The Promise of Amazing

Gr 9 Up—Wren, a shy, quiet junior, falls for gorgeous bad-boy Grayson in this enjoyable and sometimes surprising romance. Their initial meeting is less than ideal: he chokes on the pastry-wrapped frankfurters she serves him in her family's Arthurian-themed catering hall. She performs the Heimlich maneuver, and he vomits on her shoes-but it's still love (and lust) at first sight. Wren is struggling to find her place in a family of overachievers. Grayson was kicked out of his private school, where he was involved in a dangerous, criminal enterprise, which he's trying to break away from despite old friends who don't want to let him go. The chapters told from his point of view are not always convincing, as this former player describes his sweet, mushy romantic feelings for Wren, but readers will enjoy seeing how love changes him. There are a few subplots, but the focus is on the whirlwind romance. Misunderstandings, secrets, a jealous classmate, and other obstacles get in the couple's way. The pace of the story picks up around the halfway point as Grayson's past comes back to haunt him. This is a mostly light, often funny story. Grayson sometimes borders on unlikable, but the believable characters speak and behave like teenagers, whether they are drinking and hooking up at parties or worrying about college applications. This is a solid choice for readers who like a little more heft than the average teen romance novel.—Miranda Doyle, Lake Oswego School District, OR