This book had a lot of heart, and début writer Lauren Price does a brilliant job in creating likeable characters, who are all different and flawed but ultimately we root for them.
I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed by the ending as the tension was ramped up so much in that’s to Riley’s secret, and then when it was revealed it was over in a heartbeat. I think more could’ve been done with this part of the story.
However overall, it was a cute, fun read which made me smile when reading. Remembering the feeling of young love and all the anxieties that come with it, Price does an excellent job in creating characters with distinctive, authentic voices.

Not my sort of book, but it did keep me reading until the end. It’s perfect for those who love The Kissing Booth and She’s All That.

This was a disappointment. I'd heard quite a lot about the book and it seemed like such a funny idea, but it actually fell quite flat on me and I'm not really sure why. The swear words also really put me off. I can't imagine anyone ever saying "grasshole", even a teenager with a younger brother. Just say the actual word or use a different word.

I really liked the relationships, not just between Riley and Alec (talk about a slow burn!) but also all the friendships and family relationships in the books. It was a really good set of characters and even so many of the side characters felt really real and honest.

I guess it just didn't have the humour that he title implied. It was more centred around the grief and guilt that Riley and the people around her feel about what happened to her cousin. And though that wouldn't usually put me off, I just wasn't prepared for it. I just didn't manage to engage with the book the way I do with most books.

I'm really disappointed. It wasn't a badly written but I just couldn't get into it..

“Unfortunately, a dare is a dare. I have to follow the rules.”

He closes his eyes, completely at ease.

“Whose dare was it?”

His eyes open. “Private information.”

“Screw you”

“Is that an offer?” He smirks.

“I’ll get it back, and I’ll get you back, just wait and see.”

Alec’s dimples flash and his eyes close once more.

“That’s more like it.”

First impressions: I love the bright and colourful cover, although I have to admit that I was a little self-conscious reading this on public transport! I like how the book starts with Riley and her brother Jack, as I felt that family relationships were so important throughout this book. Our first sight of Alec is when he, mum and sister, move in next door. Riley does notice that he’s good-looking but doesn’t immediately decide that they are soulmates so the story stays away from insta-love, which is great. Their first meeting happens quickly, when Alec climbs in Riley’s window to steal her bra for a dare. Half of me found this prank war quite funny, while half of me was a bit creeped out by the diea of someone sneaking into your bedroom when you’re sleeping. Also, whoever built these houses built them really close together and didn’t plan ahead if you can easily climb across and see into each others windows, without even a tree to help!

As you read further, this story reveals hidden depths. What, at first seems like a straightforward romantic comedy, actually has great emotional depth, dealing with Riley’s conflicted feelings about her cousin and experiencing happiness when she feels a sense of responsibility for what happened to Kaitlin. Alec is initialy portraye as a trickster and bad-boy but quickly reveals himself to be quite down-to-earth and really sweet.

I liked how almost everyone around the pair seemed to see the potential for a relationship before they did and their banter is really cute. Riley is understandably cautious after her last relationship ending badly, so she is hesitant to read too much into Alec’s cheesy chat-up lines, but I really started shipping them when he intervenes to get her out of a tight spot and then supports her as she works through some of the issues linked to her cousin and ex-boyfriend.

This was exactly what I wanted to read at the time (Blame The Kissing Booth on Netflix for setting me off on a quest for fun, cute contemporaries) and is a perfect summer read – a lot of fun but also with lots of heart! Ultimately, this book is like Alec and Riley – funny, witty and charming with a heart of gold.

Suddenly the atmospheric chatter of students seems to hush. I twist around with a knowing groan.

Speak of the devil.

Alec saunters along the corridor with Joe and Dylan, a folder clutched loosely in his right hand and a leather jacket slung over his toned arm. I can practically hear the drool collecting in girls’ mouths already, and my teeth clench.

He looks so smug, so confident – and it’s his first day. I don’t know how someone can see so carefree.

What I liked: Riley as a character and her family relationships, Violet as her best friend and their fun ways to start phone conversations, Alex who is increasingly revealed a very sweet character. I also liked how Tiana is revealed to have more depth than it seems at first and that she is as much a victim in the situation as Riley. The more I think about it, really, all of the characters were so real and almost all were lovable!

