Heat Of The Moment by Lauren Barnholdt | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

In the first book of Lauren Barnholdt's captivating The Moment of Truth series, Lyla discovers that trusting her head might be easy but trusting her heart is a whole other matter.
Lyla McAfee had all but forgotten the email that she wrote to herself freshman year and scheduled to be delivered right before graduation—the one promising that she'd learn to trust by the end of senior year. But when she receives it the first morning of her senior trip to Florida, her life is sent into a tailspin. Soon she's questioning her seemingly perfect relationship with her boyfriend, Derrick, her attraction to the school player, Beckett, and whether ending her friendship with Aven and Quinn, her former BFFs, was one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
Each book in this trilogy is told from the perspective of a different girl—Lyla, Aven, and Quinn—former best friends who, back in freshman year, wrote emails to their future selves about the one thing they hope to accomplish before they graduate. Over the course of the series, each girl will learn about life, love, and the truth about the fight that ended their perfect friendship.

Lauren Barnholdt’s Heat Of The Moment is the first of Barnholdt’s Moment Of Truth trilogy. It is also the first Barnholdt book I’ve ever read. I feel like throughout my years of blogging I’ve come across Barnholdt’s books, being a fan of contemporary YA. However, I’ve just never picked one up — I’ve wanted to. It just wasn’t super high up on the priority list. Well, I am glad I get to add this to my list of authors read. I can certainly see the appeal, though, and exactly who the audience is for this book (hint: not me).

Heat Of The Moment is about Lyla, a senior who is about to embark on her class trip to Florida. Lyla receives an email from herself that she wrote as a freshman. Her email states that before graduation she will learn to trust. And so, this book is all about Lyla learning to trust herself and others. It starts with her being late to her class trip — the bus has left without her. However, there’s another student who has also arrived late – Beckett.

Lyla places trust in him and together they make it to the airport and pretend to have been on the bus. FYI, Lyla also has to decide if she’s ready to lose her virginity to her boyfriend of two years, Derrick, while on the trip. She also happens to be rooming with two girls that she had a falling out with – Quinn and Aven. They haven’t spoken in years after having a huge fight. So, she’s got a whole lot of navigating and trusting to learn to do.

So, the great thing about Heat Of The Moment is that it definitely feels authentic in voice and has a clear audience. Lyla’s voice can be kind of grating in that I am at a totally different stage in life and she’s a teenager. She is insecure at times, engages in second guessing and catastrophizing. There are moments when a little bit of communication would be beneficial. However, I can recognize that when I was a teen, I was somewhat similar. While the voice wasn’t entirely for me, I can recognize that it should go over well with the actual YA audience – young adults themselves. Also — this book is a wicked fast read and the senior trip aspect was quite fun.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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