Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Title:  Catching Jordan
Author:  Miranda Kenneally
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary YA
Release Date: December 1, 2011
Source: Copy from personal library

Synopsis:



What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

Why I read this book: I had been seeing reviews for it all over the place and I'm a sucker for a heroine who breaks gender roles.

What I liked about this book:  I liked Jordan a lot.  She's a strong confident football player when she's on the field but once she's off the field she's just a girl who's dealing with teenage girl stuff.  I could easily connect with her.  I'm one of those girls who's more confident being "one of the guys" than I am being "one of the girls."  The host of secondary characters...I especially loved Sam Henry.  I also really liked all the humor and trash talk that took place between Jordan and her teammates.  The writing style I connected with too.  It just sucked me in and wouldn't let go.  I also really liked the ending, good triumphs over "evil."

What I didn't like about this book:  Ty.  For me personally, he came off as a nice guy in the beginning but once got what he wanted he turned into UBER-prick.  He drove a pretty serious wedge between Jordan and Henry too.  Henry could see and Jordan just didn't want to.  I also didn't care for the overall feel of Jordan and Ty's relationship.  Another detracting point was Jordan's dad and NFL quarterback who just doesn't understand his daughter.  Everyone has dreams but I fel that Jordan's dad spent a considerable amount of time trying to squelch Jordan's.

Overall Impression:  Overall, I'm pretty happy with this book.  I will definately be checking out Stealing Parker when it comes out.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with a strong heroine character who doesn't take any crap from anyone.

Rating: Borrow

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Title: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
Author: Melissa Jensen
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary YA
Release Date: February 16, 2012

Rating: Wait for Payday

Synopsis:

Pretty in Pink meets Anna and the French Kiss in this charming romantic comedy

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that’s just fine by her. She’s got her friends—the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She’s got her art—and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it’s hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they’re dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?

Review:

I saw this book on one of my Goodread friends list of books to be read and it sounded really interesting and a departure from what I've been reading recently.  Naturally, I yet again broke my book buying ban and downloaded this book onto my Nook.  If this book isn't on your wishlist please add it RIGHT NOW!

Ella is an "invisible" girl at her private school and has a major crush on Alex Bainbridge, the school hottie.  Ella was a pretty likable character for me.  She's suffering from some of the issues that all high school girls at one time or another suffer through (let's just face it High School sucks for a fair amount of people).  Add on top of that a gnarly burn scar and you end up with a quiet less than confident Ella.  Though I did enjoy watching Ella grow as the book progressed.

A new thing for me...This is the first book I've ever read that had an openly gay character in it.  Ella's friend Frankie is a gay teen and personally for me Frankie was my favorite character.  Frankie LOVES to play Truth or Dare with Ella and their other friend Sadie which comes into play a fair amount in this book.

Sadie, I felt that Sadie had some stereotypical elements to her but even though she was rich and skinny she wasn't part of the "popular" crowd. For the record, that is something that made me LOVE her.  She has a weird thing for sushi too but that's forgivable.  And she let's her mom walk all over her, not so forgivable but understandable.

Alex is the hottie and major crush of the book.  He's rich and has a fair amount of power and pull in the school, yet he seems so down to earth.  He just fits in with Ella's crazy life and family.

My major quirk with this book was Ella's strange fascination with Edward Willing.  He's the artist that she's writing her Honor's paper on.  Ella has this postcard on her wall of him that she talks to and these random "conversations" were a little bit of a turn off for me.  Though, as Ella learns more about Edward she also grows as a result of this new knowledge.

Overall, I was really impressed with this book.  I really liked the plot and storyline.  I really did think this book had a fair amount of "Pretty in Pink" moments.  Though I wasn't able to give this book a Break the Bank! rating it's still a very good book and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a little something different to read.  I literally read this book in 1 sitting it is that engaging.