Rowena‘s review of I Want it That Way (Apartment 2B Trilogy #1) by Ann Aguirre.
Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she’s determined to make them come true—for her parents’ sake as well as her own. But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, she barely has time to think, let alone date. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B….
Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can’t risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, a social life is out of the question. The last thing he wants is for four noisy students to move into the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia’s and Ty’s paths cross, and soon they can’t stay away from each other.
The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can’t know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.
I’m a complete Ann Aguirre newbie so when this series came out (which caters to my contemporary NA loving heart), I was more than a little curious to try it out. If you know me then you know that I’m all about the contemporary romance. Contemporary romance, YA, NA, I don’t care. I love all things contemporary romance so going into this book, I was excited.
Nadia Conrad just moved into a new apartment with her three roommates. While she’s moving into said new apartment, she comes across her surly new neighbor, Ty. The hot ginger from the apartment right underneath hers. He doesn’t look like he’s interested in getting new college neighbors that come with lots of noise and college shenanigans but you see him change his mind over the course of the story.
Nadia and Ty were both interesting characters. I thought they complimented each other and really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop.
Nadia was a likable heroine. For a college aged heroine, she was mature and didn’t play games. I liked that she was up front with Ty about why she was acting the way that she was and I really liked seeing her so goal oriented. She had plans for her future and she was making things happen for herself and I liked that about her. The way that her parents held her up on that pedestal at the same time they were underestimating their older son, Rob was a bit bothersome but not enough to ruin Nadia for me. I loved the way Nadia was with Sam and I really loved the way that she won Ty over.
I ended up really liking Ty. It was funny because I’m normally easily won over by the heroes in the books that I read but Ty was different. We first meet Ty and he’s grumpy and irritated with seeing his new neighbors but the more we go to know him, and the more we learned about what motivates him, I really came to like his character. Sure, his reasons for staying away from Nadia drove me nuts for a little bit but I understood why he was adamant about his rules. When you’re a parent, you do things for your kids that many don’t understand but if you have your kids best interest at heart, it’s hard to not be okay with their choices. He was a great father to Sam and when he finally jumped in with Nadia, he completely won me over.
One of my favorite things in this book outside of the main romance between Ty and Nadia was the dynamic between Nadia and her roommates. They were a family unit and I loved the way that they were with each other. They genuinely cared about one another and I adored all of them. My favorite roommate was Max. So misunderstood and in love with Lauren. Oh, I cannot wait for his book. I know that he is going to be made of awesome.
I’m mighty curious to see what happens when Lauren goes home. Should be good.
For this book, I really enjoyed it and thought it was a good introduction into this series. It did its job by whetting my appetite for more. I’m definitely going to read the heck out of this series.
Grade: 4 out of 5
This book is available from HQN. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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