Cassandra Barnes does an incredible job in her novel, Jenny’s Legacy. This book is great for anyone ages 18 and older!
Gaelynn is overwhelmed by her life. Between taking care of her parents, her two challenging jobs, and juggling a boyfriend who just isn’t right for her, she doesn’t have time for any problems. But when Kyle Cordell walks into her life, that is all that happens. When they first meet, neither of them knows anything about the other. Gaelynn, a psychologist and psychic believes that certain people have certain gifts and that they should know how to use them. She works hard to help those who need help and she loves what she does. Kyle Cordell blames himself for his sister Jenny’s disappearance and than death. Jenny, who was in a fragile state due to her father’s mental abuse, feel into the hands of a cult leader and ran off and was eventually found dead, with other members of the cult. Kyle’s family has set out to try to protect others from falling prey to people like the cult leader who took Jenny away from them.
When Kyle and Gaelynn realizes that their offices are in the same building, they don’t want anything to do with each other. Although each is attracted to the other, neither will admit it. Kyle doesn’t understand or want to understand what Gaelynn does for a living. He, because of his father, believes that people like her just want to control the minds of others and want to destroy them. But when his son sees an event before it actually happens, he is sent to Gaelynn, who works part time as a school counselor. The fact that his grandson is seeing a counselor enrages the elder Cordell, who sets about acts that have the potential of ruining Gaelynn’s life.
Will Kyle realizes that Gaelynn is not to blame for his problems and finally stand up to his father? You’ll have to check it out to find out!
Congratulations to the winners of our best Halloween costume contest! Although we contacted three winners, we are still working on getting in contact with our grand prize winner. Our two runner-ups, received autographed copies of Betrayed, one of By The Books Top 4 Vampire Books! Our runners-up were Carol from Illinois and Meg from Michigan. Congratulations to both of them!
Melissa Walker does an outstanding job with her novel, Violet on the Runway. This book is great for anyone ages 16 and older!
Violet Greenfield is just a girl trying to get through life unnoticed. At six foot one that might seem impossible but Violet seems to do a pretty good job at it. That is until a pushy modeling agent walks into her life. While working at the local movie theater, Violet meets Angela Blythe from Tryst Models in New York City. Angela thinks that Violet is the next big thing and she doesn’t hesitate to offer her what seems like the chance of a lifetime.
When Violet heads off to NYC she is pampered and quickly begins to think that the model lifestyle is something she could easily do. She soon finds out that it’s not as perfect as it seems. With a roommate who not only seems to despise her but who is doing cocaine and making herself throw up, Violet quickly sees the less glamorous side to modeling. But she is quickly sucked in to the city party scene and her face is plastered in papers and blogs. When she finally realizes that the life of a model is not what she expected, she has seemingly lost her only real friends and is “dating” a really jerk. She finds herself questions what she really wants.
Will Violet stick it out in the model world? Or will see realize that there are more important things in life than pretty pictures and crazy parties? You’ll have to read to find out and I suggest you do that before the release of Violet by Design, which is scheduled to be released in March of 2008! I am definitely eagerly awaiting the continuation of this series and you should be too!
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Aimee Friedman does a great job with her book, The Year My Sister Got Lucky. This book is great for anyone ages 16 and older!
The Wilder sisters have always been close, more like best friends than sisters. Katie and Michaela love the hustle and bustle of New York City and they love their world class dance school. Michaela is a star ballerina who seems destined for greatness. Katie also loves dancing, although she sometimes feels like she is in the shadows of her big sis. But when the girls suddenly find out that they are moving, everything changes.
When the girls move to Fir Lake, Katie is determined to hate it and everything about it, including the people. As her sister easily fits in and even finds herself part of the popular seniors, Katie feels like she is slowly being pushed out of her sisters life. Katie begins to realize that her sister is hiding things from her, like the fact that she is dating the town’s star quarterback. As Katie and Michaela start to drift further and further apart, Katie makes and loses friends and starts to realize that maybe Fir Lake isn’t as bad as she thought.
Will Katie and Michaela survive the secrets that they are keeping from each other? Or will they allow them to push them apart? You’ll have to read to find out! I couldn’t put this book down and I definitely recommend it!
JudyGregerson does an incredible job portraying a family in turmoil in her book, Bad Girls Club. This book is good for anyone ages 16 and older.
