"Riley + Sam" by Ashley Schaller

About this book:

  “Riley Anderson swears she will never fall in love with Sammy Hong.
    After all, every girl on earth already has.
    But when Sam shows up next door with a scandal on his heels, their childhood friendship is rekindled and Riley feels the pull toward something more. But Sam is only here until the end of the summer and then he's leaving to face the consequences of his actions and return to the world of pop stardom.
    The pair, accompanied with Riley's rambunctious younger cousin, make a list of all the things they want to do while Sam's in town, but as they work through the activities and dodge rabid fangirls, letting Sam go may be harder than Riley ever imagined.”


Series: No, seems to be a stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- Many Prayers & Thanking God; A couple Scripture are mentioned; Some talks about God, praying, & having a faith; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Sam confesses to Riley about faith when growing up was easy because of it being his family’s thing and going to church, youth group, and Bible studies, but now that he is on his own, he isn’t sure he is saved (Riley tells him that he can be by believing that Christ died for his sins, repent, and ask Him into his heart); *Spoiler* Towards the end, Sam tells Riley that he has “gotten right with God” and feels like God can use him in the music industry *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of singing hymns & songs that point to the Savior; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of church going, youth group, & Bible studies; A couple mentions of faiths & sharing daily Scriptures on social media; A mention of blessings; A mention of a cross necklace; 
             *Note: Mentions of luck & being lucky; A few mentions of ghost stories; A couple mentions of aliens (regarding to someone’s appearance when getting his hair dyed); A couple mentions of fate; A mention of the tooth fairy; A mention of a cavewoman.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘shoot’, an ‘oh my word’, two ‘wimp’s, three ‘dumb’s, five ‘duh’s, and six forms of ‘stupid’; Riley exclaims “cheese and crackers!” seventeen times; A mention of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Riley avoids lying; Some grief (Riley for her mom); Riley wonders about Sam’s relationship with his parents (including her wondering if they moved on from him once he bought them a mansion); Mentions of the death of a parent (from an unnamed illness) & grief (Riley and her family for their mom/wife); Mentions of death threats; Mentions of possible a serial killer or axe murderer, crimes, criminals, arrests, break-ins, kidnappings, & ransoms; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of parties & partying (which is not Riley’s idea of fun); A few mentions of car accidents; A couple mentions of blackmail; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of vomiting; A mention of a tattoo; 
             *Note: Riley struggles with the idea of her father dating. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A bit of staring at lips, two fingers-to-lips touches, a cheek kiss, a forehead kiss, two almost kisses/wondering if a kiss will happen (barely-above-not-detailed), and one border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Some touches, embraces, hand holding, warmth, shivers/tingles, butterflies, & nearness; Noticing & Blushes; In a song, someone is called ‘baby’ a few times; Riley vowed a long time ago that she wouldn’t fall for Sam; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of blushes; Mentions of crushes; A few mentions of broken hearts; A couple mentions of cute guys; A mention of a summer fling; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A mention of a dog shoving his nose up a woman’s dress.
 
-Riley Anderson, age 17
                               1^st person P.O.V. of Riley
                                                        323 pages
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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

So this was pure enjoyment for me. 10/10, no notes on that detail. This was so much fun to read and I think I had a smile on my face for the large majority of the book. At some points, it reminded me of “Sketchy Behavior” by Erynn Mangum even though the plots are completely different. (This is a very high compliment if you know me!) Maybe it was the artist main character or just the humor throughout the book, but I enjoyed this one even more because of it. 

 

I loved the family element of this with Riley, her sister, dad, and younger cousin. Even though there was the grief of missing their mom/wife/aunt, they were such a happily realistic family and made me laugh often. Lou-Lou is a mess, but she was fantastic and really made the book even better. I think I highlighted over fifty parts that made me laugh out loud and most were because of her. 

 

This story almost reminded me a bit of a teen movie—maybe Starstruck? But instead of the love interest being arrogant, they’re childhood-best-friends-to-more. That’s an easy “sign me up” to say because I love that trope with every fiber of my being. Riley and Sam were truly best friends despite the years apart and were able to go right back to how it was. I had a couple questions at the very end of the book that weren’t answered and would have liked the end to go longer, but overall I greatly enjoyed “Riley + Sam” with the summer setting, friends-to-more trope, the sassy cousin, and the perfect YA feel!

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

 

"R.E.M." by Ashley Schaller

About this book:

  “Gwendolyn Gonzales would do anything for her best friend. Even allow herself to be dragged through Macy's dreams by a British coffeeholic who claims to be Macy's Dream Guardian. The rules of the Dream are simple: blend in and don't die. When Macy's dreams take a turn for the worst, following the rules may be harder than it seems. And may end in deadly consequences.”


