Book Review: Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance by Danielle Younge-Ullman

Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance
Author:  Danielle Younge-Ullman
Publisher:   Entangled: Teen, 304 pages
Publication Date:  May 5, 2015
*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
Lola Carlyle is lonely, out of sorts, and in for a boring summer. So when her best friend, Sydney, calls to rave about her stay at a posh Malibu rehab and reveals that the love of Lola’s life, Wade Miller, is being admitted, she knows what she has to do. Never mind that her worst addiction is decaf cappuccino; Lola is going to rehab.

Lola arrives at Sunrise Rehab intent solely on finding Wade, saving him from himself, and—naturally—making him fall in love with her…only to discover she’s actually expected to be an addict. And get treatment. And talk about her issues with her parents, and with herself. Plus she has insane roommates, and an irritatingly attractive mentor, Adam, who’s determined to thwart her at every turn.

Oh, and Sydney? She’s gone.

Turns out, once her pride, her defenses, and her best friend are stripped away, Lola realizes she’s actually got a lot to overcome…if she can open her heart long enough to let it happen.

Review:

This book was so much fun.  Lola is hilarious and I found myself laughing quite a bit.  She's witty, sarcastic, and says a lot of the things you wish you could say.  Basically, she's a brat (at least in the beginning).  

Although it's mostly light and fluffy, the book does have some serious moments. Even though Lola lied to get into rehab, she definitely has issues.  She's the child of famous Hollywood parents (her mom is an actor and her dad a director) and they are a piece of work.  Lola has a pretty sad, messed up life and she uses humor as a defense mechanism.  For example, her mom doesn't want her to wear a particular pair of sunglasses because she says they make her look fat.  So Lola buys two pair and calls them her Fat Ass Ray Bans.  

I enjoyed the unique cast of characters in the book.  There are her roommates, Talia and Jade.  One who's a sex and drug addict and the other who doesn't talk but somehow manages to convey how much she hates Lola.  Wade, the nice guy from Ohio who is now a superstar and, as Lola comes to realize, has some major issues that he needs to deal with.  The author does a nice job of balancing humor with empathy when writing about these serious topics.

Now…the romance.  So cute.  Adorable, in fact.  Lola goes to rehab mainly to have time with her long-time crush, Wade, but then she has this irritating counselor/mentor, college student Adam, and…yeah, I'm sure you can guess what happens.  Her relationship with Adam has that slightly older, taboo, student-teacher vibe thing that I can't help but love.  He's such a good guy and he tries to keep things professional, but it's pretty much a losing battle.  I always enjoy those resisting each other type romances.  And this one had so much chemistry between the two!

Lola Carlyle's 12-Step Romance is a fun and entertaining coming-of-age novel with a smart and funny protagonist and a swoony romance…I loved it!

Posted by:  Pam