Title: Wild Cards
Author: Simone Elkeles
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Format:  Hardcover, 342 pages
Release Date: October 8, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: ARC received by publisher for honest review

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After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?


I have recently rediscovered my love for contemporary fiction, and so when I saw that Simone Elkeles had a new book out, I was seriously excited to get my hands on it. This story follows a young girl who is in love with football and become the kicker for her high school team. Little did she know that a young man would walk into her life and change everything. I will admit that this book did not blow me away, but I did like this book quite a bit.

The chemistry between the main character and the love interest was amazing. The sexual tension could be felt on every page and I loved reading that. Their relationship in general was a great thing to read because it did not seem based on something insignificant and made sense overall. I will say that I thought they fell for each other pretty quickly and at times I thought it could have happened differently. But overall it was a very sweet and at time hot romance.

The plot and conflict was extremely believable, and I will say that if my boyfriend did something like that to me, he would not be walking right for a very long time. And I thought that the way Simone wrote it made me so mad for Ashtyn, our main charcacter because I fell in love with her right from the beginning. You are rooting for her to suceed and that is the markings of a great character.

Although there were some issues for me, this book was a great read for a contemporary romance lover. There is suspense, romance and tension like you would not believe. It will leave you wanting more and I cannot wait to see what Simon comes up with next.