Book Review: Foreplay

Synopsis:

Pepper has been hopelessly in love with her best friend's brother, Hunter, for, like, ever. He's the key to everything she's always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she's kissed exactly one guy, she has the perfect plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom: take a few pointers from someone who knows what he's doing.Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he's beyond gorgeous, but he's also dangerous and deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as a lesson in attraction is turning both their worlds upside down, and showing them just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what's real. . . .

I pretty much knew what to expect going into this book. And it looked a little something like this:

Pepper is an interesting character, and honestly, not hard to relate to. She’s been in love with her best friend’s brother (Hunter) since she was about twelve, but he sees her as a little sister. She’s only ever kissed one guy, and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Now, Pepper has decided that she needs some tips (yes, some tips in Foreplay, get it?) to get Hunter to notice her, and who better to learn from than a hot bartender with a reputation for being a player? What she wasn’t expecting (though I’m sure everyone reading this is) was to fall in love with him.

I haven’t read much in the New Adult genre that surprised me, and this book is no exception; that doesn’t mean I didn’t REALLY enjoy Foreplay. Pepper is a pretty typical NA heroine: virgin-seeking-hot-guy-sex, pretty damaged by disturbing past, goody-two shoes with super slutty best friend, in love with a guy who won’t give her the time of day…but fortunately, one of my favorite things about this book was the general lack of angst. Sure, both Pepper and Reece (hot bartender) have some pretty dark stuff in their pasts, but it didn’t overshadow the rest of the book. So many NA books have characters that are so damaged, it becomes very difficult to enjoy their stories.

But THANK YOU SOPHIE JORDAN for keeping the angst to a minimum here. There was just enough to make the conflict more serious and to make both characters more lovable.

Now, Pepper is kind of dumb. Not gonna lie. She falls madly in love with Reece pretty quickly, but she is so set on Hunter that she can’t see what’s right in front of her. Her stubbornness, while understandable, got a little annoying. Reece was definitely my favorite character. He’s a “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” kind of guy. Seriously though. There were some twists with his character that I was really not expecting.

Plus, you know, he’s a hot bartender. Who apparently is really good at foreplay.

Anyway. If you aren’t familiar with the New Adult genre, yes there is sex, language, underage drinking, etc, (although not quite as bad as adult genres usually) so if that’s not your thing, I definitely don’t recommend this book for you. If, however, you like this genre at all, I highly recommend Foreplay. It’s a quick read that’s fun, sweet, and sexy, with likable characters and interesting twists. One of the better NA books I’ve read.

Similar reads: Wait For You by J. Lynn, Losing It by Cora Carmack