Reel him in. Make him love you. Break his heart? Think How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for contemporary YA romance readers. A sure bet for anyone in search of a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud love story that will charm their socks off.
Lark is the queen of breakups. When she ends things with a boy, there are never any hard feelings. Sometimes he doesn't even realize that she broke up with him. And that's exactly how Lark likes it. What's the point in hurting people? Or getting hurt?
Her best friends, Cooper and Katie, think Lark's dating pattern is tragic. How can she know what love is if she refuses to take risks? They dare her to finally have a bad breakup, one that matters. To appease her friends, Lark selects "Undateable" Ardy Tate as her target. He's a mysterious challenge and completely different from any guy she's ever dated. Can she win him over? Will she break his heart? Or will the Queen of Breakups have her heart broken?
Fall in love with another YA romance from Jen Klein, the author of Shuffle, Repeat, which SLJ praised as "addictive. Fans of Deb Caletti and Sarah Dessen will enjoy this sweet romance."
Lark was a heartbreaker, the boys just didn't know it. Her dating style was clear: she picked them, reeled them in, and made them break up with her before any real feelings were involved. It was working for her, or at least she thought it was. Her best friends, Cooper and Katie, felt it was time for Lark to try something different, and challenged her to pick a boy, different from her norm, get to know him, and actually give the relationship a chance. Her choice, Ardy, the new transfer student. He was known to be "undateable", but when push came to shove, did she really want to break his heart?
The set up was something I had seen variations of before, and I know that when there is romance and a bet, there will always be some mess to clean up. So, no big surprise there. But, not only did Lark begin this relationship under less than honorable terms, she also bought into the rumors about Ardy, and went behind his back to find out more about them. Yes, a lot of dishonesty, but also a lot of lessons learned.
Ardy was different from your average teen boy, but I loved the kid. He was sweet, a good friend, and had some pretty interesting hobbies. I actually loved him and Lark together, and I liked the things he brought out in her. He was the first boy she saw a future with and wasn't afraid to take risks for. He pushed her out of her comfort zone, and Lark felt like she could take off her mask and really be herself with him.
I knew this was going to get messy just from reading the synopsis, but I didn't realize how much I would care about all the people involved. I found myself very invested in all of Lark's relationships and my heart broke for her. I will say, that I adored the little atonement tour she did. It was fun, and the ending definitely did its job of bringing me joy and making me smile.
Overall: A fun and sweet story about not buying into other people's perceptions, breaking free of negative routines, making your own choices, not letting someone's past determine their present, and letting your true self shine through.
