“You may be faking the relationship, but you’re not faking the orgasms.”Downsized, broke, and dumped, 38-year-old Marley sneaks home to her childhood bedroom in the town she couldn’t wait to escape twenty years ago. Not much has changed in Culpepper. The cool kids are still cool. Now they just own car dealerships and live in McMansions next door. Oh, and the whole town is still talking about that … whole town is still talking about that Homecoming she ruined her senior year.
Desperate for a new start, Marley accepts a temporary teaching position. Can the girl banned from all future Culpepper High Homecomings keep the losing-est girls soccer team in school history from killing each other and prevent carpal tunnel in a bunch of phone-clutching gym class students?
Maybe with the help of Jake Weston, high school bad boy turned sexy good guy. When the school rumor mill sends Marley to the principal’s office to sign an ethics contract, the tattooed track coach, dog dad, and teacher of the year becomes her new fake boyfriend and alibi—for a price. The Deal: He’ll teach her how to coach if she teaches him how to be in a relationship.
Who knew a fake boyfriend could deliver such real orgasms? But it’s all temporary. The guy. The job. The team. There’s too much history. Rock bottom can’t turn into a foundation for happily ever after. Can it?
Warning: Story also includes a meet-puke, a bouffanted nemesis, a yard swan and donkey basketball, a teenage-orchestrated makeover, and a fake relationship that gets a little too real between the sheets.
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This book was LOADS of fun. I might gush a little, so prepare yourselves…
First of all, the heroine, Marley, is far from at “rock bottom.” I mean, sure, things have gone wrong for her lately and she’s not thrilled to be back home in the small town she ran from after high school, but she’s not in any way broken.
She’s not mooning over old boyfriends, she’s not spending all her time whining about the unfairness of it all. No, she does what she needs to do: she takes a temporary job as a gym teacher and girls soccer coach and goes to work every day just like a real life adult would.
She has some insecurities about past bullying and fears about relationships just like most of us do, but nothing really keeps her down. Marley is a survivor who doesn’t wallow in self-pity at the hand life has dealt her. She takes control of her life and makes things better on her own. I LOVED that about her!
Now, did she get on my nerves a little with her stubborn insistence that small town life wasn’t for her? Yes. Did it keep me from enjoying the story? No. I understood why she felt the way she did, and it made sense, so I cut her some slack.
Jake’s a great hero, too. He’s the perfect laid back foil to Marley’s controlled chaos. He’s smart and sexy and hardworking, AND he’s great at his job, which is teaching. We don’t get enough hot, tattooed romance heroes who are teachers in Romancelandia, in my opinion.
Marley experiences some fantastic personal growth over the course of the story, and she has a positive impact on pretty much everyone around her, even her former bullies. There wasn’t a secondary character in this story who wasn’t well fleshed out and interesting in their own right. I loved Marley’s parents, Vicky, Jake’s family, the girls on the soccer team, the dog, the former bullies…they were all pretty fantastic.
There’s also plenty of witty banter and sexy times. But maybe my favorite part of the whole thing? There was a kind of Remember the Titans and The Mighty Ducks losers-to-winners thing going on with the girl’s soccer team that had me cheering (in my head, not out loud because that would be weird) while reading about their games. I could easily see this book being made into a movie and at the end, when the girls are victorious, I’d probably tear up a little. I wouldn’t cry because I’m not a crier, damn it, but I’d tear up a little.
Long-story-short, I highly recommend this one. It’s longer than I normally recommend (532 pages), so plan your reading time accordingly, because once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down until the very end.
And don’t forget to check out the Romance Rehab blog for more rants, raves, book lists, and other fun romance-y stuff: http://www.romancerehab.com/
Holy cheesus I had such a good time reading this. What a great book! So much fun and entertaining. I was laughing out loud at so many parts. Great writing and outstanding characters, I loved them all!
This book made it to the top of my all time reads!!!! It is so full of humor and heart. Jake is absolutely delicious; quite possibly the perfect book boyfriend. Marley is so funny and full of sass. She is also much stronger than she believes and Jake plays a huge roll in helping her see her worth. Not only are Jake and Marley utterly amazing, the supporting characters were so fantastic, I didn’t want to leave Culpepper! And OMG….the extended epilogue…icing on the Rock Bottom cake!
I freaking loved this book ,it was funny and heartwarming and so freaking steamy !
