Review - The Unwritten Rule / Elizabeth Scott

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like your best friend's boyfriend.

Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah's best friend.

Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.

Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

Review - I love contemporary romance with a ton of introspection and character development so as you can imagine, Elizabeth Scott is a favourite author of mine. Not as edgy as the fantastic Love You Hate You Miss You, The Unwritten Rule is a lot more Sarah Dessen than Courtney Summers...if labels must be doled out. The description of this book immediately sets the reader against the protagonist as she's doing the unforgivable, she's poaching her best friend's man. Yet Scott manages to turn this on its head relatively fast. My only complaint would be that she makes the pro-Sarah case a little too strong in Ryan's helplessness and Brianna's talent for manipulation.

Sarah's a meek little nobody, well that's what she thinks of herself. Always in the shadow of her friend, she's used to being passed over, wronged and basically rendered invisible. While Brianna's machinations are largely to blame, Sarah's lack of clarity and backbone are consistently frustrating. Not all protagonists can be kick ass, strong willed or exceptional. Sarah's ordinary and that's what is going for her. She's extremely relatable with her nice parents, overbearing friend and lacklustre love life...she's typical. She's got funky shoes and a long standing crush on former geek, Ryan. It just so happens that she has to watch her dream guy date up close and personal without the perks.

While the plot for me untangled in a predictable manner, Scott conveyed clearly how other characters truly felt, it's the journey that makes this an enjoyable read. Ryan is an easygoing, adorkable lad who is way in over his head. Brianna is a little diabolical, the reader never really sure how knowing her manipulation is. Her circumstances save her from being strictly cliched as do her interactions with Sarah's family. Each friend has something the other would sorely want and don't see the value in their own 'holdings'.

The plot whips along nicely and there's a plethora of misunderstandings, machinations and near misses to keep a reader enthralled. Scott has written another fun, sweet contemporary romance to wile away an afternoon with a smile on one's face.

A cute read about a typical gal in a complicated situation.

Published: March 16, 2010
Format: ARC, 224 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source of Review Copy: publisher
Origin: USA