Review: Sweet, quick romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2013
As with most Carina books, this is a quick, easy read. As I gave it a 5-star rating when I rated it on Goodreads, clearly I didn't have any major issues that took away from my appreciation of it. This featured a couple of classic tropes (nerd-girl turned sexy and reformed rake) and didn't particularly do anything original with them. But the way Ms. Gail presented them, I got plenty of giggles.I liked seeing this couple get together. Payton was a sweetheart and yet still haunted by her high school days. She has mother issues which I enjoyed seeing her actually attempt to work through, making a pretty darned good start by the end of the book. Wiley was (for me) hilarious, in how everyone who knew his high school reputation (which was pretty much everyone in Bitterthorn), thought he was waaaay too familiar with the ladies. Yet he rather liked Payton back when she tutored him in high school and of course, she had the hots for him, though she had to hide it. After all, she was the nerd tutor and he was the uber-popular football star.When they first meet at their 10-year reunion, Wiley doesn't recognize her, but she recognizes him. She has a bit of fun with that, but ultimately, the truth comes out quickly. They work through some of their issues.The one disappointing factor that stuck with me, even a week or so after reading this book, came toward the end when Wiley was trying to protect Payton. I felt he was a bit of an ass, and could have handled it a lot better/smarter than he did.There was a side-plot which involved Wiley and someone who was clearly out to get him (spay-painting his house, etc.). That was another not-so-great-part of the book, which involved a couple of eye rolls on my part, but in the end didn't bother me enough to effect my rating/enjoyment of this book.Ultimately, this was a great book and definitely worth reading. 5-star rating.Thank you for letting me read this, Carina/Ms. Gail!