Book Review: Swinging at Love (Suttonville Sentinels #2) by Kendra C. Highley

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: March 13, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Crush
240 Pages


Outfielder Tristan Murrell has a problem. As the number two slugger for the Suttonville Sentinels, his team is counting on him to make their very first run at the state championship. But he has a secret—his swing has totally deserted him. As in, he can’t hit anything. He needs to fix the issue, and fast, but how?
Ballerina Alyssa Kaplan has a problem, too. The shiny new sports complex in town has left her family’s batting cage business on the verge of going under. Nailing her audition for a prestigious dance company is everything, but there’s no way she’s letting her some shiny big-box company destroy her family’s livelihood.
Tristan needs a miracle. So does Alyssa. And maybe, just maybe, Tristan’s secret weapon might be the girl of his dreams...
Disclaimer: This book contains hot, shirtless baseball players, kisses that bring a ballerina to her knees, and a lot of baseball smack-talk.

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Oh man, I had a lot of issues with this one. 

 

Alyssa works for her father at his currently failing sports complex, Swing Away. Failing largely in part to the brand new sparkling chain competitor who just took up residence in town. On top of worrying about her father having to shut down, she's also freaking out about an important dance camp audition coming up. A camp that costs money - money she would gladly give to her father to help with the business.

 

Tristan has lost his mojo. Once one of the star hitters on the Suttonville Sentinels, something is now causing him to swing at air. Not wanting to let his teammates see him fail, he heads away from the shiny new batting cages where someone from the team might see him and finds himself at Swing Away. Here he meets Alyssa as she critiques his batting style while offering up tips to help - which, to Tristan's pleasure, work. 

 

This is a love story where two high school students meet and fall in love. Like immediately. Not even joking. This is a quote from their first non-date not long after his visit to Swing Away. But first, let me set the scene: Tristan asks to buy Alyssa Starbucks after work. She says yes then meets him at the baseball field where he's waiting with coffee and a blanket. They then proceed to sit under the stars while Tristan wows her with his knowledge of the stars. Alyssa asks him if he wants to wish on one. And here's the quote:

"You make a wish. Mine already came true."

 

You have literally had like two conversations together. Just no.

 

The insta-love was only one of the problems I had with this book. I've read Highley before but I don't remember them being this weighed down with unnecessary drama. It was literally one dramatic thing after another. On top of Tristan's batting fails, once him and Alyssa are all swoony for each other they hit a major roadblock. You see, Tristan's best friend has been crushing on Alyssa and Alyssa's best friend has been crushing on Tristan. Yeah, you read that right. But instead of being honest with their BEST FRIENDS, they lie. Well, obviously they get caught and cue drama! It was like a whole season of One Tree Hill in one 240 page book.

 

 

Sports, love triangles (or was it actually a square?), secrets, lies...  I just could not get into this one. The ending itself was cutesy, if not a little far fetched, but it just wasn't enough to save it for me.

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

 

Blog Tour: Defying Gravity (Finding Perfect #2) by Kendra C. Highley

I am happy to be a part of the Defying Gravity blog tour today! If you like sugary sweet teen love stories with a little angst thrown in then this book might just be for you. Also, be sure to check out the awesome giveaway below!

The blurb as see on Goodreads:
Release Date: July 25, 2016
Publisher: Entangled: Crush
191 Pages

Disclaimer: This book contains enough sexual tension to melt snow, the hottest near-kiss in the history of near-kisses, and a sexy snowboarder determined to win the heart of the girl he loves.

Zoey Miller lives for her holidays in Aspen. Her time up on the mountain with the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke, is everything. But for the first time, it’s not enough. This time, she’s determined to win one of the brothers’ hearts.

But the brother she has in mind is a renowned player, with hordes of snow-bunnies following him around Snowmass resort. And the other…well, he’s her best friend and knows she deserves better. Namely him. And he’s going to win her heart.

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Enter to Win the Defying Gravity Prize Pack!

Zoey Miller lives two lives. Back home she's super put together, super popular, class president, all-round Miss Perfect. But every winter vacation she comes back to Aspen and it's here Zoey lets out the person she really is - the laid back, sporty girl who just wants to hang with her two best friends, Parker and Luke - brothers, who have known Zoey since they were infants. However, this year something changed. Zoey comes to Aspen with a plan - make Luke notice her in a more than friend sort of way. The only problem with that is Parker has the exact same plan for Zoey.

Yup, this book has a love triangle: 2 brothers and a girl.

