Title: The Boyfriend Thief
Author: Shana Norris
Release Date: March 24th, 2014
Publisher: The Studio at Paper Lantern Lit
Buy Now: Amazon | iBooks
Avery James doesn’t believe in romance—she’s studied enough biology to know that love is nothing more than hormones and chemicals. Besides, she has more practical goals in mind, namely saving up for a summer humanitarian program in Costa Rica. But when her Diggity Dog House supervisor denies her a raise and Avery finds herself $500 dollars short for the trip of a lifetime, Avery has no choice but to accept an unexpected offer. The deal? She must steal her arch nemesis Hannah’s boyfriend before prom, giving Avery eleven days to seduce Zac Greeley.
Avery is sure the job will be easy. But a few midnight comedy shows and spontaneous dance parties (not to mention one particularly intimate carwash) later, Avery finds herself questioning everything she’s ever thought about love. Could Zac’s signature cherry-lime Slurpees be causing brain freeze, or is Avery actually starting to fall for him?
Will Avery be able to steal Zac away from Hannah before he steals Avery’s heart?
[Summary Source: Goodreads]
To start things off, I need to emphasize how cool I think The Studio is. Paper Lantern Lit has this new ebook imprint and to start it all off, they've picked up a couple of non-traditionally published (ex: self-published) books, such as The Boyfriend Thief, given them a bit of a makeover (look at that cover), and republished them. Self-pub is great and I have nothing against it, but you have to admit, this is a pretty amazing opportunity.
Now that that's been said, let's move onto the review.
This book is absolutely adorable. Which might not be your first thought, since the main character's goal is to convince a guy to dump his girlfriend. But Avery, Zac, and Shana Norris definitely manage to charm me.
Avery, in particular, drew me in (partially for personal reasons, but also because her story is so compelling). She really has it tough, taking over the role of mom after her mother walks out when she's in middle school. She shuts out anyone she thinks might leave her and insists on strict rules to maintain order and keep everything from falling apart.
But then there's Zac, who enters her life because she struck a not-so-nice deal with her ex-best friend Hannah. While the motives weren't great, Zac is the perfect addition to Avery's life. He's more relaxed, takes more chances, and really seems to know how to keep things light while dealing with his own issues. Zac really teaches Avery how to let things go and make room for newer, better things in her life. (And Avery helps Zac keep it honest with his family, which is also great.)
It's when Zac and Avery get close that things start to get messy, though. Everything kind of breaks down on Avery and the tower topples and it's up to Avery to decide if she wants to continue pushing everyone away or if she wants to accept her mistakes and try to clean up the messes she's made.
All in all, I'd call this book a pretty good beach read. So get your e-readers loaded up and I'll see you lovelies under the sun!
About Shana Norris:
Most days, Shana Norris still feels like she’s stuck at sixteen, which is probably why she enjoys writing about teens. Thankfully, she’s never had to work as a giant hot dog, but she did work at a locksmith shop making keys for six months. She currently lives in a small town in eastern North Carolina with her husband and small zoo of pets, which currently includes two dogs, five cats, and a flock of chickens.
Twitter | Website | Goodreads
Oh, and wait! There's a giveaway. You should definitely feel free to enter because you're really gonna wanna take this book to the beach.
