Rules of Attraction (edition 2010)

I loved Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, so when I heard about this sequel needless to say, I picked it up as soon as it hit the stands. I was not disappointed… NOT.ONE.BIT! Rules of Attraction is funny, romantic, edgy and unforgettable! I loved the dialog, pranks and slapstick funny scenes throughout the novel, but most of all, I loved the sincere moments between bad-boy Carlos and goodie two shoes Kiara. It’s a page turner that will leave you sad at the end, but only because you’ve finished the book so quickly.

In Rules of Attraction, we meet Alex’s hot headed and rebellious younger brother Carlos. He arrives in Colorado to live with his brother, but immediately lands himself in trouble with the law after a school drug bust where he was clearly framed. Carlos meets Kiara who is so opposite of anyone he ever imagined falling for and through a series of circumstances, finds himself living with her family because of the good graces of her father who wants to give Carlos the second chance he feels he deserves. This begins Carlos and Kiara's rollercoaster of a ride with its fair share of ups and downs.

Kiara, is a good girl. I liked her more than I liked Brittany from 'Perfect Chemistry', she is a less conventional heroine. Her love for over sized t-shirts, shorts and hiking boots, the fact she doesn't even own a pair of high heels and her favourite past time is renovating old cars. She also has a stutter. All of this adds a touch of difference to her character.

ANd Even though Carlos was totally full of himself at first, Carlos’ character simultaneously improves in a realistic pace. He didn’t change overnight. It happens in slow process which is the result of the accumulation of all the things that happened to him, and with the help of the people who cares for him. And when Carlos’ finally loosen up, I discovered that he really is a great guy. Despite his tough-guy image, he actually cares for his family so much, and he also learns to care for the Westford family later in the book. I also cracked up many times because the guy is just so funny. His internal monologues are hilarious and they totally make up for all his annoying side. Below are some of the examples:

"I’m not goin’ near anything with the word “pu-pu” in it. I’m annoyed that my brother even knows what pu-pu platter is.

I can’t imagine a girl like Kiara ever needing a guy to fight for her, because if any guy threatened her, she’d probably suffocate him with her oversized tee.

What the hell is a Labradoodle? Whatever it is, I bet my cousin Lana’s pitbull could eat Puddles the Labradoodle for lunch.

By the length and pointy tip of her tongue, I think she might have iguana genes in her family tree."

It is interesting seeing Alex and Brittany again, two years on. While I know this was Carlos and Kiara's story, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of them. But I did certainly like seeing a wiser, more mature Alex.

This was such a great sequel to Perfect Chemistry, and I loved revisiting two of my fave characters, Alex and Britt. But most of all, what a great cover to the book! I loved it because it captured one of the most endearing moments in the story between the two main characters. Oh! AND great title, as it serves to remind us there are no rules of attraction, it just happens naturally. Awesome read that I recommend without hesitation.

This book has a lot of similarities to the first in the series, [b:Perfect Chemistry|4268157|Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)|Simone Elkeles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275635172s/4268157.jpg|4315675]--at the beginning, it felt like the only difference was that Kiara had a stutter. After finishing it, I still feel it was substantially similar in characters and plot but I don't give a crap. I still really liked it.

In other news, I know some people are fans of the cover art in this series but I think it is pretty mortifying. After [b:Perfect Chemistry|4268157|Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)|Simone Elkeles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275635172s/4268157.jpg|4315675]'s cover, where Alex and Brittney are laying on each other in the cover art, I saw this one and thought, "thank goodness I am not living with my Boston roommates anymore--they made fun of me for reading the other one and this one is even more ridiculous!" Did you see the cover for the third book in the series, [b:Chain Reaction|8662836|Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemisty, #3)|Simone Elkeles|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1290058000s/8662836.jpg|13534308]? THEY ARE SHOWERING TOGETHER. I would never read that book on the T. (public transportation) Buuuuut, that brings me to something else.

