Main Characters: Alex Fuentes, Brittany Ellis
Series: Fuentes Brothers series?, Book 1
A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers. When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she’s worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it.
So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.
In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
Like the blurb says, this is a star-crossed lovers story where we have the boy from the wrong side of the tracks falling for the rich girl. They’re from two different worlds and yet they have so much in common it’s weird. Elkeles did a heck of a job writing about the distinct differences in the worlds of both Alex and Brittany.
Alex is poor and in a gang. Brittany is perfect and has everything going for her. When they’re paired up to be chemistry partners, things get interesting.
What I found interesting is that though Alex was struggling to make ends meet and had to get his hustle on to pay the bills, you could tell that him and his family were happy and that they loved each other. They may not have had the best of things but they made do with what they had and they enjoyed each other. Family was family, they did stupid things but you’d forgive them everything because at the end of the day, they were still your family. That wasn’t the case with Brittany’s family. Well, for Brittany and her sister but there was such a disconnect with the kids and the parents. Brittany loved her mother but you often wondered if her parents gave a crap about her and Shelley. In Alex’s family, it was evident but not so with Brittany’s family.
What I liked about this story was the romance between Alex and Brittany. She’s unattainable but he goes after her anyway. He doesn’t want to fall for her but he does anyway. She swears she’s going to stay away from him but she can’t. She knows that he’s no good for her and yet she can’t stay away from him. Watching these two fight the obstacles in their way and then making their way together was cute.
Alex was a stand up hero. He did what he had to do to protect his family and dealt with the consequences afterward. He was smart. He had a good head on his shoulders even though he was a gang banger. He was strong for his family but he wanted a better life for his brothers. He lived for his family and how could you not love a guy for that?
Brittany wasn’t at all what she appeared to be. She appeared to be perfect but was far from it. Her relationship with Collin was a phony hoax of a relationship that didn’t hold a candle to the realness of her relationship with Alex. She was a good girl but she had so much pressure that she was slowly unraveling and if Alex didn’t come into her life when he did, she probably would have gone crazy mad.
Alex and Brittany together was a treat to get to know. They bickered and they fought their way together and I enjoyed the ride.
The secondary characters were great in this book. I enjoyed getting to know Brittany’s best friend, oh crap what is her name? Hmmm, forget but anyway, I enjoyed getting to know her and I also liked the friendship that sparked up between her Isa. The friendship between Paco and Alex was my favorite though. Knowing that someone had your back the way that those two had each other’s is always great to read about and seeing it come to life through Paco and Alex made for some great reading. Whether they were at a cousin’s wedding, in class or around town, the loyalty between these two was constant and I adored it.
I’m not really sure why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I was going to. I mean, I enjoyed it but it wasn’t a favorite of mine. Maybe all of the hype that I built up around this book got to be so much that nothing was going to measure up, who knows. The relationship that blossomed between Alex and Brittany didn’t ring true to me for a while and I’m not sure why. At first, I didn’t understand why Brittany liked Alex. He was such a prick to her and yet she was drawn to him and I didn’t get it. We’re seeing things from both of their POV’s (which I liked) but while we’re reading about Brittany’s feelings for Alex early on in the book, it didn’t seem genuine. Moreover, it didn’t seem real.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the characters and I’m looking forward to reading Carlos’ book. I’m glad that things worked out for Alex and Brittany. I adored the way that Alex was with Shelley and seeing him at the end made my heart go all pitter patter. I love me some Mexicans so this was a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
This may have been my first Elkeles but it won’t be my last. Rules of Attractions, here I come!
Reading Order:
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
See I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. I think some of it has to do with expectations. I didn’t really want to read this one, I don’t generally care for that Romeo & Juilet/ West Side Story/ Warring families/wrong side of the tracks storyline. But I really enjoyed this book.
I didn’t care for the sequel quite as much. Something about Carlos’s voice/POV did not ring true to me.
We’re so opposites, it’s funny Mollie.
I’m actually looking forward to reading Carlos’ story. I’m hopeful that I’ll enjoy it!
I’ll get to it eventually.