Book Review: Dearest Clementine by Lex Martin

Dearest Clementine (Dearest #1)

by Lex Martin 

Release Date: May 25, 2014

Source: Amazon

Goodreads

Twenty-year-old Clementine Avery doesn't mind being called bitchy and closed off. It's safe, and after being burned by her high school sweetheart and stalked by a professor her freshman year of college, safe sounds pretty damn good.

Her number one rule for survival? No dating. That is until she accidentally signs up for a romance writing class and needs material for her latest assignment. Sexy RA Gavin Murphy is more than happy to play the part of book boyfriend to help Clem find some inspiration, even if that means making out … in the name of research, of course.

As Gavin and Clem grow closer, they get entangled in the mystery surrounding a missing Boston University student, and Clem unwittingly becomes a possible target. Gavin tries to show Clem she can handle falling in love again, but she knows she has to be careful because her heart’s at stake … and maybe even her life.

Ever since I read Shameless by Lex Martin, I have wanted to gobble up every book she's written. I have only heard good things about Dearest Clementine, so I made sure to get to it as soon as I could! 

Clementine Avery has gone through a lot throughout her time in college. She's published a best-selling novel under a pseudonym and she's gone through avoiding a professor who stalked her freshmen year. Now that senior year is here, Clementine has been struggling to write another novel. When she accidentally signs up for a romance writing class, Clementine has no idea how she can write romance when her own romances have crashed and burned. When she meets Gavin, an RA she bumps into while trying to find writing inspiration, Gavin is more than happy to play the part of a book boyfriend if it'll help Clementine write. Clementine tries to push Gavin away, but the closer they grow, the harder it is to ignore how perfect they really are for one another. 

Ummmm why did no one warn me how ADORABLE Gavin is? Seriously, he became one of my new favorite book boyfriends. Clementine had her heartbroken in high school and had a scary relationship with an obsessive professor, so she was so wary when it came to guys. Gavin was so sweet and caring and took things slow when it came to a relationship with Clementine. Their time together was flirty and comfortable and my favorite parts were when Gavin would help give Clementine "inspiration" for her novel. The romance in this was just SO CUTE and I could not stop swooning the entire time. 

While I loved the romance, I also loved all of Clementine's friends and her relationship with her brother. Her friends were so fun and it was cute how much they cared for Clementine. I did think the whole mystery that really grew at the end took away from the romance that I was obsessed with, but it added some suspense that I didn't expect. 

If you can't tell, this is definitely a new favorite of mine from Lex Martin. I love novels about writers and it was fun watching Clementine's journey of writing a novel that was way out of her comfort zone. If you haven't read anything by Lex Martin, you need to get on it and pick this one up ASAP!