Month: February 2014

BLOG TOUR: REVIEW – THAT ONE SUMMER by C.J. Duggan

Posted February 26, 2014 by Emma in Blog / 7 Comments

Today I am very pleased to be a part of the blog tour for That One Summer through YA Bound Book Tours. I have positively enjoyed her previous books The Boys of Summer, which you can find me review here, and An Endless Summer, where you can find here. I can tell you that she doesn’t disappoint in this one. My stop today is a review, be sure to visit other in the tour through her the tour schedule, here

That One Summer (Summer #3)
by C.J. Duggan
Release Date – 17/12/2013
Buy – The Series

Loving Chris Henderson would be wrong. Diabolically disastrous. I mean, what is there about him to love? He’s moody, bossy, brooding, a control freak, and that’s on a good day … but there was one achingly obvious fact that haunted my every thought, every minute of every day …

He sure could kiss.

As the countdown to the new millennium begins, there is one thing everyone agrees on: no one wants to be in Onslow for New Year’s Eve.

So that can only mean one thing: road trip!

No longer the mousey, invisible, shy girl from years ago, Tammy Maskala is finally making up for all those lost summers. A new year with new friends, which astoundingly includes the bossy boy behind the bar, Chris Henderson.

She likes her new friends (at least most of them), so why does she secretly feel so out of place?

After chickening out on the trip, a last-minute change of heart sees Tammy racing to the Onslow Hotel, fearing she’s missed her chance for a ride. The last thing she expected to meet was a less-than-happy Onslow Boy leaning against his black panel van.

Now the countdown begins to reach the others at Point Shank before the party is over and the new year has begun. Alone in a car with only the infuriating Chris Henderson, Tammy can’t help but feel this is a disastrous start to what could have been a great adventure. But when the awkward road trip takes an unexpected turn, Tammy soon discovers that the way her traitorous heart feels about Chris is the biggest disaster of all.

Fogged up windows, moonlight swimming, bad karaoke and unearthed secrets; after this one summer nothing will ever be the same again.

Well, C.J. Duggan has done it again. I will always enjoy a good contemporary romance, I mean who wouldn’t I guess you could say I’m a hopeless romantic, the written word will always succumb to that for me. 
That One Summer continues in the Austrailian Summer of the last day of  1999 and the beginning of the brand new millennium. We continue the relations between the Onslow Boys and they greatest adventures. This novel seeks the likes of Tammy, when her best friend Amy returns to the Onslow Hotel, and with the like of Sean and the other boys, she feels widely outside of her comfort zone. To be accepted and part of such a popular, and to be honest, hot swoon-worthy guys who have a reputation to uphold. She didn’t know that an outcast such as herself would be finding herself in a van for a New Years Trip with the moody likes of Chris Henderson, my oh my! 
Chris Henderson was a very yummy character to see as Duggan’s lastest redavous within her novel. He is however, a little bit more of a cliche than the rest of the Onslow Boys. He was brooding, moody, distracted, and the most unenthusiastic person/ handsome man you could meet. Cracking a smile upon her permanent frown is hard to come by for Chris until the very beautiful (as she is) Tammy comes for the ride. I have to agree this makes me think of Bridget Jones in the most minimal form… In a way though, beneath that tough exterior he really is the shy boy boy who has fallen deeply and madly in love with Tammy Maskala,
What I was surprised about was that I only twigged it was the 1900s that this series was set in.. its not evident in her writing at all and her style screams modern to be. I can just imagine everything now, in this time, it was very present and I loved how her writing can be adapted to converse between two eras. When previous protagonist become the secondary characters that us what I really admire about this series. It gives the book a real sense of family, friendship and love. There is the forever the characters that have been created by this author. 
I don’t compare very easily with other authors but I would be hesitant to say that The One Summer are not far beyond the the writing and premise of Katie McGarry. C. J. Duggan creates a seamlessly beautiful summer romance between a group’s most shy and vulnerable personas. 
Rating – 5


Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below… Thanks for stopping by. 




C.J Duggan is a Number One
Best Selling Australian Author who lives with her husband in a rural border
town of New South Wales, Australia. When she isn’t writing books about swoony
boys and 90’s pop culture you will find her renovating her hundred-year-old
Victorian homestead or annoying her local travel agent for a quote to
escape the chaos.
The Boys of Summer is Book One in
her highly successful Mature Young Adult Romance Series.
1 winner will get ebooks of Book 1-3 of the Summer series
(INT)
 RULES AND
RESTRICTIONS: 
Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or
else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified
via email and will have 48 hours to respond 
or another winner’s name will be selected. Winning entries will be
verified for authenticity.
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MINI REVIEWS – A BREATH OF FROST by Alyxandra Harvey & ANYTHING TO HAVE YOU by Paige Harbison

Posted February 19, 2014 by Emma in Blog / 7 Comments
MINI REVIEWS – A BREATH OF FROST by Alyxandra Harvey & ANYTHING TO HAVE YOU by Paige Harbison

A Breath of Frost (The Lovegrove Legacy #1)by Alyxandra HarveyPublisher – BloomsburyRelease Date – January 2nd 2014Buy – Amazon | Book Depository                        A Breath of Frost is just as it said ‘Perfect for the fans of Cassandra Clare’. It does show some similarities between both the series but I felt that as this is my first from this author, It’s an average read. For me it reminded me a little of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz without the vampires of course. Constantly I felt obliged […]

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BLOG TOUR – Rome by Jay Crownover

Posted February 12, 2014 by Emma in Blog / 9 Comments
BLOG TOUR – Rome by Jay Crownover

Today I’m delighted to have my review of Rome, the third novel in the Marked Men series and an Q&A with the author Jay Crownover. This is another brilliant New Adult series that I have only just discovered and I’m looking forward to more in the future. Here is a little bit about the book… Rome (Marked Men #3)by Jay CrownoverPublisher – HarperCollinsRelease Date – January 2nd 2014Buy – Amazon | Book Depository  Cora Lewis is a whole lot of fun, and she knows how to keep her tattooed bad boy friends in line. But all that flash and sass […]

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