Review : Foreplay by Sophie Jordan

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)
Author : Sophie Jordan
Publication Date: November 5th 2013
Publisher: Williams Morrow
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Before she goes after the life she’s always wanted, she’s about to find the one she needs.

Pepper has been hopelessly in love with her best friend’s brother, Hunter, for like ever. He’s the key to everything she’s always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she’s kissed exactly one guy, she has just the plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom—take a few pointers from someone who knows what he’s doing.

Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he’s beyond gorgeous, but he’s also dangerous, deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as lessons in attraction are turning both their worlds around, and showing just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what’s real…

Personal Thoughts

Foreplay is a virginal good girl meets bad boy NA book. While the concept is overused in the genre, I think Sophie Jordan did a great job at making the story her own. I personally had a great time reading this.

What I liked in Foreplay was the fact the characters had some baggage, but the baggage wasn't overwhelming and frustrating. Pepper, the main character, has been in love with her best friend's brother for a long time. When he breaks up with his girlfriend, she decides to make a move on him. The only problem? She feels like she's too inexperienced and needs to learn how to seduce a guy before she can do anything. Pepper was a sweet main character who was easy to like. Although the overly innocent female characters hardly ever work for me, I grew fond of Pepper. The thing about Pepper was that she wasn't perfect or extraordinary. She was a normal college girl (ignoring the virgin part), leading an ordinary life, which made her an easy character to identify with. Not only that, but she was also down-to-earth, honest and admitted that made mistakes when she did. All in all, Sophie Jordan has created a sweet and endearing character with Pepper.

When Pepper decides that she needs to learn the art of foreplay, she seeks Reece, the bartender with a reputation of being good in bed. When I first met Reece, my first impression was something along the lines of "Oh yay! A tattooed bad boy." (*Insert eye-roll*) Well, I'm happy to admit that I was wrong. Reece was so much more than a brooding tattooed bad boy. He was also a really charming, sweet and pleasant guy. In addition, he was mature, always willing to help and was kind to kids. Reece had his own set of issues, but he didn't let those affect the kind of person he was. Instead, he handled them in a responsible manner. Plus, he was sexy, intense, made me want to do inappropriate things to him and made me swoon with some of his dialogues. Foreplay also has a great set of secondary characters. Pepper's suite-mates and good friends were two fabulous girls and I'm looking forward to reading their own stories because they had vibrant personalities and I loved how supportive they were of Pepper.

When I read the blurb, I thought maybe Foreplay would have a love triangle of sort, but I wouldn't call it a love triangle at all. Pepper undoubtedly liked Hunter, but she wasn't attracted to him. So, he didn't really have the biggest role in the book except for propelling Pepper towards Reece and helping her realize that what she thought was the best for her was not necessarily the case. There was no unexpected silly drama between the three of them and that's what made me enjoy Foreplay so much. From start to finish, it was the love story of Pepper and Reece without the involvement of the third party. The plot was entertaining and I had a lot of fun reading it for sure.

Sophie Jordan nailed it with the chemistry between Pepper and Reece. There was always this intense, smoldering feeling whenever they were in a scene together and when they finally gave in to this attraction, the sparks between them pretty much exploded. Let me tell you, it was hot. The romance between them also developed and a nice pace despite them getting into a physical relationship earlier than the usual couple. I loved the conversations they had and they made their romance not only sexy, but also really sweet. Another element that I really enjoyed was the friendship between the three suitemates. I loved their interactions and the friendship between them felt very realistic to me. If I had one complaint it would be regarding something I was expecting. I was led to believe that there would  be an underground kink club involved in the series description, but it was only briefly mentioned in this story. However, that didn't dampen my enjoyment of the book at all.

Foreplay was a great addition to NA. It was sweet, sexy, entertaining and had fabulous characters who were easy to root for. If there is one NA book that those of you who are sick of the genre should try, then Foreplay is it!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

Thank you to Edelweiss and Williams Morrow for the e-ARC of Foreplay.