Title: Cross My Heart
Author: Katie Klein
Publisher: Self
Pages: eBook Only
Goodreads
Summary: True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . .
Jaden McEntyre and Parker Whalen are a wrong fit from the start. Jaden is driven and focused, Harvard Med School within reach. Parker has a past-a reputation-and the rumors about his mysterious habits abound. So there’s no reason why, when they’re assigned to work together on a project in English, they should discover they have anything in common, or even like each other, and they definitely shouldn’t be falling in love.
As they bond over Edith Wharton’s tragic novella, Ethan Frome, the “bad boy” vibe Parker plays begins to dissipate. Soon, Jaden finds herself shedding her own “good girl” image: sneaking around to be with him, confiding in him, and ultimately falling hard for this leather-wearing, motorcycle-driving loner who plays into the rebel stereotype.
Still, Jaden can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to Parker than he’s letting on. He’s hiding something from her, and discovering the truth means reconciling the Parker she’s grown to love with the person he really is. Because it’s possible that his life inside the classroom-everything Jaden knows-is one, massive lie.
What a surprising delight this novel was! After catching this on my Goodreads feed, I went in and read the summary and thought, hm, this sounds promising. I went in thinking, okay, this could be fun – or it could be really bad. Good girl meets bad boy… we’ve all read it before, right? So yeah, the storyline itself isn’t the most original, but now that I’m finished, I say this: who cares? It was worth it.
I stayed up almost all night reading because I didn’t want to put it down. And then I woke up this morning and picked it right back up again before work. When a book can do that for me? It’s automatically a keeper. It’s the ultimate payoff to investing my time – when I get paid back in spades with a good story and characters that are likeable.
While some high school protagonists can be annoyingly immature, to me, Jaden wasn’t. Sure, she had things to learn. I’m in my thirties and I’m still learning things, so it’s only natural that she had a few bumps along the way. And Parker… Parker Whalen. Mister Mysterious. He definitely wasn’t the swooniest boy I’ve ever met in the pages of a book, but there’s something about him (which I can’t tell you) that definitely earned him a top spot in my heart.
(If you can guess what that is, I’ll send you a virtual cookie.)
These two form a shaky but good friendship and it builds slowly into something more. And though it’s a slow build, I was happy with the pacing.
I enjoyed their interactions, especially the shared discussions over the novel their project is based upon (smart boys who dig books are awesome).
I highlighted a bunch of favorite scenes, but I wanted to share this one with you because it doesn’t give anything away that’s better left as a surprise.
“Well, this is typical,” he mutters, voice flat, dropping his bag to my bedroom floor.
“What’s typical?” I ask. I skim my fingers across the burgundy Harvard sticker secured just above my light switch. “Water or soda?”
“Soda,” he replies. “And your room is typical.”
I toss him the can of cola. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s just…exactly how I pictured it, that’s all.”
I snicker. “Okay Parker, I’m gonna pretend you did not just admit to me that you fantasize about my bedroom.”
“I wasn’t fantasizing,” he says with a slight smile, a faint blush creeping to his cheeks. “It’s just that this is exactly how I imagined it would be: clean…organized…boring.”
He thinks my room is boring? I laugh. “There is nothing boring about my room. In fact…it’s the coolest room I know. Parts of it, anyway.”
“Really?” he asks, disbelieving.
“Really. For instance…” I jerk my chin toward the closet, motioning for him to follow, then open the door and step inside.
“Aren’t we a little mature to be hiding in here?” You’re not trying to get seven minutes out of me are you?” he asks.
I hope you decide to give this one a chance!
and 
*blushes* Thanks so much, you guys! So glad you enjoyed it!