Title: Don't Hate the Player
Author: Katie Ashley
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Event organized by: Literati Literature Lovers
BOOK DESCRIPTION
For Noah Sullivan being the best friend to a douchebag and player like Jake Nelson has never been easy. It's been a rocky road since kindergarten when Jake duct taped Noah to his chair before recess. With just six weeks to high school graduation, Jake accidentally blows his drunken ass up on his grandfather's tractor, and Noah finds himself immersed not only in a whirlwind of grief, but on a quest to find a mystery girl from Jake's past.
While cleaning out Jake's room, Noah and Jake's dad make a startling discovery. Instead of the obligatory porn collection or pot stash, they find a ring, but not just any ring. Its half a carat of commitment in a platinum setting-proving even man whores have taste. After Jake's mom pleads with Noah to find the girl who meant so much to Jake, Noah begins a modern day Grail quest to track the girl down.
Since Jake was a notorious player with a legendary collection of trophy panties, Noah finds himself in over his head. There are the usual suspects like Avery, the Ice Princess Jake dated for appearances, or Presley, the school mattress Jake dated for convenience. But the trail begins to point to the most unlikely of suspects: Maddie, the Valedictorian and choir girl who was trying to help the unmotivated jock graduate--the girl who also has surprisingly caught Noah's eye and meddled with his heart.
Hanging out with Maddie shows Noah a different side of Jake--one that was deeply human and surprisingly douche-free. And the more he tries to solve the mystery of the ring and of Jake, the more Noah starts to discover about himself and of love.
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About the Author
Katie Ashley is the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of The Proposition. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her two very spoiled dogs and one outnumbered cat. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Harry Potter, Shakespeare, Supernatural, Designing Women, and Scooby-Doo.
She spent 11 1/2 years educating the Youth of America aka teaching MS and HS English until she left to write full time in December 2012.
She also writes Young Adult fiction under the name Krista Ashe.
Author Links
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Review
Well I need to start by saying this was nothing like any of Katie Ashley book I have read! And...... I LOVED it! It was such a great story about finding yourself and love and being ok with who you are! Katie got the idea for this story after she lost a student.
The book starts out ripping your heart to shreds! Noah Sullivan is an only child to single mom. His dad knocked up his mom and took off, he is a pro baseball player. Noah meets his best friend Jake when he was 5 after he duck tapes him to a chair. (Cute story once you find out why ;))
Jake is the schools Casanova! He gets girls left and right and is known for his crudeness and ability to get any girl he wants. Two years prior Jake gets into some trouble with nakedness involved and is put into a program at the church; a sort of rehabilitation program. This is where he meets Maddie, the preachers daughter, and shows her a side of him no one knows.
In the beginning Jake is tragically killed and when they are getting items for his funeral they find an engagement ring in his stuff. To say everyone was shocked was a HUGE understatement! Jakes mom tasks Noah into finding out who it belonged to. Noah is baffled but begins with the two girls Jake was known to frequent. Well those are both busts! As Noah digs more onto the possibility of Maddie he learns stuff about Jake he didn't know, a side of him only her family saw. The more he learns though the more he hopes its not HER!
Noah is not one to show emotions, he has always believed men don't cry. He has such a hard time with Jakes death and keeping himself in check. He and Maddie get closer and she is such a good friend to him. And he grows and learns. But.... Is Maddie her? Jake's her? I can't spoil it for you guys ;)
Rating: 4.5 stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Purchase Links:
Barnes and Noble/ Amazon/ Goodreads
Grand Prize Tour Giveaway: 5 Winners will be chosen. MUST RESIDE IN THE USA TO BE ELIGIBLE ~ Audio DVD of The Proposition & The Proposal (one winner gets both), Signed Paperback of Music of the Heart, Signed Paperback of The Proposition, Signed Paperback of The Proposal, Swag Pack.
Blog Giveaway: (1) Ebook of Don't Hate the Player (all formats available). OPEN INTERNATIONALLY.
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