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Tag Archives: Alison Cherry

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved with Fewer than 1,000 Ratings on Goodreads

19 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Dahlia Adler in Top Ten Tuesday

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Tags

Abdi Nazemian, Alison Cherry, Amy Rose Capetta, Ariel Kaplan, Being Fishkill, Brandy Colbert, Candice Montgomery, Echo After Echo, Final Draft, Finding Yvonne, Home and Away, Like Water, Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman, Rebecca Barrow, Rebecca Podos, Riley Redgate, Ruth Lehrer, The Authentics, The Pros of Con, We Regret to Inform You, You Don't Know Me But I Know You

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, started at the Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana, the Artsy Reader Girl! I rarely do these posts anymore simply because I don’t have the time, but topics like these are so close to my heart, I can’t not. (Plus, they don’t require me to write any explanation, because it’s all right there in the title. Whee!) I did, however, tweak the topic from “fewer than 2,000 ratings” to “fewer than 1,000 ratings,” because I had enough that fit the latter that I wanted to get more attention!

Final Draft by Riley Redgate

35960813The only sort of risk 18-year-old Laila Piedra enjoys is the peril she writes for the characters in her stories: epic sci-fi worlds full of quests, forbidden love, and robots. Her creative writing teacher has always told her she has a special talent. But three months before her graduation, he’s suddenly replaced—by Nadiya Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who is sadistically critical and perpetually unimpressed.

At first, Nazarenko’s eccentric assignments seem absurd. But before long, Laila grows obsessed with gaining the woman’s approval. Soon Laila is pushing herself far from her comfort zone, discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, temporary flings, and instability. Dr. Nazarenko has led Laila to believe that she must choose between perfection and sanity—but rejecting her all-powerful mentor may be the only way for Laila to thrive.

My GR review: This was such a highly anticipated book for me because I think Riley Redgate is, content-wise, one of the most interesting YA authors right now, and this did not disappoint. A book about a self-conscious author who loses her biggest fan and ends up with an instructor who effectively makes her feel like crap until she feels forced to bleed on the page to prove her authorial skill and worth? I mean. I can’t speak for all authors, but that sure as hell held some resonance for me.

Laila was an interesting MC in a lot of ways. She’s pansexual, or at least she would be if she wasn’t raised to find sex and attraction shameful and so could bring herself to say the word aloud. (I realize that sounds like me projecting on her, but no, all of that, including the word, is on the page. And not, as we usually see it, mixed with questioning whether she’s bi or pan; pansexual is her only consideration.) She’s plus-size. (At no point does she call herself fat, so I won’t either, but she does refer to wearing plus-size clothing.) She’s biracial (French-Canadian on her mother’s side; Ecuadorian on her father’s side). She has three best friends who are her whole world. (I love adorable group friendship dynamics, especially when they’re not all the same gender.) She’s super into writing and a fandom. Basically there’s a lot about her that I think is gonna be wildly relatable to people who haven’t seen themselves much, which is something I always think is awesome.

Three books into Riley Redgate’s catalog, I’m starting to notice a pattern wherein she discusses some things really, really well, but not seamlessly. Like, you’ll get to the end of a chapter and it’ll just be three pages dissecting something that’s never really gonna show up again, but she talks about it so well that you don’t care. So, I can’t really say that themes of identity exploration are woven neatly throughout, but I can say that when you get those discussions, they’re really welcome and great.

Did this book make me cry? Yes. Did it make me squee? Also yes. Am I going to recommend it annoying amounts? Absolutely.

Home and Away by Candice Montgomery

37941689Tasia Quirk is young, Black, and fabulous. She’s a senior, she’s got great friends, and a supportive and wealthy family. She even plays football as the only girl on her private high school’s team.

But when she catches her mamma trying to stuff a mysterious box in the closet, her identity is suddenly called into question. Now Tasia’s determined to unravel the lies that have overtaken her life. Along the way, she discovers what family and forgiveness really mean, and that her answers don’t come without a fee. An artsy bisexual boy from the Valley could help her find them—but only if she stops fighting who she is, beyond the color of her skin.

I blurbed this one, so instead of a GR review, here’s my official blurb, which I stand by a zillion percent:

“Tasia Quirk is bold, funny, talented, passionate, vulnerable, fierce, and just plain fabulous. Get ready to meet your new favorite YA heroine in Taze, and your new favorite YA voice in Candice Montgomery.”

