Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend by Sarra Manning

I have been an avid Sarra Manning’s supporter and reader for many many years.

I devoured Diary of a Crush (Ya Trilogy), Guitar Girl,  Let’s Get Lost, Nobody’s Girl and I was thrilled when she started writing adult romance, I absolutely adored Unsticky, I enjoyed You don’t have to say you love me so so so it really pains me to say that I really disliked Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend.

Recently I only reviewed books that I liked, I have very little time and I have been sleeping poorly for ages (yeah my one year old daughter believes that sleeping is a waste of time, but that’s another story :)) but I have to say something about  Nine Uses for an ex-boyfriend because I am afraid that some readers might pick up this one (as their first try at Sarra Manning) and think “nah, not my thing”.

I did the same in the past with a few authors (Paige Toon, Kristan Higgings, …) and I am glad that after initial disappointment I picked up other books and loved them.

Don’t give up on Sarra Manning!

From Goodreads:

Hope Delafield hasn’t always had an easy life. She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can’t wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn’t exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table.

At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He’s sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he’s pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they’re still totally in love. Totally. They’re even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie…

My problem, my big big problem with this book is that it doesn’t have that un-put-down-ability factor that I crave when I decide to buy a Sarra Manning’s book, it was actually boring due to poor characterization, weak storyline, a “who-cares” sort of romance.

Yes Jack is annoying, Hope is hopeless but I cannot  put my finger on what exactly doesn’t work, let’s say I was bored from start to finish.

Yet when Manning’s new book will be released I’ll be there to buy it, she is great, she wrote so many great books that I will pretend that I haven’t read this one, it won’t spoil my love for Sarra.

Other reviews:

Book Harbinger

Handwritten Girl

Em

This is not a book review

This is not a book review because I won’t be negative  on such a happy day, I was planning to but I guess I will try something different instead.

No I am not spanish but here in Dublin I have a few spanish friends :

their happiness is contagious! and check this video (oh my cuteness!).

I should write about Insatiable by Meg Cabot and Sunshine by Robin McKinley, two books that gave me a mild headache, two books that I found extremely boring.

Here are my short reviews:

Sunshine: too little action, too many cinnamon buns my grade 2/5

Insatiable: Much Ado About Nothing my grade 2/5

Those books  won’t change my mind about how good Robin McKinley and Meg Cabot are, on the same level my low consideration for vampires  hasn’t changed.

There must be something in their cold blood that goes against my nature.

Believe me I tried and:

* Twilight: I was bored to death (plus I dislike Robert Pattinson  so there is nothing for me in this whole twilight saga worth reading or watching);

* Dark Lover: Cringe.  I could not get into those lusty bits, not a chance;

* Insatiable:  I was about to give up  when Alaric appeared on the scene and made it tolerable;

* Sunshine: I was really optimistic in the first one hundreds pages or so…then I became confused and then I must have lost my grip on the story;

I tried and I failed but I won’t give up on vampires, not yet.

On a cheerful side I recently discovered my passion for shape changers and I will stick to them for a while. Did I mention how much I am enjoying Ilona Andrews?

A second opinion:

Sunshine Love Vampires

Insatiable by  Lit Snit

Em

The Boys next door by Jennifer Echols

Yesterday Carla on The Crooked Shelf wrote a post called “Break Up’s Book Style” : “Book’s i’m breaking up with you, and it’s not you, it’s me, I just can’t see us being good together” (her words not mine)…did you recently say those words to a book?

I did and it came as a surprise  (just the way it is when great expectations on a date crumple on the actual thing) because I said those words to The Boys next door by Jennifer Echols.

I loved Going Too Far and The Ex-Games, The Boys Next Door has 4.21 average rating on Goodreads so this time it really must be me (not you).

From Goodreads:

Cute, available, and one cabin over….
Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends — including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori’s always been one of the guys.
But while Lori and the “baby” brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can’t deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean’s been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way.
But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she’s girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girl friend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard…

Lori, Adam and Sean really didn’t work for me and I don’t think my age (I am 28) it’s to blame because I have no problem falling for a fictional 18 years old hero but this time something was missing and my general impression is “cute & boring”.

I love tomboy  girls (like Hayden in The Ex Games), I love cheeky girls (like Meg in Going too far) but Lori  isn’t really one or the other, I thought she was kind of silly and obvious in the way girls can be  (girls I don’t like).

Sean is exactly the kind of boy that I dislike on paper, Adam is far too sweet for my taste…

Different Opinions:

Review on The Crooked Shelf

Review on I want to read That

My grade: 2/5

I am looking forward to reading Forget You by Jennifer Echols ( I read so many good reviews and I usually really enjoy myself when it comes to Echols’ books).

Em

Hostile Makeover by Wendy Wax

On the light side of chick lit I heard great things about Wendy Wax and this is why I picked up “Hostile Makeover” . This and the fact that “Hostile Makeover” implies a “battle of sexes” theme, something that I never get tired of, plus Shelley Schwartz is a sales account manager which also happens to be my job.

From Amazon:

It was the first orgasm Shelley Schwartz ever faked. She swore she’d never do it, but she was late for a career-saving meeting at Schwartz and Associates and her options were limited. If she’d faked it five minutes sooner, she might have earned her father’s approval, won the account, and bested her rival and the company golden boy, Ross Morgan.  Calm, cool, and always collected, Ross is the perfect person to take over the ad agency her father founded–and the perfect opposite of Shelley, who’s distracted by her mother’s relentless matchmaking and her big sister’s marital meltdown. Is it any wonder her father has entrusted the agency to the blond, Porsche-driving Ross rather than his own flesh and blood? To add insult to injury, Ross–her new boss–has stuck Shelley with the client list from hell (Falafel Hut, anyone?). But if he thinks he’s going to chase Shelley Schwartz out of her family legacy, he’s got another thing coming. And if Shelley thinks she can resist Ross’s charms, she’s got some surprises in store as well.

I wasn’t impressed, maybe I should have chosen another book by Wendy Wax ,  I had little fun while reading this and I deeply disliked Ross, I failed to see his charming side. I should have know from the description: porsche-driving sales executive …urghhh…welcome to my personal nightmare.

Shelley is a slightly better character,  she is a Jewish American princess who wants to prove her father that she is worthy of his trust, spoiled, selfish and quite lazy, I couldn’t really sympathize.

Good premise but really poor execution, I will give Wendy Wax  another chance as I am sure she can do better.

My grade: 2/5

Em