Saving It by Monica Murphy

Eden
Josh Evans and I have been best friends forever. He knows all my secrets, and I know all of his. So when he randomly asks me to help him lose his virginity, I sort of flip out. That’s a question that sends your mind to places you’ve seriously never considered before. Like, you know. Having sex. With your best friend. Except Josh doesn’t want to have sex with me—he wants me to help him find a girl. A nice girl who’s funny and smart and cute. Except he already knows a girl just like that...

Josh
Eden Sumner is my best friend. So of course she’d be the person to help me find my perfect match, so I can drop my V card before I head off to college. Except the more we search, the more I realize that maybe the right girl has been by my side all along. I don’t need Eden’s help in finding me a girl to love. I’m pretty sure I’m already in love with Eden. But now she thinks I’m only after one thing... with anyone but her.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book is what happens when American Pie meets Friends with Benefits. It contains two best friends, plenty of angst, and lots and lots of sex talk. Reading this might have you looking at your best friend in a different light!

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Entangled Teen

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 Stars overall.
5 Stars for actual young adult readers
3 stars for adult readers.

As a sucker for a page-turning young adult book, I won't lie by saying I didn't sit down and devour Saving It from page one until the end. However, I need to state I read it quickly for two reasons. One, I wanted to know where the novel was going to go, even knowing the ending destination. Two, I knew I better read feverishly so the plot itself didn't sway my overall enjoyment – meaning, if I paused, the novel would have given me pause. I will explain in the bulk of my review.

Best friends all through high school, Eden and Josh have had quite a few relationships, never once contemplating getting together. Josh is a virgin, never successfully sealing the deal in his past relationships, so he asks the one person who knows him better than anyone to help him pick the right girl. As you can guess, the plot pretty much goes on the path you'd expect, so I won't dive too deeply into the plot, as a way to avoid spoilers.

From the teen perspective, young adults will devour this book due to the content. From the adult perspective, adults will become frustrated, especially from a feminist standpoint. As a feminist, wincing at the list of girls, I read it from a perspective other than my own. At the same time, I wanted an adult voice in the book to offer advice these children so badly needed.

Authentic, Eden and Josh and the rest of the cast of characters do, in fact, act like actual teenagers. So I kept an open mind, remembering how I operated eons ago. Hormones fluctuating, irrational as the sector in the brain dealing with sound decision-making won't mature until the age of 25, peer pressure, and emotionally unsure why they feel as they do. So I applaud the author for writing characters who act/react/behave/sound as actual teenagers, instead of the adult voice of the writer.

In a nutshell, there isn't a whole lot going on with the plot that isn't in the blurb. The angst is a 'will-they, won't-they' tension, with added miscommunication, and a bunch of just waiting around until Eden and Josh decide to give it a try. It's not truly an evolution for the character development, but just the indecisive nature of teenagers (and their older counterparts).

If you're an adult like me, who adores the young adult genre, I'd suggest a sample. I enjoyed it, writing this review immediately, knowing if I took a few minutes, I'd spiral down the critique path and I refuse to go there. Do you know what I mean? In the now, it's awesome. Given five minutes of contemplation, the responsible adult in me wants to go round-up a roomful of teenagers and engage in a real chat.

FYI: I'm not a prudish adult against 'losing it/saving it' – it's the emotional impact of having an agenda and not caring 'who' you lose it to. On the flip side, feeling bad for the person chosen to fulfill an agenda. Virginity isn't a physical thing – it's a social construct with emotional impact.

If you're reading this review as a parent, I would highly recommend this to teenagers who need a dose of escapism/romance – not learning experience, but a naughty yet innocent read that accurately portrays exactly what teens are experiencing on a daily basis when it comes to acting on their sexual urges.

Young Adult age-range: 14+ due to swearing and sexual content.

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is a traditionally published author with Bantam/Random House and Harper Collins/Avon, as well as an independently published author. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance. She is also USA Today bestselling romance author Karen Erickson. She is a wife and a mother of three who lives with her family in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere, along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through many angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Saving It by Monica Murphy to read and review.

Daring the Bad Boy by Monica Murphy

Truth or Dare was never this much fun...

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself—gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she’s already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Jacob Fazio is at Camp Pine Ridge after one too many screw-ups. Junior counseling seems like punishment enough, but the rigid no-fraternizing-with-campers rules harsh his chill. When a night of Truth or Dare gets him roped into teaching Annie how to swim, she begs him to also teach her how to snag Kyle.

Late-night swim sessions turn into late-night kissing sessions...but there’s more on the line than just their hearts. If they get caught, Jake’s headed straight to juvie, but Annie’s more than ready to dare him to reveal the truth.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains references to drinking, sexual situations, adult language, and an intense bad boy hero who will melt your heart.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Jordan – ☆☆☆☆
This felt like a perfect book for Monica Murphy's YA debut and I look forward to seeing what she does in the future. Daring the Bad Boy was such a sweet young adult romance and I really enjoyed the fact that we got both Annie and Jake's points of view. I think young readers will have no trouble relating to Annie and falling in love with Jake.

