Review: The Queen B* and the Homecoming King, by Crista McHugh

Amazon

Synopsis

The Queen B*, Alexis Wyndham, has only three rules when it comes to dating that star quarterback, Brett Pederson:
1. No obligations to spend every waking moment with each other.
2. No public displays of affection while at Eastline High.
3. And absolutely, under no circumstances, will she ever go to the Homecoming dance.
But as her life is completely upended time and time again, she begins to wonder if some rules are meant to be broken.

Excerpt
I'd never greeted a Monday morning with dozens of giddy butterflies in my stomach. Usually, I reserved my most dramatic sighs and biting comments for Mondays because—let's face it—they suck. But this Monday morning was different.
I, Alexis Wyndham, was officially Brett Pederson's girlfriend.
But I still wasn't ready to announce that to the world.
As we floated in a canoe among the water lilies in Lake Washington yesterday, I lay down a few ground rules to help me ease into this unprecedented (and unimaginable) situation. After all, it's not every day the Queen B* and the Quarterback become a couple. Dropping that bomb on our classmates could cause a rift in the space-time continuum.
Or at least cause my nemesis, Summer Hoyt, to have one very public and dramatic meltdown.
Rule number one: I refused to be one of those disgustingly cute couples that were joined at the hip between classes. We were dating, not merging our lives and identities into a single life-form. Brett had his group of friends and I had mine, and until recently, they never intertwined because I despised most of the in-crowd. If I hadn't gotten to know the real Brett during a class project, I would've continued to write him off as a dumb jock.
Lesson learned, but still…
Rule number two: no public displays of affection at school. Not that I had any problem with PDAs with Brett. I liked kissing him. But I also had been known to lose control when I was with him…and lose articles of clothing. And after having that awkward run-in with my mom and her boyfriend's PDA on our living room couch last week, I'd rather not make a spectacle of myself in front of everyone. It opened up the doors to ridicule.

Rule number three: I wouldn't go to Homecoming with Brett. I'd made it this far through high school without plunging into that cheesy sea of balloons and crepe paper while wearing a silly sequin-laden dress, and I wasn't going to cross that line during my senior year.

Review

4 out of 5 stars

I cannot help but love this YA series by Crista McHugh!  I would say part of the addiction is watching the characters grow and change as they deal with the ups and downs, ins and out of the high school social scene.  Every single time Alexis is forced to look beyond the stereotypes she herself has boxed her peers in I fall in love with her a little bit more.  Lexi keeps her guard up, she considers herself perhaps more evolved than her peers but eventually she realizes how wrong she is and every single time she grows up a little bit more.  

Brett in my opinion is the shining star of this series.  He's the jock/closet nerd and he definitely knows how to gently push Lexi beyond her comfort zone.  However, in this installment the golden boy finds himself in a bit of a pickle, as his life is turned upside down it's Alexis turn to do the pushing and encouraging.  

I adore this series and while this installment probably wasn't my favorite, I felt as though the story drug a little this time, I definitely recommend the overall series.  I do hope there are plans for a 4th book because I believe Lexi and Brett need a few more chapters to round out their story and ride off into the sunset of HEA.

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About Author Crista McHugh

Crista McHugh is an award-winning author of fantasy and romance who writes heroines who are smart, sexy and anything but ordinary. She currently lives in the Audi-filled suburbs of Seattle with her husband and two children, maintaining her alter ego of mild-mannered physician by day while she continues to pursue writing on nights and weekends. She is an active member of the Romance Writers of America (including the Greater Seattle Chapter and the Seattle Eastside Chapters), and Romance Divas. Just for laughs, here are some of the jobs she’s had in the past to pay the bills: barista, bartender, sommelier, stagehand, actress, morgue attendant, and autopsy assistant. And she’s also a recovering LARPer. (She blames it on her crazy college days)