Blog Tour: The Love Playbook by Suze Winegardner

The Love Playbook

By:
Suze Winegardner

Published:
November 4, 2019

Publisher:
Entangled Teen Crush

Source:
eARC from publisher in exchange for a honest review 

Add to: Goodreads

Book Synopsis:

When Avery Stone learns her dad will be fired if his high school team doesn’t make the playoffs, she has to get her head out of her day planner and do something—anything—to help him win. Even if it means secretly coaching the team’s newest player, who seems to have more game than skill. 

Lucas Black just transferred to Hillside with a fake name and a big secret. The MVP of every team he’d played on since he was seven—not to mention the MVP of every post-game party—he can’t understand why since arriving at Hillside, he’s been unable to catch a single. Freaking. Ball. 

Until…Avery. Amazing, kind, generous, and crazy-freaking-hot Avery. 

As Lucas goes from zero back to hero and Avery struggles with just what Lucas means to her, she inadvertently sets them on a collision course with Lucas’s secret…a secret that could take down not only Lucas but her father too. 

DISCLAIMER: This Entangled Teen Crush contains a football player hotter than the Texas sun, hotel cuddles, and a steamy makeout session in the rain

 

My Thoughts:

The Love Playbook was a sweet and fun read!  Lucas has transferred to Hillside High School.  Football is his passion, but after he got caught taking expensive gifts from a university, he is banned from ever playing again.  He decides to fly under the radar by playing for a small town football team where he won't get noticed.  However, all of a sudden, he can't seem to catch the ball! 

Avery, the coaches' daughter, agrees to help Lucas improve his game.  She overheard a secret conversation that if the team doesn't make it to playoffs, her father will most likely lose his job.  Football is important to Avery's family, and after losing her mother to Cancer last year, she doesn't want them to lose anything more.

Both Lucas and Avery are struggling emotionally, and are going through very difficult times in their lives.  As they spend time together, they find a friend and ally in one another, but will their secrets catch up to them, and tear apart the relationship they've built?

I enjoyed reading about the struggles, friendship, and love of Lucas and Avery.  Both of them went through huge challenges, and were able to grow and mature from their experiences.  I loved the way they were always there for one another, supporting, encouraging, and guiding.  The Love Playbook was a fast-paced, light, sweet, fun, and feel good romance!  I enjoyed Lucas and Avery's story, and look forward to reading more books by Suze Winegardner!

Purchase At:

Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK
 Amazon Canada | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

About the Author:

Suze Winegardner is a British YA writer, currently living overseas with her military husband, and lovely Lab. She loves Buffy, Fray Bentos pies, Archer, cheese, and the serial comma. Wait - Cadbury Flakes too. And naps. Wait, what was the question? Anyway, she thinks her life is chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny...and if you get that reference, she already considers you kin.

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Book Review: Stuck with You (The First Kiss Hypothesis #3) by Christina Mandelski

Stuck With You
By: Christina Mandelski
Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush
Release Date: September 2, 2019
Source: eARC from the publisher in exchange for a honest review
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When Caleb Gray heads to the Texas coast to mentally prepare for a future he isn’t sure he wants, the last person he expects to see is Catie Dixon. Yeah, their mothers have been planning their wedding since they were born, but he and Catie are most definitely not friends. He can’t see her as anything but the annoying kid who followed him everywhere. Except, it’s really bothering him that everyone is staring at her in that bikini…

Catie got over her crush on Caleb ages ago. So why can’t she see past his ripped body or how unsettled he seems? She’s got her own problems, though. Her future has been set for years and now she’s dreaming of pulling the plug. A week at their families’ beach house is just what she needs to pull herself together, and she has no intention of letting Caleb back into her heart...which would be a whole lot easier if he’d put on a shirt.

But a forced week of togetherness full of beach parties, waterslide mishaps, bonfires, and roller coasters sparks more than an understanding. What do you do when the person standing in the way of your future is the one person you grew up hating...but now don’t? 

 

My Thoughts:

Stuck with you is the first book that I've read by Christina Mandelski, but it certainly won't be my last.  This story was so sweet, romantic, and heartfelt. It had all of the elements that I look for in a young adult contemporary romance!  

I didn't realize that it was a part of The First Kiss Hypothesis Series, and now I can't wait to go back and read the two previous books, because I know that I'll be in for a treat!  Nevertheless, this book can be read as a standalone.  I was not  lost in the least, and what I gathered from this story was that the two previous books were about the male lead's best friends.

Katie Dixon and Caleb Gray were inseparable as kids.  Their parents were best friends, owned a flooring and tile business together, and vacationed together in the beach house that they co-owned.   Then, they grew apart in middle school.  Katie followed Caleb around and had the hugest crush on him, but to all appearances she annoyed him, and they ended up distancing themselves from each other.  

Caleb resided in Florida with his parents for the last six months of his senior year in high school, while they opened up a new location for the business. Catie and her parents stayed in central Texas.  Caleb ends up deciding to stay at the beach house for two weeks before he begins his freshman year in college, because he is unhappy with his decisions regarding college, and needs some quiet time to think and reflect.  Katie goes to the beach house with her two best friends to have a good time.  Neither Caleb nor Catie are aware that the other person will be there....

I enjoyed learning about Caleb and Catie's feelings and history regarding one another.  It was fun watching Catie and her friends interact and have a good time, and made me reflect on how fun and carefree it was to be a teenager.  The romance between Caleb and Katie was extremely slow burn, authentic, and I adored every minute of it.  I loved watching Caleb struggle with his feelings for Catie, and enjoyed his self reflection regarding how his feelings for her went from loving his best friend, to thinking Catie was annoying and bossy, to realizing that he had been in love with her all along.