Like Water by Rebecca Podos

 

31556136In Savannah Espinoza’s small New Mexico hometown, kids either flee after graduation or they’re trapped there forever. Vanni never planned to get stuck—but that was before her father was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, leaving her and her mother to care for him. Now, she doesn’t have much of a plan at all: living at home, working as a performing mermaid at a second-rate water park, distracting herself with one boy after another.

That changes the day she meets Leigh. Disillusioned with small-town life and looking for something greater, Leigh is not a “nice girl.” She is unlike anyone Vanni has met, and a friend when Vanni desperately needs one. Soon enough, Leigh is much more than a friend. But caring about another person stirs up the moat Vanni has carefully constructed around herself, and threatens to bring to the surface the questions she’s held under for so long.

My GR review: Not at all surprised at how much I liked this. So different from Podos’s first book (except that I really, really enjoy how she handles familial dynamics in both, in what a presence the fathers are) but also so good. Also digging this trend of absolutely drama-free “oh, huh, I’m bi” realizations from MCs this year – always nice to see another experience show up in YA.

We Regret to Inform You by Ariel Kaplan

37007788Mischa Abramavicius is a walking, talking, top-scoring, perfectly well-rounded college application in human form. So when she’s rejected not only by the Ivies, but her loathsome safety school, she is shocked and devastated. All the sacrifices her mother made to send her to prep school, the late nights cramming for tests, the blatantly resume-padding extracurriculars (read: Students for Sober Driving) … all that for nothing.

As Mischa grapples with the prospect of an increasingly uncertain future, she questions how this could have happened in the first place. Is it possible that her transcript was hacked? With the help of her best friend and sometimes crush, Nate, and a group of eccentric techies known as “The Ophelia Syndicate,” Mischa launches an investigation that will shake the quiet community of Blanchard Prep to its stately brick foundations.

My GR review: Oh man I enjoyed that a lot. It was only partly what I expected; I kind of thought the MC would have more of an Enter Title Here vibe. But she didn’t, and I loved her for it. (Not a criticism of ETH – I love that MC – but I feel like it’s the obvious voice for an overachiever and it’s nice to see an alternative.) Also, the secondary characters are fabulous, especially Nate, whom I utterly adored. Woof I shipped them hard.

ETA: I forgot to mention when I first reviewed, but also, I loved the little bits about her family history (especially as someone who has familial roots in the Holocaust), straddling the privilege line, and feeling the pressure to make more of life. Yes, that’s a lot of things that resonated really hard that I initially forgot to mention because I was distracted by my love of the characters and ship. So sue me.

The Pros of Con by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, and Michelle Schusterman

31123196Drummer Phoebe Byrd prides herself on being one of the guys, and she’s ready to prove it by kicking all their butts in the snare solo competition at the Indoor Percussion Association Convention.

Writer Vanessa Montoya-O’Callaghan has been looking forward to the WTFcon for months. Not just because of the panels and fanfiction readings but because WTFcon is where she’ll finally meet Soleil, her internet girlfriend, for the first time.

Taxidermy assistant Callie Buchannan might be good at scooping brains out of deer skulls, but that doesn’t mean it’s her passion. Since her parents’ divorce, her taxidermist father only cares about his work, and assisting him at the World Taxidermy and Fish-Carving Championships is the only way Callie knows to connect with him.

When a crazy mix-up in the hotel lobby brings the three girls together, they form an unlikely friendship against a chaotic background of cosplay, competition, and carcasses!

My GR review: This was extremely fun and cute. I don’t know why I love con books so much, but I do, and this one delivered it in spades along with a really enjoyable friendship story, a really cute budding queer romance, and some observations on social media relationships that hit way too close to home.

The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian

31371275Daria Esfandyar is Iranian-American and proud of her heritage, unlike some of the “Nose Jobs” in the clique led by her former best friend, Heidi Javadi. Daria and her friends call themselves the Authentics, because they pride themselves on always keeping it real.

But in the course of researching a school project, Daria learns something shocking about her past, which launches her on a journey of self-discovery. It seems everyone is keeping secrets. And it’s getting harder to know who she even is any longer.

