Review: Wipe Out by Jordan Ford

Posted July 26, 2019 by Lola in Contemporary, Review, Romance / 5 Comments

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Wipe OutWipe Out (Ryder Bay #4)
by Jordan Ford

My Rating: 4 stars

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

Blurb:
She’s a soft-spoken loner. He’s a wild-eyed rebel. Can two virtual strangers find a way to click?

Lettie keeps her nose in a book and her thoughts to herself. After her best friend dumped her on the first day of their freshman year, the only person she can still confide in is her mysterious email buddy. But when a cute troublemaker saves her from a speeding car, she hopes she’s found someone worth knowing in the real world.

Jace longs to put his bad reputation and his friend’s horrific accident behind him. But despite his best efforts to ditch his reckless ways, he still manages to land himself in the principal’s office. If only he could pour his heart out to his online crush in person…

As Lettie and Jace struggle to balance their real-life and virtual connections, they fear that sharing how they feel could leave them completely alone.

Can Lettie and Jace see beyond fantasy to discover love that’s just a touch away?

Wipe Out is the fourth standalone book in the sweet Ryder Bay YA contemporary romance series. If you like deep characters, timely social issues, and relationships where opposites attract, then you’ll adore Jordan Ford’s enchanting tale.

My Review

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

After reading the novella Riptide and enjoying the previous books in this series I was really excited to see if book 4 would be just as good. I love how each book in this series is different, but there are still common elements and recurring characters throughout the series. It makes for an exciting series and I plan to start the epilogue novella right after this as I want to see how it all gets wrapped up.

Wipe Out tells the story of Jace and Lettie. Lettie we already met in earlier books as she’s Savannah’s younger sister. Jace moves to Rydar bay after he got into big trouble in his hometown and his mother decided to send him away. In Riptide we see how Lettie and Jace meet through e-mail and become great friends. Maybe they’re even in love with their e-mail buddy, but then things get all sort of confusing in this book when they both meet a great person in real life as well.

I would definitely recommend you read Riptide first as it has some important background information and establishes their online e-mail friendship. You probably can read this one without reading Riptide first, but I think it would feel like you’re missing something then. And even if you don’t like Jace in Riptide, give this one a chance as he becomes more likable in this book. I think it’s the most fun to read this series in order so you recognize the characters from previous books.

In Riptide it took me a while to warm up to Jace, in this book he was way easier to like. The shock and guilt of what happened in Riptide makes Jace motivated to do better. That urge to chase the rush is less, but even then he still gets into trouble. And there are still hints of the previous Jace in his behavior. I liked him a lot more now and I liked how he was trying his best. You see how he struggles with what happens, but at the same time it made him more careful, more aware of what his actions can cause and he thinks things through more. And when you find out who he will be staying at, you just know he’s in good hands.

Most readers probably can easily identify with Lettie. She’s a shy bookworm, who prefers curling up with a book than going outside. It was easy to like her and to feel her pain when her best friend doesn’t want to hang out anymore as now she has only has her e-mail friend left. I like how her love for reading shone through and how while she comes out of her shell a bit, she doesn’t suddenly become a whole different person. This author really knows how to write teenagers as I felt a lot of their behavior and thoughts were spot on.

This book has quite the unusual romance, but I really liked it. Lettie and Jace both are in love with their e-mail buddy, they just don’t realize the other is their e-mail buddy. It makes for some confusing situations when they start to feel something and feel a connection when they meet each other in real life and not sure how to deal with that as they already have their e-mail buddy. It was interesting to see their relationship both in e-mail and in real life and how different and similar it was. They made for a great couple and I like seeing how they are there for each other.

I am just a bit sad there weren’t more e-mails in this book as I really liked those in Riptide and now sometimes felt like we missed a few pieces as some e-mails got summed up instead of typed out. I liked they had some great scenes in person too, but would’ve liked to see a few ore after they know who the other is. So I am hoping we get a bit more of that in the epilogue novella. I am also happy the author avoided a common trope with romance novels and instead added an interesting twist toward the end.

It was such an unique concept to have them fall in love by e-mail and then accidentally meet in real life without knowing who the other is. Besides the romance plot line, there is a great plot line displaying the sibling relationship between Savannah and Lettie. Savannah has quite a big role in this book and it was interesting to see their struggle now from Lettie’s point of view and see how she feels about Savannah and how they struggle to find a way to interact without getting angry. Their struggle felt realistic and I liked how even with their behavior it was still clear they cared for each other.

The group of friends that builds up as the series progresses is again part of this book. With the focus being on the main characters and Savannah and griffin because of their connection to the two main characters. It also was fun to see a bit of Aiden, Harley, Jed and Skylar again, although their role is smaller there are some fun scenes with all of them.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this fourth book in the Rydar Bay series. This book tells the story of Lettie and Jace. I think this story is best enjoyed if you read at least Riptide first, but I think reading the earlier books first makes for the most fun experience. Lettie is easy to like, she’s a shy bookworm who struggles with interacting in real life at times. Jace is a trouble maker who tries to do better and I found him easier to like in this book than in Riptide, even tough he has a few hurdles to overcome here too. Their romance is sweet and I liked seeing how they grow closer online and meet in real life while not realizing who the other is. It’s also fun to see the characters from previous books again, especially Savannah and Griffin play a role here. All in all I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the epilogue novella.

4 Stars

Links:
Goodreads
Bookbub
Amazon

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

What’s the last book you read with a bookworm character?

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