Oh Alley!!!! Thank god my love for you supersedes any negative thoughts I may feel for the emotional roller coaster I just went through reading this amazing book! The angst, the banter, the mystery and the love gave me ALL the feels and I seriously may not be well mentally until I can read the next one... Mase is the best book boyfriend EVER and Kay is my spirit animal, I swear I was reading about my college self in these pages. Is it time for U of J 2 yet???

Whoo Hoo! What a great book to start a new series. This story is one of epic proportions with all of the feels! Grabbed me from page one and hooked me until the most unreal ending. I have to say it was totally unexpected! Cannot wait for book 2!!!

I’d like to thank Wildfire marketing solutions for sending me an e-arc of this book it is very much appreciated so this is not the first book I’ve read of Alley’s I read her BTU Alumni series and I loved it. So I was very excited when it was announced Alley was bringing out another series and I am here for it.

I really liked Kayla she was really sassy and was great at giving out comebacks and they were always hilarious on point. I really liked how much she appreciated her family especially when we learn more about her loosing her dad and then her brother willing to give up everything for her. Kayla is very closed off and keeps only a small friend group around her and she doesn’t trust people easily. She keeps a secret throughout the whole book and honestly I had to laugh when it was revealed because she wasn’t the one who revealed.

Mason Casanova the ladies man, honestly the moment we met him I was like he’s going to be a dick. I was right, for the first few chapter and then he saw Kayla and it was like an instant change when he begins to talk to her, he’s still cocky and charming but we see him turn a little bit more caring and before we know it he just wants to be around her all the time and many times in his internal thoughts calls himself pussy whipped which is funny.

I love this couple, the connection they had and how much they supported each other, I really liked the nicknames they had for it each other with Kayla being Skittles and Mason being called Mase. I like the connection and chemistry between these characters and I loved how their relationship grew. Mason definitely grew on Kayla and I really liked how they went from friends to lovers.

I love the supporting characters in this book and they are so funny and I love these characters the relationship they all have with each other and how close they are.

So be prepared when you go into this book we are left with a cliffhanger and I was very annoyed about that like why so I have to wait so long? But I still love the book depsite the cliffhanger I mean I sort of knew it was comind due to the fact that Alley had announced the first three books in the new series was going to be about Mason and Kayla so I know I’m going to get more heartbreak. Certianly this book broke my heart by the end of it, but I can’t wait to see what Alley does next! Only got to wait until October!

OK, so where to start with this book? I unfortunately I feel like I have wasted my time reading this book. This book is literally all fluff, I figured we would get to the end and at least somewhat know what we were being led up to, but no, I endured six hours of reading so that I could have nothing! Nothing at all, I have no interest in reading the second book because I’m so pissed off at the first one. The first one literally had nothing in it, you would think that the author would have at least not ended on a cliffhanger after we literally have no answers. If you do plan to pick this book up I would honestly just skip to the second one, because then HOPEFULLY you’ll have some answers.


Things I didn’t like in the book...
-That the author decided to call everyone by letters instead of a name. I understand that she was trying to give the main female lead more character but it was so confusing trying to figure out who everyone was because then it would be a name. It seems as though unless your considered to be the females good friend you don’t get a letter you get a name. It was just really hard to follow. Especially at the beginning when your still trying to learn what’s going on.
-When there is texting conversations and then thought babble in between but it’s not separated so your forced to figure out what was in the message and what wasn’t. And yet there’s 5 spaces between each text. It was annoying to say the least.

DNF

I so wanted to give this book 5 stars and overall is what cute but I was confused most of the time between all the characters and who was who

A new adult, college-sports romance that is full of great banter and just enough drama to keep you turning pages right up until the cliffhanger. GAH!!

Both Mason "Casanova" Nova and Kay "PF" Dennings bring previous heartache to this relationship, but Kay brings a shroud of mystery along with hers on top of it.  Be warned this entire story will be told over three books, so if you detest cliffhangers and want to wait for the entire series to be released, Alley isn't waiting long in between each one.

Alley Ciz is a new author for me and while I absolutely loved the inner monologues and thoughts of each character (seriously the best and they always cracked me up) and I loved the camaraderie between Mason's teammates and Kay's family and friends. I did struggle with the nicknames that Kay gave everyone close to her. This is really my own personal issue, but when her friends names were shortened to just letters I lost the personal connection (E, G, T, Q...and so on) my brain just seemed to stumble and short circuit every time and I tried so hard to remember who she was talking to or about.

Anyway, I did find refreshing, that the man nicked named "Casanova" wasn't quite the douche that his moniker made him out to be. Mason is actually kind of sweet, yes, he has caveman tendencies, but he is also nice. Their romance developed slower than you would have expected for a football player and cheerleader story (although, once again I love breaking stereotypes). Mason and Kay both have high walls that neither are willing to break, but as they begin to crumble the story really does take off.

They both have trust issues that they need to work on to really make a relationship last, but it could work if they both face their past and just let the other one in.

Both Mason and Kay have great friends that will make excellent additions to this series and anyone who is already familiar with Alley's books will be excited with characters popping in and making appearances.  

I’m could not even get past 20% of the book, the writing style is very 2014 cringe. The initials for nicknames was so hard to keep up with for like 8 separate characters I couldn’t even keep up. I think the story could be good if rewritten but the writing was not good.

Having read all of Alley Ciz’s books I had a pretty good idea I would love this first U of J book, but I was absolutely blown away by how good this book was! I stayed up past 3 am to finish it good!

I knew going in it ended in a major cliffhanger and I’d have to wait at least a month for the next book to find out what happens....I hate books with cliffhangers, but this book is worth the stress and torture of waiting for the next book to release.

Alley Ciz has an amazing talent for writing a cast of characters that you can immerse into their world and make you want to be a part of their crew. Kayla’s family/friends and roommates along with Mason and his friends/teammates and fraternity brothers and family are definitely all unique characters with depth.

The POV switches between Kayla and Mason so you understand both perspectives and get to enjoy some epic text conversations between them and their friends. A few chapters are posts from the U of J’s social media platforms that give a perspective of the gossip going on around campus about Mason and his mystery girl.

I received an ARC from the author an am leaving an honest review. This book has been on my TBR list since it was added to Goodreads and I set an alert to buy it the day it is released. The next month can’t happen quick enough to get the book #2 of U of J!!