Review: The Pledge (College Bound #1) by Laura Ward & Christine Manzari

Title: The Pledge
Authors: Laura Ward and Christine Manzari
Series: College Bound
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult
Publication date: July 27th 2015
Pages: 370
Source: received from author (Thank you!)







Taren needs a do-over. She's decided the best way to put the high school bullies behind her is to pledge a Taylor-Swift-lip-syncing, beer-guzzling, sorority. Sisterhood helps Taren find her acceptance she's always craved, but the love she needs.

Alec wants freedom. To escape his father's iron fist and unrealistic expectations, he pledges a campus acrobatics club where he finds that drugs and alcohol aren't the only ways to get high. His addiction to danger helps him gain his independence, but it comes at a heavy price.

When the two cross paths, Alec fears his undeniable attraction to the party girl just might threaten everything he's worked so hard to earn. Taren hasn't forgotten that Alec humiliated her back in high school, but she also can't deny the chemistry they share.

Alec and Taren have nothing in common, but fate is bound and determined to bring them together. They know falling in love is a risk, and yet it's too hard to ignore. When their worlds clash and they both end up suffering, will they fight to stay together? Or are some pledges too hard to keep?

Goodreads

I had never heard of Laura Ward before I read this book but when Christine Manzare approached me with the question if I wanted to read this book I had to say yes. A couple of months ago I have read her book Hooked and I loved it. So I had to see what The Pledge was about. And I am happy that I said yes to this request because the book was wonderful.

Taren was known as the geek in high school. Now that she is off to college she cannot wait create a whole new image for herself. She is determined to fit in for once. Still she is surprised by how well she fits in and how easy it is to make new friends. So the last thing she wants is a reminder of her old life. And certainly if that reminder comes in the form of Alec Hart.  Like Taren Alec is determined to leave his old life behind. He was not the nicest guy to be around in high school and he made some poor decisions but he changed for the better. All he wants now is to get out of his father’s iron grip on his life and start living the life he wants. They blame each other for their disastrous senior year of high school so they want to avoid each other at all costs but fate seems to have other plans in store. They keep bumping into each other and they can only ignore the attraction between them for so long.

The story is built on a really good idea. It is a mix of second chances, friendship and love. The book is told between altering first person point of views of Alec and Taren. I really like it when authors do this since I always love to know what both sides are thinking and feeling. It was especially helpfully in this book since there were a lot of misunderstandings between these two. That was one of the few things I disliked a little about this book. There was so much miscommunication between Taren and Alec that I could hardly wrap my head around it. They often made assumptions about certain situations before asking one another anything about it. Seriously communication is not that hard and it is a vital part of any type of relationship.

Taren and Alec where both easy to like. They were easy going and really nice people. There were some things that I did not like about them. Taren is too naïve at times and she makes some very poor decisions but in the end she gets all her priorities straight. Alec was a bit too protective at times and he could be a bit judgmental. But I really admired him. He made a life for himself and he worked his butt off in order to achieve it all.

Overall I really liked this book. The writing fluent and the book was easy to read. If you are looking for a new adult contemporary novel than this is worth reading. I cannot wait for the second book in the series to come out. 

El