Make It Right (Bowler University #2) [Max Payton & Lea Travers] by Megan Erickson

This was a beautiful love story. Loved both MC. While we didn't get a really good impression of Max in the previous installment, in this one, getting his POV we understand what he is going through and how hard it is for him to be who he wants to be when he is discouraged by his family, or rather expected to be / do something he doesn't want. He is truly a tender heart guy, SO sweet yet all his life people expected him to be strong, show no weakness and be "the man". Lea isn't impressed with that, she is warmed by who she sees he can be when no one is looking, when he tends to a stray cat or bakes him home made biscuits. 

The romance between these two started off a bit brutal :) Max being attracted to Lea but for some reason not being able to really talk to her, just being his jerk self. She on the other hand isn't impressed with this side of him. She believes there is something beneath it. They keep re-meeting and Max keeps surprising Lea for the better but also Max learns the hard way that Lea isn't a fragile little girl, even if she has a scarred led and she IS physically small. I loved that about her. How in control she was and a fighter! Yeah she had her issues with trust which made her quite the bitch at certain times but I could understand where it was coming from (even if I wanted to strangle her when she hurt him so much!). 

Unlike the previous one which was a bit too over emotional in the final struggle for the relationship this one was done much better and they both admit in the end that they needed this time for themselves to figure the things that mattered. For Lea is was about trust and what it means, for Max, it was dealing with his family, being truthful with them and seeing what happens. 

There is a side plot about people getting attached at the college and there is a also parts with their mutual friends - Kat and Alec (sugary sweet these two) as well as Danika and Cam. Really enjoyed seeing Alec and Kat as a formed couple and also Danika with her struggles with her relationship with Monica. I would have loved to read even more about it. I also wonder about Cam, though we got glimpses of him in this novel and the previous one he is still quite mysterious. Can't wait to get to his story (in the next installment)

Again, I'm very impressed with Megan who brought us a less than perfect baby-doll heroine (in the previous one we had Kat with her dyslexia). Lea has a visual limp, scars, she struggle with her outside looks and yet is a black belt in martial arts and knows how to handle herself and life in general. Max was the sweetest. I totally fell for him. There is something about a big guy with a tender heart, who bakes cookies and tends to thinks of others before he thinks of himself. 

HIGHLY Recommended! :) 

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 384 pages, 3-4 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)  ★★★★