The sexiness. Whoa, mama. I listened to this one on audiobook and it was pretty hot. I enjoyed the romance aspects of this book more than most of the romances I read. What's that you say? That's kind of gross since I'm 27? Well, FU, I don't care what you say. Also, Carlos sounds hot. Alex was hot, too. It stands to reason that Luis will be hot, too. If there is a shower scene in book three, I am totally there. Oh wait, I was there anyway.

Speaking about sounding hot, it was pretty interesting to hear the shifting first person narration in this novel. I've never encountered this in an audiobook before--when Carlos is narrating, a Mexican (well, I didn't look him up, maybe the voice actor just does an amazing accent) man narrates and every character sounds like they would from Carlos' point of view--so Brittney, the professor, Tuck, and Brandon all have quasi-Mexican accents. And when Brittney narrates, the female voice actor impersonates Carlos and Alex's voices. At first, I felt that it was off-putting but I got used to it over time and I think it actually added to my experience. ( )

Review also posted on my blog :
http://cheerfulreviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/rules-of-attraction-by-simone-elkele...

Nitty Gritty
Oh my god, I honestly thought nothing would ever compare to the first book 'Perfect Chemistry' which is why it took me so long to finally pick up Rules of Attraction. But.. holy crap !~ Okay let me tell you about it before I start to go all crazy with my gushiness. Rules of Attraction is told in two POV's - Carlos and Kiara's. Carlos has been living in Mexico for two years with his family when he now has to come live with his brother, Alex and his girlfriend Brittany in Colorado. Now on the other hand, we have Kiara who has been living in Colorado with her rich family and gay best friend (whom I love.) & she is just getting over a hard breakup through text .(Yes, a text message... damn you Michael.) & her stuttering issues [which just breaks my heart ;-;]

Alright so the plot isn't all that original- (again) a romance where a sweet girl falls for the imperfect bad boy. I feel like this is all I read nowadays, LOL. I can't help it though, the bad boys - they call to me. ;_; Ahem, anyways... Okay so, Carlos is starting at Kiara's school and so she offers his brother Alex to show Carlos to his classes and such(without meeting him yet..) So of course they don't like each other (surprise!) and try to avoid each other, etc. Then some crazy stuff happens and Carlos has to move in with Kiara for awhile and they start to build a relationship with each other.

Okay now what I honestly liked about this book was that Kiara was 1.) Had a backbone. 2.) Wasn't afraid to stand up for herself. and 3.) ADMITTED HER FEELINGS. Sometimes when I read books like this I feel like the girl doesn't admit her feelings until like- the vey end. Which can get aggravating because she obviously likes the guy and he likes her and ugh. But this isn't the same way, obviously Kiara is drawn to Carlos and she doesn't want to be but then when he starts to open up to her and she begins to like him & she admits to it.

I thought the relationship between Carlos and Kiara was so real and genuine and it made me squeal a few times, ngl. I was in swoon city while reading this. D: Don't get me wrong, Carlos was a total douche in the beginning. I seriously hated him, ugh. I just wished Alex would have slapped that boy (I'm glad he didn't but at the time I was annoyed with him) But as the story progresses he was so sweet and caring and always protective of the people he loves/cares about. And ughhhh I want a Carlosssss *whines* ;__;

Characters
K i a r a : Kiara was so great, maybe because she reminds me so much of myself. She has a very bad issue with stuttering and I know a bit of what that's like because I used to stutter just a bit and it was uncontrollable and people would look at you weird/ make fun. So it just broke my heart for her and made me love her so much more. Even though Kiara was very self conscious, she did have a tough side to her and didn't let herself get pushed over all the time, especially with Carlos. Honestly though the part I loved the most about her was how she was with her little brother, it was sooo cute how she always played with him and took care of him, their relationship was just darlin.

C a r l o s : Give me a second while I cry because Carlos is just a fictional character. ;____; I love Carlos so much. Like.. love times infinity. He is soooo dreamy. D: I didn't like him in the beginning though. He was so rude and hateful about everything I was just like, Carlos- seriously. He came around though, and showed us why and how he became so cold and numb inside. It really broke my heart how much he cared for his old girlfriend back in Chicago and how heartbroken she made him. (Damn you, Destiny..) Once Carlos came around in the story I felt myself swooning and falling for him the same time Kiara was. He was so... words can't describe how amazing Carlos is. There just isn't. You're just gonna have to take my word for it!

