Review: No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista

No Love Allowed

Author: Kate Evangelista
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: Paperback, 256 pages
Genre: New Adult
Release Date: April 19th 2016

Summary:

It's all fun and parties until someone falls in love in this modern fairy tale from author Kate Evangelista.

Caleb desperately needs a fake girlfriend. Either he attends a series of parties for his father’s law firm with a pretty girl on his arm, or he gets shipped off to Yale to start a future he’s not ready for and isn’t sure he wants. And sadly, the last unattached girl in his social circle has just made the grievous mistake of falling in love with him. Fortunately, Didi, recently fired waitress and aspiring painter, is open to new experiences. As the summer ticks by in a whirl of lavish parties, there’s only one rule: They must not fall in love!

Review:

I had high hopes for this one, the blurb sounds awesome and one of my reading buddies really liked it.
Alas it didn't quite work for me.

And honestly I felt terrible about that. Because this is by no means badly written. Evangelsita's writing style is ok. Same goes for the story line.

But I found it impossible to connect to the MCs. I am not quite sure if this is because it is written in third person. A choice that always makes it harder for the reader to connect.
I just simply felt like I was reading something made-up. I know, I know, this is fictional. But when I read I want to be able to forget that it's someone's idea, I want to be able to connect and I want to believe the story. Sadly I really couldn't do either of these things.
This feel like a TV-series to me. I felt totally detached from everything.
Even when the big dramas happened, all I could think of was, only 10% left to get through...
I found it all too cliche. We have to emotionally unavailable Caleb, who isn't just super hot but also beyond rich, his asshat dad, the super-close little circle of friends... oh and then there is Nathan the token gay.
Didi came across as extremely childish on many occasions.
Her mother seemed flippant. She changed her mind about things like a leave in the wind...
Let me not get started on Amber or JJ.
Simply put I didn't like the character building. There was no depth to start with but also no growth over the story.

While I found the events and the sweet moments quite endearing, it also felt orchestrated. Like someone lined up key moments.
I was not a fan of the dialogues- most of it has been used in way too many romantic movies, the same goes for a lot of the sweet moments.


I wish I would have liked it better. Really I do. I think it has some potential, I am not sure what would safe this however. Then again, thankfully I am just a reader, who can't write to safe her life.

I guess a less picky reader, someone who loves a bit of movie romance will really enjoy this one!


Rating: 


ARC was provided by Publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review