Review | The Way to Walk the Game of Shame

Title: The Way to Game the Walk of Shame

Author: Jenn P. Nguyen

Publication: June 7th, 2016
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Source: Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Series: Nope - but I wish we'd get a second from some side characters!

Rating: 5 out 5 stars

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Synopsis | Taylor Simmons is screwed.

Things were hard enough when her single-minded dedication to her studies earned her the reputation of being an Ice Queen, but after getting drunk at a party and waking up next to bad boy surfer Evan McKinley, the entire school seems intent on tearing Taylor down with mockery and gossip.

Desperate to salvage her reputation, Taylor persuades Evan to pretend they're in a serious romantic relationship. After all, it's better to the be the girl who tames the wild surgery than just another notch on his surfboard.

-From Goodreads

*Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my feelings on the book. All opinions are my own.

Review: You know those books that you can't stop thinking about? The characters that you just want to push together? The characters that you can't get enough of together and when they're together you have this stupid, cheesy grin on your face that you can't seem to wipe off? Yeah this was one of those books for me. And definitely not what I expected. 

I really am starting to like romances from both points of view as you get to see how the feelings develop with each of the characters and seeing everything play out on both sides is fun to me. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like Taylor was a bit hot-headed in the beginning.. a little overboard if you ask me (a little too dramatic for my taste) but as I read in a little further she really started to grow on me. She's driven, intelligent, funny and witty even at times. I really started to enjoy her character. Evan was different too, he's a bad boy but you see this other side come out in him throughout the book. I loved seeing how Evan and Taylor changed things about each other but they still stayed true to themselves and who they are.

I really enjoyed the friend aspects of this book as well. The side characters were wonderful and I really want more of them - I'm crossing my fingers for another book with maybe Carly's story or Aaron's story. The family dynamic in this book from both Taylor and Evan's points of view were really good to see. Family was involved but it wasn't over-bearing and it was rather realistic on both sides.

While there are other smaller, plot-lines in this story, the main focus is Evan and Taylor and what happens between them. It might have just been me, but everything else that happened seemed rather insignificant. I was too busy wanting them to sail off and be happy forever. This has definitely become a favorite contemporary romance book for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it!

On a side-note, the story reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Drive Me Crazy, you remember that one? The one with Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier (yup, I had a big crush on him in this movie). In the movie, they pretend to have a relationship to make people they really want to be with jealous, but they get to know each other more and well you'll have to watch the movie to find out where it ends. And even though it's definitely 90's/very early 2000's -esque, it's really a good movie. This book reminds me of the movie in the way that the characters start out with a fake relationship, even though they are for very different reasons. If you enjoyed this movie, definitely pick up this book!

Have you read this one and if so, what did you think of it? Did you swoon while reading it? What are some of your favorite contemporary romances? What are some of your favorite hate to love romances?