★★★★★ 4
The Good, The Bad and Everything In Between
Format: Kindle
Another excellent entry: The Off-Campus series is among the very, very best in new adult romance and there is little that isn’t done well in this entry.
Dean DiLaurentis is charged with watching out for Allie, Hannah’s roomie, one weekend while everyone is gone for various reasons - with, of course, the obligatory threats to his penis if he were to touch Allie. She’s just gone through a painful breakup with her boyfriend from book one, since they’ve had a fairly tempestuous relationship, she needs some time away from her apartment, where he’s been trying to get her to change her mind.
Of course, Allie and Dean are young, hot, single and there’s tequila. When you do the math, it’s fairly obvious that yes, Slot A goes into Tab B, and yes, romance happens. I love their banter, the humor throughout really establishes these characters and their friendships and makes the ride all the more enjoyable. Speaking of riding...
Dean’s what I expected: Dean’s the manho who beats all the previous manhoes in this series. He makes no apologies and I loved that he didn’t. He’s intrigued with Allie but he isn’t in love from the moment he lays eyes on her. When he falls, though it’s hard and it’s clearly life-altering. His moments with his friend Beau when they discuss his issues with little Dean (I can’t stop giggling at that silliness) were priceless.
He has a good journey towards adulthood, though I was saddened by the events that led to this character growth. It was the perfect (sad yet realistic) touch of bitter to make the sweet all the richer.
Allie was a surprise: I’ll admit, this is mostly because I didn’t remember her. Allie isn’t a big part of the first book and what I did remember of her was a bit flaky. I loved getting to know her and seeing what made her tick and as with Ms. Kennedy’s previous heroines, there is more than meets the eye. She’s concerned about being slut-shamed by the prospect of no-strings sex, considering she’s only ever been in committed, long term relationships, so I love that she has to learn to accept that there’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults doing what they want to do, damn public opinion. I found it an interesting twist that the only person truly slut-shamed is Dean, by other men and women.
Beats played out as I expected: If I have any issues with this is, while it is entertaining, charming, and funny, it also felt the same as the earlier books, which were also entertaining, charming and funny. When the quality is so high, that’s not a horrible thing, but I can’t help but struggle to keep each set of heroes and heroines separate in my mind. That said...
I’m really intrigued by where this series is going next: The setup for the next book is markedly different and it has me really eager to see how Ms. Kennedy handles it. The heroine for the next book is NOT in the mold of the earlier women and the hero is a bit of a wild card, since he has been more on the periphery so far. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to contribute to this universe.
The Bottom Line
This is an excellent new adult romance with likeable characters, funny banter, hot sex scenes and room for the ‘verse to grow. If you haven’t read Ms. Kennedy’s series, I highly recommend it.
**ARC provided by author for review**
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Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2016
