ABOUT THE BOOK
What happens when Miss Perfect 🎓 meets Mr. Penalty? ⚽️
He’s a rulebreaker with heart. She’s a rule follower with ambition. Can teaming up on a college service project abroad bring these two opponents together? Together, they might just rewrite each other’s playbooks.
VALERIE:
I’m wearing many hats my senior year at Thatcher College—Sorority president, Honor Code Review member, Beyond Borders Teaching Chair—and there are just six more months until graduation. All my careful planning is paying off, just like my parents and I knew it would. The one hiccup? Or maybe the solution? Enlisting, or rather coercing, the help of soccer player Diego Delarosa. And when I say player, I mean player. At least that’s what I’ve always thought—cocky, frustrating, infuriating … and possibly the exact kind of chaos I didn’t know I needed. Who knew a routine teaching trip would lead to an adventure of a lifetime?
DIEGO:
Soccer is my life. My future. My everything. No backup plan needed—especially not one designed by a bossy, high-achieving blonde with a folder for everything. But when I get caught skipping a class I technically passed, I’m sentenced to two weeks of community service in a small town in Mexico under the watchful eye of Valerie Perkins, a.k.a. Miss Perfect. She’s driven, intimidating, and way out of my league … and I can’t stop thinking about her. This was supposed to be a punishment. Turns out, it might be the best play I’ve ever made.
MY REVIEW
Drives Me Crazy is the fourth installment in the Lessons in Love series, and to be honest, it had me feeling a bit… crazy, but not in the way I hoped. The story is an enemies-to-lovers, good girl/bad boy trope presenting us with Valerie, a girl whose life is consumed by plans made under the watchful eyes of her domineering parents, and Diego, who’s pretty much the party starter with his carefree soccer lifestyle. The tension between their wildly different life choices sets the stage for some entertaining antics, but it did not fulfill my literary cravings.
Valerie’s portrayal as all work and no play felt firmly rooted, while Diego, as much as I wanted to love him, was frustratingly underdeveloped. I needed more background on Diego. He’s a soccer star on a scholarship with a wild side, and yet, the details about his family life and motivations felt a bit sparse. It’s like we got a glimpse into Valerie’s world but only just scratched the surface with Diego.
I loved the idea of Diego stepping up to coach underprivileged kids in Mexico. That part really tugged at my heartstrings and showed a growth in his character. However, it needed more meat! What about his family dynamics? What drives him to this path? Those intriguing questions just sat there unanswered, and it left me wanting more.
However, all is not lost. The story had its moments of glory with Valerie and Diego’s electric chemistry. Their witty banter was entertaining, and I enjoyed watching them navigate their conflicting personalities. In the end, they make some much-needed personal changes, ultimately leading to a healthier relationship that paves the way for both of them to chase their dreams.
While the story didn’t exactly hit the mark for me like some of the previous entries books, it still had its charms. If you’re a fan of the series and love a good enemies-to-lovers story, it’s worth a read, even if I’d wish for just a bit more depth in Diego’s character.
Thank you to Ms. September for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectations of a positive review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tara is an award-winning contemporary romance author and former PR executive for The Walt Disney Company and communications manager for WWE. She holds a Master’s degree in journalism & communications from New York University and a B.A. from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. For 19 years, Tara has also penned a popular lifestyle, travel and parenting blog at TaraMetBlog.com.
An avid romance reader, she has been daydreaming about being a romance author since high school. Now she’s living her dream in sunny Southwest Florida with her identical twin boys and four distractions (I mean cats) underfoot. When the kids are asleep and the cats are not lying on her keyboard, she’s finally writing the happily-ever-after tales she’s been dreaming about.
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