I started this before bed (big mistake, HUGE), stayed up WAY too late, and devoured it in a matter of hours. Prepare to fall for Dallas because he is slightly broken but so, so easy to love! Nothing But Trouble was really great so I was looking forward to this big time, even as I was unsure of how I’d feel about Dallas. We’re introduced to him in that book and while there were glimpses of an intriguing story underneath all of his wild behavior, I knew it would take a lot to win me over. I shouldn’t have questioned it - he is without a doubt the best part of this book.

The story follows Dallas, the wild, fun-loving golden boy who doesn’t take too much about life seriously. He’s been hurt in the past and now chooses to live in the moment, but things change when he meets Dora. Shy and sheltered, Dora is a wallflower with a stutter who has decided that this year is the year she’s not going to give an eff. Dora and Dallas have a class together, and over the course of the semester they run into each other many times, sharing a connection that just gets stronger the more they interact. Starting out as strangers, they slowly develop into friends until there is a trust there that makes the progression into lovers a natural one.

This book went in a whole other direction than what I was expecting, which just made the ride that much more interesting. It’s decidedly New Adult, with relationships that match that vibe. If you haven’t read Nothing But Trouble, you’ll have a completely different reading experience than those who have - while this IS a standalone, the timelines intersect between the two books and we see scenes from NBT with a whole new perspective. I’ll admit that took a little getting used to, as I was constantly drawn back to memories of NBT, but once I settled into Dallas and Dora’s story it was easier to leave all that behind. While this isn’t my absolute favorite read by P. Dangelico (that honor is still shared by Wrecking Ball and You Can Have Manhattan), she’s set the bar so high with her past books that it was an almost unreachable target. It’s a great book that held my attention from start to finish, and absolutely flew by. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC via NetGalley (then purchased the book for my collection), and am voluntarily leaving a review of this angsty yet adorable romance.

Dallas and Dora's story starts with a drunken kiss. It's a kiss she'll never forget but she's pretty sure he was too drunk to remember. Little does she know, he remembers the kiss, he just doesn't know who kissed him...

Ahhhh Dallas, he was the perfect man....at least it always looks that way from the outside. He has the glossy exterior but internally, he's struggling and about to break apart. Unfortunately, no one is noticing that since he doesn't ask for help. One day he hits rock bottom and somewhat self-destructs. It leads him to some forced changes.

Dora has led a cautious and quiet life. But she's tired of it and has created a checklist of things she wants to do/experience called the "Eff List." She and Dallas form an unlikely friendship when she starts driving him places while he's injured and without a vehicle (after his carwreck). What starts out as a friendship of convenience evolves into something much deeper and before long, Dallas has feelings for Dora that he isn't familiar with. It brings his "caveman" side out which is actually kind of amusing. Unfortunately, Dallas has a hard time trusting things because life has always let him down so he continually expects for Dora to let him down too.

This was a good book about two adults and how they dealt with their insecurities in order to be able to love one another. Even though Dallas doesn't look like the type who'd be insecure at all, he definitely was and at times it could almost cripple him. Dora's insecurities were more visible in her stutter and the way she carried herself. However, over time, she conquered a lot of the struggles that led to those issues for her and it built her confidence even more.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and P.Dangelico for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dallas Van Zant is a poor little rich boy. Raised by a bipolar mother he might have all the money in the world but he learned young never to love anyone or anything, because they always leave you. A god of the water polo team he's feted by men and women, not committed to anything, drinking, sleeping and using his way through college until he joins his grandfather's beer behemoth or kills himself in one of his adrenaline-seeking stunts.

Dora might have unconventional parental units but otherwise her life is cookie-cutter perfect with ambitions to become a vet. Her only weakness is her pathetic crush on Dallas, a guy who doesn't even know she exists until one night she steps outside her comfort zone and kisses him.

If you like a YA/NA novel where the super hot stud helps the short curvy nerd tick off her To Do List for the year then you'll definitely enjoy this. Slower and more measured than the first book this is intelligent and takes place over more than just a couple of weeks. Some of Dora's friends (I mean you Zoe) are super-annoying but they aren't in many scenes so I can deal.

P Dangelico has set this at the same time as the first book so events in the first book also happen in this one. Not sure if she's intending to this with all the books in the series and whether it will be interesting or really irritating.

Anyway, considering I keep saying I'm like sooo totally over NA/YA I enjoyed this one. Guess a favourite author can make even me reconsider a tired genre with good writing and believable characters.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

***5 ‘Dallas & Dora’ Stars***

Started it.

Couldn’t put it down.

