Review Of: The Force Of Gravity

"I blast the stereo in a vain attempt to drown out my thoughts. I don’t want to be thinking about him and analyzing every detail of first period. It makes me feel like a young, foolish girl, and I’m embarrassed that I can’t control the way my body reacts every time his eyes meet mine."

In a quiet town in the East Valley of Phoenix, Arizona, everything in life is seemingly perfect for eighteen-year-old Kaley Kennedy. She has loving parents, loyal friends, and is dating the hottest boy in school. With only a few months left of her senior year, she’s looking forward to an epic summer before heading off to Los Angeles for college.

Without warning, a gorgeous new math teacher interrupts Kaley’s predictable little world, challenging who she is. Suddenly, parties, dates, and Friday nights with her friends seem empty and unfulfilling as she finds herself obsessing over his every move. Desperate for something more, but determined to ignore her fierce attraction, every single relationship in her life begins to crumble by forces beyond her control. Struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood, Kaley must choose between playing it safe or risking more than just her heart. . . 

At about the 50% mark I was standing on the edge trying to decide if I really wanted to finish this book or not.  I really thought I wouldn't but by some miracle I was able to push through and make it to the finish line.

I have no problem reading teacher/student relationship but the way TFOG is written made it really hard to trudge through.  Really I should say it was the characters that made it hard for me to accept their reality. Our MC Kaley is 18 and Mr. Slate is only 25 so the age gap isn't creepy at all.  Mr. Slate takes over Kaley's math class in March of her senior year so it's not as if they forever till Kaley graduates.  All of those facts combine to make it possible to read TFOG without feeling icky about it. What makes it hard to get through is the fact that Kaley is a very immature 18.  From her fights with her friends and boyfriend (yeah, she has a boyfriend who is very much her age) to the grudges she holds against her parents she shows how young her thought process really is.  There were a couple of instances where I really thought Slate would come to his senses and call her out on her child like tantrums. He didn't. Because he thinks she's amazing baby. *Eye roll*

If her immaturity wasn't enough, they're lust filled relationship definitely sealed the deal.  Remember how I said he took over the class in March? Yeah, from day one Kaley couldn't think or act straight around him, beginning the cringe worthy moments that would stay present for me throughout the whole book.  Which, this is one thing I don't understand.  Why is it these girls can't control themselves in the face of their crush? Pull yourselves together ladies, it is possible to lust after someone without revealing yourself and making yourself look a fool. Lordy.  Kaley isn't the only one to blame though because Mr. Slate falls head over heels for Kaley the moment she walks into class.  From that moment on they are both doomed.  They call it love but it is soo lust.  They know nothing about each other, not even by the end of the book! And the declaration he makes at the end? Ha! Give me a break.  I would give them maybe 6 months in the real world before the whole thing fell apart! And that's being optimistic!

Obviously,  I didn't like the Force of Gravity.  Does that mean you shouldn't try it? No, but don't say I didn't warn you!

Make Me A Match by Lori Brighton

MAKE ME A MATCH

Author: Lori Brighton

Publication Date: 11/2013

Publisher: Lori Brighton

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

 

Teenager Emma Watts doesn’t believe in true love. After all, she’s worked for two years in her family’s P.I. business catching cheating husband’s in the act. Then Owen Emerson arrives (while she’s in the middle of a stakeout, no less) claiming Emma has inherited a deceased aunt’s ability to supernaturally match soul-mates. Emma wants nothing to do with her aunt’s powers, nor with the frustrating and perfectly handsome Owen Emerson. Too bad she’s stuck with both for the rest of her life.

Owen Emerson is a Protector, a person fated to protect Matchmakers for eternity. A guy who does things by the book, Owen figures he’ll rationally explain to Emma her newfound abilities and they can have the professional relationship he’d had with her much older aunt. But as he soon finds out Emma Watts is anything but professional. Fortunately, when she has her first vision matching two friends she has no alternative but to believe Owen’s claims. But Owen isn’t the only one interested in Emma. When the supernatural world discovers how to exploit Emma’s matchmaking abilities for their own, she has no choice but to trust the man who holds her life, and her heart, in his hands.

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 

 

REVIEW

 

Ugh I hate myself for doing it but this was a DNF.  I really, really, REALLY tried but by page 50 I was so fed up with the characters that I couldn't force myself to waste anymore of my time.  The idea behind the book was soo good and I looked forward to reading about it but the fact is that by chapter SIX the only thing I had really learned was that the MC and her love interest both found each other amazingly attractive.  Talk about insta-love!! They kept going on about how they despised one another but in the same sentence talked about how they were attracted to each other.  I just couldn't get past the fakeness of it, considering this was a fantasy and I went in not expecting it to seem real that's saying a lot. 

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

 

As a child, thoughts of far-off places and adventure consistently kept Lori up late at night. After graduating high school, she came to the conclusion that there was no better way to seek adventure and nourish her love of history than to become an archaeologist. She went on to receive a degree in anthropology, but digging in the dirt during humid Midwestern summers wasn’t exactly as fun as she thought it would be.

Instead, she went to work in an air conditioned museum where she spent her days surrounded by creepy Victorian animal mounts. Still, she wasn’t satisfied.

Deciding the people in her imagination were slightly more exciting than the dead things in a museum basement, she set out to write her first romance novel. That book was soundly rejected. As was the next. Years went by and she began to wonder if she’d ever see her dream fulfilled. Until one day she came up with an idea for a book that brought together her love of history and adventure: a book now titled Wild Heart. Since Wild Heart's release, Lori has written Historical Romance, Contemporary Paranormal Romance and Young Adult.

Lori currently resides in the Southern U.S., where she juggles her time between a husband, a son, a golden retriever, a cat and the many, many people in her imagination.

 

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