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Book: Busted
Author: Gina Ciocca
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: Jan 2, 2018
ISBN: 9781492654292
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Source: I received an e-ARC of Busted from the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Catching cheaters and liars is a lucrative hobby―until you fall for one of the suspects. Perfect for fans of Veronica Mars, this new novel from the author of Last Year's Mistake will steal your heart!
Marisa never planned to be a snoop for hire. It wasn't like she wanted to catch her best friend's boyfriend making out with another girl. But as her reputation for sniffing out cheaters spreads all over school, Marisa finds herself the reluctant queen of busting two-timing boys.
And her next case? It's for ex-frenemy Kendall. She's convinced her boyfriend, TJ, has feelings for someone else and persuades Marissa to start spying on him. But the more Marisa gets to know sincere and artistic TJ, the more she starts to fall for him. Worse yet, the feelings seem to be mutual. Marisa knows she needs to give up her investigation―and the spoken-for guy who may just be the love of her life. Then she uncovers new secrets about Kendall and TJ, secrets that take "cheater" to a whole new level...
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Check out this lovely excerpt from Busted by Gina Ciocca below! Dive right into the book! I hope you enjoy it!
EXCERPT:
My eyes darted from TJ’s dark, furrowed eyebrows to the logo on the left breast of his shirt and I sat up straighter.
“Um, where’d you get the Maple Acres shirt?”
His expression didn’t change. “Maple Acres.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Right. I meant, do you work there?”
“Yup.” He sat back in his chair and pulled at the logo, stretching the white cotton away from his chest before turning his attention back to the computer screen. “Long time now.”
As soon as he said it, my memory was triggered. I’d always thought he looked familiar but could never quite place where I’d seen him. As I thought back to every trip I’d taken to Maple Acres, twice a year since I was two years old, the image of a boy with dark curls stuffed beneath a knit cap and a heavy flannel coat that made him look like Paul Bunyan clicked into place. The farm stretched over two hundred and fifty acres, selling pumpkins and cider and offering hayrides and a corn maze in a fall, then Christmas trees that you cut down yourself in the winter. The place had a storybook quality to it that I loved, and I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to figure out TJ was a part of it.
“We go there for our tree every year. I think I’ve seen you.”
TJ kept his eyes on the screen. “Probably. I’m usually bundling the trees or in the checkout area. Sometimes I drive the tractor for the hayrides.” He glanced over long enough to shoot me a half smile. “Maybe you’ve seen the back of my head.”
That would’ve been an occasion I definitely hadn’t noticed him. The one and only time I’d taken a hayride had been the lone trip I’d made without Charlie or my dad, both of whom are allergic to hay. I’d gone with Jordan. Superman himself could’ve been driving the tractor and I would’ve been too busy drooling over Jordan in his plaid button-down with the sleeves rolled up around his gorgeous forearms to notice.
Vom, vom, vom. I pushed the chunks down and forged ahead. “So, that thing you didn’t want to do the last time we talked, is that… still an issue?”
“Uh, no. That fell through, so my article should be good to go on Monday.”
He’s not making this easy for me, that’s for sure.
“Take your time, really. I hope you didn’t cancel your plans because of me.”
He glanced over and gave me a wry smile. “No.”
“So, um, the tree farm. I go all the time.” I mentally slapped myself. Twice a year is all the time? “Do you live nearby?”
“You know the green colonial across the street behind the barn?”
“Uh huh.”
He smiled again. “That’s my house.”
“Wait, I thought the owners lived there.”
“They do. We have for my whole life.”
“Your family owns Maple Acres?” I blinked a few times, dumbfounded by my own dumbness.
“Well, co-owns. Have you seen the guy with the white hair who sneaks free gourds to all the little kids at Halloween? That’s my Uncle Roger. He’s there all the time, but my dad does more of the financial stuff.”
My face lit up. “That’s awesome! I love that place! I took a picture of the white barn from the top of the hill once and tried to sketch it. All the trees had snow on them, the sky was this amazing gray color and the pond was reflecting it” – I remembered mid-babble that I’d veered off course and reigned myself back in – “anyway, let’s just say it was magical, but drawing isn’t my strong suit. So, um, if you didn’t move, then why did you switch schools?”
TJ’s eyes slid back to the computer screen and his shoulder tensed ever so slightly, as if I’d brought up something he didn’t really want to talk about. Now I was getting somewhere.
“Our property is right at the intersection of three town lines. Technically, I could’ve gone to any one of the high schools.” He stabbed a few keys with his pointer finger, eliciting three clipped clicks. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I swore his jaw tightened. “I left Templeton because it was time for a change of scenery.”
“It must’ve been hard, though, transferring for your senior year.” And pretty odd, in my opinion. “I’m sure you had a lot of ties there.”
TJ’s fingers paused in mid-air over the keyboard and he looked at me. “Not that many.”
