A really good book by Cindy C Bennett. Not my favorite by her which will forever be Heart on a Chain but it was a good book and I loved the characters and how in finding each other they found the courage to change their lives. ( )

This is really a fantastic book! It's a very touching story of two high school students facing huge issues with their home lives but try to keep appearances up that everything is fine. Benjamin never lets anyone get too close, thus his two date max rule. Charlie is the new girl in school and she has absolutely no time for extracurricular activities, thus the no dating rule. Yet they are drawn to each other and slowly discover that sometimes, letting someone in is exactly what you need.

This book is beautifully written and even though technically it is a YA/NA type book it has a core story that will appeal to everyone. I highly recommend it! ( )

This book was everything that I was hoping for and more. I honestly couldn’t put the book down once I started to read it. I believe that this book will hold the spot of one of my favorites throughout 2015. Yes, I only gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, but it still will make it’s way to the top of my list.
The book is split – one chapter it could be Charlie’s point of view and the next it could be Benjamin’s.

Charlie has had a hard life growing up. She was made fun of for many different things and so when she moves to a new school she doesn’t want anyone to know any of her secrets. I loved every inch…every single inch of Charlie’s story. It was heart-wrenching, heart-warming and just wasn’t what you expected from a ‘regular’ YA, Contemporary novel. One thing about Charlie that made me give this less than the five stars I wanted to was…Charlie was sort of mean to her aunt when she moved in. I know some of her reasons could make sense, but it just seemed so harsh to me. If someone was allowing me to live under their roof for free I would be a little more on the nice side.

Benjamin, like Charlie, has had a hard life growing up. Although, no one really knows about it. He is the tough, preppy football player who everyone admires and all the girls want to date. His exterior shows something that his emotions and inside won’t let show. At first, I wasn’t all for Benjamin; I was listening to what Charlie’s friends were telling her and some of his comments were just not for me.

I grew to love the main characters throughout the book so much. Yes, they did some things that annoyed me, but I think that for this book to work the way it did we needed some conflict with them. Not only did I love the main characters, I loved Charlie’s friends, her mom, her aunt, and I even enjoyed one of Benjamin’s friends. I also enjoyed a few other characters along the way, but I can’t mention them without spoiling some juicy information for you guys.

So here is the main reason for giving this book a half star short of the amazing five. The ending was really rushed for me. So much stuff had been happening to Benjamin and it just seemed so much to be put in only a few chapters. I am glad the author added these MAJOR components in I just wish there was more time spent on each of them. The ending I will say was one that I liked it was just rather rushed. ( )