Even better if: I wish that the group of boys had taken notice of Riley before Alex, or at least knew her name as it felt a bit unrealistic that they didn’t even know she exists and then, suddenly, they’re friends. At times, there were a few inaccurate uses of language – as Riley is the narrator, this could be down to her ‘authentically’ teenage voice.

How you could use it in your classroom: There are several themes which could be explored from this book, such as dealing with bereavement, healthy relationships, the power of rumours, etc. This would be a good addition to any library catering for teenagers. (Teacher/Parent note: Despite the cover, this is completely clean!)

I adored this book.
The characters were fun without being obnoxious, the sarcasm was nice without being mean and the drama was cute. I read it in one sitting and smiled the whole time.
I might be a bit older than the target audience and found the teenspeak a bit odd at times but it didn't stop me from enjoying the High School dramatics of it all.
Excellent.

Book: A Bad Boy Stole My Bra (provided by NetGalley)

Author: Lauren Price

Pages: 304

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

Publication Date: July 12th, 2018

My Rating: 4/5 stars

The first time I read this book was a couple years ago when it was first published on the reading platform Wattpad. Needless to say, I loved it. I think that when I saw that I was going to be published as an actual book I was really really excited because it had been a while since I read it.


This time I'm sure I paid more attention to it since the first time I read it I was younger and everything just looked cool to me. This time I connected with the characters and tried to put myself into their shoes when needed.


There's no point saying that from the two main characters my favorite is Alec. I mean who cannot like a handsome guy that just steals your breath with every move? Riley agreed with me! Alec is the new hot neighbor Riley has who because of a date steals her bra. Well that dare is the beginning of friendships and fights and the need for revenge (in a good way always), which I will explain more later. Alec is definitely the typical bad boy with the soft side that we see in all bad-boy-books. As always a bad boy is a bad boy because of his past. So in this book Alec has something that haunts his past, that makes him really angry in specific situations, you get the point. Apart from that Alec seems to be the perfect boyfriend since when he likes someone, he likes them for good. What else do we want?

When it comes to Riley, she definitely has an interesting personality. She loves skateboarding and music and books that make her really cool even though she considers herself as an outcast. She definitely thinks she hates Alec but eventually she ends up crushing on the guy. Who wouldn't?


Riley deals with some problems of her own. Specifically the death of close person to her heart and life. But there is more behind that which she doesn't like to talk about since she blames herself for it.


During this book Alec and Riley aren't the only characters obviously! We meet a lot of characters that play crucial roles in the storyline like Toby, Riley's ex boyfriend and Kaitlyn, Riley's cousin. Also Jack, Riley's little brother is a personal favorite of mine. I find the young characters to be the most fun ones. Also we meet Violet, Riley's best friend and a bunch of Alec's friends like Chase, Joe and Dylan. Also there isn't a teen story that doesn't have a mean girl. Here her name is Tiana and she has a bigger role than the expected one.

There wasn’t a thing that I didn’t like while reading this book. I just needed a little bit more of Riley and Alec’s relationship since what happened, happened close to end. And I would love to see what happens with Alec’s dad after all.


I have said it before and I'm going to say it again; I love reading books that make me remember something for my life at the end. This book showed me how important friendship is and how calm and safe you feel and you have friends on your back helping and supporting you no matter what.
_________________________________

FAVORITE QUOTES

“How can you have a beautiful ending with making beautiful mistakes?”
“The point is that pain is no justification to treat people badly”
“Do you believe in love at first site? Or do you want me to walk by again?”

_________________________________


If you are looking for a fresh, quirky, romantic story to dive in and definitely enjoy, I would totally recommend this one. It has everything a summer read must have in my opinion. Perfect for Rainbow Rowell readers.