This time when he turned his attention back to the screen, I knew our conversation had ended. He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture that had a definite undertone of irritation. Whether it related to my question or some memory pertaining to the school, I couldn’t tell. But when I caught sight of the leather bracelet on his wrist, my desire to exclaim OMG THAT’S GORGEOUS WHERE DID YOU GET IT almost overruled my desire to ask what the hell his comment was supposed to mean. I’d been baiting him to say, “Yeah, my girlfriend goes there.” He hadn’t. What did that mean?
Maybe nothing.
But damn it all to hell, I suddenly had to know for sure.
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How awesome that you all get to hear from Marisa, the main character from Busted! Check out her amazing tips!
GUEST POST:
Marisa’s Top 5 Tips For Sleuthing:
Hey there. Marisa Palmera, Private Eye here. Okay, so I don’t actually call myself that, and neither does anyone else. In fact, I never meant to become a sleuth-for-hire. But spend one night scaling your best-friend’s boyfriend’s house to take incriminating pictures, and suddenly everyone wants you to be something you’re not…and when they’re willing to line your sadly lacking pockets for it, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
So, should you find yourself an unwitting Girl Friday (or even a witting one... Is “witting” a thing?) like I did, here are some tips that just may save your butt:
- 1. Always have a camera handy. Whether it’s your cell phone, or the fancy camera you borrowed from your school’s yearbook club, you never know when you’ll need to snap an evidence shot. Just, um, make sure you turn off the flash if said camera is aimed through a window into a dark living room. I may have learned this the hard way.
- 2. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Sounds ominous and dramatic, I know. But if someone gives you the vibe that they shouldn’t be let out of your sight? GO WITH IT.
- 3. Think fast. Suck at lying? Me too. Get over it, because you’ll be fudging the truth a lot.
- 4. But know when to say no. Weave enough white lies, and suddenly they’re a sticky, tangled web with you trapped inside. Know when it’s time to run, and do it like the flames of hell are licking your feet.
- 5. Don’t fall for the person you’re investigating. Yeah. You’re just gonna have to do as I say and not as I do on this one. Oops.
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Here is my review of Busted! It was such an interesting read!
MY REVIEW:
Marisa is a High Schooler who becomes known for busting cheaters. It all started when she caught Jason, the boyfriend of her best friend Charlie, cheating with another girl. The way she catches him is by spying on him in a daring and gutsy way. Then Marisa's ex-frenemy Kendall moves back into town from being away in Arizona for a while. She suspects that her boyfriend TJ may be cheating, so she enlists the help of Marisa to spy on him to find out. Then word gets around about Marisa's work catching cheaters and then other girls want her help as well. Then Marisa starts to have feelings for TJ, one of the guys she is spying on, which complicates everything. So things get really crazy after this, and it is soooo entertaining!
The phrase "busting cheaters" also has a double meaning, and without giving too much away, there is another story that intertwines with the main storyline, which is just as juicy. The storyline becomes so incredibly complex and so full of drama, that you are just in awe of how it all comes together and plays out. And important revelations are delicately sprinkled throughout the novel and are slowly revealed as the story progresses. You will definitely be surprised and shocked. This feels like a smartly outlined and planned novel by the author, and it shows by the richness of the story. Busted is an intricately woven web of deceit, lies, betrayal, and backstabbing. You get to see the lengths some people will go to to get what they want and see the effects that their actions have on other people. There are also twists and turns, which throw you for a loop. I was intrigued by the drama from beginning to end and the storyline just kept getting better and better. There was never a dull moment. Busted brings the saying, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" to a whole other level, which will blow your mind!
While a lot of the romantic relationships revolved around drama, I liked how there was also romance included in the novel that was cute, simple, and seemingly effortless. I liked how the relationship among students towards each other included a lot of the pettiness that actually goes on in High School so it brings a realistic feel to it. You also get to see some characters that show growth and maturity by the end of the novel, and others that learned their lesson. I was satisfied with the ending, which is always very rewarding as a reader. Busted was a fun and enjoyable read that I would highly recommend to everyone! I really loved it! Busted is definitely one of my favorite drama-filled YA novels of 2018! I can't wait to read Gina Ciocca's next YA novel, A Kiss In The Dark, which comes out in March of 2018!
MY RATING: 5 STARS
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GIVEAWAY:
Sourcebooks Fire is sponsoring a Rafflecopter Giveaway of Two copies of Busted by Gina Ciocca! To enter, just click the entry form below. Good Luck!!:
I hope you all enjoyed this Spotlight on Busted by Gina Ciocca! It included a lot of interesting things, such as an awesome excerpt and a unique guest post by the main character Marisa from the novel Busted! I also hope you enjoyed reading my review. I loved reading Busted and I know you will to. Be sure to pre-order Busted if you haven't already (order links are above in this page) and spread the word about this wonderful book on social media! Also be sure to add it on goodreads as a TBR!
