Yes, Very Awesom

The lovely Jennifer Laurens is holding another contest on her blog (she does this pretty much constantly!) Jennifer is the author of Heavenly and the sequel Penitence (among numerous other great books). Check out the trailers below and leave me a comment telling me what you think!

Heavenly

Penitence

Nailed by Jennifer Laurens

Nailed by Jennifer Laurens

Release Date: November 10, 2008

Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 240

Overall:

Mandy is a girl that knows what she wants. Unlike most 18 year olds, she also knows who she is and what she wants to do with her life. I knew very few people in high school that knew either one of those things, and I admired the ones that did…I also quite admired Mandy for the same reason.

Ever since she was a little girl Mandy has wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and work in construction. She wants to learn the trade and become not only a professional, but she wants to either take over her father’s business or start one of her own. In order to put that plan into motion, Mandy doesn’t follow her friends on after graduation trips; she stays behind to start her apprenticeship.

The first crew Mandy is assigned too belongs to her brother, Marc, and he is less than happy about it to say the least. Marc isn’t cutting Mandy any slack, he does everything to make sure she pulls her weight, even if it’s just clean up and grunt work. But soon, the older, flirtatious A.J. has Mandy’s attention, as well as the mysterious, brooding Boston (a nickname she affectionately gave him on the first day because of his hat).

With the help of her best friend Cam, Mandy finds herself trying to decipher what is really going on in this push-pull, triangle A.J and Boston have her in. Framing a house is easy for Mandy, the hard work and physical labor is easy, it’s this new mine field of testosterone and desire that’s hard for her.

This is the second novel by Jennifer Laurens I have read, and this is the second one I have loved. Nailed is fun, different, and at times, almost lyrical. Mandy is a heroine of sorts to be admired; she’s cute, fun, straightforward and she’s very wise beyond her years. Cam is adorable and uses those trashy romance novels as insight into the dream relationship. He’s actually quite insightful and he’s one of the best, best friends I’ve seen in a novel lately, to the point that he reminded me of my best friend.

A.J. is older, gorgeous, and a total gentleman. He’s constantly flirting with Mandy, but never pushy, he’s actually very sweet. Boston is a mystery at first, but when Mandy starts to find out more about him and find that they have more in common than she thought, even he can’t help but to warm up to her. He’s one of those guys that are totally sexy, but he’s got the hard exterior, but the sensitive, caring heart that almost any girl desires.

I love Jennifer’s writing style, its fluid and it flows. It’s experienced and has a beautiful touch woven into the words. The characters are so well developed, even the ones that aren’t seen all that much, like Cam. The intense moments are well balanced with comical ones. I really only had one issue with the book and it was minor and mainly my own quirkiness. In the first few chapters, Mandy and Cam frequented Barnes and Noble, but then it randomly changed to Borders, even though the descriptions and the café was the same. I think it was more of an oversight on an editor’s part, but still it irked my nerves for a bit.

Nailed was a fantastic, adorable story and I anyone that’s looking for a cute romantic novel to take up a few hours, then they should totally pick it up. I really recommend it and look forward to reading more from Mrs. Laurens in the future.

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I received this book as part of Around the World Tours.

Falling for Romeo by Jennifer Laurens

Falling for Romeo by Jennifer Laurens

Release Date: October 1, 2007

Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 208

Overall:

We all know the basic story of Romeo and Juliet. Boy meets Girl, Boy and Girl fall in love, Boy and Girl’s families are mortal enemies, so the star-crossed lovers take their lives to be together. It’s one of the most tragically romantic stories in literary history.

John Michaels is the hottest guy in school, he’s treated like a god, and in the eyes of his peers he can do nothing wrong (think John Tucker in John Tucker Must Die), so it’s no surprise when he lands the coveted role of Romeo in the school play. He seems to do for this school production of Shakespeare’s classic, what Leonardo DiCaprio did for the 1996 movie version.

Jennifer Vienvu is focused, beautiful, and within her school, she is an established actress and a shoe in for Juliet. Jenn is your All-American girl, she’s lovable and kind, she gets good grades, and she’s involved. There’s only one flaw in Jenn’s professional performance is that her Juliet has to kiss John’s Romeo. What everyone doesn’t know is that the kiss they share on stage will be Jenn’s first kiss. John is the guy every girl in school wants to kiss, the guy that lives next door to her, and the guy that used to be her best friend.

Living next to each other since they were kids, John and Jenn grew up being the best of friends; they even did one of those blood ritual things to signify their friendship. As they got older and John turned into the popular guy he is now, they lost each other, they grew apart. Now they are thrown back together and there’s an undeniable chemistry between them that causes them to wonder which kisses are part of the act and which kisses are real.

When our story plants us right in the middle of rehearsal, and right in the middle of the love-hate relationship our characters have with one another. Being thrown into the middle of the story kind of jarred me at first because most of the time you read through all this back story and it takes multiple chapters before you get into the plot. After the initial shock of just being thrown in, I really enjoyed being able to get right into the plot. Sometimes you get bogged down in all the details and back story that you forget what the main plot of the story even is, and that didn’t happen here.

I absolutely loved the characters. They’re fun and vivid, you get to know more than just the main characters. The director Chip is totally amusing, even when he’s being hard on them, he’s still funny. There are also a few side characters (Fletcher, Jessica, and Freddy in particular) that only appear every so often, but they offer a few gems of their own and leave an impression. Of course all characters can’t be lovable and endearing, I honestly detested Lacey and Alex, and they annoyed me to no end.

Falling for Romeo also has another aspect that I was surprised about at first, but very much loved, it switched between Jenn and John’s point of view. A lot of times I’m wary of stories that switch POV, but I absolutely love it in this case. Jennifer Laurens does a fabulous job at bringing you into the lives of both Jenn and John through both perspectives. I loved the insight into not only how they view one another, but also how they view themselves. The tension between Jenn and John in social settings and in the moments they have alone is enough to draw you to them.

I really enjoyed Falling for Romeo, it had a unique style and that’s totally refreshing. The characters were great and well developed, and there’s enough Romeo and Juliet quotes to make anyone who’s ever read the play (or seen the movie) to make them smile. Unless they’re me, and then you quote right along with the book…only you do it out loud and get funny looks from those around you.

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I received this book as part of Around the World Tours.