South Hills Sidekicks:  Compromised by Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers

Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 2, 2012)

When Alley gets a message from Salvador Passerotti, the most influential man in the Burgh, for putting his daughter behind bars, Shane takes every precaution he can to protect her. Nevertheless, the other police officers down at the station think the rookie Shane is out of his depth, with Scarface having just posted bond until his trial and decide to partner him with Officer Jeter; a man whose so old school he does everything according to protocol. Meanwhile, Alley has her own drama at school now that the other cheerleaders at Upper East High know that she had a role in bringing down Taylor and their other friends just before qualifying for states. Just when Alley thinks she can’t get a break a mysterious newcomer starts tagging her every move. With the help of her friends, especially Val whose determined to take down the whole mob if she has to, Alley discovers that everyone she trusts has been caught in a web of lies and that all the protection she desperately needs has been compromised.

My Review:  An amazing and perfect ending to an amazing series!  Though I dearly loved each of the books in this series, I think that Compromised is my favorite.  Why?  For me, the characters have grown throughout the books and this one had a bit more depth, as far as the suspense/danger. – though there is still tons of humor and laugh-out-loud moments – as well as head shaking moments, lol.  Compromised also had a few twists and turns that I loved.

As with the other two books in this series, the chemistry between Alley and Shane is steamy – I want a yummy Shane all my own!  Their relationship has kicked up a few notches and there is an extra added antagonistic factor in this one!

Val is just as crazy as ever, though at the same time very endearing.  Everyone needs a Val in their life!

In Compromised, Alley’s life is hanging by a thread more than it ever has.  Someone wants to hurt her and it seems as though they will stop at nothing to accomplish their goal.  Between trying to save Alley’s life and dealing with the predicaments that Val gets the girls into, Shane is ready to have a breakdown.

Though I was near tears that this series has come to an end, it did end in an incredibly satisfying way.  I will truly miss Shane, Alley and Val!  I hardly ever re-read a book, but I can honestly say that this series is one that I will revisit again.  All the books made the stress and craziness of life disappear for at least a bit and allowed me to smile, laugh and disappear into the awesome world created by these two amazing authors.  I cannot wait to read more by them in the future!

Excerpt:

Saying goodbye to my beloved ten-month-old, brindle-colored boxer Buddy was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. From now on, at least until we were safe again, every morning before going to school I had to hand my baby off to a local police officer so that I could go to school knowing he was safe. My dog was in a kind of ‘witness protection’ program after I helped break up a drug ring at my local high school.

Apparently, our high school’s head cheerleader was so gung-ho to win the state championship that she got the whole squad hooked on amphetamines but hid them as protein shakes. Unfortunately for her, she drugged one of my friends, and after having to peel her from the ceiling one night, we brought it to the police’s attention. Now unfortunately for me, I pissed off the local Pittsburgh mob. When you take down the daughter of the biggest mobster in the Burgh, you take every precaution you can to protect the ones you love which was why I was putting a collar on my dog and walking him downstairs to meet his new ‘babysitter.’

Still, it was hard to look in those chocolate puppy-dog eyes and say goodbye when we couldn’t even run our usual morning mile-long trek along Route 19 because it was too unsafe. Some might ask why I’m still not running just by myself, but really, without him pulling me along, what was the point. Nonetheless I was grateful that Shane’s friend Officer Skip, who worked the night shift, was gracious enough to watch Buddy and Betty, the large black Great Dane I just acquired during the drug bust, during the day. I watched Officer Skip, who looked fresh out of the academy not so unlike Shane, with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, help the dogs into his SUV.

“So you’re telling me that Alley got herself mixed up in this knowingly?” my dad asked from the couch in the family room, where Shane and another undercover cop were sitting, as I shut the front door and joined them by leaning up against the nearby wall behind Shane.

I should be going back upstairs to get ready for school, but as much as I trusted Shane, I didn’t know this other cop or what he would say to my dad. Shane was a cop, but he and I have a strange relationship that went from hate-hate to hate-like to like-love. He came to my high school as an undercover officer when a peer went missing. We didn’t know at the time he was a cop, so my best friend Val decided it was our job to find the girl. During the investigation, not only did we learn that he hadn’t taken Kirsten, but that he had been working with her before she suddenly disappeared.

Thanks to Val and our schedule, Shane and I have a lot of classes together, and although he drove me nuts at first, I have been slowly and steadily building feelings for him. Even though I’m a senior, weeks away from being eighteen, and only three years younger than him, he has decided it was not ‘professional’ to be interested in me. His lieutenant down at the station must also be aware of his age because they now have decided he needed some help in protecting me, which is why we were all in my living room this Monday morning.

Shane with his large muscular frame sat beside my father, taking the lead. Officer Jeter, the other cop, sat back in the brown leather surround couch looking as uninterested as a person could be. Shane explained the new routine to me last night, that he would only be watching me while at school, something that I secretly think irked him.