I love Marley but there were a few times i wanted her to get her head outta her ass ! she does at the end 🙂 i love how she always bounced back and i loved that she finally stopped taking shit from people ,it was awesome to see her coach a team and how she brought them together ,it was great that the team was able to be there for her too and help her see that losing isn’t the end ! she was able to bring so much joy to all of them ,i loved her inner thoughts about Jake (he’s so freaking yummy!) it was so funny to see them fake date and all the hoops they had to jump though 🙂 they were made for one another 🙂 loved all the pranks she pulled!
OMG I am in love with Jake Weston ! he’s hot,sweet ,flirty and so caring ! he wants the best for everyone and he isn’t afraid to take a chance 🙂 he has had a thing for Marley since high school and now that she’s back he’s gonna do whatever it takes to make her see that they belong together 🙂 i loved that he kinda tricked her into fake dating him ! it was the best thing to happen to both of them 🙂
I also loved all the girls on the team ,they were awesome ,i thought it was great that Jake and Marley become Libby’s legal guardians ,that was so awesome to see them become their own little quirky family 🙂
I loved the characters and the story ,learning self acceptance and how to stand up for yourself is hard but i loved that Marley is finally able to love herself and to see how much she has to offer others 🙂
I sincerely loved this book. The storyline is really something almost all of us can relate to. Marley and Jake’s HEA was incredible, loved the ending! I especially loved the justice of the peace’s name…..;)
This was my first time reading a book from Lucy Score and now I’m wondering what took me so long!! I loved the writing, the pace, the humor, and the characters were well-rounded and real.
Jake and Marley’s story was funny, uplifting, romantic and totally relatable. It was more than just a second chance romance, it was a lesson in never giving up and learning that, sometimes, making a difference isn’t always in doing the big things, but in doing the small things with a full heart and a present mind.u2063
Seriously, I laughed so hard I scared the cats off my lap and my hubby thought I had gone crazy.
The minute I finished the extra epilogue I texted my friends:
I just finished an incredible, funny, sexy kinda crazy book. Now at 75% I wanted to reach into the book and strangle the main character…This is a second chance at life 20 yrs later. I really enjoyed the characters being almost 40 yr olds having more life experiences
I can tell how much I like a book by how many times I use the “highlight” function when I’m reading a Kindle edition. Let me tell you, I highlighted the crap out of this book!
It’s a second chance/fake relationship combo about a couple with a complicated history that started when they were in high school 20 years ago. Did you just do that math? The couple in question are in their LATE 30s. When was the last time you read a book that wasn’t about a couple in their 20s? That’s pretty rare, and made this book even better, in my opinion.
Throw in small town zaniness, a few long-held misconceptions, and some excellent sexy times, and you’ve got yourself another excellent book by Ms. Lucy Score. Thanks to the author for the opportunity to review this book.
What a great book! It made me laugh over and over. It took a look at perceptions of perfection. You never truly know about someone’s life unless you hear it from them. On the outside everything looks like sunshine and roses and the other your drinking wine from a bottle and smoking cigarettes in a tree with your supppsedly perfect nemesis and your sister. Don’t miss this book!
HILARIOUS! HOT! Loved this book!!!
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I laughed, cheered, swooned, and devoured every word of the book. I loved the multiple themes in the book. The characters were so fleshed out and perfect. This one is going on my keeper shelf!
Marley is a 38 year old woman returning to her childhood home in hopes of getting her life together and becoming the successful woman she was meant to be!
After each failure Marley has picked herself up and started over, but this time she is unsure of which direction she needs to steer her life. So she retuns to her childhood bedroom and a temporary job she is not qualified to do.
Throughout the story Marley has to learn how to let go of past hurts, and see things from a different point of view. She gets in touch with old friends and makes new ones. She has clashes with old enemies and makes new ones. Romance buds and realities come crashing down around her as she learns that not everything is as it seems.
I loved that the characters were well throughout and developed. I laughed and I got frustrated right along with them. Marley was a very relatable character and the women in her group were honest and funny! I loved this book.
I want to start off with talking about the author. Lucy can take a story and turn it into a fairytale that every woman wants. She doesn’t just write about the hero or the victim. She adds a town, friends and family that you love to hear about that makes you wish you were apart of or can say you have someone in your family like that. That is why I love reading her books.
Ok so this book hits home to I’m sure a lot of people. Somebody either got bully in high school or you were the one doing the bulling. That is why I loved Marley as a character. She wasn’t just the victim in high school but she was the prankster, the pretty girl that didn’t think she was. When she came back to town and start working at the school and hated it but then she meet her friends again. That brings Vicky into the story which I loved her but it also brought in Jack. The long lost love. I don’t want to give a lot of away. The only I will say is that you will not be sorry. Marley is a character you will fall in love with in the first couple of chapters and you won’t be able to put down until find out her happy ending. I received this book free for my honest opinion. I would have paid to read the book too!
