Undeclared by Jen Frederick

This is the first novel in the Woodlands series by Jen Frederick.

*I received this as an eARC by the author in exchange for a review.*


During the four years of high school, Grace Sullivan wrote to Noah Jackson, a Marine in combat. What started out as a class assignment lead into a close relationship where Grace and Noah told each other things they never talk about to anyone else.

But when Noah left the Marines, Grace thought that she would finally meet the man that she fell in love with during the four years. However, Noah stopped communicating with her for two years.

So Grace was thrown when she saw Noah at Central College during her junior year. Even though she was excited to finally meet him, her anger came out at him for ignoring her for two years. Two years in which she expected him to call, write, or come see her.

She already had enough of her plate at school, not knowing what to major in and knowing if she didn't find something soon, her uncle would stop paying for her education. But she was too scared to go to the Fine Arts program to show them her photography. Adding Noah into the mix was going to be a lot to handle right now.

And Noah knew that he would not be in Grace's good favors. In fact, Noah knew that even though he'd been in the Marines, which is hard work, getting Grace to talk to him again would be 10 times harder than what he endured in the Marines.

But Noah has a life long goal. And Grace is the last thing on his list. He doesn't want to be her friend. He fell for her and thought of her so often during his being a Marine. He knew no one would ever be like Grace and didn't want to try to find anyone else.

So when they first see each other, things are difficult. Noah has perfected the art of covering his feelings. And Grace has no idea what Noah wants, so they try to be friends. But that doesn't work well and they finally let the other in, seeing that they both want to be in a relationship because the feelings from two years ago didn't fade. Not really.

But can Grace let Noah back in? She doesn't want to get hurt again by Noah; it took her a long time to get over Noah when she was talking to him via snail mail. How hard would it be if he broke her heart after she left him in in person?

Can they re-salvage their relationship and gain the trust back? Read Undeclared by Jen Frederick to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Just a forewarning, this is a NEW ADULT novel, which means that it's a little bit more mature and graphic than a YA novel but not too racy like an adult novel. Mainly, New Adult (NA) novels are set in college and are about characters who are starting to grow up, but still do things that are immature.

I LOVED this book! It is so much more than the New Adult novels that I've been reading, yet exactly the same!

One thing that I absolutely loved was that Noah was in the Marines. When he came back to go to school and see Grace, he knew he had to get himself back as a civilian and not a soldier, which took a lot of time and patience. He learned to contain his emotions and appearance, except when he was around Grace.

And even though Grace was financially stable because of her rich uncle, she had no clue where she was going in life. She couldn't even pick a major; how could she decide if she wanted to give Noah another chance?

Another thing that I loved was Bo, Noah's best friend and fellow Marine soldier. Bo didn't think Grace was good enough for Noah, and made his thoughts very clear. Bo was usually very silent, but when he wanted to say something, he made it clear what his thoughts were.

I think Frederick nailed it about being a college student. It's hard figuring out what one wants to do for the rest of their life. I remember a lot of students going to their senior year and realizing they don't want to do the career they've been majoring in for the duration of their college years. So I can completely understand Grace's struggle with career/major options.

A third thing I loved about this book was that Grace was a student worker in a library. I did that for four years and that's why I became a librarian. Reading the scenes where she was at work brought me back to those years and made me smile.

And snail mail. Who does snail mail anymore? And who would keep contacting one person whom they've never met for four years with snail mail? That alone should be given an award, because most lose the time, patience, and ambition to keep up with that!

I was lucky enough to get an eARC by Frederick after being introduced to her work via Twitter. (And thank you so much for letting me read it! So glad I didn't have to wait longer!) This eBook will be released May 1 - under a month! - and I think it will be a really big hit among New Adult book lovers. It's very edgy, but also realistic.

I would most definitely urge other NA readers to grab this book when it becomes available! And I want more by Frederick already! Her writing kept me reading into the middle of the night and I was very sad when the book had to end.

So, May 1. Just a little under 3 weeks. Mark it on your calendar and buy this eBook!

Stay With Me by Paul Griffin

Cece

Working in a restaurant is hard business, but her family has a great time doing it. Cece works with her mother, who's a server, and her brother, Anthony, who prepares the food. 

Things were going good. They weren't great, but it was what they were used to. 

But then Tony tells everyone that he signed up with the armed forces - army. He'll be leaving in a month. Cece thinks she's psychic and sees her brother dying overseas in the war. She doesn't want him to go. 

But he does go. Before he leaves, he tells his friend Mack to take care of Cece for him while he's gone. Cece just met Mack and doesn't want a stranger looking out for her, even when Mack is the most gorgeous guy she's seen. 

