Resisting the Rebel

Resisting the Rebel by Lisa Brown Roberts! This book contains a villain pretending to be a hero, a hero pretending to be a villain, a disco-dancing heroine, two overprotective sidekicks, a little bit of bad language, and a whole lot of swoony kissing. I absolutely love this warning / disclaimer! This is a wonderfully written teenage love story! I'm 30 years olds and I have to say I was mesmerized by this book! I started this book yesterday evening and ended up staying up till after 1am and realized I was seriously debating staying up and finishing it! My few issues is I would have loved to seen Gus get in some trouble for him pressuring girls, and that stupid teacher, he made me some mad treating her that way for having a disorder!!! This book made me feel butterfly's again! Young love! Opposites attract!

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

Let me begin by saying that Lisa Brown Roberts was just the author I was looking for. Her writing is so much fun to read and really hit the spot. I've been searching for a good contemporary read, as it is a genre I don't read much of but have been wanting to pick up more, and Resisting the Rebel was perfect! It had lovable characters, a great plot, even better writing, and yeah, lots of swoony kissing!

At the start of the book, our lovable heroine Mandy is at a party looking for her long-time best friend/crush, Gus. When she bumps into bad boy Caleb Torrs, he reluctantly points her in the "right" direction.Unfortunately, she finds Gus hooking up with her archenemy, Kay. When she tries to leave the party, she realizes she has no ride and is stuck waiting for one of her friends to pick her up. In swoops Caleb to fly our Mandy home and the two come up with this absolutely crazy plan: Caleb and Mandy are going to pretend to be in a fake relationship. Mandy wants Gus to finally notice her, and Caleb wants his crazy obsessive ex-girlfriend, Elle, off his back. What could go wrong, right?

Boy oh boy did I love this book! Mandy was such a wonderful character to follow. She was full of spunk and positivity and even when she was having to deal with some negative things in her life, she still always tried her best to see the good side of the situation. Plus, she absolutely lived and breathed anything disco or 70's related and it was so refreshing to see a character that was so out of the box like that! Her friends were also very fun to read about, although Cammie did get on my nerves a bit with the over protectiveness. I understood why she was being like that, however, and was glad when she finally came around to Caleb at the end. Also, J.T. was so wonderfully funny and optimistic. There was so much happiness in all of these characters, even if there were some not so good times.

The cover of this book lead me to believe that Caleb was going to be a completely different character than he was in the book. Caleb is a black leather wearing, lighter flicking, book loving bad boy. I can't lie, he's the type of male character I love reading about in books. Bad boys make the best characters! It was clear from the beginning that Caleb had at least a very small thing for Mandy, and I really liked reading along as he caught up with those feelings that he had for her. Also I may have spent a lot of time mentally trying to push the two of them together because it was obvious that they were perfect for each other. But seeing him develop from "liking" her to actually liking her was quite fun. It's always nice to learn that the bad boy secretly has a heart and crushes on a dorky girl.

Lisa Brown Roberts really put together a fantastic book. I hesitate when it comes to contemporary, simply because the ending is predictable and I can't stand teenage drama. I got enough drama in high school and I'm definitely not looking for more! But the writing was, to put it simply, fun. I don't think there was a moment that I was reading this book where I wasn't smiling. The banter between all of the characters was so well written and flowed so well, and the development from start to finish was a joy to read. Mandy, while very peppy and very involved in tons of school activities and obviously quite popular, did not come across as a person who could really stand up for herself. By the end, she was loudly speaking her mind and being honest about her feelings, taking charge of stressful situations, and standing up for herself. Her journey to a strong character was a lot of fun to read, and with such wonderful supporting characters like J.T and Cammie, Mandy was really able to be the confident person she was meant to be. I also really liked how she was determined to do better in her classes despite her dysgraphia and ADHD, and that by the end, she was able to write out an entire paper and confidently express her thoughts. I must admit, I was proud of her!

Resisting the Rebel is a perfect contemporary read. If you're hesitant about picking up a contemporary romance, then Lisa Brown Roberts will be sure to wash your doubts away and leave you wanting more of her books. She's able to write a story that keeps you engaged and laughing and happy throughout the entire book, and that's the sign of a good author in my opinion. The book releases on July 25th, so be sure to pick it up and be prepared for a great read!

I really really liked this one! Resisting the Rebel is right up my alley with the brooding bad boy who may not be so bad after all. He likes to keep to himself. I get it... His love for reading only makes him that much more adorable and Mandy needs a serious kick in the butt for not seeing it sooner! Speaking of Mandy I totally loved her hippie vibe and thought it was pretty cool to read about a smart, cool girl, who just so happens to have dysgraphia and ADHD. You don't see that often and I actually had never even heard of dysgraphia until this book. Awareness is always a plus.

In fact all the characters were pretty cool ( other than Gus. Ugh! ). Her besties are awesome especially J.T. and when Caleb and Mandy bond at the park and Caleb starts letting her in, it's just so sweet. Then Mandy names it their snow globe moment and totally makes me love her even more. She's so adorkably cute. There's also some awesome references to Power Rangers ( I totally loved that show when I was 9 ), Gilmore Girls, Teen Wolf, and Sky High. So in conclusion, yes I loved it, yes you should read it if YA contemporary romance with a bad boy is your thing. You won't regret it!

Awesome YA sweet read. The characters of Mandy and Caleb are both incredible and I loved the slow build of their relationship. My only complaint about this book is the cover. Seriously, this needs a leather wearing bad boy on the cover! A minor complaint but still!

Caleb is known as the school bad boy. People didn't mess with him and he was fine with that. Since he prefers fictional characters over actual people being a loner works for him. Mandy on the other hand is on every committee, loves people, and just wants to be accepted as she is. ADHD and all. When she goes to a party with her long time crush Gus only to be left hanging when he hooks up with miss popularity, she's surprised when Caleb comes to her rescue. Even more surprising is his proposal. Pretend to be his girlfriend to help get rid of his stalker ex and he'll help her make Gus jealous and come running back to her. Slowly Caleb finds himself being pulled into Mandy's world and surprise of all surprises, liking it and her more than he ever thought possible.

Definitely a book I would recommend to everyone who enjoys a good YA read!

Thank you Entangled, Lisa Brown Roberts, and Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this for an honest review!

I really really enjoyed this book.. IDK if it was because this author touched on something (even briefly) that most won't or what but I really liked that Mandy had ADHD...maybe its because I could relate to it...

I loved the banter between Mandy and Caleb it was so cute an you could just see the sparks fly from the beginning. an the hero turned villian Octo-Gus...poor Mandy had her blinders on until the end but I could just see her balling her fist an decking him one...I kinda cheered lol Can't wait to see what else this author brings!