For Noah Sullivan being the best friend to a douchebag and player like Jake Nelson has never been easy. It's been a rocky road since kindergarten when Jake duct taped Noah to his chair before recess. With just six weeks to high school graduation, Jake accidentally blows his drunken ass up on his grandfather's tractor, and Noah finds himself immersed not only in a whirlwind of grief, but on a quest to find a mystery girl from Jake's past.
While cleaning out Jake's room, Noah and Jake's dad make a startling discovery. Instead of the obligatory porn collection or pot stash, they find a ring, but not just any ring. Its half a carat of commitment in a platinum setting-proving even man whores have taste. After Jake's mom pleads with Noah to find the girl who meant so much to Jake, Noah begins a modern day Grail quest to track the girl down.
Since Jake was a notorious player with a legendary collection of trophy panties, Noah finds himself in over his head. There are the usual suspects like Avery, the Ice Princess Jake dated for appearances, or Presley, the school mattress Jake dated for convenience. But the trail begins to point to the most unlikely of suspects: Maddie, the Valedictorian and choir girl who was trying to help the unmotivated jock graduate--the girl who also has surprisingly caught Noah's eye and meddled with his heart.
Hanging out with Maddie shows Noah a different side of Jake--one that was deeply human and surprisingly douche-free. And the more he tries to solve the mystery of the ring and of Jake, the more Noah starts to discover about himself and of love.
Review
5 stars.......I'd give it a 10 stars, if I could!!!
I loved reading the Dedication. To be honest, I don't read them all the time. Katie mentions Kenny Chesney's song, "Who You'd Be Today". Well, I'm a huge KC fan to begin with and for an author to refer to this song means alot to me. And after reading this book, it definitely fits this story. Kenny's songs all tell stories of life, love, just plain having fun & people that he has met. Katie also mentioned being a teacher and experiences that she had. I thought to myself....hmmm....I wonder what kind of story am I in for?
Loss......Heartache....Reconnecting with your past.....Growing up.......Self-discovery......Finding love.
I knew this book was going to be a good one from the beginning few pages. It opens with Noah Sullivan, a senior in high school, waking up during his boring Brit Lit class after returning from spring break. The descriptive words made me feel like I was actually sitting there and I probably would have had the same thoughts running through my mind that he did while in that class.
Noah's world is thrown for a loop when he learns of his best friend, Jake's death that day. He and Jake had been friends since kindergarten and what a funny beginning friendship they had. They had alot of plans for the future, too. With Jake's death, Noah learns some things he didn't know and feels like he may have never known him like he thought he did. And he thought they shared everything. These two young men not only spent alot of time together but always turned to each other when they were upset about something happening in their lives. They held each other up and had fun like boys will do. Now who does Noah turn to when he needs to talk? Maddie Parker
This girl is different from the girls he and Jake hung around and partied with. She's a good girl, doesn't swear, is the Pastor's daughter and was Jake's tutor after he was sent to the Pastor by a judge because of something that he did. Who is this girl? Jake never really talked about her. I grew to really like her. She's funny, smart and said just the right things to help Noah get through this difficult loss of his best friend. She's wise and very mature for her age.
"Sometimes we just have two sides to us, Noah. One that we're willing to let the world see, and then the other that we hide deep within ourselves."
Katie Ashley gave me just what I needed. Even during the sad times, this author's words made me laugh. This book touched my heart.....deeply. It grabbed it, squeezed the heck out of it, made it hurt and then beat again. Right now, I'm having trouble seeing the words I'm trying to write/say because it touched me that much. My eyes are watering up. Oh my goodness, what else can I say other than "You HAVE to read this book!" I had to finish reading it this morning before getting ready for my Volunteer Appreciation lunch at my daughter's old elementary school. I wanted to have all my thoughts fresh in my mind. I felt many emotions while reading this heartfelt, touch story of being young, learning about life, your friends, family, heartache and finding that special someone. I'm going to recommend this book to my friends and family. But not only them, but my 13yo daughter. This book means that much to me. While I had so many feelings running through me......I didn't have the tears fall from my eyes until I was done. Maybe it's sadness that I finished it or maybe it's because it was so well written and just that damn good. Yes, that has to be it! I know what would make my life "perfect", getting a signed copy of this book to add to my "keeper" shelf. I know I will read this book again in the future.
The other characters in this book and events happening in Noah's life definitely added to my enjoyment of the story. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to read this book and write a review for this site. It's also different from the many books I've been reading. Yes, it had me emotional and feeling everything in it, but there was no sex. Yes, you read this right. None. Zilch. There was alot of talk about it, cuss words, too. But this book didn't need to have the sex scenes to make me love every single, damn page. I am going to say that "Don't Hate the Player.......Hate the Game!" is the BEST book I've read so far this year. And I've read alot. Katie Ashley, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this fantastic book!!!
"The life of one we love is never lost. It's influence goes on through every life it ever touched."
Review by Jessie L.
Buy Links
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Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.
She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.
She also writes Young Adult fiction under the name Krista Ashe.
Author Links
Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/KatieAshleyLuv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katieashleybooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6546441.Katie_Ashley
Website: http://katieashleybooks.blogspot.com/
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I love Katie's books!!! Thank yoou for the giveaway :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to reading this book. Just added it to by tbr. Thanks for the post and great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteTy for this!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading this book. All of the reviews have been spectacular. Thanks for being a part of the blitz and for the opportunity to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteI love all of Katie Ashley's books. ThNks for the giveaway.
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