Author: C.M. Owens
Length: 204 pgs.
I picked this book up as a freebie and it was chosen for me to read for a March buddy pick. I’m surprised honestly that I downloaded this book because it’s NA romance which is outside of my usual favorite genres but it’s pretty short and I’ll give most anything a try if it’s not going to take up too much of my time.
The story is propelled forward by a series of very unlikely events. Raya is a college…freshman, I think? Living on her own due to her roommates abandoning their shared home for one reason or another. She lives next to a rich boy named Kade who’s constantly throwing loud parties. One day a few of his partygoers actually run a bulldozer into Raya’s home. Her house is destroyed, even her clothes have remnants of fiberglass in them due to the insulation imploding. They go to court and the judge is persuaded by Kade’s father, Paul Colton (who has his own fashion line) to make Raya live with Kade as punishment. He says that Kade will need to cater to Raya’s needs, drive her wherever she wants to go, and ask her for permission to throw parties. No judge would ever take this into serious consideration, but in the world of Sterling Shore it is agreed upon by all parties. Raya agrees because Mr. Colton tells her that if she lasts until the end of the semester, he’ll buy her a house. Heck yeah!
Kade and Raya butt heads immediately but eventually he warms up to her when he realizes she’s being teased relentlessly for moving in with him. I found the teasing to be a little exaggerated since this is a college setting and not high school, but basically the town they live in is all about appearances and status.
I liked watching Kade and Raya grow close, although it does irk me with these type of stories that the male character starts off so over-the-top assholish (pretend that’s a word for the purposes of this review) and inevitably transforms completely into a doting gentleman, even before there is an official romantic relationship in place. But on the other hand, Owens did give us some explanations for Kade’s behavior that weren’t included in my first assumptions and made me look at him differently.
Raya is definitely someone who’s insecure and her second-guessing the intentions of everyone around her and misconstruing them so badly definitely grated on my nerves after a while. She is convinced everyone’s looking down on her, including Kade. Even after he makes completely obvious romantic overtures, she still manages to wallow in self pity and rejection.
There is a very unlikely misunderstanding between Raya and Kade towards the end of the book that sends them on a path towards the inevitable reconciliation. I actually found the last 15-20% of the book to be the most interesting as Raya has to take matters into her own hands to solve a problem. This part was exciting, it made me wish that more of the book had been the same way.
Overall it was an okay read for me, I’m sure others who enjoy YA romance will like it more than I did.
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