With infighting among the Authentics, her mother planning an over-the-top sweet sixteen party, and a romance that should be totally off limits, Daria doesn’t have time for this identity crisis. As everything in her life is spinning out of control—can she figure out how to stay true to herself?

My GR review: Really enjoying the spate of culturally infused coming-of-age novels I’m reading lately, and this was no exception. Interesting to me that the title focused on her friend group when her family and culture are so beyond dominant of the plot and definitely the stars of the show, but definitely not upset about the stuff that actually took center stage, even if it wasn’t necessarily my expectation going in.

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert

36360431Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school.

Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He’s mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future.

My GR review: God, Brandy Colbert is just so good at capturing these seemingly little things that have totally fallen through the cracks in the ways we talk about teens and putting them front and center in can’t-miss books. I only barely read blurbs when the author is already an insta-buy for me, so I thought this was about a violin prodigy whose life gets thrown off kilter when she gets pregnant, but in truth, it’s the spaces in between that – it’s what happens when you aren’t a prodigy and you’ve just lost your love and maybe the future isn’t going to look how you thought, so now what? And it’s finding other ways to use what’s already in your life and build off that, but also maybe learn what else and who else you can be. And that applies to skills, to love, to existing relationships, to questions from the past…it’s all just wrapped up in this Very Real Girl, and all along the while is the question of “How complex would these questions be for me if I weren’t a Black girl?” and all the different ways working twice as hard for half as much presents itself.

So, yeah, I guess you can say I liked it 😉

Also, for anyone who specifically avoids pregnancy storylines, it’s actually a much briefer portion of the book when I was expecting; please don’t skip this one for it.

Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta

27258116Debuting on the New York stage, Zara is unprepared—for Eli, the girl who makes the world glow; for Leopold, the director who wants perfection; and for death in the theater.

Zara Evans has come to the Aurelia Theater, home to the visionary director Leopold Henneman, to play her dream role in Echo and Ariston, the Greek tragedy that taught her everything she knows about love. When the director asks Zara to promise that she will have no outside commitments, no distractions, it’s easy to say yes. But it’s hard not to be distracted when there’s a death at the theater—and then another—especially when Zara doesn’t know if they’re accidents, or murder, or a curse that always comes in threes. It’s hard not to be distracted when assistant lighting director Eli Vasquez, a girl made of tattoos and abrupt laughs and every form of light, looks at Zara. It’s hard not to fall in love. In heart-achingly beautiful prose, Amy Rose Capetta has spun a mystery and a love story into an impossible, inevitable whole—and cast lantern light on two girls, finding each other on a stage set for tragedy.

My GR review: Gorgeous, intense, romantic, mysterious, and a really pleasant surprise to me in the Jewish rep, too.

Being Fishkill by Ruth Lehrer

25543153Born in the backseat of a moving car, Carmel Fishkill was unceremoniously pushed into a world that refuses to offer her security, stability, love. At age thirteen, she begins to fight back. Carmel Fishkill becomes Fishkill Carmel, who deflects her tormenters with a strong left hook and conceals her secrets from teachers and social workers. But Fishkill’s fierce defenses falter when she meets eccentric optimist Duck-Duck Farina, and soon they, along with Duck-Duck’s mother, Molly, form a tentative family, even as Fishkill struggles to understand her place in it. This fragile new beginning is threatened by the reappearance of Fishkill’s unstable mother — and by unfathomable tragedy. Poet Ruth Lehrer’s young adult debut is a stunning, revelatory look at what defines and sustains “family.” And, just as it does for Fishkill, meeting Duck-Duck Farina and her mother will leave readers forever changed.

My GR review: Well, that went ahead and ripped my heart clean out of my chest. Definitely a recommended read for a book with rural poverty. There are a few things I felt were left a little like open-ended mysteries, but they felt true to what the character would know/be able to access. Really interesting to read a YA that is definitely a YA but with a 12-13yo protag, especially since she’s sort of exploring her sexuality without even really seeming to realize that’s what she’s doing. I would so love to check in with Fishkill a few years down the line if that were possible, and that’s one of my favorite signs that I really enjoyed a book.

You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow

33293040There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about.

Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is.

But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves.

Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey’s situation made a choice, one that started Audrey’s entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder—what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?

My GR review: Really, really good. This book just feels so…healthy? Like, YDKMBIKY is to reproductive choice after consensual sex as EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is to reproductive choice after rape. If you loved the latter, please read this too. I think it’ll go a long way toward helping teens who’ve chosen the same path feel less alone and less judged.

