The Ex Games and Major Crush by Jennifer Echols

I could review these books properly, seperatly, but seeing as I'd be posting them the same day, I'd just be repeating myself a lot. So instead, it's a (fairly badly I admit) mashed together review of both books, which have no connection to each other aside from being by the same author for the same publisher.


The Ex Games: Four years ago, in 7th grade, Nick and Hayden were the star couple for their brief relationship. It ended very publicly and Hayden swore she'd never get involved with him again. But now both of her best friends have paired of with his best friends and now the whole school assumes they're next. When Hayden then aces a girls under 18 snowboard competition, Nick declares he could beat her any day. Both competitive and stubborn people, the gauntlet is set. With half their town and school also taking sides, it becomes a massive battle of the sexes. As the rivalry and chemistry heat up, it causes some serious, entertaining and unexpected results.

Major Crush: Virginia Sauter tired of beauty-pageants, pierced her nose, joined the marching band and tired out for drum major. She got it, but she has to share the role with Drew. His family have held the position for several generations and he's more than a little superior about it. They're constantly fighting, much to the detriment of the band, but their fighting leads to flirting and the competition heats up. Until rumors start flying around that threatens not only their very new romance, but the stability of the band as well.

I've loved all the Simon Pulse romantic comedies that Jennifer has written. Sure they're a little predictable, but they're fun and smart as well. They're not very long but Jennifer does a great job of creating a hot teen romance with well rounded characters and dealing with some serious issues (The Ex Games: psychological aftermath of a huge accident/divorce. Major Crush: secrets and the toll parents can take on their kids. The Boys Next Door/Endless Summer: ADHD, the loss of a parent, serious sibling rivalry). And not only are the main characters well fleshed out, but so are the side characters. They're not place holders, they're real characters as well, and some of them I really love too. All her characters have a realness to them that I really enjoy. They're not always the smartest, or coolest, or bravest, they're themselves and very easy to relate to.

With The Ex Games, I was so often torn as to who was in the right, or even if there was one, as Nick and Hayden battled against each other. They both made some pretty big mistakes and wrong assumptions, and they didn't listen to each other on several occations. But that's so often what it's like in real life and I liked seeing how things played out for them. There were plenty of laughs along the way, but there is a serious side to them both as well, one that kept me well and truly hooked. Very, very hard to put down and easily finished in a day. Sweet, fun, angsty and generally great. Loved it.

Major Crush...well, who knew band geeks could be so much fun? I mean no offence with that comment at all, honestly, am a total book geek so I can't really say anything, but this book was hilarious. Had me doubled up almost crying with laughter a couple of times. Virginia and Drew are both sensitive people and hiding some pretty big secrets. Things are hard on both of them and it was really hard not to feel for both of them throughout the book. The way they interact with each other had me giggling plenty, but the character who quite possibly makes this book, is their insane band teacher. And I do mean insane. He has some great insight, but he's totally crazy as well and it was his lines that had me laughing the most. Loved the book from beginning to end and it was another one I couldn't put down and finished in a day. Great fun.

8/10 rating for each of them.

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

Endless Summer is a 2-in-1 containing The Boys Next Door and it's sequel, Endless Summer. I'm reviewing the books separately, in this one post so you can ignore the ED one if you don't want the minor spoilers for TBND that are in it.

The Boys Next Door

Lori McGillicuddy is almost 16. She's grown up one of the boys, spending her summers wakeboarding with her older brother and the three Vader boys next door. She's long since had a crush on middle brother Sean, who's a couple years older than her, but now she's about to turn 16 she's decided she's had enough just being one of the boys and wants to be seen as a real girl. But her best friend, the youngest Vader, who is 16 as well, Adam, has other plans. Can he convince Lori that it should be him she's choosing instead?

I loved this book from the start. It's written in first person from Lori's point of view and her voice sucked me straight in. She's naive, sweet, strong willed and always up for an adrenalin rush. Her mom died when she was 5, and she doesn't have any real girl friends, so Lori is a little clueless when it comes to making herself more girly, mostly taking her ideas from fashion magazines. Which are something she never used to read. She decides that her best chance is to make Sean pay attention and get jealous by pretending to date Adam. Adam knows the plan, and goes along with it, but it's obvious from the start that he is in love with Lori and would very much like to make her change her mind about which brother she should be with. Nothing goes smoothly for Lori. Misunderstandings and other mishaps run rampant and she learns a couple valuable lessons along the way.

I also love that while the love story is the biggest chunk on the book, there is more to the characters than just that. All the main characters, Lori, Adam, Sean and their other brothers, have other little things going that we see a bit of. And how we see how the sibling rivalry between Adam and Sean affects the rest of them. They really hate each other and it makes for some hard moments for Lori watching sometimes. Adam suffers from ADHD, which Sean never stops ribbing on him for. It makes Adam something of a daredevil, willing to try the biggest, stupidest wakeboarding stunts without really caring about the consequences. His temper flares easily creating more issues for Lori at times, but he's so easy to love despite that.

Jennifer does a fantastic job of capturing the emotions of these teens. She really makes them come alive on the page and I was rooting for Lori and Adam from the start, despite the opposition they faced. There is such a sweet naivety to both of them a lot of the time, knowing that they both want things to be okay and neither really sure how to make that happen. It's a quick paced read, fun and quirky romance and I'd highly recommend it! Getting both this and the sequel together is a bonus, though if you already have TBND then it's still worth buying this for ED alone. I couldn't put either down and finished them both in a day. 9/10

Endless Summer

ED picks up right where TBND leaves off. Having finally gotten together, for real and not pretend this time, Lori and Adam are trying to figure out their new relationship a little. But one early, big mistake sees their parents ordering them to stay apart, for the whole of the rest of the summer. They're oddly not to happy about this new development and determined to see each other still, whilst trying to find a way back to each other that will be approved of. Like TBND, it turns in to one mistake after another, but with a bit more lasting pain and hurt to go with it.

Unlike TBND this is told in alternating POV's from Lori and Adam. So we get to see both sides, how each of them is really feeling, how they think the other is feeling and get a much better picture of whats really going on. I loved getting a look in to Adam's mind, seeing how he thinks, how he deals with things, how he really feels about having ADHD, Lori and Sean. It helps show just how well suited they are to each other as well.

Lori really isn't very smart in this book. She makes some surprising and slightly crazy decisions about how to try and make her dad think Adam is a good choice for her. I wanted to shake her at times and ask what the heck she thought she was doing, and ask if she was really blind to what it was doing to Adam. But I couldn't really get mad at her because I could understand why she made the choice. She wasn't trying to hurt anyone, she just wanted Adam back and while it wasn't the smartest move, it was what she believed would work. Her heart was in the right place, she just got a bit one-track about it.

There were a couple bits of ED that I felt dragged a little, but I was still hooked and still couldn't put it down. I loved reading them back to back, getting more of their stories because I just completely fell in love with these characters. A great read with some very funny moments in it. A must read! 9/10