Destiny is missing out on all the exciting times in a teenage girls life because she has to be the responsible one. Her father, who works nonstop, doesn’t even help her when he is home. The only thing he seems good at is keeping secrets and forcing Destiny to do the same. Destiny is forced to spend all of her time taking care of her little sister and her mentally ill mother. After taking care of them so long, Destiny has convinced herself that she is the only one who can save them and when her grandmother comes to help she refuses to let her take her sister or her mother away from her.
When Destiny discovers an unthinkable secret about her, mother she begins to fall apart and has to fight harder to keep her family together. As her mother gets worse and her sister begins talking to an invisible friend and pulling out her hair, Destiny must realize that she can’t sacrifice herself to save them.
Will Destiny be able to keep her family together? Or will the secrets that her father has forced her to keep end up tearing them apart? You’ll have to read it to find out!
Pamela Wells does a great job with her first novel, The Heartbreakers. This book is great for anyone ages 15 and older and for anyone who has ever had there heartbroken.
Sydney, Raven, Kelly, and Alexia have been best friends since middle school. But when the other three girls got serious boyfriends, Alexia felt like she was being left behind. But when the three girls get dumped all in one night, Alexia is who they run to. When Alexia comes up with The Break-Up Code, Kelly and Raven are all for it in hopes of getting over their guys. However Sydney, who’s longtime boyfriend unexpectedly dumped her, is resistant of the idea. But when Sydney finally gives in and joins up with the other girls they set out to forget about their exes with 29 rules.
As the girls rediscover there friendship they are breaking rules left and right. When Alexia starts secretly dating a boy and Kelly starts spending more time with Sydney’s ex, Drew, things get a lot more interesting! Will the girls be able to survive the break-up code? You’ll have to read to experience all the fun!
High School is the time to enjoy life without having to worry about all the stresses of college and the real world. Steve Jenkins and Erika Stalder give some great ideas for things that everyone should do before they finish high school!
The book is set up in a way that is easy for readers to navigate. Activities are split up into sections based on many things. Those groups are: For your Personal Development, With/For Friends, With/For Family, For Your Body, To Get to Know the World Around You, To Express Yourself, To Benefit Your Community and Environment, Because You Should, and Because You’re Only Young Once.
From each section, I have picked a favorite. The first one, assemble a photo album, is easy to do and something that you will be glad to have later on in life. Its great to have pictures to help you remember all the fun times and amazing people that you knew in high school! The second one, take a road trip, is something that everyone should do at least once, and high school is the perfect time to get all of your girl friends or all of your boys and head out on the open road! My third pick, plan a cool family outing, is very important! When you go out of to college or simply move away you will miss your family, no matter what you say in the beginning! Family bonding is important and you can make it fun by setting it up! Pick number four, establish an exercise routine, is important to help you avoid the “freshman fifteen”! Its good to set up something in high school, because it makes it easier for you to stick with things when you go to college.Pick number five, learn a foreign language, is something that can be useful in the future and often looks good on college applications! Pick six, take a dance class, is a fun way to express yourself and learn something new! My number seven pick, donate to a homeless shelter not only helps others but is sure to make you feel better too! Number eight, get a job is something that you will have to do eventually, so you might as well do it in high school so that you can save up money for whatever you want to do after high school. Finally, pick number nine, bury a time capsule is something that you should do while you are still young, so that when you are old and wrinkled, you can dig it up and remember how great your life was!
This book is great for anyone who wants to do some fun and helpful things!
Jamie Carie does an incredible job with her first novel, Snow Angel. A romantic and inspirational tale, Snow Angel is perfect for women of all ages!
Elizabeth has gold fever and she has it bad. Having been practically raised in the gold fields, she seems to be drawn to gold and the prospect of prosperity. That is how she finds herself in Alaska. Hoping to stake a claim, Elizabeth heads off to find a guide and gets caught in a violent blizzard.
When Noah hears a bang on his door, he thinks it is just the wind. But when a voice urges him to check it out, he finds Elizabeth, practically frozen and unconscious. As he nurses her back to health he begins to wonder what would bring this seemingly fragile woman to this frozen wilderness.
As Noah and Elizabeth fall for each other, she is forced to deal with horrible things and people from her past and she pushes him away. As she flees her past and searches for gold, she is followed by both Noah and Ross,a man from her past. A man that will do anything to hurt her.
Will Noah find Elizabeth before Ross does? Will he still love her when he knows the truth about her past that she has tried desperately to hide? You’ll have to read to find out! This book is great to curl up with on a cold winter day!