This is W.A.R.

First off, I have to apologize to everyone.  Not only are we at our busiest at work right now with summer reading, so my blogging has slowed down a little due to that, but now I'm fighting off a super-stellar chest cold, so this review that I promised you on Saturday is now a few days late. So sorry guys!

This is W.A.R. 
by Lisa and Laura Roecker

This is not a story of forgiveness...

The mystery of their best friend's murder drives four girls to destroy the Gregory family.

Everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club saw Willa Ames-Rowan climb into a boat with James Gregory, the Club’s heir apparent.

And everyone at Hawthorne Lake Country Club watched him return. Alone.

They all know he killed her. But none of them will say a word. The Gregory family is very, very good at making problems go away.

Enter the W.A.R.—the war to avenge Willa Ames-Rowan. Four girls. Four very different motives for justice and revenge, and only one rule: destroy the Gregory family at any cost. (Description from Amazon.com)

If you are looking for a great book to read at the beach this summer, look no further! The Roecker sisters have knocked it out of the park again. This book reads just like an episode of a good television soap opera. Upon the "accidental death" of their club's princess, four girls band together to bring down the boy who killed her.  Delicious secrets get revealed in every chapter.  Loyalties become questioned.  Bonds are formed. 

Lives are destroyed.  

This book tackles some serious issues, but in a fun way that kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could. I was pretty sure I knew what was going on (and I was mostly right :P), but there were red herrings thrown into the mix around every corner.  Moments that made me question my suspicions...  

Like Pretty Little Liars, no character in this novel is without flaws, and most of them have been keeping some kind of big secret. Nothing makes for juicier beach reading than those "Shut the Front Door!" revelation moments.  Trust me.  If you like danger, mystery, gossip, and intrigue, you'll want to check this one out! 

Full disclosure: eARC received from Edelweiss, eBook purchased for my Nook 

Between the Lives

Between the Lives
by Jessica Shirvington

The perfect life or the perfect love. You choose. For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ‘other’ life – a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different. In one life she has a sister, in the other she does not. In one life she’s a straight-A student with the perfect boyfriend, in the other she’s considered a reckless delinquent. Nothing about her situation has ever changed, until the day when she discovers a glitch: the arm she breaks in one life is perfectly fine in the other. With this new knowledge, Sabine begins a series of increasingly risky experiments which bring her dangerously close to the life she’s always wanted. But just what – and who – is she really risking? (Description from Amazon.com) 

Though this book had moments that felt predictable, the characters and plot drew me in so deeply that I found myself not caring. Sabine's lives are both fascinating in their own ways and the fact that she lives two, well it makes for some deep thinking... at first, I found myself thinking how great it would be, but as Sabine explains to the person she tries to convince, it's actually an awful prospect as you get older.  Is it right to be married to one person, someone that you truly love, in one life and to have someone else in another? Could you spend every day of your life lying to everyone around you?

What seemed a dream opportunity slowly begins to feel like an oppressive nightmare.  

Until the day that Sabine realizes she might have the opportunity to choose just *one* of her lives... And then the day that she meets who might be the true love of her life... after that everything changes.  

This book was emotionally captivating, and even as I found the ending to be just a little too pat logically, my romance-loving, eternally optimistic heart kept telling me to ignore that and when I did, I found myself exceptionally pleased with how things ended... 

Romance lovers, check this one out! Unfortunately, the actual print book is not out here in the US, yet, but if you are an audio book fan, you can check this one out now. (Another note - if you listen to the audio book that's out now, it's an Australian production with an Australian narrator...reading a Bostonian character. That can be a little disconcerting. If you can get past that, though, the story is great!) Otherwise, I'll try to remember to let you all know when the book finally comes out here. 

Full disclosure: Audio book received to review for AudioFile Magazine