Review: Petals by Rebekah Roberts

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“Beauty might just be the beast.”’

Calla Williams is not like other girls. Most girls spend their whole lives trying to be beautiful, Calla already is…and she hates it.

When she is shipped off one summer to live with family friends in their dilapidated Mississippi plantation, Calla is faced with the prospect of living with strangers and their teenage son. This is annoying because, like any other boy, he is sure to fall in love with her on sight. However, Griffin Davenport is not your typical teenage guy. With his hot temper and half of his face severely scarred, “hate at first sight” is closer to what she finds.

Though the two teens try to stay out of each other’s way, an odd attraction to each other makes staying away anything but easy.

Now, Calla must deal with growing feelings, her own prejudices, and finding the secret to Griffin’s past. As hate turns to friendship and friendship becomes something more, Calla learns a startling truth: God uses even how we look in His plan for our lives.

Hootie Says:

This book was like:

                                               Meets...

This book was a really beautiful version of an old classic. Calla is a young girl who sees her beauty as a burden. Always being stared at by other girls and hit on by the guys, all she wants is to not be so beautiful! (Can't imagine what that feels like lol) When her dad takes a job overseas she ends up moving in with one of his high school friends for the summer. Everything seems fine until she comes face to face with Griffin. 

Poor Griffin!! One side of his face is severely scarred up and Calla doesn't know why. All she knows is that looking at him makes her skin crawl and her stomach feel weird. She tries to make the best of being there and becomes close to Griffins mother Elisabeth and his grandmother Eloise. They dote on her and take her shopping to help her transition into staying there a little easier. It is easy to say that Griffin and Calla do not get along at all! They argue a lot causing his mother to stress out. Once his grandmother Eloise has a talk with Calla about being nice and trying to get along with Griffin things calm down a little. On a shopping trip with his mother a car full of guys start harassing Calla and making her feel uncomfortable, when Griffin drives up and runs them off! 

This is where Griffin becomes less of a jerk and turns my decision about his character around. After this incident his grandmother pushes them together for horse riding lessons trying to be sneaky! He starts to soften to Calla and they get to know each other a little better and start to actually bond. She finds out the reason he has treated her so mean, and an attraction develops between them. As the story progresses Calla starts to uncover a family secret revolving around why Griffin's face is scarred so badly. Once uncovered, Griffin confides something in her that sends her running to her brother who lives in Hawaii just to get away from the truth. 

OMG! I died so many times while reading this book I think my ghost is writing this right now! The love story between Calla and Griffin was so sweet and romantic once you get to know why the characters are the way they are. When I started reading this book, I thought Calla was a little stuck on herself. She comes off as vain and you start to wonder if maybe Griffin is right to assume she's vapid, but once you get to know what she goes through because of that beauty you understand why. She has been harassed and stared at pretty much her whole life and I can imagine that would get on your nerves after a while. I didn't want to love Griffin's character though. I thought when he came onto the scene he would not make me fall for him because he was so mean to Calla.

That didn't last long because as soon as I found out why he was so mean I fell hard for him! Watching him start to open up to Calla was like watching a rose bloom, it was an amazing feeling!  There was one scene where he protected her and made sure she was alright before he did anything for himself. I don't want to give away too much but my favorite part had to be the hospital scene! UGH! That was soooo good! I think it goes without saying that I really loved this book. I have always loved the Beauty and The Beast story especially Disney's version because I am a giant child! 

Overall I loved the story and the message behind it was powerful. That no matter where you are in life you have a purpose and value. Some of you may not agree with the spiritual undertones in the book but I personally don't think that would hinder you from enjoying it anyway. If you are looking for a good, clean romantic Young Adult story then Petals should be your next conquest!

                                                                 -Hootie

Follow on Twitter: @RebekahFRoberts

Like Rebekah on: Facebook

Buy Petals on Kindle for only $2.99!!!!

Review: For What It's Worth by Karey White

                        (ARC PROVIDED BY NET GALLEY)


Synopsis from Goodreads:


Twenty-four year-old, Abby Benson has dreams of owning her own wedding cake shop. An inheritance from her aunt gives her the ability to make those dreams come true. She hires Dane, a handsome contractor, to help her get the bakery up and running and soon they’re moving toward their own happy ending.

Unsure what to charge for her cakes, Abby has a crazy idea to let the customers decide what they think their cake is worth. This plan has its ups and downs, but the novelty of the idea makes her a local celebrity. When she is interviewed on television about the unusual idea, business booms and Abby has cake adventures she never dreamed possible. But as her fame grows, Abby is swept up in a whirlwind that threatens everything she values. With the challenges that face her, will she be able to determine what is worth the most?



Hootie Says:

Fat people who love cake HEAR ME! For What It's Worth was AH-MAH-ZING!

Not only do you get a really sweet, wholesome beautiful romance you also get a built in recipe book! HELLO! That right there should have you rushing straight to amazon! The story begins with Abby Benson getting an inheritance from her aunt Grace to finally live her dream and open her own wedding cake shop. Abby is completely scared and nervous about it but decides to put her fears aside. She contacts a contractor and gets the renovations on the house her aunt left her going to turn it into a bakery! When the contractor shows up it isn't some older guy she expected, but a totally gorgeous male specimen named Dane!

I am going to take a minute here to discuss male characters in books today. Lately I have read books where the guys are dominant, aggressive, sexually charged beasts. That begs the question, can a book be good if the male character isn't like that? I say YES! Case in point Dane! This character wasn't aggressive and he wasn't a gentle Ben type either. He was kind, sweet and romantic while at the same time being a strong man who knew what he wanted and how to treat his lady. He didn't have to slobber all over Abby for her to swoon and there were several swoon worthy moments in this book! 

"What are you doing here?"

"I have to see my girl sometime" 

OH MY GOODNESS YOU GUYS! I just loved Dane! Anyway getting back to the story Abby gets the renovations done and one night at dinner with her family decides to charge people what they think the cake is worth. Her idea is scoffed at by her family and customers until they try her amazing cakes! Then the business starts pouring in! She gets a local news crew interested in doing a story on her which gets her name out even more. During this time she is trying to balance her bakery while keeping up a dating relationship with Dane at the same time. Once she gets a call from the Today show things change dramatically for Abby. She starts getting triple her business and even ends up with a celebrity client. Abby gets overwhelmed and starts to realize maybe her dream is dragging her down! 

(P.S. is this NOT the creepiest wedding cake ever?)

What I loved about this book (besides everything) is that it didn't have to be overly sexual while getting the romance out there. The love between Abby and Dane was still just as exciting without the raunchy stuff. I found myself feeling the emotions of the story throughout the entire book and the anticipation of what would happen caught me off guard! When Abby got her first cake appointment I got butterflies waiting with her to see how much someone would pay. Then when the check arrived I whooped and clapped like it happened to me! Through the good and bad, the tragedy and triumph I was hooked on this story from beginning to end. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book and I really hope you all take the time to read it when it finally comes out! I can't wait to make some of these delicious sounding recipes from the book also! Happy reading my babies!

                                                -Hootie

Pre-Order this book from Amazon

Like Karey White on: FACEBOOK

Follow on Twitter: @KareyLWhite

Check out her website: http://kareywhite.blogspot.com/