Review – Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, Book 2) by Simone Elkeles (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Release Date: April 13, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0802720856
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Perfect Chemistry series
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Carlos Fuentes doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him in Boulder, Colorado. He wants to keep living on the edge, and carve his own path—just like Alex did. Unfortunately, his ties to a Mexican gang aren’t easy to break, and he soon finds himself being set up by a drug lord.

When Alex arranges for Carlos to live with his former professor and his family to keep him from being sent to jail, Carlos feels completely out of place. He’s even more thrown by his strong feelings for the professor’s daughter, Kiara, who is nothing like the girls he’s usually drawn to. But Carlos and Kiara soon discover that in matters of the heart, the rules of attraction overpower the social differences that conspire to keep them apart.

As the danger grows for Carlos, he’s shocked to discover that it’s this seemingly All-American family who can save him. But is he willing to endanger their safety for a chance at the kind of life he’s never even dreamed possible?”

I read the first book in the Perfect Chemistry and loved it, so I was excited to read this book. So far the books in this series have been incredibly easy to fall into and read. I am instantly sucked into the story and engaged with these characters and their struggles. I always whip through these books very quickly. They are impossible to put down and very entertaining reads.

This book follows Alex’s younger brother, Carlos. Carlos is different from Alex in that he has some major attitude issues. Kiara is also an incredibly different female lead than the first book. They were both completely engaging as characters and I was immediately rooting for them. The have great chemistry together. I also really enjoyed some of the side characters in the story.

In this book Alex also had some struggles of his own that are followed in the background. I liked that this was included. It showed how Alex is growing and changing throughout time.

This book just pulled me right through the story and I enjoyed it a lot. I don’t read a ton of contemporary YA fiction/romance; but this is one of the better contemporary YA fiction/romance series I have read.

Overall this was an excellent continuation of the Perfect Chemistry series. If you are a fan of YA contemporary romance I would highly recommend this series. It is just such an easy read, so engaging, and so well written.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge