Not Okay, Cupid (High School Heartbreakers #1) by Heidi R. Kling
Published by Entangled Crush
Published on January 11th, 2016
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27840786-not-okay-cupid
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Okay-Cupid-Heidi-Kling-ebook/dp/B01828N3JG
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-okay-cupid-heidi-r-kling/1122956723
Entangled Pub: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/not-okay-cupid/
Her wicked revenge, or his wicked heart…
Hazel McCallister loves her life. Perfect grades. Perfect best friend. Perfect boyfriend. Until her perfect boyfriend cheats on her with her perfect best friend. Now Hazel’s in free fall—until her best friend’s brother, Felix, gives her the perfect idea. Reclaim her power by taking revenge on her cheating ex.
Felix James loves his life. Casual relationships. Loads of surfing. He’s as drama-free as they come. But he can’t stand by when his sister steals her best friend’s boyfriend, and the dude insists it was Hazel’s fault. So Felix vows to help turn Hazel into a girl her ex can’t resist—so then she can break his heart.
With an alliance in place, Hazel’s revenge is all but assured. But with each piece of payback, she feels a stronger attraction to Felix, even though revenge will turn her into a girl Felix could never be with. And soon Hazel has to make an impossible choice: revenge…or Felix, the boy who’s stolen her heart.
WARNING! This book contains betrayal, revenge, and that most tempting vice of all, the bad
boy you know you can’t have.
Review
SPOILER-FREE
The story starts off strong, right before the action which I felt appropriate because it's right before the inciting incident so I never had time to get bored. A wonderful start! It was easy to get immersed into the story so I sped through this book and loved almost every second of it! I doubt most of what happens in the story is believable but it sure is entertaining!
I like Hazel and Felix, both are both interesting characters but they do lean close towards their stereotypical archetypes of RomCom characters but they do differ a little. I like how the author dove deeper into Felix's background and growth where we learn that he's more than he appears. We learn that he became the way he was because of his past and while I'd like to see him confront it more, I understand that it wasn't quite relevant to the story.
Personally, I'd have enjoyed seeing a more flawed Hazel. She's described as perfect but I didn't get that vibe from her in the story. We see she's not perfect, if anything, I'd describe her as "safe" as she likes making the best safe decisions. I can't really pick out a major flaw other than having bad judge of character. She is relatable but not a character I would say that stands out or is particularly memorable. I would have liked to see more layers of development with them both main characters, especially Hazel.
There were some inconsistencies with the physical description of characters which threw me off in the story. It got to the point where I had to stop reading and flip back to confirm the inconsistency but eventually got more consistent.
The pacing, the character's voice, and author's tone sounded fantastic to me, I feel they are the one of the best parts of the book. I often found myself chuckling and laughing at the antics the characters had gotten into or had said. This is one of the stronger aspects of the story which I loved and would love to see more of in future books.
Now I felt that the conclusion could have been better. The characters just made the wrong choices so I feel like things could have turned out differently than how it did. It would have been clever to end things in a different way if they had only thought of it (Highlight to read: Reverse roles of "Never Been Kissed" Prom Scene anyone?). Or maybe take a higher road but the characters didn't and I felt that was a disappointment. I also felt like a character could have gotten redemption for their choices. However, the heroes weren't willing to let that happen and I feel that it could have been a touching moment and a nice way to end the story. Still the end is satisfying and as is expected so you'll be happy with the end.
Essentially, don't expect character growth or development but if you love an adorable romance and emotions flying everywhere, this book may be for you. I would have loved to have rated this book higher if the characters had more development and the ending had been more clever, touching, and maybe some redemption. Overall, if you enjoy RomComs that make you feel warm and fuzzy with a few laughs, you'll find it in this book.
I like Hazel and Felix, both are both interesting characters but they do lean close towards their stereotypical archetypes of RomCom characters but they do differ a little. I like how the author dove deeper into Felix's background and growth where we learn that he's more than he appears. We learn that he became the way he was because of his past and while I'd like to see him confront it more, I understand that it wasn't quite relevant to the story.
