Blog Tour & ARC Review: Stuck with You (The First Kiss Hypothesis #3) by Christina Mandelski (+ giveaway)
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Series: The First Kiss Hypothesis #3
Author: Christina Mandelski
Published September 2nd 2019 by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Crush)
Goodreads Synopsis
When Caleb Gray heads to the Texas coast to mentally prepare for a future he isn’t sure he wants, the last person he expects to see is Catie Dixon. Yeah, their mothers have been planning their wedding since they were born, but he and Catie are most definitely not friends. He can’t see her as anything but the annoying kid who followed him everywhere. Except, it’s really bothering him that everyone is staring at her in that bikini…
Catie got over her crush on Caleb ages ago. So why can’t she see past his ripped body or how unsettled he seems? She’s got her own problems, though. Her future has been set for years and now she’s dreaming of pulling the plug. A week at their families’ beach house is just what she needs to pull herself together, and she has no intention of letting Caleb back into her heart...which would be a whole lot easier if he’d put on a shirt.
But a forced week of togetherness full of beach parties, waterslide mishaps, bonfires, and roller coasters sparks more than an understanding. What do you do when the person standing in the way of your future is the one person you grew up hating...but now don’t?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
This book was such a quick read, and I found myself unable to put it down - it was good I didn't really have anything planned for the day, otherwise I don't know what I would've done. In Stuck With You, Caleb has took himself off to the family beach house, hoping to spend a few days with just his thoughts and his dog, and get to grips with what is happening in his life. His whole life has been planned out by his parents - he's going to go to college on a sports scholarship, studying business, and then one day take over the stores his family own with long time friends, the Dixons. However, he arrives at the beach house and Catie Dixon, his old best friend since they were in nappies, and someone who gets on his nerves, has interrupted his fun, and is adamant she's not leaving until she's had a break too. While they're stuck together, they slowly start to realise that their friendship wasn't worth losing all those years ago, when Caleb moved to Florida, and that they are actually better off as more than friends. They also learn what they want in the future, and work with each other in order to plan just how to tell their parents they don't want to join the family business.
Both of the main characters were fantastic. I felt more of a connection to Caleb, which isn't what I normally find. Caleb's whole life seems to have been planned out, but while in Texas, he gets talking to a local professor, and realises that business is not in the books for him, and faces a proper struggle on whether to go with his gut or with his family wishes. The same actually goes for Catie, whose parents also plan on her going to university - a year later - to study business, but that's not for her either. Both of the characters, even though they 'hated' each other at first, care enough about the other to not jeopardise their freedom by being selfish and doing what they wanted - one of them will study business, and both want it to be them, and not the other.
The romance was actually on the back burner, I felt, in this book, with the rediscovery of friendship and look towards the future playing a bigger role. However, it was such a cute friends-to-lovers relationship, and even though their mothers had neigh on planned their wedding as babies, they still know that there will be a bit of a fall out when the revelation is revealed.
After reading this book, I realised I have a copy of book 1 to review too, and think I'll be getting to that asap, and try to get a copy of book 2, too. Definitely a contemporary author I enjoyed.
Dates Read:
August 15, 2019Rating
4 Stars
About Christina Mandelski:
Christina Mandelski was born in South Florida, where her love of reading was cultivated in a house full of books. Stories like The Little House series, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Island of the Blue Dolphins and The Secret Garden, filled her imagination and fueled her dreams to be a writer. That dream came true when her first young adult novel, THE SWEETEST THING, was published in 2011, and she’s beyond thrilled about her upcoming series for Entangled Crush. Chris lives in Houston with one handsome husband, two beautiful daughters, and two freakshow cats. She has a fondness for the beach, her family and friends, and she still loves to read (especially curled up with a good cup of coffee!) She also enjoys shopping, traveling and eating, especially cake. Always cake. When she’s not doing these things, you can find her holed in a cozy spot with her laptop, writing.
LINKS: Twitter | Website | Goodreads
Giveaway
One (1) winner will win a signed copy of all 3 books in the First Kiss Hypothesis series by Christina Mandelski
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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