April 20, 2015

Rules of Seduction Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Rules of Seduction blog tour! Today I'll be sharing my review of the book with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway!


Rules of Seduction
Author: Jenna Mullins
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Publisher: The Studio (a Paper Lantern Lit imprint)

Description:

The first rule of seduction is: don’t fall in love.

Fresh out of college, Dani Young heads for the LA sun to chase her dream of becoming a screenwriter-director. So when her former BFF turned actress Elise offers Dani the opportunity to work on the hit teen show Vamp Camp, Dani can’t refuse, even if it comes at a price: Elise wants Dani to seduce her boyfriend, Vamp Camp superstar Tate Lawrence. Turns out Elise has some major trust issues, and needs Dani to test Tate’s faith. The only rule: don’t fall in love with him.

Sure, Dani doesn’t mind occasionally glimpsing Tate’s megawatt smile…or accidentally-on-purpose brushing up against his perfect torso…but she’s no fool. There’s no way she’d ever fall for a shallow celebrity and no way one would fall for her, a lanky movie nerd.

But amidst vampire-crazed fans, a conniving fellow intern, and a devilishly handsome showrunner, Dani feels like all the rules she used to know have disappeared, except for one: Love doesn’t play by the rules.

Part The Devil Wears Prada, part How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days, this story of friendship and romance is sure to appeal to fans of Stephanie Perkins, Jennifer E. Smith, and Anna Todd.
 

Rules of Seduction is a fun and light-hearted New Adult contemporary romance that takes place in Los Angeles. The story follows our main character - Dani Young - as she moves to LA after graduating college, in the hopes of pursuing her dream of becoming a screenwriter/director. The opportunity of a lifetime appears out of seemingly nowhere - Dani's ex-BFF Elise, who just happens to be an actress on a hit TV show, offers Dani a job on the show. There's just one catch to this deal - Dani has to seduce Elise's boyfriend, the star of the show Tate Lawrence. Apparently Elise has some trust issues and wants to see if her boyfriend will take the bait. Knowing that another opportunity like this will probably never happen again - Dani agrees. Elise gives her one rule: Don't fall in love with Tate. Dani isn't concerned about this though - she's there to work and gain experience, not fall in love with a TV star. And there's no way that a guy like Tate would ever be interested in a girl like Dani - right?

This was a really fun and fast read for me. I was swept up into Dani's world right from the start of the book. It's told from Dani's point of view - first person - which is my favorite style. We get to know the narrator - usually the main character - on such a deeper level than any other POV. With this book, we get to know all about Dani - her hopes, dreams, fears, memories, and hilarious inner dialogue. By the time the book was finished, I felt as if I knew Dani on a personal level - like she was my best friend and was telling me the story herself. Her witty inner thoughts and sarcasm throughout the book were one of my favorite things about the novel. I snickered or laughed out loud at least once per page (or so it seemed). Granted, the entire story isn't all happy and funny, but the way Dani tells it and the way that it's broken down - past, present, etc. - made me love her character all the more. 

To be honest, the plot was pretty obvious - just from reading the description. You know exactly what's going to happen - how the hot TV star and the nerdy movie intern end up falling for each other, despite the odds and obstacles in their way. It's nothing new - especially when it comes to chick flicks and most romance novels. It's the story in between that we get caught up in - and I love how the author wrote that part of the book. I adored watching Dani take the job at the TV show, meeting Tate and getting to know him - while he obviously gets to know her - and seeing them fall for each other. It's ridiculously romantic and kinda cheesy, but we all need that sometimes - at least I do. Like I said, the plot is completely obvious just from reading the description; but the story itself and the way that the author writes it makes this book stand out for me. Honestly, if the book wasn't written so well, I would have stopped reading it within a few pages. That's how much the writing style means to me - it can seriously make or break a book. In this case, it definitely made it - and then some. I can't say much more without repeating myself. Here's the bottom line: You know exactly what you're getting into when you open the book. The plot could be taken from any number of chick flicks or romances and it's obvious how it's going to end. It's what is between those two points - beginning and ending - that makes it so much fun to read. Like I said - Dani's character is realistic and incredibly easy to connect with. You'll be rooting for her during the whole book - especially when it comes to the romance parts with Tate. Some readers probably won't like this book due to the predictability - but others, like myself, will look past the corny story line and see the novel for what it really is - a love story written with such obvious talent and humor. That's what sold the book for me and I hope that you'll at least give it a shot - even if it's not your usual genre of choice. I very highly recommend it for readers who love contemporary romances - especially New Adult, as well as those looking for a masterfully written story with a witty heroine. This is a perfect summer read!

In fourth grade, Jenna put her classmates into a story about fire safety, and they laughed the entire time she read it aloud. Since then, she's been writing with the sole purpose to entertain other people. Fire safety, however, fell to the wayside when she accidentally set her grandmother's bathroom on fire when she was 12.

In 2010, she moved from Indiana to Los Angeles to intern at E!, and she is now a writer/editor/pop culture gatekeeper at E! Online. A Midwest girl who prefers Southern California weather, Jenna loves the Indianapolis Colts, saving Hyrule and training for her backup dream career: deciding what goes into the baskets on Food Network's Chopped. She currently resides in LA with her nerdy, handsome boyfriend Kyle and their two fluffier-than-normal cats, Glenn and Zelda.

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/jbomb11













  

1 comment:

  1. I absolutely love contemporary romance, and this one seems like a great, light summer read :) Thank you so much for the giveaway!

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