Artificial Sweethearts by Julie Hammerle

It’s not chemistry between Tinka Foster and Sam Anderson that made them agree to fake date. With her parents trying to set her up with an annoying pro-track golf student, and intentionally single Sam’s family pressuring him to bring a date to his brother’s wedding, they could both use a drama-free summer.

So it’s not his muscular arms and quick wit that makes Tinka suggest they tell everyone they’re both taken. Definitely not. And it’s not butterflies that makes a kiss for appearances during the lake party go on way too long—so long that Sam wishes it were real.

But Tinka keeps people at arm’s length—she’s always been second best, even to her parents. And her relationship-for-show could crush everything when she realizes she’s done with fake, pretend, and second-best.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains bikinis at the lake, a lot of making out in dark theaters, and a meet-cute you’ll read twice.

Book 2
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Entangled Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 Stars

Artificial Sweethearts is the second installment in the North Pole, Minnesota series and can easily be read as a standalone. Some mentions of the past book, and cameos by past narrators, but it doesn't affect the overall plot or lead to any confusion.

To be honest, I struggled to fall into the story during the first chapter. Tinka's narration, while being picked up at the airport, there were plot holes being purposefully left open for later, to add a mystery/suspense vibe, but it was the execution that made the narration jarring. I liked Tinka's character, but the style in which it was written was difficult to navigate. Bumpy and all over the place.

As soon as Sam was voiced, I was hooked immediately. Sam was a chubby boy. He's the helper/giver, non-complainer. The one who is easily taken for granted. He's helping his big brother plan a wedding (do everything), with his younger sister running off to camp, and his baby sister is too young to help at all. So everything falls on his shoulders, and he doesn't say a word about it. Now slim, after doing yard work and probably shedding the baby fat, Sam is still stuck in that mindset of being the chubby, invisible, always happy boy, and siblings will always see you how you used to be, not how you are now.

Tinka is also a giver, but she lacks self-reflection. It's hinted at that she's a bad girl (no shaming, her actions were a cry for help, not because she was enjoying herself and feeling empowered by it). But, being inside Tinka's head, the reader knows the core of her, even if that's not the perception others have of her. She's hurt her friends in the recent past, but her parents are hurting her.

Tinka and Sam connect – it's not instantaneous, but it's obvious. I'm a sucker for the intimacy of a hug, so when Tinka sees Sam and thinks he'd give great hugs, I was won over right then. That's actually something I think when sizing up a guy. *winks*

Their personalities are complementary, neither one having a voice in their family, just going with the flow. Together, they try to find their voice.

Yes, there is a tiny bit of angst, but not truly between Sam and Tinka – it's with Tinka's friends and family, and Sam with his family and friends. Sam is a solid guy, and he takes Tinka at face-value because she opens up to him and is 'real,' and he's the same way back. No tension, they're relaxed together, like finding home and finally being able to breathe. So there isn't miscommunication central between them, even with the 'fake-dating' to keep their family off their backs.

For two-hundred pages, the journey is Sam and Tinka finding a voice – no longer avoiding conflict because it's easier on everyone else while costing themselves dearly. They learn to stand up for themselves, ask for what they want, and make no apologies for it. We only get one life, and we're the ones who have to live it. I felt this a great message, one people need to learn – the younger the better.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sam and Tinka's journey, and look forward to both more in this series and by this author in the future. Definitely recommend to fans of the young adult genre.

Young Adult age-range: 12+. Kissing.

Also Available in the North Pole, Minnesota Series

Book 1
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Any Boy But You post.

Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us (Entangled Teen, 2016) and the North Pole, Minnesota romance series (Entangled Crush, 2017). She writes about TV and pop culture for the ChicagoNow blog, Hammervision, and lives in Chicago with her family. She enjoys reading, cooking, and watching all the television.

Connect with Julie

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Artificial Sweethearts (North Pole, Minnesota #2) by Julie Hammerle to read and review.

Any Boy But You by Julie Hammerle

Elena Chestnut has been chatting with an anonymous boy late into the night. It’s a very You’ve Got Mail situation, and she has no idea who he is. He can’t be Oliver Prince, hot-and-bashful son of the family running the rival sporting goods store. Their fancy sales strategies are driving Elena’s family out of business. Elena’s mystery boy has teamed up with her in their latest sales strategy, an augmented reality game, to help her win the grand-prize plane tickets. Money’s so tight Elena’s going to miss senior year spring break with her friends if she can’t win this game.

The girl Oliver's fallen head-over-heels for online had better not be Elena Chestnut. She's his angry, vindictive Latin tutor, the daughter of his dad’s business rival, and the one girl he’d never even think of kissing. She’s definitely not his online crush, because that girl is funny, sweet, and perfect.