Annie, is a shy 16-year-old that decides to go to summer camp in hopes of gaining some confidence and maybe overcoming her fear of water. Jacob (Jake) has gotten into trouble one too many times and his father convinces the judge to let him do community service as a counselor at Summer camp. It's here that he somehow finds himself blackmailed into teaching camper Annie to swim. Now, as long as nobody finds out that he's breaking the one rule he was given about fraternizing with the campers, everything should be fine, right?

Occasionally, young adult romances can be such a hit or miss for those of us in our twenties, and as an older reader, this one just made me feel really OLD. I personally only ever went to summer school like once and I'm pretty sure I was 13 or younger, but maybe high schoolers do these days? Does this mean I'm getting old? Regardless, it's not that I didn't like Daring the Bad Boy, because I did, but as an older reader, it just seemed more suited for a younger audience. I loved seeing how much both Annie and Jake's characters grew, but Annie's character just seemed so young at first. All in all, it was a sweet story and I'd give it a 3.5-star rating.


Jacki – ☆☆☆
This was a great read for the summer. The camp setting definitely kept it just right. I absolutely enjoyed the story and had no problem right through to the end.

As an adult reader, I found the story to be refreshing. It was sweet and realistically innocent. The characters' thoughts and emotions were nicely done and age appropriate in comparison with some I've read lately.

Annie has suffered through a tragedy in the past that formed the person that she is in the present, but she's determined to change that. She's ready to step out of her comfort zone and push herself towards her goals. The only problem, she's complicating everything herself.

Jacob also has had a rough past. Some bad decisions have landed him in trouble that he didn't want in the first place. He's now got the reputation of a bad boy, but he's just a wounded boy underneath.

They both have a lot of soul searching to do this summer and just maybe, they could help one another out.

I enjoyed this book. It was sweet, entertaining, and a nicely balanced mix of teenage fun and emotions. I'd definitely recommend it.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4 Stars from the adult perspective
5 Stars from the teen perspective
4.5 in total

Monica Murphy is a new-to-me author, and right from the first page I knew I'd love this book. I was immediately hooked. As soon as I was finished, I checked out the author's backlist for my future reading enjoyment.

Daring the Bad Boy is a perfect summer read, especially for young adults who want to feel the warm and fuzzies of budding love. But also perfect for those young at heart who wish to be transported back to a more innocent time, where they can relive the angst and anticipation of having a crush, and getting that first kiss was the only thing on your mind.

Annie was quintessentially a teenage girl. She was scared, insecure, yet very brave. She made mistakes, but apologized and learned a lesson. She was crushing on a boy who she didn't know just because everyone else thought he was hot and wanted him, but she admitted it to herself how that was shallow. I appreciated the author for pointing it out, as I felt it a good moral for young adult readers. Why are you crushing on the guy? If it's looks, or because everyone else wants him, that says a lot about how shallow you are. Like him for him, and expect the same in return.

Annie is terrified of water after losing her baby brother. At 16, she decides to no longer live in fear, choosing to go to summer camp... summer camp that involves swimming. Annie's scared yet brave attitude brought me back to how I was terrified of my own shadow but would still just 'do it' to get it over with.

Daring the Bad Boy has two narrators: Annie and Jacob. Jacob is the classic wounded, brooding boy every girl wants to tame, but at his core, he's a really genuine person. But there is also a hottie named Kyle, who blinds Annie with his looks. Obviously it's no surprise who Annie chooses, seeing as how we only have two narrators. That aside, I did like Kyle, even if he was written as dumb as a box of rocks, and it was frustrating that Annie was forcing her crush when it wasn't organic. I got the vibe (but it wasn't shown) that Kyle actually had a thing for the Australian lifeguard, as he mentioned the guy's hotness and wanted to pull a prank to get the guy's underwear. But that's neither here nor there – just an observation.

Instead of going on and on about how Daring the Bad Boy brought me back to the overpowering sensation of being a 16-year-old girl in full-blown infatuation-mode, I'll post my favorite quote.

...My father told me when I was around thirteen that I should watch out for the quiet girls. "They'll sneak up on you and blow your mind. Not only are they smart and won't put up with any of your shit, but they're usually beautiful, too. You just don't realize how perfect they are because they're so damn quiet all the time. They'll sneak their way right into your heart. Once that happens, you're done for," he'd said.

At the time, I thought he was full of crap. What did he know about the quiet ones? They were boring.

But now, staring at Annie, thinking about how she was sneaking up on me and she didn't even know it, I realize that maybe he was right. Which meant I was totally done for... – Jake.

Young Adult age-range: 13+ due to kissing and a handful of f-bombs.

New York Times, USA Today, and number one international best-selling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and children. A workaholic who loves her job, when she’s not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and young adult romance and is a firm believer in happily ever after. She also writes contemporary romance as USA Today best-selling author Karen Erickson.

Connect with Monica

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer) by Monica Murphy to read and review.