Coming up for Air by Miranda Kenneally Genre: YA Contemporary Romance Publication Date: July 4, 2017 Format: I received a copy of the book in advance to review from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions in this post are my own, and in no way was I compensated for this review. Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity. Buy from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/149263011X/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=149263011X&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2 Summary: Swim. Eat. Shower. School. Snack. Swim. Swim. Swim. Dinner. Homework. Bed. Repeat. All of Maggie’s focus and free time is spent swimming. She’s not only striving to earn scholarships—she’s training to qualify for the Olympics. It helps that her best friend, Levi, is also on the team and cheers her on. But Levi’s already earned an Olympic tryout, so Maggie feels even more pressure to succeed. And it’s not until Maggie’s away on a college visit that she realizes how much of the “typical” high school experience she’s missed by being in the pool. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Maggie decides to squeeze the most out of her senior year. First up? Making out with a guy. And Levi could be the perfect candidate. After all, they already spend a lot of time together. But as Maggie slowly starts to uncover new feelings for Levi, how much is she willing to sacrifice in the water to win at love? Ok so, to start off, let’s just state that this review is way, way, wayyyy overdue. I received a review copy via Netgalley in 2017, right about the time that I took a hiatus from this blog to focus on other things. I did read it, and I did write the review for it, and recently, I re-read it and updated some things in this review to better reflect my thoughts now, 2 years later. But one thing is still the same, I loved the book, and I 100% stand by everything I say in this review. Now with that said, here is the review:
This was the perfect story of childhood friends and competitors that turn into something more. It’s no secret that I love reading about sports, and swim is such a versatile one that I feel like I don’t read a lot of, especially recently. The story of Maggie and Levi (the two main characters) are so sweet, and we really see the complexity of relationships in a high level athletic training environment. This story also really reminded me of “The Boy Next Door” by Katie van Ark, so if you’ve read and liked that book, I’m like 99% sure you will like this one, and vice versa. The story of best friends turned relationships is one that is done pretty often, but Miranda does make it very special and it doesn’t feel like, “oh my god, this is the same plot that I’ve read a million times now” so props to her, as she did a spectacular job. The characters are all so well developed and in depth, that we really get to see all of their layers. They are student athletes, and their entire lives have been about the sport, so naturally, as college approaches, their main focus is to get an offer, and swim as best as they could. This is definitely a more mature book, I feel, and Miranda stepped up her game to a whole new level and I am absolutely in love with it. Maggie feels the real pressure of senior year, and faces real problems such as bullying, and realizes things that she might be less experienced than most people. One thing that I really loved was the transition of Maggie and Levi from friends to something more. It wasn’t rushed but was so natural. I love how everything has such a happy but my heart breaks everytime the book actually ends because I know that we won’t get anything about them anymore. We get a cameo from Miranda’s first book, and I love to see how the characters have matured over time, and now have become the teachers to our main characters. I love Jordan and how she impacts her students. This really ties in the whole Hundred Oaks town and are fun easter eggs to find while reading. This reminds me, I need to binge-read the entire series over again soon. On that noe, I WANT MORE!!!! I love the Hundred Oaks so...I need more of them. Like sequels of all the books Miranda has written. I will literally buy and read all of them. And since my opinion is just so important, I’m going to put this here too: MIRANDA KENNEALLY SHOULD START ANOTHER SERIES THAT FOLLOWS EVERYONE IN COLLEGE AND BEYOND, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WE DON’T SEE ANYMORE! I give this book 10/10 (5/5 stars). I love swimming related books and this was a perfect fit. But now, I have a few questions that no one is going to be able to answer, but I’m going to ask them anyways if you want to speculate along with me. What happened to Roxy? What about Georgia and Hunter? Did they get together? Can we predict a future book about them? And of course, what happened to Maggie and Levi as they went off to college? DId they go their separate ways and continue a long distance relationship? So that’s it for this review. I apologize for it coming so, so late, but currently, I have a TBRead and TBReviewed list longer than ever, so in the next couple of months, you can expect lots and lots of reviews. Now, I want to know your thoughts. Leave them in the comments below, and tell me what books I should add to my TBRead list (because we all know this just needs to be longer right?) What books are on your list? I will have another review here, very soon! ~Brooke