Author Spotlight: Alison Cherry (+ giveaway!)

14 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by Dahlia Adler in Author Spotlight

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Alison Cherry, For Real, Red

Welcome to another addition of Author Spotlight! It’s been a little while, but I’m excited to be back with an author who’s celebrating the release of her sophomore novel, which I loved. Please welcome…

AuthorSpotlightAlisonCherry

And then enjoy this last moment before you’ll forever begin to picture her this way:

ZombieYes, that is Alison dressed as a Flashdance-theme zombie. I realize that’s probably already sold you on any and all books she may write from now, but just in case, let’s learn a little more about her/them!

Here’s her official bio:

ALISON CHERRY, author of Red, lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a professional photographer and spent many years working as a lighting designer for theater, dance, and opera productions. She once faked an important appointment so she could leave rehearsal in time to watch the finale of The Amazing Race. Visit her at alisoncherrybooks.com or follow @alison_cherry on Twitter.

But here is the more important Dahliafied version:

Alison Cherry is an awesome person I’m privileged to get to see and sometimes freak out to about authorly things frequently. Her hair is real and great, her name is real and great, and her new book is called For Real and it is also great. (But seriously great – like, so much fun, great sisterly relationship, awesome settings, did not at any point want to put it down kind of great.) Alison’s got serious authorly range; on top of writing two completely different YAs, she also has MG coming out. Now I just need to figure out how to pull her to the NA dark side…

And now, here’s some info about her books!

The Published

A Little-Known Fact About Red: There’s an important scene in RED that takes place at a gourmet French fry restaurant called Fry Me to the Moon, and the first question nearly EVERY SINGLE READER asks is whether the restaurant is real. Sadly, it is not. Maybe I should retire as a writer and fix that?

A Sensory Image to Go With it: There’s an extremely annoying song in RED called “Red is the Color of My Heart;” my main character has to hear it over and over, and it drives her completely insane. It’s a jazzy Big Band number in the style of “Love You Madly” by Duke Ellington, but much, much sappier. The song isn’t real, but I know how it goes, and it is constantly getting stuck in my head. (It’s stuck in my head right now, actually.)

A Bonus Blog Post: A particularly comprehensive interview with Teen Lit Rocks, in which Alison discusses pageant moms, redheadedness, allegory, and what she read as a teen: http://teenlitrocks.com/2013/10/11/red-blog-tour-interview-with-alison-cherry/

Buy It! B&N * Indiebound * Amazon

*

A Little-Known Fact About For Real: There’s a scene in this book that I stole from the very first book I ever wrote, most of which is totally unpublishable and will never see the light of day. The scene originally took place in a girl’s bedroom in the Midwest. Now it takes place on a stage in India in front of hundreds of people, but the trajectory is exactly the same.

A Sensory Image to Go With It: One of the challenges on the reality show in FOR REAL involves painting an elephant, and I had a great time researching how to do it.

Buy it! B&N * Indiebound * Amazon

*

The Upcoming

GRANDMA JO’S GUIDE TO PRIM AND PROPER PILFERING (out spring 2016), which is about a twelve-year-old girl who discovers her grandmother’s “bridge club” is actually a heist ring.

Three things I researched while writing this book:

1) Can parrots sing Christmas carols?

2) How does lock-picking work?

3) How much does a taxidermy bear weigh?

LOOK BOTH WAYS (out November 2016), which is about musical theater and two girls walking the very fine line between obsessive, platonic friendship and romantic love. (Blogger’s Note: YES. THIS IS MY CRACK.)

This book includes the most awkward, uncomfortable scene I have ever written, and I ended up writing it in a coffee shop. I spent the entire time squirming, hiding my eyes, and looking around to make sure no strangers were reading over my shoulder.

And now, for the book pimping portion of our program, because this is my blog, after all:

Tell us about your critique partner and why their books are awesome!

