Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry) Hardcover – April 13, 2010

So we all know by know that I wasn't all that impressed with Simone Elkeles' "Perfect Chemistry" (some of you even shot me some pretty intense emails about it) so when I decided to read "Rules of Attraction" (which is the companion novel to PC,) I promised myself that I would look at it from all of the angles y'all insisted were so important.Now, while I stand behind my original objections to "PC" I am happy to say that "Rules of Attraction" was back on mark for Elkeles' writing ability. (The ability that I fell in love with in her novel "Leaving Paradise") All of the things that I ranted about; the lack of equal character development, the vapidness of the heroine, and the sloppy writing in PC, were no longer present in this novel (thank God.)Carlos is a troublemaker, he is into drugs and gangs and pretty much anything else that would make a parents blood boil. Kiara is... not a troublemaker. She's a tom-boy with quick wit, and a inability to turn down challenges, she spends her time teaching art classes at retirement homes and climbing mountains with her gay best-friend Tuck. Not exactly a match made in heaven right? But when Carlos is framed (think drugs... lots of them) and kicked out of his current sleeping situation he has only 2 choices... go to jail, or live at Kiara's. Choosing the lesser of 2 evils Carol's makes the move... to a lovely little yellow polka-dotted room. What happens when you finally realize the girl down the hall is more than just a T-shirt lovin wrench monkey? What happens when people start trusting you? And what is going to happen when the people that set you up, decided they aren't quite through with you?I was happy to see Elkeles bring back her natural flair for story telling. Her angst scenes were captivating, pulling the reader in and out of moments, daring them to guess what would happen next. Her characters were finally balanced, introducing their qualities in a steady stream of duel narration, and more importantly...I actually cared about what would happen to these people in the end of the novel (I even like Brittany more in this book. Go figure.) This book is easily a stand alone (if you don't feel like backtracking to catch up) and if you are looking for something you can knock out in minimal time... this was a fairly quick read. (1 day for me)There were devious blondes, cookie magnets, rainy homecoming dances, family fun nights, several life altering decisions, and a missing $50 grand.There was plenty of action to keep the plot flowing and... just like last time, tons of Spanish slang (just in case you were needing to bone up on it.)This one is worth the money people! Get it, Live it, Love it... pass it on.Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: never show up to peer counseling with a shiner... it spurs way to many questions.

My Thoughts: It's time to meet the second Fuentes brother! His name is Carlos and he's just as bullheaded as Alex (from Perfect Chemistry) was! He's got a chip on his shoulder and is just as much a bad boy! He is coming up from Mexico to live with his brother! But of course his brother lives in student housing and Carlos gets into trouble so he's forced to live with a professor! On his first day of school (while he's living with Alex) he meets a girl named Kiara. She is quiet, shy, and his complete opposite. The girl doesn't even know how to dress. She also stutters sometimes when she talks. Kiara gets assigned to show Carlos around the school and he purposely mocks her to get a rise out of her. He isn't happy about coming up to stay with Alex so he is just not a happy person.He goes to live with the professor and guess who is his daughter! Yep, that is right, it's Kiara. Carlos luck can not get any worst! Or can it? He gets sucked into a lot of bad situations such as a drug dealing scheme but he feels he has no other way out. He also makes a deal with Kiara to be his fake girlfriend so he can get rid of a girl who wants him. Little does he know, he will actually start to fall for Kiara.I loved Rules Of Attraction just as much as Perfect Chemistry. Alex and Brittany are also main characters throughout the story so we are reintroduced to them and get to follow through on what happened to them! Rules Of Attraction was just as great as Perfect Chemistry! The chemistry between Kiara and Carlos is definitely there. I especially loved the scene during family night.Carlos has to make a lot of tough decisions throughout the novel and he has a hard life, just as Alex did! Go read Rules Of Attraction now!Overall: Loved it! I really liked Carlos, not quite as much as Alex but he was definitely as hot as Alex. His tattoo which said rebel totally did me in! I also like the way what Elkeles writes, feels real. The sex scenes in Perfect Chemistry and Rules Of Attraction are satisfying enough to leave readers with that feel good feeling without all the graphic details.Cover: Love it! I love it even more than I love Perfect Chemistry! It's hot! And the mention of cars throughout the book just magnifies this cover more!What I'd Give It: 5/5 CupcakesTaken From Princess Bookie(Hardcover Edition)

(Source: Purchased on kindle from Amazon.co.uk for £2.49)Carlos is moving from Mexico to Colorado to live with his brother, and finish high school. He's got no time for a girlfriend, or any sort of complication to his life, and getting arrested for drug dealing is the last thing he wanted.Intent on not revealing the name of the kid who planted the drugs on him, Carlos ends up living with professor Westford and his family, whose daughter Kiara seems to be getting slowly under his skin.Carlos isn't boyfriend material though, he just wants a girl to screw around with, doesn't he?This is the second book in the `Chemistry' series, but can be read as a stand-alone novel (I haven't read the first one.)I liked this story, but for me it took a long time for the romance to kick in.Carlos is a pretty rough male lead, he's obviously lived in some not-nice places, and although his mother has done her best, he's not had the best of starts in life. He was pretty stubborn about not revealing the name of the drug dealer who set him up, even though he wasn't actually anything to do with him, and this probably revealed quite a lot about the things he learned as a teen.Underneath it all, quite a way underneath it all, Carlos was a good person, but in the beginning he was pretty rude to Kiara and her family, and probably didn't deserve the chance they gave him.For me the romance took a long while to build up in this book. At the beginning Carlos was not very nice to Kiara at all, I totally got why she wanted to play a practical joke on him to pay him back for some of his comments. That being said, as they slowly got to know each other a little better, Carlos wasn't quite so mean, but I certainly didn't see why Kiara was falling for him either.Things didn't really heat up between the pair until really late in the story; around the last10-15% of the book in fact, which was a little disappointing, but when they eventually got together things weren't even smooth sailing then.Kiara was an okay character, but while she seemed to have problems with stuttering during stressful moments, she didn't seem to have the same problem when whispering dirty little teases in Carlos' ear, which personally would have made me a little nervous!The ending of the book concerned Carlos and the drug ring he had somehow gotten caught up in, and this was unfortunately the least interesting part of the story for me. I didn't really appreciate the epilogue much either.Overall; a YA contemporary romance, with quite a slow-to-love couple.6.75 out of 10.

