REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
My New Crush Gave to Me
by Shani Petroff
My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff is currently on tour with Xpresso Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
This sweet, funny holiday romance from the author of Romeo and What's Her Name features cute boys, plenty of rom-com mishaps, and a determined heroine readers are certain to fall for.
Charlotte "Charlie" Donovan knows exactly what she wants for Christmas: Teo Ortiz. He’s a star athlete, a National Honor Society member, and the most popular guy in school. Plus he contributes to the school paper, where Charlie is a co-editor. Basically, he’s exactly the type of guy Charlie’s looking for. The only problem is - he barely knows she exists.
But Charlie has a plan: rig the paper’s Secret Santa and win his heart with the perfect gift. The catch? She has no idea what to get him. Enter J.D. Ortiz – Teo’s cousin, and possibly the most annoying person on the planet. He’s easy going, laid back, disorganized, and spontaneous - the exact opposite of Charlie (and Teo). But he knows what Teo wants, so she’s stuck with him.
Yet, the more time Charlie spends with J.D., the more she starts to wonder: Does she really know what, or rather who, she wants for Christmas?
Shani Petroff’s newest young adult comedy of errors, My New Crush Gave to Me, is the perfect read for those searching for some love and laughter along with their holiday spirit.
Excerpt
“Teo,” J.D. Ortiz said, sauntering into the room like it didn’t matter that he had missed the majority of the meeting.
“You’re late,” I told him.
“You are correct,” he said and winked at me. Then he flipped a chair around and sat on it with his arms resting on the back. He was so completely smug. He obviously thought the paper was a joke. He hadn’t been on time for one meeting all year, he didn’t take direction or critiques well, and he always wanted to do his own thing. But there wasn’t much I could do about it. Firing him wasn’t an option. It wasn’t like there was a line of people waiting to be photo editor, and Morgan seemed to have a soft spot for him. So I had no choice but to just deal.
“Anyway,” I continued and directed my attention to Bobby Williams, the sports editor. “Do you think you can reach out to Teo and get him involved?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Great. Then I guess we’re all set for today.”
“Not so fast,” Morgan interjected and stood up.
“The holidays are almost here, and I think we need to celebrate!”
I tried to subdue a groan, but it managed to escape anyway. Christmas was a month away, and with everything going on I was already holidayed out.
If Morgan heard me, she chose to ignore it. “We need a party. We can do it right before vacation, the day the paper comes out. What do you say? We can all bring stuff in. It’ll be the perfect way to end the marking period.” When she didn’t get any reaction, she added, “I’ll be baking, and I’m taking requests.”
“In that case, count me in,” Bobby said.
I guess I couldn’t blame him. Morgan did make killer desserts. It was pretty much the only reason we got such big turnouts at our monthly full-staff meetings. She tempted everyone with her unique chocolaty creations.
“And we should do a Secret Santa,” she said. “How fun would that be, to get cute little surprises leading up to Christmas? And then we can do the big gift and reveal at the party.”
“How much is this going to cost?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Katie said. “I don’t want to spend a fortune on this.”
Morgan crossed her arms. “You guys are such Scrooges. It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can write a nice note, decorate their locker, things like that. It’s about the holiday spirit, not money. Come on!”
I suppressed another groan, but I could tell how important this was to Morgan. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Me too,” J.D. said. “I haven’t done a Secret Santa in years.”
“Seeing how that’s probably how long it will take you to get around to buying a gift, that’s probably a good thing,” I mumbled.
It didn’t go unnoticed. “I’ll have you know I’m an awesome Secret Santa,” J.D. informed me, his eyes looking straight into mine.
“Just like you’re awesome about getting to meetings on time?” I asked. I met his gaze and didn’t let go. If it was a staring contest he wanted, then fine. But he had better be prepared to lose.
“One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Riiiiight,” I said. “Because someone totally irresponsible doesn’t let that bleed into all other aspects of his life.”
“Funny how someone who is such a perfectionist is wrong so often,” he said and gave me a lopsided grin that showed off a giant dimple on his left cheek. And to think I used to find dimples cute. Just another thing on a long list that J.D. Ortiz had to go and ruin.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
"Fans of holiday movies, rom-coms, and 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' will enjoy My New Crush Gave to Me ... Petroff’s festive story will have readers baking gingerbread cookies and bunuelos at any time of year." ~ VOYA
"Petroff offers up a frothy, Christmas-themed romance where what’s perfect on paper may not always be what’s right ... It’s light as powdered sugar and just as sweet." ~ Booklist
"My New Crush Gave to Me was such a feel good and adorable novel. This book seriously made me feel all the warm and fuzzies! I love reading books that put me in the holiday spirit, and that book did just that!" ~ FollyB
"... a surprising good read! You need to put this book on your holiday to read shelf. It will lift your spirits and get you in the Christmas mood - trust me on this one!" ~ AlysonSerenaStone
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
Charlie needs a date for the biggest party of the year, and she has her eyes set on Teo Ortiz. She uses her position as editor of the school newspaper to get to know him better, but Teo's annoying cousin J. D., the newspaper's photo editor, is always getting in the way. With her mother constantly busy with work, things aren't feeling very Christmasy. So Charlie tries to create a little holiday cheer of her own by rigging the paper's Secret Santa draw with a plan to win over Teo. The thing is, she might need J.D.'s help to find Teo the perfect gifts. Charlie always plans everything, but what happens when things don't go to plan?
This book is cute, funny, sweet, and wistful. It's also kind of predictable, but the journey is fun. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters, especially Charlie and J.D.
A light, quick read that will get you in the mood for Christmas.
About the Author
Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. She's the author of the Bedeviled series, which includes Daddy’s Little Angel, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress, Careful What You Wish For, and Love Struck, and is the co-author of the Destined series, which includes Ash and Ultraviolet. She also writes for television news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a print copy of My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff (US/Canada only).
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