Mundie Moms

Thursday, October 17, 2013

The Shadowhunter Girls Calendars: October & November


Check out, Cassie posted the newest Shadowhunter Girl's Calendar months, October and November's months featuring Lucie and Jessamine. 




October and November of the girls’ Shadowhunter calendar. Lucie being spooky for October and Jessamine celebrating Guy Fawkes Day.
Cassandra Jean and I are hoping to get the calendars put together and maybe sell them for Christmas. We’ll keep you posted!

Check out the rest of the months here

The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, Book Review

By: Katie Sise
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Source: Publisher provided

Rating: 3 stars - It's a good read.

Purchase: IndieBound | amazon | Barnes and Noble

The Boyfriend App

Synopsis:  In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

I'll admit that I'm a total geek girl and if there's an app for whatever I need at the time, well, I've probably already downloaded it. So I was happy to find a story that explored the concept of apps-for-everything and placed it in a YA setting.

The Boyfriend App starts off with a believable contest -- Audrey needs college money and conveniently, there's a competition that will use all of her programming skills. I loved how Audrey discovered and then exploited a weakness in the smartphone's programming to create the Boyfriend App. But, what I loved the most about the plot is how what you think will happen really does happen -- mismatches occur and they are awesome to read. These awkward, desperate, coyly accurate moments are so well written . Then, as in real life, things don't go Audrey's way. Past relationships haunt her and they threaten her app's success.

My one critique has to do with how the tension is resolved. And without any spoilers, let me just say that perhaps it's my age and business experience that make it a less credible leap into resolution. But, the story is fun and has the right touch of geeky intrigue to keep the plot rolling along. It did make me wonder if Audrey could create a Clean Up Your Room app for Mundie Moms? I know that we could all use that one.

How To Love by Katie Cotugno, Book Review


By: Katie Cotugno
Published by: Balzer & Bray (Harper Teen)
Released on: October 1st, 2013
Source: book/arc from publisher to review
4.5 Stars: I Really Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he’s never seemed to notice that Reena even exists…until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.

After: Almost three years have passed, and there’s a new love in Reena’s life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena’s gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she’s finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn’t want anything to do with him, though she’d be lying if she said Sawyer’s being back wasn’t stirring something in her. After everything that’s happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice


If you've been following MM's for awhile now, you'll know I'm picky when it comes to contemps and that I'm not usually a huge fan of them, but this book was good. I know, I'm shocked too. With contemps I like to feel some sort of connection to what I'm reading about. There was something about Katie's writing style, the characters, and how this story was told that hooked me from the get go.  

Reena Montero is a character I totally love, and rooted for the entire time. Feisty, and bound to prove everyone wrong, she's a character who's tough as nails, and does everything she can to be the responsible person through all that life throws her way. Sure, you could argue she wasn't responsible when she became a teenage mom, but the fact that this girl was that, and stays in school and is raising her little girl proves other wise. She's a girl who will do whatever it takes for her to make ends met, and still take care of her baby girl. But that's not the only thing she has to take care of, Reena Montero's love, and the father of her baby girl has left her once, but now he's back. She has to figure out if she's going to give him another try and if it's worth getting hurt all over again, or telling him to get lost all together with. 

Seriously, I really, really wanted to not like Sawyer. He makes some stupid choices in this book, but boy does he redeem himself. I swear I could see why Reena feel in love with him, and why she wanted to give him another chance. I will say this, that second chance wasn't an easy decision, and I loved that she didn't jump right back into anything with him. She made him prove it, and that he did. In proving himself to her, she also fell in love him all over again. Let me say this, Sawyer is patient, knows he screwed up, but boy this guy will do whatever it takes to get his girl back, and be the father to his little girl. Even though I wanted Reena to tell him to kiss off at first, I admire the fact she did make time for her and Hannah to get to know Sawyer. The more time they spent together, the more their story unraveled. 

Aside from the love story, that really is sweet, and heartbreaking, are some family dynamics that well I'll just say a few family members really frustrated me. I'm so glad Reena got to tell a few people off in this book, because they really deserved it. But, again, just like with Swayer, Katie allowed me to see things from their side. While I still didn't agree with how they went about things, I liked seeing things from their side. Speaking of sides, I really like how this book was written. With the Before, we see how things were between Reena and Sawyer and their families. I liked getting those glimpses, and seeing how the characters were. In the After, I got to see how much they all changed and how characters like Reena and Sawyer really grew up. The Before and After was also a great way to show readers how these two love birds first fell in love and how they fell in love all over again. 

This book totally surprised me. It is another book that I normally wouldn't have picked up, but boy this became one of those hard to put down books. How to Love is emotionally packed, has some incredible characters that I came to care about, and love story that's a breathe of fresh air. Katie's writing is beautiful and easy to get swept up in. What an incredible, beautifully written debut. I can't wait to read more of Katie's upcoming books. 

Blog Tour: Fault Line by C. Desir



By: C. Desir
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: October 15th, 2013
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Add it to Goodreads

Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want. But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.
Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame? Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.

I'm going to be frank, this is not a book for everyone. It deals with rape, and the after math it has on the victim, her family, friends and boyfriend. Why did I read this? Because I feel that one, this isn't a topic that is addressed often enough. The topic of date rape, and what rape really is. Two, maybe someone reading this review will realize they're not alone. The author is not only a rape survivor, but she herself is also an advocate for rape victims. She doesn't sugar coat anything, and she gets right to the point. This book is direct, and though it was hard to read about some things, it needed to be. Rape is a serious topic, and it's not something that should ever be brushed off.

I put this book down quite a few times. I had a hard time reading it. Not only is this out of my comfort level, and what I enjoy reading, this book felt real to me. I felt like I was reading a page out of this character's life. Not only did my heart break for her, but it was so sad and painful to watch how Ani's rape effected her so much, it completely changed her. I  would except it too. That's not something that should be taken lightly, nor was in this book. The interesting thing about this book though, is that it's not written from the victims or the attackers point of view, but the boyfriend of the victim.

All too often I feel when rape is discussed no one ever talks about the victim's boyfriends or husbands. In this case Ben, the boyfriend is the one telling the story of how he not only wasn't there when the attack occurred, but he had to watch his girlfriend's life spiral out of control as she dwelt with her rape. It would have been great if Ben had some sort of super power that could have fixed his girlfriend and made her back to how she used to, but Ben is just Ben. He's your average teen guy, who does what he can to help fix his girlfriend. I can't fault him for taking on the world himself to try and help her. His anger to those who attacked her, and what is happening, and his sense of helplessness as he watches the changes and the choices she makes is downright heartbreaking. What's worse is his sense of not being able to do a thing, as the changes effect him and their relationship as well. No matter what Ben did or didn't do, nothing helped, and in the end it results into a heartbreaking decision. That decision is one I understood. I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't an emotional one, because it was.

As I said before, this is not a book I'd recommend to everyone. It's not light and fluffy. It's gritty, dark and realistic. I admire the author for writing this, because there are readers who are going to relate to this book, which is horrifying to think about. No one should ever have to deal with rape. Ever. It's one of those things that shouldn't ever happen or exist, but it does have. Having a book like this might help someone who feels alone in their struggles to move on.  I admire the author for not being afraid to talk about rape as being rape. Regardless of what someone wears, what others may have heard they do or don't do, rape is rape, and Fault Line is direct about that. I know how hard it was for me to read this book, and I can only image how hard it must have been for the author to write it. More importantly, I can not imagine what victims go through. The courage it takes to fight back, to try to pick up the pieces and move on with your life and go on. I feel like the after math of what happens doesn't get talked about much, and this book addresses it, and it does in this book.

A warning to readers, this book has a lot of sexual context, a rape, and language. This is a book who's subject matter is best suited for mature readers. 

Now, the things I didn't like. I had a huge issue with, and was was extremely disturbed at the student/teacher relations that took place in this book. This book could have gotten it's point across and been completely fine without those sexually relationships in this book. That's not something I can even over look and not mention. The other thing I have to say, is while my heart broke for Ani, I also had a hard time with her continued streak of doing things to self destructive. I'm not saying I blame her for that, but she needed help, and I wish she had gotten that help during this book. Like real help. Same with Ben. Ben put everything on hold for her, which wasn't helping nor was it healthy for either of them.  I'm just going to say this.... the ending of this book is horrible. That was not an ending. There was no closure. The book should have ended long before that scene. I know it shouldn't, but that bugs me the most with the book. Like really bugs me. I don't know, maybe there's a different ending in the published book compared to the arc I read, but since I read the arc for review purposes, that's the end ending I have to go off of. Aside from the subject matter, there were a few minor things within the story and it's development that needed to be a bit stronger for me.



I'm a YA author who loves dark contemporary books. My debut novel FAULT LINE comes out from SimonPulse October 1, 2013. My second novel BLEED LIKE ME will be released from SimonPulse in Fall 2014. I am also a feminist, rape victim activist, and romance novel editor. I live outside of Chicago with my awesome husband and our three small children.


Find C. Desir via: her Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads


Find out more about the Fault Line blog tour here.

Labels