My Not So Super Sweet Life (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, #3)

by Rachel Harris

Cat Crawford just wants to be normal—or at least as normal as a daughter of Hollywood royalty can be. And it looks like fate is granting her wish: she's got an amazing boyfriend, Lucas; her fabulous cousin, Alessandra, living with her; and her dad planning his second marriage to a great future stepmom. That is, until her prodigal mother reveals on national television that she has something important to tell her daughter…causing a media frenzy.

Lucas Capelli knows his fate is to be with Cat, and he's worked hard to win her over once and for all. Unfortunately, Lucas has his own issues to deal with, including a scandal that could take him away from the first place he's truly belonged.

As secrets are revealed, rumors explode, and the world watches, Cat and Lucas discover it's not fate they have to fight if they want to stay together…this time, it's their own insecurities.

Well, and the stalkerazzi.

• ISBN10: 1622665996
• ISBN13: 9781622665990
• Publish Date: 1 May 2014 (first published 21 April 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Entangled: Digiteen
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 220
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

My Not So Super Sweet Life is quite different than the previous two books, but I adored it all the same. Gone is Reyna's gypsy magic. No one is traveling back or forward in time. Instead, we're following Cat again and her new boyfriend Lucas. Cat is preparing for her dad's wedding, but then her birth mother drops back into her life. Cat has no idea what she wants, and she's wary of this sudden attention. While a part of Cat does want a relationship with her mother, she's braced for "the other shoe to drop" and accept some closure. Meanwhile, Lucas is completely head over heels for Cat, and is worried about letting her down during this emotional time.

The tone of My Not So Super Sweet Life is more serious than the series has been, but I still really enjoyed it. Cat learned a lot about herself when she traveled back to the 16th century, but now is time to put lose lessons in action. She's sprung into the spotlight thanks to her mom, and it's really getting to her. She dares to hope that her mom is really there for her, but that woman is awful! I was so sad for Cat! She does not deserve that! Luckily, she has Lucas there for her, but she does revert to old habits and begins to push him away, even though she's terrified he'll leave her. Of course, he doesn't! Lucas is such a sweetie!

If you have not started this series yet, you really need to! My Not So Super Sweet Life was the perfect conclusion to Cat's journey. We see her go from closed off from new people to having a wonderful group of friends and family. She also helped her "distant" cousin Alessandra become the woman she longed to be, and Less returned the favor when Cat needed support. It's just a very sweet and fun series and deserves so much more love!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Kim Deister]

My Not So Super Sweet Life is very different from the first two books in the series, but just as wonderful to read! The first book, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, featured Cat as the narrator and center of the story. The second, A Tale of Two Centuries, was told by Alessandra as she went on her own journey. This third novel tells the story of Lucas and Cat through their alternating viewpoints. There is also no time travelling in this one, although there just may be some Reyna gypsy magic going on! This is one is more about finding one's way through the kinds of struggles that we have all been through at one time or another in our lives.

This book was a bit deeper and more intense than the previous two. Cat is still struggling with trust issues and she is learning to finally come out of her self-imposed shell. Learning to trust and to open up to others after years of neglect by her mothers is difficult for her. She's never really understood why her mother abandoned her and she feels that she needs that closure. There were times during this arc that I just wanted to reach into my Kindle and slap some reality into her mother. We also learn a lot more about Lucas. He has his own story, his own struggles, separate and distinct from Cat. There is a lot of heart ache, sadness, and frustration in his world. His struggles, too, are those that I think a lot of us can understand.

There are new characters in this book... Cat's mother and Ransom. I won't say much about him, for fear of spoilers, but I will say that I hope that there might me more about him in the future. There is a story there that was just hinted at and I want to know more!

There is some swoon-worthy romance in this book, lots and lots of it. Cat and Lucas. Alessandra and Austin. There is a bit of heat and a whole lot of sweetness in their romances, as well as the requisite moments of angst... perfect YA love. But one of the things that I love most about these books is that the girl is not centered on her boyfriend. There is all of the swoony love stuff that you could want, but the girls are their own people with their own thoughts and ideas and opinions. Thank you, Rachel, for giving us that!

Some Quotastic Goodness

--"This place has harbored many a scandalized politician, so you two miscreants should feel right at home (Loc. 307)."

