I Knew You Were Trouble (Oxford, #4)

by Lauren Layne

[Rowena]

I Knew You Were Trouble is the fourth book in the Oxford series by Lauren Layne and it’s a book that I’ve been pretty anxious for. I love all things Lauren Layne and I especially love all things Oxford so the minute this book found its way onto my Kindle, I dug in and finished the entire book in a day.

If you read the other books in the Oxford series then you’ll remember Nick Ballantine as the fill-in guy. He’s a freelance writer who fills in for Oxford writers who are on vacation or out sick or whatever. Lincoln Mathis isn’t a fan of Nick’s because he tried asking Daisy out in Someone Like You and Lincoln didn’t appreciate Nick trying to slide into his girl’s DM’s. So this book is that Nick’s book and while it wasn’t my favorite of the Oxford bunch, I still rather enjoyed it.

Nick’s heroine works at Oxford on the marketing side of the magazine and Taylor Carr is the real deal. She’s fierce and she’s sassy and Nick wants her bad. Too bad, she hates his guts and wants nothing to do with him. Their chemistry was off the chains and I enjoyed their work encounters. This hate to love story was so much fun for me. I enjoyed getting to know both Nick and Taylor and their story was a solid one.

There was a lot about Nick that we didn’t know in the other books and I’m glad that we got his backstory in this book. He’s been through a lot of heartbreak and man did I feel for him. I felt for him when we find out what happened with Kelsey and I wanted to wring Kelsey’s neck when she popped up on his doorstep like she had every right to.

Taylor was a bit extra at times but I never hated her. I understood where she was coming from when she would act crazy and I can’t say that I blamed her for moving on to Bradley the way that she did. In my opinion, the back and forth between Nick and Taylor had to happen for them to get to where they were in the end. They were in such a good place at the end and the ending scene had me smiling like a crazy lady because I was so happy for both of them.

I really like Lauren Layne’s writing style. Her characters are always smart, charming and just all around great people and you can’t help by cheer them on. These characters were no different than the editorial Oxford peeps. They felt like my friends and I was glad to see all of my favorite characters from the other Oxford books.

I can’t wait to read Brit’s book and I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that her man is the man I’m thinking about. I’m so ready for that book.

Overall, this was a great romance featuring two people who fought their way to true love and even though it wasn’t my favorite book, I still recommend it because it’s a solid story as all Lauren Layne stories seem to be for me. Nick and Taylor are great and if you missed the other Oxford folks, look no further than this book because they’re all back!

Grade: 4 out of 5