Officer Jeter, a tall man with sandy blond hair and a handsome face for a guy as old as my father, would take over at night by watching my house from across the street in his visible patrol car. A scare tactic he was sure would work or at least deter someone from making a late night visit.

“She helped you guys put this girl behind bars?” My dad tried to grasp how much of this was my fault. It wasn’t like my dad and I had the best relationship. He worked at Mercy Hospital practically every hour of the day. It hadn’t always been that way, but after losing my mom to stomach cancer, he slowly turned to his job to help him cope. In a way I saw him as someone who was married to his job now. I’m not sure if he could stand the sight of the house or even me anymore because I was a painful reminder of my mother. I may have his blue eyes with flecks of gray in them, and share the same raven-colored hair, but for someone whose only 5’2″ I have a spark about me just like my mom did.

“Yes, she did,” Officer Jeter started to say.

“No,” Shane quickly interceded, trying his hardest to wrangle in the other officer without alerting my dad who Shane knew would only blame me. “She was concerned for her friend who had taken the drugs unknowingly.”

I knew that he was referring to Libby, one of my friends…well, really I guess you could say she was one of my sidekicks when it came to investigating in the past.

“Once they realized she had been drugged, they alerted us.”

“So why all the protection?” my dad asked.

“Angelo Titiano just posted bond until his trial,” Shane explained.

Angelo Titiano, or Scarface as my friends and I liked to call him because he had a thick scar along his right eyebrow, had been on a mission to make an example of me after Taylor had made up a bogus story about me knowing about the drugs she was taking. She had even convinced the man, who I think was more than just a friend, to scare me. All because she was jealous of Shane and my ‘relationship’ which had been a ploy we used to protect his cover at school.

If you asked Kayla, Libby, or Val, though, they’d tell you Shane and I were just kidding ourselves and that there was more going on between us than what we pretended. And honestly, how could I dispute the theory, when just thinking about the bittersweet kiss Shane and I once shared made me go warm inside.

“But I heard on the news that his bond was a million dollars.” My dad’s tired face, which hadn’t seen the sun in years, looked like he was struggling to comprehend.

“Yes, sir. That’s correct,” Shane explained. “But Angelo Titiano’s not the one we’re really concerned about. The girl’s dad, Salvador Passerotti is one of the most influential criminals in the city. After he sent Alley those roses, we can only assume he’s going to try to avenge his daughter’s incarceration.”

I remembered the large bouquet of fifty or more freshly cut white roses delivered to my house with the cryptic little message about hoping my dog was well. I had a history of creeps trying to hurt the one person that felt like family to me: Buddy. Scarface had already tried to poison my dog on more than one occasion with a mixture of chocolate and Xanax. So when I got the flowers and a personal greeting card from Salvador Passerotti, I feared the worst; that Buddy had been killed.

Thankfully, when Val, Shane, and I rushed to the backyard, Buddy was still playing with the tennis ball machine Shane had bought to cheer him up. Betty, a dog I stole from Scarface—which I knew was wrong of me, but seriously that man was the last person who should own a dog—was unharmed as well. Shane and I were supposed to go to the Ice Ball that night, but I hadn’t left Buddy’s side, with the exception of going to school, since the scare.

“She’s in good hands,” Shane added, though I knew he was just giving my dad a way out. He wasn’t going to stop working at the hospital for me and Shane knew it. “Alley will be closely watched and monitored at school and then at home.”

“I can’t take off work. We’re barely making the bills,” my dad confessed somberly. “If we lose this house,” he gulped, “I can’t lose this house.” He suddenly became choked up. “This is all I have left of her…”

I hadn’t seen my father ever show this kind of emotion before. If anything, we kept up a false pretense that everything was okay, and we always put a smile on when we saw each other, but we had never shared anything really real ever since my mom died almost eight years ago. The sight of my father looking defeated brought tears to my eyes because I didn’t know how strongly he still felt about her.

“We understand.” Shane reached across to put a hand on my father’s shoulder. “Alley is my first priority. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Thank you.” My father sniffed. “I don’t know who would want to do this to such an incredible kid.”

“Me neither,” Shane added, though I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that kind of terminology being passed around. I had a hard enough time on my own getting Shane to see me as something more than just a ‘kid.’ Still, my father thinking I was incredible made my heart melt.

“Are you okay with this, Alley?” My father turned to include me in the conversation.

“Yeah, I’m going to be fine, Dad,” I insisted. Though I wanted to add, to my credit, I’d already taken out one of the thugs with a Louisville Slugger, which was more than Shane could say, but now was obviously not the right time to share.

“You can page me at any time…if you get scared or whenever,” my dad continued.

“I know, but like Shan—Officer Regacki said,” I suddenly cleared my throat, “I’m in excellent hands.” I tried my hardest not to grin because if my father ever knew those hands had explored the lower hemisphere of my backside while in a kissing embrace, I’m pretty sure he would be the one grabbing up the Louisville Slugger next.

