You Before Anyone Else

This book straddles the line between young adult and new adult. I have given the title over to the latter. I don't read a lot of new adult, mostly because I haven't had any luck with the genre. This book is better than others of its kind. It was hard to write this review, because I can't talk about "the twist" without spoilers. All I can say is that it's in line with a trope I cringe when I encounter. However, these authors handle it well.

Title: You Before Anyone Else
Authors: Julie Cross and Mark Perini
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: 8/1/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC via NetGalley
Rating: ★★★

Finley is a model who is tired of getting the cold shoulder at casting calls because of her "good girl" reputation. After all, she's close with her family, helps out with her younger twin brothers and knits (of all things!). Looking to shed her goody goody image, she decides to let lose and have a one night stand with bad boy Eddie Wells.

No, really.

But if you can get past the silliness that a model can somehow get booked for jobs by hooking up with a stranger, there's a lot to like about this book. Both Finley and Eddie wind up being likable, if sometimes a bit bland, characters. Eddie lacks some serious edge for being the "bad boy." I was worried when "the twist" materialized, because we live in a culture that increasingly romanticizes this sort of situation. The ending of this book could have gone very wrong, but it wound up surprising me by striking the exact right note. I was worried I wouldn't be able to relate to a romance about models, but that wasn't a problem.

This book exceeded my expectations in many ways, but there were places where it still struggled. The dialogue tagging is a bit dodgy, the writing very average, and the plot movement a bit turbulent. Finley's story lacked the conflict and depth that Eddie's did, and everything worked out for her a little too well to be interesting.