Monday, July 17, 2017

Review: Wesley James Ruined My Life - Jennifer Honeybourn

Wesley James Ruined My Life
Jennifer Honeybourn
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Sixteen-year-old Quinn Hardwick’s having a rough summer. Her beloved grandmother has been put into a home, her dad’s gambling addiction has flared back up and now her worst enemy is back in town: Wesley James, former childhood friend—until he ruined her life, that is.

So when Wesley is hired to work with her at Tudor Tymes, a medieval England themed restaurant, the last thing Quinn’s going to do is forgive and forget. She’s determined to remove him from her life and even the score all at once—by getting him fired.

But getting rid of Wesley isn’t as easy as she’d hoped. When Quinn finds herself falling for him, she has to decide what she wants more: to get even, or to just get over it.
Once upon a time, Wesley and Quinn were super close friends, but right before his family moved away, Wesley put a set of events in motion that ruined Quinn's life. Fast forward five years, and Quinn's life is sort of like this:


This girl was dealing with a lot of heavy things, but she had one thing she was looking forward to: the band trip to London. She grew up with her beloved grandmother telling her stories about her life back in England, and Quinn could not wait to journey there and see those places and things in real life. She was working at Tudor Times in order to earn the money for her trip, and all is going swimmingly, until Wesley James moved back to town.

This was the type of fun and easy contemporary romance that I generally gravitate towards, and I really enjoyed this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story. I am a fan of a would-be couple with history, and these two had a lot. We got small glimpses into their past together as children, and there were some very sweet moments that they shared.

At times, I thought Quinn should build a bridge and get over it. She was really hard on Wesley, and even tougher on him as she tried to deny the attraction and attachment. However, I empathized with her because of all the drama and stress that was in her life. I also really shared that grandma connection with her. I had an Oma, who told me stories of her life back in Germany, and it was very painful when the dementia set in, and the grandmother who I adored and referred to me as her "little stinker" disappeared. So, that really hit home with me, and I may have shed a tear or two during the grandmother parts.

I am glad to say that there were plenty of sweet and fun bits to keep me from getting too sad. And there was Wesley. He was such a prince charming and all around good guy. He kept working at rekindling his friendship with Quinn, and I believe he really missed her. I totally would have loved to have had a friend or boyfriend like Wesley. There were a few really swoony scenes (wish there were more) that I thought were magnificent and totally awwww-worthy.

The real fun was found at Tudor Times. The place was filled with a bunch of quirky and rather wacky characters, and I found myself looking forward to going to work. I also thought many of Quinn's inner monologues were amusing, especially when she was trying to battle her burgeoning feelings for Wesley.

 I have been reading a bunch of reviews, and some take issue with the "conflict" that turned Wesley from friend to foe, but keep in mind, Quinn was 11 when this all went down. I could see an 11 year needing something or someone to blame for what happened, and this made sense in her 11 year old mind. I could also understand her holding onto that scapegoat, because life was hitting her from all sides.

I am all about endings, and Honeybourn did right by me. There were a lot of loose ends tied up in the final chapter, and the epilogue was so sweet, my face sort of hurt from the huge, stupid grin I was wearing.

Overall: A fun and amusing tale of hate to love, with an ending that I found picture perfect.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.









In this book, both Quinn and Wesley work at a theme restaurant called Tudor Times. I actually love these kinds of places, though I have not been to many. I once ate at one when I visited Ireland (in a castle no less).

Do you like theme restaurants?
Let us know in the comments!

26 comments:

  1. I can honestly say I've never been to a themed restaurant and I feel like i've totally been missing out! This book sounds utterly adorable!

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    1. It really was adorbs, and tugged at my heartstrings. I have been wanting to go to Medieval Times forever, which has joists and everything. Maybe soon.

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  2. I love hate to love, and this just sounds so adorable! I'm curious about the conflict now! People can be a little too harsh on teen characters and their actions, so I think I'll be able to understand where they were both coming from. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sam! :)

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    1. I accept that different readers have different needs, but I was ok with it.

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  3. I love friends to lovers stories and I love enemies to lovers stories so when they combine it is a must read for me! I'll have to add this one to my TBR!

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    1. It was fun, cute, and sweet. I really enjoyed it.

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  4. This book sounds really cute. I love the from hate to love relationship. I will need to put this on my TBR list. Great review!

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  5. This sounds cute!! Love friends to hate to lovers trope!! Plus anytime there is some quirky/wacky characters I am in. Great review!

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    1. That workplace had some interesting folks, and I adore friends to more.

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  6. I'm loving the hate to love trope right now but I haven't read it much in YA so I'm excited to find out about this one.

    @foughtography

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    1. This is like the combination of tropes I love -- hate to love and friends to more.

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  7. I love a good antagonistic romance, and I like the sound of this one. I will have to see if I can get it at my library.

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    1. I hope your library has it, because it was adorbs.

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  8. I had my eye on this one. It looks adorable and I kind of love the tudor theme. And I agree that I enjoy stories where the couples have history.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. It's the kind of book I love. Not to heavy, but still has some substance. I was such an Anglophile in my youth, so I love Quinn's obsession with all that is English. There are so many cool things an author can do with this history, and I like that Honeybourn went with the tender connections they shared and those sweet looks back into their past.

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  9. This sounds like such a cute contemporary! I love the sound of Wesley. I'm such a sucker for a good male YA contemporary lead. And it's nice that you were able to feel a personal connection through Quinn's relationship with her grandmother. So glad you enjoyed this one. I'll be looking for it.

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    1. Wesley was so wonderful, and I was really hoping Quinn would let up on him. Girl can hold a grudge. The grandmas in stories always get to me. I read another one recently with a grandma (she was Tutu) and it totally got me in the feels. Every. Time.

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  10. This sounds like a really well done story. The parts with the grandmother sound like they could be tough. I am glad you enjoyed it!

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    1. The parts with the grandmother broke me in half. And it was both their pain, as Wesley had an attachment and relationship with her too.

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  11. I love hate to love tropes. I can't help it, even though it's fairly predicable, I like experiencing the journey along with the characters. If I wasn't so focused on accomplishing my bookish bingo challenge, this one would go on my summer TBR. Looking forward to this one. Thanks for all your thoughts!

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    1. You were just talking about re-reads. I have heard people say they seek the comfort of an old favorite. I think predictable stories are my comfort thing. I like knowing that I am going to get certain things from the story. (It's the same reason I watch Hallmark movies)

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  12. What's going on? We're reading different books this week? I hadn't heard of this one until I was working on my new release post for tomorrow. Glad you enjoyed it!
    Jen Ryland

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    1. But you are reading books I WANT to read, I just don't have them. I find I like the Swoon Reads books, and I am lucky that my co-blogger did a meeting with them at BEA, because small blog = no #BookMail, but they were nice enough to approve my request on NG for this. I love these HEA romances, and will read them forever.

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  13. This one is on my TBR and I'm so glad it sounds just as enjoyable as I expected it would. I think the story with her grandmother sounds brilliant and touching but you still have fun and romance in the story and so it sounds like this may be my perfect summer read.

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    1. Yes. I want funny, but it has to gave some heart and depth too, and this one gave that to me

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