Review: Wesley James Ruined My Life - Jennifer Honeybourn

Wesley James Ruined My Life
Jennifer Honeybourn
Series: n/a
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Quinn Hardwick’s having a rough summer. Her beloved grandmother has been put into a home, her dad’s gambling addiction has flared back up and now her worst enemy is back in town: Wesley James, former childhood friend—until he ruined her life, that is.

So when Wesley is hired to work with her at Tudor Tymes, a medieval England themed restaurant, the last thing Quinn’s going to do is forgive and forget. She’s determined to remove him from her life and even the score all at once—by getting him fired.

But getting rid of Wesley isn’t as easy as she’d hoped. When Quinn finds herself falling for him, she has to decide what she wants more: to get even, or to just get over it.

Once upon a time, Wesley and Quinn were super close friends, but right before his family moved away, Wesley put a set of events in motion that ruined Quinn's life. Fast forward five years, and Quinn's life is sort of like this:

This girl was dealing with a lot of heavy things, but she had one thing she was looking forward to: the band trip to London. She grew up with her beloved grandmother telling her stories about her life back in England, and Quinn could not wait to journey there and see those places and things in real life. She was working at Tudor Times in order to earn the money for her trip, and all is going swimmingly, until Wesley James moved back to town.

This was the type of fun and easy contemporary romance that I generally gravitate towards, and I really enjoyed this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story. I am a fan of a would-be couple with history, and these two had a lot. We got small glimpses into their past together as children, and there were some very sweet moments that they shared.

At times, I thought Quinn should build a bridge and get over it. She was really hard on Wesley, and even tougher on him as she tried to deny the attraction and attachment. However, I empathized with her because of all the drama and stress that was in her life. I also really shared that grandma connection with her. I had an Oma, who told me stories of her life back in Germany, and it was very painful when the dementia set in, and the grandmother who I adored and referred to me as her "little stinker" disappeared. So, that really hit home with me, and I may have shed a tear or two during the grandmother parts.

I am glad to say that there were plenty of sweet and fun bits to keep me from getting too sad. And there was Wesley. He was such a prince charming and all around good guy. He kept working at rekindling his friendship with Quinn, and I believe he really missed her. I totally would have loved to have had a friend or boyfriend like Wesley. There were a few really swoony scenes (wish there were more) that I thought were magnificent and totally awwww-worthy.

The real fun was found at Tudor Times. The place was filled with a bunch of quirky and rather wacky characters, and I found myself looking forward to going to work. I also thought many of Quinn's inner monologues were amusing, especially when she was trying to battle her burgeoning feelings for Wesley.

 I have been reading a bunch of reviews, and some take issue with the "conflict" that turned Wesley from friend to foe, but keep in mind, Quinn was 11 when this all went down. I could see an 11 year needing something or someone to blame for what happened, and this made sense in her 11 year old mind. I could also understand her holding onto that scapegoat, because life was hitting her from all sides.

I am all about endings, and Honeybourn did right by me. There were a lot of loose ends tied up in the final chapter, and the epilogue was so sweet, my face sort of hurt from the huge, stupid grin I was wearing.

Overall: A fun and amusing tale of hate to love, with an ending that I found picture perfect.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

In this book, both Quinn and Wesley work at a theme restaurant called Tudor Times. I actually love these kinds of places, though I have not been to many. I once ate at one when I visited Ireland (in a castle no less).

Do you like theme restaurants?

Let us know in the comments!