Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles, #1)

by Sophie Jordan

[kimbacaffeinate]

4.5 oh I loved this and Reese stole my heart.

Foreplay by Sophia Jordan was a wonderful surprise. I knew I was getting a tattooed bad boy, and a flawed heroine but Foreplay delivered so much more than I expected. Jordan gave me a hot romance, wrapped in a coming of age tale that completely swept me away. Mini review: heart-warming, hot, and the characters totally stole my heart.

Pepper dreams of having her own family, stability, and security. Since a young teen, she has envisioned that life and most of those dreams wrap around Hunter and his nuclear family. The only problem is that Hunter sees her as his little sister’s best friend. When Hunter breaks up with his long term girlfriend, Pepper and her friends decide she needs to learn how to get his attention. She has only ever kissed one guy, so the plan is to get her some lessons. Her roomies have the perfect teacher in mind a yummy bartender named Reece. *swoons* Reece is dark and dangerous, but there is more to Reese than his drop-dead good looks. As the lessons begin the tale that unfolds swept me away, held my heart and kept me turning the pages in search of my HEA.

Both of our main characters come from troubled, dysfunctional families, and while Pepper is very naïve, she also has her shit together and doesn’t follow a lot of the typical stereo-types associated with her social class. Jordan made her vulnerable, sweet and unsure. She gave Pepper depth allowing me to identify with her emotions, desires and uncertainty. She could have come off as a player, and at times, I didn’t approve of her actions but Jordan fleshed her out and made her believable. Reese besides being seriously yummy, has a plan and at twenty-three, he has a lot of responsibility thrown his way. I loved how the author made him strong, noble and yet vulnerable which totally made me fall for him. Pepper’s college friends fall into standard clichés but had their moments to shine. Hunter was the least fleshed out, but truly represented Pepper’s dream life.

Foreplay surprised me, since, on the outside, the characters represent typical characters for new adult. Hey, I am not complaining, keep the tattooed bad boys coming! I love how Jordan gave us what we wanted but made them more. Characters that have idyllic dreams or come up with plans are always enjoyable since we all know those plans never work completely the way they expected. The romance was slow to build, and started from passion which built slowly to friendship and respect. There was so much sexual tension the air cracked and sizzled. The tale was not without bumps, but the authors approach kept angst and drama out of the plot. This is the first in a series, and I am anxious to see whose tale the author gives us next.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer