REVIEW: Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description: 

Lizzie Brandt was valedictorian of her high school class, but at Radleigh University, all she's acing are partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. But all that changes when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, making her guardian to her two younger brothers. To keep them out of foster care, she'll have to fix up her image, her life, and her GPA—fast. Too bad the only person on campus she can go to for help is her humorless, pedantic Byzantine History TA, Connor Lawson, who isn't exactly Lizzie's biggest fan.

But Connor surprises her. Not only is he a great tutor, but he’s also a pretty great babysitter. And chauffeur. And listener. And he understands exactly what it’s like to be on your own before you're ready. Before long, Lizzie realizes having a responsible-adult type around has its perks... and that she'd like to do some rather irresponsible (but considerably adult) things with him as well. Good thing he's not the kind of guy who'd ever reciprocate.

Until he does.

Until they turn into far more than teacher and student.

Until the relationship that helped put their lives back together threatens everything they both have left.

For the most part, this book was awesome. I was pulled right into the story from page one. My heart broke for Lizzie and what she was going through with her parents. The author actually brought me to tears a couple times.

Lizzie felt like a real person. She wasn't the perfect girl that never does anything wrong. She made mistakes and compounded them because she got in over her head. Case in point was sleeping with a guy she knew had a boyfriend. She courted trouble and dug herself deeper later and it came back to bite her in the butt. I could totally see it happening in real life.

As someone that loves history and has a degree in it, I loved that a lot of the story revolved around her history class and meeting with Connor for tutoring. Don't take that to mean that history will be shoved down your throat and you'll be bored to tears, because you won't. I just loved reading about someone that had a great love for history (Connor).

I really liked the friendship that developed between Connor and Lizzie in the beginning, after her parents died. They had some banter and brutal honesty between them and it just clicked. It even worked when they started flirting. But once they got together, I didn't quite feel the connection as much. It was there but it wasn't strong for me. Maybe I needed more build before they went there? I don't know. But I did like them as a couple.

However, I did have a couple issues with the book. One was a scene that was out of place, or it felt like it was out of place for me. Now, I read an ARC so this could change, but there was a scene when Lizzie's brother's disappeared on her and when she thought they had returned, she opened the door to the social worker. Then the scene jumps to Lizzie have a few hours before having to pick up her brothers from school then it went back to the social worker's visit and the boys not there. So needless to say, I was really confused. My next issue was Sophie. I loathed her. The author did a great job on her for that. She was completely horrible and psycho. My issue was that nothing ever happened to her. She never faced consequences for her blackmailing and vendetta against Lizzie. Lizzie faced consequences for what she did and what Sophie was doing but Sophie never faced consequences and I wish she had. My last issue was the end. Yes, there IS a HEA. That's not the issue here. My issue is what happens with Lizzie and her brothers. While I get why it happened the way it did, I didn't like it. I just couldn't help by feel like everything she went through was for nothing when it all fell apart at the end. And I'll be honest and say that the end was what knocked this down from a 5 for me. Now, just because the end didn't work for me, doesn't mean that others won't love it. Just call me odd.

This was my first book by author Dahlia Adler but it won't be my last.



***I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.***

View all my review on Goodreads