Kate Brian

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

Allison Garrett

3.5 stars 
This book was quick and sweet but Megan was so dumb at sometimes it was a little frustrating.

Kayla 

Michelle Boyea

** spoiler alert **
           This book was a very quick and hilarious read. For a girl who claims to be very inexperienced, and can barely talk to boys, Megan learns very quickly. She is able to draw Miller out of his shell, learns how to stand up to the boys, and is even able to dethrone the queen of the soccer team. She does all of this just by being herself and without being mean.

I love that her and Finn kissed. I would have been very disappointed if she had ended up with Evan, and I am very glad that it ended up being Finn. I also love that she connected with Sean over the motorcycles.

She even went out of her way to save Doug from being suspended, or expelled, even though he had never said one nice word to her.

My issues with the book:

How was she able to convince her parents to let her stay with the McGowan's after she told them she wanted to go to Korea. Most parents would at least want an explanation and there was no mention of any in this book.

Does she end up with Finn? Do they kiss again? Do his parents let them date? 
What happens next?! The ending was way too vague.

Haha! Oh I love this book. Made me laugh! I was also sad for her in the beginning for having to be there with 7 boys!

Jacelyn

Jessica 

Original Rating in 2005: ★★★★★
Reread Rating in 2020: ★★★☆☆

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review can also be found here at Booked J. 

Hang on, this book is HOW OLD? I'm in shock. Me vs. the passage of time, round three thousand and forty two. Listen, back in the day, Kate Brian was IT for me. Along with Cecily von Ziegesar and Melissa de la Cruz. I was a STAN and owned (ahem, I still own a lot of their works) pretty much every book I could get my hand on. There's not a single doubt in my mind that I owe a lot of my love of reading to Brian. 

While 
  Lucky T
 and  Private were my absolute ride or die favourites from Brian, I can vividly remember curling up in bed during high school and devouring this novel. No joke, I probably read it a dozen times one summer. A. DOZEN. It was just pure warm-and-fuzzy magic and a total easy, slip-under-the-covers and lose yourself for a few hours read. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys was probably one of my first YA rom-com loves. 

On a whim, I decided to reread it to see how it's held up through the years. And while it's aged fairly well since, it's lost a bit of its magic for me. Whether this is because of all that I've read since, or merely because I burned myself out on it a decade ago, is anyone's guess. 

Brian's writing is still as charming and full of spark as it was then. There's romance, humor and general fluffy moments that keep the pages turning. I found that I liked the story and the many characters featured a lot less than I did as a teenager, but there was still this indulgent and sickly sweet feeling that came with reading it. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys isn't necessarily my cup of tea any longer, and I had some issues with it that are common when looking back on this era, but it was still enjoyable and fun. 

One thing I know is that I'll always look fondly back on Kate Brian and her backlist. It takes me back to summertime and my teenage years.. It's easy to fall back into it and is not unlike stopping by to say hello to an old friend.

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

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