Emma Hearts LA - Keris Stainton

Emma Hearts LA – Keris Stainton

Pages: 254

Publisher: Orchard

Release Date: 7^th June 2012

Edition: UK proof, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: Della Says OMG!, Jessie Hearts NYC

Emma’s just arrived in Los Angeles, a million miles away from all her friends, and any chance of a boyfriend. Unless you count geeky Oscar - which she doesn’t. Not at first, anyway. Teen heart-throb Alex might have potential too. If she can get him away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, that is.

Two boys, unlimited sunshine and a new life amongst the stars. Maybe LA’s not that bad, after all.

Keris Stainton’s novels are always fun, romantic and leave me with a smile on my face and Emma Hearts LA did all of that and more.

One of the first things that I noticed about Emma Hearts LA was how current and completely up to date it is. Keris managed to get a reference to the Ryan Gosling ‘Hey Girl...’ Tumblrs into the novel which actually made me laugh. There’s something about the internet being out in the real world that always jolts me, in a good way, of course! There were also mentions to The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother which everyone seems to love at the moment, and which I haven’t yet seen any of...

I loved Emma as a heroine. She’s cool and confident and funny but still has the tentative approach to boys and relationships and a very endearing vulnerability of most teenage girls that made her instantly likable and relatable. She was also unclear of her feelings and when she did work out what they are she didn’t quite know what t do with them which I instantly connected with.

Emma isn’t the only awesome character in Emma Hearts LA, however. There is a cameo from Jessie and her mum, Natalie, which was brilliant as I always love having the chance to catch up with characters from earlier books. There’s the extremely gorgeous Alex who turns Emma’s legs to jelly and pretty much a dream guy, and then there’s Oscar. Oscar who has a strange fashion sense, an obsession with space, talks to ducks and is completely adorable. He’s smart, funny and beyond cute and I feel head over heels for him.

As well as the aww-inducing love story, Emma Hearts LA broaches the repercussions of a divorce and the blame lain of each parent and the change in the parent-child relationships in a subtle and sensitive way. I also loved the way Keris presented the relationship between Emma and Bex – it’s the type of relationship that me and my sister can only manage when I’m at university 150 miles away. When we’re together we drive each other insane so I loved that Emma and Bex are friends.

I loved Emma Hearts LA – it’s by far my favourite of Keris’s novels so far – and I can’t wait to read whatever she delivers next. Preferably soon?

For my 2012 Contemporary YA Challenge

Sophie