Mundie Moms

Monday, February 25, 2013

Book Review: The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik



By: Claire LaZebnik
Published By: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: 2/26/13
Source: arc from publisher to review
3.5 /4 Stars: It's A Good Read
Pre-Order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Browse Inside
Add It To GoodReads

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . .

Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady.

When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected


What's not to love about a modern day retelling of a Jane Austen classic? Claire LaZebnik does a fabulous job at creating a fresh take on a story that's part dramatic, heartbreaking, part romantic, and the other part comical. The humor compliments all the misunderstandings that make up a huge part of this plot. I so do not miss those woes of teenage love. Franny's six week stint helping her Aunt at the Mansfield Summer Theater Program involves dealing with her first crush, a new love, heartbreak, love, and the harsh reality that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship.

Franny for me was a character I started out liking, then grew irritated with, and then ended up liking again. She's a sweet character, who's friendly and nice to everyone, and it was hard not to like her. With her at camp is a cast of crazy fun, very realistic/relatable  characters who all added so much to this story. Franny's heart is torn between two guys, Alex whom she's had a crush on for years, and Harry, the drop dead gorgeous new guy who has a reputation to boot. Alex is her safe haven. They're good friends, though I swear Alex has to know she likes him far more than he acts in return. Harry is the one who makes her life a bit more complex, excites her, and when they're together he treats differently than he does anyone else.

Harry was by far my favorite character out of the entire book, which surprised me, since I started out loving Alex. Unlike Harry, I felt like Alex was more of the relationship kind of guy. Harry reminded me of the type of guy you could be good friends with. He's the harmless flirt you'd always wonder if he was really being sincere when he said sweet things to you, or if he was just flirting. Which is what Franny felt. Harry stole the show with his charm, wit, and those sweet moments he has with Franny. Yes, Harry at first seems like the player type you want to warn your friends to stay away from, which Alex does, but the more Franny got to know Harry, the more I realized Harry isn't just some shallow flirt. I loved that he didn't string girls along, despite the fact he had girls throwing themselves at him. Despite his well known reputation, there's so much more to Harry than we first read about.

I liked the way Claire used realistic/relatable misunderstandings to create the plot line's unpredictable outcome. There are so many things that happen, and take place through out the story, which is excepted given this story's lively cast of lovable characters. I enjoyed the realistic crushes that mold this story's romances. I at first felt like Franny did, when I tried to decipher between the two guys, and what their true intentions are. Alex or Harry. Both guys didn't like each other, as neither felt the other was good enough for her, and I LOVED how I went from feeling one way about the other, and ended up loving the one way more than I first thought I would. I was not excepting to love Harry as much as I did.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about this story was how unpredictable and comical it is. The humor is what kept me turning the pages. There's some great moments between certain characters and one liners that made laugh out loud more than a few times. Above all, I loved that like life, these relationships with all the characters involved played out like you'd except them to in reality, complete with trying to figure out if you follow your heart or your what your mind is telling you. The Trouble With Flirting is one of those fun, chick lity (I don't think that's a real word, but it's one I use), quick afternoon read. This is a book I enjoyed, and one I'd recommend picking up.

Blog Tour: The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik

I'm thrilled to be kicking off our mini blog tour for Claire LaZebnik's The Trouble with Flirting, which releases TOMORROW! If you're a fan of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, you'll love this modern day spin to that story. Being MM's, we're huge fans of Jane Austen, this was a book I couldn't wait to read, let alone feature on MM's. Today author Claire LaZebnik stops by the blog to interview herself. 




An Interview with Myself
By Claire LaZebnik
Author of The Trouble with Flirting

So what IS the trouble with flirting?
The name of my new YA novel. Thanks for asking.

But in a more general sense . . .
Oh, in a more general sense . . . the trouble with flirting is that it can get you in all sorts of trouble! Basically there are two options: either you’re bad at it, which means you’ll embarrass yourself (you try to toss your head and end up whacking someone in the chin—stuff like that) or you’re good at it, which can lead to all sorts of dangerous situations. Fun situations, for the most part, but rife with potential pitfalls.

So we should all avoid flirting?

Absolutely not.  Where’s the fun in that?