Overall, I found this book adorable. Zoey, for the most part, is likeable. She's fun, sweet, cares about her friends and is trying to figure out where her future lies outside of high school and this bubble that she's created. The Zoey I didn't like so much was the fake one that surrounded Luke. For someone who spends most of the book complaining about having to be someone she's not back home and how those people only like one side of her, she certainly becomes the perfect little snow bunny just following Luke around. It really didn't make sense as to why she would fall so hard for the superficial shallow brother knowing what we know about her.

The brothers were like night and day. Luke, as I said before, was full of himself, rude, and just not a nice guy. Can you tell I didn't like Luke? The only reason her pursues Zoey is because he wants to beat Parker at everything. (How Zoey doesn't see through his charade is beyond me.) Then there's Parker. Sweet, adorable, Parker. He's been in love with Zoey for years and when he decides to make his move, suddenly she's chasing his brother. I felt really bad for him but at the same time, I wanted him to man up and tell her what was going on.

These books are just like candy. Short and sweet following the formula we all know. Despite this being set in the winter, it's a perfect read for day at the beach. And I dare you not to fall for Parker. Another plus, even though it's a series, you don't necessarily have to read them in order to understand the plot. Each book is it's own. Also, side note, I want to learn how to snowboard now.

Thank you to Entangled Teen for allowing me to take part in this blog tour and for providing an e-copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Cover Reveal: Defying Gravity (Finding Perfect #2) by Kendra C Highley

Let us know what you think of the cover for Defying Gravity (Finding Perfect, #2) by Kendra C. Highley!

Defying Gravity releases on July 25, 2016

Before you check out the cover, why not read this swoony excerpt from Parker Madison's perspective:

The crowd at the entrance started doing strange things. For one, it parted like the sea before Moses. For another, guys stopped dead in their tracks…and those who didn’t stop ran into walls or tripped over their own feet. The women and girls around these guys started rolling their eyes, some good-natured, some not so much.

Parker’s heart hammered like a drunk carpenter had taken over his pulse.

Zoey was on the mountain.

She breezed through the crowd in a lime-green ski suit, her snowboard resting against her shoulder. Blond hair streamed out behind her under the hot pink knit cap she’d been wearing since they were kids, and her cheeks were flushed with the cold. Her smile could stop traffic…no, really, it had stopped traffic. The sudden loss of coordination among the men near the entrance was proof.

He could only imagine what her real smile—the one she only gave him—could do.

Wait. No. He didn’t want her smiling at any other guys that way.

She searched the crowd, oblivious as always to the way people stared, and Parker waved. Laughing, she barreled straight at him, tossing her snowboard to the side, before knocking him into a snow drift. They landed in a clatter of boots, boards, and limbs, with her on top.

Her grin lit up the world. “Parker Madison! How the hell are you?”

His entire body went supernova hot. He could feel every inch of her, despite the layers of ski clothes separating them. Jesus. He choked back a groan and tried to think of anything other than how perfectly they fit together. If she felt how his body responded to her…

No, not happening.

He sighed heavily and brushed melting snow from her cheek. “How am I? Well, Miller, I’m bored.” Lie. So much lying. Whole mountains of lie.

“Bored?” She blinked at him. “I’m not that late.”

He pretended to scowl at her, enjoying the close-up look at her baby-blues. Huh, was she wearing mascara? Since when did she wear makeup on the mountain? Not that he was complaining—she looked amazing. “Zoey, two ages of the universe passed by while I’ve been waiting for you. Maybe even three.”

“Is that so?” She smiled again and tugged on his cap. “I missed you.”

There’s the smile he’d been waiting for. His mouth went dry and he had to swallow a few times before he could speak. Maybe he should just kiss her instead. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

And now the moment you've been waiting for...

About Defying Gravity:

Disclaimer: This book contains enough sexual tension to melt snow, the hottest near-kiss in the history of near-kisses, and a sexy snowboarder determined to win the heart of the girl he loves. Zoey Miller lives for her holidays in Aspen. Her time up on the mountain with the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke, is everything. But for the first time, it’s not enough. This time, she’s determined to win one of the brothers’ hearts. But the brother she has in mind is a renowned player, with hordes of snow-bunnies following him around Snowmass resort. And the other…well, he’s her best friend and knows she deserves better. Namely him. And he’s going to win her heart.

About Kendra C. Highley:

Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to four self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most important job. She believes in everyday magic, extraordinary love stories, and the restorative powers of dark chocolate.

Want to Read More? Pre-order Defying Gravity Today!

