Click & Strum by Bratty-Vamp

Official Description:

Isabella was anxious to start a new life, in a new location. And she was eager to put a few more question marks in her rigid day-planner. But the guy down the hall might have presented a larger deviation from her organized life than she bargained for.

I am one lucky reader. I happened across Bratty-Vamp’s first story, a little tale called Abbracciare il Cantante, when she first started posting it and before it really took off. She replied to several of my reviews, and I learned that not only was she a pretty talented writer, she was also a really nice person.

Which is why, when Kassiah asked if I’d be willing to write a guest recommendation for Bratty-Vamp’s latest story, Click & Strum, I jumped at the chance. I think I’ve read everything Bratty-Vamp has written since that very first story, and I’ve enjoyed them all. Click & Strum is no exception.

One of Bratty-Vamp’s greatest talents as a writer is creating characters who are relatable and likable, even when they may do unlikable things. She’s done it again in this story, giving us a Bella who has always been very regimented and a bit sheltered, but who is looking to expand her world, and an Edward whose life is much less disciplined and a lot more experienced, with some tragic secrets. In addition to our main two protagonists, Bratty-Vamp has filled her story with supporting characters who go a bit against expectation and who are more complex than first glance might suggest.

Bella’s first step in opening herself up to new experiences is to move halfway across the country to live with her older step-sister, Rosalie, who is recently divorced and relatively wealthy as a result. Rosalie fully supports Bella’s plan to break out of her scheduled life, but also goes perhaps a bit overboard in trying to set Bella up with various suitors Rosalie deems acceptable. She also warns Bella about her neighbor, Edward, and makes sure Edward knows to stay away from her little sister.

As one might expect, the differences in Edward’s and Bella’s respective personalities lead to a seemingly inauspicious meeting.

“Well, hello Little Sister.”

Aw hell. His voice kinda made me feel like my stomach dropped out. Could he be any more attractive? I felt my face flush in self-consciousness.

“Hi,” I finally managed to spit out. God I must look like an idiot, I thought. My hand quickly flew up to brush my messy hair away from my face. His smile grew wider. Then he raised his loose hand and casually began twirling a white piece of fabric on the end of his long finger. A white flag? I wondered. Is he surrendering?

“I found this in the hall,” he said evenly. “I thought someone dropped a pillowcase or a bed sheet or something until I picked it up and properly identified it.”

I felt my eyes bulge as I looked back at the casually twirled material in question. To my horror, I realized that this gorgeous man was indeed holding a pair of my underwear! I must have dropped them from the last basket I carried inside. To make matters worse, they were a pair of my sensible, white, cotton underwear. And he had just teasingly compared them to the size of bed linens!

Despite this mortifying but entertaining beginning, Edward and Bella soon find that they have more in common than they’d realized, and that their differences complement each other.

Besides Rosalie’s objections, Bella and Edward face other obstacles as well, not the least of which is their own denial. It’s obvious that they are very attracted to one another, but Bratty-Vamp somehow manages to make Edward and Bella’s insistence that they’re “just friends” believable and entertaining. The unresolved sexual tension hums nicely for several chapters, without ever becoming tiresome or straining credulity.

As ever, Bratty-Vamp updates regularly and spins an entertaining and delightful yarn. This is still a work in progress, and while I suspect it will be winding up fairly soon, I don’t want to give too much away. Instead, I’ll just recommend that anyone who hasn’t yet started this lovely story do it now.

As with everything Bratty-Vamp writes, this story is no exception. Her use of characterizations never fails to impress me. Once again, she’s managed to create an Edward and Bella that you can fall in love with. As Legna and Kassiah both say — you’re crazy if you haven’t started reading this yet!

Like Legna said, I love everything that Bratty-Vamp writes, but after the amount of sobbing that I did while reading The Best Man, I made a pact (with myself) that I would only read her fics when they were complete. When I saw the awesome banner for Click & Strum, I couldn’t help but take a peek at the story. It’s no surprise that I was immediately sucked in. This story is amazing.

I love the characters. I love the storyline. I love Rosalie. I just love it all. I don’t know what to add to what has already been said besides that. It’s funny. And real. And hot.

Friends or no friends, I was enjoying this way too much to stop. I leaned back into the corner of the couch, and used my hands on the back of her head to pull her mouth against mine, successfully stretching her out to lie between my parted knees and against my chest. God, she tasted sweet. Like sugar, and apples and cinnamon. I held her face and feasted on her mouth with licks, and nips. It had been a really long time since I actually enjoyed just kissing someone. When she shuddered against me, I groaned into her mouth again. She was so good at this. My goals were soon forgotten and replaced with only one thought… More. More, more, more.

Bella didn’t complain when I pushed my hand up the back of her shirt to explore the soft skin of her lower back. And since I was apparently green-lighted on the under-the-shirt issue… I didn’t think she would mind too much if I moved my hand around to the front so I could cup her full breast in my hand. I had wanted to touch her like this since the night she was drunk, and I drove her home. Lord, she felt good, soft and heavy in my hand. This time she was the one who moaned. And it was nearly my undoing.

I know I promised myself that I would never have sex with a neighbor… too many aggravations and what-not. But my body started trying to convince me otherwise. My regularly scheduled common sense was shoved aside as easily as the lacey bra she wore. She was so soft and eager as she pushed herself into my hands and kissed me back that my baser instincts took over. I wanted her, and I wanted her to know it. She didn’t have a boyfriend anymore. And she admitted that she was attracted to me. ?

Why not?

Trust me when I say that Click & Strum is a story that is not to be missed. Read it right now!

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