Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett, is the second book over her Confessions series.  This series is focused on Rose Zarelli.  We first met Rose as a freshman in high school.  Her father, an engineer, had died in Afghanistan prior to her first year of high school.  Rose is angry, sad, and just too focused on the death of her father.  In school she meets Jamie Forta, a trouble maker who likes to get into fights, and who all the girls want.  Jamie is an old friend of her brother Peter, who asked him to watch over Rose in school since she was having such a bad time with the death of her father.   What ends up happening is a lot of stolen kisses, fights with Regina (Jamie’s on/off girlfriend), and eventually prom being cut short for Rose because Jamie gets arrested.  What this book focuses on is Rose’s second year in high school and dealing with her feelings for Jamie, along with everyone else in her life, including the death of her father.

Rose has grown up a little and I love her for it.  I mean she does the regular teenage things that make readers roll their eyes but she is a very intuitive person who knows what she is doing (good or bad).  It is hard to hate someone who thinks logically (even if that ruins some outcomes for her).  She’s done being pushed around, figuratively, by Jaime, she will not take down her memorial website of her father for her mother’s sake, and she’s done dealing with Regina.  This year is a brand new, new start for Rose… until she goes to a beginning of the year pool party at her friend’s ex-boyfriend’s house.  Rose was going to be out of sight/out of mind this year, until the swim thugs (swim team) decide to haze their newbies and one of the newbies is Conrad, Regina’s brother.  Because of his sexual orientation the swim team goes hard on him and since Regina or no one else wants to save the poor boy from drowning, Rose kind of falls into the role and also the pool.  In enters Jaime.  After not seeing him since he got arrested, Rose gets saved by Jaime and then he bails. 

Jaime… Jaime… Jaime.  Yes, I love Jaime, but boy does that boy need work.  He is hot and cold, noble but a jerk and he just can’t seem to do the right thing at the right time, but boy does he try.  Still with the hero complex, he has decided to be a hero for Regina (did I mention he went to jail… and did I mention it was because Regina sent him there?) and Conrad.  This creates so many complications for Rose and him that even though he pulls her to him he is pushing her away as well.  If I was Rose I probably would tell him off, and as a 15 year old she is doing a mighty good job of growing some guts when it comes to him.  She realizes that if Jaime cannot put the effort in to whatever it is that they have, then that is his loss.

That is what I loved about this book.  Rose grows up so quickly at the end.  She figures thing out about herself and in the process she learns new things about her brother, mother, and best friend Tracy.  Granted this is done without some serious push backs from Rose, but that is the beauty of growing up.  I also don’t think she is that angry.  She’s a teenager, and she is person.  Everyone is always telling her what she needs to feel or do and frankly that would make me cranky.  I cannot wait for the next book, I want to hear her tell Jaime off some more, it does create great tension (admit it Jaime lovers). 

4/5 stars!  Thanks NetGalley!