So, basically I devoured this baby in one sitting. I shouldn’t have since I was supposed to be doing that #workthing (or at least putting all of my focus into it and not the book, but *shrugs*) but once I got sucked into the world of Dora and Dallas all was lost and I NEEDED to see how everything played out between them and I wasn’t disappointed. (Well, I was because there were no more words to read ~ but I know that I can’t do much about that). This book was all kinds of sweet, swoon worthy, adorkable goodness that pulled at my heartstrings and had me grinning so much my cheeks hurt.

Dallas and Dora. These two...There is so much to say about these two, but you really have to go into this book blind, well, as blind as possible after reading the blurb because it does a good surface summary of who they are, but going any deeper than that will ruin them for you. So, I will say that I absolutely ADORED them ~ even when I wanted to Gibbs smack them, I adored them. They are complex and have a lot of things they need to work out, but they both have amazing souls. And as for their journey to their HEA...obviously I enjoyed it, but it was a lot of fun as they danced around and towards each other. And though there were some things that I saw coming, I loved how it all worked out for them because they really did complete each other in the best of ways.

I’m going to sound like a broken record, but this was a great read. It does deal with some heavy subjects, but I like how everything was dealt with. As for the secondary cast of characters Zoe, Blake, Reagan, Alice, Brock, Cole and Quinn I loved hanging out with them all again and it was fun to see them through Dallas and Dora’s eyes and I’m quite curious to see who is next up on the chopping block ~ especially since there were quite a few teases as to who may be hooking up with who.

Note: This book can be read as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend that you read Nothing But Trouble first since there is some overlap in the timelines and could impact your enjoyment of NBT if you haven’t read.

I didn’t realize that this was the second book in the series. Since I didn’t read the first book, I only had a couple of moments where I wasn’t sure what was going on with the characters from the first book. It did leave me with some questions but nothing too serious that I couldn’t enjoy this one. I really liked Dora and Dallas, they had some great chemistry together. I might check out the first book because I want to know what was going on with that couple.

Dallas finds out what real love is!

Malibu University water polo star Dallas Van Zant has way too much money and nobody to care about but really likes a girl in literature class. Dora Ramos has made a list of things she wants to do before graduating from Malibu University but getting ditched at a party isn’t one of them. Dora loses her unlocked phone and Dallas decides to help check things off her list.

Dallas and Dora are like two ships passing in the night even though they have friends in common but when Dallas ends up losing his driver’s license after an accident, he convinces Dora to drive him to his community service at the animal shelter she volunteers at. Dora starts to see the real Dallas and not what people expect to see.

Nothing But Wild is the second book in the Malibu University Series.


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As soon as I realised this story was told from two POVs, I knew I was going to enjoy it.

Dallas is a cocky athlete who puts on a carefree facade for basically everyone he knows even though he struggles on a daily basis. Dora is the quiet, studious girl who has had a crush on him from afar for a long time. After a chance encounter at a party, they share a steamy kiss, and so their story begins. As their relationship evolves from acquaintances to friends to something more, Dora gets to see and fall in love with the man beneath the facade and Dallas slowly comes to terms with the fact that letting someone in and being in love isn't so bad.

This story is full of super sweet 'aww' moments along with its share of swoonworthy, steamy moments. The characters are relatable and manage to draw you in and want to know more of their stories.

The only drawback for me was that the story skips quite a lot between each chapter which was a bit hard to follow at times. Sometimes it would be later that day, other times it seemed to fast forward a couple of weeks.


However, Nothing But Wild was a great read and I would recommend to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request for an ARC of this book! The review below is entirely my own opinion.

I really loved this book and it's all because of the two main characters, Dallas and Dora. They're both flawed but that's also what makes each of them endearingly and adorably sweet.

Ms. Dangelico manages to layer her character's personalities with a richness and realness of depth that somehow grabs at your heartstrings and makes you fall in love with them. You want to be their friend. You want to comfort them. They're not perfect and that's great because then, they feel like people you know. And I so love that.

Some of the events in this book seem to have happened concurrently to Reagan and Alice's story, book 1 of the series: Nothing But Trouble. But each can be read as a standalone.

If you like sports romances (like me!) with characters who are true, real, and sexily sweet, then I'd totally recommend this book. I couldn't stop reading. It was so, so, soooooo good. ❤️

Huge fan of this author, but unfortunately this was a miss for me. I adored the wrecking ball series, and I liked the first of this series also, but I found this book to be just ok. I just didn't like Dora. She acted like a tween, with the emotional maturity of one. I need a little more backbone and spunk. Because I didn't connect to the characters it didn't feel fresh or exciting. Not my favorite.

Definitely a young college age adult book. Too much partying, and drugs for me. The ending is better. I guess I should have known since it is based on a college Jock.