Review Detail

This was such a cutesy read! Imagine spending your summer working on a Tudor Times themed restaurant with your worst, albeit cute, childhood enemy? Definitely the recipe for swoons & disaster!

What I Liked:

I am such a fan of hate-to-love romance in my books and Wesley James Ruined My Life had me covered! Quinn swore to hate Wesley James after he "caused" her family to fall apart (according to her) when they were kids, and she was perfectly fine hating him across the distance since he moved away to Portland. But Wesley James moves back to Seattle and he dares to get a job at the same place she's working at. THE NERVE.

I loved Wesley James right from the start. This boy is adorable and not at all the guy Quinn paints him out to be. He's charming, charismatic, and has such a sweet heart (especially when it comes to Quinn's Gran!). Quinn gives him such a hard time over something that he let slip when they were much younger, but like the nice guy that he is, it doesn't affect him how he treats Quinn. He is definitely the highlight of this book!

I liked Quinn when she wasn't so set on getting revenge over Wesley. I liked reading about her relationship with her father who has a gambling problem. In contemporary books, when the parents are divorced, we don't usually get to have a main character who tries to keep in touch with both. Her father is not the best role model so I felt for Quinn as she struggled (and failed) to not encourage his vices because she loves him, despite the rest of his family turning their back on him.

Wesley James Ruined My Life also gave me a lot of Anna and the French Kiss vibes as the story progressed and I liked that because I LOVE Anna and was happy to read that the author also loves the book. And while they might not be out exploring a city as marvelous as Paris or studying in a French school, working at a medieval restaurant (and food truck!) and being in a school band that's ready to travel to London, wasn't a bad setting at all. ;)

What Left Me Wanting More:

While the last chapters were my favorites, I would have loved to see more of Gran and Wesley's life. Quinn is too scared to visit her Grandma who was settled into a retirement home after her Alzheimer gets worse and she doesn't really interact with her until the last few chapters. She does spend a lot of time remembering, but her grandma was still alive and constantly asking for her when she had lucid moments, wasn't ignoring her worse? She needed her support and Quinn failed her. Even Wesley went to see her more often!

As for Wesley, I never truly got to know his private life. Wish we could have met his parents and twin sisters!

Final Verdict:

All in all, Wesley James Ruined My Life is a quick, adorable novel that's perfect to read in the summer!