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Book Release Blitz + Giveaway: Finding Perfect by Kendra C. Highley

I am super excited to be joining Xpresso Book Tours on their book blitz of Finding Perfect by Kendra C. Highley. This is the first title I will have read from Highley, but the cover and the description have my interest peaked!

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: September 14, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Crush
199 Pages 

How far will you go for perfection?

For "Perfect Paige" Westfeld, today is "D" Day. As in, she just got one on her calculus test. With her dreams of Stanford, her reputation, and her parents' expectations at stake, Paige needs to find a way to save face before everything she's worked for goes up in flames.

Ben Franklin (yes, he's related) is from the wrong side of town, with the wrong clothes and the wrong kind of life. He also knows an opportunity when he sees one, and he'll be happy to tutor Paige-if she makes him into the kind of guy her best friend, the hottest girl in school, will date.

It's the perfect arrangement. And Paige is determined not even the inconvenient-and utterly imperfect-attraction simmering between her and Ben will ruin it... 

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a Rafflecopter giveaway  

The Songs of Finding Perfect

I’m one of those writers who has to have music in order to write. But it’s more than that—I have to have a playlist, specific to each book, complete with songs that the major characters. The playlist for this book was really important: Paige is all about her music, and Ben loves it, too. I needed songs that pointed to who they were, inside and out. So what did I listen to? Here’s fifteen songs from the list:

1. “Demons” by Imagine Dragons

2. “Radioactive” cover (Imagine Dragons) by William Joseph

3.  “Here With Me” by Susie Suh and Robert Koch

4. “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay

6. “I Lived” by One Republic

7. “Stolen Dance” by Milky Chance

8. “Love Love Love” by Of Monsters and Men

9. “Wrapped Around Your Finger” by The Police

10. “Every Breaking Wave” by U2

11. “Heartlines” by Florence + Machine

12. “Iridescent” by Linkin Park

13. “Stay” by Rihanna (feat. Mikky Ekko)

14. “Fix You” by Coldplay

15. “With or Without You” by U2

“So why are we doing this again?” he called.

Even though he had no idea what she had in mind for this little stage play, he’d gone along with good humor. Hell, he was even washing her car for real. Which was funny because a clean car was beside the point in this plan.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing and all will become crystal clear.”

He gave her a long, weird look, then shrugged and went back to work. Paige joined him but spent part of her time focused on the street corner. Any minute now…

“Your tires are low,” Ben said, peeking at her around the front bumper. “If you have an air compressor, I could air them up for you.”

She propped her fist on her hip. “Does this look like the kind of house that keeps an air compressor on hand?”

He made a face, then laughed. “No, this looks like the kind of house where they call the dealership for help.”

“Exactly.”

They worked in silence until—there! Paige snapped to get his attention just as Zoey turned onto her street. Ben looked at her, and from the startled expression, she knew she was going to have to coach him through every second of this close encounter.

She gave him a stern look. “Take off your shirt.”

His already flushed face turned a deeper shade of red. “What? No way!”

Zoey had pulled up to the curb, and the BMW idled while she dipped out of view, probably to grab her purse. They only had a few seconds, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Paige stalked over to the hose and, under the guise of washing the suds off her car, “accidentally” sprayed Ben right in the chest.

His eyes popped wide open as he stared down at his soaked shirt. “Why?” he growled under his breath.

“Off,” Paige growled back, then turned to greet Zoey. “Hey! Thanks for letting me borrow your dress for the party next weekend.”

Zoey handed her a dress bag, looking at something beyond Paige’s left shoulder. “Yeah, sure.”

Zoey didn’t say anything else, and Paige hazarded a look behind her. As ordered, Ben had stripped off his shirt and oh…my…God.

Okay, so she had guessed he had nice shoulders under those T-shirts after all the work at the tire store, and she’d definitely copped a feel when they’d cuddled on the back porch, but she couldn’t have known he was that ripped. He was lean—leaner than most of the football players anyway—but he made the most of what he had, from the tight biceps and defined pecs, right down to the hard, flat stomach and the tantalizing trail of light brown hair running from his navel into the waistband of his shorts…which, oh hell, were riding low on his hips.

She didn’t want to blink so she could keep staring. Jesus.

Doing a great job of pretending he didn’t notice them hanging on his every move, he reached across the top of the Mustang to soap up the roof. He was a quick study, for sure, stretching in ways that showed off his arms and shoulders. Then he walked over to the bucket and very deliberately bent down to soak the sponge. She might need to sit down. His back was just as good as his front.

She’d created a monster. A very hot, slightly wet monster.

________________________

 

Big thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour!