Review: Surprising & Fun
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 25, 2013
"When life hands you lemons sometimes you just have to say screw the lemons, and bail."Wow ~ When I first began reading Life, Love, & Lemons, I was worried I wasn't going to connect with Bentley, the main character. Ms. Vernon surprised me. I ended up loving Bentley and her story.Bentley Evans is a young lady who has lost her private school education, fancy clothes, sushi dates, and huge house due to her father's being laid off. While at first I thought Bentley was going to be a whiny, entitled teenager, she proved me wrong. I ended up admiring the maturity she showed in dealing with the difficult circumstances she faced. She proved she was a deeper person by adapting to her new life, making sacrifices and making new friends.Malakai 'Kai' Stone is the epitome of a gentleman hiding behind piercings, tattoos, and strange clothes - oh, and guyliner. ;) He lives next door to Bentley, at the apartment complex, and works with her, too. And he does his level best to befriend her despite his being a punk/emo and her being a preppy girl. Bentley denies her attraction but after a particularly nasty incident with a customer at work, Kai comes to her rescue. From that point forward, Kai helps Bentley learn to be more positive. Kai had me swooning often. He was snarky quite often but romantic when the situation required it.One particularly endearing consequence to Bentley's new life is the improvement in the relationship between she and her dad. Bentley's mom was a real piece of work - hated her. But Bentley's dad was a gen and it took him losing his job to really get to know his daughter.Another thing I enjoyed about Life, Love, & Lemons is the 80's pop culture references. From punk music to John Hughes, I found these mentions charming. Oh, and I loved that Kai drove a Ford Falcon. I LOVE that car! ;)Life, Love, & Lemons is a sweet story with just the right amount of depth to keep things interesting. It was about teens coping with life changes and showing their mettle. And I found it quite a pleasant read.**Complimentary copy provided by publisher for an honest review.