If Only... (20)

If only Ice Princess were a book.

Have seen or heard of the movie yet? Here's a taste:

Brainy Casey Carlyle has never quite fit in. Caught between her fantasy of becoming a championship figure skater and her strong-willed mother, who has her on the fast track to Harvard, she can only hope to be like Nikki, Tiffany and Gen--three elite skating prodigies who are ruthlessly competing on the US National circuit (and have attitudes to match). But when Casey gets the chance to train with Gen and her coach, a disgraced former skating champion who also happens to be Gen's mother, she must dash her own mother's hopes in order to pursue her dream. Now, with only the support of Gen's teenage brother, a hunky Zamboni driver, Casey takes on the challenge of her life when she finds herself competing against the best to make it into the championship circuit and become a real "ice princess."

Review: Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

There are two sides to every breakup.
This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation.
Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet.
It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care.
But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot.
Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

Special Someone Saturday: Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy

Commence part 2 of the major fangirling for Gaurdians of the Galaxy:

So last week I fangirled all over Chris Pratt and his manliness. This week I'm fawning over all that is GROOT! 

There isn't much to say about Groot besides "I am Groot." 

Groot is just this badass tree thing who can't really say anything besides "I am Groot," yet even those three words can mean so much. 

If Only... (19)

If only Shatter Me were a movie.

Haven't read or heard of the book yet? Here's a taste:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can’t.

She used to think her problems were all in her head.
They aren’t.

She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

I know what you're thinking--it's about time, right? Ish reviewed this over a year ago now, yet here I am, seriously lagging it to the point that I had to reread book one, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, before cracking this open. Let me tell you, I'm mentally kicking myself for not having done so a long time ago.

Special Someone Saturday: Chris Pratt as Peter Quill

Last week I finally got the chance to go watch all that is fantastic, known as Guardians of the Galaxy, and for those of you who haven't seen the movie, you should definitely check out the trailer:

Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Embrace the Forbidden
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

If Only... (18)

If only The Other End of the Line were a book.

Haven't seen or heard of the movie yet? Here's a taste:

Struggling to convince his new hotelier client, Kit Hawksin, Granger Woodruff is told by one Jennifer David that his identity has been compromised, and his credit card is being misused. While tracing transactions, both become friendly and agree to meet in San Francisco at the Hawksin Hotel. She does not show up, and Woodruff befriends an East Indian woman, Priya Sethi, who has come to attend a relative's marriage. Woodruff will get a rude awakening when he finds out that Priya is actually Jennifer - who is the fiancé of wealthy Mumbai-based Vikram Bhatia - and has traveled there without informing her family. He will also incur her dad's wrath, who has been compelled to travel there along with his wife to first locate and then escort Priya back home to get her married to Vikram.

Anyone who knows me well is aware of how much I absolutely adore this movie. Being Indian by ethnicity, I may be a little biased, but generally it's just a feel-good type of film, and I think it would translate quite well on paper.

Review: Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?