When thinking about young romance, your mind will immediately run to butterflies, chocolate, innocent love, but the truth is that teenage love can bring just as much heartbreak as mature passion.
The sadness and angst brought by love deception is, without a doubt, felt the same way regardless of age or gender. Love Me Again novel brings forward the aftermath of such situation, where a seemingly innocent game between teenagers leads to disappointment and deceit.
If you’re interested in knowing how our lead character will atone for his mistakes, keep on reading.
- Part 1: The Events Leading To Arabella’s Heartbreak: Love Me Again Diegesis
- Part 2: When Opposites Attract: The Playboy And The Bookworm In Love Me Again
- Part 3: Love Me Again Novel Review
Part 1: The Events Leading To Arabella’s Heartbreak: Love Me Again Diegesis
Behind nerdy glasses and baggy clothes, Arabella hides her true beauty that could break any boy’s heart. She is focused on her studies as she wants to become a surgeon like her mother and chooses to wear comfortable, yet very unflattering outfits as long as no one bothers her in school.
As she moves into a new town, her gorgeous mother tries to persuade her once again to wear something more appropriate for a teenage girl, maybe even wear her contact lens, but Arabella dismisses her mom, hurrying to get to school.
Reaching her first class, she sees the most handsome boy in school walking to class like he owned the place, while sitting next to an obviously beautiful girl, who immediately wraps her arms around him. The teachers scolds both Ashton and Elle, making them behave for the rest of the class.
Reaching lunch break, Arabella meets Jasmine, a friendly girl, who gives her the scoops of their school. Ashton, of course is the most popular guy in school and every girl along with several boys want him, while the pretty girl hanging to him is Aliyah, the head cheerleader.
Walking to her locker, the girl bumps into someone, dropping her books on the floor. Bending to pick them up, she hears a sweet manly voice telling her to let go of the nerdy glasses, as they don’t suit her at all.
For Ashton, it’s just another boring school day spent together with his friends. To make things more exciting, Xander, Ethan and Lucas propose a bet to Ashton. If he can enamor the new nerdy girl by December and have his way with her at Xander’s birthday party, he wins the boy’s shiny Audi.
Never backing out from a challenge, Ashton readily agrees, but before he makes a move, he wants to observe Arabella. Walking to gym class, the teacher makes his pupils choose teams to play volleyball against each other.
Some of the most popular girls in school want to humiliate the girl, but she proves to be quite an athlete, hitting the ball like a pro. When the class finally ends, Arabella removes her glasses and lets her long hair run free across her waist.
Without her glasses, her stunning green eyes stand out, making every boy in the room gasp. Arabella is indeed a beautiful girl, yet she doesn’t pay attention to her surrounding whatsoever.
Slowly, Ashton approaches her and introduces himself, asking her to go out for a cup of coffee. Although reluctant in the beginning, Arabella agrees and grabs a drink with him, claiming she would never be more than friends with a boy.
Ashton doesn’t lose faith and continues to court Arabella, finding himself drawn towards her more and more as the days go by. He discovers that her genuine feelings towards studying and behaving like a good child are driven by her desire to become a doctor.
When not going to school, Arabella starts wearing more revealing clothes, some even sexy, driving Ashton insane. He takes a step further and asks Ara to be his girlfriend, which she agrees.
Their romance is poorly seen by the elite of the school, with the girls constantly telling Arabella that Ashton will eventually get sick of her and dump her once he gets his way with her.
To protect her boyfriend, Ara never reveals to her father and brothers that she is dating Ashton, as their dads are practically rivals in business. Plus, her overprotective family would never allow her to date anyone. They protected their princess.
Although months pass, Arabella and Ashton never share more than a kiss. It also doesn’t help the fact that the boy’s friends always hover over them, insisting in spending time with the couple.
Xander’s birthday party finally arrives and Arabella tells her parents that she is spending the night at Jasmine’s place. Sure enough, she meets Ashton and the two of them make love for the first time.
Upon descending the stairs of the mansion where the party was taking place, the girl overhears Ashton’s friends and the school elite girls talking about the bet that her boyfriend made to sleep with her on Xander’s birthday.
Disheveled and heartbroken, Arabella walks away without listening to Ashton’s explanations. She goes missing the next day and the two lovers won’t meet again until five years later.
Will Ashton atone for his mistakes? Will Arabella offer him a second chance?
Part 2: When Opposites Attract: The Playboy And The Bookworm In Love Me Again
Ashton and Arabella’s characters can be defined by very different characteristics, as the boy is seemingly naughty, reckless and impulsive, while the girl is demure, reticent and obedient.
The protagonists from Love Me Again have no true rival, no real outside interference in their relationship, yet they manage pretty well to damage their bond right when things were starting to go well.
Arabella
Although described as cautious, she takes a leap of faith and engages in a relationship with the one person she initially believed to be out of her league.
And I’m not talking about fortune here, as her family is just as rich as Ashton’s, I’m referring to the fact that he looks hot, while she dresses and acts like a plain girl.
Arabella has been spoiled and protected by her family her entire life. For everyone, she’s a little princess, a damsel in distress even though there’s no one threating her integrity whatsoever. She enjoys their protection, yet she isn’t able to take Ashton’s side and save him from their wrath when the time comes.
One thing I admired about her character is the fact that she managed to turn the tables with Ashton’s friends. In the beginning, they looked down upon her, but gradually, as she showed her true beauty and skills, they started admiring the girl and understanding her way of life.
As a normal teenage girl, living in her own love bubble, she trusted Ashton, just like any gullible girl, never seeing through his lies. Only after giving in to passion and overhearing her colleagues from school mocking the bet did she understand her mistakes.
It seems that her escape from the city did her well, as she managed to forgive her first and only boyfriend, while focusing on her career as a doctor.
Ashton
When it comes to Ashton, he is the kind of teenager who has it all. He owns a nice car, expensive clothing, girls want to be with him, while boys want to be his friends.
Having everything served on platter, Ashton actually realizes just how boring his life is, and he is in dire need of a challenge. That’s why, when his friends propose the bet, he agrees immediately.
After all, he is tired of the girls hovering over him at school. Those are way too easy for him. He just needs to say the word and they are his.
With Arabella, things aren’t as simple. She seems uninterested in boys, so he will need the right strategy to approach her and make her believe his lies. What he doesn’t know yet is the fact that his little game will eventually backfire.
In his quest to conquer Arabella’s heart, Ashton will actually be romantic, genuine, affectionate even and her response to his actions will slowly win his heart as well.
This is why, when the truth about the bet will come out, he will also be hurt beyond words. He will have already changed his mind about the bet he made with his friends and even tried to drop it, to no avail though.
Part 3: Love Me Again Novel Review
If we’re talking about teenage romance, Love Me Again gathers all the necessary ingredients for a successful story.
There’s the sexy jock, the beautiful nerd bullied by the meanest girls, the elite group of the school who always walk in ‘herds’ and look down on other students and the playful, yet reckless boys who keep seeking for trouble.
Other additions that complete the story regard Arabella’s caring family members, always hovering over her like hawks and protecting her, Ashton’s not-so-openly affectionate parents, who love their son, yet consider business more important.
Arabella is looking for freedom, while Ashton is in dire need of a warm, welcoming family, making the two characters perfect for each other. Overall, it’s a perfect reading choice for your weekend time!