I have a LOT of critique partners, and I could wax poetic about them forever. In the interest of not boring you all to death, I will pick three fabulous people to rave about:

1) Lindsay Ribar, author of The Art of Wishing and The Fourth Wish. Lindsay’s writing is, in a word, delightful. At first, she tricks you into thinking you’re just taking a fun, fluffy romp through an action-packed story full of genies and music and kissing. But then you finish reading and realize she has actually just made you confront all these important issues about identity and consent and gender, but she did it so seamlessly that you thought about all those things without even realizing it. (Blogger’s Note: This is a perfect assessment of both Lindsay’s books and why I’m obsessed with them.) I love having Lindsay read for me because she never lets me take the easy way out; if a scene is terrible or a plot point doesn’t make sense, she’ll always call me on it. Fortunately, she does it so gently and constructively that reading her notes never makes me feel defensive, just excited to work.

2) Corey Ann Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and Life by Committee. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to write contemporary YA when Corey exists in the world. When I read her writing, I want to underline every single sentence, then bang my head against the wall and throw my computer out of the window. Her writing is so specific and beautiful and true, and she’s able to cut right to the heart of an emotion like nobody else I know. I love having Corey read for me for the same reason—she tells me her entire emotional journey as she makes her way through my manuscripts, and it makes it so easy to see if I’ve struck the chords I intended to strike with my readers or if I’ve missed the mark altogether.

3) Caroline Carlson, author of Magic Marks the Spot and The Terror of the Southlands. First of all, Caroline’s books are absolutely hilarious, so if you want to laugh yourself silly, go pick them up now. Her writing is also so tight and polished and well-paced that I feel myself relaxing when I read it—I completely trust that she’s knows what she’s doing and that if I surrender to the story, it’ll take me somewhere amazing. (It always does.) When Caroline reads my manuscripts, she spouts these little gems of wisdom that I can apply to all my books for the rest of my life. One of the best things she ever told me is that the DNA of my entire book should be in the first chapter. Now I never write anything without thinking about that.

1-3 other books in your genre (Contemporary YA, for Alison) you love?

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell
THE DISENCHANTMENTS by Nina LaCour
JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta

1-3 other books not in your genre that you love?

GRACELING by Kristin Cashore
GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson
THE YEAR OF SHADOWS by Claire Legrand

Who are you repped by?

I’m repped by Holly Root at Waxman Leavell. She is THE BEST.

As a published author, what was something you learned through the process that was so not worth the stress?

No matter what I write, there will always be people who don’t like my books, and they will say so loudly and often on the internet. However, those reviews aren’t written for me, and I don’t have to engage with them or let them affect me. After many long hours of torturing myself by reading bad reviews, I instituted a punishment system for myself: if I google my own name, I am not allowed to have anything with sugar in it for the next 24 hours. This forces me to choose between having cookies and having a pity party, and obviously I choose cookies every time.

What was something that actually was?

When I turned in my first draft of FOR REAL, my editor basically said, “Mmmm, nope. Try again.” I literally deleted all but ten thousand words of the book and started again. It was unbelievably stressful, but she was totally right, and the finished book is a billion times better than what I initially gave her. Our words are not precious, and if they’re not serving the stories we’re trying to tell, they have to go.

What sorts of things do you shamelessly pass off as “research”?

Watching shows on ABC Family totally counts as research for a YA writer, right? RIGHT? (I also write every single book I buy off on my taxes, even if they have nothing to do with what I’m writing.)

What do you always wish people would ask you in interviews?

Lots of people have asked me when I knew I wanted to be a writer, but nobody has ever asked me WHY I write. The short answer is that I used to work as a lighting designer for theater, and a brilliant director once told me that as an artist, it’s my responsibility to show people how I see the world. This is my way of doing that.

Since this is actually part of Alison’s official blog tour, Random House has generally offered to give away a copy of For Real! To enter to win, just comment below with the coolest thing you’ve ever done on a trip, and we’ll announce a winner on Monday, December 22, at noon EST!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Fall 2013 TBR List

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Dahlia Adler in Books, YA Lit

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Alison Cherry, All of You, Barbara Stewart, Cherry Money Baby, Christa Desir, Christina Lee, Cora Carmack, Fault Line, Finding It, Jessica Martinez, John M. Cusick, Josin L. McQuein, Mindy McGinnis, Not a Drop to Drink, Olivia Twisted, One & Only, Premeditated, Reclaimed, Red, Roomies, Sara Zarr, Sarah Guillory, Simone Elkeles, Tara Altebrando, The In-Between, The Vow, Top Ten Tuesday, Trish Doller, Viv Daniels, Vivi Barnes, Where the Stars Still Shine, Wild Cards

Time for another Top Ten Tuesday post, courtesy of the fab ladies at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s post is Top Ten Books on my Fall 2013 TBR list, so, without further ado, here’s mine!

