Review: How To Lose at Love by Sara Ney

Title:	How To Lose At Love
Author:	Sara Ney
Series:	Campus Legends (Book 1)
Pages:	397
Category / Genre(s):	Contemporary New Adult
Trope(s):	Enemies to Lovers Fake Relationship
Point of View:	First Person, Present Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h)
Location:	Chicago, Illinois, US
HEA:	✔️
Release Date:	19th January, 2023

Loved, loved, loved it

I have been enjoying Sara Ney’s adult contemporary Accidentally in Love series so I was delighted to hear that we were now being treated to a new adult college romance series, Campus Legends, of which this is the first. I was even more excited when I realised that our hero in this story, Dallas, is the younger brother of Duke, the hero in The Secret Roommate. Duke and Posey do pop up in this story but fleetingly, and you don’t need to read it before enjoying this story.

And if you’re anything like me – you will definitely enjoy this story. If you’ve read Ms Ney’s books before, you’ll know that she has a unique way of telling a story. It’s very fresh, chatty and vibrant as we really get into the heads of our characters and hear every little thing that they’re thinking. Her characters come alive and I just can’t get enough. And I feel that Ms Ney must surely be as snarky as she writes her characters to be as she writes them so well. I am here for all the snark.

Ryann (yes, a girl) and Dallas don’t have the best of first impressions but even when they were snipping and ripping each other, I felt the connection. Even though it was denied by both later in the book, they really did have a connection and I adored that they were themselves with the other from the get go. Come as you are – take me or leave me.

From there, it was a little bit of stripping down each other’s layers – or layers of clothes since the story is set in winter in the midwest – and getting to know each other. Frankly, it was adorable. And they kept up the sarcasm and teasing even after they were friends. Even after they were more. It was their love language, I’ve decided.

“It was sexy, snarky, sweet and had me turning the pages so fast…”

The pair also had chemistry to die for. We all know that when a couple are pretending to date, while also pretending not to actually want to date for real, the sexual tension goes off the charts. Add in an unexpected sleepover, a game of Relationship Truth or Dare and your butterflies will be floating in your stomach for days. Squirmingly delicious.

At the start, I wasn’t sure I would like Ryann as much as I ended up doing. Her relationship with Diego was, well, weird. Not sure what she was thinking, if I’m honest. But she redeemed herself and I liked her a lot. Hugely relatable – especially when she wanted to tell Dallas her feelings and then when she wasn’t sure she could trust him.

Dallas though. Be still my heart. He was a grade A asshole at the start. I mean really. But as we and Ryann got to know him, he became this sweet and adorable man who just wanted someone to see him for himself. His hand-holding, hugging and kissing got me right in the cutesy feels. But he was still enough of an asshole even at the end of the story to keep things interesting.

I hugely enjoyed this book. It was sexy, snarky, sweet and had me turning the pages so fast just so I could read a little bit more each time. I cannot wait to read the stories of Dallas’s twin brothers, coming next in this series. If you like Sara Ney or are after a fun college romance with real but salty characters then this book is for you. Hugely entertaining and a definite 5 stars from me.

* I received this book in exchange for my honest review.*

Sara Ney is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the How to Date a Douchebag series, and is best known for her sexy, laugh-out-loud New Adult romances. Among her favorite vices, she includes: iced latte’s, historical architecture and well-placed sarcasm. She lives colorfully, collects vintage books, art, loves flea markets, and fancies herself British.

Campus Legends