When Tabitha and her best friend Leslie were young, they made a pact to never get involved with the same guy. That wasn’t a problem for Tabitha, especially as far as Leo Pesciano was concerned. Tabitha hated the guy. It didn’t matter that he was good looking and all of the other girls drooled over him, and Leslie had a big crush on him. He was obnoxious and loved to rile Tabitha up; but when she is faced with life-altering challenges, Leo becomes her protector and her friend. There is a strong chemistry between them that Tabitha tries very hard to ignore, but Leo doesn’t make it easy. After an explosive end to their friendship during their college years, more than nine years later they are reunited and Tabitha is again resistant to the attraction she feels to Leo. Time, distance, and new lives have come between Leslie and Tabitha over the years, and they rarely speak or see each other, but Tabitha holds strong to the girl code they created when they were children. Her loyalty to her old friend is admirable, but will this same loyalty destroy her chances of a happily ever after?
My Review
5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
One thing is for sure, LD DAVIS knows how to write angst. She is a pro at taking the reader on an emotional roller-coaster. She will drag your heart through the shredder. She will rip it out of your chest tear it up making you feel gutted. But she will also gently, and with care, repair the damage and put those broken pieces together again and place them back into your gaping hole of a chest.
This is the 6th book of Ms. Davis’s I have read. Yes, you read that correctly, she is an automatic 1click author for me. Her writing is eloquent, fluid, and captivating. She develops characters and plots that are so life-like you forget you are not living alongside your friends but instead reading a book.
Girl Code:
I do solemnly promise to never, ever date, make out with, or love any guy that my best friend has dated, made out with or fallen in love with. This will not be difficult for me, because I value our friendship much more than I will ever value your sloppy seconds.
~Tabitha & Leslie~
Tabitha (Tacky) and Leslie swore this code to each other when they were young teenagers. Tabitha was not the girl who typically gained boys attention. She was not the girl with the “rockin’ hot” body – that was Leslie. For Tabitha I don’t think she ever thought twice about the pact. She was always self-conscious about her body and never thought she was beautiful or worthy of the same types of boys Leslie was. So it was easy to keep the code, because if a boy asked her out that had ever dated, held hands or kissed Leslie, her self-concept was so skewed she was unable to see that she deserved to go out with him.
”I don’t know why you would believe you’re not worth it. –“ Leo’s soft voice washed over me as he firmly pushed me back into the truck, “but you are. Just let me be your hero for the night. You can thank me later.”
Tabitha had known Leo since early middle school. Living by him, she had noticed him often. It wasn’t until he moved from Catholic school to her local high school that they began talking, bickering, arguing, or as us adults call it flirting. At her young age, Tabitha didn’t understand though that what she was feeling for Leo was a crush. She mistook those irritated feelings as “strong dislike” and allowed her best friend, Leslie to swoop in and stake claim. Thereby enacting the Girl Code!
“Oh, Tacky,” he said, releasing my hand and wrapping an arm around my waist. “One day you will appreciate my enticing body.”
Many years later, and after several life altering incidents, Tabitha is smacked in the face with that damn Girl Code and Leo. I wanted to rip the hair out of her head. She spent so much time fretting over this damn, stupid code, that she wasted the time she could have spent having a beautiful, wonderful life. (Perhaps that says more about me than her.) Her loyalty was astounding, even after the years of separation with her “girl”. I don’t have to think twice if I would hold the code that long.
“It’s hard to fight for the one you love while you’re with him, but it will be so much harder without him.”
And Leo, I absolutely adored him. He had such an endearing personality, he was adorably funny, protective and loving, and yet he held some degree of culpability in the situation.
I also enjoyed reading bits and pieces about the AOP gang. No, you don’t have to have read those books before you read this one, but those who have will appreciate getting a little more of their story.
Highly recommend this 5 Star read!
ARC graciously provided by author in exchange for honest review
Other books by LD Davis
Great review!!
😀 Thanks Foxy!! Mwah!!