ARC Review: Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas (Creative Hearts #6) by Emily McKay

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: February 13, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Teen
185 Pages

Falling in love with the best man wasn’t on the program.

Willa is happy to be the maid of honor in her dad’s upcoming wedding to uber-celeb Mia McCain. Not as happy about the best man being her soon-to-be stepbrother, the infuriating—and infuriatingly gorgeous—Finn McCain. Every time their paths cross, the attraction simmering between them grows a little harder to ignore. Willa knows all about guys like Finn—they only want what they can’t have. What’s between them isn’t real.

Finn has never felt anything more real than what’s developing between him and Willa. Sure, her dad warned him to steer clear, but it’s not just about forbidden temptation. He’s determined to prove to Willa he’s not going anywhere—and that happily-ever-after will always be worth the risk.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains a wedding so crazy it’ll make you laugh, a stepbrother so hot he’ll make you swoon, and a heroine so real she’ll make you cry.

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Of all the girls in Austin, why did he want the one he could never have?

We first met Willa and Finn in the second book of the Creative Hearts series, How Willa Got Her Groove Back. Back then, Willa had just found out that her father was marrying Mia McCain - the hottest actress in Hollywood. Aside from getting a new stepmom, she's also getting a new step-brother, Finn. While neither of them are happy about their parents upcoming nuptials, Finn has a little more push to seem happy about it - early access to his trust fund. All he has to do is get Willa on board. How Willa Got Her Groove Back didn't really end with any closure so I'm very happy these two popped up again.

The wedding is on and coming up quickly. Mia had meticulously planned out every spare second of time and Willa and Finn find themselves thrown together for many of the prewedding activities. This would be fine and all if how they felt toward each other wasn't more than friendship. So while trying to deny their feelings, Willa throws herself into her current relationship with her high school dreamboat and Finn, well, Finn broods.

However, I think I will just always continue to be super disappointed in Willa's dad. For someone who was supposed to be super close to his daughter, he does a horrible job of helping her transition into her new life. It's almost like he literally just forgets he has a daughter. I get being wrapped up in love, but your a grown ass man with a child. Act like it.

This was such a short book but it was super cute. The positions the two of them find themselves in always had me laughing  and I found myself rooting for Willa to dump her boyfriend and jump on Finn. I haven't read all of the books in the Creative Hearts series, but it was nice to see characters from the ones I had read show up here. 

 

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

ARC Review: The Secret Life of a Dream Girl (Creative Hearts #4) by Tracy Deebs

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: June 27, 2016
Publisher: Entangled Teen
219 Pages

Hiding in plain sight is harder than it looks…

Dahlia Greene—aka international pop superstar Cherry—is undercover as a normal high school student. She just wants to experience what real life is like, so when she overhears hottie Keegan Matthews nervously talking about liking a girl, she sees the perfect opportunity to live a real life and play a little matchmaker. What was not part of the plan was falling for a guy she can never tell the truth.

Keegan Matthews has been secretly crushing on Dahlia ever since she started at his school. Sure, Dahlia thinks he’s crushing on some other girl—not realizing his Dream Girl is actually her—but he figures, play along with her tips to woo someone else, let her get to know him, and then make his move. But with so many secrets in the mix, their romance is doomed from the start…

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In a story very reminiscent of Hannah Montana, Secret Life of a Dream Girl tells the tale of pop sensation Cherry trying to live under the radar as a normal high school student at a school for the arts in Austin, TX. Unlike Miss Montana, Cherry – or Dahlia, as she goes by now – wants to leave the pop world behind and take control of her own music. This is something her father/manager doesn’t want. In order to get away from his rule, Dahlia chooses to become emancipated from her father. Something the court will only agree to if she can stay out of trouble and prove she can handle her fame/money/life herself. Her goal was simple: keep to herself while figuring out where she wants to go next. What she didn’t count on was Keegan Matthews.

Keegan has been crushing on Dahlia since she first walked through the doors of NextGen. When Dahlia overhears Keegan talking about some mysterious girl he has a crush on, she decides in order to get the complete high school experience she needs friends. And what’s more friend inducing than helping someone land their crush? So Dahlia offers up her services to Keegan who basically thinks he’s hit the jackpot and instantly takes her up on her offer.

Obviously, nothing can go wrong, right? Well, this wouldn’t be a high school drama without some drama. Dahlia starts to fall for Keegan not realizing she’s who he wants. Keegan slips further and further into this lie about a dream girl that he doesn’t know how to come clean. And then there’s Dahlia’s true identity. Should she tell him? Should she not? 

Even though this is book four in the series, this is only the second one I’ve read. They are mostly a companion series, meaning you don’t actually have to read each book for it to make sense. It helps knowing the background of some characters, and it was nice seeing ones that I remembered, but it’s not at all necessary to enjoy them. And I did enjoy this one. I felt for Dahlia and her struggles to do what she wanted. Despite being a singer, no one was letting her have a voice. And then there was Keegan, who’s home life was also falling apart but in a way completely opposite of Dahlia. 

This is the story of two different people, from completely different walks of life, finding solace and strength in each other at a time when figuring out who you are and what you want is weighing heavily on your shoulders. I am very interested in what happens next with these two and will be keeping my eye out for their next story.

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.