Labor of Love by Rachel Hawthorne

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 296
Out of all of Rachel Hawthorne's books, that I've read so far, I think I liked this one the least. This teen chick lit takes place in New Orleans where Dawn and her two friends Jenna and Amber are rebuilding houses for the post Hurricane Katrina effort. Once the girls land in New Orleans they try to experience the most of the city and go to get a psychic reading. At the reading the psychic predicts that the girls will meet boys and fall in love but will also go through some heartbreak. The reading is actually pretty cryptic and throughout their stay in New Orleans, the girls try to determine if certain events occurred like the psychic predicted.
After the psychic reading the girls are exploring more of New Orleans and actually run into the boys that they were predicted to meet by the psychic. Dawn's friend Jenna immediately hits it off with one of the boys and her friends have no choice but to pair up with the other two because Jenna and her new boy interest have wandered on their own. Dawn begins to talk with Brady, but she warns him that she doesn't want a relationship because she just got out of a bad breakup where her boyfriend cheated on her at prom. Brady, however, wants a relationship and they agree to only be together for the time that Dawn is in New Orleans, even though he and his friends go to a college in Houston, which is where Dawn and her friends live.
The story continues on with the ups and downs of their relationship, exploring more of New Orleans, and building houses for those affected by the Hurricane.
I really liked the idea of the story with the girls volunteering to help build houses (like Habitat for Humanity). You don't see too much of that in teen books where people voluntarily help out the community. It was nice to see, also how they balanced their love lives and time in New Orleans with things like a curfew and limited budget. The story felt really realistic. 
However, I thought the love story aspect of the book was a little dry. I couldn't connect with Dawn, Brady, or either of their friends. The story felt too fake to me. There was too many times when I thought that Dawn was being desperate even though she kept insisting that she didn't want a relationship. She seemed a little hypocritical to me. And Brady didn't seem to notice this, which made it seem like all he wanted to do was get in her pants...er, not make her a good girl?
I liked the story, but it just wasn't one of my favorites by Rachel Hawthorne. If the story didn't include the girls going to New Orleans to help volunteer, I don't think I would have finished the book. But the sub plot, setting, and overall, circumstances helped hide the fact that it was a pretty terrible love story.
See you soon!
Paige

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Suite Dreams by Rachel Hawthorne

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 288
Rachel Hawthorne does it again with another cute teen chick lit book! Her books are such light and fun reads (perfect for the summer) and, like I've said before, even though they may be a little predictable, they're still very, very good.
Actually, this book wasn't as predictable as I thought. There were a few twists that surprised me and the story, near the end, didn't follow her usual form of writing/endings like the rest of her books. So, it was nice to see a change up.
Suite Dreams takes place in Vermont where it is currently snowing up a storm! (Pun intended) Alyssa is currently on winter break from classes at college, but she is still taking an extra class, in the hopes that it will help her graduate early. Alyssa's boyfriend, well not really because they decided to take a break, signed up for the couch surfing program and flew off to Australia where he will crash on people's couches. In exchange for Rick, her (ex)boyfriend, flying there, another guy flew to Vermont to take his place and surf on people's couches. The Australian that comes back is, of course, a really hot guy, and he ends up staying on Alyssa's couch.
She is confused with her feelings towards Jude, the Australian, because she recently "broke up" with her boyfriend, she knows Jude will be leaving at the end of the break, she doesn't know if he feels the same, and she doesn't want to get distracted with boys if she's taking an extra class. However, a lot of situations arise which change her mind about a lot of her dilemmas (Go read it and find out what happens! I don't want to spoil it!)
I really liked this book! Rachel Hawthorne's writing is simple, doesn't require you to think to hard, and the stories are always adorable and have you rooting for the main characters from page one. However, some of her characters could be considered "Mary Sue's" (a character that is not described that well and could fall into any category of looking like someone. Generally used so the reader can relate to the main character and imagine themselves as that character. Bella Swan. Need I say more?). Alyssa was running a little into the Mary Sue category for me. I had to go look up her name!
The same can be said of the boys too. The boys in Rachel Hawthorne's books are all the same pretty much except for one major factor. In this case, he was Australian. However, the settings are described beautifully and really transports you to where the characters are so that kind of makes up for the lack of character descriptions. 
I would definitely recommend her books though! Light, fun, easy, reads that are fairly short! Go check them out!
See you soon!
Paige

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Thrill Ride by Rachel Hawthorne

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 297
I love all books by Rachel Hawthorne. There so sweet, cute, and innocent, and this one was no different. Sure, they're a little predictable but that's half the fun! (Especially if you predict it wrong and get a total shock at the end!)
So, in this short book we follow Megan as she works at an amusement park over the summer, away from her family arguing over her sister's wedding (Pro as Megan would say) and also away from her boyfriend of 3 months (Con).
Megan describes her conflicted feelings over leaving her home, to adventure out at the amusement Thrill Ride! and how excited she is to meet new people, but that she's going to really miss her boyfriend Nick. Once Megan gets to the park she is excited to start working as a cashier in the Hansel and Gretel store (where she has to dress in a hideous outfit) but there's a plus! There's a cute co-worker who works at the biggest roller coaster in the park. Megan doesn't like roller coasters and is constantly explaining to people why she doesn't want to ride them, and this co-worker, Parker, tries unsuccessfully to not only get her on the roller coaster but also to win over her heart.
From there on it goes through a whole story of trials and tribulations of both Megan and Parker of containing their feelings and working hard.
It was such a cute story, and like I said before a little predictable but I like these books that way. It makes your root for the right characters right from the beginning. What I liked about this book was Megan didn't become a Mary-Sue at all! She was her own person with great characteristics.
I gave this five out of five stars on Goodreads because I love these novels! Check it out! And there's some great quotes too like, "That relationships were a lot like roller coasters, filled with highs and lows, terrifying split seconds, and awesome moments when you simply enjoyed the ride."
See you soon!
Paige

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