4 Smooches
Synopsis
Rory is a simple girl in a simple world. It wouldn’t take much to make her happy, but that’s a goal she gave up on long ago. Now her only goal is to simply, survive. Rory used to count down the days until she could leave, but now with a younger brother in tow, it would be hard she could never leave him. Rory is trapped in the Trailer Park like a princess in her tower, with her mother playing the big bad drunken fire breathing dragon. The dream of her knight coming to save her faded away about the same time her goals changed. Feeling useless and angry Rory starts her new school and gets trampled by none other than Monroe Falls Golden Boy Tobias West. She finds herself seeing him as the knight she dreamed of, though she believes it to be just that, a dream. Tobias (Toby) is Mr. Popular/ Mr. Perfect/ Mr. Money in the bank. He is too high on the social ladder to step down to her level. Or was he?
Toby was smitten with Rory. Toby’s ex, Ashley refuses to lose out to trailer park trash, and Rory finds herself the fuel to Ashley’s new found hate. On top of Monroe Falls High School drama, Rory still has to deal with her drunken mother and needy brother. She doesn’t have time for childish games. Reality hits Rory hard when her mother brings home a ticking time bomb for a bed mate and the need for that shiny knight becomes real.
Rome appears like she conjured him up out of thin air with magical powers, and instantly becomes her best friend. He seems to always be around when she needs someone to talk to and seems to always know just how to fix it. (Did I mention he is drop dead beautiful?) Two knights in shining armor? Nope!! That doesn’t happen, not in fairy tales, and definitely not in real life. Rory finds herself realizing there is a thin line between relationships and friendships lines that are starting to blur. Toby is getting ready to leave for college, Ashley’s nonstop meanness, and Rome showing up can Rory handle the pressure?
Her old friend reality takes another whack at her, causing her dread and despair to take over. Rory is questioning herself and its wrecking havoc on the strong girl she’s always considered herself to be. Has her poor choices doomed her to life in the trailer park or will she be able to exceed even her own expectations? Will she ever realize she is truly a princess worthy of getting her prince? Or will she simply survive? How does Rory’s story end?
This book is suited best for readers over the age of 17 due to sexual content and some language. As well as a few different types of abuse that is rarely talked about. (Verbal, Mental, and to some extent sexual and psychical)
Review
I love a book with a good strong and witty lead female and Delia Steele did not let me down. Rory lives in a Trailer Park and this makes her less than desirable at school. Toby should have been her hero, the handsome popular boy, who liked the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. But right from the part where he wouldn’t stop his truck in the trailer park, only slowed down, and made her jump in did I get a weird vibe about him. Then when he doesn’t stand up for her to his “I’m better than everyone’ mother I decided in my mind he just wasn’t right for someone as smart and strong as Rory! Enter Rome, a hidden hero, I don’t want to give too much away but I LOVED him and was rooting for him for Rory.
Rory has been through so much and it feels like her life is a constant uphill struggle. I think Delia Steel did an excellent job of writing a female lead that is different than most out there. It was nice to see the point of view of a girl from the “poor” part of town and for her not to be ashamed of who she is. I loved that she was determined to do more in life but not at the expense of caring for her little brother.
This story was interesting and the plot well formulated. I did find my copy to have some formatting and grammatical errors but not so much as that it was distracting from my reading.
~miranda