Personally, I'd have enjoyed seeing a more flawed Hazel. She's described as perfect but I didn't get that vibe from her in the story. We see she's not perfect, if anything, I'd describe her as "safe" as she likes making the best safe decisions. I can't really pick out a major flaw other than having bad judge of character. She is relatable but not a character I would say that stands out or is particularly memorable. I would have liked to see more layers of development with them both main characters, especially Hazel.
There were some inconsistencies with the physical description of characters which threw me off in the story. It got to the point where I had to stop reading and flip back to confirm the inconsistency but eventually got more consistent.
The pacing, the character's voice, and author's tone sounded fantastic to me, I feel they are the one of the best parts of the book. I often found myself chuckling and laughing at the antics the characters had gotten into or had said. This is one of the stronger aspects of the story which I loved and would love to see more of in future books.
Now I felt that the conclusion could have been better. The characters just made the wrong choices so I feel like things could have turned out differently than how it did. It would have been clever to end things in a different way if they had only thought of it (Highlight to read: Reverse roles of "Never Been Kissed" Prom Scene anyone?). Or maybe take a higher road but the characters didn't and I felt that was a disappointment. I also felt like a character could have gotten redemption for their choices. However, the heroes weren't willing to let that happen and I feel that it could have been a touching moment and a nice way to end the story. Still the end is satisfying and as is expected so you'll be happy with the end.
Essentially, don't expect character growth or development but if you love an adorable romance and emotions flying everywhere, this book may be for you. I would have loved to have rated this book higher if the characters had more development and the ending had been more clever, touching, and maybe some redemption. Overall, if you enjoy RomComs that make you feel warm and fuzzy with a few laughs, you'll find it in this book.
3.4 out of 5 rating for me!
(A copy was provided for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.)
Teasers
About the Author:
Website: http://heidirkling.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiRKling
Tumblr: http://heidirkling.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidi.r.kling
Read below for an excerpt from the book:
I watched in horror as Kimmy’s lips grazed Jay’s ear. He leaned back and laughed. What the heck was going on?
“Oh God!” Hazel said, grabbing my hand. “Look at her hand.”
Kimmy’s hand was riding high up Jay’s shorts. High, high. Like top of thigh high. The kind of move that usually let me know a girl was ready to get down to business.
“Dude,” I said, because what else could I say?
Hazel swallowed. “Did you know about this?”
“Me? No way. Hell no. I’ve been looking for her all day, too. Look, Baze, don’t overreact. We don’t know anything. Who knows. He might have…lost a match and she’s…comforting him. Or his turtle died and they’re planning a eulogy together?” I was grasping and we both knew it, but I couldn’t stand to see that pained look on her face. “I once heard the best eulogy for a frog. It was amazing. It was all about the life cycle from tadpole to amphibian to…”
“Shut up, Felix.”
“Shutting up.”
Hazel brushed past me and barreled toward them. It was no turtle eulogy, and I knew it. I mean, I didn’t know I knew it, but I knew the look of two people who were digging on each other, and those two were certainly all about the other one. God, poor Hazel.
Oh no. There she goes.
I had to follow her. I had to help.
“Excuse me,” I said to a group of three ladies in my way. Two of them grinned at me, one glared. The glaring one was a girl I’d forgotten to call back. I ducked, sheepishly, with a little apologetic wave, and came out on the other side.
I’d never even heard Hazel raise her voice, never mind cry. Never mind cry in public. But I didn’t need to use my astute Sherlock skills to see Hazel was on the verge of doing all three. She stopped close to Jay and Kimmy, like she was verifying what she was seeing was real.
One more intimate touch from Kimmy on Jay and that was it. Hazel moved in for the kill.
The Giveaway:
a #Heartbreak tank top that looks like this and was inspired by Not Okay, Cupid (as the series name for this book is High School Heartbreakers): https://
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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January 11th
The Phantom Paragrapher – Review
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January 12th
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[Not] Write in the Head – Promo Post
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Addicted to Books – Review
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The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Review
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The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Guest Post
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Beanie’s Book Blog – Review
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Crossroad Review – Promo Post
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Just One More Chapter – Promo Post
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OriginiquEquanimity – Review
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Adventures in Writing – Review
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