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Jennifer Echols

The One That I Want by Janenifer Echols
Publisher: Simon Pulse (December 6th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 288 pages
Source: Author (Thank You!)
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gemma can't believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma's heartbroken.Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max's friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can't help thinking that Max likes her back--it's just too bad he's already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend's boyfriend?

Review:

That driving spirit puts her at odds with her best"friend" Addison. Addison was one of those girls who seems to only rely on friends when it benefits them, or uses friends as a way to make herself feel better while putting them down. She was not a good person, at all. She was constantly short-changing Gemma and trying to get under her skin. I loved that Gemma was able to keep control of herself and not let Addison rule her self-esteem.

Once Gemma and Addison run into some football players from another school, Addison immediately sets her sights on the one Gemma likes, Max. This puts Gemma in a difficult situation because she is paired with Max's best friend, who she obviously doesn't have anything in common with. But as Gemma and Max interact more, their feelings for each other really start to show.

Gemma and Max were really able to connect on a deep level. They understood each other and gave each other that much needed friendship. Max was a wonderful character. He was a guy with a lot of insecurities and worries of his own. I enjoyed seeing him open up to Gemma and, in turn, show her that she could be liked for who she is and not who she could be.

The One That I Want was a lovely, sweet romance with a great underlying message. I do wish Gemma would have punched Addison a few times (ha!) but this book may help people realize what friendships are unhealthy and what romances are worth fighting for.

Recommended: People who love Janenifer Echols (ME!) and people who enjoy a romantic contemporary with a focus on friendship.

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Jennifer Echols is here today to talk about her brand new book Love Story.

If you haven't read it, or any other of Janenifer's books yet, do it! They are wonderful!

Can you tell us 10 of your guilty pleasures? Oreos Fritos American Idol Cake icing Stupid, funny movies (Hot Tub Time Machine) Phineas and Ferb Krispy Kreme doughnuts Cadbury Creme eggs COPS Reno 911!
Name 10 places you'd love to visit. New York Las Vegas Key West Hawaii La Jolla, California Destin, Florida Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Miami Lake Martin, Alabama (where I grew up--swimming in the lake would be nice today!) Thailand (where my husband was born)

Love Story by Janenifer Echols Publisher: MTV Books (July 19th, 2011) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 256 pages She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines.

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter.. so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter.. except this story could come true.

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This tour is hosted by The {Teen} Book Scene. Tour details can be found here.

Love Story by Janenifer Echols
Publisher: Pocket (July 19th, 2011)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 256 pages
Source: Author (Thank You!)
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Erin Blackwell is headed to college in New York City to study creative writing and earn a living as a romance novelist. Her grandmother has other plans: she approves of the college, but she wants Erin to major in business and then come back home to Kentucky to run the family’s famous racehorse farm. There is no way Erin will agree. Studying in New York and writing her way into a career is her escape from the farm and the family tragedy that happened there. So Erin’s grandmother decides Erin really will live life as a starving artist. She takes Erin’s future job running the farm, her inheritance, even her college tuition, and gives them all to Hunter Allen.

Hunter has lived on the farm for years. He’s Erin’s age, he’s the stable boy, and he’s the romantic dream of every girl in her high school. But he was involved in the family tragedy. Erin has always given him a wide berth. And he’s a slick opportunist. She’s furious that he fooled her grandmother into giving him Erin’s birthright and sending him to Erin’s college.

At least she’s free of him in her creative writing class. So she pens a story that has haunted her lately, in which the horse farm heiress at the very first Kentucky Derby starts a forbidden affair with the lowly stable boy. Unfortunately for her, the day she’s sharing this story with her New York classmates, Hunter walks in. He’s switching to her class. And after reading about himself in Erin’s story, he writes his own sexy assignments that lure Erin into dangerous fantasies about what could have been between them, and what might be.
Review: If there is anything I've learned about Janenifer Echols, it's that she has some of the most unique book ideas ever! Janenifer also knows how to tap into the minds of teenagers. Love Story involves Erin and Hunter. Erin is a a farm girl from Kentucky and Hunter was her stable boy. Against her grandmothers wishes, she is going to New York to study English and writing instead of business so she could take over the farm. Erin's grandmother then decides to show her the difficulty of living without the money from the farm so she takes it all away. Erin is then left on her own to make money and somehow do well in college.

To make things worse for Erin, her grandmother sends Hunter to the same college to study in business and get prepped to take over the farm in Erin's place. While in her creative writing class, Erin writes a story that involves a young girl and her stable boy. The story seems to have some strong similarities to real life for her and Hunter. But Erin knows that no one in the class knows about her true-life. Then Hunter surprises her by joining the class and there is no way to stop him from reading Erin's historical romance.

Love Story jumps from current time into the stories Erin and Hunter create while in class. We have a chance to read their writings and see what underlying feelings may be there between the characters. It was a great way to explore their relationship. The downside was that the jumping back and forth created some confusion for me. Sometimes I wanted more time with the characters and not so much of their writings.

No matter how much Erin fought her feelings for Hunter, or how much she tried to avoid him, he was always right there. Erin was so determined to succeed and follow her dreams. It was refreshing to see that in a YA character. And, of course, Janenifer Echols is a pro at creating swoon-worthy male characters so Hunter was nothing short of amazing!

Although I have enjoyed Janenifer's other books a little more than this one, Love Story is so unique and captivating that you can't put it down! My fan-girlness for her continues and always will!

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