FFBC: Played by Liz Fichera - Review + Giveaway

So today brings the close to another wonderful FFBC event!

We had a pleasure hosting Liz Fichera this week!

Thank you to all of the amazing bloggers who participated in our Blog Tour

and to all of the readers who commented and tweeted about the giveaway!

Played (Hooked #2)
by Liz Fichera
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: May 27th 2014
My Rating: 4.0

Synopsis:

This Game Is Getting All Too Real

He said: I like to keep under the radar and mostly hang out with my friends from the rez. But when I saved Riley Berenger from falling off a mountain, that rich suburban princess decided to try to save me.

She said: If I can help Sam Tracy win the heart of the girl he can't get over, I'll pay him back for helping me. I promised him I would, no matter what it takes.

My Review:

After finishing HOOKED I was ready to read more about this cast of characters that had really started to grow on me. I was excited to find out that the story continued with Sam (Fred's best friend) and Riley (Ryan's little sister). Sam really grew on me in HOOKED, he was a big cuddly teddy bear who was such a gentlemen. And well what happened in HOOKED really broke my heart for him and I really wanted to see him have a happy ending.

When Sam saved Riley from the fall - I was completely swooning over Sam and was really liking Riley and Sam together. When they were rescued I was all for Team Riley and Sam! But then the words came out of Riley's mouth that she was going to help break up her brother and Fred for Sam - my heart was torn.
Granted Riley's action through out the book were not the best, but I do feel that she was able to redeem herself at the end.

But I have to admit that Sam stole both books for me and has become my latest book boyfriend. But both books in this series did more for me than just give me a new book boyfriend but it gave me a new found appreciation of authors who write outside the box of what is accepted in YA literature. So I thank Liz Fichera for that. After enjoying the last two books as much as I did with HOOKED and PLAYED, I am going be looking that embrace more diversity!

"The book stands out in its nicely realistic portraits of the teens." (Kirkus)

"The plot is the perfect mix of real-life scenarios and swoon-worthy romance, while the issues of race and class that Fichera interweaves into the story add substance. In an alternating first-person narration style similar to Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park, readers are given insight into the characters' thoughts and feelings. The tale sticks to the formula but the captivating ways in which the sequence of events plays out keep this take fresh and exciting." (School Library Journal)

I'm an American author living in the American Southwest by way of Chicago.

Born and raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona, after college, never expecting to live more than one year among cactus and people who’d never seen snow. I was wrong. It certainly didn't hurt that I met my future husband in Phoenix too.

Most of my stories are set in the American Southwest because I think the desert is a cool place. Living in Phoenix, I'm surrounded by Native American culture and influences, not to mention intriguing Hohokam petroglyphs and centuries-old canals. There are over 20 tribes in Arizona and I'm lucky to be neighbors to the Gila River and the Salt River Indian Communities.

When I'm not busy writing my next novel, I like to travel, visit museums, support local theater productions, hike, and pretend that I'm training for a triathlon. I post a lot of photos from my desert and mountain hikes on my Facebook and Twitter pages. In no particular order, I've been chased by javalinas, rattlesnakes, coyotes, and even one curious black bear.

Question of the Day!

In high school - what sport had the cutest players ;)