TRUST FALL by Lynn Painter out Sept. 29 and RED FLAGS by Sophie Jo out on January 5, 2027

 Wow, these kids have some really trust issues! 

We will begin with Julia and Damion from TRUST FALL. He is a son of privilege at a fancy school in Manhattan. She is a Nebraska girl just off a bad breakup. Her family is left a fortune with the caveat that they must live in NYC and she must attend the fancy school where Damion is a student. Damion is the nephew of the person who left the money to Julia's family and he is pissed! He and his awful parents decide to bring the midwesterners down. 

There is unlikely romance, bullying, misunderstandings and a bunch of other stuff that is expected in a book of this kind which makes it feel a little rote. But it's also Lynn Painter so it is sweetly romantic and a good deal of fun. I enjoyed the reading of it, but it isn't going to stick with me.

Now in RED FLAGS, Poppy has a perfect man in mind and won't settle for less. Cam is unwilling to commit. When their friends bet them (unbeknownst to each other) that they can't be the one who sticks it out in a relationship just as they begin a relationship, it's pretty awesome. Poppy has to stay with a guy for two months without bailing. Cam is not allowed to blink first, but he is really confused when Poppy sticks around in spite of the fact that his douchy friend (who is dating a friend of Poppy) has given him the perfect man list and he is doing the exact opposite to try to get her to walk away. Confused yet?

I loved these two kids, and their friends (except the horrible Ciaran) are delightful and so, so funny! Yes, you know exactly how Ciaran is going to fuck this up and you probably have a pretty good idea that it is all going to work out, but the ride, familiar though it may be, is a good bit of fun. 

What really hit me about both of these books is how hard it is for kids to have parents who are unreliable. I always try to assume good intentions, but damn, these are some selfish-ass parents, and yet their children still want to make connections, damaged as they may be. Painter and Jo both do a deft job of making the kids, well, actually in both cases, the boys, damaged, but also longing for love and not trusting that it is real until they meet a girl who exudes the love that was clearly lavished upon them in their perfectly normal childhoods. I don't really know what to make of it, but I definitely enjoyed reading about it.