Playing the Player

I first became a fan of Lisa Brown Roberts after reading How (Not) to Fall in Love earlier this year. I was instantly drawn to how accurate her portrayal of teenagers were, keeping their romance at the appropriate age level and extremely realistic. And I was happy to see that this story had the exact same feel. Trina and Slade are complete opposites and thrown together for a summer of nanny two children. Both go into this arrangement with a secret… which is sure to inevitably bring about the drama. Trina is a strictly Type A organized-beyond-imagination type of girl, while Slade is a laid-back lifeguard who loves the ladies. They couldn’t be more opposite, and this brings about a boatload of trouble more often than not. These two spend their days butting heads, while trying to nanny these two extremely difficult (one more so than the other) children together. I really enjoyed this story, which brought me back to my days of babysitting siblings during the summer when I was a teenager. (Days I DO NOT miss, AT ALL! Man, I’m so NOT a good babysitter…) I was giggling more often than not while reading about their days battling these two tykes. Yes, this story was cliche… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This incredible author took the often-done concept of “good girl changes player” and made it her own. This wasn’t only about Trina transforming Slade into something different, but even more so about Slade changing Trina as well. These two learned and grew as individuals while spending this summer together, and I loved every minute of it. “I didn’t know what we were doing or what any of this meant. But I intended to follow it all the way through, because for the first time in forever, I felt fully alive.” I read this a few weeks ago while sitting outside on the deck in the sun. It was such a great summer read for me, quick and effortless, and fun above all else. I love how innocent and pure Lisa Brown Roberts’ stories seem to be. Yes, there is drama, per say, but her stories are never dark, never filled with turmoil, and are always accurate to the age group of the characters. These characters reminded me of teenagers I knew growing up, all of their faults and bad decisions included. I even saw a little bit of myself in Trina, which was a little eye-opening, to say the least. A very realistic story that will leave you smiling and happy. Another extremely enjoyable, gives-you-the-warm-and-fuzzies read from Lisa Brown Roberts. (Thanks to Entangled Crush for the review copy!) Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!