Love Trilogy: Ready

The title of this book put me off at first and gave me some (slightly incorrect) notions of what the book would be about. The remaining books in the trilogy advanced that notion even more (Sex and Go! are the other titles).

In the first book, the story is very engaging and fresh. It surprised me in many instances and I really enjoyed it.

On the outside, this is a fairly simple story of lust, love and attraction. Colette meets Art while swimming and is immediately attracted to him. Amazingly (to Colette), he is also attracted to her.

They begin dating and he begins to almost immediately pressure her towards having sex with him. The normal teen problems of old friends vs. new friends also rears its head.

But then things take a delightful turn. Colette is a pretty normal teen who happens to have an absolutely enormous Mum with decidedly anti-male leanings. The relationship between mother and daughter is what makes this book a treat. Without it, it would be a very normal read. With it, you can't help but laugh and cry with Colette.

There are some valuable lessons in this book, but it isn't written in a preachy way at all. I won't let you in on whether Colette and Art take the plunge. You'll have to find out for yourself.

The British-isms in the book may leave some American teens confused, but a handy glossary in the back clears up any confusion that words like "gobsmacked" and "ponso" might leave you with.