I have three book reviews coming very soon:

Keep an eye out for them in the next couple of days! I will also post the June 2007 books shortly.

Here is a full review for the entire 3-book series entitled “Fast Girls, Hot Boys” written by Kylie Adams:

Let me start out by saying this was - by far - one of the BEST mini-series (teen or otherwise!) I have ever read. If you like series like “Gossip Girls” and/or “The Au Pairs”, you will absolutely adore these books. There is a sinfully delicious combination of rich, glamorous girls, cute boys, secrets, jealousies, friendships, danger and even murder within the pages of these novels.

Book one, which is Cruel Summer, introduces the key characters. There is the rich, beautiful Vanity St. John, who has it all but never enough to feel happy. There is Max Biaggi, another rich, overprivileged kid who likes to party hard. There is Christina Perez, who has a secret that she does NOT want her mother to find out about. There is Pippa Keith, a heartbreakingly gorgeous British girl who never seems to have any money. And lastly there is Dante Medina, who has a dream to make waves in the hip-hop world, but in the meantime teaches rich children how to swim for extra cash. All five of these friends attend the Miami Academy for Creative and Performing Arts. They are all destined for greatness.

But by the end of senior year, there will only be four of them, because one of them will die. (This is made clear from the very first chapter). But who? And why? The three books delve deeply into the characters’ lives, thoughts, dreams, fears and disappointments.

As I mentioned above, this was one of the best series I have ever read. There was something for everyone - enough bling and designer label-dropping to satisfying the fashionistas; plenty of romance, jealousy and heartbreak to satisfy the romance junkies; lots of friendship up and downs, and best of all, lots of mystery and suspense.

I really wish this series continued longer - it blows “Gossip Girls” right out of the water in character depth and plot lines.

Overall, I cannot recommend this series highly enough - go out and grab yourself the first book at least to see if you like it! (I guarantee you will end up getting the other 2 books later).

Reviewed by Rian
5/5 Stars

Here are several of the new April and May 2007 teen chick lit releases. Have you read any of them yet?

Titles (in same order as above):

• Perfect Girl by Mary Hogan
• Boy Shopping by Nia Stephens
• Learning to Swim by Cheryl Klam
• Fringe Girl in Love by Valerie Frankel
• Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot
• Don’t You Forget About Me by Cecily von Ziegesar
• Starlet by Randi Reisfeld
• Lulu Dark and the Summer of the Fox by Bennett Madison
• Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder
• Girls in Development by Jordan Roter
• Brunettes Strike Back by Kieran Scott
• Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund
• He’s With Me by Tamara Summers
• Bittersweet Sixteen by Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman
• Played by Dana Davidson
• The Perfect Boy by Hailey Abbott
• Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
• Things You Either Hate or Love by Brigid Lowry
• The Book of Luke by Jenny O’Connell
• Competition’s a Witch by Kelly McClymer
• It Chicks by Tia Williams, Tk
• Bass Ackwards and Belly Up by by Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain
• Confessions by Kate Brian
• Foreign Exposure: The Social Climber Abroad by Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser

Flawless
by Sara Shepard
A “Pretty Little Liars” novel
Buy From Amazon.com

I was very eager for this book to be released, especially since I loved the first one so much. The Pretty Little Liars series has so far been very suspenseful with plenty of bad behavior and uncertainty to keep everyone guessing as to what will happen next. Flawless was not quite as good as the first novel in my opinion, but it still kept me up all night reading.

In order to fully understand both this review and the book itself, you should read the first novel in the series. Flawless starts us off by first taking us into the past where we learn about the “The Jenna Thing”. Then it immediately picks up exactly where book #1 dropped us off - at Alison’s funeral right after everyone gets a text message from “A” stating that she/he is still here and still knows everything. It’s been determined that Alison is dead, so she can’t be sending them messages. So who is it, exactly?

In this novel, the four girls get themselves into even more trouble. Aria, who still pines for her teacher, gets mixed up in her father’s affair with Meredith. Spencer decides to see her sister’s ex-boyfriend again. After all, her family and sister are extremely mad at her, plus she gets cut off from her credit cards, so she figures she has little left to lose. Hanna becomes even more obsessed with her weight and appearance and also gets in trouble for the stunt she pulled in the last novel. Lastly, Emily has a crush on her new best friend, but is too confused and scared to do anything about it. To top it all off, one of the people that the girls all suspect to be “A” dies.

But the “A” person continues to harass, threaten and embarrass them with emails and text-messages, driving all of the girls to the point of near insanity. Instead of confiding in each other about them, they are unfortunately driven apart because they each have a dirty secret that “A” apparently knows, but nobody else does. Will they ever find out who “A” is and be forced to reveal their secrets?