Carlos Fuentes isn't happy about leaving Mexico to start the 'new' life his older brother, Alex, has planned for him. Carlos liked his freedom; living life on the edge and carving out his own path - just like Alex did.Kiera Westford doesn't talk much; preferring instead to shut the world out. And when Carlos bounds into her life she struggles to understand him and his wild ways. Carlos is sure that Kiera thinks she is too good for him, which is just fine because he is not interested anyway, right? But when they finally open up to each other, the connection they feel shocks them both. Can they overcome their fears and realise that sometimes opposites reall DO attract?I love this book! I think it's as good as the first one.'I HAVEN'T KNOWN HER LONG AT ALL, BUT JUST LOOKING AT HER FEELS SO RIGHT. BEING WITH HER FEELS LIKE... HOME.'There were so many romantic and sweet scenes between Carlos and Kiara.I love Carlos! He is a bigger bad-ass than his brother - Alex.' I KNEEL IN FRONT OF MY LOCKER AND READ THE NOTE, WRITTEN ON A TORN PIECE OF NOTEBOOK PAPER - K. THE LADY AT THE STORE SAID YELLOW MEANS FRIENDSHIP AND RED MEANS LOVE. THE ROSARY IS THE ONLY THING I HAVE THAT HAS VALUE TO ME. IT'S YOURS. I'M YOURS.'My heart was melting...'" YOU'RE DANGEROUS,"' HE SAYS.' " WHY?""'" BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE"'This book is SO HILARIOUS! I was laughing constantly!'TUCK SETS THE VASE DOWN ON THE WINDOW LEDGE AND SMILES WIDE.'" OH, COME ON. DON'T BE SUCH A GRUMP. I'M HERE TO CHEER YOU UP."" BY BRINGIN' ME PINK FLOWERS?" CARLOS SAYS, GESTURING TO THE VASE." ACTUALLY THE FLOWERS ARE FOR KIARA BECAUSE SHE HAS TO DEAL WITH YOU."I love every character in this book!Oh, and did i tell you there were some REALLY hot stuff going on? This book isn't just romantic and funny, it's smoking hot as well.'" KIARA UNBUTTONS MY PANTS AND REACHES DOWN TO FEEL ME OVER MY SHORTS."'Believe me, this stuff is HOT.Like i told you before, i loved every character in this book. They could be a little bit more described but they were really well developed. Every character had a little part in the story. Like in the first book, we get to see both main characters points of view. I love that. And not only do we get that, but we also get to see what happens next with Brittanys and Alexs relationship. I love them as well, so i was so happy do be able to see how there story continues.As always, the ( nearly) endings are full of action and thrill. I'm always looking forwards to them. The very ending was so hilarious, i was not expecting that and i can't believe it happened.Overall, Rules of attraction is a gripping ride that you can't miss.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know it’s a story about young people, written for young people but there’s a romantic innocence about these stories that I can’t stop ready about. I’m a sucker for the bad boy falls for good girl type books. There’s just something about Simone Elkeles characters that are genuine and come to life through her stories. I actually preferred Rules of Attraction to Perfect Chemistry. Carlos was truly a bad boy, and Kiara sincere yet feisty.The relationship between Carlos and Kiara develops slowly and sweetly, I loved their teasing and banter with one another. Carlos relationship with Kiara’s father and brother was so funny yet touching. There are the usual obstacles along the way but this story kept me interested and gripped until the end.

I read this book in order to 'research' the voice in teen romance. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it that much, as at first, both of the lead first person characters were a bit unlikeable. The story is very much the Pride and Prejudice model, with Elizabeth Bennett as a stuttering, uncool, Colorado girl who hikes and fixes cars, and Mr. Darcy as a hot, Latino gang-banger with a secret heart of gold.Gradually, however, I got into the voices, and the chemistry between the two characters (I haven't read the first book in the series about Carlos' older brother, so I can't compare, though it sounds like a near-identical plot). While I never quite understood what drew the characters to one another initially, I eventually found the attraction believable. I believe this is probably popular with teenagers largely due to the sex/relationship plot, with the gang sub-plot secondary. The relationship/sex was racy and well-portrayed, though I found the ending to be a bit unrealistically 'happily ever after' for my taste.Overall, I did enjoy the book, and learned a fair bit about what Young Adults (apparently) want to read.

Starting with Alex and Brittney. I read the first 2 books a few years ago, and just had to do a DO OVER like Brittney lol, and just had to read them again and finding out there was another one. Win Win for me. Lol but seriously brilliantly written, totally enjoyable, just can't put the books 📚 down, once I start. Well worth the money 💰 and the download. Well done ✔ to the Author.