The Cover Contessa: Blog Tour: Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland @leilahowland @itchingforbooks @DisneyHyperion

Monday, May 12, 2014

Blog Tour: Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) by Leila Howland @leilahowland @itchingforbooks @DisneyHyperion

Nantucket Red banner photo nantucketredblitz_zps695b1990.png

Blurb from Goodreads:

Cricket Thompson's lifetime of overachieving has paid off: she's headed to Brown University in the fall, with a spot on the lacrosse team and a scholarship that covers almost everything. Who knew living in the dorm cost money? An Ivy League education seems to mean living at home for the next four years.
When Cricket is offered the chance to earn enough cash to afford a real college experience, she heads back to Nantucket for the summer. But the faraway island challenges Cricket in ways she hadn't anticipated. It's hard to focus on earning money for next year, when she finds her world opening up in entirely new ways-to art, to travel, and, most unexpectedly, to a future completely different from the one she has been working toward her whole life. A friendship blossoms with Ben, the gorgeous surfer and bartender who encourages Cricket to be free, even as she smarts at the pain of seeing Zack, her first love, falling for her worst enemy.
But one night, when Cricket finally lets herself break all her own rules, she realizes she may have ruined her carefully constructed future with one impulsive decision. Cricket must dig deep to fight for her future, discovering that success isn't just about reaching goals, but also about listening to what she's been trying to ignore-her own heart.

Series: Nantucket #2

Release date: May 13th 2014

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

BARNES AND NOBLE

THE COVER CONTESSA'S REVIEW:

I want to thank Disney Hyperion and Net Galley for providing me with an early copy of this book to read and review. Receiving this book for free has in no way influenced my impression or review.

I was excited to see where this book went since the last one, while it didn't end in a total cliffhanger, did leave me hanging just a bit. If you haven't read the first book in this series, then stop here. You might find there are spoilers from book one.

I love the covers of these books. I've never been to Nantucket, but the covers truly capture what I think my impression would be.The colors are fresh and inviting and I just love that you can't see the faces of the characters. While you can see them, you still get to imagine what they actually look like. I like to form my own ideas when it comes to this.

This book picks up right where the first one left off. Cricket is home from Nantucket and has started her senior year. She is feeling more alone than ever now that she and Jules have a rift. But during the course of the year she slowly regains this friendship. I have to say that I really thought Cricket had grown up and learned from her selfishness of the summer before. But when she returns to Nantucket after her senior year, I really don't see it. As a matter of fact, I see the same Cricket I saw in book one. And, while she's supposed to be 18 turning 19, to me she seems so much younger. Almost like she just can't break free of her childhood. I needed her to be a little more self-confident, which I think she was by the end of book, but it seems like it took her so long to get there.

We meet up with some of the old characters from book one, and it was nice to see them again. And we also meet some new characters who help Cricket really define who she needs to become.

I was a little disappointed with the fact that we really didn't get to see Cricket's senior year of school. It went by very quickly in the first few chapters, almost feeling a bit rushed. But I do see that the point of the author's book was to show Cricket's life on Nantucket. I still would have liked to get a bit more background of what happened between her and Jules during their senior year, and how she won back Jules' trust.

Cricket tends to make choices in this book that are not so smart at times. And at other times, she allows herself the freedom to just be. I really could feel her struggle to become her own person and figure out her life.

Overall this was a cute enjoyable and clean YA read. I was happy that it was not totally consumed with romance, although Cricket does do a ton of pining over Zack which could become a bit annoying. But I think her growth and acceptance in this book makes up for it.

Leila Howland photo 5815415_zps4c49fac5.jpg

Leila Howland was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. A graduate of Georgetown University, Leila spent five years acting in New York where she was a company member of the award-winning Flea Theater in Tribeca. Nantucket Blue, for which she was named a Publisher's Weekly Flying Start Author, was her first novel. Leila now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and dogs. Visit her online at www.leilahowland.com and at
http://twitter.com/leilahowland

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Tour Schedule:

May 12th -

Bajgajka Loves Books And Giveaways *Spotlight

Crossroad Reviews *Review

A Book Addict's Bookshelves *Interview

Pretty Little Memoirs *Spotlight

The Cover Contessa *Review

Reviews By Molly *Interview

Geeky Chiquitas *Review

Reader Girls *Guest Post

Book Freak *Spotlight

Curse of the Bibliophile *Review
Fiction Dreams *Spotlight
Booky Thoughts and Me *Review
The Serial Reader *Review & Dream Cast (blogger's choice)