Review: STIR ME UP by Sabrina Elkins

Title: STIR ME UP by Sabrina Elkins
Pub Date: October 1, 2013
ARC received from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review
Dannie says: Yummy! Warning--this oven comes preheated!

Cami Broussard has her future all figured out. She'll finish her senior year of high school, then go to work full-time as an apprentice chef in her father's French restaurant, alongside her boyfriend, Luke. But then twenty-year-old ex-Marine Julian Wyatt comes to live with Cami's family while recovering from serious injuries. And suddenly Cami finds herself questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Julian's all attitude, challenges and intense green-brown eyes. But beneath that abrasive exterior is a man who just might be as lost as Cami's starting to feel. And Cami can't stop thinking about him. Talking to him. Wanting to kiss him. He's got her seriously stirred up. Her senior year has just gotten a lot more complicated….

Contains mature content and some sexual situations. Suited for readers 16 and up.

WHAT I LIKED

The overall story arc. It's hard to say more than that without giving away the ending. It was a like rather than a love because there were not enough twists and turns for my liking--I sort of predicted where we were headed. But that didn't stop me from devouring the entire book in less than twenty-four hours. 

WHAT I LOVED

The characters--sure there are some trope-ish things happening, but not enough that it bothered me. There wasn't a single character that felt like a stereotype or someone I had read a million times. 

The sexytimes--gah. This book is STEAMY you guys. It is very much upper, UPPER YA, but not any more explicit than some other things I've read. If you're a parent, you should pause before buying this book for your fifteen year old. And I'm not the only one that thinks so--this book comes with a warning label. Which, as a parent, I really appreciated.

WHAT I WANTED MORE OF

More wrapping up of loose ends. Again, so as to avoid spoilers, there's not toooooo much more I can say than that. But there is a significant character who just sort of falls off the face of the story, only to come up in passing toward the end, which led me to expect there would be some closure that didn't end up happening. 

Narrative voice felt a little over-mature for a rising HS senior. I think maybe I just like sassier, more attitudinal narrators and my writer bias is showing in this respect, but there were definitely times when I paused and said, "wait, HOW OLD is this girl??" 

Short story long, this book is all sorts of yummy. So yummy I couldn't put it down. And I bet you'll agree with me--buy links are below!

Available from:

  

Praise for Stir Me Up:

"Fun, steamy, and leaves you hungry for more. Sabrina Elkins nails the vulnerability of becoming an adult and the choices that come with growing up." —Katie McGarry, author of Dare You To

"Cami's slow burn for a wounded hero will rivet readers. I seriously loved this book." —Jennifer Echols, author of Dirty Little Secret

"This book is one of my favorite young adult contemporaries. Not only does it feature a hot romance, it's also very meaningful and well, you just have to read it and see." —#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout

About Sabrina Elkins

I am a former journalist who worked for the Los Angeles Daily Newsand other newspapers in the greater Los Angeles area. Prior to this I worked in advertising, writing ad copy for corporate travel accounts and major motion pictures. My first job out of college was as an administrative assistant to an executive chef and a food & beverage director at a Four Seasons hotel. I also spent some time working as a prep cook for Spago in Beverly Hills.

I received my Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Southern California. While in graduate school, I had the privilege of studying fiction writing under renowned author Hubert Selby, Jr., and comedy writing under famed comedian Shelley Berman. I am a past participant of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Summer Writing Workshop.

Raised in the woods of Vermont, I now live in the greater Los Angeles area with my husband and three children. STIR ME UP is my first novel.

***GIVEAWAY***

WIN 1 OF 3 STIR ME UP FUN FOODIE GIFT PACKS! COOKBOOKS-CHOCOLATES-MAGNETS

  

Cami’s Cookbook Pack 

Le Petit Paris: French Finger Food by Nathalie Benezet

500 Soups by Susannah Blake

Godiva chocolate bar

Stir Me Up magnet  

Julian’s Late-Night Pack 

George Noory’s Late-Night Snacks by George Noory

Dinner and a Movie by Katherine Bebo

Godiva chocolate bar

Stir Me Up magnet  

Sweet Desserts Pack 

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Cutie Pies by Dani Cone

Godiva chocolate bar

Stir Me Up magnet

 RULES AND RESTRICTIONS: 

Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 18 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond  or another winner’s name will be selected. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.

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