This was a really quick read (I flew through it in a day). It's a cute contemporary romance that follows high school junior, Julia, on her class trip to London. They are paired up using the buddy system and her buddy coincidentally ends up being the one person who she avoids at all costs, Jason. Jason is the class clown, a big flirt, an attention and adventure seeker. Julia is an introverted book nerd who just wants to follow her highlighted and page flagged guide books. Throughout the story Jason tries to break Julia out of her shell while Julia begins to learn that there may be more to Jason than the image he portrays to everyone.
This book does have a similar feel to Anna and the French Kiss, but also has it's own personality. I would say if you liked one you will like the other. I enjoyed the story and would recommend it if you are in the mood for a cute romance. There were a few uncomfortable things about this book for me though. There are several scenes throughout where Jason is borderline violent toward Julia. For example, he throws her phone at her and nearly hits her in the face, he grabs her and drags her into a pond when she clearly didn't want to go, he angrily walks by her and shoulder bumps her so hard she falls backward, etc. I get that they are supposed to be teenagers, but some of these scenes did bother me. If a young girl were reading this she might think that since he is the main love interest that this behavior is ok or that since she upset a boy he can act like this toward her because surely it shows that he loves her. In one scene they have a fight in a taxi and Julia says something really hurtful to Jason and to quote Julia's reaction in the book "For a quick moment I actually feel a little scared. I instinctively scoot back against the door of the cab." While Jason does not get violent in this moment, her reaction really struck the wrong note with me. Later in the same night they realize everything was one big miscommunication, but there was no reason for him to react to certain situations the way he did so that this would be her reaction to arguing with him.
The overall story was cute and the twist ending did actually catch me off guard and was not what I was expecting. It's always pleasant when a story can still surprise you. The violence is not overt and is often played off as being playful or just dramatic, so this may be individual to me as I read it. I gave this book three stars because it was a fun, quick read, but no higher because of the message I feel it could send and it's lack of true originality.
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