Review: Outcast Girl vs Pretty Boy by Jordan Ford

Outcast Girl vs Pretty Boy (Forever Love #4)
by Jordan Ford

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Young Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
A protective boyfriend. A girlfriend who wants to fit in. Can love give them the strength to face the ugly secrets they’re hiding?

Cam:
She’s the most precious person in my life. I’d do anything for Bianca.
Except introduce her to my family.
I know she wants to meet them, but I can’t predict what my dad might do.
How can I tell her that?
Our ugly family secret stays locked within our house, just the way Mum wants it to be.
I won’t expose Bianca to it.

But she’s starting to pull away from me.
I can feel the wedge growing between us, and I don’t know how to stop it.
Maybe she’s hiding something from me too. The light in her eyes doesn’t shine so bright these days.
I wish I could figure out what is eating at her.

Life is so much easier when I can just paste on a smile and pretend that everything’s sweet.
But maybe I can’t this time.
Maybe I have to let her into the dark side of my world… or I could lose her forever.

Outcast Girl vs Pretty Boy is the fourth story in the heartfelt Forever Love YA contemporary romance series. If you like love stories with a twist, family secrets, and characters you can root for, then you’ll adore Jordan Ford’s candid romance.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

It feels like I flew through this book. This whole series is awesome so far and once I pick up a new book I just want to keep reading, which was also the case with this one. Outcast Girl vs Pretty Boy was a great read with some really happy and uplifting parts, but also had some hard to read and sad moments. I love how real and realistic it all feels and I love reading about this family.

Outcast Girl vs Pretty Boy again focuses on Bianca and Stacey, as well as Cam and in this book also Hayden. There is the deeper developing relationship between Bianca and Cam, they are dating, but there are a few things that don’t go as smoothly. Bianca doesn’t feel like she belongs, add in some mean girls, insecurities and body image issues and she has a hard time dealing. She doesn’t know how to explain it to Cam and instead she tries to diet, but goes about it all wrongly and starves herself. Then Cam has his home situation he doesn’t want to bring Bianca in to, his father is depressed and drunk and his mother makes excuses for him as she’s afraid. He doesn’t tell them about Bianca. Bianca doesn’t get why she can’t visit his family. These issues come between them and they have to find a way to deal with it before they can move forward. It was hard seeing how they struggled with these things and what they had to go through, but I liked that moment when the truth came to light and how these two really are there for another and care a lot. They are so sweet and awesome together. I really like this couple.

In contrast to the deepening romance between Bianca and Cam, there is the slowly blossoming romance between Stacey and Hayden. Stacey has been hurt badly by her ex and she isn’t ready for another romance, she loves spending time with Hayden as he feels safe and she is 90% sure he is gay. Hayden is such a sweet character and he cares a lot about Stacey, he’s used to getting dumped into the friend zone, but he wants to take a chance to show Stacey what he feels. Their romance is very much in the beginning stages. It was nice to see how close they’ve grown and how good friends they are. I always like friends to lovers romance and that’s the vibe this one has. Stacey doesn’t even see Hayden as potential boyfriend material until a certain scene.

It was a nice contrast having these two very different romances in different stages in the same book. It’s also was great to have the point of views of both twins again. They each have their own issues to deal with, but there are also plenty of scenes with them together. You see how they care about each other, are there for another and also how they view the rest of the family. It was fun to see them interact a bit more together in this book as their friend groups have blended now.

This book deals again with some tough issues, while the grief is slowly fading a bit and making room for other issues, it’s still present in each book and there are quite some scenes where it is obvious what they lost. Stacey is still dealing with the fall out of the last book and now wondering about her friendship with Hayden and figuring out her own feelings. Bianca and Cam both have hard things to deal with in this book and where book 3 only hinted at those topics, in this book those issues are brought front and center.

I felt so bad how Cam had to deal with his home situation. I think he handled it really well, especially the parts at the end. I am just sad it was necessary. And I kept wishing for him to confide in Bianca. Bianca’s story hit me quite hard, I think it’s a very relatable one. She has some insecurities and when some girls at school also say some mean things she feels even worse, she tries to deal with, but handles it all wrong. I was so happy when things finally came to light and the family huddled around her and was there to help her. It was awesome to see how this topic was resolved.

This is such an awesome series. I love reading about this family and the characters all feel so real. They have some tough things to deal with, but it’s also full with such beautiful moments. Like how Bianca and Cam react when they learn what the other is struggling with. They are so sweet together and I really like them as a couple, they are so good together. I really liked seeing them grow closer and dealing with these troubles together eventually.

I also like the focus on the whole family, with how we still see plenty of Harper and Tane, how Willow’s story is slowly progressing on the background (I am really curious about her story), with how the whole family grows tighter, how they live together in the same house and how they are there for each other. It’s wonderful to see. There also is a scene at the end of the book that was so awesome. Beck also is amazing, with how he has taken all these teenager in and how he is trying to do his best. I love how he is there for them, even though he struggles at times as well.

To summarize: this was another awesome read in this series. once I started it I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to keep reading and see how this story continues. This book focuses on Bianca and Cam’s romance, they’re dating, but Cam’s home situation and some of the self esteem issues and insecurities Bianca struggle with are getting in their way. There also is the slowly blossoming romance between Stacey and Hayden. Bianca and Cam are so sweet together and I especially liked the later part when all the truths come to light and they grow even closer. Hayden is a great character too and it was great seeing his point of view as well. I think he’ll be great for Stacey and can’t wait to see how that plays out. I love reading about this whole family and seeing everyone’s stories progress with each book. These books feel so realistic, with some though issues the characters have to deal with, but also plenty of beautiful and hopeful moments. I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.