Notice for Review Requests

I receive review requests weekly. However, my personal schedule is hectic and I no longer review actively. (I also manage another blog called The Toronto Cafe and Food Blog). I do read every request sent but I apologize in advance that I do not reply to them all.

If I do take on a request, I will forewarn that it may take some time before I can review it. I am now looking to review adult fiction and self-help books instead of young adult fiction because I have grown out of it. If you are to request a review for either adult fiction or self-help, I will more likely to give it a shot.

In the meantime, Stop, Drop, and Read! serves as an archive book review blog. When I have the time, I may post a review. Thank you for understanding.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Holland Severson from I Know It's Over

Holland Severson is the sister of Nick's from I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin. If you have read this coming-of-age novel, you would know that Nick came home to see her with a "friend". What have they been doing? Well now you will know...

~~~

Orange Crush

Diego gulps down Orange Crush on such a regular basis that I’m surprised his teeth haven’t turned orange yet. As a frequent witness to this uber-consumption, you can imagine I’m not at all shocked to discover that he tastes like Orange Crush too. His teeth. His tongue. His lips. They’re all smack full of concentrated orange fizz flavour. There’s, like, a full-scale explosion of carbonated orange going on in his mouth, and mine too since I’m sharing his.

At first I get the feeling that he’s not really into what we’re doing, that he’s humouring me with his lips while his heart aches for his ex, Elodie out in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. I know he’s been gloomy since she broke it off, which was the entire point of this exercise – gloom-banishing. But I’m the kind of person who can (sometimes) admit when I’m wrong, so I ease my mouth away from Diego’s and say, “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

Diego begins to nod. He opens his mouth and is on the verge of agreeing with me when I spy another idea flit across his mind and take root. “Why?” he demands in the heavy Italian accent that coats his fluent English. “Are you saying that I can’t kiss?”

A very healthy percentage of the girls (and guys!) I go to school with would rent their souls to evil forces if it meant being able to play lickey-face with the star of our senior soccer team yet somehow he’s managed to retain an endearing amount of humility. This is why I hang out with Diego. He’s the kind of person that could probably be or do anything and deep down he must have an inkling about that but he never makes anyone else feel like that gift comes at their expense. Plus, while his looks reside in the arena of Greek godishness, he also happens to be an enormous sci-fi geek. He knows Charleton Heston’s dialogue from the original version of Planet of the Apes by heart. Ditto with Donald Sutherland’s lines in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (which we both happen to prefer to the 1956 original). All these immensely appealing things about him mean we’ll never actually be anything other than friends. It would absolutely suck if one of us broke the other’s heart meaning we could never hang out again.

However, never being more than friends doesn’t mean we can’t kiss a little for the greater good of him getting over Elodie. Only locking lips with Diego doesn’t seem to be accomplishing that, not remotely. Two seconds before I pulled my mouth away he was kissing me the same way I usually load the dishwasher – like a thing that needs to be done but is in itself entirely joyless. I swear I’m not insulted, but if kissing me’s not going to be any more fun for him than tying his shoelaces, I can’t see the point.

“I’m sure you can you kiss when you want to,” I tell him. “But with this whole Elodie thing you obviously don’t feel like it. Maybe you’re not ready to be distracted. It was probably just a stupid idea in the first place.”

Diego shifts his gaze from my face to the wall and then back to me. His left foot anxiously taps the floor. “One more try,” he says, scrunching his eyebrows. “Okay?”

I can’t help but smile. Now he’s thinking of this as a challenge. He wants to prove to me that he can kiss and that’s so not the issue but that’s not to say another kiss won’t accomplish our original goal.

So I greenlight Act II. But I let Diego make the first move this time. Let him tell me we should lie down on the couch. Let him lie on top of me and kiss me like he could’ve kissed me in the first place if he’d wanted to. He’s Orange Crush delicious and heavier than I would’ve guessed but I don’t care that he’s squashing me because this time we’re having fun. If I could work out a way for us to do this a couple of times a week without it leading down the thorny path to boyfriend-girlfriendship and eventual breakup I’d seriously consider suggesting it.

But unfortunately it’s a problem I just can’t see my way around and besides…

Besides, the sound of feet padding away from us out in the hall concludes our experiment, at least for today. My brother Nick’s been immersed in some top secret crisis since Christmas and told me just yesterday that he was planning to lay low at his friend’s place for the next couple of days, but Mom would’ve interrupted us. That must mean it was Nick who got an eyeful from the hall. Should I pretend I didn’t hear him? And then what? It’s not like I can go back to making out with Diego knowing that Nick’s in the vicinity. That might’ve work for my brother and his ex-girlfriend Sasha but it’s too claustrophobic-freaky for me.

Diego sits up fast, his eyes scanning the bit of hall he can see from our spot on the family room couch. “Stay here,” I say, sitting up next to him. “I’ll go take care of this.”

Diego runs a hand through his hair and frowns. “Relax,” I say, smiling as I squeeze his forearm. “Now I’m fully convinced you can kiss like a champion.”

Diego returns my smile. “You should never have doubted me,” he jokes back.

I didn’t. Who would?

A thunking noise leads me along the hall and towards the kitchen where, sure enough, my brother is exuding the same messed up vibes that were hanging off his being before he left for his friend’s place yesterday. I hate that he won’t tell me what’s been going on with him lately and I especially hate that he caught me on the couch with Diego. I should be able to have some secrets too.

I spy Nick’s backpack on the tile floor and Nick himself is staring at me like he wants to have this conversation even less than I do. His cheeks are pink, as though he walked home in the cold.

“What’re you doing here?” I ask, folding my arms in front of me. “I thought you were staying at Nathan’s.”

“Sasha’s coming over,” Nick says in a tense voice. Sasha hasn’t been here since they broke up more than a month and he doesn’t sound exactly thrilled at her imminent arrival, but before I can ask him what’s up, Nick turns the tables and wants to know who’s in the other room. I’ve barely said Diego’s name when the front doorbell rings. Being saved by the bell is one of those things that happen in real life, not just in fiction, and this is one of those instances.

Nick hurries for the door and I head back to Diego, thinking about our interrupted Orange Crush kiss, how my mouth still tastes like oranges and how it’s possible that I’ll associate Orange Crush with kissing Diego for a long time to come.

“Are we in trouble?” Diego asks as I stride into the room.

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Good,” Diego says as I sit down next to him. We smile Orange Crush smiles at each other as I turn on the TV and we begin to fall back into what we’re best at, which is being the kind of friends who would never, ever break each other’s hearts, but who, maybe under the most special extenuating circumstances, could kiss a little in the service of a greater good.

