A little underwhelming

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The Bad Boy's Forever is the third book in the Bad Boy's Girl series by Blair Holden and follows Tessa (also known as 'Shortcake') and her bad-boy-turned-law-student boyfriend, Cole, and the ups and downs of their relationship. The book is broken down into two parts, the first of which follows Tessa and Cole in their first couple years of college. In the second part, we get to see Tessa and Cole embark on their new journeys - Tessa to the workforce in New York City and Chicago law school for Cole.

I wanted to like this more than I did. There were a lot of things I really struggled with, and only some of it can be attributed to having not read the previous two books in the series. I felt like there was a decent amount of the characters' history/backgrounds discussed throughout the book to make up for whatever I missed in the first two. I think I struggled the most with the author's particular writing style. Often times, Tessa or Cole would have a conversation or confrontation off-screen (off-page, I guess) and the reader would be treated to a brief recap of the incident rather than experiencing it in the moment as the character did.

I also felt that there was a lot of girl drama that wasn't strictly necessary. For the most part, it felt like its only real purpose was to perpetuate the 'my boyfriend is so hot that every girl wants him, so I'm always jealous' stereotype and create a situation ripe for Tess to throw down. Despite the heaps of drama, there didn't seem to really be an overarching plotline that took precedence and made the reader really invest in the success of Tessa and Cole's relationship.

I also wasn't in favor of the way that several important issues were introduced and then promptly dismissed rather than being used to further deepen or develop the plot. I'm talking borderline alcohol abuse, Cole keeping serious secrets from Tessa, Cole's stepmother trying to make Tessa feel inferior because of her job (mind you, it's her first job out of college and even Tessa admits it's a stepping-stone to her dream job), etc.

I didn't hate it, but I couldn't love it either.