Review: Sweet romance, unbelievable ending
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 11, 2012
Jaden has spent her entire high school carrer dedicated to her grades, volunteer work, and extracurriculars. She's been dreaming about getting into Harvard for years, and now she's just days away from finding out if she's been accepted. When she's paired with Parker Whalen for a project in AP English, Jaden is slightly perturbed. Parker may be new to school, but he has a reputation for being a slacker and Jaden doesn't want to lose focus. But she's about to find that there is a lot more to Parker--and to life--than she initially thought.Cross My Heart is a fun read with a sweet romance and realistic dialogue. The initial drama in the novel unfolds very nicely--Jaden doesn't see what she's missing out on, she doesn't really like her boyfriend that much, and there are some tensions in her family life with a distant father and a very full house. When she begins to get to know Parker, all of these issues begin to come to a head, and Jaden leans on him more and more until they find that they're falling for each other, much to the dismay of everyone around them. Parker's reputation results in the mystery of his past--no one seems to know much about him at all until Jaden takes the time to become his friend. The premise does seem a bit hokey, but Klein's voice is fresh and she includes many references to Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, which is a book less widely read than the classic that usually are slipped into YA novels and fits into Jaden and Parker's story nicely. All of the elements work together well until the end of the novel when Parker's big secret is revealed. It's one that requires a stretch of the imagination to accept, is rushed out onto Jaden and the reader, and is portrayed a touch too unrealistically. Jaden's reaction to his news and how she deals with it are also very awkward. This is a disappointment since it's very easy to see how, with a little more careful editing, Klein could have made it believable. Still, readers will be rooting for Jaden and Parker, and a happy ending does follow. Cross My Heart is a wonderful romance, and if readers can get over the unbelievable (but romantic) ending, it's worth the $3.99 spent.