Main Character: Willow
Love Interest: Max
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads
Willow has spent most of her life as her mother’s sidekick in a popular Las Vegas hypnotism show. So when she and her mom move back to their sleepy southern hometown to start over, she thinks she’s in for a life of quiet normalcy. Except that her new life turns out to be anything but, when she kinda sorta hypnotizes Quinton, the hottest guy on the football team, to fall madly, deeply, head over heels in love with her. But what started out as an innocent way to make her best friend, Max, jealous soon gets way out of hand, and Willow begins to wonder if the mind – and more importantly, the heart – is something you can really control.
Friends to more than friends, I love this storyline and this book is all about the best friends becoming more than friends and I enjoyed it all immensely. Willow’s best friend is Max and they’ve been best friends since they were little kids and when Willow’s Mom announces that they’re moving across the country to Vegas so that she can host a hypnotist show on the strip, Willow goes because really, what choice does she have?
So before Willow moves to Vegas, leaving Max behind she tries her hand at hypnotizing Max into making sure that they stay best friends no matter what….and they do. Day after day, month after month, year after year, Willow and Max stay in touch and they stay best friends until one night Willow calls Max in tears of a recent heart break and Max comforts her. From that night on, Willow sees Max as more than just her best friend. When she gets the news that her Mom is moving them back to their hometown, Willow is over the moon because she’ll be closer to Max and she’ll finally get a chance to take her friendship with Max and make it something more.
Things are going swimmingly until she moves back home and finds out that Max has moved on. He’s got a girlfriend that he’s crazy about and Willow starts to question, well, everything. It sucks for her because she loves Max but she can’t be with Max because he’s happy with his girlfriend. When she first comes back to town, she runs into the hottest guy she’s ever seen before in her life and his name is Quinton. They flirt and when school starts up again, she runs into him again and is pleased when he remembers her and they share their little inside joke. Rumors fly about Willow’s Moms being a hypnotist and before Willow knows whats what, she’s being asked to do a hypnotist show at a party where all the popular people will be at and Max isn’t happy about it.
She’s not a professional, she could do some damage without meaning to and Max really doesn’t want her to do it but when she does it anyway, he’s supportive of her. It’s what best friends do. The drama that goes down in this book hits one after another after another. I couldn’t help but get annoyed each and every time Willow let herself get talked into doing things she shouldn’t have been doing in the first place. There were plenty of times when I wanted to wack her upside the head because she went about her business like it wasn’t a big deal when it was. The whole thing with Quinton and the spell she put him under had me cringing because I’m not a fan of mind control and that’s basically what she did to him.
Everything works out in the end (you’ll just have to find out how by reading it for yourself) and I honestly adored Max’s character so I ended up enjoying the book but my enjoyment didn’t come without some hiccups, Willow’s behavior being at the very top of that list. Jennifer Jabaley did a fabulous job of sucking me into this story and into the characters because I was wrapped up in their world the entire time that I was reading this book. I laughed with them, I was disappointed in them and I rejoiced with them.
Willow isn’t a bad person and I didn’t hate her at all, I just wanted her to listen to those around her more. She seriously messed with Quinton’s head and I didn’t feel like she was reprimanded enough for her actions and that’s really the reason that this book is getting a B instead of an A because outside of Willow’s behavior, I enjoyed everything else about this book so freaking much. Max, Max and Willow and even the friendships that blossomed between her and Georgia and even her and Mia. I really enjoyed getting to know both Georgia and Mia. Georgia cracked me up with her love of pop culture and Mia made me smile because she was such a people pleaser. But as much as I liked all of the characters in the book, it was Max that I loved the most. I loved that his relationship with Willow and I loved the person he grew up to be. Such a swoonworthy piece of boy and I ate him up!
If you’re looking for a contemporary YA book that will warm your heart and make you smile then this is the book for you. It did the trick for me and I’m sure it will for you too. =) Kudos to Jennifer Jabaley for writing a book worth reading.
..and that’s your scoop!
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
Oh, max sounds like a winner! I don’t know if would be able to put up with Willow always being talked into doing stuff she doesn’t want to do – it’s one of the things that REALLY annoy me in books.
Le Sigh
Still, Max might be worth it.