Author: Wendy Higgins
Publication Date: March 05, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository
He was fifteen and she was seventeen.
When sophomore Ryan "The Kid" McPhearson makes the Varsity baseball team, he finds himself submersed into the life of upperclassmen, and falling in love with senior Brooke Bennet. To Ryan she's his dream girl, perfect. Maybe to the outside world a two-year age difference doesn't matter, but this is high school. Everything matters.
Ryan soon realizes Brooke's life is not so perfect. He becomes her closest friend, her safe place to fall when she needs to escape. Ryan seems to be benched in the friend zone with no chance to bat.
Time is both a curse and a blessing. It ushers Brooke away to college, and Ryan into the arms of his first girlfriend. It alters Ryan from a kid to a high school graduate, ready to venture to college himself. But when Ryan sees Brooke again he realizes there are some things even time can't touch.
Though much has changed, one question still remains. Will the things that mattered in high school always stand between them?
My Thoughts
Short, sweet, and love that's filled with hope and a promise. I was excited to start this because it's by Wendy Higgins and I've been in love with her Sweet Trilogy work so I was ecstatic to know that she's got a contemporary novel. Although, my excitement somehow got washed down when I read that it's a novella. Still, it was really good and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Ryan and Brooke have a two-year age gap that made Ryan think that having a relationship with her is far too gone to be a reality. The age gap in this story is something rare to me as a reader with the fact that the girl is the one who's older than the guy. I haven't read much stories with 'older girl' and 'younger boy' as the theme or if I had, then it probably wasn't much a matter in the books because I can't remember one but this. Two years wasn't all that bad but I get what Ryan's feeling. It's not that simple and easy. I loved reading it from his POV (in third person) and how he's just so serious about her that it's not something you'll label as having a crush anymore. It's something deeper than that.
It was so short that I thought this could have been a great if it was longer: from novella to a full-length contemporary book. There's so much more I wanted to know about Brooke's past and how she's going to deal with her parents (mom, stepfather and her dad) because I felt like there's just something hidden in their family that I want to know. How college went out for her and I did wish that she and Ryan talked more after the party. As for Ryan, I was eager to know where life would take him and if things with him and Brooke are going to be great. I still had yet to read the epilogue that the author posted in her site, though I know I'm going to be happy with it. I can already tell. I'm happy with the novella but still, a tiny bit of feeling that's pulling me back because this could've been a greater story if it was longer.
Bottom line, this was a quick read but it's the kind of quick read that really makes you happy especially if you're one hopeless romantic like myself.
