Thursday, June 17, 2010

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
Purchased

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.



Carlos has just arrived in Boulder, Colorado, to live with his older brother Alex and try to start a fresh life with possibilities outside of a potential gang life. Carlos doesn’t necessarily want to be in Colorado, but doesn’t want to get involved in drugs and gangs ether. Things have a way of following the Fuentes brothers though and very shortly Carlos finds himself framed for carrying drugs that didn’t belong to him, on probation and living with a mentor and his family who will help keep him on track.

Kiara is excited for a fresh start this year, finally having control over her speech impediment and new found confidence she wants to stand out. Carlos Fuentes throws a huge wrench in Kiara’s plan for world domination (well at least at school) when she finds herself nervous, frustrated and stammering all over her words when she is around him. Out of all the parents in the world, hers would have to be the ones who take in juvenile delinquents, the current kid to save: Carlos.

Carlos and Kiara definitely have chemistry, not as hilarious or heated as Alex and Brittney but there banter and dialog makes for a very entertaining match. Kiara is an everything kind of girl, she hikes, fixes cars, is smart and loves her family. She’s not the type of girl Carlos would normally go for, with her big t-shirts and ponytail, but soon t-shirts and ponytails are the only thing Carlos can think of and slowly but surely these two cannot fight the overwhelming attraction they feel towards each other.

I enjoyed this follow up to Perfect Chemistry and thought Elkeles writing was fabulous, although the romance was a bit tougher to transition in this story due to Carlos and Kiara's much more subtle attraction. I thought Carlos wasn’t as strong a character as Alex in Perfect Chemistry, but did carry the strongest aspect to the this novel, his hot Latino attitude and "I need to be rescued" demeanor melted my heart. Despite the side story with Alex and Brittany which didn’t fit into the novel, watching Carlos and Kiara fall in love was very entertaining.

Rating

Rules of Attraction is recommended to the mature teen/adult (16 and up) and contains content which includes, graphic language, drugs, gang related violence, cocky Latino men, teen drinking, sexuality including discussions and sexual acts.

4/5- YA-Romance 

3 comments:

  1. I want to read this one so bad. This review makes me want to read it even more! :)

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  2. I've been hearing a lot of good things about this book. I'm so excited to read it! Thanks for the review!

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  3. I just finished reading Perfect Chemistry and now I can't wait to get my hands on this book! Thanks for the review!


    P.S. There is an award waiting for you at my blog:
    http://simmietaye.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-bodacious-award.html

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