“Ever since junior high and an ill-fated game of seven minutes in heaven, Rikki Eisendrath and Sam Payne have hated each others’ guts. But when they end up at the same college—and the same dorm—they figure it’s time to declare a truce.
They even become friends . . . sort of. But when Sam asks Rikki to model for his sculpting project, they start spending more time together—and her feelings for him get more complicated.
She tries to focus on the guy she’s been crushing on instead. But Sam’s the one she can’t stop thinking about, even though their arguments are starting to heat up as much as the chemistry between them.
With antagonism and attraction this intense, there’s bound to be an explosion. But when the dust settles, will Sam and Rikki be enemies, friends . . . or something more?”
I was provided with an eArc from the author through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the contemporary and YA/New Adult genre, sprinkle it with a lot of romance and you definitely have my attention. That’s what first drew me to Rikki and I have to say I was not disappointed.
The novel is very fast paced, especially in the beginning it almost felt rushed. However, as soon as I settled in a bit, I really enjoyed it. While the plot – rivals falling for each other – may not be the most original one, it is well executed and features great characters that you care about. I thought that I would be frustrated with them not realizing that they have feelings for each other sooner, but I liked watching their fights and the development of their relationship. I could identify with Rikki so much, by the end of the book I was questioning some of my life choices because they were so similar to hers.
Another thing I really liked was the no-judgment vibe and the diversity of the novel. I think that it had some great messages concerning being open and responsible when it comes to sexuality.
There were a couple of things that I didn’t enjoy as much though. Being pretty impulsive and getting angry very easily can be a tad of an annoying trait, but I understood it because that behaviour is still sort of justifiable at 18. Yet, denying that you are jealous and obviously feel physical attraction towards someone is just silly. Also, Sam did something before they went to Hart University that just weirded me out. I don’t want to give it away here, but people who have read the book probably know what I mean. I am still surprised as to how casual Rikki reacted to it in comparison to his mistake towards the end, which wasn’t cool either, but I get why it happened – not so much the other thing though.
In the end, Rikki was a really fast, cute yet also very sexy read. It’s the first part of the Hart University books and I would gladly take up the next one to see where it is going. Maybe it will feature some of the side characters, since they didn’t get much spotlight this time around.
Fazit: 3.7/5 stars! If you enjoy New Adult Romance, you should definitely take a look!
Let’s all forget what Sam did before (and also in the end) and what Rikki did after finding out what he did 😛 . I just hope that these weird things don’t happen in the next book.
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LOL! Very well put!
I don’t think that stuff like that won’t happen at all in the next books though …
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I hope not… Sam looked like a creep for a few moments and I don’t want to go through that again 😛
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He totally did! It weirded me out so much because otherwise he seemed like a really good guy – caring for his family, gentlemanly around girls and all that stuff. I think I just really ignored those parts sometimes.
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Me too. Like I said, let’s all forget about that because these where the only things that I didn’t like about this book
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Same here! I am with you!
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What Sam did was really creepy. I agree that it’s weird that she acted kinda tamed about it. I would have confronted him myself right that instant if I was her. XD
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I think I may have bolted and avoided him for as long as possible because I would have been so freaked out … avoidance is more my tactic in situations like that. Not that that ever happened to me!! LOL
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OMG. I’d probably act that way too if Sam was a stranger to me or an old creepy looking man!
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Right? Because that’s the natural way to feel – not flattered xD
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True! I don’t usually say this but I was really wondering what the author was thinking.
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you were so fast reading it!
what he did weird me out as well, but I kind of understand her reaction – not her “I’m angry and I want to turn you on” reaction, but the fact that she kind of felt special somehow… it’s all very weird.
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But it’s so short, I think I could’ve read it faster if I didn’t have to read it on my computer.
I guess I can somewhat understand that she felt special, but I would have still freaked LOL
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yep, that should have been her first clue… she wasn’t freaked out because she liked him too…
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There were so many clues … it’s a little infuriating when people just don’t get it. But somehow I didn’t mind it as much in this book as in others. They played off each other really well.
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they did. and it was so fast paced. and they weren’t pinning. like, he liked her, but he kept going with his life. she was a bit slower to realize
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Exactly, it was refreshing to see that, yes, he liked her, but he could’ve gotten over it eventually. She just really didn’t want to think it was true hahaha
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😀 yeah, silly her!
so, what’s next in the agenda? I’m getting through a lot of ARCs these past days
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I should finally read Frankenstein I suppose … I kinda don’t want to though, so I am looking at arcs I want to request. I just asked for Rikki so far hahaha.
You’re currently reading the one with a song in the title, right?
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I’m done with that one already, it’s weirdly good
now i’m with another
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What’s the title?
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The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss
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Okay, that doesn’t ring a bell. Is it good?
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So far… I’m at 5%. The girl is a gamer
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I tagged you in the Be Thankful Challenge!
http://itistrish.com/2015/10/17/the-be-thankful-challenge/
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Wow! Thank you for tagging me! I’ll get to it as soon as possible 😀
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[…] Rikki by Abigail Strom A cute story about rivals falling in love with each other. If it weren’t for a certain creepy thing one of the MC’s does, it would have been truly great. […]
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[…] I read this book last year and it was my first NetGalley approved eArc. I was super excited about it and really enjoyed it too. It was also my first venture into the whole NA genre, which I don’t dislike but haven’t explored much further. You can check out my review here. […]
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