Review of Awkwardly Ever After by Marni Bates

Title/Author: Awkwardly Ever After (Smith High #4) by Marni Bates
Publisher/Date published: K-Teen, June 24th 2014
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: It's prom season at Smith High School and love is in the air... for some people.

Melanie Morris knows she shouldn't keep flirting with her best friend's brother, Dylan Wellesley, even though the last thing she feels is "sisterly" around the cute soon-to-be freshman. But attending prom with somebody else might mean losing him for good...

Isobel Peters accepts the fact that she's a huge geek, but she never expected renowned player, Spencer King, would want to get his hands on... her reputation. What begins as a bargain could turn into something real - or a Notable disaster!

Corey O'Neal is dating the boy of his dreams, rockstar Timothy Goff. But it isn't easy to trade in anonymity for instant celebrity status, especially now that swarms of protesters want them both banned from prom. Dating Prince Charming in real life is a whole lot harder than it sounds in fairytales.

Happily ever after? Try awkwardly ever after!

So I really liked both Invisible and Notable, though Notable had a slightly unlikely plot, so I was expecting some light fluff with these 3 stories and that's what I got.

I'd already 'met' Melanie in Invisible and if I remember correctly, her being in love with Dylan was already hinted at there, but as everyone knows, falling in love with your best friend's younger brother is pretty much a no-no. Except that it worked here. I liked Dylan, I liked that he was willing to put himself out there and be with Melanie, even if she wasn't really encouraging him so much. I thought Melanie should man up and own up to her crush to her best friend and I was a bit disappointed that part isn't in the story, so I hope that somewhere off-page that is actually happening.

I really liked the story about Isobel and Spencer King, because let's face it, Spencer King is hot. And Isobel is pretty awesome, she calls him out on his bullshit, even though she's somewhat afraid to admit to her own feelings. I think they're good for each other. I was actually kinda sad that this wasn't a full length novel, because I think a lot more could have been written about these two and their developing relationship and it was just a whole lot of cute.

So I was all ready to dive into the last story, the one about Corey and his boyfriend, but sadly, my ARC malfunctioned and I couldn't read more than 5 or 6 pages into this story, which was a disappointment.

It was pretty cute and fluffy, but it didn't make me squeal in happiness with the cuteness of it, and I have a couple more questions instead of closure, but I liked what Marni Bates did with these characters.

My rating: 3 stars