Title: Choosing you (The Jade Series #1)
Author: Allie Everhart
Genre: NA romance, Contemporary
Published: 09/19/2013
Length: 294 pages
Format: ebook, paperback
Buy At: Amazon
Summary: When Jade is given a scholarship to an elite private college in Connecticut, she sees it as a chance to finally escape her painful past and get a fresh start. She’s determined to succeed and that means keeping her focus on school and not guys. But her plan falls apart her first day on campus when Garret, a rich prep school boy with swimmer abs and a perfect smile, offers to help her move in.
Jade tries to push him away, but she can’t deny her attraction to him and Garret won’t let her. Things quickly heat up between them, but then come to a sudden halt when reality hits and Jade realizes that a relationship with Garret may never be possible. He comes from a world of wealth where there are rules, including rules about who he can date. And not following those rules has consequences.
As the two of them try to overcome the obstacles working to keep them apart, Jade is confronted with another challenge. On her 19th birthday, she receives a letter that her now deceased mother wrote years ago. In it are revelations that explain her traumatic childhood but also make her question the past she’s been running from.
My thoughts: “Choosing you” is not a bad book per se, but there are several issue that hold it from being a great book. The book starts with Jade moving across country to a very elitist college with Ryan’s help, a guy whose father took Jade in after her mother passed away. At the college, she meets Garret aka the love interest, a guy from a rich and controlling family. The book actually interesting after the first half, when Jade receives that letter from her mother, but the book ends soon after with a cliffhanger. But that plot twist is the saving grace of this book.
I really got annoyed with Jade. She’s just so bitter and whiny. She doesn’t have money and complains constantly about that, but does she get a job? Nope. Well, she tries once by checking the job board, but gives up after seeing there’s nothing really. Because apparently that school is full of rich kids only and Jade, so no one else has to work. Garret was mainly an ok character. Not much issues there.
But the whole fake girlfriends and boyfriends thing? That was just plain ridiculous. When’s the last time when you read about the date between the daughter of that state senator with the son of some influential lawyer? Rich people are rich because they are old money, so they care only about some stupid hobbies and don’t do anything else. Or they are rich because they are new money and they have to spend time maintaining their new financial empires. They don’t have time to play Cupid for their kids. They probably don’t have time for their kids period.
Overall, the writing quality is pretty good and there are some decent ideas there. Also some hot scenes between Jade and Garret, albeit too little. It’s a good read for commuting. I’ll probably read the next book because I’m curious enough after that cliffhanger.
My rating: 3 stars
About the author: Allie Everhart writes about dating, love, and romance. She’s also a freelance writer for magazines and websites. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, running, or binge-watching TV shows on DVD. Some of her favorites are Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, Veronica Mars, and Gossip Girl. When writing her novels, Allie likes to drink dark-roast coffee when writing suspense scenes and red wine when writing love scenes. And eating chocolate is good when writing any kind of scene.
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