Have you ever read a book and loved it so much, that you wanted to read the next in the series before you’ve even finished the one you just fell in love with? This has never happened to me, until I was smack dab in the middle of listening to Tempest by Julie Cross. Before I was on the last CD of the set, I couldn’t get enough of the characters, the time travelling, the twists, the turns, and of Jackson’s relationship with Holly!

Once Vortex came out, I knew I had to get it on audio (I really liked the way it was read, making Vortex THAT much more AWESOME!) While I wasn’t too amazed by the cover picture I was extremely excited about the story inside of it; who cares about the cover, when the story kicks butt?

When I finally had the first CD in hand, and was waiting for my computer to boot up so I could jam in the disc and finally start listening, I had two enormous fears. First, that this book included more information dumping (I was already having a hard time keeping up with all the different time travelling, worlds and other technicalities in order in Tempest). Second, that it would suffer from middle book syndrome. I loved Tempest, and my heart would have been shattered to millions of pieces if I was lost throughout Vortex, or if it was just a stepping stone to the next book.

Because there is so much going on and so many twist, turns, secrets and just really good freakin’ parts, I’m honestly scared to summarize the story and end up giving too much away. I would rather talk about my thoughts on the book, instead of what happened inside of the book. Especially with all the information this book contains, I don’t think my summary would make very much sense anyway.

While Vortex did still have a lot of information dumping occurring, it wasn’t as tough to keep up with it all, like it was in Tempest. I feel that Cross did a much better job, stretching and spreading it out instead of throwing it at the reader all at once.

My favourite aspect of the second instalment is the character development! I loved all of the characters in the first book, and enjoyed them more in Vortex. Jackson isn’t the same boy that the reader was introduced to in the last book. He showed his strong love for Holly, his need for his family (especially his mother and sister), and that he stepped up to the plate by becoming an agent.

The reader is exposed to a completely different side of Holly. While we do still see the girl Jackson fell in love with, we also see a badass angle of her! New characters are also introduced, for example two spies named Kendrick and Stuart, who are strong female characters (LOVE!). The only character I missed was Adam, Jackson’s best friend; he didn’t make too many appearances in Vortex.

The ending was something I didn’t expect. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor, wipe my sweaty hands on my pants, and remember to breath. Vortex leaves off with a cliff hanger that does nothing but force you to go to the store and buy the third book once it comes out!

I had so much fun reading Vortex, and it was even better than Tempest; I know that’s really hard to believe!

Reviewed by Lisa Smith

If you had the chance to spend the last half of the school year with you friend, without parental supervision, would you do it? Would you lie to do it? And if you got that past your parents, what would you spend those three months doing? In Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have), April does exactly that.

April finds out that her dad has applied and been accepted for a new job far away, and is planning on moving there with her step mother. But April doesn’t want to leave behind the only life she’s ever known, her sweet boyfriend Noah, her friends, and not even her school.

So when trying to figure out a way to be able to stay, April and her best friend Vi, come up with having her live with Vi. Knowing that Vi’s mom is off on Broadway, and that April’s dad would never let her stay with Vi without any parental supervision, the two lie to both of their parents. April explains to her dad that she’ll be staying with Vi and her mom, and Vi tells her mom that April’s dad is okay with having April live with Vi alone. To make things seem more truthful the two girls created fake emails for both of their parents and exchange them.

They gave Vi’s mom, April’s dad’s fake email. And they gave April’s dad, Vi’s mom’s fake email. (Was that confusing?)

After getting all that squared away, the two girls can finally relax and have some fun! Do things they would never even have imagined doing!

The entire book is organized by the ten crazy and adventurous things the two girls do together; including skipping school, buying a hot tub, and losing their virginity (This book doesn’t go into much detail, and isn’t  very explicit).

Everything is going good until April’s kitten is run over by a car, Vi and April throw a crazy insane birthday party, and April’s dad is due to visit early the next morning! And to make things worse (like that’s possible), April discovers she had gotten a sexual disease from Noah.

April’s life quickly changes and becomes out of control. Her boyfriend Noah is lying and cheating (and her friend even knew about it but never cared to inform her), her cat is injured, and April doesn’t know what to do. She wants nothing more than to leave, and move back in with her dad. But can’t.

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) goes from two girls just wanting to have fun, to things going sour. But the ending is happy, and things turn out well for April. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I’ll make sure to buy a hot tub next time my parents are on vacation!

I felt every emotion possible. I went from laughing to crying, to being angry, to loving one very sweet sweet guy! The characters were all lovable, and realistic. The story line was fun, but also filled with drama and romance. The ending was happy, and I was satisfied. There were no lose ends or anything left unsaid! Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) is the perfect light and fun read for the summer!

Everyone’s had tough times in their life, and bumps in the road, some bigger than others. But still, we’ve all experienced the pain and hurt from a broken heart. Everyone’s gone through difficult break ups, while some jump right back up, others take a while to get themselves back together and moving forward.

We’ve all stayed in bed and done nothing the entire day other than stuff our faces with a quart of Tom and Jerry’s and watch sad movies. But that’s where main character Max comes in. She helps girls get through that hurt, and over those first couple of rough days, as well as completely over him.

