by Chris Cannon
Synopsis
Zoe Cain knows that Grant Evertide is way out of her league. So naturally, she kisses him. Out of spite. Not only is Grant her brother’s number-one nemesis, but he has zero interest in being tied down to one girl. She’s shocked—and secretly thrilled—when they start spending more time together.
Zoe’s brother claims Grant is trying to make her his “Ringer,” an oh-so-charming tradition where a popular guy dates a non-popular girl until he hooks up with her, then dumps her. Zoe threatens to neuter Grant with hedge clippers if he's lying but Grant swears he isn’t trying to trick her. Still, that doesn’t mean Grant is the commitment type—even if winning a bet is on the line.
So - I have a penchant for cute contemporary romances and this fit the bill. It had an awesome heroine in Zoe because she is funny and strong and just..different. But in a really great way. She likes to play pranks, and bake, and she has an awesome friend in Delia. The two of them together was quite a love story in itself. They were a great fictionalization of an awesome friendship. At the same time, even though Zoe is this wonderful girl, she shows that she's not full of confidence and lets some self-doubt show through. This keeps her character real for me and even more endearing.
I wish I could say that I enjoyed the male characters of this book as much as I did the female characters. I didn't like Grant and I felt that his character stayed relatively the same throughout the book. Not everyone gains insight in contemporaries, I get it, but why wouldn't you want your character to gain some insight and grow from their experiences?
I'm glad I read it because of Zoe and Delia and I am a sucker for fantabulous female friendships. I wish I could have liked every aspect of this - still give it a shot and tell me what you think!