“This was always beyond friendship for me.” – 2.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: family disputes, playgrounds, car dealerships, college classes, concerts, shared apartments and rich kids.

I started flirting with a guy while waiting for my car to be serviced. Now granted, he wasn’t just any guy. Tall. Dark. Hot. Mysterious. Can you blame me for wanting to talk to him? He’s in town visiting his parents. So am I. He goes to the same college as I do. Such a coincidence. Almost as if our meeting is destined…

But I shouldn’t believe in that sort of thing. I am single as a Pringle and always ready to mingle. Until I keep running into Mr. Tall, Dark and Mysterious everywhere I go. Tony Sorrento. Turns out he’s on the football team. I mean, I’m not one to chase after a sexy jock but, okay. I’m down. And did I mention he’s only a freshman?

Our fathers are business rivals, and they forbid us from dating. We need to keep this on the low. Can we remain friendly? Sure. Maybe turn our friendship into friends with benefits? Most definitely. Here’s the thing though. I didn’t plan on catching feelings for him so quickly. Seems like he’s falling pretty hard for me too.

Defying our fathers’ wishes is only asking for trouble, but is being with Tony worth the risk?

I have some conflicted feelings about this book. I don’t think it’s a horrible book by any means, but something felt off. Well, a few things, actually.
This romance book starts when Tony (a freshman in college) meets the beautiful and very flirty Hayden in a high end car dealership. After talking for a few minutes they discover they are both rich, have daddy issues and attend the same college. All nice and dandy, until they bump into each other in a fancy party and find out their parents are enemies. And so a forbidden love begins!
I have to be real with you: I couldn’t care less about these characters. I wasn’t invested in the romance, probably because I wasn’t invested in the characters and their (lack of) chemistry. I think I still liked Hayden better than Tony, just because she was written like a unique main female character, and Tony was kind of boring and unmemorable. They didn’t fit well as a couple and their banter was nothing special. The only thing they had in common was the fact that they both came from rich families… and that’s it.
One thing I found weird was how the rivalry between both families was… glossed over? I thought this was going to be part of the main drama of the plot, but it was completely ignored and I was left confused. We don’t see Hayden and Tony fight against their families to be together and there was no resolution between families in any way, shape or form. What was even the point of this issue in the first place then?
The writing also felt a little weird because it was simultaneously boring, but fast-paced. The plot was so dull and full of rich people’s problems (not even the interesting kind of problems). Their encounters were boring and there was no spark between them. Everything happened so fast, and yet, nothing interesting happened.
I’m a little disappointed. I don’t like to leave book series unfinished, and that’s the only reason why I’m even considering reading the other 3 books left in the “College Years” series. I’ve heard great things about Monica Murphy, so I’m hoping the other books are a little more entertaining with better romances.