3.5 stars for me

This was a sweet YA Romance. Drayton and Dallas are opposites on paper. He's popular and outgoing. She's studios and focused on her hopes for a scholarship. When they run into each other chemistry abounds and both their future goals and paths are changed.

It was a really promising read and I will definitely be looking out for more from this author.

I received an ARC of this book.

This was the idealistic young adult romance story.

We follow Dallas and Drayton on their rocky rollercoaster of a relationship, and I felt like I wanted to cheer them on the entire time!

Dallas was portrayed fantastically and showed that females can have casual sex and be non committal and have it be a positive, whereas usually it is only guys shown in that light.

This was perfect for young adults who may be experiencing the same dramas with choosing a college, whilst experiencing their first love.

The QB Bad Boy and Me was a solid story that reflects high school life in a way that is believable. Some of the language is a rough, with a lot of f bombs. Overall, it was a good read and kept my interest all the way through; many of my teen readers would enjoy this story.

This is such a perfect read for summer ! I’m absolutely in love with Dallas and Drayton !

I first heard of this book on Wattpad years ago. I thought it was amazing there, and I still think it is now, as Tay managed to land a book deal for her story. With summer just around the corner, contemporaries are more and more appealing to me, and especially cute teen romances. I couldn’t have found a better read to fulfill my desire for this genre of book.

I’m no longer in high school, but I’m still not old enough to feel lost when reading a romance set in this context. A love story between a quarterback and a cheerleader could have been super cliché, but the author managed to make it more interesting than two popular high schoolers thinking they’re a perfect match.

I read the 400 pages of this in two sittings, and only because I had to get to work, otherwise I would have sat through the whole thing in a few hours only. It’s the kind of book that makes you stop thinking, and makes you feel like you’re young and free, and in love yourself, even when you’re not. Not many books make me so entranced, so for that alone I’m giving it a 5 star rating.

Dallas and Drayton, the main characters are both strong headed, while being huge softies on the inside, the best friends are a little too discreet for my taste, but they’re good supports for both Dallas and Drayton. I’m especially thankful that Dallas does not completely forget her life from before Drayton after she starts seeing him. She still does things for Gabby, her best friend, and most importantly, she doesn’t forget what her goal in life is, especially college-wise. She makes her dreams and her professional life come first. Amen to this !

The ONLY thing that bothered me a little was the cliché of the dead relatives that seems to be frequent in teen stories. And Nathan, Dallas’ brother who is extremely laxist in my opinion, considering he’s supposed to have the “parental authority”. Again, this is very common in this type of books, so I was not entirely too surprised by this.

Anyway, when you read a romance book, you expect it to make you swoon, and this one did it for me, all while dealing with some important topics (death, parental pressure, etc…) . It was adorable and refreshing. If you don’t mind a few cliché-ish things (kissing in the rain for instance), that might be your must-read this summer !

This releases on August 13th so make sure to grab a copy then !

Thank you Netgalley and Wattpad books for providing me with an e-arc !

Dallas Bryan has one goal in mind which is to attend CalArts to study dance. Being a cheerleader was her only option as her school does not have a dance team. When the hottie football quarterback, Drayton Lahey, sets his sights on Dallas, she is not amused or inclined to play his off the field games. Drayton and Dallas spend their senior semester sending mixed signals to each other; however, they are both more attracted than either is willing to admit.

Dallas and Dray each have tragic family circumstances causing them to be careful in relationships. With the pressures of high school and getting into desired colleges, they are focused on the future and senior year activities. Dallas and Dray seem level headed and serious for their age, but that does not preclude their indulging in random physical relationships and the heavy drinking that has gotten to be very common for high school students.

For YA readers, this story will most likely be a good read as the Dallas and Dray or both likeable. The whole culture of drinking until drunk or passing out vibe may be prevalent in the real world; however, I am not of fan of that lifestyle for the main characters or their friends. These amazingly talented, intelligent young people put so much at risk in order to “have a good time.” It would be refreshing to see a story where characters eschew that behavior though there is a point here where Dallas and Dray rethink some of their previous choices.

