Tuesday, July 31, 2012

THE CRUSADE CONTINUES


Hi all!!  This was our absolute favorite place on the crusade.

Name: The Cup

Location: Tennessee

Website: cravethecup.com

Ninja Aunt P and I both agree.  This was the top, number 1, the hands down winner of our trip J  Why?  Well, for Ninja Aunt P, it was the awesome cake-to-frosting ratio and the moist cake.  For me, it was the Tuxedo cupcake that is the closest I've come to my mema's Black Joe Cake.  That's a hard thing to do, matching the best cake in the world (aka mema's, which we have in our household at every birthday).  The Cup was a pleasant surprise, not on any "Best Of" list.

Just shows that sometimes there are hidden gems out there!  If you ever visit TN, get on over to The Cup and have yourself a little taste of heaven just like Mema used to make--almost ;-)

Have a great one,

Ninja Girl

Monday, July 30, 2012

CUPCAKE CRUSADE 2012


Hi there everyone!  It's been awhile since I've posted (been out of town), but this week I have some sweet goodies to share with you all  :-)  (eye candy courtesy of Cupcrazed Cakery in SC)

Two years ago, Ninja Aunt P and I started a tradition: One Freaking Fantastic Road Trip a year.  (Ninja Mom came on the first trip--which was Ice Cream Excursion and totally awesome!)  We look for the best of the best, and usually we find some great stuff.  So far, we've done ice cream, seafood, and this year…CUPCAKES!!

Over the next couple days I'll be posting some of our favorites--and hopefully get back to my regular reviewing schedule.  Enjoy the sugary goodness of Cupcake Crusade 2012!





Anyone who watches Cupcake Wars knows about Sprinkles.  The Salted Caramel was my favroite, and Ninja Aunt P loved the Ginger Lemon.  Definitely lives up to the hype! Yum, yum :D

Hope everyone's having a great week,

Ninja Girl

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TEASER TUESDAY: PERSONAL DEMONS by Lisa Desrochers


Teaser Tuesday's is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading (click the image above to be directed to her page). Anyone can participate! Here are the rules:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open it to a random page
  • Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO REVEAL SPOILERS! (Be sure not to spoil the book for others!
  • Make sure your sentences don't reveal something important!)
  • Include the title and author to, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!


Finally, I know what all those Team Luc buttons are about ;-)

Teaser:

"If there's a Hell on Earth, it's high school.  And if there's anyone distinctly qualified to make that statement, it would be me."

Okay, so I kinda cheated since these are the first two sentences--but I just love how they automatically put you in Luc's head.  I knew who he was right from the start, and I have no idea why anyone would choose the angel, Gabriel, over Luc...well, except for that whole demon thing ;).

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

PERFECT CHEMISTRY by Simone Elkeles


A Barbie-perfect rich girl falls for the poor Latino gangbanger across town.

I've never read a star-crossed lovers cliché that was more urban life sensitive and still believably YA.  The fact that Alex Fuentes was in a gang and collected drug money debts should've made me dislike him.  Then there was Brittany, the head cheerleader with problems.  Poor little rich girl, right?  I should've totally hated her, too.

But I didn't.

And here's why: Both main characters had redeeming qualities and both ran far deeper than their labels.  People always want to put labels on characters, but in Perfect Chemistry, Simone Elkeles gives her MCs dimension, real emotions, real flawed reactions, that make it hard to fit them inside a box.

I love how the whole catalyst for this story was the two MCs getting paired up for a chemistry project.  So simple, and yet…J  I liked how Elkeles made it more interesting by putting Brittany's jerk of a boyfriend one lab station over.  Alex and Brittany both make mistakes, but that's what makes them more endearing.  They both fight and deny their emotions, but to me, it makes them sound more like teenagers.

Brittany was made so much more likable by the presence of her sister, Shelley.  From the first few pages, we find out that Shelley is mentally handicap and can't perform basic functions like feeding herself or speaking in full sentences.  But Brittany loves her and has taken the time to learn her nonverbal cues.  Brittany tries to maintain this perfect image for her parents just so they won't sent Shelley away--a threat that hangs over her head daily.  I just loved the interaction between the sisters.

Alex has two younger brothers and a mother who refuses to call him anything besides Alejandro, his given name.  The family dynamic was tight-knit, and yet they still had problems.  Alex doesn't want his brothers to be like him.  He's doing everything he can to protect his family in a place where you're either part of the gang or you're a target.  His romance with Brittany provides them both with an escape.

The romance was on point.  It developed at a good pace but wasn't a case of insta-love.  I really enjoyed seeing these two characters break from their expected roles and finally accepting their attraction to each other.

And, personally, one of the things I liked best was: Fairfield High reminded me of Neptune High J  Any other Veronica Mars fans in the house??  Alex totally reminded me of Weevil. *sigh*  Eli "Weevil" Navarro was one of my favorite characters, riding on his motorcycle, running his biker gang, getting into trouble but having V's back the whole time.  I miss Veronica Mars--but I seriously miss Weevil <3 <3 J

Perfect Chemistry has romance, drama, and little hints of the funny.  Would definitely recommend this to anyone in the mood for a YA romance that takes the well-worn star-crossed lovers cliché and still manages to give the reader something fresh and exciting!

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl