Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {E}

My Swoon-Worthy pick for "E" is...

Etienne St. Clair

From Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

{Aaron Johnson}

Why?

He's French, American, he grew up in London, and he has a British accent, which is freaking adorable

He's very confident in himself, but he doesn't come off as being annoying and cocky about it.

He's extremely charismatic. You can't help but want to be around him.

He sends fantastically hilarious e-mails to Anna.

He's the bestest best friend anyone could ask for.

He knows all these facts about history and all this other stuff, and I think that's completely fascinating. {Seriously}

He loves his mother and has a great relationship with her {something that he isn't afraid to admit}

Some of my favorite Etienne Quotes:

Most people in Atlanta don’t have an accent. It’s pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though,” I add jokingly. 
“Fo’ shiz,” he replies in his polite English accent.
I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I’m laughing too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. “Fo’. Shiz.” He repeats it solemnly.
Cough cough. “Please don’t ever stop saying that. It’s too-” I gasp. “Much.”
“You oughtn’t to have said that. Now I shall have to save it for special occasions.”
“My birthday is in February.” Cough choke wheeze. “Please don’t forget.” 

"I promise that I will never leave you."

"If you ask me to kiss you I will, he says."
"Kiss me," I say.
He does.

 So what about you? Who are your Swoon-Worthy boys whose names start with "E"? {Last name, first name, or nickname, it doesn't matter.} Let me know!

Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {D}

My Swoon-Worthy pick for "D" is...

Dean Winchester

You know, sometimes I wonder who it is that I'm more attracted to. Dean? Or Jensen? Then I remember this:

And then I decide that it doesn't really matter because they're both equally swoon-worthy. But since we're talking about Swoon Worthy Fictional guys, I'll talk about why I love Dean.

Why?

Dean's hilarious. And he's also one sarcastic son-of-a-gun, which makes him even funnier, especially if he's talking to someone who just doesn't *get* it. And, you know, the more serious the situation, the more snarky/smart assy he is. Exhibit A:

He's great with kids. Like, seriously, I don't even think I need to elaborate on that one, I mean, LOOOOK at the picture:

*SIGH*

He's actually kind of a geek {albeit a very attractive geek, but still} Sam is your traditional book geek, who could probably tell you the square root of 3 million, but Dean is the one who is always making pop culture references {Justin Bieber, Harry Potter, Starwars, etc}

He's got these insanely gorgeous eyes.

He sometimes comes off as being cold-hearted and uncaring, when in actuality, he cares too much.

He's fierce and protective, especially with Sam.

He's got the Impala {Baby}

Some of my favorite Dean quotes are:

"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

"No chick flick moments."

"You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die, or you can keep fightin' no matter what."

"I'm gonna go stop the Big Bad Wolf. Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said."

"We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous."

"Cas, this isn't you. Cas, it's me. We're family. We need you. I need you."

Do you have any Swoon-Worthy boys whose names start with "D"? If so, let me know in the comments!

What I Love (2)

I've probably mentioned it a time or two {or three} before, but I'm really very fond of stories where the super famous person falls for the sweet small town girl {or boy}. I don't know why I have such a soft spot for these kinds of stories. Maybe it's because they've got a fairy tale-ish feel to them. Here are a few of my favorites:

These are all pretty fantastic books. Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? Or have you read any books with a similar theme? If you have, I would love to hear about them {I'm always open to book suggestions!}

Review: The Heart Of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: July 2015



Publication Date:  July 7, 2015
Hardcover, 470 pages



Summary from Goodreads:

Intrigue abounds in this hotly anticipated sequel to The Kiss of Deception!

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to Lia, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives amongst them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country... and her own destiny



My Review:

Oh my...I don't know how much more of this my heart can take...

This book kind of sort of reminded me of The Host. Where the pretty captive is in this hostile environment, but manages to integrate herself into the lives of her captors and winning their hearts.

Most people underestimated Lia, which was a huge mistake on their part. They thought she was a spoiled princess, and since she also happened to be a prisoner, they treated her poorly. She didn't let it get to her though, and she played it to her advantage, and took every chance she could to show them just how wrong they were. {Like when she played that card game and won...} It was pretty fantastic, although sometimes she did these things without fully thinking of the consequences of her actions.

When she was thinking things through, she was kind of... Scary? No, that's really not the right word, but whatever. She was very calculating, and very good at using just the right words to get people to believe her.

I had this love/hate relationship with Kaden, and I still don't know how I fell about him.

The Komizar... Oh wow, that was complicated. He was a bad guy, I get that. But then he had his moments... Very small, and very few and far between. But I couldn't help but like him just an eensy weensy bit.... Ugh.

And now for the part that killed me:

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS!!*


Lia and Rafe spent all this time planning and scheming, trying to get out of Venda, and they even had help from the inside and the outside... Lia KILLED the Komizar for crying out loud {which means she's the new one} but they're out, and headed back home... which is a very bad idea. Lia is considered a traitor to her kingdom and is wanted dead. She really can't even trust that her closest friends and her brothers won't betray her... They'd be better off staying in Venda where at least they know who they can and can't trust.

