In a sweet, sexy novel for fans of Abbi Glines, Monica Murphy, and Christina Lauren, the author of Just a Little Kiss tells the story of two friends who each want more–and the love triangle that’s holding them back.
In the sleepy fishing town of Port Lucia, everyone knows everyone, but Isla Diaz really knows Colby Callahan, with his blue-gray eyes and the tousled brown hair always tucked … tousled brown hair always tucked sexily into his cap. After all, Isla has been crazy about Colby ever since she can remember–even if he treats her like a kid sister. Now, without her best friend, Felicity, around, Isla spots a golden opportunity to take things to the next level . . . or at least wrangle a kiss out of Colby.
By random chance, a tropical storm is headed toward the coast, leaving them stranded together overnight–and there’s nothing to do but drink. As the evening wears on, Isla gets the feeling that her not-so-secret crush may finally release her from the friend zone. With her dreams finally coming true, Isla isn’t about to pump the brakes, but is this just a one-time thing? What if the next morning, she needs more than Colby’s prepared to give?
Little does she know, Colby would like nothing more than a real relationship with Isla. She’s always been the one. But there’s a very good reason he’s been keeping his distance. Someone else loves her too, someone who also means the world to Colby: his brother.
Praise for the novels of Renita Pizzitola
“Brinley and Ryder are the perfect combination of sweet and hot. They’ll have you pulling for second chances.”—USA Today bestselling author Lisa Desrochers, on Just a Little Crush
“Be prepared to swoon hard over Ryder in Just a Little Crush, Renita Pizzitola’s impressive New Adult debut. Brinley and Ryder are drawn together in an almost hypnotic way and I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the utterly sexy, sweet, romantic, and scorching moments between them. I loved it!”–Christina Lee, author of the Between Breaths series, on Just a Little Crush
“In the tradition of new adults everywhere, Felicity and Mason stumble through their new relationship as it transitions from a summer sweetness to autumnal angst . . . [with] charming secondary relationships and [a] beautifully detailed setting.”—Publishers Weekly, on Just a Little Kiss
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It’s a cute story with nice characters. I loved that the guys in this were pretty good guys, who didn’t feel the need to hook up with random girls all the time. I also loved that there wasn’t the stereotypical easy girl; all the girls in this book were smart and mature. Isla and Colby have been best friends for years, she’s been in love with him forever but hasn’t taken the leap to tell him. They finally get together when hanging out during a storm, but Isla overthinks everything and starts thinking she knows how things will be without even talking to Colby. That’s Isla’s and Colby’s problem, they don’t talk about how they are actually feeling. This whole book is about them both thinking they know what the other is thinking, which of course isn’t correct. They do have a really sweet connection and some passion between them; they just need to grow up a bit more. They are fairly young yet; early 20’s, so it’s to be expected that they need to mature more. I was hoping Colby would give a little more fight in the story. Still liked him though, and his brother was a great character too. There’s not a lot of excitement in the story, but I was entertained the whole time, so I went with a 4 rating. Plus, I’m interested in continuing the series because I liked all the side characters.
I was pleasantly surprised with this book! I’ve never read this author before but I will again! I haven’t been reading many New Adult Romance novels lately and this book makes me question that decision. This review is going to be a bit short … I don’t want to give away anything in the plot and the more I talk about it, the more likely that is going to be.
Renita Pizzitola seems to channel her inner young lady. She writes about boy troubles like she just went through them the other day and they are fresh in her mind. It really brought me back to my teenage years and the crushing second-guessing that girls seem to do when a cute young man is involved. The characters – especially Isla – were refreshingly realistic and wonderfully well written. It’s because of the characters and how completely they were fleshed out that I kept coming back to the story and it stayed with me for a while after I read it.
The ending though … was a bit sappy sweet. I didn’t think that it fit the rest of the book in the tone that it was but it wasn’t so off kilter that it ruined the book. It just didn’t feel right to me.
And the epilogue … it was completely surprising to not have the epilogue be from Isla’s POV but I absolutely adored the change in pace. I loved it and it kind of redeemed the ending for me.
I’ve already added more of Pizzitola’s books to my ridiculously long TBR pile but I’m pretty sure that I’ll be getting to them sooner rather than later. Glad I’ve found another author to follow.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *