Review: Dating The It Guy by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Emme is a sophomore in high school who starts dating, Brendon Agretti, the popular senior who happens to be a senator's son and well-known for his good looks. Emme feels out of her comfort zone in Brendon's world and it doesn't help that his picture perfect ex, Lauren seems determined to get back into his life along with every other girl who wants to be the future Mrs. Agretti. Emme is already conflicted due to the fact her last boyfriend cheated on her and her whole world is off kilter with her family issues. Life suddenly seems easier keeping Brendon away and relying on her crystals and horoscopes to guide her. Emme soon starts to realize she needs to focus less on the stars and more on her senses. Can Emme get over her insecurities and make her relationship work? Life sure is complicated when you're dating the it guy.

My Thoughts:

I'll be honest.  This book was hard for me to get through.  Emme's immaturity was her biggest downfall as a character.  She was immature even for her age.  After reading the whole story is was obvious why Emme remained so self-centered and made little progress in her character growth.  She was completely surrounded by self-centered adults.  Her parents missed signs and opportunities to help their daughter through some really tough situations.  Then Emme was surrounded by self-absorbed peers too.  Her friend Margaux was unlikeable most of the time as she proved time after time to be a terrible friend while giving bad advise and never really offering Emme any real help.  The only two people I felt had Emme's best intentions in mind were Kylie and Darren.  And Darren gets fazed out without any closure to his part of the story.  It's not that I didn't like the story.  It's that it had such huge potential to show growth and development with its characters along with touching on some big issues that affect teens today and it fell short.  I kept rooting for things to go deeper and for Emme to get some kind of epiphany to get her to rely on herself more.  All the back and forth drama and emotional roller coaster between Brendon and Emme was exhausting.  At one point I was struggling on why they should even be together.  In the end there is some slight evolvement for both of their characters but honestly it was too little, too late.  All this may come down to the fact that I just couldn't connect with Emme.  That doesn't mean reader's between 13 & 15 won't have a different experience.  

Recommended for readers 13 & up.  Mild emotional situations.

Review: Shiftless by Aimee Easterling

PMS is no fun for werewolves.

Forget the full moon, female werewolves shift uncontrollably at that time of the month. But after years of practice, teenaged Terra learns to squash her wolf, which allows her to flee the repressive village where she grew up.

A decade later, Terra realizes she has an even worse problem. After hiding from her wolf for so long, she is now shiftless, unable to change back into canine form.

When her father shows up with an ultimatum, Terra knows she'll have to learn to shift or return to her place in her family's pack. Will Wolfie, a nearby alpha who's more wolf than man, be a stumbling block in Terra's quest to maintain her freedom?

As Terra struggles to escape two werewolf packs that seem poised to suck her back in, the real question becomes --- does she really want to stay away?

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book.  It's been a while since I've read a werewolf series so I'm glad I found this one.  Terra has been on the run from her overbearing, sadistic father for more than a decade.  Even though she struggles with not being part of a pack, her freedom is worth the heartache.  Now she's being pulled back in to craziness of the pack.  Terra has to make a choice...her freedom or her sacrifice her only nephew to become her father's next pawn.  I love how Terra isn't perfect.  She has some serious issues and she actually has to learn to overcome them in order to forge on to her true path.  Wolf Young is the perfect hero who doesn't impose himself and immediately take over Terra's life.   The only thing I really didn't like about him was his nickname.  "Wolfie".  I just couldn't make it fit the image in my head so I just read his name as Wolf.  The story is a great kick-off to what I think will be a good series.  I'll be reading the next books in the very near future.  
Recommended for 16 & up.  Mild to moderate sexual and adult situations.