Review: Time Out by Leah Spiegel

Time Out (Foolish Games book 2)
Author: Leah Spiegel
Release Date: September 22, 2012
Genre: YA/New Adult Romance
Published By: Kindle Edition

Summary from Goodreads:
Joie and her friends are continuing to follow the Grimm Brother’s Band across their countrywide tour. They thought the worst was behind them but they had no idea that things were just getting started. Terrorists’ bombings call for all entertainment venues to be on high alert. With all of the new staff and crew members, the band finds it hard to know who to trust. Meanwhile things begin to heat up between Joie and Hawkins in and out of the bedroom when an ex-fiancé suddenly shows up on the scene but the real surprise has yet to come. If the band wants to continue on the tour, they must figure out who is really behind it all before time runs out…

You can get a copy and you should here

My Review:
warning: this review has a lot of potential for supreme fan girl gushing

Leah Spiegel has become one of my most favorite authors with her Foolish Games YA/New Adult books. I'm pretty sure that I loved Time Out even more than Foolish Games. Right away I was yelling "no! no, no, no! Joie and Hawkins don't need any more complications!!!" I guess I was wrong though because the complications were vast and I loved every minute of it. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Every. Single. Minute.

Time Out pretty much starts off right where Foolish Games ends so we've gotten to know all of the characters and have already fallen in love with them. This allowed for the story to get right to it and  to quickly suck you in. Luckily I started this book on my vacation because there was no way I could put it down once I started reading.

I love how Spiegel writes a book that has it all. Drama, Romance, Mystery, and Suspense! Hawkins and Joie's sexual tensions are as hot as ever. Joie is such a great female protagonist, she's tough, snarky, and loyal to a fault. Hawkins, Hawkins, Hawkins, oh what can I say about sexy sexy Hawkins, I'm so totally in love with Hawkins! Yeah, he makes some dumb decisions but he always seems to make them in the name of love. How can you not love a guy that just wants his girl to be safe. Sexy Sigh!

Another thing that I love about the Foolish Games books are the amazing side characters. The building romance between Riley and a certain someone (no spoilers) is a great addition to the story and I really hope we get to see more of it in the next book. Yep, you heard me, I heard from a very reliable source that there will indeed be another book! Squeal!!!! Lizzie's character was toned down a bit and I'm not sure if I'm glad of that or not but I'm looking forward to where the story is heading for her as well. Obviously I can't wait to read book 3!

Plot: Contemporary perfection

Characters: Perfectly flawed and wonderfully written
Writing: So much fun to get totally lost in
Ending: Wraps up the current situation while setting things up for future wonderfulness
Overall: Really, what else can I possibly gush on about. Spiegel writes a gripping romantic tale with hot rock stars, a beautiful gay best friend, and suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Yeah, ok it's official  I've definitely gushed enough about this one.
Mature Content:The characters in this book are out of high school so the situations are definitely a bit older than the average YA contemporary. However, the sexual scenes while hot are not graphic at all.

Recommendation: If you are loving the New Adult contemporaries the way I am then I highly recommend The Foolish Games books.

Neurotic Thoughts on Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Released: December 10, 2010
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Published by: Dutton
Source: borrowed from my local library
Pages: 372
ISBN: 0525423273

Summary from Goodreads:
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

I'm finding this review so hard to write mostly because of how much I LOVED this book! This was one of those books that sucked me in from the very first page. Stephanie Perkins has a way of writing a book that makes you to feel what her characters are feeling. She makes you love the people that they love, and hate the ones that they hate.

While reading AATFK I was IN Paris. I don't know if Perkins has ever been to Paris or if she just did her research VERY well, and really how would I know cuz I've never been to Paris, but she wrote it just the way I imagine Paris to be. I also loved that she didn't throw in all the usual places you read about. I mean they were in there to a degree, but she focused more on the things you would want to find if you were living there and not just visiting. 

Anna was a great character even when she was being annoying and unreasonable she was so real. I felt like she was my friend that was driving me crazy, and not just a book character I was reading about. As my friend I wanted her to be happy, and get the guy. Then Perkin's went and wrote this amazingly flawed character, St. Claire. I really couldn't help myself from falling for him.  Even though he made me so mad sometimes I couldn't help but adore him, it was easy to see why Anna was so head over heels for him.  

Stephanie Perkins just became one of those authors for me that I will have to read every book she writes as soon as it's released! 

Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth #2) - Reviewed

Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth #2)
Author: Stacey Kade
Expected Release Date: June 7th 2011
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 288
Target Age: Young Adult
Source: Received by Hyperion through NetGalley
Summary from Goodreads:
After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.
Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.
Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea. 

My Thoughts:

I was so excited to read Queen of the Dead after the major book love I had for The Ghost and The Goth, and while I wasn't disappointed in any way I didn't love it quite as much as the first book. It's definitely worth reading, and I think it will tie the first and third book together really well. I think I was thrown just the tiniest bit by how much darker this book felt. 

We learn a lot about Will and Alona separately this time, and get a glimpse of how they are feeling about their particular situations. I was constantly surprised and sometimes shocked by this story. I really enjoyed being thrown into the story without being able to predict the outcome as if I had written the story myself. Stacey Kade really does an amazing job of writing a unique story line with great characters. 

Reader's Beware: 

Queen of the Dead definitely has a darker feel to it than book 1(which is not a bad thing, I just wasn't expecting it) and the ending is quite a cliffhanger. There is no way you will read this book and not wish that you had book 3 in your hands.