Death by Denim by Linda Gerber

Aphara Connolly is back and being chased by some very dangerous people. What makes it even worse is Aphra has to completely forget about her boyfriend Seth to keep him out of trouble too, but that’s extremely hard for a girl when she’s in Paris – the most romantic city in the world. Aphra quickly comes to realize that she really cannot mess around when her mother’s contact in Paris turns up floating in the Seine with a deadly message stuffed into his mouth and she sets off to confront the situation head-on. Sneaking away from the protection of her mom, Aphra sets off to find the mastermind behind all of her danger in Italy. What she doesn’t know is that she’s accidentialy uncovered Seth’s location and put him in danger as well. Can Aphra get herself and Seth for that matter, out of this stick situation and get herself out of trouble once and for all?

These books are so much fun. First there is Aphra, who I think is so much fun and hilarious. The adventures that she went on with her mom in this volume of her sister were the best yet and I could absolutely not put the book down. Also Aphra’s relationship between Seth was great, as always. Seth sounds so adorable and great, and to see the two of them in action together was fun and exhilarating. The writing was also good and kept me in a great amount of suspense. Overall I really enjoyed this third installment in the Aphra Connolly trilogy (and how I hope Linda Gerber decides to continue with more) and highly suggest that if you haven’t had a chance to read any of them you pick them right up. And on that note, I don’t think it is necessary to read the books in order, as you kind of get caught up with previous adventures within the first few pages. So what are you waiting for? Grab one of these books today and get set to go on a great and terrifying adventure!

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts is back in town and things are not looking up for her. She pretty much figures she has hit rock bottom, as she is a teen brainiac living in a teen supermodel’s body, but alas she is wrong.

This said supermodel just happens to have a missing mother, a brother who has just shown up to look for said mother, a former best friend who is determined to bring down the company that she works for (and who she happens to have a major crush on), and a chart-topping song that has been written about her.

With all these things on her mind, Em is not sure quite what she is going to do, especially when she has to manage her time between school and shooting ads in St. John’s – where nasty creatures called ex-boyfriends seem to be abundant. O what is a girl to do, who seems to have it all? Em is not sure she is up for the adventure of Being Nikki…

I have to say that I was quite anxious for the release of this book, as I loved its proceedor (AIRHEAD). I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next and be enchanted with yet another great story, but you know what? That didn’t happen this time. I mean the story was good and suspenseful and all that jazz, but BEING NIKKI just didn’t have the same spark as AIRHEAD and I felt myself enjoying it much less.

The plot for me was quite suspenseful for much of the story and was an absolute hoot. It was also quite original and really left me wanting more and more as the book started to come to a close. It was quite slow though at the beginning and really didn’t get going until the second half of the book. I also found the plot to be very redundant at time and we would hear Nikki complaining of the same things or doing the same things and there was absolutely no progression for like fifty some odd pages.

As for the characters, they were eh. I really enjoyed Stephen, Nikki’s brother, as he was really interesting and mysterious, but every time the reader was really getting to know him, Nikki would jump back in and starting whining and the book would revolve around her again. As for Nikki/Em besides the whininess, she was a decent character who had quite the sense of humor and became quite relatable as the story progressed.

Overall I liked this book and am still anxious to know how the brilliant Meg Cabot will tie up this thrilling trilogy. If you haven’t given this series of Mrs. Cabot’s a try I highly suggest reading them as you will be quite shocked with all the twists and turns that occur.