From USA Today bestselling author Kilby Blades, a tale of first teenage love, complete with interfering friends and mixtapes…Compared to life on tour with her wannabe rock star mother, finishing high school in Rye is a snooze. At least Roxy has her best friend, Zoë, her dad, and her music. When her standoffish Civics class partner, Jag Monroe, breaks ranks and randomly friends her on Instagram, … ranks and randomly friends her on Instagram, Roxy swiftly declines.
Jag is Roxy’s total opposite: stinking rich, conceited, and hot in that obvious kind of way. Roxy’s sure that his repeated friend requests must be a joke. Then Zoë does the unthinkable: snatches Roxy’s phone, accepts Jag’s latest friend request, and follows him back.
As the posts (and sparks) fly, Roxy begins to suspect that Jag may not be as shallow as everyone thinks, and that he may be into more than just her music.
“This YA mosaic novel uses music as an effective backdrop for a tale of social media, drama, and romance.”
– Publisher’s Weekly review of Friended, Book 1 in the Modern Love series
“This book is super hilarious, and the music references make me want to pull up Spotify and disappear in them for awhile.”
– Auburn, Goodreads Reviewer
“This novel was funny, nostalgic, and heartwarming. With a depth you would find surprising.”
-Isiah, Goodreads Reviewer
“A fabulous story of teen love. I love that this story is about the ice breaking, the friends, and the scary parts. So many modern love stories are about sex but this is about love. A great book.”
– Teen Angel, Amazon Reviewer
Awards and Accolades for Friended
- 1st Place Winner: 2019 New England Reader’s Choice Award
- 2nd Place Winner: 2019 International Digital Award
- Finalist: 2019 WISRWA Write Touch Award
- Finalist: 2019 National Excellence in Romantic Fiction Award
- Finalist: 2019 CRWA Stiletto Contest
- Finalist: 2019 Book Buyer’s Best Contest
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This sweet YA was a very enjoyable read with a good storyline and well created characters that kept me turning the pages until the very end!
It was so funny and the book is not ypur typical teen fiction book it is much more and less predictable than most books. I loved it!!
Interesting back and forth between the characters. I have since read more by Ms. Blades. If you have fnished her books, check out her recommendations too. I like her tastes too
Roxy lives with her dad in Northern California. It’s a recent thing; he just got custody back from her flighty mother who gave her up to go on tour as a backup singer. Roxy is happy to finally have some stability and parental supervision and her dad is happy to finally be in her life.
Jagger is Mr. Popular and perfectly pleasing in every way. He lives with his parents, owns his own car and can (and has, according to rumors) date any girl he wants.
The pair sit next to each other in Civics class and never talk. Their best friends are crazy for each other (even though neither has had to guts to do anything). Then one day, Roxy gets a friend request from Jagger on Instagram. She’s not sure why, since he never acknowledges her presence. She ignores it. Until it pops up again. Then her best friend, Zoe, accepts for her. Despite herself, she starts checking out his feed. She obliquely responds on her page. He’s intrigued even more and soon both are tumbling towards that thing called love.
Ah, teen love. Teen angst. Of course, there’s angst, because Jag’s got a reputation, troubling things get overhead, and he’s hiding parts of himself. She’s also evasive, but in a less obvious way, and her hesitation only feeds both their insecurities. The more he likes her, the more desperate he is that she doesn’t find out that the friend requests were because of his friends, rather than his interest in her.
Reading this, part of me wished I’d had friends and a boyfriend like these when I was in high school. Not because Jag was perfect, tortured or a bad boy, but because they were true friends. I didn’t give it 5 stars because I just can’t quite relate to teen drama anymore. But if I were in high school, I’d be swooning.
Don’t get me wrong. This story made me laugh and cry. Roxy and Jag were well written and their parents are realistic (rather than the buffoons on Disney shows). Their best friends are more than props. Part of it felt a little too unrealistic for *juniors* in high school; I could see it more happening to college students or people in their early 20s. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it or that I’m not about to start on the sequel right now.
Such a great book! Can’t wait to read the next one.
Cute book.
This book is the reason I love reading YA. Teenage angst, funny, that nervousness behind making the first move and waiting for a reaction. Love how the author incorporated really awesome music. Solid 4 stars.
As I was reading this book I almost wished that these characters were real and people I knew.
This was a quick sweet read. I really liked the characters and that hey kept bringing in song lyrics.
Perfect romance for music lovers with a great message about allowing young people to figure out who they want be and reinvent themselves after a few missteps. The new girl and the bad boy might be able to start a romance if he isn’t as bad as his reputation and she can move beyond her past. Answering this question is worth the trip.
A pretty good read with lots of laugh out loud moments included. This is the perfect pick me up read. I really enjoyed this one.
This book can be described by: “Eh.”
The whole thing was pretty cheesy, although Jagger did have his cute moments. I think I was just uncomfortable with the amount of cursing this book contained.
I don’t recommend the audiobook. I thought the female narrator did a horrible job on male voices. If you’re going to read this one, READ it, don’t listen to it.
A funny, quick read.
Musical novel I loved it!
Cute and touching high school love story if you can tamp down and weed through the drama that is so extra. I guess a ‘who friended who’ scenario with teens and social media is a huge deal these days. I’m so far out of the demographic for this book but I still like reading them. The drama that ensues in this book is so over the top even in hormonal teenage highschooler standards of any generation. But, as I said earlier, the story and themes behind it are good and small issues make way to larger ones but you kinda have to ignore some of the major histrionics to see it.
I really liked the use of song lyrics to set the tones of each chapter. Music is a big part of Roxy and Jagger’s life and I feel that way too. The right song can define and memorialize any moment.
Overall, I liked it but it’s leaning closer to a ‘just ok’ type of rating.
I will be reading the continuation of their story in ‘Ended?’ just to see where their lives are headed in their college years and the ‘real world.’
Language was not what I like to read. What I did read was well written.
dropping of “F-bombs” and other horrible language! It got dumped quickly!
So the beginning of the book and relationship was great. A nice development between the characters. But then it falls apart. And in my opinion, has too much drama. And then it ends. Which I know there is a sort of second book. But because of the ending in this I am not tempted to read.
Although the vibe of this book was a little more young adult than what I normally read, I quite enjoyed myself. I would have no problem letting my high schooler read this book. What I most enjoyed about the book was the opening blurbs of songs. Some brought back memories and I discovered new artists.
Lovely and sweet teen romance with music as the tie that binds these shy lovebirds together
January 10, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
4.5stars
Lovely, well-written, teen romance AND a great way to introduce me to some new music (new to me, anyway)! Keep your streaming service handy as hero Jagger and heroine Roxie are both obsessed with music and live out their romance through a meeting of simpatico taste in tunes. Their connection is initially nudged into being by their gang of close friends and, boy, do they need their support!
I liked both the MCs and the backstory of troubled and lonely childhoods the author revealed. Turns out some of their parents are pretty understanding and supportive at this juncture. The couple’s growing closeness as well as the bumps in their relationship made for a great story. By the end, I was making a habit of cueing up the referenced songs as they paralleled the romance and heartache. And, thanks, Lloyd, for the memories and the supreme romantic gesture! N-i-c-e
Although the subject matter is perfect for teens, this senior citizen had a great time being reminded of those heady and anxiety-ridden days of teen crushes and falling for the unobtainable heartthrob. I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.