Things I loved about this book: Um let's start off with anything sports related and I'm about it. Add in high school romance and I'm done for. The chemistry between Drayton and Dallas is phenomenal. Very swoon worthy!! I personally loved that this was about a boy helping a girl get through her baggage of shit instead of the other way around. So often I feel like we read about these girls who want to change the guys, but Dray was Dray the entire time. He was a little rude in the beginning, but he didn't change. He helped Dallas through a lot of the troubles she went through and she helped him too. Finally... This was a freaking Wattpad story. Like Tay Marley started on Wattpad. How cool is that?

Things I didn't like about this book: I mean I don't really like the name Drayton... but that's about it.

Read this book if you like an easy read (I read in less than a day), football or dancing, and swoon worthy chemistry between two high school seniors.

Giving this a three-star rating because eventhough I love Dray and Dallas and the chemistry was off the charts and I have a certain weakness for bad boy QBs (predictable I know but still) and I love Dallas' passion for dancing, it still felt like there was something missing. The romance was a bit rushed for my taste. I wanted more development and getting-to-know-you in the awkward phase moments. (You know me, I'm a slowburn kinda girl.) And although the writing was good, it was more telling than showing. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book because I did. But in comparison to all the other YA contemporaries I've read (and there's a LOT) this just pales in comparison.

Recommended for mature YA readers.

* 3 STARS * for this fun teen romance!

This book starts the first day of senior year, Dallas Bryan’s first day of her last year of high school. Dallas has dreamed for as long as she can remember of going to college in California for dance.

That means moving out of the town in Colorado she’s known for her entire life and NOT getting attached to anyone new (especially a boyfriend).

But all that seems to change when the school’s football quarterback, Drayton Lahey, hits her car in the school parking lot and they get to know each other more…

<u>Some things I liked about the book:</u>
- Our main character. She is a cheerleader and has a passion for dance. She’s driven and doesn’t take anyone’s sh*t. She challenges people and sticks up for her values. I loved reading from her voice throughout the book because she was so refreshing. At the start of the book, she has a “no strings-attached” attitude about relationships because she knows she wants to move to California after highschool. I have read stories in the past where characters like this are slut shamed so it was cool to see this character portrayed in a different way
- I also enjoyed reading about our main character’s home life. She lives with her older brother who acts as a guardian since their parents both died when they were young. I loved seeing their relationship throughout the story and how they supported one another and got closer.
- Conversations and situations in the book felt very realistic. I think the author did a good job taking the reader in and writing something that felt real. The characters were pretty mature which I appreciated.
- I liked getting to know our love interest and learn more about him as a character. I was rooting for them to get together throughout the book.
- I always love when a book incorporates football or highschool sports. I just think it is really fun to read about.

<u>Some things I did not like about the book or didn’t work for me:</u>
- A couple of plot points that if I described would be spoilers. But I will say there were some moments where the main love interest was what I would say too over protective/possessive. Or where our main character acted in a way that I didn’t agree with or thought didn’t match her personality. And there was a plot moment at the end that just seemed thrown in there, possibly setting up for a spin-off or sequel?
- Certain parts of the writing/writing stye. I definitely see the potential in this author to where her writing could be, but there were passages that had a lot of telling or instances where there was a really cheesy or cliché dialogue or description. This mainly just brought me out of the story. Going into the book, I was expecting it to be a little cheesy so it didn't bother me all that much.
- I also felt that certain scenes could be cut or shortened. I found the pacing to slow down for me about a little over half way through the book (after a certain plot point which I won’t say because - spoilers). Because of this, I felt a lot of the conflict was stretched out. I thought certain things had been resolved, only for them to be brought up again as an issue. It did make the book feel longer than I was expecting.
- This was an ARC copy, so I do imagine some of the proofreading will be fixed in the final copy, but there were a lot of formatting issues I found (specifically with dialogue). It made it hard to tell sometimes who was talking in a conversation.

Overall though, I read this book incredibly quickly (in the space of two days)! I couldn’t put it down and wanted to see where our main characters ended up. Most of my issues had to do with the writing and structure/plot of the book but I thought the characters were solid!

I would for sure recommend this to fans of Wattpad or YA Contemporary. This book hits shelves <b>August 13th 2019</b>! Pick up a copy if you enjoy cute fluffy books, teen romance, football, dance/cheerleading, or interesting family dynamics!

**ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

I loved this it is a cute romance and it has to do with football and it was a swoon worthy read and I feel like you should read it too if you like a cute fluffy read

I genuinely liked this book. I love the lengths Dray took to meet Dallas and it was a really great love story. Highly recommend.