Last Christmas by Kate Brian

Ariana Osgood has everything an Easten Academy girl could want: straight A's, the perfect boyfriend, and a coveted spot in the exclusive Billings House. But on the first night of Christmas vacation, a blizzard traps her on campus with irresistible bad boy Thomas Person. Alone. Instead of snuggling with her boyfriend next to a cozy fire in Vermont, she's huddling for warmth with Thomas at the Ketlar house.

As the snow transforms Easton into a wonderland, Ariana finds herself falling for Thomas. But someone is watching their destine romance unfold, someone intent on turning their holiday weekend into a nightmare...

Last Christmas revels the secret of what really happened before Private began- and the shocking truth will change everything for fans of Kate Brian's bestselling series.

(from inside cover)

I have always loved the Private series. So, when I heard there would be a Private prequel telling the events of what happened between Ariana and Thomas the Christmas before Read came, I started to have high expectations for this book. Lucky for me they where all meet.

Even with her money and elegance Ariana is screwed up because of her mother, who's always in and out of mental hospitals, and her father who just doesn't care anymore. This being said, In Last Christmas I began to see her as a real person and not the stereotypical perfect girl Kate Brian made her up to be in the Private series. I even felt kind of sorry for her. Though, as Ariana began to get more crazy that sorrow I felt began to drift away.

Another thing I loved about this book was the surprises Kate Brian keep throwing out. I thought I had figured out the mystery several times but each time a new card was dealt that threw my predication right of the track. Also, I loved the new scandals secrets that where introduced. I hope Kate continues on with some of them in the Privilege, her new series about Ariana's life after being arrested for murder.

The only problem that I had with this book was that Kiren and Taylor where missing. I had always thought that they where in the same grade as Noelle and Ariana. I guess they were not living at Billings yet. Or if they where maybe Noelle and Ariana where not friends with them.

In all, reading Last Christmas was like getting an early Christmas present.

5/ 5 stars

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper

Summary:

The Juliet Club follows five teens who have won the chance of a lifetime a month in Italy to study the famous play- Romeo and Juliet.

The group includes three teens from America.

There is Kate who has made a promise to herself ,before leaving America, to not to fall in love again. You see Kate hasn't always had the best examples of love in her life. First, her parents got divorced when she was young because they couldn't be in the same room with out fighting about every little thing. Plus, Kate has suffered her own heartbreak when her boyfriend Daniel dumped her out of the blue to go out with a popular girl.

When Kate first arrives in Italy she is very serious. This all begins to change, though, when Kate finds out the other members of the group have decided to trick Kate and another member of the group, Giacomo to think they like each other. She decides to trick them into thinking that Giacomo and her really in love, So, in the end they can say they knew of the plan all along, tricking their friends. Though, the trick may still be on them because they are beginning to fall for each other, for real.

Than there is Lucy and Tom. Lucy is the typical popular girl- sweet, funny and pretty. Lucy comes to Italy with a goal to find an awesome summer romance. Though, as her month continues she begins to think maybe she's not good enough for the guys in Italy. Since none of them show much interest in her. Little does she a guy who like her is right under her nose. Lastly, their is Tom who is from California. Tom is hiding a secret about how his winning essay came to be but will it make him guilty enough to confess to someone?

The last three people in the group are teens from Italy. Giacomo who's mother is leading the group. Giacomo is very self assured which causes his friends to sometimes get mad at him. Also, their is the Mayer's daughter Silvia. Silvia is angry throughout the book because of the little attention she gets at home and how boys only like her because of her looks. Then, their is Benno who's big heart doesn't match with his short height one bit.

Review:

When beginning The Juliet Club I didn't know at the time that it was third person. So, when seeing it was I was worried that I would not enjoy this book that much. Since, I usually think third person books can get boring at times because the author jumps from person to person not really giving each character much development. Though, that wasn't the cause for this book. Suzanne jumped from person to person like a pro, making it run quite smoothly and giving each readers time to know each character. Also, I liked how Suzanne had all of her characters grow in some way by the end of book. For example Kate got off her serious all the time attitude and finally became more fun. I thought Lucy and Benno where great add to the story because of their witty attitudes. Though, I had some problems to with this book. For one, the ending was to tidy because it had no loose ends. God, she had everyone of her characters basically romantically evolved with another by the end. Also, this book has a total of more that 400 pages which made this book drag in the middle at times.

Other than that, The Juliet Club is a well written summer romance. I hope to read more books by Suzanne Harper in the future.

3/ 5 stars