Honest and full of heart, this clever contemporary romance debut deftly combines utterly relatable family drama with all the sweetness and uncertainy that comes with falling in love.
Rule #1: Don’t get attached.
Amber lives by strict rules to survive her mother’s love life: Always keep your eyes on the horizon and never get close to anyone connected to Mom’s boyfriends.
But after they move in with Kevin, the latest of her mom’s “soul mates,” the rules become increasingly difficult to follow. Kevin’s daughter, Cammie, keeps acting like Amber’s friend, even though she’s definitely not. And Jordan—star basketball player, hottest boy in school, and Cammie’s best friend—keeps showing up at the most inconvenient moments.
Amber has reasons for every one of her rules, and following them is the only way to protect her heart when her mom inevitably moves on. But as she spends more time with Kevin, his daughter, and especially Jordan, she starts to wonder if the rules might be worth breaking this time.
Amber has many rules, but the top one is to never get close to anyone who is connected to one of her mom’s boyfriends. This isn’t something she usually has trouble with, but when her and her mom move in with Kevin, her mom’s boyfriend, everything changes. And things get even more complicated when Amber gets assigned to tutor Jordan, Kevin’s daughters best friend.
*Before I jump in, I want to thank the coordinators of Blogbound Convention and Swoon Reads for providing me with an ARC of this novel!*
Amber and her mom are a team, whether she likes It or not. Amber is determined, she wants to go away for college and take her dog with her. She doesn’t want anything to do with her mom’s boyfriend, his daughter or her friends but things aren’t going the way she wants them.
I loved Amber’s mom. While their relationship was very clearly strained and it develops SO much.
Jordan is by far one of the best book boys I have read about. He is kind, funny, understanding and patient. He is smart. He cares about Amber and Cammie.
Amber is tough. She is fierce. She knows what she wants, she knows what her rules are and she tries as hard as she can to not break any of the rules she has set up for herself. I love how Amber truly thinks through everything she does, she is smart and compassionate.
The author does an amazing job at really capturing how complicated the mother daughter relationship is.
I loved seeing Amber and Cammie bond. It was tense but slowly, it grew to something better.
I really loved this book and I really recommend it to anyone looking for a fun YA romance!
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