REVIEW: What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

5 Stars

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! (As Bastian would say ^_^) WHAT A BOY WANTS was just what I wanted right now!

Thanks again to Karla for recommending this to me! Karla, sweetie, you can recommend YA reads to me ANY TIME, from now on! ^_^


WHAT A BOY WANTS is such a fun, cute, sweet, heart-warming, charming and highly enjoyable YA Romance, by self-published author Nyrae Dawn, about a boy who may be an expert at hook-ups but is brought to his knees when he actually falls in love. I really enjoyed being in Sebastian’s head through his realisations about love and whether it was worth it, and his growth throughout the story.

I’ve read YA Romances with alternating Boy-Girl POVs (point-of-views), like Simone Elkeles’ Perfect Chemistry series which I just love, but this is the first I’ve read which is fully from the Boy’s POV. I really enjoyed Sebastian’s voice - his inner monologues and reasoning processes were funny, thoughtful and insightful.

Sebastian Hawkins is a cocky, funny, sweet, protective, noble and loyal 17-year old boy.

“Feel free to tell me how sexy I am any time though. A guy can never hear it enough – ouch! You pinched me.“

Sebastian is the only child in a single parent family (mother). He considers himself an expert on “hooking-up” and has made a small business of providing advice services as a “Hook-Up Doctor”, giving advice on how to win someone over.

While Sebastian may know a lot about hook-ups, he is completely uneducated in romantic love. Having seen his mother fall in love many times and having gone through several failed relationships, he doesn’t really believe in love and long-term relationships. Plus, he doesn’t want to hurt, or be hurt, the way his mother has, not liking having seen her shed so many tears over the years. For this reason, Sebastian is up-front with girls he hooks up with and is careful not to lead girls on.

Sebastian’s beliefs are shaken to the core when he finds himself reacting “abnormally” to a girl he never expected to feel that way over.

“I’m cool,” I said, trying to play it off when really I was anything but cool right now. She shouldn’t look so hot at this moment, but she did. Is this what love was? Thinking a girl looked beautiful in her pajamas and glasses?”
…
“And, holy shit, did I want to touch her. I wanted to trace the strap of her shirt over her shoulder and down her back. Her skin looked so smooth, so creamy that I almost needed to touch it to make sure it was real. I wanted my tongue in that hollow spot at the base of her throat, and for the first time, I wondered what she tasted like.”

I loved seeing cocky Sebastian squirm and work through what love is, whether he was in fact in love, and once he decided he was, how he was going to handle it, because he felt completely out of his depth.

‘I’d never been in love before. How did I know for sure? It could have been lack of female attention, rebellion, or, I don’t know, delirium or something. Stranger things had happened. Jumping to the conclusion it was love, was just a…what’s it called? Hypothesis? My science teacher would be so proud.’

Sebastian’s beliefs that he knew all about girls were certainly tested. I felt for him through all the mistakes he made as he attempted to navigate his way in the uncharted territory of love, and my heart ached for him and the girl he loved when they inadvertently hurt each other. I was delighted when he made it all right.

“You have such a big heart, Sebastian Dale Hawkins.”
“Shh, don’t tell anyone that either.”
“Your secrets are safe with me.”
I buried my face in her hair, to hide from the seriously mushy words that were about to come out of my mouth. “And your heart is safe with me.”

I admit it: I have a “book crush/love” on Bastian. I think he is “book boyfriend” worthy. ^_^

I loved Sebastian’s relationship with his mother, and how protective he was over her, and how he turned to her when he was so confused.

Sebastians group of friends – Jaden, Pris and Aspen – were something awesome and the friendships they had are ones I believe will be life-long ones. I really loved the dynamics within their little group and they played such a huge part in this story.

I also loved the character of Crystal and would love to see her get a HEA.

I’m SO excited to see that Jaden is getting a story – WHAT A BOY NEEDS! Because, as I read this, I thought there was a wonderful and potentially heart-aching story there to be told. Oh, Jaden...

What wonderful timing for me to have just finished reading this and then to see on Nyrae Dawn’s Blog that the cover for Jaden’s book is about to be released along with a teaser this Sunday, 6 May 2012!

Check it out here:

http://www.nyraedawn.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/covers-and-exerpts-and-blog-posts-oh-my.html

My Sebastian (Tyler Blackburn) and the girl he loves (Ashley Benson)

Yes, I have been influenced by Pretty Little Liars. LOL The Sebastian on the cover reminded me of Tyler, especially his eyes, and well, I think he and Ashley are so cute together. ^_^ But picture her with slightly darker hair, as I remember she was described as having "honey" hair and for some reason I thought it was more honey-blonde rather than honey-brown. Oopsies! ^_^

Source: Teen Vogue

Source: Pretty Little Liars stills