Love Me, Love Me Not

by SM Koz

When Hailey Brown is removed from her home and put into foster care, all she wants is a safe, comfortable place where she can finish school and move on with her life. It’s not easy adjusting to a new school and a new life, but Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and their teenage son, Brad, welcome Hailey with open arms.

As Hailey begins to adjust to her new life, she and Brad grow closer. For the first time, Hailey feels like she might have a real shot at a future. Soon, however, Hailey realises her relationship with Brad has crossed the line from friendship into something more. But being with Brad would mean giving up the perfect life that Hailey has waited so long to have.

Can Hailey and Brad resist the feelings that are developing between them - or will they risk it all to be together?

• ISBN10: 1250137837
• ISBN13: 9781250137838
• Publish Date: 1 July 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 10 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

A past she must leave behind. A forbidden romance. An indefinite future. I didn't know it, when I picked it up, but it was exactly what I was looking for at the time, and I just plowed right through this book.

• Pro: Hailey was a character I found myself frustrated with, but also cheering for. She was in a tough situation, being removed from her home, bouncing from placement to placement, and a whole lot of other dysfunction. She made some decisions I wanted to throttle her for, but she also began to gain some confidence in herself and took control, and that was when I liked her best.

• Pro: The Campbells were a picture perfect family, but they sometimes made mistakes. I was glad Koz gave them some flaws, because it made them more real for me.

• Pro: We got to spend a little time with Hailey's social worker in the beginning of the book, and I absolutely adored her. I sort of wish she had more time on page.

• Pro: Best bestie alert! Brittany was so fabulous and Hailey was extremely lucky that fate brought her into her world. Loved her!

• Pro: The romance was of the forbidden type, which I don't really have an opinion on, but I will tell you that I could not get enough of Brad and Hailey together. They had a great rapport, chemistry, and a super solid friendship, which only made their romance that much better.

• Pro: Getting some peeks into the foster care system was interesting. It was encouraging to see the good parts of it, because all you ever hear about, usually, are the bad parts.

• Pro: This story had some drama, and I would say it leans a little towards the soapy-side, but it was never too much. I won't lie, I loved some of those OTT elements.

• Pro: Can we talk about the world's most perfect epilogue, because that's what Koz gave me. I could not erase the smile from my face after reading the it, and it made me yearn for a continuation of this story.

Overall: A fabulous forbidden romance, which delivered an array of feels, and left me, ultimately, in a very happy place. I will definitely read more from S.M. Koz.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[zooloo1983]

o after reading this book, I learned this was a debut book. Well, what a way to introduce yourself!

This is the story of Hailey, living in foster homes due to her abusive, drug and alcohol abuser mother. We open the book with a scene with her and her boyfriend Chase, getting a bit jiggy with it, and her getting kicked out of her 3rd foster care in 3 days. All because of Chase.

Then Sherry (her DSS worker) finds her a new home, but it's a new school which sends Hailey into panic mode as she is going to be away from her crutch, also a drug user, Chase.  She is moved to a beautiful house, with the Campbells, Gil and Gigi and their smoking hot, lead quarterback son Brad.  The story follows Hailey, and her journey to a better life, acceptance and the belief that she can do something. She gains friends and a new family and a life she never expects to be able to live, and I loved all her friends, apart from the obvious one that no one will like.

Along the way, typically Chase tries to cause problems, but something else happens, something neither Hailey or Brad saw coming and it could bring her new life crashing down. When the inevitable big bad happens, I hated it, blame the foster kid I would, is the attitude. It showed how naive and quick to judge people are, but it also showed us the remorse and the guilt of her new family who let her down.  Don't worry happy endings do happen (NO SPOILER THOUGH).

The subject matters tackled in this book were quite hard especially for a 17-year-old to experience, but the author did herself justice, in the way all the characters were written and responded to their situations. It is not your typical YA story, of boy meets girls, boy and girl fall in love, there is a drama, and then end of. It is so much more, Hailey and her growth and development.

I loved seeing Hailey grow into the woman she became, from the skinny girl, no prospect apart from working in Wallmart to get buy, to someone who has ambition, a bit of meat on her and acceptance. It truly is a beautiful story, some teenage drama (as expected) but it did not drag on and on, it was cleared it up rather quickly which was a fresh of breath air. Not going to lie, I cried in this book too (God is there something wrong with me at the moment!) and devoured it in one sitting.

I also learned there will be another book, so I am excited for that and to pick up with old friends. (Happy dance!)

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