I have been really reading a lot of new age romance books lately (which I will get into later), and I really wanted to find a stand out. So, after hearing tons of buzz about this in the blogosphere, I decided that I would jump into this head first without really even knowing the synopsis. Yes, I know.....rebel.
So, we open the story with Nora, the daughter of two very wealthy people. Her mother works in television and her father is never around. When the story begins, she is at her school Open House (she goes to one of those elite private schools where you can only imagine Katie Couric dropping her kids off) at Briarwood Academy, where she is standing at the podium waiting to give her speech to perspective and new parents. She is the quintessential perfect roll model for any new student. She is on the debate team, she plays the piano, she is in line to go to Princeton University.......everything is perfect......or so it seems. What ends up coming out of Nora's mouth at that said podium will change the course of her life forever. Standing up there she realizes that her life is in shambles.....and a farce. Therefore, she creates a list of the top "bad" things she wants to do in order to destroy her perfect image and free her from her life of excessive responsibility.
Leo has no intention on ever committing to a girl. His past has guaranteed that. Happiness in that way just isn't in his cards....or his thoughts. He has his brother to take care of, his band, and a business that requires a lot of attention. To go with all that, he has a selection of women whom are happy to oblige his sexual needs with no strings attached. But while visiting the open house at Briarwood Academy, for which his younger brother will be attending, he hears Nora's unforgettable speech creating a chain of events that happens to bring the two of them face to face.
Nora quickly attaches to Leo and expresses her desire to him immediately....in part because she is hoping to check one item off the list, but in part because she is so drawn to him that she has to have him. Leo, on the other hand, is stirring with desire for her, but knows that he would break her heart. For one, she's too young,in fact, his brother's age. For another, he can't stand spoiled rich girls.
Leo's brother Christian (my favorite character-I'm always good for loving a sidekick!) quickly becomes Nora's best friend, which brings her increasingly closer to Leo. Their back and forth sexual frustration builds throughout the book.....which for me was one of the best things about the book. The chase. We've all done it. We all claim to hate it. But it makes everything that much more attractive. And that's what Leo is for Nora......she is chasing him....until she realizes, He's. Not. Giving. In.
While you are cheering for them to have a HEA (Happily Ever After), there are a few things that are likely going to frustrate you along the way. For one, Nora's backstory is intense.....possibly too intense. While it is possible to believe things like that can happen among the wealthy, it just seemed like it was not well thought out, as her backstory just kept growing and growing. Then, the storyline later in the book with her father seemed out of the blue, since there was not much mention of him early in the book. I just wish their relationship could have been developed a little more because there are moments between them that are sweet and enlightening.
While I might seem somewhat cryptic, I apologize now. There are so many details about this book that I can't reveal. Moments that catch you by surprise are there and about halfway through the book there was a scene where my breath actually hitched because I was so happy. It was a moment where you want to yell out, "YES!" like a crazy person. Nora finding happiness for herself is something you aren't sure is ever going to happen. But like watching your own children make mistakes and hoping they learn from them, you feel the same for Nora as she struggles through that odd age of being an adult, but not quite yet feeling like an adult.
Although there are some glitches in the book, I had a very difficult time putting the book down, always wanting to know where the story was going to go. I rooted for Nora to grow up and love herself and find herself worthy. I rooted for Leo to grow up and realize that only you have the power to change how your future ends. And mostly I rooted for the two of them to realize that they could not go on without each other.
And PS- I think I am planning to read a non-romance book next to give us a change of pace and widen our variety a bit. Having all these book boyfriends, I'm having a hard time keeping them all straight. Maybe after the dust settles I will be able come up for air and find a few more........
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