Out this Tuesday–a fun friends-to-lovers new adult, with a geeky twist!
What’s on your bucket list?
Summary:
What’s your lucky number?
Lyla Wilder is done being the shy, chemistry nerd extraordinaire. While every other college student is out having fun, Lyla is studying. With her cat. Well, she’s played it “safe” quite enough, thank you. So she creates a “College Bucket List”―with item #7 being a night of uninhibited, mind-blowing sex…
But she needs some help from her man-whore best friend.
Hockey player Beck Davenport thought Lyla’s transformation would be subtle. Man, was he wrong. With every item she ticks off, Beck finds himself growing seriously hot for his sweet, brainiac best friend. And if he’s not careful, he’ll end up risking their friendship in order to convince Lyla that he might just be her lucky #7…
Review:
Such fun! There’s terribly geeky science puns, hilarious cat memes, a hero and heroine that will steal your heart, and hockey–what more could you ask for? 😉
The awkward chemistry geek draws up a college “bucket list”, gets a Pygmalion-style makeover from her hot hockey star BFF to help her out, and along the way their relationship morphs into friends-with-benefits…all good things. It’s such a relief that neither of them wants an actual relationship out of it, right?
Riiiiiight.
I loved watching Lyla work through her “list”–with whom and how she was going to get to #7 was inevitable from the moment Beck noticed that she had added that one to the list–the poor guy didn’t stand a chance. Her adorable awkwardness had me laughing out loud more than once, and seeing the story from their dual POVs really worked to show their growing attraction to each other.
I could almost forgive Beck for his hockey fan affiliation (the Bruins; ugh!). Almost… 😉
This was an entertaining read–the black moment, when it came, was a bit abrupt but inevitable. Beck’s turnaround too was on the sudden side, but that’s mainly because we didn’t get the blow-by-blow of the two of them wallowing in their misery–it actually went on for a while, but we got more of a fleeting glimpse than in depth detail from that time period. Beck’s apology was stellar, though–I couldn’t blame her for deciding to take her back.
I do wish this were part of a series, however, because I’d love to see where they’re going to go from here…
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
About the author:
Cindi Madsen is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance and young adult novels. She sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.