The Cad and the Co-Ed

by L H Cosway and Penny Reid

[leelu92]

I remember when I finished The Player and the Pixie (the book before this one) and I read the teaser for this book. I knew then that I wanted to read this book. I’m a complete sucker for a baby in a book, I don’t know why but that trope just works for me. Soon, I realized that this was going to be somewhat of a secret baby book and at that point, I became concerned. I’m NOT a fan of the secret baby trope when that secret is kept for a long time for a stupid reason.

In the Co-Ed and the Cad, Eilish kept Patrick’s paternity a secret for a very good reason. Bryan was in no way shape or form, in a place to be a father, much less, even remember the time he and Eilish spent together. (This is not a spoiler, by the way, it’s in the synopsis.) When Bryan and Eilish were together, he was an alcoholic, plain and simple. Thanks to his rugby coach he was able to pull himself together and live his life in a completely different way. Enter Eilish.

It’s clear to Eilish that Bryan has absolutely no memory of her and while she concerned about his ability to be a parent to Patrick, she realizes she needs to tell him about his son. I was cool with all of this and I wanted Bryan to know about his son. It was also obvious that Bryan and Eilish were very attracted to each other and I was really looking forward to how they could work through Patrick’s paternity and maybe become a family. Bryan wanted to create a family, he cared for Eilish and Patrick and knew he had a lot of work to do. All of the pieces were there (and here is where the BUT comes in) but I just wasn’t crazy about how all of the pieces were put together. I think the thing is, I’ve become intolerant of conflict and drama due to lack of communication. There was a MASSIVE speedbump that revolved around this very plot device and it really diminished my overall enjoyment of this book.

This book was funny, sexy and entertaining, plus I truly enjoyed Eilish’s cousin Sean (from the previous book). I have enjoyed Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway’s work in this series but I was really bummed out by the use of conflict in this book.