Tag: Sarina Bowen (Page 3 of 3)

September Round Up

October 1, 2014 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen – A I developed a little crush on Andy Buschnagel while reading Blonde Date. He’s so adorkable and kind and sweetly charming. I was a little worried Katie would tear him up because he strikes me as someone who’d be so devoted that he could be taken advantage of. But perhaps I’m doing Andy a disservice there. Fortunately, in the course of their blind date (the story is almost all set in the course of one night), Katie comes to appreciate just what she has in Andy and my feeling is that she’s not planning to treat him badly. Katie is “blonde Katie” from The Year We Hid Away. Her character isn’t terribly developed in that book, but by the end, there is a hint of there being more to her. I liked that this novella didn’t try and recreate her character, but rather, it expanded the reader’s knowledge, and in that expansion was the nuance and the depth we didn’t see in the earlier book.

I loved that Katie unashamedly loves sex and I liked the way slut shaming was handled in the book. It felt very authentic to me – because we all think things from time to time which are unflattering, let’s face it. What made the difference was that Katie realised and called it.

Peeking through the boughs of the Christmas tree, I snuck a closer look. When the girl shifted her face from one side of him to the other, I recognized her. Debbie Dunn. She wore an unhealthy amount of eye makeup. And was staring up into Dash’s face, and practically rubbing her boobs on his oxford shirt.

My first thought was: Ew. My second was: Have I ever done that? And did it cause someone else to say ‘ew’? My third thought was: Do I care? Am I actually slut-shaming Debbie Dunn because she’s wearing gloppy mascara?

I also loved that Andy came up with creative ways to defend “his girl” without being all he-man and included ways for her to take back some of her own power. It fit his personality so well but also demonstrated that he will stand up for those he cares for.

The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen

September 29, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: The author kindly provided a review copy.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexual preference from everyone. Including himself.

So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.

Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.

Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I can’t even tell you how happy it makes me that this romance featuring a gay couple is part of this series. Sure there are people who, for whatever reason, will not want to read a romance featuring two guys, but I love that it’s just seamlessly integrated into the Ivy Years. I’d love for queer romance of all stripes to be a tag rather than a separate subgenre. Books like these make me think we might get there one day.

The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen

September 17, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: After I read The Year We Fell Down I had such a good book hangover, I bought this and the sequel/spin-off novella as well, and proceeded to glom.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) She’s hiding something big. He’s hiding someone small.

Scarlet Crowley’s life was torn apart the day father was arrested for unspeakable crimes. Now the shock has worn off, but not the horror.

It’s a safe bet that Scarlet is the only first year at Harkness College who had to sneak past TV news trucks parked on her front lawn just to leave town. But college will be Scarlet’s fresh start. Clutching a shiny new student ID — with a newly minted name on it — she leaves it all behind. Even if it means lying to the boy she’s falling for.

Bridger McCaulley is a varsity hockey star known for being a player both on and off the ice. But a sobering family crisis takes that all away. Protecting his sister means a precarious living arrangement and constant deception. The only bright spot in his week is the few stolen hours he spends with Scarlet.

The two form a tentative relationship based on the understanding that some things must always be held back. But when grim developments threaten them both, going it alone just won’t work anymore. And if they can’t learn to trust one another now, the families who let them down will take everything they’ve struggled to keep.

*Warning: Mild spoilers for The Year We Fell Down*

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I didn’t think it would happen that I would like the second book better than the first, but it did. Anecdotally, those who enjoyed the first book definitely enjoyed the second as well, although it seems like a 50/50 split as to which was the favourite. The point may be moot anyway, because there’s not a huge difference between “really good” and “really really good”. Both gave me the happy book sigh and both had me glued to the pages. Continue reading

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

September 6, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This was recommended by Jane from Dear Author so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.

What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.

Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Okay, this one grabbed me from the start and made me stay up too late last night finishing. I’d say it’s a fairly low conflict story even though each main protagonist has plenty of “shit to shovel”. Corey and Hartley become friends quickly and that friendship builds and grows over time. Corey basically falls in love with him but they are just friends because Hartley is taken. His extremely high maintenance girlfriend is studying abroad for a few months. So there is chemistry and some light flirtation which neither acknowledges as flirtation because he’s taken, and a very slow build to the romance.