My Double Life by Janette Rallison

Summary/ photo from publisher's website:

Her whole life, Alexia Garcia has been told that she looks just like pop star Kari Kingsley, and one day when Alexia’s photo filters through the Internet, she’s offered a job to be Kari’s double. This would seem like the opportunity of a lifetime, but Alexia’s mother has always warned her against celebrities.

Rebelliously, Alexia flies off to L.A. and gets immersed in a celebrity life. Not only does she have to get used to getting anything she wants, she romances the hottest lead singer on the charts, and finds out that her own father is a singing legend. Through it all, Alexia must stay true to herself, which is hard to do when you are pretending to be somebody else!

Review:

It's official, Janette Rallison has managed to woe me yet again with a fabulous, funny, and touching book filled with a whole lot of heart!

One of my favorite parts of Janette's books are usually the characters, and with My Double Life, this trend continued, thankfully. Since all of them were so well-written that they just jumped of the page and came to life. I loved how all of them were real in the way that while, like anyone, they said stupid things and did stuff they would latter regret, they were also smart, charming, and someone who just supported each other fully. My favorite out of the bunch would have to be My Double Life's protagonist, Alexia, since she was all of these things and more. It was interesting yet heartbreaking to see her struggle with the fact that she never knew her dad and felt that if he, along with her half-sister and Grant, wouldn't love her simply because she wasn't wealthy. Also her relationship with Grant was done perfectly. I loved how while it was innocent in a way that only first love can be, you could also see just how much these two loved it each other even with the struggles that were often hurled their way. Lastly, I don't think this review would be done if I didn't mention Kari. Kari was someone who at first look, simply seemed dumb, but as you got to know her, you got to see that often celebrities aren't the person there are portrayed to be, leaving her to become someone who you simply adored.

The premise of this is one that's intriguing. I loved the idea of a story dealing with celebrity doubles because it proved to cause drama, drama, and more drama that continually kept me hooked and flipping the pages, eager to find out what was going to happen next.

And the writing of this is another part that made this story the awesome one it was. Since while it's easy and to the point, it's portrayed with a lot of heart, showing that Janette is a talented writer that I know for sure I'll be reading more by.

In all, if you like stories with a lot of heart and happy endings, My Double Life is one to pick up because I'm sure you'll love it!
 
Grade: A

My Double Life will be released May 13, 2010.

Source: Around The World Tours

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it’s all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika’s plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly fi nds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Janette Rallison’s proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time. (from Amazon)

Review:

Before starting this, I had extremely high expectations. Since, for one, isn't the cover so cute? Plus, Janette's previous books have been great, so I was hoping this would be the same deal. Luckily, it was a darling book. Though, it had a quite a few flaws.

First off, I loved the characters. Annika was a strong teenage girl that I admired a ton, because of how far she would go to make all of her brother's dreams come true. Plus, the relationships she had with her parents, best friend, and brother were cute and real. Relationships that were perfect, but still flawed. Lastly, I loved how Annika could still have a wicked sense of humor in a time of such pain. By the way, the others such as Steve, Madison, and Jeremy were once again fun people to read about and made the story flow quite nicely.

Though, the plot wasn't all that great. For the first part, it was basically all talk and no action, which made it extremely hard to get through. Luckily, after 140 pages it quickened up with the action and dialogue between the characters. Making it an okay book overall.

( Minor spoiler ahead) The other thing I didn't quite like about the plot was that it sometimes seemed like this could NEVER happen in real live. Since, what security guard would actually let two teenage girls on to a TV set. Plus, it really surprised me when Steve basically dropped all of his plans to go see Annika's brother, because what Hollywood actor or actress would do that in real life? Probably none. Though, even with these unrealistic details, Just One Wish was a still cute book. (end of spolier)

Overall, Just One Wish is a was a quick read that I suggest to fans of Janette's previous books or people who liked Meg Cabot's Teen Idol.

Grade: B-

Just One Wish is now out. You can find out more about it here. Also, be sure to check out Janette's website.

* Much thanks to JL for sending me this book! :)