Book blurb: Carlos Fuentes idolized his older brother, Alex, when he was a member of the Latino Blood. So when Alex chose to get jumped out of the gang for a chance at a future with his gringa girlfriend, Brittany, Carlos felt shocked and betrayed. Even worse, Alex forced Carlos to come back from Mexico to join him on the straight and narrow path. Trouble is Carlos just wants to keep living on the edge. And ties to his Mexican gang aren’t easy to break, even hundreds of miles away in Colorado.
In Boulder, Carlos has to live with one of Alex’s college professors—and he feels completely out of place. He’s even more thrown by his strong feelings for the professor’s daughter, Kiara, who is nothing like the girls he’s usually drawn to. But Carlos and Kiara soon discover that in matters of the heart, the rules of attraction overpower the social differences that conspire to keep them apart.
First line: I want to live life on my own terms.
If you haven’t yet checked out the trailer for Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles, you’re definitely going to want to. I swear, I must have watched it at least 100 times when I posted it a month or so ago. I’m not a big fan of book trailers, but this one got me excited about the book. Okay, maybe the hot guys had something to do with that, too.
I’m a huge fan of Perfect Chemistry, the first book in the trilogy. Although I felt Rules of Attraction didn’t quite reach the brilliance of that book—not to mention, it wasn’t as steamy—I did enjoy the book immensely, and had a hard time putting it down. But seriously, it would have taken a lot to out shine Perfect Chemistry.
I’ll admit, I didn’t think the ending of Rules of Attraction was believable, but I felt the characters were. This is a similar criticism some people had about Perfect Chemistry. But since it’s fiction, I didn’t really care. As long as the characters are believable, I’m good.
I loved the humor, especially the interaction between Kiara and her best friend, Tuck. Tuck was a great addition to the story, not to mention a perfect source of conflict. Naturally, Carlos is jealous of Tuck, thinking he’s the friend with benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Another thing I enjoyed was that Simone Elkeles infuses the writing with Mexican idioms (see my post tomorrow on the topic of foreign slangs). The book is filled with swearing and phrases that would leave your grandmother blushing, but the majority is in Spanish, so unless you already know them, or look the phrases up, you don’t actually realize what's being said. You just have a feeling Carlos is cursing or is using a term of endearment. It’s a perfect book if you don’t like a lot of swearing. . . unless you know Mexican idioms.
While you don’t have to read Perfect Chemistry first, I do recommend it. You’ll have a better feel for Alex and Brittany, plus it’s a great book. The nice thing is the two books are nothing alike. The plot and characters are very different.