Review: By Referral Only by Lyla Payne
SYNOPSIS:
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.
REVIEW:
This book was such a redemption to Be My Downfall. I read Broken At Love and fell in love with Lyla Payne than I read Be My Downfall and the story just didn’t do it for me. Honestly, I was really disappointed with it, finally I got around to By Referral Only and I am so glad I didn’t count this book out because it was good, so good.
Ruby stuck with me, I couldn’t get her or Cole out of my head. There were moments when I was yelling into my Kindle for Ruby to get over herself because she was such a drama queen sometimes, I guess with the acting major I should have expected that.
Then there is Cole, good Lord I loved him. Just the image that Lyla painted of him in my head had me fanning myself. He is gorgeous and broken and wonderful and loving and I could go on for days. Basically this was a great read and completely exceeded my expectations.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
Don’t be silly. Everyone knows you can’t wait to fall in love. It happens even if you don’t want it to, like in the Cinderella movie.
