Wild cards book one
Available now
bloomsbury.co.uk
What's it about?
Ashtyn's life just got complicated. Her boyfriend is being distant and her sister's back at home after ten years - with a stepson in tow!
Derek has a perfect body, THE sexiest smile and a car - Ashtyn's only way to escape from her crazy life. But Derek likes to play by his own rules and is keen to take Ashtyn on a ride she'll never forget. As they spend more and more time alone together, will Derek's flirty games drive Ashtyn wild?
My review
While
Better than perfect was a perfectly good read I didn't find that it held the same kind of tension as the Perfect chemistry series, the only other other series by this author that I've read. I was completely hooked to those books so of course was excited when I had the chance to read her new book and admit the bar was set pretty high for me after reading some of her previous work. But anyway, perhaps I shouldn't be comparing it to her other books and just review it for what it is.
Better than perfect was a fun read with a believable, imperfect love story. I've read many stories where the characters start off hating each other only to realise that they're actually in love and were confusing their emotions. It can get annoying and sometimes it doesn't work but in this case it did, I appreciate that Elkeles was trying to build up a tension with the two characters arguing a lot but sometimes it did feel a little flat and I didn't feel the sexual tension between them. But I enjoyed the story and read through the book quickly and will certainly be reading more in the series as they become available.
I really liked Ashtyn, she wasn't a typical heroine, she plays (American) football and can hold her own which is always something I admire in female characters, I'm not one for damsels in distress and Ashtyn certainly wasn't one of them, she has a strong head and is dedicated to her sport, not to mention how she faces the struggle of being a girl in a boys world, for example, when she goes to football camp, she is literally the only girl there, the boys don't want her and she spends a lot of the book being told football is not for girls, which just isn't true. I'm glad she was strong enough to stand up for herself and continues to keep trying.
Derek was a good protag too but I was definitely more team Ashtyn in this one.
The writing was just the quality that you'd expect from Simone Elkeles, she knows how to get to the heart of a characters emotions and I always felt like I knew what everyone was feeling which sometimes had me near screaming at the book when they were both trying to deny their emotions to themselves when it was clear as day.
I'd recommend this to any fans of the other or anyone just looking for a summer read, its a perfect beach book for your holidays.
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