Crash Into You by Katie McGarry Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway!)

 

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry 
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Format: eARC, 474 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: Pushing the Limits #3
Source: NetGalley
Buy It: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Kobo | Audible

Description from Goodreads:

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

I'm going to let you all know right now: I freaking LOVE Isaiah. I did in the first two books, but in this one...goodness gracious, thank you to Katie McGarry for giving us his story. I was hesitant to say this, but then I thought about it and I'm pretty darn sure--this is my favorite Katie McGarry book and Isaiah is my favorite Katie McGarry boy. Well. So far. ;)

Technically, this is the third in the Pushing the Limits series, but it can totally be read as a standalone if you want to do that. I suggest reading them in order, though, because of possible spoilers and because it is fantastic to watch as the story grows. We started with Noah and Echo and their friends, then to Beth and Ryan and added on some people, and now to Isaiah and Rachel and it's this big thing that makes me feel so happy. I honestly and truly love these books. SO. FLIPPING. MUCH.

Okay, so I'll focus on Crash Into You now. Dual POV again (which I lovelovelove!) and we get to meet both characters of this story pretty quickly. And I was IN from there. I was already invested in Isaiah (clearly), but even Rachel won me over extremely fast. Because I like Rachel.

Yeah, I said it.

I LIKE RACHEL. Partly because she has four brothers (I have three of my own, so I can kind of relate), but a big part of it was that she was just an interesting character. Her issues, her family, the way she acted, and then how she was around Isaiah. Mix all of it together and you get Rachel, a female character I do, in fact, like.

Isaiah...gosh, I heart him. I can't even explain to you why. I mean, I know why. But explaining it would be pointless. Oh, and he has a tiger tattoo. We all know how I love tigers, yes? My faaaaavorite. So there's that. Ahhh, Isaiah. He's such a good person. I can't help but adore him.

Their story captured my attention and held it. For long periods of time. I can give several examples, but they probably don't mean much unless you know me--like how I barely kept an eye on The Polar Express when it was on because I was reading about Rachel and Isaiah and I was loving the crap out of it. So yeah. There's that. And the plot...there were more things going on than I would have expected. Some of these things flew out of nowhere, adding to everything else and making me all nervous. Not in a bad way. In a OHMYGOD I CAN'T PUT THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK DOWN way. 

Overall, Crash Into You is my favorite book in this series and I loved these characters and their story. Katie McGarry is a wonderful human being for putting this all on paper for us (i.e. ME) to read and enjoy. Now I am literally dying for the next book, Take Me On. Seriously, can I just have it now? PLEASE?

About the Author 

 

KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie would love to hear from her readers. Contact her via her website, katielmcgarry.com, follow her on Twitter @KatieMcGarry, or become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads.

Author Links: 

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway 

There's a tour-wide giveaway for 10 (holy crap, TEN!) copies of Crash Into You (which, trust me, you should be making all kinds of grabby hands for)! The giveaway is US/Canada only, and you can enter through the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Blog Tour Hosted by:

YA Bound Book Tours

♥Jessica(:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books at the Top of my Summer TBR List!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

 

Partly, this is me playing catch-up, and partly this is me being SUPER excited about reading some books. So...yeah. :)

 

My Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR List:

 

Frigid by J. Lynn

This book is not out yet. But it WILL be out this summer, and I will be lusting after this book all the while. *flails*

 

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

I got this book for my birthday, started it, and then had to put it aside because it was either reading this book or finishing a PreCal project that was worth a test grade. ...I flipped a coin. The project won. Best 3 out of 5. I was disappointed. My project was pretty darn great, though, if I do say so myself ;)

 

Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Goodness knows I loved Pushing the Limits, so I am SO excited to finally be able to sit down and read this book now that school's over.

 

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I got this book for Christmas. CHRISTMAS, y'all! I am in serious need of finally reading it and joining the rest of humanity in biting their nails waiting for the last book.

 

Faking It by Cora Carmack

I just finished a re-read of Losing It, and I am so pumped to get to Cade's story. I just KNOW I'm going to swoon.

 

Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

This is another one that isn't out yet, but I'm going to make grabby hands for until I get it. Holder is one of my top guys, remember? I CANNOT WAIT to see what was going on in his head. Hopeless is one of my favorite books of all time. I just know this book is going to be AMAZING. Eeep!

 

The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram

I JUST got this today, and I'm going to be reviewing it sometime. I am so excited, because this book looks like it is 100% MY KIND OF BOOK, you know?

 

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

This cover makes me happy. And this is another one I WANTED to dive into right away, but could not because school is idiotic. But now it is summer, and I have all the time in the world to read what I want. So yay!