T u c k : New favorite best friend in a book. Tuck was absolutely laugh out loud hilarious, every time he was in a scene I'm pretty sure I cracked up. He was just great, and he was also such a great friend to Kiara and always there for her no matter what. & the scenes with him and Carlos were gold.

O t h e r s : Hmm, lets see. Well, the main characters from the last book - Perfect Chemistry- were in this, which was awesome. Because I seriously adored/missed Alex & Brittany and was so excited to hear a bit more about them! Kiara's family was just wonderful, her mom was sweet as pie, her dad was so understanding and.. fatherly and her brother. I LOVED HER BROTHER. He was so freakin' cute. D: I didn't really dislike anyone in this book, oh except Madison. God she was awful, I just wanted to rip her hair out when spoiler alert ? ~~~~~~~~ (made fun of Kiara's stuttering x__x) ~~~~~~~~~ She was just so unforgivably bitchy, just- ugh.

In all
This book was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. It was just as good as the first book, Perfect Chemistry and maybe even better in some parts. It was steamy and romantic, heartfelt, and intense and so much more. All the characters were fabulous and fit in perfectly with the story. The pacing was fast and never once did I want to put the book down! I just absolutely loved it. The plot is a bit cliched and overused but I doubt any of them can match up to Simone Elkeles' books. ( )

Okay, I was really excited starting this book as soon as I was done with Perfect Chemistry and I loved that book so I had high hopes for this one and the other one of the series. I admit, It wasn't easy to get into Carlos' situation since he felt different when I last read from him in PC. I really really thought the facade was stupid as hell but what can I say, bad boys got their secrets to protect.

At first, I don't understand it. As I said, It was different, somewhat, from Alex's struggles, yet kind of the same. He was almost like Brittany, without a perfect acrylic nail set of course. It got on my nerves but I eventually softened up once Carlos did. Oh man, oh man... If I get a penny for every time I read about people playing with fire and making deals about "friendship plus a little bit more", I'd probably have 20 bucks.

I'll still take that 20 though!

Cliches or not, I wasn't expecting a big amazing story but I was expecting a smooth-buttery-velvety-rocky-bouldery (Don't care about you think with that word) transition from Simone Elkeles just as she managed beautifully in PC. She sure did gave justice and more. As much as the story is focused on the two protagonists, the other characters were just made to be easy to love. I also liked hearing about Brittany and Alex once in a while plus other familiar-but-not-so-familiar characters like Luis and the Fuentes brother's mom. ( )

Originally Reviewed at:Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Purchased
Reviewer:Jennifer

Simone Elkeles does it again with the Rules of Attraction. Set two years after her hit Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction tells the story of Carlos Fuentes and Kiara Westford.

After losing his job at the local sugar mill, Carlos family decides to send him to Boulder, Colorado to live with his older brother Alex. Upon arriving, Carlos makes it known that he is not happy about living in Boulder and intends to do anything he chooses. Upon starting at the local high school, Carlos meets Kiara. After only a week at school, Carlos is falsely accused and nearly suspended from school. As a result, he is sent to live with Alex’s former teacher Mr.Westford and his family. Though Carlos intends not to become close to anyone, he soon finds that Kiara isn’t someone who can scare away.

Kiara is not the type of girl Carlos is used to. Instead of shopping for the latest fashion, she prefers working on her 1973 Monte Carlo, hiking the Colorado Mountains, and spending time with her parents’ younger brother Brandon and best friend Tucker. After her boyfriend Michael breaks up with her via text message, she is determined to make herself know for something other than her lack of style and stuttering. After working with a speech therapist all summer, Kiara is ready to start the school year fresh. When Carlos moves in with Kiara’s family, the pair begins a relationship that neither can explain.

Simone, once again, does a great job expressing teenage relationships and the reality of gang life. She tells the story of the newest Fuentes brother and his developing relationship with a few old favorites. If you enjoyed Perfect Chemistry, you’ll love Rules of Attraction. ( )