Max is a strong, confident, and independent teenage girl who runs her own small business, along with her two assistants, where she helps teenage girls get through these difficult breakups. She steps in the very first day, with something to eat and drink, along with first day advice. Then Max is there for the entire process of getting that girl over the guy, which did her wrong, until the girl finally has the chance to prove him just how wrong he was to treat her that way.

With running this small business for almost a complete year, you would never think that Max, herself has gone through such a situation herself. You wouldn’t be able to tell by her attitude that she spent the entire day in bed trying to sleep of this pain, which her customers are going through right then. But yes, she did. It’s actually what caused her to start this business of hers. Max’s mission is to get these girls through this hard time, and be there for them.

After almost an entire year of not having seen or heard from the boy who dumped Max, she can’t believe when she sees him in New York locking lips with another girl. In Over You Max learns just how strong she really is when she needs to decide what she wants for herself.  Even if she had to go through her own treatment system, with her two best friends/assistants, to finally make her decision.

I completely loved Max, and her two best friends. She is an amazing role model for any girl really going through their first break up, or a tough one. Max carries this “swagger”, and confidence that you just wish you could have. She’s down to earth, and REAL. The entire story is REAL. Things don’t just magically work out for her and her customers; like love at first sight.

Also, the guys in the story were believable. What I mean about that is that they did things, and said things that real guys I know would say. They didn’t confess their forever lasting love when they first set eyes on a girl, and they didn’t jump right back when a girl was getting over them. I really liked that the guys were more like guys that I know in person, and not guys that every girls can only dream about having.

The ending was just as satisfying as the rest of the story. Max once again proves how amazingly independent she is, and even admits her wrongs. I do have to admit the ending was a bit predictable, but I didn’t care. I liked the way things ended for Max, and her customers!

Over You was a light fun read, which is always great for the summer time, where most of my time is spend outside, in my backyard or at the beach, reading. While I recommend this book for any girl, I also recommend this book for guys! (WHAAAT? Lisa what are you talking about?) Yes, you GUYS need to read this. Over You will let you in on all our secrets and our way of thinking. So instead of always having to guess what we mean by what were saying, Over You will enlighten you on our thought process!

Return to Paradise is the second book, and takes place eight months after Leaving Paradise ends off. Caleb still hasn’t come back to paradise, keeping the promise he swore to take to his grave, and trying to build a better future himself. Caleb leaves behind everything his ever known and loved, including Maggie. But staying in Chicago isn’t as good for him as he thought it would be, and gets himself in trouble once again.

While Caleb left Paradise in hopes for a better life, Maggie begins her life all over again, with more independence and confidence. She is doing really well and even accepts an offer asking her to go on a three week trip, stopping different places to tell the story of her accident. But everything changed quickly and her three week trip turned foul, when Maggie realizes that Caleb is also going on the exact same trip. But not just to tell his story, like Maggie, but also to keep him from going to prison again.

Return to Paradise continues on with Maggie and Caleb’s story, but the secret Caleb promised to keep forever, isn’t so secret any more. The beginning explains both of their new lives; Caleb’s in Chicago, and Maggie’s in Paradise. The middle is their entire three week trip, which is where things turn sour for me.

The story was … steady. It was never boring but it was also never too crazy. While I enjoyed Return to Paradise, I liked Leaving Paradise much, much more.

Maggie and Caleb were both interesting and realistic (as realistic as any couple could be under such circumstances); I enjoyed reading about the two of them and seeing them together. But those things changed in this second book. Caleb and Maggie changed. The entire trip, the two were back and forth, and back again, about liking and wanting to be with each other. One minute they were in complete love, and the next they avoided or pushed the other away. It was confusing, irritating and frustrating!

And another issue I’ve been facing a lot lately (in books) are boys saying things to girls which no REAL boy would ever even think about saying. Caleb did exactly that at times he just blurted random things out without thinking about them first. Or one time that made me throw the book across the room, was when Caleb was blurting his feelings for Maggie, and then stopped mid sentence to tell us to just forget about it!! REALLY?!

Return to Paradise started off really well, and I was excited to see how things worked out for the two love birds. The middle wasn’t very enjoyable for me, it was too much back and forth, and confusing. But I do have to admit the ending rapidly recovered and I ended the story loving both Maggie and Caleb once again.

I love Simone Elkeles, all her books, and her writing style, so I’m sad to say that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did her others.

“So wrong for each other … AND YET SO RIGHT.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can PUSH THE LIMITS and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her HOW TO LOVE AGAIN.”

Pushing The Limits alternates point of view between the two main characters, Noah and Echo. Echo deals with the loss of her older brother during a deployment to Iraq, the scars from the accident with her mother, her father getting remarried and the pregnancy of her stepmother. Meanwhile, Noah has a lot to deal with himself; getting his life back on track after jumping from one foster home to the next, and fighting for the right to have his younger brothers’ back.

When both attend counselling sessions to get help with the many things they each have going on, Echo is assigned to become Noah’s tutor, and they start to see one another more often. Despising one another at first, and avoiding each other at all cost, they come to realize that the only person who truly understands them, and knows how it feels going through those rough times, is each other.

Finally, they come together to reach their goals (getting Noah’s brothers’ back, and finding out what really happened to Echo the night of the accident with her mother), the two attempt to get their files from the guidance office. In doing so, they develop a strong connection with each other.

Pushing The Limits is one of those books where you’re laughing one minute, completely in love the next, and before you know it, you’re sobbing into the pages, and throwing it across the room.