Crush Du Jour, Micol Ostow

Another super cute and super fast reading Simon Romantic Comedy. This one was a little weak on leading man but strong on spunky heroine and funny one liners so I was ok with that. I liked reading all the descriptions of the food at the restaurant, the cooking class, and of Laine's own creations. Cuteness all around. And now I am a happy teacher who just has to grit her teeth through one more day with demon babies until vacation!

30 Guys in 30 Days, Micol Ostow

Today is Monday/Monday string beans/All you hungry children/Come & eat it up!

Today is also the first day in 5 years of teaching that it actually snowed at school! Completely bizarre and beyond freezing. And hopefully it will never happen again. Snow on the ground made for some exceptionally giddy and intractable babies today. Which leads to a cranky teacher by the time the bell rings.

It is also another day of my new life as someone who works out. Which all leads me to a familiar place in my life: the bathtub at the end of the day with a Simon Romantic Comedy.

I liked this one a lot. The writing really stood out from others I've read in this series. It was engaging and funny without being overly silly or unrealistic.

And in an odd way I wish that I had read this book back in college for flirting inspiration. College girls (& boys, I guess) don't realize that they will probably never be in another situation in life with so many potential romantic partners. Therefore they should seize the day and put themselves out there more.

I couldn't take Claudia's challenge now even if I wanted to seeing as I rarely see a guy within my age range on anything remotely approaching a daily basis. Which really isn't a poor, pitiful spinster statement its just a fact.

Prom Crashers, Erin Downing

This was another cute (I always write that but its because so far it has always been true) Simon Romantic Comedy. I like that I have a stockpile of these to turn to when I am having an emotional breakdown (thankfully, not the current situation) or when I am dying of a childhood infectious disease as an adult (sadly, the case today).

I did like Erin Downing's Drive Me Crazy better than this one though. Drive Me Crazy had more well developed characters. Prom Crashers felt like a screwball comedy- which isn't really a bad thing.

I was seriously relieved on the last few pages because near the end I was worried the story was taking a "hooray for being single, I don't need a man" stance that I can't support in fluffy teenage fiction. No one wants to read a story where the girl ends up alone... especially when you are reading books about teenagers while hacking up a lung on Halloween night. Luckily, this book ended with a perfect & cheesily romantic prom night.

Something Borrowed, Catherine Hapka

This was entertaining and cute and seriously fluffy. But the good kind of fluffy not the stupid kind. The only part that was difficult for me to suspend my disbelief about was how many, many, many guys this girl had in her little black book. Let alone how many guys she had as friends, former boyfriends, flirty acquaintances, attractive co-workers, etc to pick from. It was insane how many potential wedding dates she had. I do realize that was the point and main substance of the plot but it was pretty out there in wish fulfillment land for me to wrap my brain around. Maybe that is just a revealing statement about the lack of beaux in my own life. But all in all a very cute book!

Scary Beautiful, Niki Burnham

Another book read on the plane. I liked this but not as much as How Not to Spend Your Senior Year. The writing was good but I felt like the story was more about mean teenage drama than fun fluffy teen romance. I was fine with the story line but did find the ending weak. Maybe its just personal experience with mean teenage girls but I don't think they are that quick to forgive and move on. I would have liked to read more about Chloe and Billy than Chloe and her BFF's.

How Not to Spend Your Senior Year, Cameron Dokey

I read this on the plane over the weekend coming back from.... Disneyland! The Simon Romantic Comedies are perfect airplane reading in addition to being perfect stress relief reading.

This one was a particularly strong one. I was really impressed with Cameron Dokey's writing. And I liked the clever story line. I really don't know what I'll do when I reach the end of these books.

Drive Me Crazy, Erin Downing

I am going on Day 5 of being sick which is making me start to panic for next week... I have to be back to school with the babies no matter what which is really a horrible experience when I feel like this.

Fortunately I have a gigantic back log of Simon Romantic Comedies in my possession to see me through. This is the first Erin Downing I have read and I loved it. She is up there with Jennifer Echols in my opinion. I'm really excited to read her other titles.

I loved Adam and especially the ending with Rachel chasing after him. I thought this story was a great blend of cute & fluffy with a realistic relationship between Rachel & Adam. And I loved the very cute epilogue with the whole locker thing. This is now one of my favorites in the series (I feel like I want to say "line" instead of "series" like its a fashion line or something... hmmm)

Love Off-Limits, Whitney Lyles

Ahhh... another relaxing Simon Romantic Comedy. I love the books in this series & I find it really interesting that even though they are written by different authors who all have different voices & styles all of the books I have read have been the absolute perfect blend of fluff and entertainment in a non-insulting to the reader way. In some ways they remind me of the cozy/gentle mystery genre... the stories are all different but you know what you are in for in terms of the reading experience. Sometimes that is just what I need- somewhere non-stressful to go to mentally (usually while mermaiding it up in the bathtub).