~~~

Hehe, now we know what Holland does when her parents are out! Want to know more about her brother though? You then have to read I Know It's Over!

Prize(s):
A signed hardback OR paperback copy of I Know It's Over (winner's choice) and an I Know It's Over journal
# of Winners:
1
Eligibility:
International

How to get entries:
(please put keep it in the format below when you comment!)
+1 Comment

+1 New follower

+2 Old follower

+1 Linking this contest once somewhere else around the web

post signature

82 comments:

Bianca said...

I would love to win this book!

+1 for commenting
+2 old follower

infinitemusic19 at gmail dot com

Cecelia said...

Diego sounds completely delicious. Sign me up!

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower
+1 Linking this contest to my blog sidebar.

Thanks!

celialarsen(at)gmail(dot)com

A Passion For Books said...

Sounds great!

+1 for commenting
+2 old follower
+1 link on sidebar
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Casey
paranormalfanatic@gmail.com

Kelsey said...

+1 for commenting
+2 old follower
+1 linking on my sidebar

http://thebookscout.blogspot.com/

-
kelseythebookscout@gmail.com
(:

deltay said...

Hahaha, love the whole "turn orange" comment - it kind of reminds me of that one episode of The Magic School Bus where Arnold turns orange from eating those Seaweedies or whatever. And besides, orange is a beautiful colour ;)

+1 Commenting
+2 Old follower
+1 Sidebar linked the contest =)

tawndam said...

sounds like a great read!
+1 comment
+2 old follower

pepsivanilla said...

I just read One Lonely Degree by CK and it was awesome! Please enter me :)

+1 Comment
+1 New follower

pepsivanilla14(at)hotmail(dot)com

a flight of minds said...

It's so fun to read this scene in Holland's POV. :)

+1 commenting
+2 old follower
+1 linked in sidebar

Thanks,
Alex & Lauren at aflightofminds(at)hotmail(dot)com

Debbie F said...

Please enter me!

+1 comment
+2 old follower

Thanks
dcf_beth at verizon dot net

Annika said...

I wanted to read I Know It's Over anyway, but this story makes me REALLY want to read it.

+1 Comment
+1 Linking this contest on Twitter (which I will do as soon as the site is back up - I am @noirbettie)

Liz said...

This looks very good!
Sign me up!!

+1 commenting
+2 old follower
-Liz

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Anonymous said...

Please enter my name in your draw. Thanks a lot.
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Anonymous said...

I am a follower of your blog.
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Unknown said...

Follower
Comment
Link to you blog on mine ;D

mrsshukra said...

Count me in, thanks!