Series: As of now, no, a stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- Mentions of prayers (including Gwen correcting herself that instead of hoping something goes well, praying that it goes well as they need something stronger than hope); Mentions of a pastor at a funeral & him reading from his Bible; A couple mentions of Bibles; A couple mentions of churches; A couple mentions of a Designer & Heaven (both are capital); A couple mentions Dream Guardians who have died going to “dwell with of the greatest Guardian of all”; A mention of blessings; 
             *Note: Mentions of a Santa toy; A mention of someone’s “sermons” on a topic they are passionate about; A mention of a ghost that haunts someone’s dreams. 
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘freaking’, a ‘jeesh’, an ‘oh my gosh’, a ‘shut up’, an unfinished ‘what the—‘, two ‘dang it’s, two forms of ‘drat’, two ‘suck’s, three forms of ‘blast it’, six forms of ‘heck’, seven ‘crap’s, nine forms of ‘dumb’, ten ‘idiot’s, and twenty-three ‘stupid’s; A handful of mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Seeing a death & Thinking a loved one died (twice, in a dream, up to semi-detailed); Fighting wolves, giant spiders, shadow-like creatures, monsters, & Nightmares (semi-detailed); A car crash, gunfire, & seeing someone shot (in a dream, up to semi-detailed); Earthquakes & Fires (including someone being burned, up to semi-detailed); Almost drowning, Being thrown off a cliff, Being held at gunpoint, Being shot, Being choked, Being attacked, Being drugged, Being held hostage, Injuries, Pain, Passing out, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone jump off a building & Gwen follows her (in a dream; Gwen prays that her family will be all right without her as she steps off the edge, up to semi-detailed); Gwen thinks she’s been kidnapped & might be killed (she’s not actually been kidnapped, but thinks through how to safely get away from the “kidnapper”, up to semi-detailed); Gwen has to herself out of a panic attack (being unable to breath and panicking, barely-above-not-detailed); The book opens at a funeral & has a lot of grieving (for a friend); There are Nightmares (villains) that feed off of the dreamer’s fear (described as creepy & one uses winged skeleton heads to aim hateful words at Gwen); *Big Spoiler* Gwen was in a car wreck and is actually in a coma for the majority of this book, there are a couple scenes of her being resuscitated) *End of Big Spoiler*; All about many mentions of nightmares & the possibility of someone dying in their dreams (including by drowning and choking, up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of fighting, attacks, passing out, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of grief & grieving (for a friend, a brother, a son, and a father); Mentions of deaths, car accidents, a coma, & sirens (including Gwen being concerned about someone possibly being in a car wreck, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of Dream Guardians being killed in action & having to retrieve the bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of gunfire, someone being shot, & dreaming of someone being held at gunpoint and being shot (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of being kidnapped, a kidnapper, & being drugged (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of wolves attacking someone (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of a bar-like place & drinking non-alcoholic drinks; Mentions of bullies & gossip; A few mentions of a nightclub & clubbing; A couple mentions of a prison; A couple mentions of a drunk driver; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of horror movies (not named); A couple mentions of cigarettes; A mention of the mafia; A mention of someone stalking Gwen; 
             *Note: *Big Spoiler* Gwen’s father is deployed and it’s said at the end of the book that he was killed in action *End of Spoiler*; A Nightmare (villain) threatens Gwen that if she doesn’t listen to them, they will make her become “a vegetable to rot” in her world; Dream Guardians are able to shift their faces or wear a mask to look like someone their Dreamer cares about; Being stung by bees & mentions of someone being allergic to bees (up to semi-detailed); A couple mentions of a car brand; A mention of vampires; A mention of a movie (Pride & Prejudice). 
 
 
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a cheek kiss (in thanks, not romantic-based), and two head/hair kisses; Touches, Dancing, Hand holding, Tingles, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Gwen has to stay at Solomon’s place (they sleep in separate rooms and nothing happens); Gwen falls into Solomon’s lap (once, not meant to be romantic and no details); Mentions of seeing couples kissing & cuddling; Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends/girlfriends, couples, & cheating; Mentions of crushes & flirting; A few mentions of catching someone making out with another & cheating on the person they are dating; A few mentions of jealousy; A mention of a blown kiss; A mention of ogling someone; A bit of fove, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: A few mentions of butting into a conversation, butting heads, & wanting to kick someone’s butt. 
 
-Gwendolyn “Gwen” Gonzales
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Gwen 
                                                        414 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

This was a wild ride and a very interesting plot! 

This book was kind of all over the place, but that’s how dreams can be, so it fit the concept well. It kind of had an Alice in Wonderland feel because of the dreams. Dreams can be crazy and this book definitely showcased that element. I do think I would have enjoyed this book more if it was in third person, but I did really like seeing Gwen’s sass through the first person point of view. I felt for her, though, because she couldn’t catch a break in the dream world. 

The ending really caught me by surprise and I definitely like it. It was a good test to see if your heart can feel emotions, haha! ;) This book is over 400 pages, but it went by so fast. 

While I would consider this book to be more of Clean Fiction than Christian Fiction, it was nice to see bits of Gwen’s faith and family throughout the book and the ending worked so well.

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.