The characters are well-developed and likeable in regard to their roles in the story. I have to emphasize that they’re likeable with regard to their roles because if you’re not prepared for the asshole that Carter is, then you won’t like him at all. In the first few chapters, Zoey is depicted as a mousy pushover who’s being bullied by the wolfpack of football players who believe she’s wronged one of their own, but she quickly turned my opinion around when she stands up to Carter in her own way (I say her own way because a lot of readers are NOT going to appreciate how she empowers herself and will view her as an abused, depraved little girl). Considering the story takes place during their senior year of high school, it’s not entirely realistic to believe that the quarterback holds as much power in the town and school that the author has given Carter. There were times when the story slowed down too much for me, mostly when Zoey was alone with her thoughts about Carter and their future…and that all began just 2 days into their “relationship”, so it got old pretty fast. The head cheerleader bully and the wolf pack football team were typical of high schools today (unfortunately). The story itself ebbed and flowed, sometimes a little too slow and sometimes too fast for my liking, until it reached a pretty great end and an even greater epilogue. The characters certainly all ended up where they belonged, though not always predictably. I really wanted to love this book, but the fact of the matter is, I only liked it. It was quite long and I felt there was too much internal dialogue used as filler between what were some really great scenes. Unfortunately, that’s what kept me from giving it 4 stars. As far as the writing, I definitely will give this author another shot because she’s good, just a little long-winded.