“Well, good.” My father slowly nodded.

Shane checked his wristwatch and sighed. “I better get Alley to school. It’s a new semester, and the last thing I would want is for her to get…lost.” He flashed me a wicked grin, and it took everything in me not to roll my eyes.

“Thanks.” I smirked. “Appreciate it.”

“I’ll be here to watch the house,” Officer Jeter informed my dad as Shane got up to leave with me.

Shane was dressed in his usual gray T-shirt, which clung to his massive broad shoulders down to his tight abdomen. He put on his black leather jacket which hid too much of the view in my opinion, but did add to the badass factor, which I found to be super attractive. The corner of his lip turned up when he asked with his back to my father, “Alley, are we going to leave or just stand here all day?”

Hating myself, and really hating Shane, I flinched out of my dazed state while knowing that he had caught me gawking at him and quickly smirked instead, like you wish.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Shane called over his shoulder as I ran upstairs to throw on the first outfit I could find while Shane went to leave out the front door.

Once upstairs, I grabbed up my white parka with faux fur trim around the hood and pale blue North Face backpack. I got dressed in my normal dark-washed jeans and long-sleeved white ribbed Aeropostale top.

I knew the rest of my classmates would drop dead if they were ever caught wearing my outfit. Upper East High hallways were like the runways of Milan, Italy, even in the dead of winter. And the few students who weren’t wealthy, like me, tried to blend in at least by wearing the knock-off knee-high boots, leggings, and sweater dresses that were so popular right now, but came from, of all places, gasp…Macy’s. I found out the hard way (like six-inch-high heels kind of hard, painful way) that thankfully, and a bit embarrassingly, Shane wasn’t into girls who dressed like that.

“Bye, Dad,” I called out just before Shane closed the door behind us.

“So are we taking your Trailblazer?” I turned to ask Shane as snow drifted around us.

“Ah, Dad’s watching.” He cleared his throat.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw my father looking on from behind the curtain of the main window facing the street, and I waved. Our house looked like something out of a medieval time because it was made of stone like some kind of old fort and had a front door that was painted scarlet red, not so unlike the other neighboring Dutch-inspired houses.

“What, are you scared?” I joked as I turned back to face Route 19, which was busy with morning commuters.

“I just want him to know that I’m being, you know,” he shrugged, “professional.”

I knew what ‘professional’ meant and with my eighteenth birthday coming up, ‘professional’ wasn’t how I wanted to picture Shane acting.

“Why start now?” I grinned at him.

“Alley, just get in your jeep,” he growled, causing me to laugh.

“Whatever you say, Officer.” I smiled as I continued down the curve of the front steps to my hunter green Jeep Wrangler, a gift from my dad, if I could keep up with the insurance payments which weren’t that much considering it was second hand.

It had been snowing all week, which wasn’t unusual for the South Hills area, but it did make my morning ritual more interesting as I swept all of the snow off my jeep. I ran the engine for ten minutes so it wouldn’t give out on me halfway to school. Shane hated waiting, and I could feel his death stare, but my Jeep hadn’t lasted this long by rushing her. By the time I was actually ready to leave, I was pretty sure he wasn’t saying ‘professional’ things judging by the glare he was giving me from within his already heated black Trailblazer. Finally, I was able to pull out of the driveway to the obvious relief of Shane, who had been huffing so much his windows had fogged up.

South Hills Sidekicks:  Confiscated by Leah Spiegel and Meg Summers

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 1, 2012)

Investigating is not really Alley’s thing; however it is her best friend Val’s. So when Alley gets an unexpected phone call in the middle of the night from Val explaining that another one of her crazy plans has backfired, Alley springs to action to save her best friend once again. Alley doesn’t understand Val’s fascination with trying to figure out who the next student popping pills is until someone starts a rumor that it was Alley who had been snooping around for details. In a twist Alley never saw coming, she suddenly faces consequences for whoever started the treacherous lie, and this time the possible suspect is out for blood. With the help of her other sidekicks, they discover who is really calling all the shots and to their horror they realize who has really been taking the drugs.

My Review:  Confiscated is book 2 in the South Hills Sidekicks trilogy and leaves off perfectly where book 1, Uninvited left off.  Once again we are treated to the craziness of this awesome group of friends consisting of Val, Alley, Libby and Kayla.  This time, the girls get sucked into investigating suspected drug dealings within the school – as well as outside of the school.  Things become a bit more dangerous in this installment, however there are still tons of laughs and that sizzling chemistry between Shane and Alley steams from the pages!

In Confiscated, Shane has his hands full and nearly overflowing with dealing with these 4 girls – particularly Val.  The things that she gets them into will leave you shaking your head.  It is the relationship between Shane and Alley, however, that will have you flying through pages, hand-over-your-heart, aching for more.  Yes, this is YA and no there are no actual sex scenes of any sort, however the tension created between these two is even better than a sex scene in my opinion!  The way they constantly bounce off one another and get under one another’s skin in every way is fabulous and just pure FUN!

