Review: My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff
10:00
Series: None
Author: Shani Petroff
Published October 31st 2017 by Swoon Reads
Goodreads Synopsis
Charlotte Charlie Donovan knows exactly what she wants for Christmas: Teo Ortiz. He's the school's star athlete, in the National Honor Society, invited to every party, contributes to the school paper (where Charlie is co-editor), and is about to be featured as One to Watch in a teen magazine basically, he's exactly the type of guy Charlie s meant to be with. The only problem he barely knows she exists.
But Charlie is determined to be Teo's date to the Christmas ball. And she has a plan: To rig the paper's Secret Santa so that she can win his heart with five perfect gifts. But to do that she needs help. Enter J.D. Ortiz Teo's cousin, and possibly the most annoying person on the planet. He's easy going, laid back, unorganized, spontaneous, and makes a joke out of everything the exact opposite of Charlie (and Teo). But he's willing to provide insight into what Teo wants, so she's stuck with him.
Yet, the more time Charlie spends with J.D., the more she starts to wonder: Does she really know what, or rather who, she wants for Christmas?
Goodreads
Review
This is another Secret Santa book that was a nice, quick read, and one to get into the Christmas spirit. Charlie has been into Teo, the star of the school, and alright perfect guy, for as long as she can remember. Even though they work together on the school paper, Teo barely knows Charlie exists, but that's all about to change. Charlie is going to rig the paper's Secret Santa so that Teo is hers, and will bag a date to the Christmas dance and they'll fall in love. The only issue is that fact that Charlie doesn't know what would be perfect for the five gifts to give to Teo, so she enlists his cousin, J.D., to help, even if she thinks he is the most annoying person, ever. The more she works with J.D., the more she questions whether it is Teo she wants, or the idea of him, and whether J.D. is as bad as she thought he was.
Charlie's character was slightly annoying at times, but I did enjoy the story. Yes the idea that a girl is using someone else, who clearly has feeling for her, in order to get with someone else is abhorrent, I think that Charlie was just a bit naive, and honestly didn't realise that J.D. liked her until late on. It might be assumed that there's a love triangle in the book, but Shani made sure that there wasn't, which made me happy as I dislike love triangles. The more Charlie is thinking about her feelings, the more she realises that her 'feelings' for Teo are non-existent, and she starts to really look at herself, and find her true self, and who she actually likes.
Teo, as a love interest, was boring, but J.D. was sweet, and goofy, and seemed to really care for Charlie. From their first interactions, you could see the chemistry, even if Charlie was in denial, and both argued a lot. However, the use of the enemies-to-lovers trope was executed well, and I honestly believed in their feelings and relationship. All I could've asked for was a bit of an epilogue to find out what happened after the climax of the book, but overall, it was a nice and quick read, perfect for the festive season.
Dates Read:
January 13, 2018Rating
4 Stars
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