Mack

Growing up, Mack has had it rough. His mother bailed, his father is a drunk, Mack dropped out of high school because it was too hard for him, and Mack is not the kind of guy someone wants to mess with. He has learned to grow up expecting the worst. 

The only thing Mack likes is to train dogs - pit bulls preferably. Mack has the touch, he's a dog whisperer. He'll take any wild dog and will be able to train them to be house pets. 

When he is transferred to another restaurant after the first one closes, all Mack wants to do is make money and go home to work with the dogs. 

But then he meets Cece, the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. 

Even though Mack knows not to get involved with Cece, he does anyway. Things are bound to get screwed up because of Mack's personal life and nothing good ever sticks for him. 

Can Cece and Mack beat the odds and find a way to stay together? Or will circumstances tear them apart to the point where they will never be able to be a couple in the future? Read Stay With Me by Paul Griffin to find out happens with these two characters!

My Thoughts/Reflections

This was an okay book. There were good parts and bad parts to it, for me, and overall it was a decent novel. 

It took a while for me to get used to the writing of the novel. The dialogue and narration was a little different than most, making me have to slow my reading pace in order to really understand what was trying to be said. 

I felt like I, personally, didn't connect with either Mack or Cece at all throughout the novel. Maybe it's because I never experienced what they went through, but then again, I've waitressed before and still couldn't connect with that aspect of the novel. 

This was told through alternating viewpoints of Mack and Cece, giving the reader a chance to look into both of their heads and understand their side of the story. 

Yeah, usually I have more to stay about a book but this one left me feeling, "meh". I can't say that I loved it but I can't say that I hated it either. It was just a story that I read and will probably forget in a week or so. 

I did like the aspect with the dog training. And with pit bulls, none the less. 

There was a lot of information and subjects in this novel to keep track of, but it wasn't rushed or glimpsed over either. 

And now that I've completely confused every one of you who has read my reaction to this novel because of how contradictory I am, I think I'll just end this by suggesting who might enjoy reading this novel. :)

I read a reviewing saying that fans of Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles might enjoy it, but I think that anyone who wants to read about a rough life trying to live day by day and falling in love for the first time might enjoy this novel as well. It's a standalone so what you read it what you get, leaving no doubt how this story ends. 

I'm sure others have read and enjoyed this novel more than I did, and if you have I would really like to hear what you thought about it! Feel free to leave a comment if you want!

In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Three days after Honor is told her older brother, Finn, died during combat, she gets a letter in the mail from him, before he died.

She doesn't open the letter until the day of his funeral. And what she finds makes her grieve all over again. Finn gave her tickets to see Kyra Kelley, her all time favorite singer and Finn's too, though he wouldn't admit it after awhile. But he wanted Honor to go to her concert in California and tell Kyra about how awesome he was.

Honor was supposed to be leaving for college the day after Finn's funeral. Instead, she packs up his old Impala and starts driving to CA to do his final wish before he died.

The one thing Honor wasn't anticipating was Rusty, Finn's closest best friend, to arrive drunk and passed out in the car right when she was leaving. After Finn enlisted, Rusty didn't talk to Honor anymore and now he's drinking enough liquor to stink up her car.

Instead of kicking him out, she just starts driving. By the time Rusty wakes up, he's already in New Mexico - too late to head back to Texas.

So now Honor is stuck with Rusty on a road trip to do her brother's last wish, while still grieving the one person she loved the most. And let's just say that Rusty is not the best traveling buddy.

Though he does know what to do when the car goes off road during an unexpected thunderstorm. And he does have his mother's house to stop by and fix the poor car halfway to CA.

The trip brings back memories for both Rusty and Honor about Finn, making them laugh in memory. But it also reveals secrets that Honor didn't know about her older brother. Secrets that may destroy Honor completely... Read In Honor by Jessi Kirby to find out what those secrets are.

My Thoughts/Reflections
From the first page of this novel, I knew it was going to be a tear jerker. I actually had tears in my eyes by the second page. And I knew I would finish this in one sitting to read this heartbreaking story, filled with adventure, sorrow, and expectations.

And even though it was sad, I loved this book. There were a few areas that I was not sure about, like the pit stop to scuba dive with strangers, but for the most part I fell more in love with Honor, Rusty and Finn while also feeling a part of my heart break piece by piece.

I've never had anyone close to me die, so I can't imagine how excruciating it was for Honor to not only lose her parents at the age of 4, but then to lose her brother at the age of 18. She has been through so much hardship and then she is expected to go to college and "move on" just like that. So running off to CA for a week sounds like something she needed after this horrible news.

The road trip was good for both Rusty and Honor, who were grieving over Finn's death in different ways.

I really do adore this novel and I think other's could be influenced by this story that Kirby created. Sure, it has an uneven pace going from slow to fast then back to slow but the message of this novel could affect anyone reading it.

I know I will not forget this story any time soon and will recommend it to anyone wanting a story about loss, life, and the potential for a new love.

I'm going to be reading her debut novel soon, since it's at my library, and will be looking out for Kirby's upcoming novel that will be released in 2013!

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

When Travis Stephenson returns home for a 4 week leave from the Marines stationed in Afghanistan, everything has changed since a year ago.

His girlfriend broke up with him through a letter to tell Travis that she was now seeing his brother, Ryan.

His parents are splitting up after a hard year living together.

He has lost one of his closest friends from his Marine friends and is being haunted by his memory.

There is one interesting development that happened since he came back home. He got punched by a girl who didn't care that he was back home from Afghanistan. She was just mad he was hitting on her after ruining her life for the last 4 years.

But Harper got over her anger toward Travis when they started to hangout more often during his leave.

Oh, Travis still did things to make Harper mad. But there is an attraction between the two of them that they are unable to hide from.

Travis has 3 more years left dedicated to the Marines, but he is being haunted by the memory of his friend that died in Afghanistan. Will anything go back the way it used to be? Or will there need to be a different kind of normal to get used to now that he's been at war? Read Something Like Normal by Trish Doller to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
It must be the month to read YA books about going off to war for me! While I didn't really enjoy the book While He Was Away by Karen Schreck, I absolutely loved this novel by Trish Doller! It was tough, humorous, but also devastatingly sad and emotional.

Travis is a tough guy. Especially after being a Marine for a year. But he is still vulnerable even though he doesn't show it to anyone.

After everything that has changed in the last year, Travis is just bidding his time to get back to Afghanistan. He doesn't let anything touch him emotionally.

But after meeting Harper again, things started to get interesting. I loved Harper. She didn't treat Travis like a fragile thing, but let him have it right from the beginning.

And I really enjoyed how this novel was through Travis's perspective - the solider's perspective. I think Doller did a great job portraying how a solider can feel after being in line of duty for so long to come back to "normal" and not feel normal one bit.

I would recommend this book to anyone - no matter gender or age. I think it can be relatable to any reader, no matter if they haven't been to war. It is also a short book, just 214 pages and is really easy and fast to read. Even though it's a smaller book, it will impact all readers in some way and make them really think after they are finished with the novel.

I'm not sure how else to say how wonderful this book was except to go buy or check it out at your library to find out for yourself why I think everyone should read this novel to experience all of the emotions that I just went through!

Go get it. Now! :)

While He Was Away by Karen Schreck

During the summer before Penna's senior year in high school, her boyfriend, David, went off to Iraq to fight in the war.

The time when David went off to training camp was hard on Penna. Now David will be in Iraq for a year, a year that Penna has to find something to occupy her mind with so she doesn't go stir crazy while David is away.

Penna's mother then makes her work at Red Earth, the restaurant that she manages. At first Penna wants nothing to do with working. She wants to write to David, think about David, and anxiously sit next to the phone for when he can call.

But after working at Red Earth for awhile, Penna finds herself making some new friends, finding activities to do, and the waiting is less intense than at the beginning of the year.

Penna also has found her lost long grandmother. Now Penna can get to know her roots and get to know her grandmother after all of this time.

After a while, Penna finds that she's missed phone calls from David. Before, it would have really upset her that she missed them. She tries to call back but is not able to get through.

It's almost the beginning of senior year. Only 9 more months until David is back. Will things fall back into place by the time he returns? Will Penna be the same girl when he left? Will David be the same boy before he left? Read While He Was Away by Karen Schreck to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Okay...This book. I'm at odds with it. On the one hand, it was a great depiction of what happens when loved ones are separated and when an armed forces solider goes off to war.

On the other hand... I could not relate to this novel or the characters at all. I think I had to be able to understand what was going on and I just couldn't.

I've never had anyone in my family go off to war. Not even distant relatives. So what Penna and David were going through? I have no idea. Maybe this is how relationships happen when one goes off to war.

So while I didn't enjoy this story, I can completely understand how everything panned out the way it did and why the characters acted the way they did.

I think readers who have been through this situation would enjoy the story better than I did. I'm not sure if younger readers could read this and really understand the meaning behind the story, and old readers can read it, but they might have the reaction I did if they have no experience with this subject.

It is a great story to be told, though, given the events that are happening today. I just didn't connect with the story as well as I wanted to for some reason.