 

True Love Story by Willow Aster

I've had this book for a while and my finger has been itching to just CLICK on it on my Kindle. I can't wait until I get to do that! And now I will. Soon.

 

The Valentine's Arrangement by Kelsie Leverich

This is one I started on the moment I got it, but had to stop because I had to do other things. Probably a history notebook or something silly (yet graded) like that. But AGAIN--it is now summer, therefore I have time. And I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!! *squee!*

 

So...yeah. That's my list! Now, tell me:

 

Do you participate in TTT? Link me up!

 

What do you think of my list? Have you read any of these books? What do you think? Which should I read first?

 

And before you go, I'm currently listening to (i.e. singing along to) this song, and I feel like it is pretty appropriate to share in this post. You know, the summer thing and all. Also, if you've read Maggie Stifvater's SHIVER trilogy...heh. ;)

 

 

Mhm. Yeah. That is all. <3

 

♥Jessica(:

Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Format: ARC, 392 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Gifted from Anna at Literary Exploration!

Description from Goodreads:
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

I've heard talk about Pushing the Limits for a super long time now. And I've wanted to read it since the moment I heard about it. So, obviously, I've wanted to read this for a super long time now. So when I got it, there was a lot of happy dancing. Seriously. A lot. And it was all for good cause. Because this book made me all kinds of happy!

This book honestly had me from page one, which does not happen all that often for me with contemporary books. Normally, I have to read a bit of the book to actually get into it and start having fun with it. But with this book, I started on page one and just DID NOT want to stop. Goodness, this book has my heart.

Character Rundown:
Echo: Ahhh, Echo. I love her name. And the story of her name. Her character wasn't too bad. Her POV was amusing and held my attention, though I did like Noah's better. She was selfless and kind. I guess the thing about her that got to me was that she was all self-sacrificing. But not in a way that I see as noble. More like in a way that's trying too hard. I don't even know. She was NOT a bad character. She just wasn't my favrite. Still, this didn't take anything away from the book or how much I love it.

Noah: Awwww, Noah. He was so amazing. I love how he was so determined to get his brothers back, and then help Echo. And then there was the fact that he was so loyal to his foster siblings all the time. I loved THAT relationship. Those three...ha. Can't wait to see more in Dare You To. Anyway, Noah's a sweetheart who sometimes looks like a bad boy. But really, he's not a bad boy, he's just done some bad things. Or...seemingly bad things. Either way, he's good at heart and I adore him to no end.

Aires: Okay, so I'm aware that he's not actually, you know, ALIVE in this book, but I heart him. And most of the tears that were shed for this book were shed for him. I mean, I didn't ball my eyes out or anything, but still. This boy made me smile. I'm so sad he's gone. And the thing that Echo did with his car...well, that is one of the things I DID like a lot about her. I admire that she did that. Goodness knows that if I were in her shoes, I would have done the same exact thing. So...ahhh, Aires.

Plot. This book had me. In between Echo working out her memories and Noah trying and trying and trying to get his brothers back, I was caught up in the story that was Noah & Echo. There was always something happening to keep me reading. This is one of those books that I couldn't help but read during class because I just could NOt bring myself to close the book and not find out what was happening.

Noah & Echo. They were such a great couple! I have no complaints about them, whatsoever. These two were just awesome. Noah's a sweetie and he cares so, so much. And then Echo, well...Echo's a good person. There's no doubt about that. Seeing them getting used to each other and actually grow together had me grinning like a fool. I love these two!

The ending. I can't see how this book could have ended any better. It was just right for the characters. I felt it in my heart a little, but I was happy. heck, this book IN GENERAL just gave me an overall happy feeling.

Overall, Katie McGarry has written a superb debut novel that sent me through so many emotions but ultimately left me smiling. I couldn't be more excited for the next book, Dare You To, if I tried! I just KNOW Katie's going to make Beth's story just as fantastic as Noah and Echo's story was. Ahhh, so much love here!!!

♥Jessica(:

Waiting on Wednesday #18 ♥ Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine!

 

It's been forever and a day since the last time I did a WoW post, but hey. Better late than never, right? Plus, I am seriously dying for the book I'm featuring this week!

 

Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Expected Publication: May 28, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Series: Pushing the Limits #2

 

Description from Goodreads:

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

 

Why I cannot wait! Have you read Pushing the Limits? If your answer with no, you must do it now. NOW. Seriously. After that awesomeness, of course I'm excited for some more! Plus, some super cool blogger friends I know already read it. Um, yeah. And they said it was BETTER THAN THE FIRST. How that's even possible, I have no clue, but it just makes me drool over this book that much more!

 

What are YOU waiting on this week?

 

♥Jessica(: