Review: Resisting the Bad Boy by Violet Duke

Resisting the Bad Boy (Nice Girl to Love #1) 
by Violet Duke

Release Date: March 28, 2013
Genre: New Adult, Romance
Pages: 145
Format: eBook
Source: Review Copy from Author
Amazon • Goodreads

***Warning: This book contains adult content and may not be suitable for younger readers. This review will not contain any such material.***

Abby Bartlett is the quintessential nice girl. Between teaching, volunteering, completing her PhD, and helping her best friend raise his daughter, Abby never gets the chance to be anything but nice. That is, until the all-wrong-for-her man she's only ever known from afar starts daring her to simply take that chance for herself. His sage advice? Try something wild and fast.

Preferably him.

An unbridled, hotshot attorney with a not-so-little black book, Connor Sullivan has earned himself quite the bad boy reputation. But in his defense, he's a very conscientious one. He knows far too well that sometimes in life, love isn't enough...or worse, not even a factor at all. To avoid that misery--and repel the drama--Connor always makes his one and only rule crystal clear right from the start. Absolutely nothing more than a month.

Turns out, a whole lot can happen in one month.



Abby Bartlett is an every-girl: she works hard, takes care of those close to her, and has a certain soft spot for bad boys. Connor Sullivan is just one such boy, which hasn't escaped Abby's notice. The fact that Abby's best friend, Brian, also happens to be Connor's brother, means that they've been thrown together quite a bit over the years. Then one day it's not just Abby noticing Connor. He may be just as interested. And suddenly, the good girl might want to get a little bad...

Resisting the Bad Boy was a fun, quick read with a solid romance and some really likable characters. It won't be hard for a lot of readers to relate to Abby, and Connor, of course, will be revealed to have a heart of gold. Their courtship is a steamy whirlwind (because one month really isn't a whole lot of time) and you'll find yourselves routing for them to clamber past their hang-ups and just be together, as so often happens in the genre.

Probably my favorite part of the story was the glimpse into Abby's life - especially the parts with Brian and his daughter. The back story there is heartbreaking but beautiful, and I loved their interactions. There's a lot of love there and it's really apparent how big a part of Abby's life they are.

For me, Connor lacked a little something. Don't get me wrong, he's plenty swoon-worthy, but I felt like he wasn't given quite as robust a back story and didn't come off as a as well-rounded character in comparison. It rests a little to heavily on the bad-boy-with-a-good-heart laurels and doesn't show us how that really came about.

Overall, it was a great pleasure read! A really solid New Adult read that will have you itching for the next in the series (because, oh, goodness, cliffhanger). The Kindle format is also currently free on Amazon, so there's no reason not to check it out!