***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: see me

Title: Being Sloane Jacobs
Author: Lauren Morrill
Narrator: Shelby Lewis, Devon Sorvari
Series: n/a
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication Date: January 7th, 2014
Source: purchased audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Being Sloane Jacobs was just okay for me. I knew what it was about going in. I knew it wasn’t going to be all that deep. That it was a cross between Parent Trap and The Cutting Edge…. I knew all that. Did it stop me? Nope. I thought that was the kind of read I was in the mood for.

I think maybe part of me hoped it would be more original, less predictable. My biggest issue I think was the Narrators. I loved the Narrator for Sloane Devon. The Narrator for Sloane Emily though annoyed me. By the end of the book she didn’t quite sound like nails on a chalk board at least. If not for Sloane Devon, I probably would have DNF’d.

In a nutshell, you have two Sloane Jacob’s who want to run away from their lives. They meet at a hotel before summer camp and decide to switch places. One goes to Hockey, the other goes to Figure Skating. While I found some of their adventures entertaining, I didn’t particularly find them believable. I rolled my eyes a little, but I did laugh. There were some funny moments.

One thing I detested was the talk of Sloane Devon’s smelly hockey gear. Guys, this bothered me. They mentioned how it smelled like dead fish on more than one occasion, and I was so grossed out. They switched clothes, right, so they switched skates and stuff. So Sloane Emily was wearing Sloane Devon’s nasty smelly gear and I just wanted to gag. In fact, I think I did at one point. At least they thought to keep their own undies because that would just be crossing the line.

Overall, it wasn’t bad, just not that great. I loved Meant to Be, so maybe I was expecting more. I do think this will appeal to some readers though, maybe a younger crowd.

Throw these bitches on skates and presto!! you have a book

About the author:

Lauren Elizabeth Morrill is many things, including, but not limited to, a writer, an educator, a badass roller derby skater, a former band nerd, an aggressive driver, and a die-hard Mac person. She also watches a lot of TV, eats a lot of junk food, and drinks a lot of Coke. It's a wonder her brain and teeth haven't rotted out of her head.

Her first novel, Meant to Be, sold in a two-book deal to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte for Paper Lantern Lit.

Find Lauren:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Title: See Me
Author: Wendy Higgins
Series: n/a
Publisher: Self Pub
Publication Date: March 17th, 2014
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

While most seventeen-year-old American girls would refuse to let their parents marry them off to a stranger, Robyn Mason dreams of the mysterious McKale in Ireland, wondering how he’ll look and imagining his cute Irish accent. Prearranged bindings are common for magical families like her own, however when she travels to the whimsical Emerald Isle she discovers there’s more to her betrothal and McKale’s clan than she was led to believe.

What starts as an obligatory pairing between Robyn and McKale morphs over time into something they both need. But one giant obstacle stands in the way of their budding romance: a seductive and deadly Fae princess accustomed to getting what she wants—and what she wants is McKale as her plaything. Love, desire, and jealousies collide as Robyn’s family and McKale’s clan must work together to outsmart the powerful Faeries and preserve the only hope left for their people.

See Me is my first experience reading Wendy Higgins. It was my friend Jess’s pick that week and it looked cute so we dove right in. I liked it, it was adorable, but it wasn’t great.

Robyn has been betrothed since she was a baby, to son from another magical family. So it starts off with them getting ready to head out to Ireland so she can finally meet him before they get hitched. Ahh the mysterious McHale, there is more too his family than Robyn knows, and when she finds out it’s pretty darn funny.

The Fae play a big part in this story, especially the Fae Princess who wants McHale all to herself. I enjoyed watching Robyn and McHale get to know each other but I felt like the Fae presence wasn’t written as strongly as it could be. That’s to be expected though. I believe this was something Higgin’s wrote ages ago before she published anything.

Also the ending was kinda lame, both Jess and I were left saying to each other… “That’s it?” It was a fun quick read though, and I’d be willing to try other works by this author.