1. FAULT LINE by Christa Desir (10/15/13) – I’ve been dying for this book since pretty much the second I knew it existed, so this one’s a definite no-brainer. Christa’s a fantastic writer-person who also tirelessly advocates for rape victims, and I can’t even imagine a more qualified person to write this book.

2. WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller (9/24/13) – As soon as I finished SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL, I knew I would hunt down Trish’s next book like a rabid dog. Fortunately, not much longer to wait!

3. OLIVIA TWISTED by Vivi Barnes (11/5/13) – I’ve already pre-ordered this badass-looking contemporary retelling of OLIVER TWIST; can’t wait to have it in my hands!

4. RED by Alison Cherry (10/8/13) – Been looking forward to this one for a lonnng time. Small towns, satire, and fiery hair? Wins all around!

5. ROOMIES by Tara Altebrando and Sara Zarr (12/3/13) – One of my favorite mostly-under-the-radar authors (seriously, read THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS if you haven’t yet) combines with one of my auto-buy authors to write a dual-POV book about friendship on the high school-college cusp. (Sound like anything I may have written recently?) In this one, though, the friends are brand-new and have never met, the friendship is epistolary, and they’ve already been slated college roommates. So, yes, obvious choice for my TBR!

6. FINDING IT by Cora Carmack (10/1/13) – This series is just plain fun, and has gotten me through many a long subway ride. (OK, maybe not many, because they’re superfast reads, but still.) Looking forward to the next installment!

7. NOT A DROP TO DRINK by Mindy McGinnis (9/24/13) – Not my usual genre, but I’m so in love with the premise, the promise of a badass heroine, and the cover that I couldn’t resist if I wanted to.

8. CHERRY MONEY BABY by John M. Cusick (9/10/13) – Even if the author didn’t happen to double as agent to my beautiful CP Gina, I’d be clamoring for this book that combines big Hollywood with small-town USA, which, for anyone following my own books, just happen to be a few of my favorite things!

9. THE IN-BETWEEN by Barbara Stewart (11/5/13) – It’s embarrassing that I have an ARC of this and still haven’t read it yet because it sounds so freaking badass. I must rectify that immediately!

10. PREMEDITATED by Josin L. McQuein (10/8/13) – Let’s be real: if you worked on your query letter sometime in the last 2-3 years, this is probably on your TBR too.

And here are a few more as a bonus, because I’ve already read these fabulous books in ARC or manuscript form as either a fan or copy editor, but they’re coming out this fall, and I was dying to read them before I got to, so shouldn’t they count?? Of course they should!

ONE & ONLY by Viv Daniels (11/8/13) – I love NA, but was getting a little tired of seeing the same tropes over and over, especially the Alpha male/artsy girl combo. Enter Dylan and Tess, my new favorite sexy science-loving duo… and probably yours too, come November.

RECLAIMED by Sarah Guillory (10/15/13) – I can’t wait for everyone else to experience Sarah’s gorgeous writing. As I was reading it I was dying to tweet stellar line after stellar line. And I have to admit that I totally thought I’d nailed all the twists and turns… but alas, there was always another up ahead!

ALL OF YOU by Christina Lee (9/17/13) – Another NA that turns the “bad boy” thing on its head… by giving us a virgin LI who is actually a nice guy. BOUT DAMN TIME. (Oh, and he’s absurdly hot. Did I mention that?) Bennett Reynolds is definitely one of my favorite NA boys!

THE VOW by Jessica Martinez (10/15/13) – I loved her debut, VIRTUOSITY, and I love the really unusual-for-YA premise of this one. I also love that it’s about a guy-girl friendship that really is just a friendship, because I had a whole lot of those as a teen and wish I saw more of them! And you can read about whether or not this book is for you in this guest post on my blog by the author herself 😉

WILD CARDS by Simone Elkeles (10/1/13) – Simone Elkeles writes damn hot dual POV romances, and WILD CARDS stood right up there with PERFECT CHEMISTRY for me. Certainly if you liked CATCHING JORDAN, this is not to be missed.

What’s on your fall TBR??

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Dahlia Adler

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