Author: Anna Bell
Publisher: Zaffre
Publication Date: January 2017
Genre: Chick-Lit / Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN
Description: When Lexi's sport-mad boyfriend Will skips her friend's wedding to watch football - after pretending to have food poisoning - it might just be the final whistle for their relationship.
But fed up with just getting mad, Lexi decides to even the score. And, when a couple of lost tickets and an 'accidentally' broken television lead to them spending extra time together, she's delighted to realize that revenge might be the best thing that's happened to their relationship.
And if her clever acts of sabotage prove to be a popular subject for her blog, what harm can that do? It's not as if he'll ever find out . . .
My Thoughts: Rather than a guide about how to get even with one’s boyfriend, this really should be a guide about what you shouldn’t do in a long-term relationship. This book introduces us to Lexi Hunter, who on the surface is very likable and easy to relate to. She has been with her boyfriend, Will Talbot, for seven years. Although he hasn’t put a ring on it, they appear to be committed to one another and have a joint mortgage. The only issue Lexi has with Will and their relationship is his insane obsession with all things sport. Football, rugby, cricket, darts and even the Grand Prix. If there’s a match on anywhere, you can guarantee that Will be present to watch it in person or on television or he will have recorded it to watch it later. Additionally, before any plans can be made, Will has to check the calendar to see if there are any conflicts with said sport watching.
Lexi’s best friend is getting married and mere minutes before Will is supposed to be getting ready, he comes down with food poisoning. Lexi is obviously annoyed but she understands that there is nothing to be done and she leaves Will at home and attends the wedding by herself. While at the wedding, one of her work colleagues sends her a text message containing a photo of Will at the football game!
This is where the story went off the rail for me. I completely understood how hurt and upset Lexi was, I empathized with her decision to give it a little time before confronting Will. Giving him the opportunity to confess and come clean sounded like a reasonable plan. Instead, what transpires is an equally insane plan to exact multiple instances of revenge. Situations that she creates to cause Will to miss watching whatever sporting event is on tap for that given day. Maybe it’s just me (and it probably is), but I thought her actions were worse than Will’s. He shouldn’t have lied, but Lexi should have addressed the situation instead of concocting elaborate revenge schemes. It just felt so petty and immature for someone who has been in this relationship for seven years to behave.
As if the revenge wasn’t bad enough, she starts blogging about it as part of an assignment for her writing class! I just kept waiting for this entire mess to blow up in her face once everything comes out.
The pacing of the story was good, overall. I was engaged and invested in wanting to know what would happen next in Lexi’s plan of getting back at Will. Ironically, I found both Lexi and Will very likable and had high hopes for the success of their relationship, though their communication could use a lot of work. I was also surprised at how well Will takes some of the acts of sabotage. I expected him to go ballistic at missing out on some matches.
As expected, when things come to a head, they do in a spectacularly emotional and horrifying way. I really thought it was the end of the line for these two. This story offers some unexpected surprises that I really liked.
My Final Verdict: Overall, I would have liked this book more if Lexi had taken a less devious approach to her problem. However, I understand that if she had done things differently, other amazing things may not have happened and once I was made aware of what really transpired, I was quite happy.
This book is my first by Anna Bell and I look forward to reading more from her. I recommend this book to readers who love chick-lit and contemporary romances and like to see characters who are not perfect and make huge mistakes in their lives but also take giant leaps to go after what’s important.
Thank you to the publisher, Zaffre, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
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