Book Review: My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff

Title: My New Crush Gave to Me
Author: Shani Petroff
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
Genres: General Fiction, Romance, Young Adult

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Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble // Kobo // iBooks
Amazon // Indiebound

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My New Crush Gave to Me
Shani Petroff
Swoon Reads, October 2017
ISBN 978-1-250-13032-7
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

Charlotte “Charlie” Donovan knows exactly what she wants for Christmas: Teo Ortiz. He’s a star athlete, a National Honor Society member, and the most popular guy in school. Plus he contributes to the school paper, where Charlie is a co-editor. Basically, he’s exactly the type of guy Charlie’s looking for. The only problem is―he barely knows she exists.

But Charlie has a plan: rig the paper’s Secret Santa and win his heart with the perfect gift. The catch? She has no idea what to get him. Enter J.D. Ortiz–Teo’s cousin, and possibly the most annoying person on the planet. He’s easy going, laid back, disorganized, and spontaneous―the exact opposite of Charlie (and Teo). But he knows 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?

Sometimes, I need a change of pace from my usual reading fare and a light, romantic comedy can be the perfect palate cleanser, so to speak. Also, I don’t mind saying I’m starting to have a few Christmas-y thoughts and, besides, I love this cover 😉

Now, there are things about this particular story that plucked a few nerves. For one, this is about a bunch of privileged, pretty teens whose biggest problem is finding a date for the party of the year. Second, there were times when Charlie is kind of hard to like, not because she’s mean-spirited or anything like that, but because she is so unrelentingly rigid and opinionated. Still, she’s a good kid and gets a pass because she is, after all, a kid and can’t be expected to be swimming in maturity. In fact, a lot of maturity would take all the fun out of things, right? Now, for characters you can love, no one beats Charlie’s BFF, Morgan, because she really cares about Charlie and wants what’s best for her, and J.D. is a delightful sort of sideways Cyrano de Bergerac.

The plot is both lighthearted and filled with teenaged angst and it all works quite well. From the very beginning, I was pretty sure what was going to happen eventually and getting there gave me a couple of hours of pure pleasure. Who knows, I may just read another romcom soon!

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2017.

About the Author

Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. She’s the author of the “Bedeviled” series, which includes Daddy’s Little Angel, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress, Careful What You Wish For, and Love Struck, and is the co-author of the “Destined” series which includes Ash and Ultraviolet. She also writes for television news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online.

Author links:

Website // Twitter // Facebook // Goodreads

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