The Program by Suzanne Young (Review)

In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:

The story was okay, but it definitely didn't keep my interest and so whenever I had to set it aside I didn't rush back to it. In fact I read many books during the time I started this and finished it.

It's not that the story was bad, it was interesting, but I just never understood when the Program started and why suicide was such an epidemic. Maybe the next book will cover these issues, but it would have been nice had they been in this book.

I'll probably read the next book but it's not one I'm going to go out of my way to get.

If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!

A Match Made in Texas: A Novella Collection by Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Carol Cox, and Mary Connealy (Review)

In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can't keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she's also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?

A Cowboy Unmatched 
Neill isn't sure who hired him to repair Clara's roof--he only knows Clara desperately needs his help. Can he convince this stubborn widow to let down her guard and take another chance on love?

An Unforeseen Match 
Hoping to earn an honest wage on his way to the land rush, Clayton ends up on Grace's doorstep, lured by a classified ad. He may have signed on for more than he expected though--and he may have found the one woman who can keep him from moving on.

No Match for Love 
Andrew can't fathom how refined Lucy ended up as the caretaker to his dotty aunt, and somehow her arrival has prompted even more bizarre occurrences around the ranch. When they join forces to unearth the truth, will the attraction between Andrew and Lucy develop into more?

Meeting Her Match 
When the tables are turned and a tenderhearted meddler becomes the beneficiary of a matchmaking scheme, her world is turned upside down. As her entire life changes, will she finally be able to tell the banker's son how much she cares for him?

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:

A Match Made in Texas is comprised of four novellas all having to do with matchmaking of some kind. The first three have a secret matchmaker who sets up the first three couples and the fourth one we find out the identity of the matchmaker and watch her meet her match.

A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer - 5 Stars
After reading both Short-Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher, I was waiting very impatiently to read Neill's story. I fell in love with the Archer brothers and wanted to see what lady would get paired with Neill.

The story was great from start to finish. The only thing that I could complain about was that it was short, but that's just me wanting more of this family and not anything having to do with the story itself - since for a novella it was absolutely perfect! It didn't feel rushed at all.

The romance was so sweet! There were some very heartwarming scenes, but I won't say more as I don't want to spoil it.

If you've read the previous two books featuring the Archers I'm sure this is already on your must read list. However if you haven't, even though the story could stand on its own, I would suggest reading them in order as you'll get so much more out of it if you do.

An Unforeseen Match by Regina Jennings - 5 Stars
I LOVED this story! It was so sweet and romantic, but at the same time it took on such a scary and serious issue - blindness.

I loved how Grace wasn't a wimpy, dejected woman but wanted to find ways to be as self-sufficient as she could be.

Clayton was a great character. I loved so many things about him and I don't know if I should mentioned specific things as I don't want to spoil the story should you decide to read it. I will say that once I learned his full story I was even more impressed with him.

This story almost felt like a full sized novel and that's hard to do with a novella. The pacing was great and the conclusion oh so perfect!

This story turned out to be my favorite of the four, which kind of surprised me after how much I loved the first one - I didn't think any of them would top it.

No Match For Love by Carol Cox - 4.5 Stars
The story started out great and continued to be so until the last 10 pages or so, then everything wrapped up so quickly and neatly that it was a little boring. I think the only reason this happened is because it's a novella so I'm cutting a little slack, but after the first two being completely enjoyable this one fell just a little short so that's why I gave it a half star less.

This is the first story I've read by Carol Cox and if it's any indication of her other books I've been missing out on some wonderful books, as I'm sure a full length novel won't have the same problem. I'll definitely be checking them out soon.

Meeting Her Match by Mary Connealy - 3.5 Stars
This story is by far the shortest of the four and I wish it wasn't. The story felt super rushed and a bit crazy at times.

I felt so badly for the heroine of this story. So many things have happened in her life that are just terrible.

I know the ending was supposed to be funny and cute the way it wrapped up, but I just found it first of all unbelievable and to be completely honest wrong on the parts of so many. I would have like it so much better if it happened differently.

