Good girls stay away from Ryder Briggs . . . or, at least, they try to. In Renita Pizzitola’s emotional novel of heartache and seduction, one college freshman just can’t get enough. Brinley Dawson doesn’t drink, she studies—and despite the accusations of her alcoholic mother, she’s still a virgin. But if Brinley’s life is so put together, why is she freaking out to be going to college with the gorgeous, green-eyed jerk she kissed on a stupid dare in high school? Ryder Briggs can have any girl he wants . . . and the rumors say that he does. So why, after publicly embarrassing Brinley four years ago, is he suddenly acting like he’s interested? Ryder never forgot Brinley. In fact, those perfect seven minutes permanently raised the bar for what a kiss could be. The truth is, Ryder doesn’t dare get too close to anyone. He knows how that worked out for his parents. But when his roommate takes a shot at Brinley, Ryder can’t contain his jealousy. Now he must do the hardest thing he’s ever done: forget about sex and convince Brinley his feelings are real. Brinley isn’t sure whether she believes Ryder, but for the first time, her body isn’t playing by the rules. Then she discovers that she’s an unwilling part of a cruel game, humiliating her all over again—and Ryder might be to blame. Has Brinley’s little crush turned into a huge mistake . . . or has she found the one guy worth trusting with her heart?
Thank you to Netgalley and Loveswept Publishing for the review copy!
This was a nice little book, but overall nothing groundbreaking here. No glaring errors, it has decent writing and some semi-likeable characters, but again, nothing I haven't seen before, and nothing that will make "Just A Little Crush" stand out from the glut of New Adult titles currently available.
Brinley is the main character and the book is told from her point of view. She is a bit nerdy, but from what people say to her, we know that she is also pretty/beautiful/hot/sexy/whatever. But, to keep her from being too perfect, she's got some family issues, she's only got one friend, and she's pretty clueless around guys, so I didn't completely hate her. Why she doesn't have financial issues is a question I had throughout the book, but who knows, maybe she's got student loans coming out the ying yang. Doesn't really matter, I guess.
Then there's Ryder Briggs. Brinley is still kind of hung up on him from high school, even though the only time they had ever interacted was during a game of spin the bottle. Although Ryder's behaviour after "the kiss" was less than stellar, Brinley can't help but be attracted to him, which is a little weird, but some girls just love them a bad boy I guess! They end up at the same college and inevitably at the same parties and having some "friends" in common. Now, Ryder is the stereotypical New Adult bad boy. He is gorgeous and cocky, has a perfect body that he does absolutely nothing to maintain, is pierced and tattooed, and has a veritable harem following him around. And of course, he only has eyes for Brinley. So, although I didn't exactly despise Ryder, I did have a hard time loving him because he's just not unique enough for me. No swoons, people, not even one! Even when he was confiding all his deep dark secrets to Brinley, it felt a little forced and cheesy. Been there, done that, not really buying it anymore!
Despite being filled with cliches, I was pulled in enough to want to keep reading. The plot had some memorable moments, and there was a bit of a twist near the end that I wasn't expecting. So, definitely check this one out if the synopsis catches your attention - maybe not the best book in the New Adult genre I've read, but certainly not the worst either.
My rating:
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