Last Will and Testament on December 9, 2014 Pages: 414
Format: Paperback
Lizzie Brandt was valedictorian of her high school class, but at Radleigh University, all she's acing are partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. But all that changes when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, making her guardian to her two younger brothers. To keep them out of foster care, she'll have to fix up her image, her life, and her GPA—fast. Too bad the only person on campus she can go to for help is her humorless, pedantic Byzantine History TA, Connor Lawson, who isn't exactly Lizzie's biggest fan.
But Connor surprises her. Not only is he a great tutor, but he’s also a pretty great babysitter. And chauffeur. And listener. And he understands exactly what it’s like to be on your own before you're ready. Before long, Lizzie realizes having a responsible-adult type around has its perks... and that she'd like to do some rather irresponsible (but considerably adult) things with him as well. Good thing he's not the kind of guy who'd ever reciprocate.
Until he does.
Until they turn into far more than teacher and student.
Until the relationship that helped put their lives back together threatens everything they both have left.
Lizzie Brandt has spent her year at college skipping classes, partying and sleeping with another girl’s boyfriend, so when the police show up at a house party to inform her that her parents have died she isn’t quite sure how she should react or what she should do.
Her Byzantine History TA is quite familiar with Lizzie’s slacking off and when she emails him to let him know she won’t be in class for a quiz he does what any other teacher might do in his situation… asks for proof.
But dealing with her parents’ death isn’t the only thing on Lizzie’s plate now… she has two younger brothers that she now has to prove she can take care of and that quite possibly means she’ll have to lean on Connor in ways she never would have expected. And who knew that her uptight History TA would be the one who helps offer her some guidance with not only school things, but also the things she can’t necessarily control.
So admittedly I have shied away from teacher / student relationship books (Slammed is the only one that I have liked) since I flounced Unteachable at about 4% in. But this sounded different to me, like something I could get on board with and understand the relationship and the actions of the characters.
And it was.
To start with, Adler writes characters that you want to be friends with… well for the most part anyway, I’m positive I’d pass on a certain person in this book, but Lizzie – definitely. She’s funny, sassy and snarky and not one to keep her opinion to herself. Even though the whole book revolves around this really sad event, I didn’t find that the story itself was sad and I attest that to Lizzie’s character. She made you sympathize with her, but she wasn’t all woe is me about it. Instead she pushed forward to try and make a life for her and her brothers and prove that she could handle these adult responsibilities… even though she maybe couldn’t. It was amazing to see her try and to push herself to accomplish all the things she had.
And Connor… *swoon* who knew what flat-front pants could do for a guy. I love slightly nerdy guys… and doesn’t Byzantine History TA just scream nerdy? Connor certainly doesn’t have all the answers but he offers Lizzie an ear and a shoulder and though he fights his feelings for Lizzie for a long time, things finally come to a head… literally… HOLY HOT *fans self*
Adler can write some sexy scenes and what I will say here is that they don’t overtake the story like they so often can (and do) in new adult. It was nice to see the relationship and friendship develop side by side and when the shit hits the fan, there were no overly dramatic moments, instead we get a mutual ‘we’ll figure it out’.
In Last Will & Testament, Adler weaves an engaging, emotional story of life, love, family and friendship filled with moments of humor, and bits of sadness, I was hooked from the first page and if you’re fan of new adult then you must grab this book as soon as possible!
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