There was also quite a bit of repetitiveness and with the story only being 75 pages I felt that took away from the story.

One thing that bugged me, and I could be miscalculating this, was when one of the characters from the previous stories is said to be expecting in December of 1893 and then a year later is said to be round with child (same baby). No specific date was given of the actual time of the ending of the story, but with the characters bringing out Christmas items it sounds like it's close to December, if it's not that month already. This was only a minor thing and didn't affect my rating.

This was also the first story I've read by Mary Connealy. I'm sure I'll be reading one of her full length novels sometime, as I do own one of them, just not sure when I'll get around to it.

On the whole I greatly enjoyed A Match Made in Texas and highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review. I was asked to give my honest opinion of the book - which I have done.

If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!

Waiting on Wednesday: Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

What if there was an app that told you what song to listen to, what coffee to order, who to date, even what to do with your life—an app that could ensure your complete and utter happiness? What if you never had to fail or make a wrong choice?

What if you never had to fall?

Fast-forward to a time when Apple and Google have been replaced by Gnosis, a monolith corporation that has developed the most life-changing technology to ever hit the market: Lux, an app that flawlessly optimizes decision making for the best personal results. Just like everyone else, sixteen-year-old Rory Vaughn knows the key to a happy, healthy life is following what Lux recommends. When she’s accepted to the elite boarding school Theden Academy, her future happiness seems all the more assured. But once on campus, something feels wrong beneath the polished surface of her prestigious dream school. Then she meets North, a handsome townie who doesn’t use Lux, and begins to fall for him and his outsider way of life. Soon, Rory is going against Lux’s recommendations, listening instead to the inner voice that everyone has been taught to ignore — a choice that leads her to uncover a truth neither she nor the world ever saw coming.

Amazon |  B&N | Goodreads

Why I want to read it:

I read and very much enjoyed this author's debut novel, Parallel, so once I saw she had another book coming out I knew I'd want to read it. 

Parallel by Lauren Miller (Review)

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten.

With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met.

As she struggles to navigate her ever-shifting existence, forced to live out the consequences of a path she didn't choose, Abby must let go of the Plan and learn to focus on the present, without losing sight of who she is, the boy who might just be her soul mate, and the destiny that's finally within reach.

I GIVE THIS BOOK:

MY THOUGHTS:
Parallel started out slow and it took me awhile to get in to the story, but once I did I just didn't want to put it down.

The story switched perspectives between 18 year old Abby and her parallel who's a year younger than her. It was a little strange at first having one really long chapter about the one and then the next chapter is also really long but about a different girl. However, once I got used to it, it became fun to see how Abby's parallel self's decisions affected the other's life.

I loved the ending, it was a huge surprise, and it made me smile so much.

I loved how the book made you realize that sometimes the smallest things, things you think don't matter, are the ones that can change your life drastically and that the things/people you are supposed to do/meet will happen some way, even if it seems very unlikely.

Parallel was a unique read, one I'm sure I'll remember for a long time, and it's one I recommend.

If you found this review helpful, will you please click yes HERE. Thanks!

Monthly Reflections: February 2014

I didn't read as much as I'd hoped to in February, but I did read 13 books which is more than last month so I'm happy with it.

Books read:

Clicking on the cover will bring you to my review of the book.

My favorite read for February:

The story was so unique and it's one I can see myself wanting to reread.

My goals for March:

• Read 22 books
• Write a review for every book I read in March as soon as I finish it. (My goal for 2014 is to write a review for every book I read and it's much easier to do that if I write my reviews right away instead of letting them pileup. Plus it will hopefully allow me to read more, since I won't constantly be thinking of the reviews I have to write.)

Weekend Wrap-Up (#1)

Hosted by Christian Bookshelf Reviews

It wasn't the best week for me, I only finished three books and the one was barely 100 pages, so I am hoping to be able to read much more this week!

What I read last week:

What I am currently reading:

What I hope to read this week:

What are you reading?