With Regard, Georgia (aka @justreadthem)

I really should stop reading teen-lit now. Like, totally! I’m just too old. I cannot comprehend the amount of angstiness caused by the most trivial events and the earth-shattering feeling when a boy (A BOY!) speaks to you. Nor do I feel comfortable in the bubblegum-and-sneakers rose-tinted High School habitat. By the title, I just thought it would be a fun read. But then timid Riley (a girl) and her far more confident sidekick Violet encounter her new neighbour, bad boy (why bad boy?) Alec whilst the ubiquitous school bitch Tiana is continuously glaring at them all. Too much cliché for me, I’m afraid. Also, there are persistent stylistic incongruities: Sometimes Riley sounds like a child and sometimes like a middle-aged Mum imagining teen-speak - who in the name of cribbage would use words like “grasshole” and “jerkwad”? Major awks! Two stars for teeny potential.

I would like to thank both Black and White publishing, Lauren Price and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read 'A Bad Boy Stole My Bra' in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This book will make you laugh but it will also give that 'oh my days' feeling too. It is funny,warm and full of fun. It is a real cheer you up novel.
Please please read it. Loved it.

This is story has a plot that basically reminded me of a wattpad book, which make sense know that I know she started out on wattpad. But the bad boy stole my bra plot and title is over used and is dried out even on wattpad and a lot of them were more interesting with their side plots this is a meh book at best I would not pick it up again because it really didn’t interest me as much as I thought it would

Look I'm probably biased. Ok, very biased. I have been following this book for years now, way back to when it was first published on Wattpad. I absolutely fell in love with it while it was on Wattpad and I still love it now. Nothings changed in that aspect.

There have been, however, some changes in the book itself - slight changes or nuances. For example, anyone who read the book on Wattpad is probably mourning the change of Alec's last name. Not gonna lie. I prefer Alec Ryder than Alec Wilde but that's not a big deal. I didn't mind the changes at all though. I'm sad that it's a bit different from the original, but that's only for sentimentality.

I've always enjoyed Lauren Price's writing and I have read all of her other books on Wattpad. Her voice is incredibly fresh and is possibly one of the funniest authors I have read. She has created Riley to be nuanced and absolutely human. She's not completely perfect which is absolutely comforting to me and I'm sure other readers too. Riley is funny. She's smart. She's witty. And by the end of the book, you can see that she's changed - she has grown.
Don't even get me started on Alec. Holy cheeseballs. He is one of several (I do admit) guys from books that I wish so so hard were real. Yes, the title says that he's "A Bad Boy' and in a few ways he is but my goodness does he have a heart of gold beneath. He is bloody good looking (at least in my mind), slightly angsty, funny and witty, and most importantly clearly cares about Riley. A lot.

Overall - if you read this book on Wattpad originally, you'll still love it. If you didn't and are looking for a sweet read that will make you laugh but possibly make you cry (only a little) about a hot bad boy with a heart of gold and a witty and loveable heroine (and we can't forget about her infamous bra), then this is certainly the book for you.
Well done Lauren! I was a fan before and still am, perhaps even more now. I cannot wait for your next books

Note: I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed in the review are my own and are in no way influenced by the author nor the publisher. A major thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this opportunity.

This book is a super easy, fun story with lots of romantic tension and such brilliant characters. I adore coming of age young adult stories, and this one did not disappoint, it had me bawling with laughter, especially at Alec's one liners which were well and truly hilarious. Highly recommend.

I received an E-arc of this book from netgalley in exchange of an honest review. This is a contemporary book which deals with heavy issues like death of a family member.

Although the cover is misleading, the story itself is cute yet very serious. The main character, Riley is dealing with the recent death of her cousin (who is her age fellow and best friend). A really cute boy moves in next door and because of a dare steals her bra which diverges Riley's attraction from her cousin's death for a while.

The characters are well developed and I loved the plot a lot. The writing was very gripping and easy to follow at the same time. I finished the book in two sittings.

i didnt enjoy this book, for me it was a typical YA story about a romance from the boy next door.
i would have enjoyed this alot more if i was a younger reader lets say 13-15, but as an 18 year old it just wasnt enjoyable - 2 stars

This was a pleasant read. I imagine that early teen girls will love this but it just didn't keep my interest really. I had to keep forcing myself to pick it up.