When Oliver asks to reveal their names at the Valentine’s Day dance, their IRL relationship will either ruin what they have online, or they’ll discover just how thin the line between love and hate really is.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains swearing, snowball fights, and sexual tension that could melt the North Pole. Read at your own risk.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
As an adult reader, I'm giving this title three stars, but I do believe younger readers will appreciate it more. Teens will no doubt find the Pokemon Go angle addictive, as well as the enemies-turned-crush angsty sweet.

Julie Hammerle's writing style flows fluidly, the pacing quick, without over-description, written in a way to engage both younger and older readers without confusion or being 'dumbed' down.

Elena and Oliver's families own rival sporting goods stores. Enemies come head-to-head when Elena has to tutor Oliver. I felt both Elena and Oliver were written authentically for their age-group, realistic in their ‘voice,’ and were a good fit for one another.

The kids were told to be enemies by their families, and this tainted their interactions and thoughts of the other. They begin chatting with each other via a game app and don't realize it's their mortal enemy. The kids connect, find they truly like each other, but it all gets muddled up with the family feud. This is a perfect recipe for angsty dramatic yumminess. Some great interplay back and forth between Elena & Oliver – banterific.

As I stated above, younger readers will eat this book up, but as an older reader, it was hard to swallow the 'reason' as to why there was a rivalry – a bit too over-dramatic, unrealistic, and irrational. Immature on their families' parts, which is a no-no for me (adults not behaving maturely). Just let it go, not infect your children.

Recommended to young adult readers looking for a book where enemies turn into each other's crush.

Young Adult age-range: 14+

Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us (Entangled Teen, 2016) and the North Pole, Minnesota romance series (Entangled Crush, 2017). She writes about TV and pop culture for the ChicagoNow blog, Hammervision, and lives in Chicago with her family. She enjoys reading, cooking, and watching all the television.

Connect with Julie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Any Boy but You (North Pole, Minnesota #1) by Julie Hammerle to read and review.

The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle

Kiki Nichols might not survive music camp.

She’s put her TV-loving, nerdy self aside for one summer to prove she’s got what it takes: she can be cool enough to make friends, she can earn that music scholarship, and she can get into Krause University’s music program.

Except camp has rigid conduct rules—which means her thrilling late-night jam session with the hot drummer can’t happen again, even though they love all the same TV shows, and fifteen minutes making music with him meant more than every aria she’s ever sung.

But when someone starts snitching on rule breakers and getting them kicked out, music camp turns into survival of the fittest. If Kiki’s going to get that scholarship, her chance to make true friends—and her chance with the drummer guy—might cost her the future she wants more than anything.

Buy Links

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 Angsty coming-of-age stars.

Julie Hammerle is a new-to-me author.

I had a slightly difficult time getting into this novel, to be honest. Not that I didn't enjoy the characters, the narration, or the set-up. But compared to the middle through to the end, it was a slightly slow start. Perhaps it's because the flow of information evened out – at the start, there were many mentioned of bands, composers, artists, television shows, and movies. While setting the tone, it bogged the flow down slightly.

My point: if you're struggling in the beginning, hang in there. The story is pretty awesome.

The author's voice flowed fluidly, creating a narrative that did sound like a seventeen-year-old geeky yet creative girl. I found Kiki to be authentic. I'm not going to bog the review down in a book-report-style, which I always find to spoil a book for me. If you read the blurb, you know what you're buying.

Kiki made mistakes like any girl does – young and young at heart. She is passionate about many things, which I find to be a good thing. It took me too long to think as Kiki does near the end of the book. I had the 'feels' while reading, I won't lie. I look for books that make my belly twist up for the character, as if they are a real person, and The Sound of Us accomplished that feat.

Music. Teenagers. Problems that face teenagers as well as adults. Romance, unrequited and not. Finding courage to fight for what you want/believe in, without losing your integrity. I believe young adults will go crazy for this title, as will their parents. I'm a serious person of the advanced age of 37, who isn't a fan of light and fluffy, and I enjoyed every page of The Sound of Us.

One moral that hit me hard was how Kiki was willing to make room in her life for her friends, but she wasn't going to wait around for them, nor was she going to beg them to be in her life. Most girls never learn this lesson – some women never do. It took me until I was in my early thirties to realize you can open the door, but they have to be willing to come in on their own. If you spend all of your time pursuing, instead of enjoying each other, it's not worth it.

You've got a life to live, so go out there and live it instead of waiting... and waiting... and waiting to live someone else's life as their sidekick.

**Is this a standalone? I'm sure it is, or could be... but there was a very wide door left open should Ms. Hammerle decide to cross the threshold and continue on with Kiki's adventures. *cough. cough* Pretty Please – I'll beg.

Young adult age range: 13+, mentions of alcohol consumption and kissing.

Julie Hammerle is the author of A Place for Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen in the fall of 2016. Before settling down to write “for real,” she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana.

Connect with Julie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle to read and review.