One Old, One New: The Emma Mills Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books by one of my favorite YA authors - Emma Mills. Below, I feature her upcoming release along with her debut, and with this, I have read ALL of Mills' books.

Lucky Caller
Emma Mills
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Henry Holt
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

With the warmth, wit, intimate friendships, and heart-melting romance she brings to all her books, Emma Mills crafts a story about believing in yourself, owning your mistakes, and trusting in human connection in Lucky Caller.

When Nina decides to take a radio broadcasting class her senior year, she expects it to be a walk in the park. Instead, it’s a complete disaster.

The members of Nina's haphazardly formed radio team have approximately nothing in common. And to maximize the awkwardness her group includes Jamie, a childhood friend she'd hoped to basically avoid for the rest of her life.

The show is a mess, internet rumors threaten to bring the wrath of two fandoms down on their heads, and to top it all off Nina's family is on the brink of some major upheaval.

Everything feels like it's spiraling out of control―but maybe control is overrated?

There are many reasons why Emma Mills is one of my favorite YA authors, and this book is just one of them.

Once again, I have finished reading an Emma Mills book, and I was left floating on a cloud of happiness. Seriously, this was me, after reading Lucky Caller:

I guess, the plot of this story was Nina's radio show, and how a plan to attract more listeners sort of took on a life of its own. It was quite hilarious, did a nice job driving the story, and, you know, o, what a tangled web we weave and all that, but as always, I was won over by the characters and the relationships that Mills depicted within the story.

The book opened with Nina celebrating Christmas with her mother, two sisters, and her mother's new fiancee, the Dantist. Right away, I could tell I was going to adore this family, because the sisters had a great vibe with each other and enjoyed an easy rapport with their mother, while it was obvious how hard Dan was trying to show his affection for the girls. I love seeing positive YA families, and this one warmed my heart.

Not only did Mills give us great families, but she also assembled quite a wonderful group of friends for Nina. Chance, and a mandatory group of four, brought Nina, Joydeep, Sasha, and Jamie together. They had such a great dynamic, and the scenes featuring all four of them almost always left me laughing and grinning. I never imagined them gelling so well, when they were first introduced, but they were a perfect squad, and I had so much fun on and off the air with them.

Speaking of Jamie, Nina had quite a complicated relationship with him. They had grown up, side by side, and were very close friends until an incident in middle school forced a wedge between them. Mills slowly revealed the details over the course of the story, and obviously, it made me sad, but you know what made me happy? The fact that the radio show pushed them back together, and that they renewed their friendship. I'm getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about the moments they shared, and the mushy exchanges they had as they were growing closer and closer to each other, once again. It was a wonderful thing to watch, and Mills let it unfold quite beautifully.

There were also all these wonderful and subtle life lessons in there. One thing, which came up in a few different ways over the course of the story, was about endings. Marriages, friendships, and other relationships may end, or simply have some bad parts, but it doesn't erase or devalue the entire experience. I think sometimes it's hard to remember that, when you are hurt or hurting, and it's good to remind yourself that all experiences hold some sort of value. It could be something that we keep in our heart or something that serves as a learning experience, but it has value and always will.

Things to love in this book:
✓ Fabulous family
✓ Fantastic friendships
✓ Sisterly bonds
✓ Radio fun
✓ Kingdom and Prince Hapless
✓ M&M filled cakes
✓ Mills fandoms - TION, Megan Pleasant
✓ Friends-to-more romance
✓ Sweet unicorn boy love interest
✓ Unexpected and wonderful surprises

✓ The Dantist

✓ The ending ❤️

As always, Mills gifted me with a hartwarming story, which touched me and left quite a bit of sunshine in my heart.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

The radio show Nina and her friends created featured hits from the 90s - a different year each episode. I have nothing but love for 90s music, and I challenged myself with creating a playlist with one song from each year of the decade. It was really difficult, but I narrowed it down to the 10 below.

1990 - Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
1991 - Bro Hymn by Pennywise
1992 - Would by Alice in Chains
1993 - Hey Jealousy by Gin Blossoms
1994 - Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb
1995 - M+Ms by Blink-182
1996 - Wonderwall by Oasis
1997 - Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind
1998 - Inside Out by Eve 6
1999 - Shoulder to the Wheel by Saves the Day

First & Then
Emma Mills
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Henry Holt
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them: first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

Do you know how to make yourself happy? Well, you can just read TWO Emma Mills books in a row. That's what I did, and I now know, that Mills has been writing stupendous novels since her debut.

This story opened with Devon's guidance counselor encouraging her to push herself in order to pad her college resume. Though, she had always been happy with her predictable and average life, she was willing to put herself out there in the name of college, and what she found was some beautiful and unlikely human connections.

This book was about family...

Devon's family took in her cousin Foster after his father passed away and his mother was unable to care for him. Devon did not immediately warm to him, as she had spent 17 years as an only child, but the more time they spent together, the bond just began to grow and grow, and by the end of the book, they were sharing the kind of love siblings have for one another.

This book was about friendship...

Mills never fails to write brilliant friendships, and she blessed me with quite a few in this book. I loved the unlikely friendship, that developed between Foster and Ezra, the captain of the football team. Foster was so open and honest with a youthful exuberance for most things, while Ezra was very reserved and hard to read. However, after seeing some talent in Foster, Ezra decided to mentor him, and a genuine relationship developed on its own.

This book was about unrequited love...

Devon had spent years and years pining for her best friend, Cas. She watched him go through a myriad of girls, but always held onto some hope, that he would eventually reciprocate her feelings. This was part of the plot, which was tough for me. I grew to adore Devon, and I didn't want her to miss out on something wonderful, because she was holding out for something that would never happen, and unrequited love always makes my heart ache.

This book was about romance...

There was quite a bit of romancing going on in this story, with several romantic storylines woven into the plot. Obviously, my favorite was between Devon and Ezra. It was so subtle until it wasn't, and I rather enjoyed the slow burn. I was also happy to see someone recognizing how amazing Devon was, and who better than a misunderstood, grumpy hero.

This story was about change...

Devon might have been satisfied with the status quo at the beginning of this book, but by the end, she was willing to stretch herself. She grew so much. She began to see outside her little two person bubble, and she discovered there were a lot of wonderful people and things to enjoy out there. I liked snarky, self-centered, and sort of stuck Devon from the beginning of the book, but I loved caring, generous, and go-getting Devon at the end of the book.

This quote from First & Then pretty much sums up how this book made me feel:

"and there was just this pure, unadulterated, highly concentrated happy. Baking chocolate for the soul."

Have you ever called into a radio show?
Let us know in the comments!