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So....I'm a senior in high school and about to graduate. Right? Should be the most exciting part of my educational career but here I am, stressing. What am I stressing about? There are so many people that I need to reach out to, through a formal manner to invite to graduation parties and thank you notes to send. How in the world am I going to do all that? Here's my answer: Paperless Post . They are a company that specializes in online cards, fit for every occasion. From birthdays to company events to weddings and graduation, they have it all. One of my favorite section is their "Just because" section because it's always nice to receive a card. And why stop there? They also offer a variety of other products such as flyers too. They have a whole of lot options and I love how clean they all look. Go check them out and I'm sure you'll like what you see. Take your cards to the next level and use Paperless Post . ~Brooke
*Today's post is about a company that reached out to me and provided the materials so I can review them. All opinions are my own.*
For today's post, I thought I'd do something different. A lot of the books that I have reviews for right now can't be posted until closer to their publication date but I didn't want to not post for another few weeks. So here is a compilation of a few things I'm currently loving! *Disclaimer, none of this is sponsored. I pay for everything myself. That said, if anyone wants to sponsor me...I'm game! Books:I am a book blogger, so I have to leave a few books in here. Here are a few that I'm loving: TV Shows:Food:1. Mint Oreos 2. COFFEEEEEEE 3. Trader Joes Salt and Vinegar Chips Makeup:1. Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream Creme Fouettee 2. it Cosmetics CC Oil-Free Matte foundation 3. Urban Decay finishing spray and...that's it! I hope y'all enjoyed this switch up from my regular reviews and other book-ish posts. Leave a comment below and tell me what you've been liking recently!
~Brooke Link to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44301623-the-boyfriend-bid Pre-order Link Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo Link to Giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c08c9e8e753/? The Boyfriend Bid by Jodie Andrefski Publication Date: April 8, 2019 Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush Sarah Campbell’s never bid in her high school's charity auction to win a date with one of the school's hottest guys. And she’s certainly not going to start now––when she’s still hurting over a bad breakup. The absolute last thing she’d ever do is bid on Mr. Ego himself, Chance DuPont. Chance just wanted to help out a worthy cause, not get roped into not one but six dates with someone who seemingly can’t stand him. But when Sarah’s friends bid on him on her behalf, that’s exactly where he ends up. Now a local blog is covering the story by following them on all their dates, too? Seems like everyone loves a good love story––except the two living it. Excerpt: Ms. Karon opened the paper, leaned into the microphone and read, “And the winner of this year's Bachelors for a Cause Auction Raffle for six weeks of dates with Chance DuPont is…” I held my breath. “Sarah Campbell! Congratulations, Sarah!” Wait, what? Sarah bid on me? I jerked my head over to her table, sure I had to be hearing things. The expression on her face assured me she was just as shocked to hear her name being called as I was. And more than that, she looked downright pissed. “Sarah, why don't you come on up here for a photo?” Ms. Karon beamed. Sarah looked ready to chew nails. Her head swiveled back and forth so fast as she whispered to her two friends that I half-expected it to pop right off any second. “Sarah? Where are you?” Ms. Karon looked around the room, probably wondering why the person who'd just forked over three hundred bucks wasn't cartwheeling her way up to the stage to claim her prize. I noticed Emma gave Sarah a small push to get her out of the seat, but Sarah wasn't budging. The evil side of me took over. I walked to the edge of the stage. “There she is!” I pointed straight at her, giving her a wicked grin. She glared at me. I hopped off the edge of the stage and walked over to her. I bent down until I was a breath away from her ear and whispered, “Listen, you may not like me, and right now I don't really give a damn. But all of these people worked way too hard on this for you to ruin it for them. So you're going to get up out of that chair, stand up, walk on that stage and stand next to me. And you're going to smile the entire time you're doing it, or so help me god I'll pick you up and carry you up there myself.” I stared her in the eyes so she knew I meant it. “Got it?” She gritted her teeth. “Got it.” I backed up to give her room to stand. About the Author: Jodie Andrefski has been passionate about reading ever since she was a little girl, when she used to climb trees to escape with a favorite book. She lives and writes in a New Bern, North Carolina, and has a grown son and daughter. Andrefski often draws on her background in education and mental health counseling to bring real world experience to her writing. She loves coffee, a good Netflix binge and just about any dessert. She is a firm believer in the magic of a first kiss, and insists that you should never, ever give up on your dreams. She loves to hear from her readers! Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads |
About me!Brooke's a high schooler who loves to read all sorts of books. She's happy to be able to share all the books she's reading with all of y'all. Archives
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