And then it ended in a cliffhanger, and the third book in the series has this extremely vague "2016" release date, and I don't think I can survive that long...

Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {C}

My Swoony Pick for the letter "C" is...

Cole Holland

From The White Rabbit Chronicles

By Gena Showalter

{I imagine him looking a lot like Drew Roy}

He's got VIOLET colored eyes, which is pretty dang sexy in and of itself.

He's kind of a smart ass, but he's very flirty about it, which makes it all the more fun to argue with him and call him out on his B.S.

He has that whole "Bad Boy" vibe going for him {I wouldn't want to get on his bad side} but he actually has a heart of gold.

He is fiercely protective of the people that he loves

Some of my favorite Cole quotes are:

"I can't promise you we'll ever use you for a hasty getaway. But with a little work, you might be able to race my grandmother--while she's on her scooter."

"Fear of spiders is arachnophobia, and fear of tight spaces is claustrophobia, but fear of Ali Bell is just called logic."

"With you I want to be better. I want to be what you need. Tell me what you need."

Do any of your favorite Swoon-Worthy boys have names that start with "C"? {First, last, or a nickname, it doesn't matter} If so, tell me in the comments below!!

Review: Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally

My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: July 2015



Publication Date:  July 7, 2015
Hardcover, 304 pages



Summary from Goodreads:

Practice Makes Perfect.

Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?



My Review:

"You know I wish that I had Jesse's GIIIIIIRRRLLL--"

Oh, uh, *AHEM* hello there, fancy meeting you here... Anyway...

The cover of this book is FANTABULOUS, and Jesse likes Keith Urban, which gives it bonus points right away... But those aren't the only reasons why I liked this book.

I 'll tell you right now that throwing together a punk-rock, 80's music singing girl, and a country boy was a fantastic idea... Especially since this girl claims to hate country music.

This book only  took me about 3 hours or so to read, which is fantastic because I've been having a reader's block of sorts, where it takes me forever to finish a book, if I even make it that far

I loved Maya. I really did. I think we could be BFFs. I mean, she loves funnel cakes as much as I do! But seriously, she reminded me of  a combination of Maya from Girl Meets World, Eve Rosser from Morganville, and Abby Sciuto from NCIS. It was fantastic. She was so confident in herself {besides her Gabriella Montez/Ally Dawson stage fright, that she ended up overcoming} and she wore all these crazy cool punk rock outfits, that I don't think I would ever be brave enough to try.

I also LOVED the fact that the chapter titles were song titles {I was proud of myself because I knew almost all of them}

I'm super glad that Maya had such a great relationship with her family. They supported her 100%, and they would do anything to help her out. There was no big family drama going on anywhere, no resentment of siblings, or anything like that, which I thought was pretty cool.

Maya and Jesse had a lot of trust related issues to work through. They were both guilty of blaming and pre-judging each other over something that someone else did, and I understand why they felt the way they did. Once bitten, twice shy and all that, but it still hurt my heart to see them going through that.

I do kind of wish that we had been able to get a glimpse ahead to when Maya is finally allowed to participate in Wannabe Rocker. I mean, all the anticipation leading up to the decision of her holding off for a year, it kills me.

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

My Rating: 5 Stars

Date Read: July 2015

Publication Date: June 23, 2015

Hardcover, 352 pages

Summary From Goodreads:

Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them apart?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.

She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

My Review:

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy reading Robin Benway novels. The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June, and her Also Known As series, are all awesome reads. And Emmy and Oliver did not disappoint.

During the 10 years that Oliver was gone, Emmy did not forget. She was obsessed with his disappearance. And why wouldn't she be? They were best friends. They lived right next door to each other and had their own secret codes, and they shared the same birthday. She was so young when he was taken, she really didn't understand what had happened and why he wasn't coming back. But she never lost hope that one day he'd return.

I really liked the relationship between Emmy and Oliver. I liked how Emmy was there for Oliver to support him, and listen to him without judging him. And I liked how Oliver was willing to support Emmy's dreams, even if it meant that it was her turn to leave him. They pushed each other out of their comfort zones, and made each other better, stronger people.

I was kind of frustrated with Emmy's parents, but more so with Oliver's mom. I understand that what she went through was horrible, but she couldn't stop treating Oliver like he was still a 7 year old little boy. I was so happy when they all finally started coming to their senses.

I also really liked that Emmy's dad taught them all Beatles' songs to sing when the reporters were hounding them... Evil genius indeed... That's something I need to keep in mind for the inevitable moment that I have tons of paparazzi following me all over the place.

Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {B}

My Swoon Worthy pick for "B" is....

Braden Lewis 

From On The Fence by Kasie West

(Shane Harper is who I picture as Braden)

He's so adorably sweet, and he's got that whole "Boy Next Door" thing going for him.

