ARC Review: Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) by Sophie Jordan

Foreplay

Author: Sophie Jordan

Series: The Ivy Chronicles

Pages: 304

Genre: New Adult

Publisher: William Morrow

Release date: 4^th November 2013

Amazon – TBD

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Before she goes after the life she’s always wanted, she’s about to find the one she needs. 

Pepper has been hopelessly in love with her best friend’s brother, Hunter, for like ever. He’s the key to everything she’s always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she’s kissed exactly one guy, she has just the plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom—take a few pointers from someone who knows what he’s doing.

Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he’s beyond gorgeous, but he’s also dangerous, deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as lessons in attraction are turning both their worlds around, and showing just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what’s real…

Review: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

Foreplay was such a pleasant surprise, I was a little torn when I first read the synopsis about there being two guys involved but I absolutely loved the way it all played out.

Nineteen year-old Pepper was such a relatable character and so easy to like with her kindness, simplicity and honesty and despite her stubbornness to realise what she had right in front of her because of a long lived fantasy I still found her to be the most wonderful heroine.

Pepper didn’t have the best childhood and a lot of it was spent with her best friend Lila and her brother Hunter who she is completely in love with and sees as the perfect partner to achieve everything she has always wanted - security, family and stability so when she finds out he has broken up with his long-term girlfriend she has a plan to gather up a little more experience in order to win him over. This is how we come to meet Reece {swoon}, Pepper’s saviour when her car breaks down, bar tender and supposedly a player but there is more to this guy than what she is originally led to believe.

I absolutely loved Reece! Smexy, confident, did I say smexy ;) and knows what he wants, the way he was treated by his father was so sad; I came to love the chemistry, sensual ‘training’ moments he spent with Pepper , he was such a loveable, sweet guy that I couldn’t help but adore; the interactions between him and Pepper had me glued to the pages.

The romance – one reluctant, the other obviously in denial but from the very first moment these characters met  I couldn’t help but hope for something more between them; Hunter was there and was wonderful but he didn’t give me heart flutters like Reece did.

The secondary characters were fabulous! Awesome room-mates and a man-whore brother who was great, Foreplay is a great start to the Ivy Chronicles series and I hope to learn more about each of these characters in future installments.

This was my first Sophie Jordan book and it definitely won’t be my last; the New Adult genre has been hit or miss with me so it was refreshing to read something that had a small amount of drama without the unnecessary angst and issues. The writing was crisp and engaging with a plot that flowed well and characters that were believable and likeable.

Overall, Foreplay is a sexy, sweet, New Adult contemporary filled with heartfelt emotion that ticked all of my boxes, I am definitely eager to read the next book in the Ivy Chronicles, Tease which has an anticipated May 2014 release date.

Thank-you kindly to William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review Foreplay.

About the author: Pseudonym: Sharie Kohler

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature - teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel,Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller's List. 

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