Wesley James Ruined My Life

Wesley James Ruined My Life

by Jennifer Honeybourn

It's summer and Quinn has nearly reached her goal to fund her band trip to England. She's always wanted to go there and, with her English grandmother now in a hospice so that she can get care as she suffers from Alzheimer's, Quinn feels the need to go more than ever.

But Quinn's simple summer of band practice and working at Tudor Tymes becomes complicated when the boy she blames for ruining her parents' marriage returns to town after five years away. Not only is Wesley James back, but she can't seem to get away from him. He's everywhere.

Things go from bad to worse when her gambling father borrows her money to pay back a bookie and ends up making another bad bet instead. Now Wesley James is in band, making tons of money in tips at Tudor Tymes (while Quinn does all the work), and he's going to England, while Quinn stays home.

Basically, the guy who ruined her life is taking her life and leaving her behind to suffer.

But Quinn won't let him get away with it...

Final thoughts: Yet another cotton candy rom-com book. It's cute enough, but the ending feels rushed, like the author reached her word minimum at some point and just jammed in the last chapter or two with little regard to detail. This is an early ARC, so things might change, but that ending just felt a little off from the rest. On a separate note, that cover is really wrong. The food truck shows up only in the second half and it's a Tudor Tymes truck, so it's decorated to be medieval and Quinn even complains about having to wear her velvet costume inside, which means the 60's trailer vibe and current clothes aren't right. It's nit-picky on my part, but it bugs me all the same.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

Geekerella

 Geekerella

by Ashley Poston

Elle lives for her favorite show, Starfield. Whenever she misses her parents, especially her father, she goes back to the Prospero and her crew for solace. And she really needs that solace. Her stepmonster is always making her do every chore in the house and her stepmonster's oldest daughter does everything she can to make Elle's life miserable outside the home. Word that Starfield is going from the small screen to the big screen has Elle ecstatic until she finds out who gets cast as the Commander.

Darien Freeman relies on Starfield to get him through the tough times filming the show that shot him to teen stardom. When's he's cast as the Commander of the Prospero, he knows that he has big shoes to fill, but he also knows that he's probably the best person to cast, simply because he knows the show so well. Unfortunately, there's a blogger out there who seems to be out to get him and hate everything he does. And now he's being told that he has to shake hands and sign autographs at the one con he's sworn to avoid.

When Elle meets Darien, she doesn't even know it. A few innocent texts begin a relationship that neither can believe is real, but both want to keep forever.

However, there are forces determined to block them, like an old-friend-turned-enemy, a stepmonster and her monstrous child, an interfering father, a blog, and the real world.

Final thoughts: Another cotton candy book. Nothing serious here except for serious geeking out over fan references. The geek is strong with this author. This being an ARC, there were a number of errors that I'm sure will be fixed in the final galleys, but I was confused by a few issues. For one, the house was left to Elle who is nearly of age, but her stepmonster is able to sell it?? I'm not sure that's actually legal. Also, there's a point where Darien doesn't finish filming until early morning, but he has an early call the next day; that's actually against SAG rules. There is a time gap required after night shoots. Those notes aside, this is just a fun Cinderella retelling with a few choppy moments that bring it down a little. A final note about how the "villains" turn out would be interesting.

Rating: 3/5

ARC courtesy of NetGalley