Book Review – Risking It All by Jennifer Schmidt

Risking It All
Really good read that might have had me even more enthusiastic had I not been pouting at the price I paid for it. I mean, of course the price doesn’t make or break an excellent story, but… you know. It has to be excellent. I have to be pretty floored by it, to not blink at a significantly higher ebook price.

This one was… really good, and when a story is good, it’s so much easier to adamantly recommend when the cost isn’t so steep. Was it worth the price? Hrmmm… I dunno. Sorta. After all, I DID like it, and at times I felt like I was loving it (Memphis… the ultra-sexy alpha male absolutely had me). But while I found myself personally involved with this angsty love triangle, this book wasn’t an absolute stand-out for me. I’ve read this before… in one way or another (even if this one was a good version of it). There is no denying that I was emotionally connected. At times… I. WAS. MELTING! At others… I was exasperated. And then… hurting.

This is another one of those books that was brought up quite a few times, last week, and had me racing to grab it. Even with that price, I couldn’t help myself…

Claudia: I am reading this book: Risking It All by Jennifer Schmidt and is very good!! … it’s a mix of – BD, On Dublin St, Thoughtless, lol..really good.

Johanna: Hmmm now thats just up my alley.. Thanks for the heads up Claudia 🙂

Tasha: Risking it All by Jennifer Schmidt is a must read 🙂

Maryse’s Book Blog: I think that’s the second time today that book has been mentioned!! 🙂

Claudia Flores yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julie: Sounds good, I hate when they’re priced high like that tho :/

Tasha: Yea I know the price was a kicker

Tracy: … Risking It All? Please help me decide 🙂

Maryse’s Book Blog: I liked Risking it All (I’ll be writing the review shortly) and I LOVED Memphis – OMG to him, but the price! WHOA. I think I would have loved the book more had I not paid that much for it, if that makes sense?

Tracy: I chose RIA and I loved it and Memphis! And I wanted to punch her a couple of times 🙂 But I agree Maryse..reading as fast as we do, I have to rely in you and the other girls for great bargain books…

So what’s it about? Well at first I cringed a bit because I thought it was just going to be… too similar to the “Beautiful Disaster” book. And of course, I’m always on the lookout for what to read “after Beautiful Disaster” but it started off in a way that had me worried. College aged kids, cute bookworm girl (Kennedy) is warned against the infamous bad-boy (Memphis) on campus. And of course said bad-boy sets his sights on her, flirts, gets shot down (even though inside she’s reeeallly attracted)…

Oh, Kennedy definitely looked, and liked what she saw. But easy on the eyes wasn’t worth carrying around the resentment that seemed to follow every woman Memphis seduced.

… and then they become best friends. In fact, he even tells her the whole “… I like you too much to sleep with you” type thing. Sound familiar? Yep. I was raising an eyebrow.

BUT WAIT!!! It gets better. SO much better. Because this is the tale of two BEST ADULT friends. Along the lines of… if Abby and Travis (from Beautiful Disaster) had never taken that extra step and gave into each other’s attraction. EVER. What would have happened had they remained absolute best friends through college, and after college and well into their adult years? Bad boy continuing with his bad boy ways, while his good girl “best friend” dates her perfect man (which is not him). Spend all of their time together (when, of course, they aren’t with “others”) call each other, text each other, and cuddle… even if there is nothing more between them. Well THIS is that story.

So you know, once I realized where I was headed with this (I mean… ’cause come on – it is SO obvious they are torturing each other). I WAS IN!!!! I wanted to play in the emotional torture chamber with them. I wanted to pine with her, wonder why he never came on to her, like… ever. Wonder what if? And when I found out that he arranged to bring her on his next business trip (her dream destination), I just knew the angst was gonna hit the fan!

‘Cause remember… she has a boyfriend. Of two years. He’s a handsome surgeon. Almost perfect, right? Almost. Except he’s a bit boring. And he takes her for granted. And he forgets her VERY important events. The jerk! But as much of a bad-boy as Memphis seems to be (he’s got a motorcycle you know… and he likes her on the back of his bike! *giggle*), there is just something soooo perfect about him (hehe… of course I’d say that ;))

It still stung that he couldn’t commit himself to be there for her for one night.

“F#$king a$#hole,” Memphis said.

“He’s busy. He has a demanding career,” Kennedy said, trying to defend him for the zillionth time.

“Hey, I’m the one who globe-trots and I’m still going to be there.”

Kennedy gave him a small smile.

“That’s because you’re home right now.”

“No.” Memphis gave her a stern look. “Even if I had been halfway around the world, I would still make it home for this. I will always come home for you. You come first.”

*sigh* YES. THIS is Memphis. And now she’s on her way to Alaska for a week with him. Uh huh. Angst, confusion, denials, and ok, yes. Some drama for the sake of drama, and certainly some STUPID stupid decisions (but all of our angsty books have that, right?). Oh!! And pain. Yep! And despite the times when I found myself rolling my eyes (the heroine sometimes… just…. ARGH!!!!!!), when it came to Memphis, I believed everything about him. EVERYTHING. He had me. His “way”, his possessiveness, his sweetness, his alpha-male reactions… yes. I swooned.

But, I’m going to stop there and if you decide to, I’ll let you discover the rest.

If I’m honest with how I felt while I read it, to me, it’s mostly a 4 star read. I mean… it’s good. *shrug* I can’t take that away from it. 🙂

4 stars!

P.S. My mom is keeping me on my toes. She needed me to clarify this review, so I thought I’d include the conversation here, in case anyone else was wondering:

Mom: one little comment…. what would be it’s rating if it had been a less expensive book… would it be the same or would it be 4.5?… just wanted to know for my own sake.

Luv U
Mom

Maryse: Yep! 4 stars, if we only take the actual story into account (which is what I ended up doing). Anyone who reads it will see what I mean, I think. 😉 It’s good. It’s really good, but it has some *issues* like some drama for the sake of drama. That price for the “usual” drama is too pricey in my opinion. But, she wrote “his” character so well that it was worth 4 stars just because of HIM.

Mom: Excellent… that is exactly what I wanted to know from you…. I wasn’t sure from your comment if you felt that it should be more but gave it less because of the price.

➔➔➔  Looking for more of our favorite recommendations? Browse our “Ultimate Favorites Lists” here. Are you in the mood for a certain kind of story? Browse our favorite “genre/trope categories” here.