Review: Crazy Love

Crazy Love by Kendra C. Highley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Charlotte Brown has got a job in Aspen at Christmas waiting tables at a family diner while she saves money and studies for her third retake (or is it the second retake after she took it?) of the MCAT. Charlotte's mother has MS and ever since her diagnosis Charlotte has know she wanted to be a doctor.

I think this is the second book in a series and I haven't read the first book. Actually, I've checked and it seems to be a follow on from the Finding Perfect duology. The reason for my rambling is that the hero of this book, Luke Madison apparently featured quite heavily in Defying Gravity and may have been a bit of a douche. Anyhoo, Luke has returned home from college to Aspen, where his parents run a sportswear shop, he has made the monumental decision to quit school and go all-out to make a career out of snowboarding or SBX. He's sunk all his inheritance into paying for a coach and dedicating his time to training, no matter what his parents have to say on the subject. He also still has a crush on his younger brother's girlfriend Zoey, but the (unknown) events of last year have led him to take a long hard look at himself and he didn't really like the player he had become.

Charlotte and Luke first meet at the diner, he is instantly attracted to her but she is put off, first because he looks like a pretty boy player and second because she wants to focus all her effort on studying. But after he comes to her rescue when a group of snotty, entitled, kids dine and dash Charlotte thinks there might be a better man underneath than she originally thought.

But when the stakes are high, do either of them have time for love?

I liked this but I didn't love it. Whilst I normally rail against the YA/NA need for excessive angst I felt this had too little conflict, too little grit. It all took place in such a short period of time as well so there was no development of conflict with Luke's parents or with Charlotte's mother's illness. Lots of things were hinted at ... and never happened. It was as though the book had a page limit and so all the sub-plots and angst got ditched just to get the basic story told.

Although there is sexual content it still felt very PG romance, complete with a cartoon villain SBX rival.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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