Brigid Kemmerer finds the time to write somewhere between caring for her family and working at her day job, but sometimes she ends up mothering her coworkers and managing her family. Storm: The Elemental Series is her first novel. Find out more about Brigid and the Elemental series on her website.

Apples or Bananas? Both!

Twilight or Mortal Instruments? I’ve never read Mortal Instruments, so it’s gotta be Twilight by default.

The Host or Beautiful Creatures? I’ve never read either.

Silly question…The Vampire Diaries or The Walking Dead? The Vampire Diaries!!

Blake Shelton or Adam Levine? THESE ARE HARD QUESTIONS. Both!

City or Country girl? Country. For sure.

Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry? Chocolate.

Seafood or Mexican? Mexican. I don’t eat any seafood.

Handsome and rude or Geeky and sweet? Depends. How handsome and how geeky?

Pepsi or Coke? Pepsi

Ebooks or Hardcopies? Ebooks. I bought I Hunt Killers in paperback for a plane ride, and it’s making me nuts that I don’t have it on my Kindle.

The last night of summer is only the beginning.

Skye wants to meet the boy who will change her life forever. Seth feels their instant connection the second he sees her. When Seth starts talking to Skye at the last beach party of the summer, it’s obvious to both of them that this is something real. But when Seth leaves for college before they exchange contact info, Skye wonders if he felt the same way she did—and if she will ever see him again. Even if they find their way back to each other, can they make a long-distance relationship work despite trust issues, ex drama, and some serious background differences?

Teen favorite Susane Colasanti returns to the alternating-voice style of her beloved debut When It Happens in this Serendipity-inspired story about summer, soul mates, and the moments that change our lives forever.

All I Need is a book that I have been dying to read. Not only are the cover and synopsis gorgeous, but it totally radiates a Spring/Summer feel. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the book. I’m not going to even rate the book, because I found it a little painful to read, and it’s not fair of me to judge it when I only got about 50 pages into it.  But I am going to share my thoughts on it with all of you.

My first major complaint with All I Need was the relationship between Seth and Skye. They meet in the first chapter and decide they’re soul mates by the second. They knew each other for a whole two days, and then Seth goes off to college without saying goodbye. Any normal girl..or guy for that matter…would get. over. it. But, no. Skye is moping around 2 months later about a guy she knew for about 48 hours. Obviously Seth will come into her life probably a little later on in the book…but I honestly didn’t even make it that far. I didn’t find Skye..or Seth..to be very good role models. I wouldn’t want my kid reading this book and thinking that’s how they should act.

Another thing that bothered me is that I was really confused by how all of the teenagers acted and spoke to one another. I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of teenagers are freakin annoying. Not all of them! But some. It hasn’t been that long since I was a teenager…and trust me…I annoy myself thinking about it. But most teenagers don’t act the way that they are portrayed in this book. I thought that it was very exaggerated from an adults perspective.

I didn’t get very far in this book, so I cannot critique the middle or the ending. Things might have picked up later on, but I could not bring myself to finish. I think that younger teenagers may appreciate this book, but I would not recommend it to adults at all.

Pages: 240

Publication Date: May 21st, 2013

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Rating: N/A

Too many secrets. Not enough time.

Nick Merrick is supposed to be the level-headed one. The peacemaker. Since it’s just him and his three hotheaded brothers against the world, that’s a survival tactic.

But now he’s got problems even his brothers can’t help him survive.

His so-called girlfriend, Quinn, is going quick as mercury from daring to crazy. Meanwhile, Quinn’s dancer friend Adam is throwing Nick off balance, forcing him to recognize a truth he’d rather shove back into the dark.

He can feel it—-the atmosphere is sizzling. Danger is on the way. But whatever happens next, Nick is starting to find out that sometimes nothing you do can keep the peace.

You guys…if you haven’t read the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer, then that’s your next reading assignment. I fell in love with her work last year in both Storm and Spark, and I was not disappointed with her novella, Breathless. This is a very short story, 65 pages in length, focused on Nick Merrick. Nick’s been in all of the books, so far, but we’ve never really got to get up close and personal with him. And this….this was just…. WOW. I did not see this coming from a mile away. We get to learn about Nick’s deepest, darkest secret. Let me tell you…it’s a good one!

I didn’t realize just quite how much I liked Nick’s character before reading Breathless. But he’s a keeper! I’m really excited to learn more about him in his own book, Secret, which comes out January 28th, 2014 from Kensington Teen. I’m making my prediction right now that Nick’s book will be my favorite out of the whole series…and that’s simply based on this novella.

I don’t read very many novella’s, and I’m assuming that that’s pretty standard for most of you who are reading this. Actually….I can’t think of another novella that I’ve read. I’m sure that there has to at least be one out there. Anyways, this has convinced me to read more novella’s in the future. LOVED IT! If you’re new to the series, I would read them in the correct order. However, you could read Breathless without reading any other books/novellas by Brigid Kemmerer. Wonderful read!

Pages: 65

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Publication Date: April 30th, 2013

Rating: :