Review: Hollywood Homecoming by Sasha Summers (Book Tour Stop)

Hollywood Homecoming (Red Carpet Series, #3)

by Sasha Summers

Release Date: 09/05/13

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Make-up artist to the stars. The favorite aunt. Dance teacher. Baby sister. Talented musician and song-writer.

Single.

Why did that word rank above the rest? Helen loved her family and understood they wanted her to have the real love they’d all found. It’s just that she’d found her someone special and learned to live without him. She’d been too young for the quirky, idealistic doctor-off to save the world-to notice. And, really, if she had it her way, he’d never know how she’d felt. Now, he was one of her best friends, a pen pal, losing him would be too much.

Seeing him at their parents wedding, Helen realizes the horrible truth: she still loves Joseph… which wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t in the situation she was in.

But she was. And her secret will change everything. Will it destroy hope for a Hollywood happy ending too?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18250008-hollywood-homecoming

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Homecoming-Sasha-Summers/dp/1939590191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377925797&sr=8-1&keywords=hollywood+homecoming

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hollywood-homecoming-sasha-summers/1116374285?ean=9781939590190

 

Also be sure to check out the first two books of the Red Carpet series!

Hollywood Ever After (Book One)

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13615140-hollywood-ever-after

Hollywood Holiday (Book Two)

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15732996-hollywood-holiday

About the Author

Sasha is part gypsy. Her passions have always been storytelling, history, romance, and travel. She writes both lyrical romantic fantasy AND steamy contemporary romance. Her first play was written for her Girl Scout troupe. She's been writing ever since. She loves getting lost in the worlds and characters she creates; even if she frequently forgets to run the dishwasher or wash socks when she's doing so. Luckily, her four brilliant children and hero-inspiring hubby are super understanding and supportive.

***Author Links***

http://www.sashasummers.com/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5759214.Sasha_Summers

http://www.twitter.com/sashawrites

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sasha-Summers-Author/213036208773108?ref=hl

http://www.youtube.com/user/sashawrites

http://pinterest.com/sashasummers/

My Rating: 4.5

My Review:

I don't often read romance novels, so I did not know what to expect when I started the Red Carpet series. But as an aspiring actress myself, I figured the series would be a great place to start. Now that I have finished the third installment, I'm starting to wonder why I don't read a lot more romance novels.

Hollywood Homecoming is brilliant, heartwarming, and even really suspenseful - even more so since I was not expecting that kind of feeling! A perfect next chapter to the series, I devoured the entire novel within a day or two. Like always, Summers crafted a romance that is sweet, steamy, and slightly depressing - given that now I want to find a love like that.

Helen is a great voice to read, as she is a character that one can easily connect to. Having gotten to know her a bit in the previous two novels, it was very interesting to actually read what she had to say, as well as get a deeper understanding of her character. Helen seemed very real to me, and I couldn't help but feel for her emotionally, as well as relate to her very amiable personality.

I did have high hopes already set for the male lead of Hollywood Homecoming, since both Josh and Gunner have proven to really set the bar high. (It's books like this that make me a shallow person.) Yet, Joseph was definitely able to meet their expectations. He is a great guy, intelligent and funny, and the fact that he can ride a motorcycle brilliantly definitely doesn't hurt. I loved learning more about his character and swooning over all of the incredibly sweet quotes that he had.

Reading the Red Carpet series as a whole really engrossed me in the lives of the characters, until I practically feel that I am a part of the extended family myself. It is very interesting to see how all the characters connect between the books, and what happens with the previous relationships as time progresses, even if the point of view changes.

All in all, Hollywood Homecoming is a great installment to a great series. With well-developed, realistic characters, brilliant writing, and a whole mess of beautiful emotion, I highly recommend reading this series. Readers will have their closet romantics thanking them over and over again.

To get you reading, Sasha Summers and YA Bound Book Tours set up a giveaway, so you can enter to win one of 5 copies of Hollywood Homecoming. (Which I would do, if I were you.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Tokyo Dare by Anne Van

Amazon

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old artist, Erin Van Horn, doesn't know an Unagi Roll from a Kaiser Roll. But on a dare from her best friend, Tori Mukigawa, she wins a coveted spot as an exchange student at a prestigious Tokyo high school. Once in the Land of the Rising Sun, Erin struggles to learn the culture and deal with a host family from hell. Papasan, the father, stops speaking to her after she mistakenly "murders" his favorite bonsai tree. The mother, Mamasan, believes Erin’s evil because she's left-handed and their son is an Elvis impersonator who is convinced Erin's the spitting image of Priscilla if only she'd dye her blonde hair black, and become his child bride.

But Erin has a bigger problem than her crazy host family when she faces the ultimate dare from Tori—a to-do list she slipped into her backpack. Racked with guilt for winning the spot that should have gone to her best friend, Erin is determined to complete the list. Simple right? All she has to do is find a rock star boyfriend, (sure, there's one on every street corner), apprentice under a famous Japanese artist, (no problem, they'll be listed in the Tokyo Yellow Pages) and visit Tori's long lost relatives to find out what's hidden in the family closet. So what if the only words she knows in Japanese are, "Excuse me eat pretty idiot.”

How hard can it be?

My Rating: 5

My Review:

Justine's Tokyo Dare Review To-Do List:

1) Set up blog post. Try to make it look pretty.

2) Talk about how incredible Tokyo Dare is.

3) Get mad at yourself for wanting to type Tokyo Drift even though this book is truly unique.

4) Fangirl over Fudo.

5) Highly Recommend. Like, Himalayas high.

6) Eagerly anticipate more.

I can easily say that I fell head over heels for Tokyo Dare, and am now immediately planning a trip to Japan. Okay, maybe I don't have the money for that, but a girl can dream, right?

Tokyo Dare is a great YA contemporary, that is both hilarious  and silly, along with having more serious and important themes. Beautifully written, I loved reading about the clash of American and Japanese cultures, as a teenager who loves to travel.

All of the characters were well-developed and very realistic. Erin is an excellent voice, as well as a very relatable character. Even when she makes decisions that have a less than desirable outcome, one can't help but like her - because of the realistic logic that lead there, as well as her unique personality.

Fudo is also an excellent character, and happens to be one of my favorites. I don't want to ruin anything, because I believe that Tokyo Dare is a book that YA fans should check out for themselves, but I definitely liked the way that the romantic interests were handled in the novel. It really made myself question my judge of character, and led to a small kind of cliffhanger at the end.

For realistic fiction with real problems that are not as earth-shattering as some other novels, Tokyo Dare is definitely a page turner. I could hardly put it down, as the novel is a highly entertaining read. I found myself completely immersed in the story and the foreign world that I can only imagine. It was not until my eyes finished scanning the final page that I realized I was not actually in Japan.

Although I am not a master of the fine arts myself, I am definitely a true appreciator, and one of my favorite scenes was the koi painting. It was a magical moment, with absolutely stunning description.

Tokyo Dare is a wonderful YA novel. It is the kind of book that stays with the reader long after finishing. With great characters, enchanting description and imagery, an array of light emotion, a mix of cultures, and the friendship and romantic relationships that other novels can only hope to achieve, I absolutely cannot wait to read more.