NataliaHeaney

This is a nice little book that covers the space of a day. (American) heroine and (English) hero end up sitting together on a flight from the United States to England, both ducking across the pond for family events.

Heroine Hadley’s family was torn to pieces when her father fell in love with an Englishwoman and abandoned them, and now she’s expected to attend the London wedding. This story is as much about family as romance.

As for the romance, I think the author managed the culture clash aspects well, and didn’t push things too far over such a short timeframe.

A sweet little book overall, though I’m not sure the father deserved to be so easily forgiven!

This is a very cute high school romance that used all the common themes from the genre… and then turned them on their heads.

The pretty, popular blonde is nice and smart and a good friend.

The popular guy doesn’t turn out to be horrible.

The high school stereotypes are there, but people have more layers than clichéd personality traits.

The high school experience in America is so completely different to here in Australia that it’s like learning a foreign culture, but I think the author painted her setting really well.

I really, really liked pretty much everything about this story. The dramas weren’t over the top, and the inevitable trust issues and betrayal worked realistically.

One thing that bugged me at the start was how much the protagonist – Matilda – complained about how stupid and embarrassing her name was. There’re going to be a lot of young readers offended by that; ‘Matilda’ might not be a popular name in America, but it regularly makes it onto top names lists in other countries. It is enormously popular in Australia. I have a young cousin in Europe with the name.

But that’s about it for complaints. This book has a lot of very familiar YA themes, and yet it felt fresh and new. I loved it.

If you want to read a book with a figure skating theme where the author actually KNOWS all about the sport, then give Gold Rush a go. This book is about a skater in her late teens going for gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Jennifer Comeaux knows pretty much everything about the sport, making it all seem so authentic.

Even though the characters are university-aged, this is a tame little contemporary romance with a very sweet hero, and reads a little more like young adult fiction.

The author has other ice skating books available, and I will definitely be checking them out.

This was a lovely little book for preteens. It is exactly the kind of thing I would have loved to read at that age.

With a plot that encompasses all the things girls stereotypically like, from best friends to horses to a crazy scheme to make parents fall in love, I was reminded of the movies of the 80s and 90s, with the universally popular themes for younger readers.

The author’s writing style was light-hearted and fun, and though I’m far from the target audience for such a story, it made for an entertaining quick read.

Review copy from NetGalley.