A Dream Within A Dream: So Into You Tour: Review & Giveaway!

So Into You (Jane Austen Academy Series #2)

Author: Cecilia Gray

Genre: YA Contemporary

Release Date: July 15, 2012

Description:

Modern retelling/based on Sense & Sensibility.

The last thing that the girls at the elite Jane Austen Academy need is guys. But over the summer the school has been sold, and like it or not, the guys are coming. And they're about to turn the Academy—and the lives of its students—totally upside down…

Meet sweet and sensible Ellie who hasn’t met a problem her mom’s yoga mantras can’t fix. But when her parents threaten to pull her from the Academy just as her flirtation with the cutest boy in school heats up, will Ellie be able to keep her cool?

Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15705217-so-into-you

Review:

So Into You is the second book in the young adult contemporary Jane Austen Academy series. The book follows Ellie Dvorak in her junior year at Jane Austen Academy, a private boarding school that feels like her home. Although things are being turned upside down this year - the school has been bought by anonymous owners, the student body is going co-ed for the first time in its history, and Ellie doesn't get to room with her best friend. Changes are coming to the Academy whether Ellie and her friends like it or not. Just when it seems things couldn't get worse, Ellie discovers that her parents are trying to make her leave school and move to a different country! Will Ellie be able to find a way to stay at her beloved Academy?

I am not usually a big reader of contemporary young adult fiction, but this series caught my attention. It's very well written and has a lot of heart. The characters - especially the four friends in the middle of the storyline - are very realistic and easy to identify with. I felt like I was a part of their circle from the first chapter of the book and even found myself rooting for them along the way. The problems that the characters face are things that every person deals with at some point, and the themes dealt with in the book are universal too - like family, friendship, love, standing up for what you believe is right, and self confidence. The setting of a private boarding school isn't anything new, but the fun atmosphere that the author creates in the book really brings it to life and gives it a fresh update. The book is relatively short, but it's an easy and fun read - which made it quick to finish. I really enjoyed this novel despite my usual avoidance of the genre, and I look forward to reading more of the series.

About the Author (from Goodreads):

Cecilia Gray lives in Oakland where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She also pens her biographies in the third person. Like this. As if to trick you into thinking someone else wrote it because she is important. Alas, this is not the case.

Cecilia has been praised for “instilling a warmth and weight into her characters” (Romancing The Book Reviews) and her books have been praised for being “well-written, original, realistic and witty” (Quills & Zebras Reviews).

Several of her titles - including A Delightful Arrangement (The Gentlemen Next Door #1) and An Illicit Engagement (The Gentlemen Next Door #2) - have spent, in her view, a shocking amount of time on bestseller lists for romance, historical romance and regency romance in the US, UK, Italy and Spain.

Her latest release, FALL FOR YOU, the first in a series of young-adult contemporary Jane Austen retellings, received a starred Kirkus review and was praised for being a “unique twist on a classic” and offering “a compelling action of action, drama and love.”

She’s rather enamored of being contacted by readers and hopes you’ll oblige.

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