Synopsis: Maysie Ardin is soaking up the summer before her junior year of college, shopping, hanging by the pool and shopping some more. But when her black belt in spending lands her in trouble with her parents, she is forced to take a second job at a local bar to dig herself out of a deep financial pit.She thought she’d be miserable. But then Maysie didn’t count on Jordan Levitt, the hot, pierced and tattooed, drum playing bartender who also happens to be very interested in her. And the feelings are totally mutual.
It had the makings of the perfect romantic set up. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy has girlfriend? Okay, maybe not.
But attraction is a hard thing to ignore and soon Jordan and Maysie find themselves in the middle of a gossip induced firestorm. Maysie has to learn whether she can set aside her fear of public disapproval in order to be with the one she wants. Or will she let the opinions of others dictate her life and her heart?
Back when I was just getting my feet wet with the NA field, I came across Find You in the Dark by A. Meredith Walters. I didn’t really know what I was getting into, but I came away with an intense experience that still hasn’t really left me. When people start talking to me about NA, I always find a way to bring her up and I’ve done my best to push her books into the hands of the people I talk to. Find You in the Dark was so emotional and tightly written, and it balanced a really tough subject and some crucial life lessons with great storytelling. So I was really excited to pick up Bad Rep and I really expected a lot from it.
I don’t know how she does it because A. Meredith Walters has this way of writing that just gets me all riled up. The beginning and the description had me slightly worried that it would fall into some stereotypical traps – with the star-crossed lovers and bad rocker boy and all – but this doesn’t feel like something I’ve read before. Maysie and Jordan’s chemistry was just spot on and effortless – the first time they met put a weight in my gut and it kept my emotions on edge through the whole book. Surprisingly, the story goes beyond the initial attraction, hook-up, relationship story arc and starts to explore – what happens when you’ve seemingly won what you wanted and everything else falls apart and you have to deal with that fall out. There are so many emotions coming from different events that the connection I made with this book went way beyond the main focus of Maysie and Jordan.
Jordan was an interesting hero. He’s this walking contradiction of preppy frat boy and bad-ass rocker dude, that weirdly makes him sorta perfect. He has a girlfriend when Maysie meets him, and that girl happens to be her sorority president (there are totally some moments in this book that remind me of Greek…just had to throw that in). He gets onto some thin (cheating)ice with the whole situation, but besides that, it’s kind of amazing how unwavering he is. I think the reason the whole cheating thing didn’t completely bother me was that it wasn’t exactly a – hey you’re attractive and I can have my cake and eat it, too – situation. It was more like – you never know when you’re going to find the right person and it’s hard to tell what obstacles you’ll have to overcome. Because of that I forgave Jordan for a lot.
I loved Maysie as well. I totally identified with her. She’s another one of those characters that I’m like – whoa, you’re living my life. She totally made me nostalgic for that point in my life – well, during parts of her story anyway – other parts I don’t need to relive. She, understandably, had a hard time trusting Jordan, and a few of the times she pushes him away could probably have been cut out or paired down just to tighten the story, but other than that , I totally was on her side. I feel like Jordan proved himself again and again, yet their relationship started in turmoil and it takes a lot of work on their part to make it work out – which is something I completely appreciated.
I can’t recommend this book, or any of A. Meredith Walter’s other books enough. She is so great and writing emotion and life into her characters and completely involving the reader into the story. You don’t leave her books behind after the story has ended. These are the kind of books you carry with you and recall at random moments. Bad Rep was amazing and even as I’m writing this, I’m thinking I’m already needing a reread because I want to go back to the tension and the drama that’s packed into this book. Seriously, though, everyone go pick up one of A. Meredith Walter’s books. Any of them. If you’re a NA lover – I suggest Bad Rep. If you’re still on that fence between YA and NA, go for Find You in the Dark. Or both. She’s amazing.
