There is No Light in Darkness

Claire Contreras 

Publisher: Createspace
Publication Date: January 18, 2013
Pages: 256
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: Purchased from ebay

A past hidden in darkness. Her present cloaked in secrets. The future holds the only truth that cannot be escaped.

After the mysterious and violent death of her parents, Blake Brennan finds comfort with an unconventional family. As the dramatic loss of her parents continues to haunt her—and hinders her from reciprocating love that others give freely—Blake embarks on a harrowing journey in search for the truth.

Living in a constant state of fear and need for control, vivid nightmares reveal details that lead to perilous situations. The past begins to collide with the present, and Blake must decide if the truth is worth losing the ones she loves.

Can love conquer all as her past comes to light? Or will Blake realize that there is no light in darkness?

Book contains: Explicit language & sexual content.

The premise of this book is strong and exciting and I really wanted to like it, but something about it just fell flat.

Unbreak My Heart

Melissa Walker

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children
Publication Date: May 22, 2012
Pages: 232
Genre: Contemporary Chicklit
Source: Purchased from J&R Outlet

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart? 

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

This book sounded really good, but it just fell a little flat. It was a nice, quick read, but it was also really average.

Being Friends With Boys

Terra Elan McVoy

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Pages: 368
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult/Chicklit
Source: Purchased from Barnes and Noble

Charlotte and Oliver have been friends forever. She knows that he, Abe, and Trip consider her to be one of the guys, and she likes it that way. She likes being the friend who keeps them all together. Likes offering a girl's perspective on their love lives. Likes being the behind-the-scenes wordsmith who writes all the lyrics for the boys' band. Char has a house full of stepsisters and a past full of backstabbing (female) ex-best friends, so for her, being friends with boys is refreshingly drama-free...until it isn't any more. 

When a new boy enters the scene and makes Char feel like, well, a total girl...and two of her other friends have a falling out that may or may not be related to one of them deciding he possibly wants to be more than friends with Char...being friends with all these boys suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.

The blurb is so completely off from what this book is about its actually kind of funny. It's what the first third of the book is about. Then there's more to it. I liked all of the stuff not mentioned though. It was a light and fluffy book with funny scenes, but there was still enough seriousness for it to be a good book. Good books always have a perfect balance of humor and sincerity and this book has it.