With an excellent combination of romance, suspense, humor and fun, Confiscated is definitely one YA book that I highly recommend!  I love this series – and do want to mention that even though it is part of a series, each could easily be read as a stand-alone.  There is enough background info tidbits thrown in throughout the stories so that a new reader would not be left scratching their head and feeling lost.  As with the first, once I finished this, I was left dying for more and dived right in to book 3!!

Excerpt:

I had woken up to a bleak morning which was typical for the surrounding area of the Burgh, Pittsburgh that is. I spent my first hour running my brindle-colored, eight-month-old boxer, Buddy, or more to the point, he ran me. Though we ran every morning, it seemed liked I could never shed a pound off my 5’2” frame no matter how much I tried. It may have something to do with the Pop-Tarts which I just restocked all by myself from a grocery trip to the nearest Giant Eagle because my dad got paged by Mercy Hospital once again.

I can honestly say I’ve never tried to look my ‘Sunday best’ or ‘stop-him-dead-in-his-tracks’ before when getting ready for school, but today was a different day I reminded myself. Tossing my Old Navy faded jeans and navy blue scarf to the side, I scanned my closet looking for something that complemented my dark, layered hair and blue eyes with specks of gray in them.

I glanced down hesitantly at all of the embellished glittery Jimmy Choos and Christian Louboutin platforms that my best friend Val bought for me in the hopes that I’d finally cave and wear them one day.

“It can’t be that bad, right?” I shrugged at Buddy before leaning down to grab a Tiffany-blue-colored pair. I slid them on one at a time while bracing the nearest wall for support. After a short trial walk where I tripped all over my room, Buddy made a quick exit for the door in what I could only assume was his way of giving me a response.

With some difficulty I tugged a black form-fitted dress, which Val had also given me, down over my hips. The dress probably cost more than what I had saved in my entire college fund because I was kind of like Val’s Goodwill. I got everything that was so ‘yesterday.’

Blowing my hair out of my face, I examined myself in my closet mirror. Just when I went to turn to look at the dress from the side, my ankle gave out in the sky-high heels and I quickly grabbed onto the door for support.

Oh god, what was I doing? No wonder Val was always falling down. Maybe she wasn’t a klutz after all. Maybe it was just because she was wearing these killer heels all the time. I carefully slipped off the shoes before I actually did get hurt and took them with me down the stairs.

I kissed Buddy goodbye on the head and he let out a whine like he did every day, begging me not to go just this one time. When I picked up a nearby tennis ball, his eyes widened and his ears perked up like, what an excellent idea, I love to play ball! I threw the ball down the hallway to his immense pleasure but didn’t have the heart to look back as I quickly grabbed my pale blue North Face backpack with my high heels in hand and left.

Once outside, I glanced up at the gloomy clouds which hovered over the skyline and blocked out enough sunlight to make it literally look like the sun had already set when the day had only just begun. I headed down the stairs to my secondhand hunter green Jeep Wrangler. My dad had bought it for me on the promise that I would keep up with the insurance payments, which fortunately for me were low enough that I could take the money I made from cleaning my grandpa’s steel fabrication office twice a month to pay for it.

I glanced up at the clouds again while wondering if I should grab an umbrella. I had heard a weatherman on WTAE Pittsburgh Channel Four once say that the nearly constant cover of clouds had something to do with lake effect conditions coming off Lake Erie.

I’ve never even been to the lake since it’s a good two hours away which contributed to my skin being pale and sallow compared to all the socialites at school who fake baked. I could literally pick out the few who didn’t tan among the rest of the student body; myself included. No one said no to the wealthy students of Upper East High, not even the weather.

I don’t know why it bothered me. It never seemed to matter before. But today was different, I reminded myself as I took another hesitant look at my arms where I had rubbed in a layer of Jergen’s tanning lotion. I’m not so sure ‘tan’ was the word I would use to describe my skin, but the girls of Jersey Shore would be so proud that I was trying.

As I waited in bumper to bumper traffic on Route 19, I fluffed my hair and puckered my lips in the vanity mirror behind the sun visor before slapping it shut when traffic finally picked up again. Anyone who knew me would think I must have bumped my head. But the truth was, it was the first time someone at school mattered, even if he wasn’t allowed to like me back.

As Upper East High came into view, I thought about how the school had always reminded me of the other outpatient hospitals and doctors’ offices nearby, with its three-story-high windows and matching boxed structure. Though the parking lot reminded me more of a BMW dealership with all of the shiny Beamers in it.

After parking, I propped open the jeep door and proceeded to put on each baby-blue-colored platform high heel. I felt like I was walking on stilts the entire way into school. It’s worth it, I reminded myself as I staggered along.

