Happy Hump Day!  I hope you are in the mood for a little swoony/smexy interlude, because my pick for this week is a controversial and sexy doozy.  I’ve been on a bit of an experimental kick where I am consciously deciding to read a trope that would normally repel me. Blurbs that ring my warning bells, being em on. Red flags waving? Yooo hooo, over here! I’m exploring this space because I was becoming bored with the same ole reading. Enjoyable, but bored and what better way to break up the monotony than to shake things up a bit with the unchartered and unexpected. Sophie Jordan’s “The Me I Meant to Be” is just the novel To fit the bill.

Breaking girl code and canoodling with you best friend’s ex? Yikes! Normally a no go, this time I’m diving in and taking you along on the ride with a sneak peak!

GIRL CODE #32: When your friends let you down, it’s up to you to decide what hurts less: forgiving them or living without them.

Girl Code: Never date a friend’s ex.

Willa Evans has no intention of breaking the code. So what if she’s always secretly loved her next-door neighbor Zach? As her best friend’s boyfriend, he was always off-limits and it needs to stay that way, even though they just broke up. Even though every time she turns around he’s there, tempting her…

No keeping secrets from your bestie.

Flor Hidalgo has a lot on her plate: her breakup with Zach, her dad’s new dating life, and her struggling grades. So why can’t she stop thinking about her hot, know-it-all tutor? At least she’s got Willa, her constant in the chaos.

*Warm and fuzzies*

“What are you doing here?” He was slightly out of breath. I smiled and shrugged lightly.

“I came to watch your practice.”

“You hate football.”

“But I love you.” There. I’d said it. The words dropped like immense stones into the thick space between us. He stared at me for a long moment, unsmiling, his eyes deep, devouring me where I sat. I pointed at the field.

“They’re calling you. You might get in trouble.”

“I don’t care.” He stepped forward and grabbed me, hauling me up against his big, sweaty, pad-protected body. He kissed me. At school. In full daylight. With the whole world watching. In the distance, I heard a whistle blowing madly. We were probably both going to get detention. PDA alone guaranteed it. He pulled back to look at me. “You’re not scared anymore?”

“Are you kidding? I’m terrified.” I was in love with this beautiful boy and life was scary. Every risk exposed you to possible pain. He laughed softly.

“Brave girl.” He brushed his fingers down my cheek. “We can be scared together.” 

He smiled widely and nodded. After pressing a quick kiss on my lips, he jumped off the bleachers. Running backwards over the field, he spread his arms wide and shouted at me, “I love you, Willa Evans.”

*Hot and bothered*

“Willa,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and awe-tinged. My insides quivered. His hands cupped me then, and I nearly flew off his lap at the first rasp of his palms on my bare breasts. Oh. God. Was it supposed to feel like this? Wonderful and shocking and vomit-inducing at the same time? No one had told me. None of my friends had warned me. My stomach couldn’t stop churning. It was like a thousand butterflies rioted inside me, looking for a way out.

“Willa.” He pressed his mouth to my neck, my collarbone, looking up at me, watching my face with intense eyes as he played with my breasts, his thumbs brushing over my nipples, back and forth, back and forth, each swipe making me shake.

“Do you like that?”

Ohh. That voice. His hands. I whimpered as he tasted me with warm, open-mouthed kisses, his tongue hot on my skin, burning, singeing. I should have been horrified and stopping this. Instead I was galloping straight into it, arching into his touch and sliding my fingers into his hair, sighing and moaning and holding him closer to me. His mouth trailed down, closing over me, sucking me deep. Pleasure knifed through me.

Oh. My. God.

The Me I Meant to Be releases in a few months, if this sneak peek has peaked your interest, add it to your TBR list for early 2019!