Review: The Rules of Persuasion by Amity Hope

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website: 

1) Take things slow (her rule)
2) Make it believable (his rule)

After tragedy hit her family, Meg Matthews officially crossed the line from “good girl” to “bad girl.” Motorcycle? Check. Graffiti? Check. The only thing Meg hadn’t planned on was blackmail. Too bad now a certain infuriating boy holds Meg’s future in his hands…

When Luke Prescott—star pitcher and town golden boy—catches Meg vandalizing the school, she’s given two choices: face the consequences or enter into a fake relationship with him to get his parents and his ex off his back.

But as Meg and Luke grow closer, they both realize they’ve been keeping secrets from each other. Their fake relationship might be doomed from the start—if they can’t learn to open up to the one person they never thought they’d trust.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains late-night graffiti sessions, flirty baseball lessons, and a never-ending list of relationship rules just made to be broken.

Review: 

I've been dying to read The Rules of Persuasion ever since I first heard about it! Late-night graffiti sessions, a fauxmance, and flirty baseball lessons? It sounded like the exact recipe for a perfect romance read!  Luckily, The Rules of Persuasion was everything I hoped it would be and much, much more.

Meg Matthews knows she shouldn't have been tagging her high school that fateful night. It was risky and slightly careless, but she couldn't resist giving her sister such a public tribute. At first, it was going well - no one sees her - and then Luke Prescott showed up. Luke Prescott -"the spoiled rich kid" as Meg refers to him as - is the from one of the richest families in their small town. Arrogant and used to getting what he wants, Luke is someone who Meg has always managed to avoid...but that's not the case anymore. Offering her an ultimatum - either he turns her in or she pretends to be his fake girlfriend - Meg is left with no choice other than to be Luke's girlfriend. Now with a set of "Rules of Persuasion," Meg and Luke set out to fool everyone....but is there a tingle of real behind those explosive kisses?

Fauxmances are nothing new in YA literature, but I still love them just the same. They leave so much room open for potential romance, squabbling, and whole lot of awkward yet funny moments. What makes it even better in the case of The Rules of Persuasion is that Amity Hope does such a fantastic job of of developing Meg and Luke's fake romance turned real. It's chaotic and slightly messy. It has increasing and well placed tingles of real romance. More importantly, it opened up so much funny banter as well as hilarious disagreements - really the two things I live for in romantic comedy type reads.

When Meg and Luke are first introduced it's hard to imagine they'll ever find common ground.

Meg is determined, mostly fearless, and always quick to speak the truth. Her situation with her family was heartbreaking yet incredibly realistic. I particularly liked how while Amity offered up some hard topics with that, she still managed to give the perfect ratio of the tough topics as well as the light.

At first glance, Luke seems like the stereotypical golden boy; however, there's a lot more to him than meets the eye. I loved how dedicated he was to giving back to the community, especially kids at risk, as well as the fact that he strived to be better than his father, even if it meant risking an easier future. Making Luke even better was how charming he was. Sure, he could be a grad-A jerk sometimes, but the moments where he truly left his charmer come out, I was full force swooning! I loved the way he was with Meg, especially towards the end.

Basically, if you love books about fake relationships containing very real kisses, late night graffiti sessions, and charming banter,  The Rules of Persuasion is for you! But word of warning: you'll be swooning all the way through!

Grade: A+ 

The Rules of Persuasion is now out! 

Source: ARC provided by author - thanks Amity! 

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Tell Me in the Comments: 

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