Review : One of the Guys by Lisa Aldin

Summary (from Goodreads)
 
Title : One of the Guys
Author : Lisa Adlin
Publication Date : February 10th 2014
Publisher : Spencer Hill Press
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Tomboy to the core, Toni Valentine understands guys. She'll take horror movies, monster hunts and burping contests over manicures. So Toni is horrified when she's sent to the Winston Academy for Girls, where she has to wear a skirt and learn to be a lady while the guys move on without her.

Then Toni meets Emma Elizabeth, a girl at school with boy troubles, and she volunteers one of her friends as a pretend date. Word spreads of Toni’s connections with boys, and she discovers that her new wealthy female classmates will pay big money for fake dates. Looking for a way to connect her old best friends with her new life at school, Toni and Emma start up Toni Valentine’s Rent-A-Gent Service.

But the business meets a scandal when Toni falls for one of her friends--the same guy who happens to be the most sought-after date. With everything she's built on the line, Toni has to decide if she wants to save the business and her old life, or let go of being one of the guys for a chance at love.

Personal Thoughts

I'm a sucker for the friendship to romance trope. There's just something about it that gives me the butterflies. That's why I so readily picked up One of the Guys when it became available. I think my expectations for this book were a teensy bit too high because I ended up not loving it as much as I wanted to.

The main reason why I didn't completely adore One of the Guys was the main character, Toni. She sounded very young from the beginning of the book and I think that's one reason I didn't fully connect with her character. Toni was also very childish in certain scenes. But what really put me off was her constant "everything is about ME" attitude. I get that she was a teenager and all teenagers go through that phase where they think the whole world is against them, but I just didn't like reading about it. That being said, it was also easy for me to sympathize with Toni. It was her senior year and her friends, all guys, were slowly drifting away and she wanted to everything she could to keep her friend group together, especially with her being transferred to an all-girls school. That was when she came up with the not-so-bright idea of renting out her friends. Now, I knew that this was going to be the essence of the story when I started it, but I didn't realize just how uncomfortable it would make me feel. Toni basically pimped out her friends and it was a little frustrating how she didn't see what she was doing was so wrong. Her intentions were in the right place, but at some point in the book, she became mildly obsessed with, refusing to see her wrongdoings even when her friends would get hurt. So as you can tell, I did not have a particularly strong relationship with Toni.

What I did, however, enjoy in One of the Guys was the portrayal of friendship. Seeing the bond that existed between Toni and her guy friends was really sweet, and at the same time Lisa Adlin also showed how these relationships could slowly fray over time. My favorite relationship though was the blossoming friendship between Toni and Emma. It was heartfelt and I loved that Toni was finally able to feel comfortable around a girl. The romance in One of the Guys was also sweet. When Toni began to grow feelings beyond friendship for her best friend and next-door neighbor, Micah, she was worried about how that would affect their relationship with each other and with everyone else. It was a lot of fun watching these two try to fight off their feelings for each other, but the ending left me sighing with happiness and pleasantly satisfied.

Overall, One of the Guys was a sweet story. I believe I would have enjoyed it much better had the protagonist been a little more likeable. However, I would have recommend this book for a nice day out in the sun.

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 3/5


Thank you to NetGalley and Spencer Hill Press for the e-ARC of One of the Guys.
 

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