After being unceremoniously dumped freshman year because of her family’s “new money” status, Ruby Cotton has taken care not to put her heart on the line. No matter how enticing Emilie and Quinn make it look, relationships are scary and hard—while a string of flings is easy and fun. That’s what Ruby wants. Easy and fun. The only problem is, when it comes to satisfaction in the sack, most of the boys at Whitman are nothing but pretty window dressing and false advertising.
Ruby takes it upon herself to make campus life more fulfilling, creating a referral database that allows female students to rate their sexual experiences, thereby informing girls of what they’re getting into before agreeing to a date.
When her acting partner, Liam Greene, finally shows some interest, Ruby figures she won’t need to utilize the helpful gossip. He’s handsome, fun, and most importantly, not a guy she’d ever fall for hard enough to let him break her heart.
Not only that, but dating Liam gives Ruby the perfect excuse to say no to Cole Stuart.
As a star swimmer and heir to honest-to-God Scottish royalty, Cole sits at the top of Whitman’s A-list—but he’s also the lowest rated referral on Ruby’s website. The ratings make rejecting his repeated requests for a date a no-brainer, but her real reason for avoiding Cole runs deeper than a string of unsatisfied exes.
He’s gorgeous, he oozes sweetness and charm, and the electricity between them could power half of Whitman, but Ruby knows it will only last until his family or friends convince him she’s not good enough.
Before she knows it she’s falling anyway, waiting for the other shoe to drop but clinging to a tentative hope that Cole might be as different as he seems. When the secret behind his low ratings comes to light, that hope is torn apart, and Ruby wonders if she was right to give him her heart…and whether she has the strength to let him keep it.
Review: By Referral Only was a truly great read. I think Lyla Payne's growth as an author is really shown in this book through how unique her characters and the voices she gives them are.
As I mentioned earlier, I loved Ruby. She was so incredibly balls to the wall awesome. While she was tough, she wasn't unapproachable. She also is really brash, and the way that she meets one of these guys families was just plain hilarious. Cole was also a really unique character, with an intense background that you don't really see coming. I liked the little twist in his character that made him really stand out from other male leads in New Adult books.
The actual story sucks you in, and before I knew it I had finished the book. I was really happy that it was pretty much wrapped up at the end and I didn't have to suffer any hair loss from over tearing at really intense parts.
Not, to say that there wasn't any drama in B.R.O. because there definitely is. There is some really intense scenes where you just want to shake Ruby, Liam, and then Cole at parts too. I really enjoyed just how well the characters played off of each other, especially when we got to see Cole's family.
By Referral Only was such a fun read. It doesn't get too heavy for the genre, and definitely has a HEA. Plus, we got to see Quinn and Emilie from the first book in the series, which makes the book extra fun to see where those two are at in their relationship, and what advice they give to their love challenged friends.
You definitely should pick up By Referral Only. It's the perfect weekend read that will leave you smiling and content when you're finished! I really can't wait to see what character we will be getting to know more in depth in the next book. Fingers crossed it's Cole's little sister!
4/5 Oh Yeah I liked it a lot!
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About Lyla Payne
I’ve long had a love of stories. A few years ago decided to put them down on the page, and even though I have a degree in film and television, novels were the creative outlet where I found a home. I’ve published Young Adult under a different name, but when I got the idea for Broken at Love (my first New Adult title), I couldn’t wait to try something new – and I’m hooked. In my spare time I watch a ton of tennis (no surprise, there), play a ton of tennis, and dedicate a good portion of brain power to dreaming up the next fictitious bad boy we’d all love to meet in real life.
Links:
Website: http://lylapayne.
Twitter: @lyla_payne
Thank you for bringing this to us and being part of the tour. I look forward to reading it!
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