Release Day Review: Deal Breakers - Laura Lee

We are one day out from the release of contemporary romance novel Deal Breakers by Laura Lee. If you have a Goodreads account, Laura is giving away a signed copy, right here! You've got 14 hours to enter and less than 24 hours before you can start reading this book yourself!

3.5 Stars
Published: September 1, 2015
An ARc was provided to me by Netgalley and the publisher, LAN Fiction LLC,  in exchange for an honest review.

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Riley has the best friend ever, Devyn, only Devyn is the girl that he is completely in love with her and she doesn't even know it. Riley is the player, the bad boy who brings girls home and forgets their names. Except Devyn, she's always been there since freshman year of college, she's the good girl best friend, they watch sports, spend every day together, and even have sleep overs. One day Devyn changes all of that, it's the end of senior year and she wants Riley to help her take care of her v-card. Riley makes the moment magical, the kind of moment girls dream of, but when it slips from Devyn's lips that she loves Riley, he freaks out and runs. Riley knows he made a mistake and 5 years later he thinks he knows how to make it up to her, but what he doesn't plan on is the big surprise Devyn drops in his lap. Can they get past this secret and forge a life together or are they destined to be just a fleeting perfect moment from senior year?

Riley is your quintessential bad boy, the character we shouldn't like and root for, but Laura Lee did something different with him, she gave us his perspective. That was a game changer for me, getting inside his head and seeing the moments from his eyes really made a difference for me. I didn't love him as a character, I wanted to learn more about him, but I wanted him to get the girl and the life he wanted. I felt for him in ways I do not like to feel for bad boys who leave girls after they say I love you. Devyn and Riley make a cute couple, even after 5 years apart and with a big change in their relationship. The story is a tad predictable, but it plays out well, the minor characters are really funny, and I got the ending I wanted.

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to give myself some time to sit and think on it. Deal Breakers hovered between a 3.5 and a 4 for me, I wanted to love it, but I never grew attached to the characters. I didn't get enough background to feel for them completely, I felt I had to take them only at face value. The story is also fairly predictable and is a very quick read.