I am going to be really sad when I have read all of these books- they better keep writing more! This one was particularly fun because I love Halloween and fall in general plus who doesn't love the (always fictional) problem of multiple nice guys in your life that you have to choose from. I want to read more of Whitney Lyles... she reminds me of Jennifer Echols which is a very good thing.

The Ex Games, Jennifer Echols

I love Jennifer Echols in a big way. Her book Going Too Far is one of my favorites from this year and I might have even read it more than once...
I loved her previous Simon Romantic Comedies and was so excited to see The Ex Games on the shelves a few weeks ago (I get a special thrill when books are out before their release dates and then I wonder why I'm able to remember release dates for upcoming YA titles in the first place).
I can happily report that The Ex Games is just as enjoyable as her previous books. I have to say Going Too Far is my favorite still with The Boys Next Door in second place but there is something comfortably reliable about her books. I like knowing that I can trust an author. Jennifer Echols is the perfect blend of happy-fluff meets realistic situations which equals a relaxed and entertained reader.

A Novel Idea, Aimee Friedman

I've mentioned the restorative powers of these Simon Romantic Comedies before but it truly bears repeating. These books somehow always make me feel better. They are so short and so silly with such large type and often ridiculous plot lines but an hour later my headache, grumpiness, stress induced panic, worry induced panic, or other concerns have been soothed. Way to go silly books with bright teenage girl cartoon covers!

This one was actually less silly than most. It's by the same author who wrote Sea Change, which I loved, and it touched on book clubs and regency romance novels. How could I not enjoy it?

The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, Wendy Toliver

I am a fan of the Simon Romantic Comedies and their powerful relaxing fluffiness. Some are stronger than others (Jennifer Echols , you are the winner!) and this one wins for being the fluffiest and also the one that asks you to suspend disbelief in the biggest way.

Basically Roxy is a plain Jane band geek until her sixteenth birthday when she magically turns into a siren (sans mermaid tail). All of a sudden she is a supermodel and if she plays her flute she can enchant any man into doing her bidding… so yeah there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief going on in this story. Eventually she comes full circle and ends up with her geeky best band geek guy friend who liked her before she was a siren and then continued to like her in spite of her siren-ity.

Major Crush, Jennifer Echols

Jennifer Echols is seriously awesome. I strongly dislike all the covers of her books and it makes her writing all the more impressive when I go into the book feeling prejudiced by the cover art. I really want her to write a book for grownups. She has a way of writing romantic stories with very believable characters that I end up wanting to be friends with. And I have been so sad to get to the end of each of her books. I know she has one more coming out in October but I am really hoping there are more books on the way. I actually reread Going Too Far a few weeks back and I'm so glad I got over my book cover judging to give these books a chance. I stayed up way too late on Sunday night, making for an especially traumatic Monday morning at school, reading Major Crush and it was so worth it! Her books make me happy which is what I am most looking for at this nasty point in the school year.

The Boys Next Door, Jennifer Echols

I love Jennifer Echols! After finally finding the right author with the initials JE on a Simon Romantic Comedy I picked this up in my self pity spree. I really really loved Going Too Far and I was excited to read this but also a little worried I wouldn't like it as much as Going Too Far. But I didn't need to worry. This is definitely a lighter, fluffier book but it is very fun to read. It reminded me of the boy-girl dynamics in The Summer I Got Pretty which continued my pining for the summer and a vacation house of some sorts or at least more books with this theme. It also reinforced my 13 year old self's desire to have a twin brother because clearly having a brother with attractive friends that you grow up tagging along with is the key to romantic success. Now I just wish you could search the library catalog by subject for things like that. I'm sure there are more books out there to prove my tween self correct.

Love Undercover, Jo Edwards

Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff Fluff

Maybe I should have read this book before reading A Map of the Known World. I might have been very impressed by the deep thoughts of Map coming off the heels of the pure fluff that is this book. I bought this because I read that Jennifer Echols had written some Simon Romantic Comedies and since I adored Going Too Far I wanted to check some out.

But I went to the bookstore today in a stupor after spending forever (literally) cleaning/reorganizing/getting covered in spider webs/& moving furniture in my classroom and generally exhausting myself. So I went to try to get some bathtub reading material, saw the initials J and E on the cover, and grabbed it. I have realized that Jo Edwards and Jennifer Echols are not the same person but I did enjoy both their books.

This was cute, quick, light, unbelievable in many, many ways and entertaining. Now I want to figure out which Simon Romantic Comedy Jennifer Echols really wrote. Actually I would like Jennifer Echols to write another great story like Going Too Far. Maybe I'll have to reread it while I figure it out.