He's got Swampy Brown eyes *GRINS*

He listens. Like, really listens, not this whole "Oh, I will pretend to listen to you and nod my head every once in a while.

He's willing to go out at 2 in the morning to have a fence chat. Why can't I have a Braden of my own? {Okay, yeah, I don't have a fenced back yard, but still}

He loves Charlie for who she is, and not what she pretended to be. He thought she was beautiful in sweats with no makeup on and her hair haphazardly thrown into a ponytail.

So what about you? Who are your Swoon-Worthy boys whose names start with "B"? {Last name, first name, or nickname, it doesn't matter.} Let me know in the comments!!

Review: Unite Me by Tahereh Mafi

My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: July 2015

Publication Date: February 14, 2014
Paperback, 197 pages



Summary from Goodreads:

Perfect for fans of Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Shatter Metrilogy, this book collects her two companion novellas, Fracture Me andDestroy Me, in print for the first time ever. It also features an exclusive look into Juliette’s journal and a preview of Ignite Me, the hotly anticipated final novel of the series.

Destroy Me tells the events between Shatter Me and Unravel Me from Warner’s point of view. Even though Juliette shot him in order to escape, Warner can’t stop thinking about her—and he’ll do anything to get her back. But when the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment arrives, he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner cannot allow.

Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective and bridges the gap betweenUnravel Me and Ignite Me. As the Omega Point rebels prepare to fight the Sector 45 soldiers, Adam's more focused on the safety of Juliette, Kenji, and his brother. The Reestablishment will do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam cares about.

The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent and The Hunger Games. This captivating story, which combines the best of dystopian and paranormal, was praised as “a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love” by Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.


My Review:

OH. MAH. GOSH. I looooooove Tahereh Mafi, okay? She's just the most fantastic person EVER.

I was obsessed with her Shatter Me series, and I was super upset when it ended {I cried, y'all, it was serious business}.

So I finally got around to reading Unite Me, which is two novellas in one {in case ya didn't know}, and I was pumped because I got to "see" things happen again from different perspectives {Adam and Warner} and let me tell you, it was intense. 

We get to see that Warner isn't the monster everyone thinks he is {which is also something you would know if you've read the Series} but we get to see inside his head. Like, for instance, why he had Juliette kill Jenkins. We also get to see why he's so fascinated with Juliette.

And then with Adam we get to see that he isn't as perfect as he seems to be. *Sighs and shakes head* that boy and I had some words... He had his doubts about Juliette's innocence when Kenji got hurt, although he would never admit it out loud. And he was hesitant to go back out to save Juliette when Anderson captured her... KENJI was the one who gave him heck for that even though he was the one had gotten hurt. {which, okay, I see where Adam was coming from because of his brother and all, but still... ouch man, that really hurts.}

Each of the novellas ended at pretty crucial points of the book, and I found myself crying "Nooooooo, you can't do that to me! I need to know what happens!!" both times. Which is actually pretty hilarious, considering that I've already read the whole series several times, and I already know what is going to happen. But I think it was just because it was from different points of view, and I really wanted to see the rest of the story through their eyes and see what they really thought about different things.

Swoon-Worthy {Fictional} Guys From A-Z {A}

FICTIONAL. GUYS. Hot darn. Why in the world do they have to be so awesome and perfect, and, well... Sexylicious? {My sister HATES that word, but she's 11, so all things that have to do with boys are gross to her right now.} Anyways, on to the post...

So Once Upon A Time Ago, I was part of this Goodreads group {It's been a long while since the last time I was active in that group, and for all I know it could be disbanded} and in that group, they had a thread where you have a list of the most swoon-worthiest guys from A-Z. Only ONE guy for each Letter of the Alphabet. Which is harder than it sounds because DAAANNNG, there are a LOT of swoon-worthy fictional guys out there. But I figured I'd go ahead and give it a shot again. {Then after I go through all the letters in the alphabet, maybe I'll just talk about all the other fictional guys that I find Swoony, since they can't all be on my alphabetical list.}

My Swoon-Worthy guy with an "A" Name is: *DRUMROLL*

ADRIAN IVASHKOV

From the Vampire Academy/Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead

{I've always pictured Chase Crawford as Adrian}

Adrian Ivashkov {besides having a rad last name} is sweet, funny, charming, devilishly handsome, and poetic.

He's fiercely protective of those he loves, and will do anything to protect them {even though sometimes he ends up causing more trouble than he helps.}

His heart is always in the right place, and I'm so glad he finally got his chance at a Happily-Ever-After.

Some of my favorite Adrian quotes are:

"I'm like a fine wine. I get better with age." - Blood Promise

"You're my flame in the dark, We chase away the shadows around each other." - The Indigo Spell

"Being charming is my hobby." - Bloodlines

So what about you? Who are some of your favorite swoon-worthy boys whose names start with "A"? {it can be first name, last name, or a nickname. Let me know in the comments below!