The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match

Sometimes I can read YA, other times I can’t. I started this one, then put it down. I read some of the reviews–they’re all over the place–so I decided I wanted to finish it to see what happened.

Disaster is right. 🙂 Travis and Abby are giant messes. Talk about a dysfunctional relationship! America and Shep aren’t much better. Then again, they’re all teens/barely 20, so it’s a lot to ask for some maturity.

I would consider this a dark fantasy romance–in real life, I would NEVER encourage a relationship between two people like Travis and Abby. In a book, it’s a disaster with a little bit of hope (Travis knows he has to change and starts making an effort). Really, Abby annoyed me more than he did (seriously child, stop leading everyone on).

I’m definitely not the target audience for this book, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it for young adults either–I wouldn’t want them thinking they should aspire to a relationship like Travis and Abby’s. As someone with almost two decades of marriage behind him, I can read this book and enjoy the sweet parts while realizing the bad parts are bad and not something to hope for or tolerate; I wouldn’t want an innocent young romantic to think it was.

Overall, this was sort of weirdly entertaining train wreck of a romance. I’m just curious enough about the author now that I might pick up one of her other books to see what they’re like.

R-rated for violence, gambling, underage drinking, sex, and lots of swearing.

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