ROGUE WAVE (Cake #5) by J. Bengtsson
Release Date: March 19, 2019
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Told in the first person. Alternating persons.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for review from Candi Kane PR and the author. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".
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My Thoughts:
Samantha Anderson can’t believe her luck. Keith McKallister seems to have a laissez faire attitude. This is one book that may have you remembering your school days. I liked that the author didn’t give us those people that seem picture perfect. They both have issues and seem so polar opposite but this is what’s good about fiction.
What was sad about the beginning was how Samantha didn’t feel as if she deserved catching the eye of someone who could be considered good looking. But it was nice to see that she had a friend that gives her words of encouragement. It was interesting to watch Keith get under her skin and go about changing her mind.
When I first met Keith he had me thinking that this could be an updated version of Grease – minus the music. But instead of Danny Zuko think Pedro De Pacas from Up In Smoke. There will be funny moments but there are serious ones as well. There comes a time when reality sets in and it shows how quickly our lives can change. With everything going on in the news lately, there’s a sense of reality to the story. We all process pain differently but it’s how things come out in the end that turned this into the moment where I couldn’t turn away. It’s a story that will break your heart. It will also bring tears to your eyes so it might be in your best interest to have tissue close at hand. The last thing it will do is get you addicted to the series.
Blurb:
A love story that survives the test of time.
Keith McKallister is the king of the stoners. You know the type. Every school has one – the hot, fun, dopey guy beloved by the student body but despised by, well, just about everyone else. He spends his early mornings in the ocean and his days trying to get to class on time. Life is as easy as it gets until one poor choice too many catches up with him and he’s forced to reevaluate his path.
Samantha Anderson sits in the front row. You know the type. Every school has one – the quiet, faceless, studious girl who fears the taunts of her peers and fades into the background. Life has never been simple for Samantha, and it’s about to get a little more complicated when Keith slides into the seat beside her with a partnership plan designed for his benefit only. But what Keith brings to the table is more than either of them could imagine.
Sometimes the person you least expect to make a difference will change your life forever. Sometimes the person you love the most might be better off without you.
*Although a part of the Cake Series, this book can be read as a standalone.
Excerpt:
In hindsight, I should’ve been less friendly. I mean, I knew nothing about the nerdy crew or where their triggers might lie, so who was to say a wave in the Star Trek crowd didn’t mean something entirely different? Smart girls were tricky like that. From what I’d gathered through trial and error, the higher the SAT score, the less impressed a female was with my overall being. Not that I had a ton of experience with them to begin with.
Typically, the honors kids refrained from interacting with me. Maybe they feared my stupidity would rub off on them, I don’t know. But what I did know was this girl, with her divided, color-coded binder and back as straight as an arrow – she was definitely part of that extra credit crowd.
“Hey there, partner.” Hair tumbled over my forehead as I tipped my head in her direction. After the day I’d had, I wasn’t feeling particularly charming, but I needed to win this girl over, and quickly. Normally I wouldn’t give two shits about someone I had zero interest in, but given the promise I’d made to my father, my priorities would need to change. People who’d been merely background players before were about to take center stage in my life. If I had any hope of passing chemistry, this little ball of tension sitting before me needed to be unraveled.
“Hey,” she answered in a voice that sounded both hesitant and hardened. There were none of those embarrassed giggles from a few days ago. It was as if the dopey conversation I’d had with her the other day hadn’t registered at all, and now I was back to square one.
Okay, first things first: establish a connection. “Sorry, I forgot your name.”
“Samantha Anderson.”
“Oh, right – Sam.”
“My name is Samantha,” she said, all business-like. “No one calls me Sam.”
I fought the urge to smile. Samantha Anderson was trying so hard to be badass, but she just didn’t have the street cred to pull it off. And even though I needed to tread lightly with this girl, I couldn’t help a little subtle teasing.
“Uh-huh. So, Sam, what did I miss?” I asked, taking my seat.
“Samantha,” she corrected once more. “And… you missed three days.”
That was not the response I’d been expecting from my straight-laced partner.
Damn, she was a ballsy little brainiac. I was impressed. Yet still, I had to call bullshit on her timeline. I knew for a fact I’d only missed two days of chemistry. “Your tally is off.”
She shook her head, the tiniest of smiles finding its way to her lips. “I counted the nap.”
About the Author:
A professional stay-at-home-mom for twenty-one years, Jill started her writing career in 2016 after reading a really bad rockstar romance. Although she had no previous writing experience and no desire to become an author, Jill was convinced she could write a better story.
And so began Cake: A Love Story. She wrote the novel for fun and added every single thing she’d ever wanted to read in a romance. Embarrassed by her newfound hobby, Jill kept her writing a secret from her family.
When the story was complete, she turned to Amazon to get the feedback she desired. Not thinking the book would ever sell, Jill planned to pull Cake off Amazon once it got a review or two but that never happened because, within a week of its release, Cake began to soar up the bestseller charts. Not only was Jill shocked by Cake’s success but now she had a whole new burgeoning career on her hands… and some explaining to do. Needless to say, the news of Jill’s secret book baby came as a complete shock to her husband and three children.
Jill is now a full-time writer.
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