POPPED by Elizabeth Stevens - Review

POPPED

Author: Elizabeth Stevens

Genre: mature YA romance

*standalone*

Release Date: October 4, 2019

Paige is Mitcham College's Silver Spoon; she can have any guy she wants. Or can she? When her friends bet she can’t get a bad boy to fall for her, she agrees to the wager. Enter Bash Baker; Mitcham College’s cherry popper. He’s the most egotistical, stereotypical jerk in the whole school. Either Bash’s fragile male ego is popped by the formal, or Paige has to give Mia’s nerdy cousin his first French kiss.

Bash is Mitcham College's Cherry Popper; he’s popped more cherries than Casanova in all of Venice*. But there’s one cherry his mates bet he’ll never get. Enter Paige Nicholls; the school’s ‘it’ girl. Never one to shy away from a bet, Bash agrees to his mate’s wager. Either Paige’s cherry is popped by the formal, or Bash gives up his title to the nerdy band geek in the year below them.

It’s War of the Romance as Paige and Bash try to seduce the other one without falling for the ruse themselves. Usual tactics don’t seem to be working, so the two of them might need to switch things up. Otherwise they might find they’re the one who’s popped.

*possible exaggeration.

This satirical rom-com is not recommended for younger readers due to mature content. Please be aware that this story is set in Australia and therefore uses Australian syntax and grammar.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2nty25B

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2oXAjq5

Every time I read one of this author’s sweet and fun mature YA romances, I always think that it would make a great teen movie.  Popped is no different as I found the storyline to be entertaining and the characters were endearing. This coming of age story features two characters who engage in making a bet among their friends and how in the process, they each learn a bit about themselves.  There is a lot of humor involved as Bash and Paige go about fulfilling their side of the bet because what could possibly go wrong?  I really enjoyed how as the story progressed as Bash and Paige each experienced a bit of self discovery and matured as characters.  The dynamic between the friends, especially the witty banter was entertaining and I loved the humorous exchanges between Bash and Paige.   True to this author’s previous works, Popped is full of a fun cast of characters complete with a positive message at the end, thus making it a quick, fun, and engaging read.  I received an early complimentary version of this book and I look forward to more works by this author.

Writer. Reader. Perpetual student. Nerd.

I started out writing fantasy. But, I like to write anything, honestly. These days, I mainly stick to YA and there's always at least a sprinkling of romance, if not a 'whoops, I dropped the whole packet in'. Almost all my books are set in my home state of South Australia, either in real or fictional places - gotta write what you know - with Netherfieldbeing the only current exception.

Like most writers, I love to read. Although, time for reading at the moment is hard to come by. When I'm not too busy writing, I'm usually reading a number of authors.

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