Book Review: Crashing Into You by B.D. Rowe

"Bookish college sophomore Sydney Baker wants Evan Taylor with every ounce of her being. The hottest stud on campus, Evan is six foot four, ripped, stacked with muscles. He's even easy to talk to. 

There's just one problem: he's her roommate Melanie's boyfriend. 

But when Melanie tragically dies after a night of wild partying, Sydney and Evan turn to each other in a time of intense grief. And it doesn't take long for their close friendship to blossom into something more. 

Unfortunately for Sydney, secrets from the past soon put her relationship with Evan to the test. Especially when a sexy blonde freshman makes her way into Evan's life, and tries to rip away everything Sydney holds close to her heart."

The above is the blurb I read that made me want to read this book.  Unfortunately, it's misleading.  Sydney and Evan don't just turn to each other after Melanie dies, they were already friends.  Their close friendship doesn't just blossom into something more, Sydney was already obsessing over Evan before Melanie died.

Unlike other reviewers, I actually disliked Sydney more than I disliked Evan.  Evan went through his grieving period and wasn't going to feel guilty over his feelings for Sydney just because Melanie died.  Sydney, on the other hand, couldn't seem to let go.  The fact that she has an issue with binge drinking and drinking and driving makes her worse.  She's completely all over her friends, including Evan, about drinking a single drop of alcohol.  But she also acts like it doesn't bother her at the same time.

The whole thing with Sydney's issue with drinking was off the charts and sometimes not even realistic.  Anybody who feels THAT strongly about drinking and partying is NOT going to be peer-pressured into going to a party and drinking if they don't want to go.

And then there's this whacko climax and then it ends on a CLIFFHANGER.

The book is a total mess and should have ended after a longer period of time for Sydney and Evan to grow to love each other.  The mysterious blonde isn't a bad story twist.  How Sydney reacts to her when she realizes who she is, is like, Psycho Sidney.  I think it could have been wound into the story with more flair and less throwing it in our face.

I also noticed a lot of reviewers have presumed the author is a FEMALE.  However, before I actually go and look up the author to find out, I'm banking on the author being a MAN.  I found myself thinking, "a man wrote this" through the entire read and I can't figure out exactly why but I KNOW B.D. Rowe is a MAN.

Overall though, I give it three stars and rate it as a good book.  Especially for a debut book.  I have to give respect to anyone who writes and publishes a book.  If there is a sequel to the book, and I hope there is, I hope it's more fine tuned than this one.  I'd be curious to see where Evan and Sydney wind up.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.