Tell us about the novel.
Well, aren’t you nice to ask! The Trouble with Flirting is loosely based on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, but so updated and altered, I’m not sure Austen would recognize it. It takes place at a high school summer acting program. The narrator, Franny Price, is there to work and make money: her aunt is the costume designer and seamstress and has hired Franny for the summer. All the other high school kids are there to act and have fun, which makes Franny feel like she’s an outsider until she reconnects with an old friend—whose brother she happened to always have had a crush on. There are a couple of sophisticated types from Los Angeles, who everyone finds attractive, and Franny tries to both stay out of trouble and take some risks—which is a very tricky balancing act.

Any special reason you set the novel at an acting camp?
Several reasons actually:

  1. My son had just been in a couple of acting programs and I’d visited him there and thought, “this needs to be in a book.”  Cram a bunch of artistic, self-dramatizing types in a dorm together and you know emotions are going to run high.
  2. I hadn’t set a book during the summer before and I wanted to do that. For one thing, it saved me from all that “and then we went to English class” kind of writing you have to do when your novel takes place during the school year. More importantly, people’s emotions run so high during the summer—you fall in and out of love and in and out of friendship and hate and everything so quickly. It’s life lived at a super fast speed, a year crammed into a few weeks.
  3. In the original Austen novel, the main characters put on a play—or at least they try to. They cast the play and start rehearsing it, but never get to perform it. I liked referencing that theater subplot: it’s such a weird little tangent that never goes anywhere.

Okay, quickly now, tell us your favorite
Animal: For a pet, a cat. Cats are soft to pet and independent. For something just to think about, probably a sloth. I relate to sloths.
Food: I eat more peanut butter and jelly (on rice cakes, toast, French bread, you name it) than anything else so that’s quantifiably my favorite. But I really love sushi. And pasta. And potato chips. And donuts. Wait—donuts. That’s my favorite food. Chocolate Krispy Kremes.
Book: Always hard to choose. Jane Eyre, Emma, Our Mutual Friend, Claudine at School . . .
Movie: Broadcast News, Emma
Ice cream flavor: anything with chocolate and mint.
TV Show: Mad Men, Portlandia, Downton Abbey
Song: I’m listening to a lot of Fun. songs these days. I’d take almost any one of theirs.
Pastime: Watching TV and knitting.
Child: Well, obviously it’s—hey! Hold on a sec. No favorites here.

What do you want people to say about you?
She’s nice.

What do you think they actually say?
Claire who?

About the Author:

Claire LaZebnik is the author of Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting, both from HarperTeen. She has also written several novels for adults, including Knitting Under the Influence and The Smart One and the Pretty One. With Dr. Lynn Kern Koegel, she co-authored Overcoming Autism and Growing Up on the Spectrum


Visit Clare via her: Website | Twitter | Facebook

About the Book


By: Claire LaZebnik
Published By: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: 2/26/13
Pre-Order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Browse Inside
Add It To GoodReads

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . .

Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady.

When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected


THE GIVEAWAY
Thank you to Harper Teen, we have a copy of The Trouble with Flirting to giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Clockwork Prince Read Along Day #6: Chapter 5



Welcome to Day 6 of the Clockwork Prince Read Along. You can follow the entire read-a-long and find each of the day's posts here. Remember there's no right or wrong way to participate. Your comments can be as long or a short as you'd like them to be. You can answer one or each of the questions asked, it's totally up to you, BUT, in order to be entered into the CP giveaway (which you also had to sign up to win), you do need to be actively participating in the read-a-long. 

Today's discussion is about: Chapter 5

  • "Shall we go in, my betrothed?" Jem said softly in her ear. Who else sighed over this moment? I also love Will's reaction to Jem and Tessa acting like they're betrothed. 
  • I loved that Will was the one to come and wake Tessa from her nightmare. I don't know about you guys, but that moment between the two of them had me yelling at her to just kiss him. What do you guys make of Tessa's nightmare? Do you think there's some relevance to it or was just that, a nightmare?
  • Who do you think Cecily is? *if you've read CP before and know the answer, who did you think she was the first time you read about her?* It's obvious from Will's reaction to seeing the young girl she's someone who's connected to his past. 
Please DO NOT POST SPOILERS. There's some fans who are joining the read-a-long who are reading Clockwork Prince for the first time. 

Mundane Monday #176: Jace & Clary

Happy Mundane Monday! I don't really think this needs any quotes to go with it.... 


*sigh* Sony Picture's has once again treated us to another Jace and Clary moment. Though this picture was revealed during their #ShareMortalLove campaign, I love the quote they've included on the picture. Is it August yet?

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