I enjoyed this book immensely, but not as much as the first simply because I started to wonder why the girls didn’t try harder to find out who “A” is. I mean, texts and emails are pretty traceable. Also, the books are a little unrealistic. How is it possible that this “A” person be present everywhere all the time without being spotted?

Other than those things, however, this was a great read and I am eagerly awaiting the third book in the series. I recommend this book to fans of the first - just don’t start it late before going to bed or you will be up all night!

reviewed by Rian
4/5 Stars

Don’t You Forget About Me
by Cecily von Ziegesar
A Gossip Girl novel
Buy From Amazon.com

The Gossip Girls series has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while, although lately I have become a little tired of the story line and characters. The characters seem to go through the same things over and over. Not to mention, there is so much designer label name-dropping throughout the story that there is barely a plot to begin with. But overall this series has been an enjoyable, naughty treat, with this latest one being no exception.

Don’t You Forget About Me generally concludes the stories of the five main characters: Serena, Blair, Nate, Dan and Vanessa. Serena, who becomes a movie star overnight, can’t decide if she should stay in NYC and shoot the squeal to her hit movie, or go to Yale with Nate and Blair. At the same time, she fights her feelings of love for Nate. Nate meanwhile realizes he is in love with both Serena and Blair and can’t choose between them. Unbeknownst to Blair, he also discovers that he will need to return to high school.

Blair happily plans her and Nate’s future at Yale while getting upset over the fact that Nate is becoming more and more distant. Her family also drops a major bomb on her when they announce they are moving to Los Angeles. Dan meanwhile struggles with his “coming out” to his family friends, with the help of his mother, who flies in from Europe to throw him a coming out party. But he’s beginning to wonder why he is still attracted to Vanessa if he’s supposed to be gay. Lastly, Vanessa pines away for Dan and helps her sister with her upcoming nuptials.

This was a solid read that managed to wrap up this particular group of stories, with plenty of twists and turns along the way and a surprising outcome. The only downfall of this story was Dan’s particular story line, which seemed extremely drawn out and boring this time around. It took him an entire novel to figure out what we basically knew in the first chapter. But other than that, I highly recommend this book to all Gossip Girl fans - you have to read this in order to find out what happens to your favorite characters!

Reviewed by Rian
4/5 Stars

Bras and Broomsticks
by Sarah Mlynowski
Buy From Amazon.com

I was excited when I heard Sarah Mlynowski had written a teen chick lit/fantasy book - especially since she is one of my favorite chick lit authors!

Meet Rachel. She is 14, unpopular and and suffering from the usual teenage angst. That all changes one day when she discovers that her younger sister Miri is a witch. Yes, a witch. Apparently it was passed down from their mother. While Rachel wonders why she didn’t inherit her mother’s powers, she knows that she can convince Miri to help her cast spells to help her out. (Behind their mother’s back, of course). For instance, there is a freshman fashion show coming up. Rachel knew if she got chosen to be in it, she’d become popular and get invited to the A-list parties. Too bad that normally she couldn’t dance to save her own life.

Although the girls’ mother warns Miri not to use her powers until she is fully trained in them, under Rachel’s begging and pleading, Miri begins doing some small spells to help out. First it’s just to help Rachel become a dancer. Then there is the zit-away concoction. Then the girls decide to try and break up their father’s soon-to-be-wedding with a woman they feel is horrible and two-faced. Meanwhile Rachel is ecstatic with her newfound popularity - not only did she get chosen to be in the freshman fashion show as a dancer, but she suddenly is dating one of the most handsome boys in school, and the A-list is inviting her to parties.

But after a few disasters and spells-gone-wrong, the girls realize they might be in over their heads. Maybe their mother was right. Will Rachel end up losing her new popularity and best friend? Will she make a complete fool of herself in front of the school? Will the girls’ dad end up making the biggest mistake of his life? Find out this and more by reading this delightful novel.

This book was a wonderful read. It has all of the ingredients you could ever want in a teen fantasy chick lit novel: family angst, friendship and popularity dilemmas, crushes, parties, magic, and more. Mlynowski’s trademark wit, warmth, and addictive storytelling come through in this book stronger than ever. Reading her novels is usually like having your best friend confide juicy secrets to you, but even better - and Bras and Broomsticks is no exception! The characters and dialogue are realistic, and the plot is original and absorbing.

I highly recommend Bras and Broomsticks to all chick lit and fantasy fans of all ages. Adult readers will forget they are reading a teen novel as they get lost in the pages of this book, and teen readers will be delighted. Harry Potter, move over - there is a new preteen with superpowers in town!

Reviewed by Rian
5/5 Stars