by Rachel Harris
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pub Date: March 26, 2019
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Format: Print
Source: Bought
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
Look up the word “nerd” and you’ll find Lily Bailey’s picture. She’s got one goal: first stop valedictorian, next stop Harvard. Until a stint in the hospital from too much stress lands her in the last place a klutz like her ever expected to be: salsa dance lessons.
Look up the word “popular” and you’ll find Stone Torres’s picture. His life
seems perfect—star of the football team, small-town hero, lots of friends. But
his family is struggling to make ends meet, so if pitching in at his mom's
dance studio helps, he’ll do it.
When Lily’s dad offers Stone extra cash to volunteer as Lily’s permanent dance
partner, he can’t refuse. But with each dip and turn, each moment her hand is
in his, his side job starts to feel all too real. Lily shows Stone he's more
than his impressive football stats, and he introduces her to a world outside of
studying. But with the lines blurred, can their relationship survive the secret
he's been hiding?
My Review: I read the back cover of this book and decided I needed to get it. It sounded like a promising read with a good romance.
I liked Lily. She's a big nerd and is studying to the point of getting because of studying so much. That is dedication on Lily's end but she has to give at some point. Everyone is worried about her and she needs to learn how to take a break. The answer? Dance lessons!
Is this what Lily wants? Nope, but she'll do it for her dad and when he's away from work she'll just stop coming. Well, Lily learns that this is the same studio her parents went to on date nights. How they connected and spent time up until her mom passed. So maybe this piece of info will encourage Lily to stick it out any maybe even have fun.
Then you have Stone. He's a pretty good guy and even helps his mom out in the studio that she loves so much. But things are hard for their family and Lily's dad offers him a way that could help solve things. Stone doesn't want to take the money and offer. Lily's dad pushes him a bit and eventually Stones caves in. It's not a bad request to help Lily and make sure he continues his lessons with her.
Overall I liked the characters but the pace of this book was way too slow for me. The pace made it hard for me to want to finish the book and I ended up halfway before I started to just skim through. I would have loved some more chemistry with these characters, it just fell flat.
While I enjoyed the characters and the idea of the book, I just didn't love it.
