Review: Trouble From The Start by Rachel Hawthorn

Title: Trouble From The Start

Author: Rachel Hawthorne

Paperback, 400 pages

Published: April 28th, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: YA - Contemporary - Romance

Avery knows better than to fall for Fletcher, the local bad boy who can’t seem to outrun his reputation. Fletcher knows he shouldn’t bother with college-bound, daughter-of-a-cop Avery. But when their paths cross, neither can deny the spark. Are they willing to go against everything and let their hearts lead the way? Or are they just flirting with disaster? 

Trouble from the Start releases simultaneously with companion novel The Boyfriend Project. These heartwarming paperback originals are the perfect summer reads, great for fans of Jennifer Echols, Lauren Barnholdt, and Susane Colasanti.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

I probably should start by saying that I’m not a YA contemporary romance kind of girl, I usually prefer drama and pain over fluffiness and romance. That said, I cannot bring myself to dislike this book, not even a little! Is it clichéd? YES. Is it a little bit cheesy? YES. Did I enjoy it regardless? YOU CAN BET!

Trouble From The Start is your usual good girl falls for bad boy story, and it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. There were some twists I saw coming a mile away and, of course, it is revealed that Fletcher (a.k.a. bad boy) has a tragic back-story and it’s not as bad as his reputation suggests. Add to this the fact that the plot moved at a very slow pace, and you’ll understand why it took me a while to get engaged in the story. However, I soon didn’t care how many tropes were used, because I loved the characters and wanted to see how they could overcome their differences!

Avery (a.k.a. good girl) is not what you would expect from the heroine of this kind of story. Never was I more wrong than when I was convinced that in most of chick-lit books the girl just thought about the love interest all the time and pined for him until he decided to get his act together and be with her. Avery is such a smart and strong girl who has high expectations for herself. I like that she doesn’t feel like she needs to break the rules because she’s tired of being a good girl and that she isn’t willing to let go of her self-respect to have a on-off relationship with someone who doesn’t want to get serious. Fletcher has a rough life, with his mother being dead and his father beating him when he gets drunk, and that’s why he’s a guy of few words and unwilling to share or trust, with a reputation of getting into brawls and having a different girl every night. The book is written from both Avery’s and Fletcher’s POV, so you get to understand their thoughts and the reasons behind their actions really well, and I loved watching their romance unfold from both points of view. They really work as a couple and I laughed out loud when they bantered!

One thing that convinced me that this book deserved three stars was the lack of Absent-parent syndrome which seems to be a typical feature of YA lately. Avery’s family is amazing and supportive! They are not a dysfunctional family, and I appreciated that for once I got to read about a normal family with two caring parents and a funny adoptive brother without drama. I didn't like Avery's best friend Kendall, though. She was always trying to control Avery's life and always repeating that she had to find someone like Jeremy (Kendall's boyfriend), then she started whining about her boyfriend being too much of a good guy. This is why I'll probably won't read the companion novel, which is about Kendall trying to transform Jeremy into a bad boy. 

Overall, I’d say that Trouble From the Start is a fluffy and sweet story and I’d recommend it to fans of YA contemporary romance but also to everyone who needs some lightness and a swoony couple to ship!

Note: I decided to read this book because the synopsis is similar to a Disney channel movie I’ve recently watched on tv, Prom. To me, Avery and Fletcher have the same features of the main characters of the movie, so if you liked the book and you like Disney channel movies (and I know you won’t admit it in public!) I’d suggest watching Prom!

I liked it a lot. Would recommend.