The Deal Breakers (Love Quiz Book 2)

Adorable, G-rated, YA, best-friends romance

This is the second book in the Love Quiz trilogy, but it can be read on its own. You don’t need to have read the first book, The Love Fakers (TLF), in order to get the most out of this book. However, TLF is such a marvelous YA romance, fans of that genre won’t want to miss reading it.

Jessica and Rex have been BFFs for over six years, and have been inseparable from the moment of their first meeting at age nine. One year into their friendship, they made a vow that the “guy-girl thing” would never come between them. And up until the present day, in the middle of their junior year in high school, they have remained faithful to that vow to be platonic best friends. They do everything together, share all their deepest dreams and, as far as Rex is concerned, they have no secrets from each other.

But what Rex doesn’t realize is that, for many years now, Jessica has been keeping from him a very big secret indeed: She has never dated and never been kissed because she’s been waiting for Rex to wake up and realize that they are meant for each other, as far more than just friends.

Rex has teased Jessica many times about the fact that, unlike him, she never dates. He’s absolutely convinced that it wouldn’t bother him at all if his best bud had a boyfriend. Until the day that his blithe assumption is finally put to the test.

Rex and Jessica are assigned in their psychology class to an absurd group project which involves attempting to prove that an enormously popular dating app is a scam. Out of curiosity, both he and Jessica were already, prior to the assignment, along with virtually everyone they know, individually signed up for the app. But Rex has fully convinced himself that the app is as dumb as reading a horoscope, because every time he and Jessica have checked it for a match, it has declared separately to both of them that their ideal match is each other. Unfortunately, for purposes of their class, they will need to provide stronger evidence than Rex’s scorn that the app is worthless, and their group leader suggests that the best way to accomplish this goal is for the two of them to each date someone else.

The “friends to lovers” trope is a fan-favorite of the romance genre, and this delightful romantic comedy is a wonderful example of it. Jessica and Rex are absolutely adorable, and their journey from BFF to romantic love is both hilarious and emotionally moving.

Besides the two lead characters, there are some terrific subcharacters, most especially Rex’s thirteen-year-old brother, Jeremy. The scene where precocious Jeremy is handing out romantic advice to his clueless older brother is absolutely priceless. I was roaring with laughter.

This book is a classic romance offering a guaranteed HEA, no cliffhanger, and the dual point of view of both the heroine and the hero. The latter allows us to deeply get to know Rex, who is a great guy. Though he has dated a lot, there is no sense that he has done more than “make out.” Which is very refreshing in an era of YA romance in which there are far too many promiscuous, “Bad Boy” heroes.

This book is G-rated. There is no underage drinking, no cussing, and no more than mild kissing. But in spite of how squeaky clean the book is, there is plenty of romantic chemistry between these two very attractive, athletic protagonists once they move past the platonic stage of their long-time friendship.

This book is definitely a keeper, and I am positive I will enjoy re-reading it many times in the future.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Romance plot: 5 stars
Setting: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars

b

Rex and Jessica have been BFF’s ever since she moved into town 6 years ago…they even promised each other that they would never be another more because they loved being BFFs! All was good with their friendship until they started working on a school project about the newest dating app the “Love Quiz”…then everything changes with their friendship and not necessarily for the good! Great YA read to see how they handle the changes and if their friendship survived them!

(4.5 stars) – a totally entertaining friends-to-lovers romance

This is Book 2 of the Love Quiz series; it can standalone, but it’s written more like an episode in an overarching storyline.

To recap: Six high school juniors have to do a psychology class project that proves or disproves whether or not love can be quantified. They decide to test a popular dating app (from Dallen’s “Tall Dark & Nerdy”, which is not necessary to read for this, but is a fun read in its own right!)

Each of the 3 couples gets their own novella to tell their story, with the final one pulling it all together & wrapping it up.

Jessica & Rex have been best friends since 5th grade. They know each other better than some married couples! But they made a deal that they’d always be friends & not let anything mess that up.

Well, Jessica didn’t mean to fall in love with Rex; it just kind of snuck up on her. Now she has to figure out if she’s going to keep her promise or keep her sanity!

This friends-to-lovers story was well done & really entertaining – I was so engaged in the story that I was surprised when I realized that I was at the end. I can’t wait to read the final episode to see how the Valentine’s Ball turns out!

*Clean romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic

Shorter and More Intense Than Book 1. This is book 2 in a new novella trilogy Dallen has created in the world of a previous book. Tall Dark and Nerdy. And while this book is roughly 15 pages shorter than the first one, you really do need to read the first one first, as it handles most of the overall trilogy setup heavy lifting. Very good in its own right, this one switches tropes from fake dating to best friends to lovers. Very much recommended.