When I finally entered the school, I didn’t see Kayla or Libby anywhere. I was kind of hoping I would get their seal of approval before the ‘big reveal,’ but I couldn’t find Val’s friends anywhere. In fact, I couldn’t even find Val.

Checking with the clock on the wall, I swore under my breath since my little trek across the parking lot took a whole five minutes. I was going to be late for my first mod if I didn’t hurry; something I literally could not do.

After another long five minutes, I stopped outside my chemistry class and took a deep breath to collect myself. I flattened out my form-fitted black dress and thought, here goes nothing. Rounding the door, I entered the room, just thankful that Mrs. Cotter hadn’t started class yet. Everyone was still talking amongst themselves as I made my way toward the back.

I felt my pulse quicken when my eyes zeroed in on Shane Regacki: the undercover narc on the scene who occasionally liked to flirt with me. When Shane had first arrived at school as a ‘friend’ of Kirsten and then she suddenly disappeared, my best friend Val suspected Shane who was last seen talking to Kirsten that day and then followed us around in his Trailblazer that night.

The police obviously didn’t take us seriously when we confessed to them what we knew about Shane. But that didn’t stop Val from starting her own investigation and following him around until eventually we found ourselves stuck in his attic, a minor setback, and he finally told us what he was really doing at the school.

Shane looked bored out of his mind as he glared down at the table with his taunt arms crossed over his chest in front of him. Val looked like she was drilling him for any details she could get on his new case now that he was back at the school. Val didn’t look like the type of girl who would care about a drug case. She looked more like the kind of girl you’d see at a rich resort sipping fruity drinks or getting a massage at the spa with her model-like physique, poker straight blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was dressed in something probably straight off the runways, which looked more like a knitted wire of mesh to anyone else who didn’t know better.

She was the reason everyone else took me seriously at the school. We had been best friends for so long that everyone knew that if you wanted to include Val, you also had to include me. And with Val being Homecoming Queen that meant I was included a lot. Not that I wanted to be, but it wasn’t like anyone had ever asked me in the first place. I was just about to clear my throat when Val did a double take in my direction and suddenly went silent. Her glossy lips formed a perfect circle as her blue eyes widened in surprise.

My heart gave a little leap when Shane’s brown eyes lifted to rest on me. This was it. The whole reason I got dressed up in the first place. Shane Regacki, the undercover narc, was back at the school. He dropped his mouth in surprise, and I thought, oh yeah. That was until he finally uttered the words, “Jesus, Alley, what the hell are you wearing?”

“Karl Lagerfeld,” Val boasted as I stood there blinking in a delayed reaction.

“Whoever she said.” I sighed and took my seat on the other side of him, feeling completely defeated.

“You look hot,” Val emphasized.

“Well, I’m glad someone thinks so,” I mumbled to myself.

“Where’s your jeans?” Shane’s eyebrows pulled together with the question.

“In my closet,” I droned. “And you call yourself a detective.” I whispered only loud enough for him to hear, earning me another bewildered expression.

South Hills Sidekick:  Uninvited by Leah Spiegel & Meg Summers

Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 18, 2012)

When Alley started her senior year at Upper St. Clair in the South Hills area, it was supposed to be the usual drag of hanging out with people who spent more on one outfit than Alley did on her entire wardrobe. That was until Kirsten, a girl in their clique, suddenly goes missing and the only people who seem to care are her friends. All evidence leads to the new comer Shane, a cocky and self-pretentious person in Alley’s opinion, but the police seem uninterested so she and the rest of the girls start a little investigation of their own. But they are nowhere closer to finding Kirsten than when they started and now they had the police’s attention; just not in the way they expected. The girls have to start over and discover that maybe it wasn’t an outsider who took Kirsten, but someone within their own clique who has something to hide; a secret that just might have gotten Kirsten killed.

My Review:  I have to begin by saying that I first fell head-over-heels in love with Leah Spiegel’s writing when I read Foolish Games.  This lady has an amazing way with story telling and bringing the characters and story to life effortlessly.  She also has an amazing talent with the Young Adult genre and no matter what your age, you will quickly become engulfed within that tingle of first love.

Uninvited is the first book in the South Hills Sidekicks trilogy.  When I first began reading, I was reminded a bit of the television series Pretty Little Liars (I know, this is also a book series, however I have not read the books yet, just watched the tv show, so can’t compare to the books, lol).  There is a group of friends: Val, Kayla, Libby, Alley and Kirsten.  Alley is basically a friend by association – meaning she is Val’s best friend and since Val is one of the “important” people, Alley gets to be in the “popular” group at school.  In any case, Kirsten is the ring leader and when she suddenly goes missing, all heck breaks loose and her friends will stop at nothing to discover what happened to her – even if it means putting their lives in danger.

