I was one of those fortunate souls who loved high school and thought those were some of the best years of my life. My quirkiness earned me a place among the loners, the objectors, the loud mouths, hilarious, life-loving band of theatre misfits. However, it did take me awhile to find my tribe and I remember trying to fit in and failing miserably. Junior high school was tough because up until that point, I had a best friend who was always in the same class as me. Unfortunately, she moved in sixth grade. I felt like I was left behind to fend for myself in junior high. In that sense, I could relate to Hadley. Reading "Next Door to A Star" took me back to those middle and junior high school years (the lets just go from elementary to high school memories). I was unsure of societal ranking; much less what was supposed to be "cool" or not. I remember wanting to stay home with my books and enjoy the rest of my life away from people and their intentions. I had flashbacks of some of those intentions while reading. We meet the cool, popular girls who everyone had an opinion about, including which one we'd want to be, which one we'd want to be friends with and which one we're still trying to forget to this day. There is the usual cattiness, teenage backstabbing and the are-we-friends-or-aren't-we moments that most (if not all) adolescent girls go through. And oh! The boy crushes of yesteryears. Author Krysten Lindsay Hager nails it. I loved Hadley. I love her unsure "sureness" and how she proccessed her friendships, her family and the cute boy down the street. I wish I had known someone like her during those years I was "left to fend for myself." I was more like shy, studios book nerd Charlotte who kept her head down and let the world "sort itself out." And yes, as the Charlotte of the group, I would have seen that Hadley made mistakes. We've all be there and had questionable choices at some point. But she's still such a good character, a great voice and a wonderful FRIEND, overall. I will definitely keep this book in mind while Christmas shopping for my pre-teen and teenage nieces. Next door to a star took me back to some of those unfortunate, uncomfortable adolescent/teenage period but I was grateful for those moments. I walked away from those moments and every single unfortunate and uncomfortable moments, then and since, have helped shape me. Granted, I wasn't feeling it at the time....... I particularly loved the sentiment Hadley states towards the end.........which I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say, enjoy those moments. I want to impart to my nieces to enjoy these crazy incidents that we'll look back on and hopefully laugh at. But enjoy just being in the moment. "Sit back and appreciate it." SO if you want to revisit some of the best and some of the worst times of your high school experience, I suggest you read this one. Take a trip down memory lane, relive your first crush, your first kiss and get to know Hadley who lives "Next Door to a Star." Rated: 5 stars
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They like me...they like me not. NEXT DOOR TO A STAR by Krysten Lindsay Hager Genre: Young Adult Romance ★ SYNOPSIS ★ Hadley Daniels is tired of feeling invisible. After Hadley’s best friend moves away and she gets on the bad side of some girls at school, she goes to spend the summer with her grandparents in the Lake Michigan resort town of Grand Haven. Her next door neighbor is none other than teen TV star Simone Hendrickson, who is everything Hadley longs to be—pretty, popular, and famous—and she’s thrilled when Simone treats her like a friend. Being popular is a lot harder than it looks. It’s fun and flattering when Simone includes her in her circle, though Hadley is puzzled about why her new friend refuses to discuss her former Hollywood life. Caught up with Simone, Hadley finds herself ignoring her quiet, steadfast friend, Charlotte. To make things even more complicated, along comes Nick Jenkins… He’s sweet, good-looking, and Hadley can be herself around him without all the fake drama. However, the mean girls have other ideas and they fill Nick’s head with lies about Hadley, sending him running back to his ex-girlfriend and leaving Hadley heartbroken. So when her parents decide to relocate to Grand Haven, Hadley hopes things will change when school starts…only to be disappointed once again. Cliques. Back-stabbing. Love gone bad. Is this really what it’s like to live… Next Door To A Star? ★ ★ PURCHASE ★ ★ AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1QEFOwD PAPERBACK: http://amzn.to/1QEFPRp iTUNES: http://apple.co/1UTWj8L B&N: http://bit.ly/1PQf9Mc BOOKS A MILLION: http://bit.ly/1M07cGF KOBO: http://bit.ly/1gpLr4G ★ ★ BOOK TRAILER ★ ★ YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/1F1KUCa ★ ★ EXCERPT ★ ★ The school year should end right after spring break, because all anyone can focus on is summer vacation. You can’t learn anything new, because all you can think about is all the fun stuff you’re going to do once you don’t have to get up at the butt crack of dawn. Summer always seems full of possibilities. Nothing exciting ever happens during the school year, but maybe, during summer vacation, you could run into a hot celebrity and he’d decide to put you in his next music video. Okay, it wasn’t like I knew anybody that happened to, but my grandparents did live next door to a former TV star, Simone Hendrickson, and Simone was discovered in an ice cream parlor one summer. Of course, she lived in L.A. at the time and was already doing plays and commercials, so the guy who discovered her had already seen her perform. But hey, it was summer, she got discovered, and that was all that mattered. Amazing stuff didn’t happen to me. You know what happened to me last summer? I stepped on a bee and had to go to the emergency room. They’re not going to make an E! True Hollywood Story out of my life. I didn’t go on exotic vacations—like today, I was being dragged along with my parents to my cousin’s graduation party. Most people waited until at least the end of May before having a grad party, but Charisma was having hers early because she was leaving on a trip to Spain. I was dreading this party because I didn’t want to listen to everybody talk about how smart and talented Charisma was—making me feel like a blob in comparison—but my mom RSVP’d even though I said I’d rather die than go. My death threats meant nothing. But still, for some strange reason, I had a feeling this summer was going to be different. ★ ★ KRYSTEN LINDSAY HAGER ★ ★ Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. She’s originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and southwestern Ohio. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint. LIMITLESS PUBLISHING: http://www.limitlesspublishing.net/authors/krysten-lindsay-hager/ WEBSITE: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/ GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8298036.Krysten_Lindsay_Hager TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor GOOGLE +: https://plus.google.com/+KrystenLindsayHager/posts This is my stop during the book blitz for The Bro Code by Jacqueline Patricks. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 6 till 12 September, you can view the complete blitz schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.
The Bro Code by Jacqueline Patricks Genre: Contemporary Romance Age category: New Adult Release Date: September 6, 2015 Blurb: The Bro Code: 1) Bros before hos. 2) Bros don’t leave their bros behind. 3) Bros don’t give their bros the silent treatment. 4) And bros never, ever, try to steal their bro’s girlfriend. Best friends Jay and Mike live by The Bro Code. Their senior year of college is a time to party and prepare for graduation. It's not a time for relationships with serious girls like Amanda Slate. Too bad they’re both in love with her. You can find The Bro Code on Goodreads You can buy The Bro Code here: - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Kobo - Smashwords About the Author: Sign up for my newsletter--free swag, ARCs, updates, and sneak peeks! http://eepurl.com/QgpzX No spam, just updates on my new books, advanced reader copies, giveaways, and swag! Who doesn't love free stuff? Hmm? ________________________________________________________________________ As a teen, writing became my passion, and like most aspiring writers, my work was terrible, immature, cliched drivel. I enlisted in the Army, attended college for my creative writing degree,and ended up a paramedic for over 20 years. Currently, I work in safety for a major industrial/construction company. Throughout my life, I've traveled far and pushed myself hard, striving to try almost anything at least once (except skydiving unless the plane is on fire). I write like I live. Come and explore my imagination. You can find and contact Jacqueline here: - Website - Goodreads - Amazon - Newsletter |
Book Pick:I use Goodread's rating scale1 star – didn’t like it
2 stars – it was OK 3 stars – liked it 4 stars – really liked it 5 stars – it was so amazing, it's on my reread pile! Categories
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