Second book down for my Inkyard Press blog tour edition! Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing for having me on this tour and asking me to be a part of your other blog tours as well! This is such a huge honor for me and I could not have asked for better cooperation between me and your staff. Seriously, I had a pleasure working with you on all of these tours!

A fantastic enemies to lovers romance about an It girl whose world is upended when a boy from the past moves into her house after tragedy strikes. For fans of Ibi Zoboi’s Pride, Mary H. K. Choi and Samira Ahmed. Wattpad author Whitney D. Grandison’s traditional publishing debut.

When they’re stuck under one roof, the house may not be big enough for their hate…or their love

When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the affluent coastal community of Pacific Hills, he’s ready for the questions, the stares, and the total feeling of not belonging in the posh suburb. Not that he cares. After recovering from being shot and surviving the mean streets of Lindenwood, he doesn’t care about anyone or anything. He doesn’t even care how the rest of his life will play out.

In Pacific Hills, image is everything. Something that, as the resident golden girl, Nandy Smith knows all too well. She’s spent most of her life building the pristine image that it takes to fit in. After learning that her parents are taking in a former childhood friend, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames. It’s the start of summer vacation and the last thing Nandy needs is some juvenile delinquent from the ’Wood crashing into her world.

Stuck together in close quarters, Trice and Nandy are in for some long summer nights. Only, with the ever-present pull back to the Lindenwood streets, it’ll be a wonder if Trice makes it through this summer at all.

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Whitney D. Grandison was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, where she currently resides. A lover of stories since she first picked up a book, it’s no surprise she’s taken to writing her own. Some of her works can be found on Wattpad, one of the largest online story sharing platforms, where she has acquired over 30,000 followers and an audience of over fifteen million dedicated readers.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Inkyard Press for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Man. I was really hurt reading this one, yet again. I swear, does Inkyard Press specialize in writing some hard core YA contemporary books meant to break you down and make you see the tough side of life? Because this is not the first book that has done that to me and it certainly won’t be the last if I see their pattern. That darn Inkyard Press!

And I mean that with all the love possible.

The first thing that really had me on edge about this book before I even started it was that our main guy Tyson recently got shot and was basically living in the streets in an unsafe environment. Why? Because I feel like that is such a norm these days for young black men, and I didn’t want to have to see that being portrayed in a “fiction” novel. But I mean, if I can’t handle what’s happening in real life – which I absolutely hate that this happens and I can’t do anything about it that will make a difference for everyone, which sucks – then can I even handle it in fiction? Should I complain about it? Which don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about having a character with a real background that is in the real world, that isn’t a cookie cutter back story that we got a lot of times with contemporary novels back in the day, but I just want to see some stories without black men or women having to come from suffering into a life of happiness or love. Let them have happiness, let them have love, without having to fight from the very bottom to get it.

And I get it. Tyson’s life is troubled, but HE himself is not trouble. I think that’s where I get upset with Nandy’s misconception about him in the beginning, when her parents take him in. Like, thank gosh Nandy’s family took Tyson in so he could be away from that kind of environment, but that doesn’t make him a bad person, or someone that’s full of trouble, and I’m kind of ashamed that that was the first impression before it was the first impression, if that makes sense. Sure, having another person in your house that you aren’t used to is going to mess up your flow because you already have a system, but that doesn’t make that person TROUBLE. Ugh I don’t know, that just hurt me because I could imagine my own brother being in Tyson’s situation if we grew up differently, and I wouldn’t want someone saying that he was trouble because of what he had to go through.

Plus are your summer plans really more important than someone’s livelihood? Priorities, Nandy.