The characters in Uninvited are absolutely awesome.  Each one has such a unique personality and are so “real” that is it as though they are people you have met.  Val is an absolute hoot.  She comes off as a bit ditzy, though she means well.  She is the one who really pushes for the girls’ investigation into Kirsten’s disappearance.  Needless to say, she gets the girls into quite a few predicaments.

Alley is the main character and I couldn’t help but connect with her instantly.  She basically raises herself after the death of her mother, as her father drowns himself in his work.  Alley is her own person and is very straight-forward, stubborn and courageous.  When Shane pops into the picture, Alley’s life takes a spin-dive into unknown territory.

Who is Shane?  He is the hot guy who suddenly appears at the girls’ school.  He is seen talking with Kirsten before her disappearance and the girls are sure that he is somehow connected.  What they discover, however, is something that truly shocks each one!

If you love YA Uninvited is the perfect book for you!!  Once I began reading, the pages honestly flew.  I actually finished this book a couple of months ago and though I am just now getting around to writing a review for it, the story and its characters still stand out very vividly in my mind.  This is a story that had me laughing, yearning, at the edge of my seat and put me in such a relaxing and happy place that when I finished reading, I had to immediately snatch up the second book in the series!!

Excerpt:

It was an unusually bright day for the end of August in the South Hills area just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon it would be grey and overcast until May of next year. It was one of the most overcast cities in the United States, and it should be depressing, but I actually found the constant greyness comforting.

What I couldn’t handle was the truly depressing fact that it was the first week of high school at Upper East High. I didn’t know why I was sighing up a storm as I drummed my fingers along the steering wheel in the middle of bumper to bumper morning rush hour traffic on Route 19. I mean it’s not like I was scared to go to school. I wasn’t a victim who got bullied every day, or the shy loner who had to sit alone at lunch. In fact, I think some of my classmates would have loved to switch places with me because I hung out with them. The most popular, beautiful, richest students the school had to offer. Only problem was, I didn’t belong with them.

I blamed my best friend Val. Who knew that when I became friends with her in third grade over NSYNC I would find myself surrounded by people wearing daily outfits that cost more than my entire wardrobe? It was just one of the downsides of having a best friend who outshined most of the student body.

Finally, there was a break in the traffic, and I was pulled out of my dismal thoughts when the school came into view. The central, three story high windows of the building reminded me of Seattle Grace Hospital from Grey’s Anatomy which was fitting considering all the surgeons’ children went to school there.

I wasn’t wealthy like them. My dad didn’t make an insane amount of money, but our house was located just inside the school district’s line or else I might have been fortunate enough to go to Mount Lebanon (a much more laid back school in my opinion).

I just didn’t look like a girl from Upper East High, maybe if I were a model or at least tried to be wafer thin then I could blend in, but I was considered cute at best. I had brown, layered hair; blue eyes with specks of gray; when I smiled I had a right dimple. That might sound pretty, but at 5’2”, it’s just cute.

Refocusing on the parking lot around me, I jerked my second hand, green Jeep Wrangler, which my dad had recently bought for me as long as I could keep up on the insurance payments, into the first available spot right between all the BMWs, Lexuses and Volvos that filled the school’s parking lot. Grabbing up my navy blue North Face book bag, I took a deep breath and exited the jeep.

As a senior now, I had perfected the art of blocking out the deafening sound of the cars flying by on Route 19, which was practically in the school’s front yard. So much so, I didn’t notice the loud roar of an engine building in the background until it snuffed out even the sound of my flip flops against the pavement. Glancing over my shoulder—not a second too soon—I quickly backed out of the way when a guy on a chromed out Harley swung in front of me and parked in a space.

Planting his feet on the asphalt, he pulled his helmet off, revealing cropped, sandy brown hair and dark, brooding eyes which he used to glare over his shoulder at me.

“Not look where you’re going much?” I grumbled under my breath when I realized he had no intention of apologizing. With a roll of my eyes, I just shrugged it off and continued toward the school. Glancing through the glass doors of the entrance ahead, I could see Kayla and Libby waiting and felt the dread of a new year sink back into place.

The school’s library filled the backdrop behind them as they greeted some of my classmates coming through the front entrance. Both girls had a silver tray holding intricate cupcakes made to look like pink, blooming roses.

“Alley.” Kayla smiled, as I made my way through the crowd, and offered me a cupcake. “You’re invited to Kirsten’s Sweet Eighteen.”

Kirsten Moyer was the most self-proclaimed popular girl of our school. I had heard a rumor that she was having a Sweet Eighteen party but I thought they were joking.

“Thanks.” I nodded and took one out of politeness.

Looking at the cupcake to avoid conversation, I noticed a black rubber bracelet was wrapped around the base of it, like the yellow ones made famous for raising cancer awareness, but this bracelet was embossed with Kirsten’s name instead. I knew the “charity” bracelet was for the party, an access pass to the event.