--"Hey, Alessandra called me a dashing hero, which I am pretty sure is Shakespearean for awesome (Loc. 331)."

--The air around us is electric. Humming, vibrating, and heated, weighted with lust, desire, even love (Locc. 376).

My Recommendation: If I had to pick one of the three books in this series as my favorite... well, I couldn't do it! I have loved every one of these books. While this could be read as a standalone novel, I would recommend reading My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century and A Tale of Two Centuries.

NOTE: I received this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion or the content of my review. This is an honest review based on my own opinions.

[bookishzelda]

Off the bat I loved Rachel Harris’s Super Sweet Series, they are books that are cute and fun to read. Even though they have conflict they still have that pick me up quality. My No So Super Sweet Life is revisiting Cat’s story and how she deals with life without the time travel aspect. Her and Lucas are officially together (after she got past the whole doppelganger thing) and navigating your normal teen relationship. Well normal except when you add a famous mother and a father who has lost himself to the mix.

We get two perspectives in MNSSSL, both Cat and Lucas. I liked that we get to be in Lucas’s head for this one. I was sad that Alessandra and Austin although present have smaller roles. I kind of missed them I admit. I also missed Reyna but she’s gone but not well gone don’t worry you get her taste of her in this book.

Cat has some issues still that were not fully resolved in the first book. Although she grew and learn to become more open. Which meant including Jenna in her life and letting Alessandra and Lucas past her walls. She’s definitely got some unfinished issues with her mom. When Cat’s mom shows up again she has to take a big risk in order to get the chance to have her mom back or finally put the nail in that coffin.

One thing I really liked about the mom issues is how everyone else couldn’t really understand. Jenna, Alessandra and even Lucas wanted her to stay away from the crazy. Expected Cat to deal with the situation by sending her mom off and saying don’t come back. I felt that was more realistic and the fact that Cat had to deal with people might not understand why she wanted to reconnect with her mom. It’s easy to say that as an outside source but not so easy as the person dealing with it.

Something that bothered me about Cat was that she was so wrapped up in our own issues she was kind of missing out on things with Lucas. He finally confronts his dad about soccer, his brothers death and has to deal with the possibility of moving that always seems to be looming over their heads. Of course there were times that I was frustrated with Lucas for not understanding why Cat wants that mom connection even though it might not pan out. All part of the relationship learning curve.

The book has a good dynamic amongst it’s characters and a fun little surprise that I won’t spoil for you. Even though Reyna is not present that doesn’t mean the stars are not still at work.

I love this series and My Not So Super Sweet Life is a great addition. I walked away with a smile on my face per usual.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Book reviews & blogging tips

4.5 Stars

You guuuuuuys!! This was my favourite book in the My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century series! It was so much fun.

For starters, the other books in the series were fun and fluffy. They were cute and fun to read, which was just what I was looking for at the time. But My Not So Super Sweet Life dug deeper. It focused more on romantic relationships and coming to terms with a shitty parent. It felt like a more serious book.. but also a more romantic one! *swoon*

This book is dripping with swoon. Before this book, I liked Lucas. I never loved him. I think that's mostly because I was still annoyed that the whole Lorenzo thing just died.. I was still caught up on that. But in this book, Lucas really won me over. There were some really hot (but also sweet) moments between him and Cat. I feel like this book really gave me a glimpse of what Rachel Harris's adult books are like! I mean.. steamy.. hot.. delish. Of course, things never go super far in this book, but it was like a little snippet of what could be! And phew... Fanning of one's self is needed.

And OMG, this book really shows how much of a stupid, naive bitch Cat's mom really is. But the thing is, it's almost like she has no idea she's being a bitch. She just think it's all okay.. which is even more infuriating! Grr. But I love how Cat and her mom never really "make up". Cat's mom was a bitch, and I'm glad that Cat finally realized and accepted that, instead of them actually getting close. I'm really pleased with how it ended!

I think my one criticism was Ransom. As a character, he was interesting, but I feel like he was introduced but never fully explored. Even by the end of the book I still feel like I have no idea who he is or what his story is! It was kind of hinted that we might get another book about him, but either way I just felt like I had no idea who this guy was and he was just blindly accepted into the "group".

If you liked the rest of the series, prepare to LOVE this book! Especially Lucas and Cat together.... mmmmmm delicious.