Tehreem: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. 

 I don't really know what compelled me to pick up this book. I mean, I do like contemporary, but the title itself should have turned me off. The title speaks of the one thing I loathe in books and movies with a burning passion.

Insta-love.

Just thinking about it makes me shudder with horror and disgust.

However, this book pulled it off in a unique way. Hadley doesn't just see Oliver and fall in love right away. She only notices that he is a very handsome man. Hadley only begins to truly like him when they speak. When I say speak, I don't mean something along the lines of the following conversation:

Boy: Hello.
Girl: *Internal thoughts* OMG! I LUV HIM ALREADY!! HE LUVS ME 2! WE CAN BE 2GETHER 4EVER!!!

No. That's not how it works, people. Sorry to disappoint you.

Instead, Hadley and Oliver talk about things that you would on a date with someone you don't really know. Things like hobbies, life, school, past relationships... you get the drift. It wasn't some kind of stupid attraction the had no focal point; there was actually something there.

Not only that, they don't necessarily fall in love right away. In fact, they don't really fall in love at all. Well, not in the written part of the book, anyway. We tend to use our imaginations, don't we? Err... BACK TO THE POINT!! They really only discover that they honestly like each other and they want things to work out. The whole "love at first sight" thing is just Oliver trying to be romantic. (And succeeding, might I add.)

Anyway, this book really was worth reading. I wouldn't say it's a "must". I'd say it's more of a "if you have the time, then by all means do so." Really, this book is very coercive in its own way.

.....

You know what? I am going to be perfectly serious with you guys. The reason I picked up this book was probably because deep down, I knew the guy was going to be amazing. And I was right; Oliver is beyond amazing. Oliver is sweet, charming, sarcastic, humorous, and comforting all at once. Now, he is a far cry from the standard of "perfect" given by society, but in his own way, he really is the perfect guy.

Oh, and he's British. All British people are perfect.

My rating:

Three out of Five Stars!

 

Meredith: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

 

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother-to-be and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits . . . right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore.

Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

 

 

I was suprisingly entertained by the book, considering how disenchanted I first was with both the cover and the title. I mean, come on. A pink backpack? I know that it was important, but it does not need to be on the cover.

 

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris follows social outcast Cat Crawford, the daughter of a movie star and a director. Ten years after her mother's desertion, her father is remarrying to a bright, bubbly blonde woman named Jenna. Her father's fiancee wants to throw Cat a huge ball of a Sweet Sixteen, but Cat will hear nothing of it. That is... until her father offers to take her to Italy, a dream of hers for years.

 

However, after stumbling into a suspicious gypsy tent by the side of the road, she gets more Italian history lessons than she bargained for. She is thrust into the sixteenth century, right into the life of Patience, a girl traveling to her cousins' home after losing both her parents to sickness.

 

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century had beautiful world building in it. The descriptions of Renaissance Italy left me in awe. Rachel Harris has been bestowed with the beautiful gift of description.

 

The same cannot be said of the characters. While her cousin Alessandra was without a doubt my favorite character, the rest left something to be desired. Lorenzo, the love interest, is perfect. So perfect, in fact, to the point of being a Gary-Sue. He has gorgeous brown eyes and golden locks; his personality is gentlemanly and he is sweet, funny, kind, and sarcastic. Her aunt and uncle both have the same emotions throughout the entire book. Cat was, of course, astoundingly beautiful. Do ugly people never find love?

 

And of course, there's Niccolo: a forty-year-old looker who is kind and polite and ready to find a wife. Naturally, being from the twenty-first century, Cat is disgusted by all the girls her age vying for his attention.

 

The only point that really bothered me about this book was the fact that everyone just seemed too perfect. Cat is beautiful and immediately falls for sexy Lorenzo before even getting to know him. Hormones, much?

 

My rating:

three and a half out of five stars

Tehreem: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

 

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
 
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

After reading so many reviews for this book, I can quite honestly say I was prepared for the worst. I think the reason it earned a three star rating was because my expectations were so low. If I had been expecting a five star read that blew my mind, I would have burned this book.

The book follows a teenage boy in the town of Gatlin. And yes, you guessed it, he falls in love with the witch - oh sorry, Caster.

In the process of falling in love, he realizes how terrible his friends are. So, he (finally) stands up to his friends when they try to torment his future girlfriend. He would sacrifice everything to be with the hot new girl he almost killed.

Twice.

I'm not even kidding.

Not only is the romance cliche, it's also love at first sight. Well, love before first sight. The book explains it all.

Did I mention that the male lead, Ethan, believes that the female lead, Lena, is his life now? Anything concerning her automatically concerns him. Even family stuff. When she wants space, he bothers the heck out of her.

That boy is crazy.

In case you couldn't tell, I don't really care for the characters. I felt like tearing my hair out - they were just so irksome!

Now, the main plot was pretty good, pretty cheesy. Basically, Lena is not able to choose whether or not she becomes a Dark Caster. Literally, the choice is beyond her. When her 16th birthday comes to pass, she will either become light or dark.

Did I say that the fate of the town basically relies on her remaining light?

Oh, and there is something evil lurking in the shadows - watching, and waiting...

ANYWAYS, the book was over all a decent read. I will say, it wasn't all that good, but it was quite enjoyable. Although, I do have one other complaint. Two things in the end made me feel led on.

Read and see for yourself.

My rating:

Two and a Half out of Five Stars!!

However, since there is no photo of 2.5 stars, I will just post a photo of three stars. :]