Sophie Reads YA: Julie Hammerle

2017 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota #3) by Julie Hammerle

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Approximately Yours
Series: North Pole, Minnesota #3
Author: Julie Hammerle
Published October 2nd 2017 by Entangled: Crush

Goodreads Synopsis
Danny Garland is so out of Holly’s league. And her family is only back in North Pole, Minnesota, long enough to sell Grandma’s house and say “Merry Christmas.” So telling her basketball-star, too-hot-to-be-real long-time crush that she’d like to kiss him under the mistletoe just isn’t going to happen.

And now he’s asked out her cousin, Elda. Elda is a mess at flirting, so when she begs Holly to intervene, she does. Holly helps her flirt with him over text. And then again. And again. Now she’s stuck texting him as her cousin, and Elda is the one going on the date. Holly thought she could settle for just conversation with Danny, but talking with him is some kind of magic. He’s got the perfect comebacks, she makes him laugh, they text until everyone is asleep.

She just can’t ever tell him it’s her he’s really texting.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book has hot texts, gingerbread wars, and a slow-burn romance that could melt a Minnesota winter.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Approximately Yours is the final book in the North Pole, Minnesota series, and it helps to tie up everything that has happened in the previous books. This time around we have Holly, who is back in North Pole to sell her grandmother's home, and then they will be leaving, for good. She's always had a crush on Danny, a boy in North Pole who she's seen when visiting her grandma. However, he's so out of her league, and it seems he actually likes her cousin, Elda. Elda doesn't know how to talk to him, though, so begs Holly to pretend to be her when texting and talking to Danny, and it soon seems as if Danny is falling for the person he's talking to - it's just too bad that it's not the right person. Danny, on the other hand, has always liked Holly, but never said anything, and now that his texts with 'Elda' are going so well, he's conflicted. Will they be able to actually tell the other the truth?

I liked this book, but found myself skimming bits, if I'm being honest. The lying about the messaging, on the phone, and in reality, didn't sit right with me, and that sort of ruined my reading experience. Both Danny and Holly were great characters, and definitely had the chemistry, but forcing Elda into the scene for a bit of drama, when she and Danny didn't even seem to like each other, was jarring. I'm glad I've read the book, but this one wasn't as good as the others in the North Pole series.

Dates Read: September 10, 2017

Rating
4 Stars

2017 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Artificial Sweethearts (North Pole, Minnesota #2) by Julie Hammerle

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Artificial Sweethearts
Series: North Pole, Minnesota #2
Author: Julie Hammerle
Published July 10th 2017 by Entangled: Crush

Goodreads Synopsis
It’s not chemistry between Tinka Foster and Sam Anderson that made them agree to fake date. With her parents trying to set her up with an annoying student golf coach, and intentionally single Sam’s family pressuring him to bring a date to his brother’s wedding, they could both use a drama-free summer.

So it’s not his muscular arms and quick wit that makes Tinka suggest they tell everyone they’re both taken. Definitely not. And it’s not butterflies that makes a kiss for appearances during the lake party go on way too long—so long that Sam wishes it were real.

But Tinka keeps people at arm’s length—she’s always been second best, even to her parents. And her relationship-for-show could crush everything when she realizes she’s done with fake, pretend, and second-best.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains bikinis at the lake, a lot of making out in dark theaters, and a meet-cute you’ll read twice.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Tinka returns home to find that her parents have sold their house, and they will be moving to North Pole, Minnesota. As if that wasn't bad enough, they're also getting on her back about her being single, and wanting her to date the son of one of their college friends. Her new neighbour, Sam, is facing similar parental expectations, and they both hatch a plan in order to pretend to date, to get their parents off their backs. As they get to know each other more, they find themselves pretending less and less, but still believe the other is just doing it all for show.

This book was definitely a quick and cute read. The fake lover trope is one of my favourites, and I liked how it was done in this book. Both characters felt as if they weren't seen properly in their lives, but with each other they can be seen, and cared for. The secondary characters in the book were a bit lacklustre, and I hated Tinka's parents, especially with their treatment of their daughter and complete disinterest in her feelings. Tinka and Sam did have really good chemistry, and their relationship kept this book going. All in all, a decent contemporary!

Dates Read:

July 15-16, 2017

Rating
4 Stars

4 Stars

Blog Tour & ARC Review: Any Boy But You (North Pole, Minnesota #1) by Julie Hammerle (+ US Giveaway)

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Goodreads Summary
Elena Chestnut has been chatting with an anonymous boy late into the night. It’s a very You’ve Got Mail situation, and she has no idea who he is. He can’t be Oliver Prince, hot-and-bashful son of the family running the rival sporting goods store. Their fancy sales strategies are driving Elena’s family out of business. Elena’s mystery boy has teamed up with her in their latest sales strategy, an augmented reality game, to help her win the grand-prize plane tickets. Money’s so tight Elena’s going to miss senior year spring break with her friends if she can’t win this game.

The girl Oliver's fallen head-over-heels for online had better not be Elena Chestnut. She's his angry, vindictive Latin tutor, the daughter of his dad’s business rival, and the one girl he’d never even think of kissing. She’s definitely not his online crush, because that girl is funny, sweet, and perfect.

When Oliver asks to reveal their names at the Valentine’s Day dance, their IRL relationship will either ruin what they have online, or they’ll discover just how thin the line between love and hate really is.

Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Most contemporary books that are out there tend to happen during the summer, and at this time of year, I like to read more wintery stories. When I heard about this book, especially with its enemies to lovers trope, I knew it would be for me, and I was right.

In Any Boy But You, our main character, Elena, is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her families business is in trouble, and she may have to move away. It doesn't help that her arch enemies, the Prince family, have a similar business that's thriving. They even create an app, similar to Pokemon Go, where users walk around their town of North Pole, Minnesota, looking for sports questions to answer, and the person with the most at the end of the game would win big prizes from the Prince store. Elena, initially, wants nothing to do wit the game, but soon starts playing just to see what the hype is all about. When she discovers a chat feature in the game, she finds herself talking to another player nearly all the time, and slowly falls for them. The problem, she doesn't know who it is, and when she discovers that it's in fact Oliver Prince, she can't reconcile his in life persona, to his online one.

Oliver, on the other hand, feels very the same. He knows Elena as a snobby Latin tutor, his arch enemy, and she's nothing like the funny girl he's been talking to online. However, he soon builds up the courage to ask her to the Valentine's dance, even though it could cause more problems than it'll fix.

This book was so cute! I read it in one day, and flew through it. It had just the right about of feels and angst, and both Elena and Oliver were characters I could understand and relate to. I love books with an enemy to lovers trope, and this book fit all requirements I could have. Even the secondary characters, like Oliver's sister, and both their parents had really good story lines, running along in tandem to the main part of the story.

I can't wait to read more in this series, which I'm expecting will be a companion series, rather than a proper sequel, but I hope to find out more about Elena and Oliver in future books.

Dates Read:

January 29, 2017

Rating
4 Stars

ABOUT JULIE HAMMERLE:
Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen on June 7, 2016. Before settling down to write "for real," she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list.

She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana.

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instragram | Goodreads

Giveaway:

One (1) winner will receive a signed copy of The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle (US ONLY)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks, MaryAnn @ Chapter by Chapter for letting me be a part of the tour!