Life in the No Dating Zone by Patricia B. Tighe

Life in the No Dating Zone
Patricia B. Tighe
Published: 2nd December, 2014
Swoon Romance

Summary:

After surviving her parents’ relationship drama when her older sister elopes, Claire Gardner vows not to date during high school. Now, three years later, Claire is thrust into new relationship drama–her two best friends have boyfriends. Which means Claire is spending more and more time alone. And she’s more than a little peeved.

Enter Gray Langley. His year-long crush on Claire’s friend Lindsey has made him desperate enough to ask Claire for help. Hesitant at first, Claire agrees–anything to get rid of Lindsey’s current evil boyfriend. But as Claire and Gray plot together, an attraction develops, and now she must decide if being with Gray is worth the pain that will come from confronting her parents with the reasons for her vow.

What I liked: I loved Claire, she was interesting in the fact that one of her favorite hobbies to do was put together LEGO sets. And she had glasses for different situations? That’s such a twist on what I normally see for girls in novels and I really liked it because it was something new. Claire also put a lot of responsibility on herself to make sure that her house didn’t have any drama resulting from her dating, because she saw what happened with her sister and the guy she dated when she was younger. That’s a very understandable thing for her, because she doesn’t want to lose her parents like she almost did when she sister got married. Her friendship with Lindsey seemed rough at times (especially with how Adam is towards Claire with Lindsey doing nothing about it), and honestly sometimes we do have friends like that. Claire’s friendship with Rose was really nice, Rose was an understanding person when she was around in the story. I also liked the setting, Texas was a new setting for me and it felt real because not only was the setting done right, but we also have the use of Southern Slang words, namely the well know “y’all” phrase.

What I didn’t like: Claire was very “back and forth” on decisions when it came to her friends, if something didn’t go her way and she wanted it to she would do something about it. I also wanted to know why Adam was so rude to Claire all the time, but we’re never given the reason and it also makes me question whether or not Lindsey even stood up to Adam to protect Claire since they’re supposed to be friends. I never get the sense that she does because the one time they confront it alone she doesn’t say she defended Claire with how Adam talks about her, a bad sign for the friendship, but again, some friends can be like that.

Overall Review: With plenty of humorous moments and characters with interesting stories, Life in the No Dating Zone was a much better story than I was anticipating that it would be when I began it. With writing that was really good and interesting dialogue between the characters I found myself really enjoying this story. There was plenty of little moments where you could see the attraction between Claire and Gray begin to spark and they had one moment where it became very noticeable that they liked each other. It had several cute moments and moments where I thought the story was going to end one way only to see that it twisted around and would very likely end in another. Claire’s journey about learning about how things would likely be now that she understands how she can’t expect her friends always to be there since they have boyfriends was a nice touch to see her grow up as the story went on from the beginning to the end.

Recommend?: It was very good, so I do!

Goodreads: 4.1/5 Amazon: -/5

My Rating: 3.6/5

Rated Materials:
Cover: 3.6
Idea: 3.4
Story: 3.8
Characters: 3.6

About the Author

I’m not the writer who’s been writing for as long as she can remember. In fact, I didn’t start writing fiction until I was almost thirty. But, I’ve always been a reader. Which, of course, is one of the basic requirements for being a writer. I’ve read everything from horse novels and spy thrillers to historical romance and fantasy sagas—and lots in between. There’s something wondrous about picking up a book and entering a new world with new adventures. And I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
When I’m not reading, I hang out with my husband and two old dogs, plus my grown sons whenever I get the chance. In the fall I spend way too much time yelling at my TV while watching football. I’m also addicted to British TV shows. Top Gear, anyone?
Oh, yeah. And I write. Kissing books. Or at least books that include kissing. Hope you enjoy them!

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

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Review by Bri