Lipstick Apology by Jennifer Jabaley

Emily Carson has always been a good girl. So when she throws a party the night her parents leave for vacation, she's sure she'll get busted. What Emily doesn't know is that her parents will never return. That their plane will go down. And the only thing left amidst the wreckage will be a tray table with the words: Emily Please Forgive Me scrawled in lipstick-her mother's last words.

Now it's fall in New York City and Emily's trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Her public tragedy captures the attention of more than just the media-and soon two very different boys at her new school are pursuing her: the cute, popular Owen, and her quirky chemistry partner slash pastry-baker-by-night, Anthony. But even with such delicious distractions, Emily can't let go of her mother's mysterious apology. Does she have the courage to face the truth? With the help of a whole new kind of family-one that includes a make-up artist to the stars, a teen hand model, and a wacky hairdresser-Emily must choose between the boy who makes her forget it all, and the one who encourages her to remember, and ultimately heal. - from the book cover

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From Emily's painful dilemma, new school dramas, to New York City's lights-Lipstick Apology was a fantastic book and I never wanted to put it down! Think the backdrop is neat? Wait till you meet a whole crew of dazzling characters.

Emily is very likable character. She had so much on her plate: her parent's deaths, adjustment to a new school, new home with her Aunt Jolie, new friends, boys, and not to mention wondering what her mother's apology meant. I must say, she handled all those issues quite well. Emily's drama with Owen and feelings for Anthony made the story even more anticipating. (By the way, I was rooting for Anthony the whole time.) Emily's aunt Jolie and her quirky hairstylist, Trent, are both splendidly developed-as well as the rest of the "minor" characters. Because the background and the characters are all so three-dimensional, I truly experienced New York City and Emily's tragedies-it all felt so real! And the ending? Perfect, yet so unsuspected at the same time-very few predictions here mind you.

Besides keeping great animation and a very flowing writing style, Jabaley applied heartwarming and important messages to Lipstick Apology that any teen would be sure to relate to or learn from. Overall, Jabaley did a extremely good job on her debut novel and I can't wait to read more from her.

Lipstick Apology will be released this Thursday, August 6th, 2009.

Jessica Jabaley has been known to model sunglasses at the optometry clinic where she works. She lives in Blue Ridge, Georgia. This is her first novel.

Pages: 285 Year Published: August 2009 Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: Realistic/contemporary, teen romance, tragedies

Age Group: YA, ages 13+ Content: Sexual references, kissing

Enjoyed It: 5/5 Rating: (Based on content)

Many thanks to Jessica herself and Razorbill for sending for sending me this book!