“Girls, look who’s back!” My mood instantly lifted as I heard my best friend announce her entrance. The sight of Val was the first thing to make me crack a smile all morning. I knew jealous girls liked to use dumb blonde jokes when referring to her, but Val’s enthusiasm was just what I needed to bring me out of my bleak thoughts.

The guys liked to call her “The Amazon” because she was 5’10”, had layered, honey blonde hair, and the body of a Sports Illustrated Model. Wearing a strapless pink mini, she scuttled forward in her matching platform Christian Louboutins, with her arms opened wide, but quickly lost her footing and came reeling forward at us like a customer diving into a sale at Barney’s on Black Friday.

Kayla quickly cleared out of the way in a protective stance over the tray of desserts but Libby, who was closer to the wall, didn’t have time to react as Val collided into me creating a domino effect. After being rammed into Libby, we all ended up on the ground with cupcakes falling everywhere, including on us.

“Lord have Mercy,” Kayla said from overtop of the crash site. “Kirsten’s gonna flip.”

I did a quick inventory on the state of my t-shirt and jeans and realized they were now splattered in pink frosting like the Jackson Pollock painting. All three of us were covered in icing but Val was wearing pink so you could barely tell. The fact that she made it through practically unscathed made me laugh. “Way to make an entrance, Val.” I snorted.

“I’m glad one of us thinks this is funny,” Libby grumbled as she sat up and shook her arms which were caked in icing. “What the heck, Val? If you don’t know how to wear them, you can always just give them to me.”

Val, who was not known for being the most coordinated person, got her footing and stood back up again. “You saw me coming from like a mile away,” she said, as if that explained everything. “Why can’t you be more like Kayla here?”

“Yeah, right.” Libby huffed as she got up. “I can’t believe I’m going to be seen like this on the first day of school.”

Trying not to roll my eyes, I swear I heard a click as I turned and caught a few of the “uninvited” taking a pic or two on their cell phones further down the hallway which would have been funny if I wasn’t in the middle of the crash site.

“It is what it is.” I refocused on the mess and wiped half of a cupcake off the side of my jeans. “You know she didn’t mean it.”

“Easy for you to say.” Libby huffed. “This dress actually cost a lot of money.”

Yeah, probably enough to pay my car insurance for the next three years, but it’s not exactly something I would go around boasting about because it was ridiculous. What a waste of money. Looking down at the mess, I held up my hand and asked, “Could someone please help me up?”

A strong, firm hand wrapped around mine, and before I could even register what was happening, I was gingerly lifted up onto my feet. Looking up in surprise, I realized it was the guy from the parking lot. At second glance, he looked taller and more ripped now that he wasn’t sitting on his massive motorcycle. His fitted, black leather jacket hung comfortably over his wide shoulders, and there was a hint of amusement in his once brooding brown eyes.

“Make a habit out of not watching where you’re going, much?” he muttered.

My mouth just dropped and I realized how this must have looked with me on the ground and the other two standing, but before I could even explain, the guy turned and headed in the direction of the office.

“Who is he?” Kayla asked me in a hushed voice, mistakenly thinking I knew the guy, as we all watched him drift further down the hallway.

“Who cares.” I narrowed my eyes, remembering it was him who almost ran me over with his Harley.

“He’s yummy,” Val said.

“He’s something,” I added and noticed the time. “We’re going to be late for our first mod if we don’t hurry.” Thankfully, it was the first day and I didn’t need to get to my locker or we would have never made it to chemistry on time. All four of us walked down the hall getting ready to go in opposite directions.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, Val,” Kayla said. “Kirsten wants us all to go shopping after school to help her pick out the perfect dress, you interested?”

“Yeah, I’m in, Alley?” Val, who was always one to include me, turned to see what I thought.

I’d rather gouge my eyes out than watch Kirsten try on dress after dress. But not being able to think of a quick enough excuse for why I couldn’t go, I mumbled, “Sure.”

“We’re meeting up at Posh after school,” Kayla explained then headed left with Libby down the hall. “See you guys there.”

“Bye.” Val looped her arm through mine and we headed down the hallway to the right for our first mod. She waved to people as we made it past the last few doorways. Despite her quirkiness, people tended to gravitate toward Val, unlike myself. Trying to be a good sport, I smiled a few times with her; enough that it literally hurt.

“Alley and Valerie,” a familiar voice sang when we entered the room to our chemistry class. It was a typical chemistry lab with charcoal colored tables split down the middle with two rows of three. Each table was equipped with two Bunsen burners, a try of cylinders, four stools that faced the board, and a periodic table. Around the room were floor to ceiling glass cupboards that held various items we would use this year.

Leaning against a lab table in the front of the class was the owner of that familiar voice, Trent Ledford. “What happened to your clothes?” His hazel eyes twinkled as he casually looked us up and down. Trent was known as being the biggest flirt in school. His charming face, Greek godlike physique from playing soccer year round, and wicked grin didn’t help to dispute the theory.

