With all the women in his life, the last thing Josh King thought he wanted when he arrived at New Jersey University was a girlfriend. Until he met Violet. The cute, curvy violinist with the curly, dark hair was his complete opposite, but his heart was hers from the moment he caught her smile. Too bad she was his roommate’s, and soon-to-be best friend’s, girlfriend. Now, in their senior year, … Violet’s finally single and Josh has his chance to make a move.
Josh has saved Violet Nicholson from herself so many times she’s lost count. And sure, he’s Mr. January, otherwise known as Hunkarama, in the football team’s calendar. But just because he’s steamy hot, super sweet, and intensely loyal to his family, doesn’t mean Violet should fall for him. Now that she’s unattached, Violet’s done “manplanning”—her future is finally her own. If she can figure out what she wants to do with her life, she will not let anyone stop her. Not even the man who seems to love her more than anyone’s ever had.
Friend-zoned, with graduation around the corner and their futures uncertain, one of them will have to make the move toward a real relationship, or Josh and Vi risk losing each other forever.
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Loved the two books I read in this series
When I found out that the second book would be about Josh and Violet, I was a bit unsure because I had ups and downs with them in Breaking the Plan. But after reading their story, I may like them even more than Oliver and Taryn.
In the previous book, we met Violet and Josh. Vi was Ollie’s girlfriend and she broke up with him to pursue her violin studies in Vienna, which left him devastated but he ended up finding happiness again with Taryn, Vi’s best friend and roommate. Josh was Ollie’s roommate and best friend, so this makes Vi and him sort of fated to be together. Every time they appeared in Book #1, I felt them as antagonists to Ollie and Taryn’s blossoming love story and at times I even glared at them while reading, but now we finally get to know them and I completely changed my opinion about them.
Violet is wasted because her ex boyfriend Oliver is now with her ex roommate Taryn. Of course she would be upset (even if Ollie and Taryn got together when he and Vi had already broken up). This is why she decided to party and drink away her sorrows, to be less in control of her life and more free, since she’s graduating soon and now it’s the time to enjoy college years. But someone doesn’t agree with her care-free lifestyle which could land her in the arms of lusty frat boys, and that person is Josh.
Like I said, Josh was Ollie’s roommate and his best friend. We finally discover that the reasons why he was so rude to Taryn were due to his feelings for Violet. Josh has liked her ever since he first saw her, but he never acted on his feelings and was a manwhore because she was with Ollie until e a few weeks before. Josh looks up for Violet now that Ollie is not at NJU anymore, and he saves her from her poor choices. He’s a bit overprotective and controlling. He always wants to make sure she’s okay and that she’s doing what she wants, but he saves her whenever he thinks she’s in “danger”, like a father or a big brother would do.
Violet and Josh may seem to have it easy because they’ve know for three years, but this is complicated even more because they are friends. Violet adores Josh because she can be herself around him, and the same goes for him. She accepts his controlling personality and “papa bear” attitude because she never had someone take care of her like that. Even when she was with Ollie, it was like despite they’d known each other since young, he never put her first. On the contrary, if you think Violet refused to go to Julliard just to be with him, you could say that she was too selfless but Ollie barely was (as she says many times). Josh, instead, is caring. He always remembers the bagel she likes or what she doesn’t like. This may sound stupid but it isn’t. It’s these small things that show us how much the people we consider important care for us. I’m not saying Oliver didn’t care for Violet, but if you read Breaking the Plan, you’ll realize how he and Vi were together to fulfill a plan and because they got so used being around each other that they never realized that they weren’t made for each other until they broke up. In this book, Violet finally puts herself first, even if it hurts because it means that she’ll have to give up on Josh.
Josh was so adorable it hurt. He never seemed like the type, but we got to know him better and he’s very protective and seems to have everything under control. This may be because he takes care of his mother and his four sisters after his father died ten years before. It’s only natural for him to take care of Violet too after she ends up being alone in her Mill Street house after Taryn leaves. He is truly a golden boy. He was never a jerk to Violet and was very sweet and with a big, big, heart you wished to have a Josh in your life to become your boyfriend.
Now I’m waiting for the last book of the series (I think) about Sam and Rachel.