What kind of ending was that?

About the author:

After earning a bachelors in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until becoming a mommy. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.

She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet Evil is her debut novel.

Find Wendy:

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Labels: being sloane jacobs, contemporary, faeries, lauren morrill, paranormal, parent trap, reviews, see me, wendy higgins

Title: See Me
Author: Wendy Higgins
Series: n/a
Publisher: indie/self-published
Publication Date: March 17, 2014
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

While most seventeen-year-old American girls would refuse to let their parents marry them off to a stranger, Robyn Mason dreams of the mysterious McKale in Ireland, wondering how he’ll look and imagining his cute Irish accent. Prearranged bindings are common for magical families like her own, however when she travels to the whimsical Emerald Isle she discovers there’s more to her betrothal and McKale’s clan than she was led to believe.

What starts as an obligatory pairing between Robyn and McKale morphs over time into something they both need. But one giant obstacle stands in the way of their budding romance: a seductive and deadly Fae princess accustomed to getting what she wants—and what she wants is McKale as her plaything. Love, desire, and jealousies collide as Robyn’s family and McKale’s clan must work together to outsmart the powerful Faeries and preserve the only hope left for their people.

If you enjoy Higgins' Sweet Trilogy at all, I think you'll have fun with this book, though it is a departure from the author's previous subject matter. This time around, we're dealing with magic; an arranged marriage -- to a Leprechaun, no less; and powerful fae in beautiful Ireland.

I think this story might have been a bit more fun had Robyn's intended actually been a typical Leprechaun, but then the romance might have taken a nosedive, and as it was, McKale wasn't winning me over at the start. Truth be told, he was a tad boring and standoffish and maybe a little bit ostracized because of his unwieldy height, thanks to his people's preconceived notions of what normal was. However, Robyn's acceptance of his larger than normal stature won him and the Leprechauns over.

This story is cute and funny and absolutely fluffy, even when it tries to hit on a deeper subject. (That one story arc was completely over the top and absolutely unnecessary.) But it also makes fun of itself and the situation: "Do me a favor," she said to Rock. "Say 'They're always trying to steal me Lucky Charms.'" Also, I swore there was a Twilight dig in there, whether unintentional or not, and those are always a treat. =)

But if you're a hardcore feminist, you'll probably want to steer clear. That whole "arranged marriage" thing should have been a dead giveaway, but the Little People are living the way that have been for hundreds of years: the men toil away in the shoe house -- where it's considered bad luck for a woman to step -- making fancy shoes for the fae, and the women do all of the cooking and cleaning. The women aren't necessarily subservient to the Chaun men, but they have their place in the village, and it's definitely not out on the field playing ball with the men.

The world-building is a little sparse, and even venturing into Faerie didn't provide much detail. And then there's the Clourichaun, who I've never heard of before. There's a little backstory on them, but I'd have liked to have known more, especially with the importance one of them had to the story. I did, however, like the importance place on family and duty in this story. And I liked the Irish lore that was explored in this novel. The progression of the romance was probably my favorite aspect, though. Robyn was stubborn and McKale was shy. And once they did start to fall for each other, the faerie princess Khalistah proved vengeful.

All in all, See Me was a fun read, one that I'd been looking forward to since I'd first heard that the author was planning to self-publish it. The story wasn't as deep as I had hoped for, but what it lacked in depth, it made up for in heart. This was a great palate-cleanser, and it's made me even more eager to get to Sweet Reckoning.

GIF it to me straight:

There was a lot of hot & cold in the beginning, but it turned into a cute little story.

About the author:

After earning a bachelors in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until becoming a mommy. Writing Young Adult (YA) stories gives her the opportunity to delve into the ambiguities of those pivotal, daunting, and exciting years before adulthood.

She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son. Sweet Evil is her debut novel.

Find Wendy:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Facebook | Tumblr