Boyfriend From Hell

by E Van Lowe

[Cocktails and Books]

Megan Barnett and her mother, Suze, are best friends. Megan has always been able to share her secrets with her mother and enjoyed all the special girl outings the two went on...no matter what they were. But when her mother decides to dip her toe in the dating pool, Megan sees her life as she knows it changing and not for the better.

While Megan's plans to undermine her mother's first online boyfriend seem to work, she's not so lucky with suave, handsome and mysterious Armando. Being an art dealer, he has an immediate connection with Suze, but Megan feels like something is off with him.

She soon becomes obsessed with coming between Suze and Amando. She's so obsessed that she begins alienating her long time best friends, Matt and Erica. But her obsession does start to reveal that maybe, just maybe her suspicions were correct and Armando really is the boyfriend from hell.

I'm a bit on the fence about this one. Depending on how I look at this, it could be a really good book or one that could be passed up. Why, do you ask?

The premise was good:
Megan having issues with her mom now starting to date and then finding a man who was too good to be true was what any teenager would feel. It begs the questions: where will I fit in with my mom's new life.
Megan feeling things were a bit off with "too good to be true" Armando. Armando was a little to slick and that truly would raise alarm in anyone.
Megan having issues with her two best friends dating....again completely understandable. The dynamics of their little threesome has changed and left Megan wondering where she fit it.
But even with those key plot points pointing us towards a really good book, I got lost in the schizophrenia type twists and turns Megan would make with her thought processes and decisions. Now, I realize she was fifteen and at that age none of us made the wisest decisions, but hers just seemed over the top (ex: she wouldn't sneak out of the house to go meet with ultra hot Guy because she wasn't sure about him, but she'll sneak out of the house to see what's happening at Armando's house where she suspects he's up to no good).

My other issue was with the Guy storyline. It almost felt as if he should have had a more vital part to the whole storyline, but instead he was pushed back to a bit part and left to give us a tiny explanation at the very end.

Now, this is my very adult point of view. I may expect a bit more of my good versus evil showdowns, but that's not to say a YA reader in the appropriate age bracket would not adore this story. It for that teen audience and their ability to connect and appreciate Megan more than I could that I give the three cocktail rating.