Kate Evangelista

A wealthy boy's plan to survive the summer social season by hiring a fake girlfriend goes in an unexpected direction when he falls in love with bi-polar artist Didi.

No Love Allowed

Sven Test

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

I was so excited to read this story, but someone told me they didn't like it and my excitement plummeted to the ground. Turns out, I ended up enjoying it a lot! It was a fast-paced contemporary with a bit of an insight to a specific mental illness.

Caleb wants to take a gap year and only travel with his cousin around Europe. His plans are cut short when his dad tells him he has to go to college because Caleb almost made his dad lose a client. Fortunately, his father tells him he could still take the gap year if he works as an intern at his father's office and attends all of the events from his job. But Caleb is eye-candy for every girl and in order to keep them away, he needs a girlfriend...or rather a fake girlfriend. 

I was surprised by Didi's disorder. It's rare to read about mental health in YA's and the reality is, they should be talked about. I think the disorder was down-played and didn't give that much information but enough to make the reader search for more. Being a Psychology major, I always pay attention to every detail that's mentioned of a disorder/syndrome in a book. I was happy to read that the author explained the episodes of Mania and Depression that occur in a person with Bipolar Disorder this mental illness.

Didi appears like such a normal person, it's not even funny. And that's a mistake we make a lot. We think, "Oh, a person with a disorder is recognizable." *buzzer sound* Incorrect, ladies and gents. Caleb spent a lot of time with Didi and he never knew she had a disorder and that's how it is in real life, unfortunately. To him, she was being a woman or he would blame himself for upsetting her. When he found out about her disorder, he was in shock to put it mildly. But I really think he handled the situation very well so kudos to Caleb!

Despite it all, I loved Didi so much. She would say what was on her mind without a second thought. She was so much fun! The whole story was very fun to read. Didi and Caleb were so cute together. Caleb was so smitten with Didi and he didn't even realize it! Reading about him wanting to spend with her and wanting to make her happy made me all kinds of giddy and I was so rooting for him to get the girl! A secondary character I absolutely loved was Nathan and guess what? He's getting his own story in No Holding Back!

Overall, I really enjoyed it this story! It went by so fast though and I wish I had more time with the characters to get more connected with them but it was still a very entertaining story.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

I’m not one to compare books to other books/authors, but while reading this one, I kept thinking about how much it felt like a Kasie West story, who just so happens to be one of my favorite authors. So, yes, I really kind of loved this one. ♥

Didi completely made this story for me. She was so artistic, opinionated, and completely original. Her quirkiness flew off the pages, making it completely impossible not to fall in love with her and her amazing personality. I routed for her this entire story. Caleb was a bit harder for me to love, but it did happen. He was the classic rich boy that was rebelling against his father and trying to become his own person. Though I didn’t warm up to him as quickly, I still liked him with Didi. And, oh boy, Caleb’s cousins, the secondary characters in this story, totally brought this story to a whole new level! Characters like that ALWAYS win me over.

Though there are some sensitive issues addressed in this story, including mental illness, overall it was a very cute and fun story. The serious parts were the perfect addition to bring this fun story up a notch and make it even that much better. Another must-read to be added to your beach read list for this year!

(Thanks to SwoonReads for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

I was so excited to read this story, but someone told me they didn't like it and my excitement plummeted to the ground. Turns out, I ended up enjoying it a lot! It was a fast-paced contemporary with a bit of an insight to a specific mental illness.

Caleb wants to take a gap year and only travel with his cousin around Europe. His plans are cut short when his dad tells him he has to go to college because Caleb almost made his dad lose a client. Fortunately, his father tells him he could still take the gap year if he works as an intern at his father's office and attends all of the events from his job. But Caleb is eye-candy for every girl and in order to keep them away, he needs a girlfriend...or rather a fake girlfriend. 

I was surprised by Didi's disorder. It's rare to read about mental health in YA's and the reality is, they should be talked about. I think the disorder was down-played and didn't give that much information but enough to make the reader search for more. Being a Psychology major, I always pay attention to every detail that's mentioned of a disorder/syndrome in a book. I was happy to read that the author explained the episodes (view spoiler)[of Mania and Depression (hide spoiler)] that occur in a person with (view spoiler)[Bipolar Disorder (hide spoiler)] this mental illness.

Didi appears like such a normal person, it's not even funny. And that's a mistake we make a lot. We think, "Oh, a person with a disorder is recognizable." *buzzer sound* Incorrect, ladies and gents. Caleb spent a lot of time with Didi and he never knew she had a disorder and that's how it is in real life, unfortunately. To him, she was being a woman or he would blame himself for upsetting her. When he found out about her disorder, he was in shock to put it mildly. But I really think he handled the situation very well so kudos to Caleb!

Despite it all, I loved Didi so much. She would say what was on her mind without a second thought. She was so much fun! The whole story was very fun to read. Didi and Caleb were so cute together. Caleb was so smitten with Didi and he didn't even realize it! Reading about him wanting to spend with her and wanting to make her happy made me all kinds of giddy and I was so rooting for him to get the girl! A secondary character I absolutely loved was Nathan and guess what? He's getting his own story in 
  No Holding Back
!

Overall, I really enjoyed it this story! It went by so fast though and I wish I had more time with the characters to get more connected with them but it was still a very entertaining story.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.