Katie and Caleb were opposites as far as first appearances went, but once they both dug a little deeper, we got to see that they had some of the same struggles concerning their futures, and weighing what they wanted to do with their lives and were passionate about, versus the weight of family expectations, obligations, and responsibilities.  Katie was a bit more chill than Caleb realized, and he was more serious and intense than the image he had always projected. 

Something that warmed my heart was the relationship that Catie shared with her grandfather, who suffered from M.S.  Even though it didn't get a ton of page time, everytime these two interacted it brought tears to my eyes.  Catie's friends Sunny and Ainsely were fun and provided me with a few laughs throughout the story.  Caleb's dogmas a fun part of the relationship as well, and was very attached to Catie.

Stuck with You was a story that I was totally engrossed in.  It made me reminisce, brought out laughter, ands smiles, as well as the sense log happiness that a reader gets from reading a feel-good story.  It had depth, but was still a light, and charming story full of warmth and the good type of "feels!"

Purchase At:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Google 

About the Author:

When I was a kid, I loved to read and write, and I loved going to the library. It was in the children's departments of the libraries I frequented that my dream of becoming a writer took hold. I'd find the place on the shelf where my name would fall, put my finger in that spot and say "that's where it'll go." 

After quite a few detours, my dream of having a book on that library shelf is finally coming true this May. My first young adult novel, The Sweetest Thing, published by Egmont USA will be released. 

It's a story that's dear to me, about a girl who is passionate about creating art. Here's a little synopsis:

Sheridan is happy making phenomenal cakes in her safe little world. All she needs is for her mother to come home and everything will be perfect. But when her super chef father gets his own reality TV show in New York City, Sheridan comes up with a desperate plan to find her mom and convince her dad to stay put.

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Blog Tour: Announcing Trouble by Amy Fellner Dominy

Announcing Trouble

By:
Amy Fellner Dominy

Published:
August 5, 2019

Publisher:
Entangled Teen Crush

Source:
eARC from publisher in exchange for honest review

Add to:
Goodreads

Book Synopsis:

I may know everything there is to know about baseball, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Or like him. Garrett Reeves: sidelined player and the embodiment of everything I’ve learned to hate about baseball. He’s gorgeous, he’s cocky, he’s laser-focused on getting back in the game, no matter the cost. 

When he convinces me to call games alongside him, our chemistry heats up the booth. We’re good together, whether I want to admit it or not. I’m finding that I like baseball again, but even worse, I’m liking Garrett. A lot. 

But when he has to decide between our future and a new shot at his dreams, I know baseball will win out every time. 

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book has tons of hilarious banter, lots of sexual tension, and a hero who will throw a wild pitch right at your heart.

My Thoughts:

Announcing Trouble was a fast-paced, cute, and sweet story layered with humor, depth and emotion.   It was a story that made me smile, laugh, swoon, and tear up.  It made my heart hurt for the female lead Josie, and made me adore the male lead, Garrett.

Josie use to love Baseball.  It was the way she bonded with her father, and a passion that they both shared.  However, he ended up abandoning her and her mother, so that he could chase his dream without strings attached.  Since that fateful time in her life, Josie's pain, and anger, turned in to a hate for everything that had to do with the game.  She decided to prioritize practicality over daydreaming, and has agreed to go in to the essential oil business with her mother when she turns eighteen.

Josie's Best friend Mai, has a crush on cute baseball player, Anthony, and drags Josie to a game.  While there, she is appalled by the horrible color commentary.  When she storms the booth, she meets Garret, injured star pitcher, who currently broadcasts the games to stay connected to the sport he has such a passion for.  Eventually, with much persistence, he convinces Josie to be the new color commentator.  

I loved how in sync Josie and Garret where when they would broadcast the baseball games.  They played off of each other, and the flow was seamless, fun, and entertaining.  When these two were together there was a lot of push and pull.  Garret was such an amazing guy, that no matter how hard Josie tried to resist him, it was futile.  Both Josie and Garrett suffered from family emotional baggage.  Josie had a broken heart and a lot of anger from being abandoned by her father, and my heart broke for her.  Garrett and his father didn't see eye to eye, regarding his dream of being a baseball player.

I enjoyed the secondary characters, and am hoping that Mai and Anthony will get a story of their own.  Mai was a fun character!  She was quirky, blunt, intelligent, driven, and a very loyal friend to Josie.  The things that would come out of her mouth had me cracking up constantly!  

Character growth and life lessons were abundant in this romance!  The ending of the story was perfect!  I loved every moment of how it played out. There was a lot of smiling, sighing, and swooning on my end, and it was the cherry on top of an already wonderful read!

Purchase At:

Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada
Kobo | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Google Play 

About the Author:

Amy Fellner Dominy is the award-winning author of books for teens, tweens and toddlers. An MFA playwright, Amy’s novels include The Fall of Grace; Die for You; A Matter of Heart; Audition & Subtraction; OyMG and the picture books series, Cookiesaurus Rex. Amy was recognized in 2017 by the Arizona Library Association with the Judy Goddard Award. Her novels have been recognized as Bank Street College of Education Best Book Selections, and OyMG is a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. Amy lives in Phoenix with her husband and a puppy who is training them. To learn more, visit www.amydominy.com or find her on Facebook at amyfellnerdominyauthor and Instagram at @amydominy.

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