+1 Comment

+2 Old follower

delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com

Amy said...

I really enjoyed reading that! It would be cool if she wrote another book from his side of the story.
-amy
addictedtobooks1993@yahoo.com

AnAddictedBookReader said...

Awesome, thanks!
+1 comment
+2 old follower
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Unknown said...

Whoa, sounds very intriguing hehe

+1 commenting
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Llehn said...

I would love to play!

+1 for commenting
+1 new follower

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Liyana said...

+1 Ooh, I'd love to win this.
+2 Old follower.
+1 Tweeted http://twitter.com/dy0ulee/status/3203503905
+1 Linked: http://liveandbreathesmexily.blogspot.com/

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Kate at Read This Book! said...

I have seen many postive reviews for this book. =) Thanks for this contest.

+1 Linked to the contest: http://readthisbook.wordpress.com/contests/
kate.readthisbook (at) gmail (dot) com

Test said...

I would love to win this book!

+1 for commenting
+2 old follower

Tynga said...

+1 Please count me in =) I haven't heard about that book before, but would like to give it a try!

+1 I am a new follower

+1 I posted about you contest on my blog right-hand side bar.
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Thank you!

~The Book Pixie said...

I'd really like to win this book. :)

+1 comment
+2 old follower
+1 Linked on blog: http://thebookpixie.blogspot.com/

~Briana
thebookpixie(at)yahoo(dot)com

WhatBriReads said...

I'd love a chance to win :)

+1 Comment
+1 new follower
+1 Linking this contest once somewhere else around the web (http://whatbrireads.blogspot.com)

Briana
getanzt@gmail.com

The Compulsive Reader said...

I keep hearing great things about this book! Can't wait to read it!

Libby's Library said...

+1 Comment / Please count me in - I would love to win this book. Thanks
+2 Old Follower
Thanks

libneas[at]aol[dot]com

Megan said...

Oh this books looks good.

+1 commented
+1 new follower

Megan
bookworm8675309@yahoo.com

Paradox said...

Enter me please!

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower
+1 Linked: http://twitter.com/ParadoxRevealed/status/3235237371

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Belinda M said...

Please include me in your giveaway


+1 comment

+2 old follower


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Katie said...

Enter me! I'm already a follower.
katiesbookshelf@ymail.com

Hailey said...

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+1 Commenting
+2 Old follower!

Shadowofwonder47[at]yahoo[dot]com

M.A.D. said...

Mary D
zenrei57 (at) hotmail (dot) com

Hi Diana :) I know my daughter and I would both enjoy reading this one!
+1 comment

+1 new follower

Thanks so very much for this great giveaway ~

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Please enter me!
+1 Comment
+1 New follower
+1 Linking this contest on Twitter. http://twitter.com/FanpireGiirl

lil_yteL11(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leslie said...

Count me in!


+1 Comment
+2 Old follower


leslie-lv at hotmail dot com

Just Your Typical Book Blog said...

I've been wanting to read this one!

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower


Thanks!
Amber
sammyjones57(at)hotmail(dot)com

Ashley said...

booksobsession(at)gmail(dot)com

+2 I'm an old follower.
+1 I posted this on my sidebar at http://booksobsession.blogspot.com

Chioma said...

Sounds like an awesome book with very intriging characters!!! I would love to enter.

+1 Commented
+2 Old Follower!!!

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Anonymous said...

cintiaq@aol.com

+1 Comment
+1 New follower
+1 Linking this contest at a blog in pulseit http://pulseit.simonandschuster.com/_1st-blogoversary/blog/513482/107649.html

Lindsay :) said...

It sounds great! Would love to have a chance to win.

+1 comment ^^
+2 old follower =)
+1 linking contest on my sidebar:
http://justanotherbookaddict.blogspot.com/

~Lindsay
lulugirl@yahoo.com

Pam said...

You got me at "orange crush" - aaah, the memories...

+1 comment

melacan at hotmail dot com

Unknown said...

This book sounds very interesting. I would love a chance to win.

+ new follower

shylalou@bellsouth.net

Jordan Perryman said...

This on sounds amazing:)

+1 commenting
+2 follower
+1 added to sidebar

www.insidethemindjm.blogpot.com

Jordan
jmoose09@gmail.com

Miriam said...

this sounds really cool. Diego sounds hot ;) I'd like to be entered.
+1 Comment
+1 New follower

email: miriamfrancos[at]dsl[dot]pipex[dot]com

Thao said...

Please count me in

+2 Old follower
+1 Linking this contest on my sidebar

Park Avenue Princess said...

Thank you for hosting this contest! I'd love to enter!

+1 comment
+1 follower

Amy *Park-Avenue Princess*

IAmHiMaintenance at aol dot com

Jenny N. said...

+1 I would love to win this book
+1 New follower of yours

jen4777[at]hotmail.com

Ashley said...

comment
new follower

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Anonymous said...

This book sounds awesome! I'd love to win it!
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+1 Comment
+1 New follower

+1 I linked this contest on my blog, www.elenagraffino.wordpress.com

Ninja Fanpire said...

+1 Commenting
ninjafanpire@hotmail.com
+1 New follower
+1 Linked to contests in blog post: http://ninjafanpire.blogspot.com/2009/08/contests_15.html

Marie said...

This sounds so good!

I am a new follower.

marielay@gmail.com

Eleni said...

+1 Cute giveaway!
+1 I'm a new follower

Thanks!
-Eleni
lafemmereaders@yahoo.com

Jessica Lawlor said...

+1 comment

+1 new follower

This one looks awesome!

jessicallawlor@gmail.com

Liviania said...

This one just sounds so awesome. And this was a great scene - Martin set up the characters very fast.

+1 Comment
+2 Old Follower

inbedwithbooks AT yahoo DOT com

Letter Garden said...

Wonderful contest! :)

+1 comment
+1 new follower
+1 sidebar link
http://letter-garden.blogspot.com/

BookFanatic said...

I'm Ecstatic about this contest!

Email: i_yamileth_h_11(at)hotmail(dot)com

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower
+1 Linking this contest once somewhere else around the web

chocowafer said...

I want to read it!

+1 comment
+1 new follower
+1 linked it on my sidebar:
http://fictiondoesitbetter.blogspot.com/

austenfanblogs[at]gmail[dot]com

Sarah said...

Please add me to the draw.
+1 Comment
+1 New follower

Beth said...

Please enter me.

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Mariana S said...

I really want to read this book!!!

+1 for commenting
+2 Old follower
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--Mariana
sarima89@gmail.com

Brittany said...

+1 This book looks great

+2 Old follower
+1 sidebar
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teensatthelibrary[at]yahoo[dot]com

Margo said...

Sounds great!!!

+1 commenting

+1 linking on Twitter

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Shawna L. said...

Shawna Lewis
weloveourdogs@juno.com

Thanks for this chance to win!!!

Shawna L. said...

Shawna Lewis
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+2 I am an old follower

Shawna L. said...

Shawna Lewis
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+1 I twetted here is the link http://twitter.com/theblindcupid/status/3618407047

Ellz said...

Please count me in
+1comment
+1 new follower
zenfoxflowerATyahooDOTcom

L said...

I'd love to win this!

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower
+1 sidebar:
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lovinfitch(at)aol(dot)com

Kiara said...

+1 Thank you for this contest!!
+1 I'm a new follower.
+1 I posted this on twitter here. I'm @shinodita

My e-mail adress: kiara.dg(at)gmail.com

Book Sp(l)ot said...

I would adore having a signed copy of this book

+1 for commenting
+1 for follwoing (apparently I wasn't already no matter how much I thought so)

book.splotATgmailDOTcom

Dani. said...

I have been wanting to-read this book for awhile now! The premise is just sooo intriuging! And it's signed? HeckYes! :)
Dani.
lightningstreak123@comcast.net

Extras:
+1: Comment!
+1: Follower!
+1: Linked to Sidebar-
http://danidlion.blogspot.com/

Beleth said...

Oh, the book looks very interesting, i would love to read it!
am a new follower
battyaboutbats(at)gmail(dot)com

booksrmysoul said...

Blair W
blairwlewis@gmail.com

Thank you for this chance to win this book!!

+1 Commenting
+1 New Follower
+1 I twetted http://twitter.com/booksrmysoul/status/3232598620

3 points

Unknown said...

Acacia
bucsfan12@rocketmail.com

Thanks for this chance to win enter me into this book giveaway please.

+1 I am a New Follower of this blog
+1 I commented
+1 I twetted:https://twitter.com/lovenibs2/status/3667980675

3 points

CassandraBelikov440 said...

+1. commenting
+2 old follower
+1 posted about it in my blog

http://irishprincess440.blogspot.com/


Cassandra Conley
cassy133@yahoo.com

Korianne said...

This book sounds kickin' not to mention I am always in need of a new journal!

+1 Comment
+2 Old follower

Lovely,
Korianne

koriannespeaks@gmail.com

Ezzy said...

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+1 New follower

itzme.insi@gmail.com

Ezzy said...

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+1 New follower

itzme.insi@gmail.com

Ezzy said...

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+1 Comment
+1 New follower

itzme.insi@gmail.com

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