Review: Stupid Girl by Cindy Miles

Stupid Girl 

Author: Cindy Miles 
Series: - 
Pages: 332 
Publisher: TKA Distribution 
Amazon
Release date: 13th May 2014

Synopsis. (Goodreads) Only fools fall in love... After her senior year of high school leaves behind nothing but heartache, Olivia Beaumont is sure of this: She’s no stupid girl. She sets out for Winston College, promising herself that she will remain focused on her first and only love – astronomy. But all it takes is cocky sophomore Brax Jenkins and an accidental collision with a football, to throw her entire year off course. A quick-tempered Southie who escaped the inner city streets of Boston to pitch for Winston, Brax is known to play way more fields than just the baseball diamond. So, when his name is drawn to take part in his fraternity’s hazing dare, Brax eagerly accepts the mission to take Olivia’s virginity. But he doesn’t plan on falling hard for the sweet and sassy Texas girl who sees right through his bad-boy persona. As Olivia and Brax battle their feelings for each other, echoes of the past year begin to surface. A boy who once turned Olivia’s whole world upside down reappears, and “harmless” pranks wreak havoc. Pretty soon the aspiring astronomer is on the verge of revealing her most difficult, heartbreaking secret. All the while, Brax must wrestle with the irrevocable dare, and Olivia struggles against all logic as she does the one thing only a stupid girl would do: fall in love.

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

I think I am in need of an NA break, I think the recycled storylines and clichéd characters are really turning me off this genre unfortunately which is such a shame because as an older reader I do like the more mature themes that we don’t quite get in YA but aren’t too smexy as they are in adult. Anyhoo, Stupid Girl fell into this category with many overused clichés, it just wasn’t for me at this time.

The storyline –Olivia Beaumont has moved to Winston College to study and work in Astonomy, she has no interest in making friends and especially no relationships so she is blindsided literally when she has a collision with a football on arrival and meets tattooed bad boy Braxton Jenkins. Brax is persistent in his pursuit of Olivia but there is a reason behind this

Brax – Is a Southie from Boston and a pitcher for the baseball team, he is quick to anger and has a bad reputation, he’s not a character I would normally enjoy reading about with his potty mouth, constant punch-ups and dominance but I found myself really hoping the relationship between him and Olivia would work out, I also loved his nickname for her and their dialogue.

Olivia– Had a personality I liked, she was kind and sweet and after a terrible senior year, I loved how her focus was on her education and her family; she didn’t take any rubbish from Brax which I appreciated.

Supporting characters – Tess was a feisty, tough friend; I’d love to see her have her own book. Kelsy Evans was an absolute creep! I loved Olivia’s family life, especially her relationship with her amazing grandfather Jilly, it was super sweet.

What I didn’t like -

* The number of times and people that Brax punched, it was way too much and completely unnecessary.

* Olivia would repeat his sentences constantly because of his accent, it became tiresome

* There were a number of derogatory words used which I really didn’t like and could have been avoided.

* The predictability, it was a story you know from the beginning is going to cause the heroine grief you just read along and wait for the inevitable.

* Kelsy Evans! An absolute creep and didn’t show any remorse or pay the consequences for his actions.

* Cliché after cliché

What I liked -

* Olivia making up her own mind about Brax rather than listening to what she had been told.

* The beautiful cover

* We knew from the beginning what had happened to Olivia so there was no long waits for the big reveal.

Thank you to TKA Distribution via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Stupid Girl.

 

About the author: Cindy Miles is the best-selling author of twelve novels, one anthology and three short stories. She also writes as Elle Jasper, and grew up on the salt marshes of the Vernon River in Savannah, Georgia.