By Referral Only by Lila Payne Series: Whitman University #2
Published by Self-Published on July 1st 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Format: eARC
Source: ARC
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After being unceremoniously dumped freshman year because of her family’s “new money” status, Ruby Cotton has taken care not to put her heart on the line. No matter how enticing Emilie and Quinn make it look, relationships are scary and hard—while a string of flings is easy and fun. That’s what Ruby wants. Easy and fun. The only problem is, when it comes to satisfaction in the sack, most of the boys at Whitman are nothing but pretty window dressing and false advertising.
Ruby takes it upon herself to make campus life more fulfilling, creating a referral database that allows female students to rate their sexual experiences, thereby informing girls of what they’re getting into before agreeing to a date.
When her acting partner, Liam Greene, finally shows some interest, Ruby figures she won’t need to utilize the helpful gossip. He’s handsome, fun, and most importantly, not a guy she’d ever fall for hard enough to let him break her heart.
Not only that, but dating Liam gives Ruby the perfect excuse to say no to Cole Stuart.
As a star swimmer and heir to honest-to-God Scottish royalty, Cole sits at the top of Whitman’s A-list—but he’s also the lowest rated referral on Ruby’s website. The ratings make rejecting his repeated requests for a date a no-brainer, but her real reason for avoiding Cole runs deeper than a string of unsatisfied exes.
He’s gorgeous, he oozes sweetness and charm, and the electricity between them could power half of Whitman, but Ruby knows it will only last until his family or friends convince him she’s not good enough.
Before she knows it she’s falling anyway, waiting for the other shoe to drop but clinging to a tentative hope that Cole might be as different as he seems. When the secret behind his low ratings comes to light, that hope is torn apart, and Ruby wonders if she was right to give him her heart…and whether she has the strength to let him keep it.
Liezel’s Thoughts:
For me, this one was a little hard to get into. But as soon as it hits the first milestone it was smooth sailing from there.
Normally I’m pretty good with story prediction but this one just kept me stupped, I couldn’t figure out why Cole’s ratings were low either. He seemed like an all around nice guy but why did he always leave them hanging. Come to find out he just needed to right woman to change his celibacy status.
I enjoyed that for once the heroine was the aggressor in this story. Ruby was never afraid to take control of the situation and she was always straight forward and frank. She never held back especially verbally and I loved the “oops” moment with the parents. Embarrassing yes, but that whole scene just made her that more real . I most especially loved Cole’s character. Swoon worthy! His family was the greatest too. Very supportive and open-minded for a family that was traditional.
Even though it took these two to get past the secrets and insecurities I thought it was an easy and good NA read. I loved how convincing and unpredictable it was. Looking forward to reading more in the series.
The Verdict:
My Casting Picks:
My first thought when I read that Cole was a swimmer… I thought of Ryan. I know he doesn’t have blond hair but that bod… jeez! Can you imagine this guy in a kilt? For Ruby I wanted someone who looked like the woman on the cover. Someone beautiful, with blond hair and blue eyes and found Helena Mattson.
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Beverly
I loved the first one