Love Story by Jennifer Echols
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.
Let’s plunge right in:
In the beginning chapters, Erin comes across as a somewhat unlikeable person. She’s haughty and defensive. Slightly in your face. Yet, at the same time, she’s also a hard worker and incredibly dedicated to going after what she wants. The frank exposure of her personality through the first person narrative helped me to eventually warm up to her.
One of my favorite aspects of Jennifer Echols’ stories are that they always have distinctive settings. Love Story is no different. From a NYC college to a Kentucky horse farm, the settings have as much influence as the characters themselves, carrying an energy all their own.
A distracting part of this book are the short stories inserted. In fact, the very first chapter is a story written by Erin for her creative writing class. A couple more stories from Erin and even one from Hunter, the love interest, are interspersed throughout. The short stories really show the skill of Echols as an author; Hunter’s writing is distinct, and Erin’s writing is different than the way the first person narrative throughout the story reads. However, it causes reading the book to be bumpy.
The short stories definitely served an important purpose, though. It’s always interesting to watch people misunderstand each other so completely. Erin is very impulsive, and that tendency occasionally sends her leaping out of the frying pan and into the fire, adding a sense of suspense to the reading experience. (Rhyming. Goodness.)
This isn’t my favorite of Echols’. If you haven’t read any of her books, read Going too Far first (my review). However, Love Story
Recommended for: fans of Courtney Summer
Released on: July 19, 2011
Waiting on Wednesday: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Interesting title, don’t you think?
From Amazon
Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted–to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?
~~~
I’ve read two of Sara Zarr’s books, Once Was Lost and Sweethearts. They were both absolutely amazing, and I’m planning on reading Story of a Girl sometime over the summer. I’ve been working my way backwards through Zarr’s publications so far.
Once I do that, I’ll be more than ready to dip into How to Save A Life, which comes out in October. Adoption is an issue that is close to my heart, and I’m always eager to see it come to life in fiction. I can’t wait!
How ’bout that cover? Love it.
(WoW is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.)
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
From goodreads:Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?
Is there a more romantic setting for a young adult novel? Tons of female teenagers, myself included, dream of visiting Paris, preferrably with a VIP on their side. Stephanie Perkins uses this to her advantage wonderfully, sending Anna on visits to revival theatres, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Company, an endless array of picturesque destinations. The sight-seeing is is by far my most favorite aspect of the novel; wistful sighs often escaped while I read of Anna’s escapades in the city of love.
Anna is a great protagonist, quirky and awkward at times but still managing to relatively quickly find a group of friends as she settles in at her new school. She’s a neat freak, movie buff, and fiercely loves her little brother back in Atlanta. She just comes across as incredibly human.
The only portion of the novel I occassionally had issues with occured while reading the romance surrounding Anna. Make no mistake, St. Clair is beyond cute. I mean, he buys her Neruda poetry! Can it get more swoonworthy? However, at times it felt as if St. Clair’s girlfriend at the beginning, Ellie, was a rather conveniently flat secondary character. She’s kept at a distance, but I still couldn’t help but feel guilty rooting for Anna, even as St. Clair was still attached to Ellie.
Overall, though, Anna and the French Kiss is a pretty good novel. It’s got the perfect setting, an undeniably cool main character, and a romantic lead that continuously made me smile.