*Grabby Hands* Review - Defying Gravity (Finding Perfect, #2) by Kendra C. Highley

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Defying Gravity
(Finding Perfect #2)
Author: Kendra C. Highley

Publication Date: July 25th, 2016

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Disclaimer: This book contains enough sexual tension to melt snow, the hottest near-kiss in the history of near-kisses, and a sexy snowboarder determined to win the heart of the girl he loves.
Zoey Miller lives for her holidays in Aspen. Her time up on the mountain with the Madison brothers, Parker and Luke, is everything. But for the first time, it’s not enough. This time, she’s determined to win one of the brothers’ hearts. 

But the brother she has in mind is a renowned player, with hordes of snow-bunnies following him around Snowmass resort. And the other…well, he’s her best friend and knows she deserves better. Namely him. And he’s going to win her heart.

Goodreads

Pre-order: Amazon 

4.5 “Best friend and snow” STARS

ARC via NetGalley

Thank you, Entangled!

Sometimes you just start reading and you enjoy the story so much you can’t even stop to update your Goodreads status. That’s what happened here.

I started “Defying Gravity” thinking it’d another super cute YA love story published by Entangled Crush – I’ve been having a lot of luck with those – but I didn’t expect to fall in love with it as fast as I did.

I mean, by the end of chapter one I already had a major crush on Parker. Major. I’m serious. That was a positive and a negative thing. Why? Because it kind of made me angry at Zoey and how long it took her to realize Parker was just the perfect guy for her – and for me too, if I were more than ten years younger.

Honestly, being a little angry at Zoey was kind of pointless because I came into this book knowing it’d take her a while to choose between the brothers. After all, the premise is the famous Parker likes Zoey who likes Luke who likes all girls. Either way, I still yelled How can you not love him? a couple of times.

Sorry, Zoey. Nothing personal. Just my love for Parker taking over me.

The story of Zoey, Parker and Luke starts way before chapter one. Their parents have been BFFs since college, which means the kids have known each other since they were born. And while they live miles apart, these two families always meet in Aspen on holidays.

It’s days before Christmas when Parker, Luke and Zoey meet again after months apart. Both Zoey and Parker have a goal in mind: making a move on the people they like. Zoey is ready to impress Luke, and Parker is ready to move away from the friendzone and finally tell Zoey he wants to be more than her best friend. Except he notices how Zoey is flirting with his older brother, who is obviously flirting back, and that puts a temporary stop to his plans to come clean. Acting on that brotherly rivalry that always makes things entertaining and complicated, Parker accepts the challenge when Luke suggests they should both fight for Zoey’s attention. The brother she doesn't choose in the end will have to just deal with it.

Oblivious to that little bet, Zoey starts winter break by trying hard to get Luke’s attention. She doesn’t want him to see her as the little girl he grew up with anymore, but she also doesn’t want to be the next girl in a long line of forgettable flings. That’s when we have problem #1: the girl is clearly hoping to change Luke and make him into a one-girl kind of guy when he clearly isn’t like that. Problem #2: she’s trying to impress him so hard, that she’s forgetting Aspen is the only place where she doesn’t have to hide who she truly is. Unlike when she’s home, Zoey doesn’t have to pretend she’s Queen B for the weeks she’s around the Madison boys, especially with her best friend Parker.

But there’s hope for Zoey, because as Parker starts to show her how much fun they can have by just being the two of them – no Luke and no masks needed --, she starts noticing him as more than a friend. Funny how that’s when I stop wanting to shake some sense into her.

Look, the author does a great job creating two very different brothers, and that’s clear after just a couple of pages.

Luke is the typical player and more than just a bit arrogant – he’s known around for his snowboarding skills and has a legion of fans (snow-bunnies – didn’t even know that was a thing) following his every move. Parker, on the other hand, despite being as good-looking and just as talented on the snowboard as his big brother is a much more humble soul.

Though we don’t get to see Parker around his other friends as much as I would’ve liked, it’s pretty clear that he’s nice to everyone around, not just Zoey. He’s legitimately a good guy – and he’s sexy AF. That little towel trick? Awesome. You'll agree with me once you read it. Plus, he has all the good traits that make a great boyfriend: he makes sure to ask Zoey if she's okay instead of assuming one way or the other, he listens to her, he respects her boundaries, he takes care of her when she's sick… *swoons* These are all things that made me like him even more. Everything about Parker was amazing.

Luke, on the other hand, was a real jackass. I tried to hold on to the hope that he was acting the way he was in order to help his brother and push him into confessing his feelings for Zoey, but that’s not how things turned out. He was really as arrogant as he made it look. He’s still redeemable, and while I can understand why Zoey had a crush on him, I don’t think I would’ve ever chosen him over Parker, even for just a minute. It would’ve been Parker from the start.

In the end, Zoey makes the right choice, and that’s pretty much all that matters.

As you can see, I would've had a heart attack if things had been different. That's how commited to Parker's happiness I was.

“Defying Gravity” is the second book in the “Finding Perfect” series, but you can easily read it as a stand-alone. I did. After finishing this, I wish I’ve read the first book simply because I think the writer is really talented at writing super cute YA romances. I’m guessing the romance in the first book must be as adorable as this one. Besides, it looks like Zoey was a big part of that story. It would’ve been nice to have seen her surrounded by her high school friends in order to better understand the difference between that Zoey and Aspen-Zoey.  Plus, the first book has a great premise and awesome reviews on Goodreads.

My advice to you is: read both books, but most importantly, read this one because you won’t regret it.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.