A fun read! Some cliched moments but the energy and likability of the main character keeps it going. A good book for teens and adults (well twenty somethings..) alike

I really enjoyed this book, it gave me major "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging Vibes". It was a really lovely and easy read that was hard to put down! I love that Laura started writing this book at 14 because my 14 year old self really connected with all the emotions and experiences. What a joyful book to read! Kinda makes me wish I lived next door to a real life Alex Wilde :P

This was such a good read. I really liked the writing style and it was easy for me to follow and connect with the characters. I like how the novel didn’t just deal with romance but the problems that can be connected to it. It was nice also to see how the main character dealt with feelings such as guilt and grief. A very fun and easy read, thanks.

Mm, yeah, I was really really really x many reallys excited about this book. I was darn sad when I spotted it on twitter and couldn't join the blog tour because I wasn't in the UK. Then I saw it on here and was totally delighted. Sadly.... it just wasn't meant to be. The book and I just didn't click together. Instead I was frustrated from the start with many things. I knew I would have trouble with the whole bra-stealing, as I just found it a bit too creepy for a guy to just break into a girl's room to steal her bra. But sure, I could throw a bunch of glitter over that to ignore it as much as I could. But it was the fact that the dude just keeps holding on to the bra that made me even more pissed. Bro, please. That is just a tiny bit too much. I get that it was a dare, but come on.... Give it back.
I also didn't like Alec's character. Maybe he will change in the second half of the book, but I just couldn't see his hotness and attractiveness. Maybe also to do with the fact that any dude stealing bra's out of girl's rooms is instantly off my list of OMG must kiss boys. :P
I also wished that Riley would just have spoken up about things. Told her mom or someone about the whole situation.
Riley's best friend. Eh, on the one hand she seemed funny and interesting, but she was a bit too eh about stuff when her best friend didn't immediately spill the beans. Like girl, sometimes you want to keep some stuff private, or you just haven't had time to instantly squeak about it.

After a while of the same interactions and how the hell do they like each others I just gave up. Sorry. Thanks for the book, I am still very thankful I got the chance to actually try this book. Too bad it just wasn't for me. But I am sure there are people who will adore this one.

I'm 99% sure I read this on Wattpad, but I honestly didn't remember much from the book so it didn't really make any sort of difference in how I read this book (in terms of comparing it to the online, amateur, drafted version to this edited and professionally published one). However, knowing it came from Wattpad was always in the back of my mind, and I think even if you didn't know, you could tell.

This book was very . . . typical teen-ish, I'm not sure how else to explain it. It had that typical high school setting with the jocks, the mean popular girl, and the main character who had to be awkward and sees herself as an outcast/loner (when she clearly wasn't). I hate it when books do this. Riley kept repeating how she was an outcast, a loser, a loner, but the book never portrayed her that way. So why do it? It's perfectly acceptable to write about a MC who just fits in. Is neither above the radar or on it. IT HAPPENS. (of course there's nothing wrong with being above or under, but don't say she is one of those things but then portray her as another. Where is the consistency?).

That grated on me slightly. As well with Alec, and how he's a 'bad boy' but nothing about him is bad? People just make up rumours?? And she's like wow what a bad boy?? Like once?? But he's not?? I just.

This is where the whole 'wattpad' element comes in. For someone whose been on that site for seven years now, this is typical. You have these bad boy - loner female characters, who aren't really either of those things, but the book 'markets' them in order to gain interest. However, the characters are neither of these things, and readers like them anyway.

I mentioned how this is typical teen-y, which I'm using as an umbrella term to also cover 'cliché'. Hello, typical mean girl character. We have Tiana, whose reason for hating Riley we later find out (it's ludicrous and pathetic, a bit of a stretch) and it's just . . . ugh. She's the typical mean girl, with the parents on the school board, who blackmails, wants the new hot boy, puts other girls down, etc. And she has no character whatsoever. She's a very one dimensional 'villain' and it was boring. If her character was more developed and nuanced, it would've worked better. I didn't care about her and ultimately knew what she was going to do to Riley (it was obvious, not much about the plot was). That took away from the excitement of the book.

