Happy New Year and Review: Bending the Rules by Susan Andersen

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year celebration! I'm back from vacation and feeling refreshed; my book slump seems to be over and I'm excited about reading again! I read a few books on my kindle during the drive back and forth to Houston...I LOVE MY KINDLE!!!!

I've fallen a bit behind in reviews so I've got to get back into that - I don't think I did reviews of any of the books I read in December. My resolution at this point is to get back on track as far as reviews, figure out Goodreads and book blogs, and jump into Twitter. I downloaded Tweetdeck at home but then went to bed so I haven't looked at it to see what's what. Not sure if it's a good idea to download it at work as it seems to be addicting and my boss thinks I'm actually here to work, not just collect a paycheck.

Is anyone thinking about going to the Richelle Mead book signing on Jan. 16? I'd love to meet if anyone else will be there.

So, on to the review:





Poppy Calloway had two best friends as a child. They grew up inseperable, although their socioeconomic backgrounds were not the same. Once again, I unknowingly picked up the 2nd book in a series. I liked this book and will be going back for the first book, Cutting Loose. I found out today at Book Binge that Harlequin will not be publishing the 3rd book in the series, and all I can say is, WTF?


Poppy is on the neighborhood business board, and there was some vandalism by young spraypainters (taggers). The board is trying to decide if they want to press charges or not as the offenders are first-timers. The police officer the board invites to the discussion is Jason deSanges, who Poppy can't stand. He assisted them in the first book, and she finds him abrasive and rude. When Poppy wants to have the kids clean the damage and give them a wall to do art on, Jason disagrees. After a vote, it ends up that the kids will clean and have a wall, but Poppy and Jason will supervise to make sure they do a good job and don't get into trouble.


The three taggers are not thrilled but agree in order to escape having a police record. The night before they're supposed to begin, one of the taggers, Cory, witnesses a mob-sanctioned robbery. When she does her tagging, Cory dresses like a boy, so she hopes the mobster will be looking for a boy, not her. Cory's past has lead her to not trust the police, so she does not tell anyone what she witnessed.


Working with the kids is bringing Poppy and Jason closer. He's not as hard-ass as she originally thought and is actually good with the kids. He fights the attraction, as he was a foster-system child and doesn't think he's capable of love and knows Poppy is the kind of woman who deserves to be loved.


The story was interesting, told from Poppy's, Jason's, Corey's, and the mobser's point of view. The interconnecting storylines were good and I liked the characters. I felt like at one point Poppy and Jason moved a bit quickly, but honestly, in this day and age I think that might happen quite a bit in real life too. Her interactions with her two girlfriends was fun too, but the main focus was Poppy and Jason and Poppy and the kids. Normally I find kids in books annoying but these kids were part of the plotline and did not put me off at all.


I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars.