Another adorable read from Entangled’s CRUSH line!
Blackmail Boyfriend
by Chris Cannon
Blurb:
Sometimes, blackmail is the only weapon a girl has…
Haley Patterson has had a crush on golden boy Bryce Colton for ages. But when she hears a rumor that he hooked up with her she gives him a choice: be her boyfriend for a month to show other guys that she’s dateable—despite her overprotective and very intimidating brothers—or deal with the angry, cage-fighting boyfriend of the girl he actually did hook up with.
Bryce didn’t know the other Haley even had a boyfriend. He was just trying to get his ex off his back. And now, not only is he being blackmailed, he’s being blackmailed by an honor student. His new “girlfriend” has two three-legged dogs, her father mows grass at the country club, and she’s…well, difficult. And different.
Can something so fake turn into something real
Review:
Such an adorable story! I had a lot of fun reading this novel–it definitely made my time spent sitting in the DMV awaiting my turn at the counter about a million times more enjoyable. It was a quick read without any major surprises; Ms. Cannon’s breezy writing style and the entertaining characters made it worth the journey.
I liked the alternating first person narration style–it made the times when the characters revealed their less admirable flaws (Haley had a tendency to be overly sensitive about what her fake boyfriend should and shouldn’t do and her vocalness about it sometimes went a bit too far, and Bryce really wasn’t a good fake boyfriend more times than it was easy to forgive him for) much more palatable since we saw what was going on in their heads at the time.
I really admired Haley’s commitment to and love for animals and her close relationship with her family. Her nerd-girl tendencies made her a fun character, and one it was easy to relate to. (When Bryce surprises her by pulling her chair out for her at a country club banquet, she tells him, “For tonight, why don’t you pretend I’m a visitor from another country and I might not know your customs.”) Bryce’s need for order and control was adorably entertaining. (“I shelved my books in my locker, in alphabetical order because I like them that way.” Seriously. What high school boy does that? LOL!)
The secondary romance between the BFFs–Jane and Nathan, Bryce’s even richer best friend, was one of my favorite parts. Haley and Bryce’s relationship would have progressed about a million times smoother if he had taken a little more of Nathan’s advice and example to heart.
Haley and Bryce’s relationship crisis (spoiler alert–she dumps HIM!) was nicely done and believable–it made me gasp out loud in a no, he didn’t! kind of way–and he makes good with a big, public declaration that she totally deserved and that made up for a lot of his previous WTF?-style actions. Sure, grovelling would have been nice, but for a guy like Bryce, the fact that he did something the whole school witnessed was huge.
This was my first read from this author; it definitely won’t be my last.
These words of wisdom from our heroine Haley’s BFF Jane should give you a taste of the fun flirtiness that is this novel:
“If everyone committed random acts of cupcakes, the world would be a better place.”
And THAT is a world I want to be a part of, Jane. Amen, sister! 😉
Rating: 4 stars / B-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.