I am truly just fed up of seeing these one dimensional female characters in YA. Stop making them just so tropey! This isn't to say mean girls don't exist but having them just one-dimensional and as bland as a piece of cardboard isn't good writing.

Ah, the writing . . . it felt so childish, and amateur-ish at times. I've mentioned the lack on good characterisation, and that is down to poor writing. The writer relied to much on Riley telling the reader things, and not actually using her words to convey to the readers what she wanted to get across.

It was also typical cliché writing. It wasn't terrible, but for a published book I think I expected better.

Just want to go back to the plot: ALSO SO PREDICTABLE. Of course (especially since this was a Wattpad book) you have the typical 'gets too drunk and wakes up in his bed not knowing what happened'. Honestly. That needs to die. Just pretty much every *dramatic* thing that happened you could see coming a mile away . . .

I'll move on to positives, because there are some of those:

NO SLUT SHAMING. YAY. I hate it when you have the females slut shaming each other, calling each other whores etc. There was none of that. There's an incident with Tiana and Chelsea, but that's about it. Yay. Congrats book.

The characters did have some development! Riley and Alec both learnt how to break down their walls. Riley gained confidence in herself.

(Just another negative now - I feel like there were too many side characters for them all to be developed. We also had her mum, her brother, his mum and sister, Violet, Chase, Joe and Dylan and too often they just blended in to one and had no real development of their own. I think if there were lesser characters then the author could've focused on developing these side stories (except they didn't actually have much plots outside of Riley and Alec...but there you go)).

It was witty and funny. There were some moments that made me laugh and grin like a fool. Ultimately books, at least for me, are there to entertain and this certainly did that. I liked Alec (he wasn't a douche YAY) and Riley, and the 'slowburn' of their romance.

Sometimes though the jokes got too dominating, and that's where the amateurish writing came in. It focused too much on just having humorous scenes between the characters that didn't really mean anything in the long run.

So yeah. The writing, plot, characters, could often be too cheesey and cliché that it became a little bit too like . . . ugh, but ultimately it wasn't that bad. This is definitely one of the better books I have seen come from Wattpad (see my Bad Boy's Girl review for reference on what a bad published Wattpad book looks like).

I think this is a 2.5. Maybe a 3. I need to think on it!

I'm not quite sure what to make of this to be quite honest. I've been craving contemporary because it's nice and sunny and I just wanted a nice and easy light read. This is exactly what I got with this!

I did enjoy this, however there are a few things that kind of threw me off.

I'll start with the positives:
- I loved the build up to Riley and Alec's relationship. It was full of mischief, pranks, cute moments, babysitting, spraying deodorant in the eye lots of laugh out loud moments!
- The friendships made me weak! I love a good friendship and you got this with the girls and the guys. (I low key enjoyed Natasha being thrown into the mix and the water balloon fight)
- Alec and Millie were just so adorable!
- The mums! 1. we have bisexual rep 2. Just how understanding Rileys mama bear is!
- His SPOT! I gusheddddd
- We got to see a good representation of Anxiety. Depression and Panic attacks, it was really good to see and how it mixes in with grief. For me personally whenever I have a specific episode of these it is 95% of the time triggered by something so for me that was a very accurate representation.

So my issues with the book are:
- I wasn't really there for the whole love triangle/square with Dylan and Toby... I just didn't understand how Dylan fit into it all and then he went on to date Violet. It just seemed too much of a cliche. As for Toby, it was just one bad thing after another.
- The whole situation with Tiana, like I don't know... for me bitchy characters aren't really my favourite kind... and she brought drama but not like in a good way. Blackmail, Jealousy... this is probably one of the main reasons this wasn't a four stars for me.
- My final thing is the issues surrounding Alecs dad, we don't really understand what happened. He didn't accept that his mum was Bi, but wants to be part of the lives of his children BUT there's no real explanation.

Overall I did enjoy this for 75% of the book, I was fully invested and then it hit a sour point for me. This was however what I needed right now and overall I am glad that I read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Black & White Publishing for providing me with an Arc in exchange for an honest review.