Love Rehab by Jo Piazza

Title: Love Rehab
Author: Jo Piazza
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Length: 230 pages

Sophie's boyfriend has dumped her for Floozy McSecretary (or at least that's how Sophie refers to her). She descends into a pathetic state of begging him to take her back and wallowing in her misery. When he accompanies her friend to an AA meeting, Sophie realises that women like her need the 12 steps, too. So she starts Love Rehab, for women who are addicted to love.

Love Rehab takes off, and all kinds of women start coming to the meetings, many of them moving into Sophie's large house. The many characters really make this story fun, because they all have such different stories, and have all done incredibly stupid things in their desperate attempts to keep their guys.

This book is also really funny, but some of the snark didn't quite do it for me. For example, when they were making fun of chick flicks, specifically When Harry Met Sally (which I must admit I LOVE), and they say that the nice, caring best friend guy is never "the one" because he's really gay. Which in one paragraph manages to stereotype gay men, deny straight men the right to be nice and caring, and suggest that women should just accept that they won't find a nice guy. So, bits like that took away from the book a bit for me. But overall I liked it.

4 stars.

Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Challenge Completed: 2013 Finishing the Series Challenge

I've finished a second 2013 challenge! I signed up for level 3 (finish 3 series) in the Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. The series I finished this year are the Mockingjay series, the Twilight series, and the Mayfair Chronicles.

Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway

Title: Ten Girls to Watch
Author: Charity Shumway
Publication Date: July 31, 2012
Length: 353 pages

Dawn West is a recent graduate, trying to make her way in the world as a writer. So far, that consists of writing a lawn care advice column online, while she sits in her tiny, terrible New York apartment. When she gets a job tracking down past winners of Charm Magazine's Ten Girls to Watch contest and writing about their stories, she thinks this just might be her lucky break.

Right from the beginning, this book had me laughing out loud. There were moments when I could identify so much with Dawn, since I can totally relate to the position of being a university graduate with no career really coming of it. And she's just so witty! In these early pages I could hardly put the book down.

Once Dawn starts interviewing the TGTW winners, the story changes pace a bit, but is still really enjoyable. She meets all kinds of interesting women, who've done fascinating things with their lives. Sometimes she can't help but compare herself to them. As a result, this story is partly about Dawn coming to terms with her life and gaining some self-confidence.

I love that this book doesn't become about romance. Dawn has a crappy ex-boyfriend, and a promising new guy, and they both feature pretty prominently, but ultimately this book is about Dawn and her finding her path in life.

5 stars.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Lichgates by S.M. Boyce

Title: Lichgates (The Grimoire Saga #1)
Author: S.M. Boyce
Publication Date: 2011
Length: 336 pages

During a sudden storm, Kara passes through a Lichgate and becomes trapped in an underground library. There, she opens the Grimoire and becomes its master, giving her great power. Now trapped in the world of Ourea, she gets caught up in an old conflict that is intensified by her arrival. The one person she may (or may not) be able to trust is Braedan, who has a dark secret and past that he's constantly running from.

This is just good fantasy. Ourea, the hidden world that exists alongside ours, is beautifully created. There are multiple peoples, with their own cultures, that coexist with a delicate peace (and in some cases not even that). The types of magic in this story are unique, like the concept of Bloods, the leaders of each race, who can control their people with their minds.

The romance in this book is the best kind: the kind where I'm all

but instead they act like real life people and don't fall right into love without even knowing each other. But this is just the first book in the series, so there's lots of time for romance to develop!

This book has a lot going for it: intense plot, original fantasy elements, great characters.

4 stars.

Full disclosure: Free ebook copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.

Brianna the Ballet Fairy by Julia Dweck

Title: Brianna the Ballet Fairy
Author: Julia Dweck
Illustrator: Kimberly Soderberg
Publication Date: December 2012
Length: 25 pages

Brianna is the smallest fairy, and she wishes that she could dance with the older fairies. A trickster pixie hears her wish and plays various tricks on Brianna by giving her things that will make her dance, but always have negative side effects. Luckily, a dragonfly comes along and tells her to true source of dancing ability.

This story is so sweet! Any kid who likes fairies and/or dancing is sure to love it. It has a positive, feel-good message.

As always, Julia Dweck's writing is delightful. Her rhymes are always perfect, and she uses such clever wording to make the lines rhyme while still seeming natural, and always having a great flow that makes her books perfect for reading aloud.

Kimberly Soderberg's illustrations are also lovely. Lots of bright colours, and plenty of sparkles!

5 stars.

The Testing Guide by Joelle Charbonneau

Title: The Testing Guide
Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Publication Date: April 2013
Length: 10 pages (of actual prequel)

In this prequel to The Testing, Cia's older brother Zeen is hoping to be chosen for the Testing. And... that's about it, really. This is really more of a bonus chapter from another point of view than an actual prequel. While it's technically 57 pages long, that includes a Q&A and the beginning of The Testing. The prequel itself is only 10 pages long.

Having read The Testing, I enjoyed this closer look at Zeen. But I would only recommend it if you have read The Testing. I don't think it's the best introduction to the series. (And the only reason I think it's maybe meant to be is that it includes an excerpt from the first book.)

4 stars.

September 2013 Wrap-Up

Here's a summary of my book-related activity for September.

In other news, I got married!!

Books I read (linked to the reviews)

Glitches (Lunar Chronicles #0.5) by Marissa Meyer (free ebook)
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (new book)
On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson #2) by Louise Rennison (reread)
The Queen's Army (Lunar Chronicles #1.5) by Marissa Meyer (free ebook)
This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (TBR pile)
Taltos (Lives of the Mayfair Witches #3) by Anne Rice (TBR pile) (in progress)
Map Worlds: A History of Women in Cartography by Will C. Van Den Hoonaard (NetGalley) (in progress)

Books I bought

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

Other ebooks I received for review

The Fire by John A. Heldt

Books I got as presents!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Progress on challenges

I completed the following letters for the A-Z Book Challenge: Q

I read 2 books for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

I read 1 book for the Anne Rice Challenge. You can still sign up!

I read 0 books for the Debut Author Challenge.

I completed the following squares for the Book Bingo Challenge: read 3 books that are part of a series, read 1 book everyone but me has read, reread 2 books

I read 0 books for the Nerdy Non-Fiction Challenge.

I read 2 books for the Dystopia Challenge.

I read 5 books written by women.

I read 4 books for the Seriously Series Challenge.

Progress on my TBR pile: I added 3 books to my to read list and removed 4, so my pile decreased by 1 this month!