Book: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

★★★/★★★★★

He leans close and whispers into my ear, “You belong here with me.”
And for that moment, I believe that I do.

Alex, Approximately has been on my TBR for months now and I was only able to get around it a couple of weeks ago. It's my first Jenn Bennett book, a lighthearted contemporary with fun characters and classic movie references which are also cute! It's a good book but not good enough for me to give it a higher rating than 3 stars.

The book tells the story of Bailey Rydell who goes to live with her dad at the beginning of summer in California after things got bad with her mom and her mom's new husband. Living with her dad is actually what Bailey really wanted for she gets along better with her dad. And besides, she's excited to be in the same city as Alex, an online friend who is also a classic movie fanatic and who constantly tells her to come and visit. Now, being in the same city as Alex, all Bailey has to do is find him, and maybe stalk him a little, before she decides if she actually wants to meet him in person because what if he's not what he tells her online or what if she's a bad guy or something. Enters Porter Roth, the hot quiz-obsessed/weather geek security guard at the museum Bailey is having her summer job at. Bailey and Porter can't stand each other at first but as they spend time together at the museum, they realize that spending time with each other is not as bad as they thought it would be. Distracted by Porter, Bailey almost forgets about her other plan for the summer until her other plan finds her instead.

He holds his hand up, and I slap it, but instead of it being a simple high five, he laces his fingers between mine, squeezing. It’s probably only for a second, but it feels longer. When he releases my hand, I’m a ball of chaos: fingers tingling from where his just were, mind trying to make sense of it. Is he just being friendly, or is this maybe some sort of surfer handshake?

Honestly, I didn't like Bailey in the first few chapters. I don't know *shrugs* but I didn't connect with her right away and found her a bit frustrating and pretentious. She keeps telling us that she's an evader, that she's a pro when evading situations she doesn't like or not prepared for, but I didn't buy that at all. Also, she's clueless! For someone who is supposed to be a great detective, she fails to figure out one of the important things for her. Because I knew who Porter was the moment he was introduced. I mean, sure, at first Bailey wouldn't know it but come on! Even her dad figures it out eventually.

The characters are fine, but like I said, it took me a while to finally warm up with Bailey. Porter is adorable but I didn't like that he was an ass to Bailey in the beginning for no reason at all and then next thing we knew he and Bailey were all lovey-dovey with each other and that's not okay! I understand that this books is mainly about the romance between them (and believe me it's cute) but I would prefer it if the author explored other things too like Davy's character or Bailey's family issue. Despite that, I did love Porter's mom and Bailey's dad because they're both super cool.

I didn't have any problem with the writing style and actually loved the film references at the beginning of every chapter. I haven't seen some of the films mentioned but I still think it's cute. Overall, this book is good with swoon-worthy romance. A bit predictable but I get why many loved it. I guess the romance between Bailey and Porter is just too cute to resist.