Title: Wild Cards
Author: Simone Elkeles (Twitter)
Publisher: Walker BYR
Publish Date: October 1, 2013
Genre: YA/NA, Contemporary
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

Derek pulled a stupid prank, and he's paying the price. Forced to move back home with his step-mother, he has to readjust to a whole new lifestyle and an entirely different crowd of people. Among them is his step-mother's extremely attractive and unavailable sister, Ashtyn. He knows he's not going to stick around if he has any say in the matter, so why not test the waters? Ashtyn, however, can take care of herself. With a clear goal and focus towards becoming a star player in a men's sport, she's thrown a curveball that make just make her vulnerable...and need Derek's help. But is there something more there than either of them are willing (or want) to admit?

If there is one author I know I can turn to for contemporary fiction, it's Simone Elkeles, so when I discovered that her next novel, Wild Cards, was on the table, you'd better believe I was all over it. With great skill and heartfelt emotion, the novel sweeps us up into the story of two utterly believable and completely relatable characters for whom we're powerless but to feel for. Often times, dramatic and peppered with dashes of wit, humour and fun, Wild Cards offers us a journey that's as believable as it is sweet - if only because we can see a little bit of ourselves in Derek and Ashtyn.

I'm no stranger to Ms. Elkeles' work. While some of her fiction works better for me than others, I don't think I can say that I've ever been disappointed, and Wild Cards is no exception to that rule. Derek and Ashtyn were clear, defined characters - both of whom I related to at times, and I felt for throughout. While Derek's tough-guy demeanor was clearly a facade, we could see the same mirrored in Ashtyn, and I appreciated the connection between the two characters that even they probably didn't know they had. It lent a sort of vulnerability to each of them, or a chink in the armour, if you will. I also liked that despite the fact that Derek was decidedly hot and attractive, there was more to him than a blanket stereotype. When we reach into his past and see his emotions for his birth mother who died of cancer, we see a real, true, tender person. Ashtyn was a bit of a kicker for me. She was sassy, judgmental, strong-willed and, frankly, obnoxious at first. But there was also a softer side to her that was just hid by her steely determination. I do think that the plot of Wild Cards took a pretty significant background role to the characters' developing relationship, and I did expect to have a bit more football - think, Friday Night Lights. Yes, there was an undercurrent of football that gently nudged the story along, but Derek and Ashtyn's interactions are what really fueled the entire plot. I think that the novel could have really bumped it up a notch by raising the game stakes, as well as fleshing out the ending a bit further because, in the scheme of things, it was quite abrupt. 

Overall, Wild Cards is another notch in Ms. Elkeles' winning YA belt. Despite a few hiccups or flaws, in my humble opinion, it's a sweet, fun, dramatic and engaging read. I give it a 4 out of 5, and I recommend it to all fans of YA and NA, especially those who enjoy contemporary fiction.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

Title: Rules of Attraction
Author: Simone Elkeles (Twitter)
Publisher: Walker BYR
Publish Date: April 27, 2010
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 326
Source: Personal Copy

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado. Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford.

She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

Kiara has an idyllic life in Colorado, if you don't take into account the fact that she's still trying to overcome the stutter that has plagued her since childhood. Carlos, on the other hand, couldn't have lived a rougher childhood if he tried. After his brother, Alex, was jumped out of the Latino Blood, his family sought to help Carlos create a new future for himself, as well. Carlos, however, doesn't believe that future is for him. He's a gangbanger. It's his life, and it's all he knows...plus, he knows he can't escape it even if he tries. But Kiara, try as she might to ignore it, sees something in Carlos that he might just not recognize, himself...hope.

This is definitely not the first book I've read by veteran contemporary author, Simone Elkeles, and I confidently say that it certainly won't be my last. Rules of Attraction follows in the same vein as it's companion/predecessor, offering a heartfelt story of two teens from opposite sides of the track. Blending raw tension, careful, slow-burning romance and a passionate story of trying to find one's place in the world, the novel tugs at your heartstrings from start to finish. Rules of Attraction promises to weave you into its world and break all rules, convincing you that there is redemption for us all - no matter how far gone we might think we are.

Rules of Attraction is one of those books that doesn't require you to think too deeply as you read it, but rather it inspires you to do so. Written in dual first-person perspectives and alternating chapters between Carlos and Kiara, the author manages to perfectly execute a seamless transition each time and really establish a strong character voice for both. Kiara, though outwardly timid because of her stutter, has a quiet power about her, and the only time we see that headstrong confidence waver is when she lets her guard down around Carlos. He, on the other hand, has the carefully-crafted facade about him. Carlos does his very best to keep everyone at arm's length, and readers can quickly identify that it's actually a defensive mechanism. But rather than defending himself, he's protecting others from him. Therein lies our first clue that there is hope for this outwardly crass and abrasive character. Through the story, we get to see Kiara and Carlos slowly lower their walls to one another, and the beauty is that the two have the opportunity to save each other from themselves, as well as outside influences. There is no shortage of drama in Rules of Attraction either, though it's clear that in this story, the characters, rather than the plot, actually drive the story, and I liked that a lot. I do think that, at times, I wish their chapters could have been a bit longer. I wanted to remain in Carlos and Kiara's heads a bit longer than two to three pages at a time. This did, however, move the pace of the story along faster. I also think that the climactic scenes near the end could have been fleshed out a bit more. I wanted to feel a bit more fear, rather than certainty that it was all going to end well. That said, I was actually surprised to find that I enjoyed an epilogue for a change, as well. Knowing that there was a sense of finality to this story was really nice and refreshing.

Overall, Rules of Attraction was a sweet, fast-paced and solid read. It's one of those books that doesn't necessarily force you to expand your literary horizons, but it definitely coaxes some emotion. I give it a 4 out of 5, and I recommend it to all fans of YA and upper YA, especially those who enjoy contemporary fiction.