young at heart

i'm in my late 20s yet my guilty pleasure is buying young adult fiction. why? one, i'm a hopeless romantic and a sucker for sweet romance. two, it reminds me of my own high school life, when life was simple and all we cared about were school and boys. for this series, i will be focusing on my favorite YA authors and their books.

Rachel Hawthorne

Rachel, who also writes as Lorraine Heath and Jade Parker, is the daughter of a British beauty and a Texan who was stationed at Bovington while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Herts, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her 'dual' nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan. She enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.

She received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas and writes for both adult and young adult readers. She received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Americana historicals. Her novels have been recognized with a RITA, Romance WRiters of America's most prestigious award for excellence, a HOLT medallion award honoring outstanding literary fiction, a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, five Texas Gold Awards, the Golden Quill Award, the Rising Star Award as well as other awards and recognitions. Her novels have been selections of the Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Club and have appeared on bestseller lists, including USA Today, Waldenbooks, and most recently, the New York Times. 

She currently lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and two dogs. Before writing full-time, she was a programmer, but quickly discovered that creating stories was more fun than creating codes. 


Bibliography: (I will list the books from my fave to the least fave)
Carribean Cruising 

This book is a personal favorite of mine. It's about the girl whose mom got married to the guy's father. For the honeymoon, they went on a cruise. The girl and the guy became good friends and hanged out with a group of teenagers. She is looking for a summer love, but will she end up finding love with him after all? The story is sweet, like watching a summer teen movie like The Babysitters Club or Sisters of Traveling Pants. 

Thrill Ride

Another great read from Rachel. This time, the girl is working at a theme park for the summer. She has a boyfriend back home but then she meets the hot older guy who likes her (and she likes her back). Will she stay with her boyfriend or be with the new guy? I particularly liked the ending of this book because like her, I am scared of riding the rollercoaster, but in the book, it shows that she was able to overcome her fear because of her love for the guy. And from then on, she was open and willing to take chances in life.

The Boyfriend League

The girl loves baseball and for the summer, she wants to find love with a boy from the summer league. She was able to persuade her family to answer an ad to house players for the summer. Fortunately for her, the boy who's staying with them is the hottest boy in the league but she thinks that there is absolutely no way that he can fall in love with her. But then they did fall in love but now another dilemma crops up because she promised her parents that she won't date the guy living in her house for the summer. This book is an enjoyable read because I liked the characters and the overall plot of the story.

Love on the Lifts

I had a fun time reading this book because I loved the characters. This time, the girl has a crush on his older brother's best friend (but who likes somebody else). In the meantime, another friend of her brother joined the trip and has a crush on her. Of course, she ends up with the much nicer and sweeter guy.

Island Girls (and Boys)
The story centered on 3 girl friends and the 3 boys they meet during the summer. This was just an okay book for me because I didn't find any of the 3 girls or the 3 boys likable. Both the story is a great beach read.

Suite Dreams

This book is about a girl who has to stay in the college dorm for the winter break. Her boyfriend went to Australia via the couchsurfing website and did not tell her that another guy is coming over to stay with her (you can say it's like an exchange house thing for the winter). Good thing the guy is a very cute and hot guy and they end up falling in love. There was no major fight or anything in the book, it was more of a we-drifted-apart-and-met-someone-else kind of love story.

Labor of Love

Rachel was inspired by the news of teen volunteers helping out in the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that she used it as the main setting of her story (different place though). The book again featured several girls and boys in a group, though it also focused on the main girl and her guy. I thought the story was not too exciting and dragged and I didn't like the guy (I thought he was 'mayabang' at first) but eventually he'll turn out to be a nice guy.

Snowed In
I put this book last since I still haven't found this book yet. So here's the product description: 

Well, apparently I live here now—my mom just bought the place. And named it after me, Ashleigh, which was nice. But did she know how cold it is here??
Um, it's a tiny island with not much to do, unless you really like sleigh rides. But I gotta say there are quite a few hot guys on this cold island . . .

                                                                                                                                         


Overall, I think her books are worth buying and I like how I can read them over and over again and still feel the same way. I haven't tried her historical romances and she has a book for pre-teens (First Kisses #1: Trust Me) but I didn't feel like buying/reading it because the girl is only 13 years old. She has another series of books called "Dark Guardian".  I have books 1 & 2 in e-book format but haven't started reading them. I just found out book 4 came out recently. Will probably update this post when I have the chance to read them.

I will be posting more YA books that I have read (that are similar to her work) so please wait for them!