Tag Archives: Lauren Myracle

Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe & Lauren Myracle

December 27, 2020Book ReviewKim Harrison, Lauren Myracle, Meg Cabot, Michele Jaffe, Paranormal Fantasy, Prom Nights from Hell, Short Story Collections, Stephenie Meyer, Young Adultskyebjenner

Image result for prom nights from hell book cover

Title: Prom Nights from Hell
Author: Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe & Lauren Myracle
In: Prom Nights from Hell (Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe & Lauren Myracle)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Short story collections, Young adult
Dates read: 4th – 24th November 2020
Pace: Slow
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: We could have; my house was miles from town on an unmaintained dirt road, with no nearby neighbours to complain.

Worried that prom is gonna bite?

In this collection, bestselling authors including Stephenie Meyer (Twilight) and Meg Cabot (How to be Popular and The Princess Diaries) take bad Prom nights to a whole new level – a paranormally bad level…

Wardrobe catastrophes and two left feet are nothing compared with discovering you’re dancing with the Grim Reaper – and he isn’t here to tell you how hot you look…

From vampire exterminations to angels fighting demons, these five stories will be more fun than any DJ in a bad dinner jacket. No corsage or limo rental necessary – just great, sexy, scary fun!

This wasn’t too bad a collection. It was a bit soured for me towards the end since I don’t really like Stephenie Meyer. And she was the author who rounded out the collection. But, the other four novellas were still great, so, ultimately I really enjoyed this collection.

I’ve always thought that prom was incredibly stupid. I wouldn’t have gone to my own formal, if it wasn’t for the fact that the school told us we wouldn’t graduate if we didn’t go. Luckily for me, this collection proved that prom is stupid. And at least these stories featured some really entertaining and interesting proms. Ones that I might have even been excited to go to.

I liked all of the stories in this collection. I didn’t necessarily jump head over heels for each of them (with Cabot and Harrison’s being exceptions to this). But I did enjoy the majority of the stories. They were fun and quirky and took me on an adventure that I really wasn’t expecting.

Even though this isn’t my favourite anthology on my shelves. I would most certainly read it again.

<- Hell on Earth

The Exterminator’s Daughter ->

Image source: Harper Collins

The Corsage by Lauren Myracle

December 10, 2020Book ReviewHorror, Lauren Myracle, Paranormal Fantasy, Prom Nights from Hell, Young Adultskyebjenner

Title: The Corsage
Author: Lauren Myracle
In: Prom Nights from Hell (Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe & Lauren Myracle)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Paranormal fantasy, Young adult
Dates read: 10th November 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher:Harper Collins
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: The corsage curled, as if the petals were shrinking in on themselves.

A girl who is desperate for her forever boy to ask her to prom finds a corsage that will grant three wishes. But what follows creates a prom night from hell.

This was a seriously creepy and tragic prom story. Like goosebumps and looking over your shoulder (which in my case meant looking at a blank wall) type creepy. And yet, it was somehow kind of sweet and most definitely heartbreaking. More the kind of prom that I want to read about than the happy, sappy happily ever after crap. Which we won’t go too much into what that actually says about me…

The Corsage is a prom story about first loves and first heartbreaks. With a pretty major twist – it’s not the kind of heartbreak that you would expect. Or at least, it wasn’t what I would have expected in this collection. I had honestly anticipated a lot more happiness and cheerful endings. I’m so happy that Myracle proved me wrong.

Like a lot of stories that feature wish fulfillment in some way, this story acted as a great reminder that what you wish for may not be what you actually want and need. And sometimes making a wish can be the worst possible thing to do. It leaves this story sitting in my pile of not-so-happily-ever-after stories. And definitely one of my favourite novellas…

<- The Exterminator’s Daughter

Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper ->

Image source: Harper Collins

The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle

January 12, 2018Book ReviewChristmas, Easy Reading, Lauren Myracle, Let it Snow, Romanceskyebjenner

Title: The Patron Saint of Pigs
Author: Lauren Myracle
In: Let it Snow (John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Easy reading, Romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Penguin UK
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: What would you like a sample of?

The third story follows a girl named Addie, who is depressed because she broke up with her boyfriend Jeb. The backstory of her relationship with Jeb is told, about how the two had instantly fallen for each other, but that Addie had kept trying to change Jeb. This resulted in Jeb feeling inferior and the two fighting. After one fight Addie had gotten drunk and made out with someone else, telling Jeb it was over. Upset, Jeb had taken a train to meet his family on an Indian reservation, unaware that Addie has sent him an email apologizing and hoping to work things out. When he didn’t call or respond, Addie assumed that the relationship was over and cut her hair short and dyed it pink as a way to show that she wanted a change.

I think that every teenager is a little self-centred. Something about puberty, and angst and just generally growing older. We grow out of it pretty quickly. We realise that sometimes it’s just not about us. And in the case of Addie, it takes a pretty big kick up the bum for her to realise this. And, although this is still a Christmas romance, it’s more about her friendships and the girls who love her (and are willing to kick her).

Addie’s history with Jeb (who is met in both The Jubilee Express and A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle), but it’s Addie’s tale and her side of the story that makes it more understandable. Not exactly allowing her past acts to be excusable, but to be less vilifiable. Her morose reminiscing are only the beginning of the story though. Like her spunky pink hair, Addie finds a way to rally and, in finding her own Christmas angel, finds a way to become a better person.

<- A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle Review

Let it Snow Review ->

Image source: Better Reading

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

January 6, 2018Book ReviewChristmas, Easy Reading, John Green, Lauren Myracle, Let it Snow, Maureen Johnson, Romance, Short Story Collectionsskyebjenner

Title: Let it Snow
Author: John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
In: Let it Snow (John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Easy reading, Romance, Short story collections
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Penguin UK
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Rachel!

Buy The Book Now at The Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

A trio of today’s bestselling authors – John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle – bring all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away.

I read this book because I needed a book to movie story for this year’s Popsugar challenge, and I was kind of struggling to get into the Christmas spirit. I’m at that weird age now that its’s not exactly exciting for me, and I don’t yet have children to be excited either. And, it didn’t make me run around singing Christmas carols, but this collection of three stories certainly got me more in the mood to celebrate the end of a year and family time.

One of the things that I loved about these three stories is that although they were written by different authors, they are all connected. Starting with Jubilee’s adventure, progressing to the tale of the Duke, and ending with a teacup pig, the three stories each have their own dose of Christmas miracles and romance. The subtle intertwining of fate and destiny throughout this collection was really fun, and although each story could, theoretically be read separately, I definitely would recommend reading them together – it just adds to the Christmas joy!

Although all of the characters in this book are still in high school, I still found it fun and enjoyable. Sometimes I get a little frustrated by the teenage-angst in a book, after all, I’m over that stage in my own life, so I don’t necessarily want to revisit it constantly. But, although there are the dramas of high school and puberty sprinkled throughout the tales, they are genuinely cute and adorable holiday romances. Something that left a sweet smile lingering across my lips.

<- The Patron Saint of Pigs

The Jubilee Express ->

Image source: Better Reading

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.