Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson

When you were a kid, did you ever think that you were adopted because how could you be related to the people you call family?  They look nothing at all like you!

Welcome to the life of Violet Routledge.  Her Italian looks can't come from her Norwegian mom or her Scottish dad.  But it's not like she can just ask her parents if she's really their daughter- after her father left, she didn't want to cause any trouble for her mom, so the question remains unanswered.

Then one day, she's walking around an art gallery, and sees herself in a painting.  A splitting image of her... from Italy?  She has to find out more about this mysterious girl who shares her looks!

So, Violet finds herself an excuse to get to Italy: a program run by an Italian (or is she?) woman- Catia- who teaches girls the language and culture.

It's not just all arranging flowers, though.  There's Catia's evil daughter, Elisa, who's determined to make Violet's life hell, especially because the two of them have not-so-secret crushes on Luca, a friend of Catia's son.

This book didn't get particularly good reviews on Amazon, although the majority of them seem to compare this to other books by the author, none which I have read.  However, I think that this was a great book, and really cannot wait for the sequel.

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Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

I have to say, I'm actually a fan of vampire books.  Not ones like Twilight and New Moon, but ones that fall more along the lines of a relatable teenage girl having a pair of fangs.

Fang Girl is exactly that.   It tells the story of Xanthe Jane Greene rising from her grave.  Her family freaks out- of course- but they're pretty cool with her drinking blood.  Crazy scientist mom thinks of everything that could possibly happen, including turning a fish into a bloodsucker, which turns out to be fairly hilarious.  Steampunk obsessed younger brother Zack is convinced that she's really a zombie, and he won't change his mind.  This book has it all- cute vampire hunters, tweens that spend too much time online, evil shape shifters, crazy vampire bloodlines, cats, several plot twists, and even IKEA.  I have to say that I laughed out loud way too many times whilst reading this book- good book, but bad read on a crowded train unless you want random strangers thinking that you're insane.

So yeah, read this book.  The cover may look weird, but trust me, it's good.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Hadley doesn't want to see her dad get remarried to Charlotte from England, but what is she supposed to do?  Miss her flight to London?

Okay, so that part was an accident, but she's sure glad it turned out that way, even though it would mean taking the flight in the middle of the night and arriving at the wedding only minutes before it starts.

On the next flight, she sits next to Oliver, the funny, charming Brit who Hadley talks to for the entire trip.

Their plane lands, but she looses him in customs- will they ever see each other again?

*spoiler alert*  They do.

But seriously, this book is great.  Read it.  I picked it up at Barnes and Noble waiting for my mom to finish her shopping, then devoured half the book there.  I read through the commercial breaks of Community and through texting my friend about about heart attacks.  If you pick this book up, it's going to be hard to put down, but when you do put it down, you won't even use a bookmark, fearing that you would ruin the book if you did.  (Okay, now that I think about it, that was really dumb.  Sticking a slip of paper in between two pages isn't going to ruin a book...)  Or you're going to dog-ear every page and underline every quote- it really depends on which type of person you are.

So, yeah.  Go read this book; you most definitely will not regret it.

Love? Maybe by Heather Hepler

I have some sort of distant cousin who was born on Valentine's day.  When I was eight, I thought that it was the coolest thing ever.  However, for Piper Paisley, it's an absolute tragedy.  She's possibly the most cynical person anyone will ever meet- she's watched her mom go through two divorces, and doubts that love even exist- and her birthday's on Valentine's day.  It's approaching soon, and her friend Jillian has the perfect plan to get Piper, their friend Claire, and herself all boyfriends by everyone's favorite holiday in February.
The story's a bit predictable, but still fairly good.  There's likable characters- Piper's next door neighbor, for example- and characters that you can't help but hate, like Claire's ex.
Overall, Love? Maybe is definitely worth a read.

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

The book starts out with our main heroine, Elise Benton, complaining about her new school, Coral Tree.  She and her sister Juliana are starting in their junior and senior years, having moved to California from Amherst, MA due to the fact that their mom- Dr. Gardiner- got a job as the new principal.

Elise's first day doesn't go too well- she hits the popular girl Chelsea with a door, then doesn't have anyone to sit with at lunch.  Elise ends up at a table with her Juliana, her crush, Chelsea, and Derek Edwards.

You've heard of love at first sight, but what Elise experiences with Derek?  Hate at first sight.  Elise thinks that Derek's really stuck up because his parents are movie stars, so she just tries her best to ignore him and move on with her life.

That's not incredibly easy though, seeing as how her sister and Derek's best friend start to date.  Also, she sees him every day in astrology class.

Speaking of astrology class, the guy of her dreams seems to be part of it: Webster Grant.  Derek has some sort of weird grudge against Webster, but Elise just dismisses it as Derek's moody personality.

Any of this sound familiar?  Pride and Prejudice, anyone?

Yup!  Epic Fail is another one of those modern-day adaptations of everyone's favorite book from two hundred years ago.

When you're not comparing it to Pride and Prejudice, it's actually quite good.  It's another cute, fluffy, teenage love story that everyone loves.

But when it's being compared?  You'll notice the lack of Charlotte and Mr. Collins (two of my favorite characters, cut from this adaptation!), and the differences will drive you absolutely insane- Darcy, or Derek doesn't send Elizabeth, or Elise a letter, or email right after he tells her that he loves her, or asks her out to the semiformal- the letter comes much later.

Overall, the book was good.  Not, great, but good.  Somewhat relatable characters, adorable romance stories, and of course, hilarious younger sisters.  Read it if you want, or show it to your cousin who doesn't know who Jane Austen is.  Both of you will enjoy it, but it's definitely not the best book I've ever read.