Make it Count (Bowler University #1) [Kat Caruso & Alec Stone] by Megan Erickson

This book started AMAZING. I was hooked from the first page and just didn't want to put it down. I loved both MC from the start - Kat Caruso is feisty and fun but she is also so humanly fragile with her insecurities. Alec Stone on the other hand was just so damn sweet! He is a geek, the kind that studies and excels but there is much more to him than just being a brainiac. Firstly he is genuinely a nice person (so is Kat!) he cares about his friends, he cares for Kat when he sees how much she struggles. I loved the fact that though they come from a different background it wasn't something that took center stage or was actually barely mentioned in comparison to one another. 

Kat and Max have been dating for a few months now, but it's not serious, none of her relationships ever are. She always looked for someone who is fun to be around but someone who will never really see her, the real her she thinks is very unattractive, or mostly she thinks people will see her as stupid.. So when Alec, Max's best friend, become her Statistics tutor she isn't really sure about it. She likes him, she is even attracted to him (though she tries to ignore her attraction for obvious reasons..) but she really doesn't know what to do when right from the start she realizes Alec, unlike all the people around her (including her friends and family), truly SEES her. 

Alec is surprised with how much Kat is affecting him. When he starts tutoring her and gets to know her, all he wants is more of her, problem is, she is dating his best friend (and roommate). The fact that Max is also mistreating her makes him see red. 

The romance between Kat and Alec was really sweet. Yeah it annoyed me that it was behind Max's back and even though they didn't really do anything as long as Kat was with Max. I guess I could get it why she stayed with Max while she was so into Alec. She didn't really think it'll work anyway.. and she was scared of what will happen if it actually DID work, she would have to put her heart in the open - a thing she avoided all her life. 

I enjoyed getting to know both of their pasts. I think it was portrayed beautifully. Both have loving families but totally different. The families also added another layer of struggle for the both of them. Not only with one another but with life in general. 

So why am I giving this one 4 stars? well, on my first sitting, I read half the book and didn't even realizing the time (it was past 1 a.m. when I finally put it aside and went to sleep) but the second half was kinda tedious. It was SO DAMN emotional. Kat TOTALLY over reacted to Alec's behavior. He is SUCH a sweet guy, all he wants to do is help her and all she sees is him trying to control her / fix her and it's SO not the case. If she would just TALK to him and explain herself a quarter of the book wouldn't be necessary.. I mean, what's up with "I'm not talking to him till he gets why I'm angry with him"? Seriously??? That's like the first joke guys say about girls, that instead of SAYING they keep the guy guessing FOR NO APPARENT REASON and gees (!) they are so RIGHT! I know, I know, Kat is only 20 years old, and maybe I was a bit stupid and inexperienced as she was at the time, but no one around her actually told her to SPEAK to him(?). He wanted to fight for her, and he was so damn sweet about it so how could she stay angry or wounded when he was trying so hard! (even if he wasn't getting it..). Lucky for them they had Danika (Alec's best friend besides Max..) who was a colorful and joyful character but also a help in the relationship department. 

So for me, it was great up until the middle and then started dragging when over-emotional Kat started destroying the beauty of what she build with Alec. I truly think it could have mostly being avoided without us missing anything. We still get a lot of struggles in other areas of their lives and generally the struggle with Max's reaction to them being together. So why add another layer that just felt immature? don't know.. 

I liked it, I truly did and I do recommend it for a reason I somehow failed to mention up until now - Kat has dyslexia and probably ADHD. That's the first time I've read of a MC in college struggling with this disorder especially when she haven't even known she has it for most of her life, she had to struggle without knowing, feel stupid when everyone around her seem to get everything much quicker. All her personality was build on her intellectual insecurities. I could so get that. One of my ex-s struggled with a somewhat similar situation. He was diagnosed round the time she was, also when he started college. That's really a difficult state to be in, knowing that you're SUPPOSE to be able to do this or that but being unable or having really hard time getting there (when everyone else show no difficulty). 

I really appreciate Megan bringing this subject to mind here. It felt very believable and so human. First the struggle with the label, with what it means and later with how much this title explains and can help her now get to a better place. 

The next one is of Max and Lea, I'm really curious to see how they work out. We saw a pretty negative side to Max in this one, and Lea only features near the end. 

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 336 pages, 1-2 June 2015 / On GoodReads

 

 

  ABOUT THIS SERIES 

 

A New Adult series by Megan Erickson. The series has three books, each telling the romance of one of three roommates in Bowler University. 

The first and second novels has a MC that is somehow "flawed" which I found to be refreshing. In the first one Kat has dyslexia and in the second one Lea has a (minor) physical disability. The third one was of love rekindled. 

The series is sweet and tender in the progression of the romance between the MC. I enjoyed all of them but mostly the second one. 

Recommended to college New Adult fans. For me it was sweet but not overly exceptional. I enjoy "The Ivy Years" by Sarina Bowen much more. It also has less than perfect MC but I feel as though both the story and the romance was more put together. 

Books:
1. Make It Count [Alec Stone & Kat Caruso] (Published 3 June 2014)  ★★★★
2. Make It Right [Max Payton & Lea Travers] (Published 9 September 2014)  ★★★★★ 
3. Make It Last [Cam Ruiz & Tate Ellison ] (Published 6 January 2015)  ★★★★