By: Heather Dowell
Originally posted on Heather’s Blog.
Avery’s plan? Snag her crush’s attention, by any means necessary. She gets someone’s attention, all right, it’s just…the wrong brother.
The plan…
Avery’s not a fan of unrequited love. This crush on Alex Luven? It’s gotten old. She’s over it. In fact, this hopeless romantic is finally ready to take matters into her own hands, and the first step is to find some common ground. A mutual activity they can bond over, perhaps. When their health class teacher pairs them up to take care of the “health baby” for a week, she knows the universe is on her side. True love for the win! What better way to bond then over their precious fake baby?
The reality…
This is no ordinary baby. It’s a demon in disguise. Surely real babies never cry this much. The stupid doll keeps her up all night and drives her crazy with its neediness all day, and the worst part? Alex is a total flake.
When exhaustion reaches critical mass, she caves. If he won’t answer his phone, then there’s nothing for it but to show up at Alex’s door. Except the hottie who answers the door?
Yeah…this bad boy is definitely not Alex.
The brother…
Cristian’s not exactly excited to be at his family home on his college break. His father’s an overbearing tyrant, his brother is an ego-maniacal jerk, and now… Well, now it seems he’s babysitting his perfect brother’s fake baby and kissing the girl of his dreams. So, not all bad then…right?
Except that the girl of his dreams has a crush on his Prince Charming brother. And much as Cristian can’t stand his brother, Cristian’s not about to get in their way. Right?
Except that he has…and he probably will again. Because when it comes to true love…his perfect brother can suck it.
REVIEW
The second book in the series definitely did not disappoint. I didn’t get to see the reappearance of Simone, but I definitely loved getting to know the rest of the girls in the squad a little bit better. And I really love the continuing theme of love doesn’t always go as planned and your crush might not be the right guy.
So this one was a real throwback to high school because they had an assignment where they had to pretend that a doll was a baby for their midterm, and it would cry all the time. Of course our main character Avery is psyched that she’s been paired with her crush. That excitement quickly fades as he ditches the assignment and leaves her with all the work. Luckily, his brother is there to help. Cristian has a rep for being a sort of bad boy thanks to the rumors his younger brother Alex tells the school, but Avery treats him like a decent human being.
After a kind gesture, their kinship ignites, and Avery has to figure out who her real crush is now. Is it possible for her to have liked one guy for the past several years and now be falling for his brother? Or is she just willing to take any semblance of love?
I love the whole misunderstood love interest type, so getting to meet Cristian was amazing. I loved how optimistic Avery was but at the same time could have an angry streak and be fierce when she needed to. Seeing these two bond was interesting and delightful. Plus there was all the super sweet kissing. And they were able to relate to one another over their parents’ divorces.
Maggie Dallen has a knack for writing realistic characters and perfectly pairing them with a mate. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series to see who ends up with who. My prediction is that our most unlikely girl Max will wind up with Alex. I can’t wait to see if it happens.
Functionally Fictional 
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