“Haven’t you heard this is the new fashion craze?” I jokingly rolled my eyes.

“As enthralling as the latest trends are, Ms. Mitchel, I still have a class to teach.” Mrs. Cotter appeared from the back. “Everyone’s already been paired with a partner, except for our new student, Shane, who just registered today, so you two can join him in the back.”

Following her gaze, my heart suddenly fell. Really, God? Going shopping with Kayla, Libby, and Kirsten wasn’t bad enough? Guess not, because there, looking like a professional wrestler with his massive shoulders and upper body hugged tightly in a gray t-shirt, was the biker guy. I didn’t know if he was even paying attention to what the teacher had to say as our eyes locked in a penetrating glare; he seemed unable to hear the chattering and gawking going on around him.

Val gently tugged me along, bringing me out of my thoughts. In typical Val fashion, she smiled and said hello to a few of her friends on the way down the aisle before we finally took the only available seats on either side of the new guy.

He sat confidently with his black leather jacket draped over the back of his chair. I was just about to bury the hatchet and introduce myself, when his eyes dropped to Val’s pink, glittery Christian Louboutins and he muttered, “Nice shoes.”

“I know, aren’t they fabulous?” Val marveled at them.

I was just about to explain to her what he really meant when he snickered. “Yeah, Dorothy called, she wants them back.”

Now Val might be overly enthusiastic, but I loved her for it, so I wasn’t going to let some stuck up jock put her down. I opened my mouth to ask him what kind of self-respecting, straight guy notices shoes anyway, but Val beat me to a response. “Well, you tell Dorothy that if she wants them back, she’s going to have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands.”

His face pinched at the unexpectedness of her comment, but instead of encouraging her, he just blinked and then shook his head.

Val clicked her heels together three times and said, “There’s no place like Prada, there’s no place like Prada.”

I sunk down just a fraction on my stool, but thankfully, our conversation was interrupted because Mrs. Cotter began to instruct the class on how to use our lab equipment properly. “Remember, never use a clear liquid to put out a fire and be advised that we have a fire extinguisher in the back of the room. Now, I would like for you to start out by practicing lighting your burners.”

“Ladies first.” Shane offered up the pack of matches in his gigantic hand, bringing my attention back to our lab partner.

“Oh, goodie, I’ll go first.” Val grabbed up the matches before I could stop her.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I said hesitantly. Val wasn’t exactly good with anything that came with safety instructions. Before I could stop her, she struck a match and quickly flung the dud onto the table. Shane eyed me warily when she actually lit the next match but once again flung it on the table.

Quickly snuffing out the flame with his thumb, he snatched the packet of matches from Val’s hand. “Here, take these before she burns down the school.” He tossed them over to me and then paused as if pondering whether or not I could light a match. He then raised his eyebrows in sarcastic relief when I lit the burner in seconds.

“Those things light up really fast!” Val gulped.

He leaned over causing the side of his warm body to press against mine. I got a whiff of spearmint on his breath before he lowered his voice and asked, “Is she…special?”

“No.” I glared back at him. “She’s just a little prone to accidents.” Okay, more like the class klutz, but I didn’t like what he was implying about my best friend.

Glancing down at my crusty t-shirt and jeans, it finally seemed to dawn on him what had really happened earlier. “Wait…how did you end up on the ground then?” His eyes lit up with the memory.

“I tried to catch her,” I answered dignifiedly since he seemed to be enjoying the little incident way too much.

“And how did that work out for you?” He grinned.

“Not how I had anticipated, obviously.”

“I can hear you,” Val sang.

“You two are quickly becoming the most ridiculous girls I have ever meant.” He cracked a smile.

“It’s only first period.” I sighed. “Give it a couple of classes…”

At the end of our mod, Val air kissed me on either side of my cheeks like how the French do and gushed, “Chow, darling.”

Shane lifted his eyebrow in my direction as if to say, I doubt I’ll find anyone as silly as the two of you, before he grabbed up his jacket and left.

Knowing I had “Hitler” for my next mod— at least, that’s what everyone called him behind his back—I quickly made my way out of the chemistry room. The next class was clear on the other side of the school, and I still had to make a short run by my locker so I could unload all my back to school items. Finding my assigned locker took longer than I had anticipated and I was quietly darning myself for not doing this when I first arrived.

After I was done, I hoisted my book bag over my shoulder and sighed in relief that the strap wasn’t ripping into my shoulder any longer. I slammed my locker door shut and then rushed back down the hallway. Passing the office to my right, I continued to the other wing where Libby and Kayla had gone earlier. Rounding the door to the classroom, I instantly bumped into something tall and hard. Flustered, I backed up and swore under my breath when it hit me who I had run into. Shane glanced over his shoulder with a scowl on his face, but it instantly dissolved with the irony of the situation and he raised an eyebrow.

“We just keep running into each other, don’t we?” he said, only loud enough for me to hear.

“I guess so,” I mumbled.