Played by Liz Fichera

Played {Book Two} by Liz Fichera
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: May 27, 2014
Number of Pages: 352
Genre: Young Adult
Source: borrowed from local library

Summary {via GoodReads}:
This Game Is Getting All Too Real

He said: I like to keep under the radar and mostly hang out with my friends from the rez. But when I saved Riley Berenger from falling off a mountain, that rich suburban princess decided to try and save me.

She said: If I can help Sam Tracy win the heart of the girl he can't get over, I'll pay him back for helping me. I promised him I would, no matter what it takes.

She thinks: I wanted to read this book. Hardcore. I kept passing by it on the shelf at work but wouldn't let myself check it out, telling myself that I had enough books of my own already to read. Finally, I succumbed to curiosity and checked it out. And, honestly, I'm a little disappointed. It could have been so much more than what it is.

The characters lacked motivation. Riley Berenger has a breakdown of sorts...but I don't understand why. I get that she's a goody two-shoes and is supposed to be perfect 24/7, but what sends her over the edge? What was the final tipping point? Maybe it's just me, and I missed that part of the book. And, then there's Sam Tracy. Why does he hate Jay Hawkins? I kept waiting for some profound revelation...but...nothing.

The scenarios they got themselves into seems a little far fetched too. Being rescued in a helicopter from the side of a mountain? Running away? Car accident? I felt like I got whiplash from all the different disasters that followed the two around wherever they went. Maybe they need to live in a bubble instead...?

I will say that the book helped me get out of my reading funk. I hadn't read in over a week when I picked this one up! So, yay for that?

See what others are saying about Played  by Liz Fichera:

• Aimee @ Deadly Darlings
• Nichole @ YA Reads
• Estelle @ Rather Be Reading
• Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books
• Kezia @ Chapteriosity

Love by Numbers by Sara Donovan

Love by Numbers by Sara Donovan
Publisher: AUS Impulse
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: eARC via NetGalley

Summary {via GoodReads}:
What if there was a scientific 7-step formula that triggered your heart into feeling passion?

Would you follow it to fall in love with your "nice guy" bestie - the sensible choice who was actually available?

Set in the glittering north shore of Sydney, Love by Numbers follows the story of April, a successful HR executive who is in the middle of a serious man drought. To deal with her boredom, she fantasies more than she should about her hot, but uninterested-to-say-the-least office crush, Ryan. When April finally gets Ryan to drinks one night and she watches him fall for her flirtatious house-mate, April decides never again to trust her instinctual "man-picker." Her only solution is to rewire her brain and create passion with the one guy she knows she can trust.

This is a story about how far you can go to control your heart's choices, and what happens when you try.

She thinks: This book was very disappointing. It wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be when I first requested it. I'm not sure if I was distracted by the cover or what happened, but I didn't enjoy the book.

It started out good. I liked how the characters were introduced. I liked how it ended...sort of. Not everything that happened in the book was resolved. And the middle of the book was a jumble of thoughts that seemed thrown together. Like, let's put a cliche scene here then some introspective-ness then a scene with parents that has nothing to do with the plot and - oh! - let's put another cliche in here. Make sense? Yeah, me neither, but that's how the book felt.

I wish I could recommend this to others, but I don't think it would be worth the time and effort put into reading it. Someone needs to take a red pen to this book and help it make sense. There are too many unimportant characters thrown into the plot that just need to go. It would make the book so much better.

Love, Lies, and Lemon Cake by Sue Watson

Love, Lies, and Lemon Cake by Sue Watson
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: June 27, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: eARC via NetGalley

Summary {via NetGalley}: 
Faye Dobson has lost her sparkle.

Living on film star fantasies and vague memories of a marriage that once was, she can't help feeling that life is passing her by. She dreams of being whisked to Paris for dinner, making three wishes at Trevi fountain and having sex under the stars. But the wrinkles are multiplying, her husband's passion is for plumbing, and the nearest she'll get to Rome is take-away pizza.

So when Faye meets Dan the gorgeous Australian surfer guy working in the local deli she can't help but wonder what it would be like to see the world. He is blonde, tanned, ten years younger, and bakes the most amazing lemon cake. Unlike her husband, Dan actually listens to Faye, his smile makes her feel fizzy inside, and when he smiles...Oh. My. God.

But is Faye being silly? What would Dan see in someone like her? Even if he did have feelings for her, could she give up everything to be with him?

She thinks: I don't even remember why I picked this book up. Maybe because it talked about cake and I quite possibly was craving some at the time? That's got to be it because I only got five chapters in before I abandoned this book. Faye, the main character, was too whiney for my taste. The entire part of the book that I read felt like a giant complaint. I mean, I get that some people aren't happy with their lives, but I don't want to read about that if all you're going to do is complain the whole time. I have enough of my own problems; I don't need yours too. I might pick this book up again one day, but it's just not for me right now.