Series: None
Author: Jenn P. Nguyen
Published June 7th 2016 by Macmillan/Swoon Reads
Goodreads Summary
Taylor Simmons is screwed.
Things were hard enough when her single-minded dedication to her studies earned her the reputation of being an Ice Queen, but after getting drunk at a party and waking up next to bad boy surfer Evan McKinley, the entire school seems intent on tearing Taylor down with mockery and gossip.
Desperate to salvage her reputation, Taylor persuades Evan to pretend they’re in a serious romantic relationship. After all, it’s better to be the girl who tames the wild surfer than just another notch on his surfboard.
Goodreads
Review
The fake boyfriend trope is one of my all time favourites in YA books. This book immediately jumped on my wishlist when I read the synopsis, and I preordered it after my birthday, and the fact it came out the day of my final uni exam seemed like fate.
The Way to Game the Walk of Shame begins with Taylor, the girl known around school for being a geek, a nerd, and a shoe in for valedictorian. When she wakes up in bed with the school's biggest player, Evan, she hopes no one has noticed. Unfortunately for her, everyone at the party saw them together, and as soon as she walks into school on Monday morning, the rumours start circulating. So, what else is there to do, that manage the situation and do risk damage? Taylor's solution - her and Evan are actually together, and she's not the 'slut' that everyone is saying she is. Luckily, Evan agrees to be her fake boyfriends, and a contract - really - is drafted. Like most books with this trope, they fall for each other, for real, but not without a good helping of angst thrown in.
Taylor was amazing. Just because everyone thinks she's an Ice Queen, doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings. She's just dedicated to her work, and knows exactly what she wants with her life. She has everything planned out, and has no time for distractions. Because of this, she comes across as rude, but for those who really know her, she's kind. As the book progressed, she shed some of her icy-ness, and even though she never wavered on achieving her goals, she understood that there was more to life than just good grades.
I loved Evan, too. He was very typical for YA love interests, but he had a proper softer side, that not many people saw. What was great about this book, was that Evan was the first to realise his feelings for Taylor were real, and that meant the the green monster popped up a fair few times, when another prospective love interest appears.
That love interest, Brian, was fairly boring, and not a good fit for Taylor, at all. They'd been friends for a while, but nothing had happened, until Brian saw Taylor with Evan, and decided to make his move - not a good idea, dumb ass.
Overall, the book was just a really nice, cute, fluffy read. I had a smile on my face for the majority of the book, and though Evan and Taylor's relationship was one of the best fake-dating-to-real tropes I have ever seen. I can't wait to read more from Nguyen in the future.
Dates Read:
June 13-14, 2016
Rating
4 Stars
Rating
4 Stars
