Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn (Twitter, Goodreads)Published by Macmillan on July 18th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse, Family, Marriage & Divorce, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Social Themes, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 256
Format: ARC
Sixteen-year-old Quinn Hardwick’s having a rough summer. Her beloved grandmother has been put into a home, her dad’s gambling addiction has flared back up and now her worst enemy is back in town: Wesley James, former childhood friend—until he ruined her life, that is.
So when Wesley is hired to work with her at Tudor Tymes, a medieval England themed restaurant, the last thing Quinn’s going to do is forgive and forget. She’s determined to remove him from her life and even the score all at once—by getting him fired.
But getting rid of Wesley isn’t as easy as she’d hoped. When Quinn finds herself falling for him, she has to decide what she wants more: to get even, or to just get over it.
Not as swoony as I had hoped for, but definitely a quick and cute read!
This book however, had the unfortunate luck to be read after what will probably be at the top of the list of my favorite reads this year which means I was probably tougher on it than I might have been otherwise.
Quinn Hardwick and Wesley James used to be inseparable … until he up and ruined her life and then moved to another state, and Quinn still hasn’t forgiven him. She feels like every big thing that has gone wrong over the years can be attributed to Wes and the thing he did just before he left town.
To top everything off, Quinn’s grandmother has alzheimer’s and she’s now in a nursing home. Her grandmother instilled a love of London and she has the chance of a lifetime – go to London with her band … that is if she can save up the money to pay for it. With her father’s gambling addiction and her mother working hard just to make ends meet, she has to earn her way and she’s working at a restaurant called Tudor Times, and Quinn actually likes it on most days… that is until Wesley James comes back to town and gets a job working there.
So… yeah… it kind of seems like there is a lot of things going on here, and you’re not wrong. Honestly though, the story flowed pretty well with all the things happening. The story itself reads really quick.
What I found a little hard to suspend belief about is the idea that Quinn is 16 and still blaming a boy for the divorce of her parents and the subsequent “bad” things that happen. (her father’s gambling and inability to keep a job etc etc.) I felt like that had her coming across as incredibly juvenile and way younger than her actual age.
I also felt that the evolution of her relationship with Wesley James was incredibly rushed and a little bit unbelievable… It was just kind of … fast. I don’t want to get into too much detail about that simply because it might spoil something, but needless to say, I liked Wesley, I just didn’t buy the relationship between these two.
Overall a super cute read and if you’re looking for something sweet definitely check this one out!
Thank you to Swoon Reads for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
About Jennifer Honeybourn
Jennifer Honeybourn works in corporate communications in Vancouver, British Columbia. She's a fan of British accents, Broadway musicals, and epic, happily-ever-after love stories. If she could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, she'd have high tea with Walt Disney, JK Rowling, and her nana. She lives with her husband, daughter and cat in a house filled with books. WESLEY JAMES RUINED MY LIFE is her first novel.
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