Irresistible by Liz Bankes

Irresistible is a novel that explores the draws girls have for the “bad boy.” Mia is fortunate to get a waitressing job at the Radleigh Castle Restaurant during the summer. There she meets Dan, a co-worker whom she immediately hits it off with. However, she also meets Jaime, the attractive son of the owner of the estate. While Dan is a sweet, down-to-earth guy, Jaime is the “bad boy” who doesn’t shy away from ruining people’s reputations. When Jaime and his girlfriend Cleo meets Mia, they draws her into their world of questionable relationship statuses, late night swims, and parties in the pool house, all of which escalates when Cleo goes away on vacation. Mia is torn between the perfect guy Dan and the intriguing Jaime who is simply bored with nothing better to do with his time. Mia is unprepared for what happens when this double life is horribly exposed, risking everything she’s gained, including her friends.

While I understand the appeal of the “bad boy,” Jaime just seemed like a jerk. Near the end of the book, it says that he became a better person when he was around Mia, but I wish that was more prominent in the novel because he just seemed like a mean person. He seemed to show no remorse for toying with others. Aside from him being attractive and the allure of a rich guy, I didn’t understand what Mia’s draw was to him. Her constant association with him even turned her into a person with no regard for her family or friends. Come the end of the novel, while it is left open ended, Mia seems to end up getting her act in gear and realizing what she was risking with this relationship, but I simply didn’t understand the draw to Jaime. I always thought that with a romance the reader would want the characters together - to have some sort of reader appeal with the “hero,” but I didn’t get that with this novel.

This novel is for older teens looking for a more complex/sophisticated relationship or “romance.” While I am all for romances, this one missed the mark for me.

MMK