Wednesday 25 April 2012

Rules of Attraction - Book Review



Rules of Attraction
Simone Elkeles
YA Contemporary Romance
When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.
Review:
Last year I rated ‘Perfect Chemistry’ as one of my favourite reads of 2011 so as you can imagine, I was eagerly anticipating this sequel ‘Rules of Attraction’. Just as I’ve come to expect from Simone Elkeles, it turned out to be yet another fantastic read, one I would totally recommend for summer and (although I admit, my heart still belongs to Alex) I really enjoyed Carlos’ story.
Like his older brother, Carlos has quite the attitude and is constantly getting himself in trouble. A magnet for violence, he dabbles in both drugs and sex but underneath his tough exterior he is actually a really sweet guy. After some serious incidents in Mexico, his mother forces him to move to Colorado to live with his brother Alex and it is here, on his first day of school that he meets Kiara.
Feisty and tough, Kiara is a bit of geek and is not ashamed to admit it. Not at all girly, she hikes, fixes cars and her stutter is just adorable. I also loved how despite her attraction to Carlos, she holds her own against his bantering and sticks hard to her own ideals, forcing him to acknowledge her as an equal.
So when disaster hits and Carlos is busted for having drugs in school, it comes as a shock to them both when Kiara’s dad suddenly volunteers to take Carlos under his roof. Now stuck living together, the two find themselves spending more time in each other’s company and slowly, they begin to fall for one another other… and Carlos starts to realise that there could be more to his life than just gangs and violence.
I have to say, the romance in this book was totally swoon worthy. The relationship between Carlos and Kiara is so sweet and believable, the way their feelings and trust grew slowly to develop into something more made this into such an addictive read.  Even the characters, the secondary ones included were all fab, particularly Tuck (Kiara’s gay best friend) who had me laughing out loud on several occasions.
So overall, yet another superb book from Simone Elkeles! Also while I admit that ‘Perfect Chemistry’ remains my favourite, this book is equally enjoyable and the Fuentes brothers are so delicious that everyone should give these books a shot, even if just to drool over their hunkishness! Now if you excuse me, I have to go find myself a copy of ‘Chain Reaction’ the final book of the Perfect Chemistry Trilogy J
Romantic, Seductive and just Brilliant, ‘Rules of Attraction’ was awesome. 4 ½ stars! Also to read my review of Perfect Chemistry, click HERE!



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