for them, laugh along with them, feel their embarrassment and nervousness.  When things go wrong, your knuckles go white from holding the book so hard, because it feels like the characters are your friends.  And this my friends, is why Jennifer Echols will top my best read list ever year she continues to put out a novel.  Amazing or what?!

Waiting on Wednesday - Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

Idea hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine

Published by Simon Pulse

Published on 25 May 2010

Lori should have known better than to date a pirate.

After finally getting together and going out on their first real date, only Lori and Adam could manage to fall asleep—and wake up seven hours past Lori’s curfew. Their parents forbid them to see each other. So Lori takes it upon herself to date boys scarier than Adam until her dad gives in.

But Adam won’t play along. He’s afraid Lori might fall for these scary boys. And when she goes out with the scariest boy of all—Adam’s own brother and her ex-crush—even the threat of being sent away to military school can’t keep Adam from swashbuckling his way back into Lori’s heart.

Can this forbidden love stay afloat, or will it sink in the watery deep?

------

So, I am seriously in girl love with Miss Echols, I just love her. This may not come as a shock to those of you who saw my top reads of 2009 post, because she most certainly featured on it.  Her writing is amazing and very addictive.  I read The Boys Next Door a while back and I frigging loved it and went insane when I knew there was a sequel, now I just have to wait for it!! Sound Awesome or what?

Review - The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Published by Razorbill
Published on 4 February 2010
Reviewed as part of my 2010 Debut Author Challenge

As if being a purrfect cheerleader isn’t enough responsibility!

Tessa Crimson’s the sweet and spunky leader of the SOS (Society of Smitten Kittens), a cheer squad–turned–spy society dedicated to bringing dastardly boyfriends to justice, one cheater at a time. Boyfriend-busting wouldn’t be so bad . . . except that so far, every suspect on the Naughty List has been proven 100% guilty!

When Tessa’s own boyfriend shows up on the List, she turns her sleuthing skills on him. Is Aiden just as naughty as all the rest, or will Tessa’s sneaky ways end in catastrophe? 

Tessa seems to have a perfect life; she is head cheerleader, has a gorgeous boyfriend who's the captain of the basketball team and a great group of friends.  But, she's not your stereotypical cheerleader, she's incredibly clever and a really nice girl.  That all sounds fun right? Well throw in the fact that she is a member of SOS, which is the Society for Smitten Kittens, who spy on unsuspecting cheating boys.  They have caught everyone they investigated in rather naughty situations, everyone has been 100% guilty.  Now, this sounds fantastic, but no so much when your own perfect boyfriend shows up on the list!I read this book in two days, it was light and fun and so easy to read.  

If I could describe this book in a few words it would be; cute, cute and more cute.  I'm not such a fan of cutesy books, they tend to annoy me.  So I was surprised that I was able to enjoy the book to the very end.  Tessa seems to be a perfect female lead; she doesn't cuss, she's nice to everyone and uses the names of drinks and goodies as swear words.  This is the one book I have read where I wanted the main character to have a great big swearing fit and go a little insane.

The plot moves at a fast enough pace, and will appeal to more to actual teens, due to the content and dialogue used.  I will say that I saw the events unfold before they actually did, but this might just be because my predicting skills are strong.  It's quite a fluffy book and young girls will snap this up, even I found it easy to connect with these characters that were in no way anything like myself and I did care what happened to them.  Plus, most of the male characters in the book are described as amazingly hot, which helped a lot.

I loved how the importance to trust in a relationship was cemented throughout the novel, and how you can sometimes think you are doing the right thing, when actual fact you are not.  My favourite part has to be the reports that are dotted through the book on cheating suspects, sent to the clients they are working for.  They detail cinches they get into, and how far the cheating actually went, which really made me giggle.

My main gripe is that fact that boys are perceived as adulterous cheats all throughout the book.  I know that it's about a naughty list of people cheating, but why was the naughty list all boys.  Girls do cheat, as the novel does go into, but never into as much detail as the boys being cheats.  Even maybe on one of the reports in the book, but no, it was always the SOS investigating boys cheating, which I think is a little unfair, considering females cheat just as often as males.

Young adults will love this book, its fun, sweet and chock full of sexual innuendos.  Strawberry Smoothie.

In My Mailbox #16

Idea Hosted by Krisi @ The Story Siren and Inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie

I had *the* most amazing book week, I have jumped up and down too many times to count and have seriously overused the word "oh my god".  I may have actually killed the saying from using it way to much.  I have acted like a total loon, and cried over something you will get to see in next weeks IMM, that's if it arrives from the book fairy in time.  Enough from me, here's what lovelies came into my possession this fine week :-)

For Review

Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies and Dark Secrets by Elizabeth Chandler - Published on 4 March 2010 by Simon and Schuster Children's Books

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser - Published on 4 March 2010 by Simon and Schuster Children's Books

The Diary of a Dr Who Addict by Paul Magrs - Published on 4 March 2010 by Simon and Schuster Children's Books

Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings - Published on 4 February 2010 by Harper Collins Children's Books

From Jenny @ Wondrous Reads

Pretty Bad Things by C.J. Skuse (proof copy)

The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Inkdeath by Cornelia Fluke

Bought

The Splendour Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

By the Time you Read This, I'll be Dead by Julie Ann Peters

The Declaration by Gemma Malley

The Boy Book by E. Lockhart - So so funny

The Treasure Map of Boys by E.Lockhart - Love, just love!

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk *squee*

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

Shift by Rachel Vincent - The BEST Adult Series EVER

Boys, Girls and other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman

Skins: The Novel by Ali Cronin

An Abundance of Katherines by John "my future/in my dreams husband" Green

The Worst of Me by Kate Le Vann
The Naughty List by Suzanne Young

Hope you all had a fabulous week, can't wait to see what you all got too :-) Happy Reading