Are you one of those people who never want to go to your highschool reunions, have always wondered what the view might be like from the teachers lounge, and need a hunky book boyfriend for every day of the week? If so this is THE BOOK to read!!
RBG has mean girls aplenty, a swan and some donkeys, teachers that are funny AF, a heroine to good to be true, and a smokin hot hero with a knack for gift giving.
I laughed out loud over the donkey basketball fundraiser, pranks played on mysoginistic coaches, Marley’ s loveable snarky best friend, and her hilarious parents.
I fell in love with Jake Weston, his kindness for almost everyone around him, the sweet way he charmed Marley out of her shell, and that smokin hot body!!
I nodded along as I read about both teachers and students who were jerks and bullies, and the understanding that even though they might be a$$holes it’s almost always because of things or people in their present or past that they can’t get away from.
Lucy Score hit a grand slam with this hilarious, small town romantic comedy! I loved it, definitely in my top 10 this year!!
Lucy is the absolute queen of the small town rom-coms! She has a way of sucking you in and making you fall in love with the quirky characters and silly ways of the town. This book was no exception! Jake was the swooniest of swoony heroes! Marley was hilarious and at the same time her own worst enemy. This was an amazing book of self discovery and second chances!
Rock Bottom Girl gives us the story of Marley and Jake. Marley has hit rock bottom, unemployed, broke, and single. She comes back to her hometown to try to get a restart on her life and ends up in a temporary position as a gym teacher and soccer coach at her former high school. Jake was the bad boy from high school who is now a respected teacher and track coach. This book was absolutely hilarious, I literally laughed out loud several times. I loved all the witty banter between the characters. It is a wonderful story about redemption from horrible high school memories and the power of friendships. You will fall in love with sexy Jake and his adorable fur baby Homer. This was my first Lucy Score novel but it will not be the last. I highly recommend this book!
boy, this took me back! i, too, went to high school in central PA. this was the best rom-com I’ve read in AGES.
A really enjoyable, often funny, second chance at love story. Lots of the humor and characters that we’ve come to except (and anticipate) from Lucy Score.
Well edited.
Marley is 38, newly single, unemployed, and back in her childhood bedroom. Life is not looking rosy. Her parents hook her up with a job – temporary PE teacher and head girls’ soccer coach. With nothing else on the horizon and in need of a little time to reboot, Marley reluctantly agrees. What follows is almost a coming of age tale – learning to let go of the baggage of the past and embracing the future you never knew you wanted. Marley runs into a past crush, a past boyfriend, old friends and old enemies. For each and every encounter, Marley has preconceived ideas, skewed memories, and baggage that all need to be reevaluated. Even the things she believed about her own family are challenged. In the end, perspective is everything. Along the way, she falls into a fake relationship with hot teacher Jake (also the hot guy from high school), and finds that staying in the fake lane isn’t very easy. Fortunately, we get lots of Jake. Jake as the bad boy high school junior that kisses the substitute teacher. Jake, the guy who kissed Marley under the bleachers, solidifying her decision to break up with the boy everyone else wanted. (Well, the ‘It’ guy besides Jake.) Jake, the shirtless cross-country coach. Jake, the 38 year old living in the house he inherited from his grandmother as if she’ll be home any minute. (So, no changes to make the house his own.) And Jake, who apparently channels his inner frat boy when it comes to cleaning. Read, cleaning? What’s cleaning? And Jake, the sweet guy who loves to give gifts, thoughtful advice, and great encouragement.
This is a really fun story about two people learning to finally grow up. Adulting is hard. But being stuck in the halls and drama of high school from 20 years ago is even harder. Reevaluate. Change your perspective. Learn to let go. It can be amazing and freeing. Enjoy!
This is more than a 5-star rating! Where to begin? Lucy Score is the queen of small-town romances. In Rock Bottom Girl, Marley tucks her tail and heads back to her small hometown. Her last memories of high school life there were not the greatest. An unusual, temporary, job opportunity comes her way which puts her on the radar of former (?!) bad boy, Jake Weston. She needs a lot of help to survive high school as an adult. Jake is more than willing to help her…for some dating lessons from Marley.
Lucy Score has the innate ability to weave together romantic, humorous, emotional and epiphanic moments. Sometimes all on the same page. In this book, you get all of that mixed in with some high school bullies and a little bit of revenge. Did I mention a lot of humor that will make others around you wonder why you’re smirking? There are many pages to this book but it is so complete you will not feel like anything could have been edited out nor will you want to skim. I wish ratings went above 5 because Rock Bottom Girl would deserve it.