Accidentally Me by Kim Karras

WANTED: Pretend stalker. No experience required. Tall, dark, and quirky preferred. Sabrina is desperate to go to her dream college, but her parents want her to stay close to home. If she wants to maintain her perfect child image, Sabrina must break rules that even her rebel sister keeps . . .

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This is what I would call a coming of age story.  It is YA and it is clean.  It isn't really a romance but more of a young girl trying to find her way into adulthood.  

Sabrina wants to go away to college, but her parents want her to stay close to home.  Being the youngest child by quite a few years, and a surprise baby to boot, Sabrina feels like she has a lot to live up to.  She struggles with her place in the family.  She has watched her older siblings make mistakes and she tries her best to not make waves in her home but she really, really wants something that goes against her parents desires.

As a mother of teenage girls, this book was kind of funny to me.  I have a daughter this exact age and some of the things Sabrina did and thought just made me smile.  I enjoyed watching Sabrina stretch her wings, make some mistakes and come to some important realizations.  

This was a fun book.  I liked that romance wasn't the primary focus.  Sabrina is a character that most teenagers will find some connection with.

Content:  Clean (some talk of Sabrina's sister being pregnant without being married)

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hope Unbroken (Unveiled #3) by Crystal Walton

Accustomed to loss, twenty-two-year-old Emma Matthews learned long ago how to shield her heart from hope. But she never expected it to be the only thing she has left.

A two-thousand-mile flight to Nashville should’ve been enough time for Emma to sort out her future with Riley. Then again, when has time ever played fair? With a contract ultimatum jeopardizing Riley’s career and a ruthless vendetta sabotaging Emma’s efforts to save the Portland center, the fires they spent the last four months facing are far from over.

As danger strikes, rifts emerge, and delays snowball, the unrelenting war between the past and future tests Emma’s convictions until she has no choice but to put her faith in the one thing she’s always doubted.

Will time once again steal the dreams she’s fought so hard to believe in, or will it finally teach her how to trust in a hope that remains unbroken?

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This is the final book in this Unveiled series and I'm very, very happy to be at a conclusion and resolution for Emma and Riley.  The road to happiness has been long and hard for them both as they've grown, made choices, and fought to stay together.

In this book, even more real life problems face Emma and Riley.  I liked the feel of this book as Emma and Riley face more of the difficulties together instead of apart.  They became a better support to each other.   Riley has finally reached his limits with being far away.  He finally put his foot down and headed back to Emma so they could be there for each other.  I liked his determination to figure things out while together instead of apart.  Their relationship was the most important thing to him.  That is what changed the tides of the book for me.  That was the moment that Riley became a grown up to me.  He wasn't sacrificing his music career, he was just finding a way to make it work within his relationship with Emma.

I have enjoyed this series and the journey of Emma and Riley from the first meeting, through the bumps of their relationship and now to the end here, which is really just the beginning.  It's been a good ride, filled with emotion and real life drama.  I love that this series is clean- no swearing or sexual content beyond kissing.  It is now time to say goodbye to Emma and Riley but I do so with satisfaction and contentment.  :)

Joni, Underway by Kelly Oran and Jonathan Harrow

Nineteen year old Joni Monday is loving life as an adult—living on her own, dealing with grown-up things like jobs, hook-ups, and doing her own laundry. Best of all: after finishing her first year at ASU, she will never again be called a freshman.

But when her brother is suddenly killed in a car accident, Joni’s adult life is turned upside down. Struggling to cope with loss, guilt, and anger—not to mention the meddling of friends and family trying to “fix” her—Joni is relieved to be presented with an escape in the form of a sailing trip her brother had been planning for months before he died.

With her first step onto the sailing vessel Lady Marguerite, Joni plunges into an adventure that will mark the beginning of her real adult life—a journey across the ominous dark blue of the Atlantic Ocean with a small, eccentric crew, and the young Captain Reid, whose gorgeous looks are only outmatched by his talent for care and kindness. Unfolding through the ups and downs of life at sea is an unforgettable story reminding us that love will always be a work-in-progress and coming of age never gets old.

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Kelly Oram is an author who knows how to write such vivid and real characters.  Her books are always witty and full of life.  In this book, she co-authors with Jonathan Harrow, her husband.  So, something new from her this go round.

This book takes on a more serious note, I think.  The vibe isn't gloom and doom but it's definitely not as light and fun as most of Kelly's other books.  The characters are still stand out though- with quirks, histories and stories of their own to tell.  I loved this sailboat full of such diverse people, each on their own journey.

The way the whole story unfolds from Joni's perspective is good.  It made me feel like I was really on the journey right along with Joni.  I became personally invested in the characters and the story.  Captain Reid is a truly a hero.  His heart is gold.  And the ending bit?  Ugh, rip my heart out!

My only hesitation with this book is the swearing and the sexual innuendo.  That's a personal thing for me though.  There are sexual situations although nothing described in detail outside of kissing.