The Book Believer: JOYRIDE by Anna Banks

A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.

It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.

Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber's mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.

All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.

I loved Joyride! It was nothing like I was expecting - it was better than I expecting! Let me share my love on this beautiful novel with you all. Starting, of course, with the romance.

The romance was a total love hate in the beginning. And by this I mean, Arden was captivated by Carly, and Carly wanted NOTHING to do with Arden. And let me just admit it now - I love these type of romances. They add so much tension and make me root for the romance that much more. And it didn’t hurt that I was totally in love with Arden’s character either :)

Carly was an interesting character herself. Her parents had been deported back to Mexico years ago, and since then her and her brother Julio have been working hard in able to get the money needed to get them back into America. Carly puts all of her work into saving money for her parents, and studying for school in hopes of earning a scholarship. She can’t remember the last time she got up and hand fun, or did something for herself. She tries her hardest to stay under the radar, since what she is doing is illegal, but it is no longer as easy for her as soon as Arden comes into the equation.

So when Arden, one of the most popular boys in school, starts to show an interest in her, Carly isn’t too fond of the idea of getting close. In fact, she shows just how she feels about him by dumping her lunch all over poor Arden.

But as she and Arden start to talk and hang out more, things start changing. She no longer wants to punch him when she sees his face, and Arden is falling just as hard. But it will take more than attraction to get them through with a surviving romance. The pathway to a happy romance for them is full of obstacles, but together they are determined to make it happen. Because Arden feels that Carly is filling a part of him that he lost when Amber died, and he showed Carly that it’s okay to have fun and do things that YOU want to do every once in a while.

To put in my personal opinion, I loved this theme. I am often one to push myself too hard, and I think that teenagers do need to realize that there is only so much that they can do. We (and not just teenagers) all need to have fun and do things for ourselves every once in a while! It’s important to be motivated and get our tasks done, but it isn’t ever bad to destress.

Overall opinion - I loved the romance in this book, and it had a lot more action than I was expecting. Sometimes it was downright scary. I definitely recommend this book. A lot.