Diana Dixon has a lot going on this summer. She’s rehearsing for a ballroom dance competition, juggling two jobs, and dealing with an ex-boyfriend who can’t take the hint it’s over. Yet despite all that, she still has plenty of time and energy to tell Shane Lindley to screw off.

Shane just moved into her apartment building and seems dedicated to sleeping his way through her entire cheerleading squad. Sure, he’s a tall, gorgeous hockey player, but he’s messing with her turf. This calls for some ground rules: no parties in her apartment, leave her teammates alone, and—most importantly—leave her alone.

What Diana doesn’t realize is that Shane’s sick of hookups and tired of being on the rebound after his long-term girlfriend called it quits. He wants a relationship. And when his ex comes back into the picture, he pretends he has one to make her jealous…and who better to play the girlfriend role than his sassy new neighbor?

Despite Diana’s reluctance to break her rule, a fake relationship is the perfect solution for her own ex issues, and soon she can’t deny something is sizzling between her and Shane. Something hot and completely unexpected.

And it might just be getting a little too real.

Content Warning: stalking, physical abuse, death of a parent, grief

This is book two in the Campus Diaries series and I think I like this one more than the first one minus the kinky sex scene which works for some people but for me was an ick.

I like Diana Dixon a lot and I liked her when she was in the first book also. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, she’s independent, hard working, sassy with the guys and a good friend. As for Shane, he’s one of the hockey guys but I like how he’s a girlfriend kinda guy. He’s been trying to get over his ex and has a bad reputation for hooking up with the cheer team, which Diana’s is on. He misses being in a relationship which is opposite of his friends who are so big into hooking up constantly.

The two of them together with their different personalities really appealed to me. There was fun banter between them and lots of chemistry. I thought their interactions with one another at their apartment complex was so funny especially with the HOA meetings and their little community! As for the spice – there is some kink in this book and I’m not judging but that was a scene I could have done without. They are definitely a friend group that is not shy with each other but it’s a no for me! I wanted to close my eyes lol…and I don’t usually feel like that when reading a book.

The conflict comes with both their exes. Diana is dealing with Percy who is becoming a stalker. Her story takes a darker turn with Percy being physical and I didn’t expect that at all. Whereas Shane deals with his ex coming back into his life and wondering how he feels about her. There’s a dark turn to his story also when it comes to his family, which was also unexpected.

I like the Campus Diaries stories so far but I feel like there is a common theme with them. Despite their cartoonish book cover designs that make you think it will be a spicy new adult romance – they actually have some heavy themes and usually it’s thrown in at the end of the book. I don’t know if I like that format, because I feel like things get rushed at the end. Also, the two books I’ve read are 500+ pages long and I don’t think it needs to be. But at least this one was a quicker read because I love Diana and Shane and there was less hockey in this one compared to the first book.

My Final Thoughts:

I liked this one better than The Graham Effect except for that one scene that I wish I could have closed my eyes on lol. For the readers who like kinky sex, you’ll love this one. I usually like angst between two people but Diana and Shane didn’t need it. I love how they are enemies or maybe more frenenemies turned into lovers. Their romance progression was fun and they were both funny together. Like I really believe they are the most solid couple after everything they went through together and know they’ll be together forever. I just wish the books weren’t so long and things get thrown in at the end making some things feel rushed. I’m afraid to read Beckett or Will’s book because it’s definitely going to be kinkier and I can’t with the friends watching one another having sex.😅 So we will see if I read the next book in the series, depends who it will be about!

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