ARC Review: Make It Count by Megan Erickson

Make It Count is the first book that I have read by Megan Erickson, but being a NA junkie I just couldn't pass this one up. This one was hard for me to rate, because there were things that I liked and didn't like and my opinion of the book was constantly changing as I read it. Kat Caruso is a student who has always had to work harder to succeed than others. She is struggling with her statistics class and goes through tutors constantly. When her newest tutor happens to be her boyfriend Max's best friend and roommate Alec, Kat is immediately fearing the worst. Not only does she not want to be embarrassed, but she has also been feeling a pull towards him and can't deny that she is attracted to him. Alec has also been feeling the connection between them and knows that he needs to stop things before they go too far. After being betrayed by his ex-girlfriend he would never cross that line, especially with his best friend's girl. But as they get to know each other better and their feelings grow, they find it harder to fight the undeniable connection between them. When past secrets are revealed and obstacles they never imagined are placed in their way, can they find a way to get through everything together?

I liked Alec. He was sweet and helpful, and he was loyal. He was a great friend and struggled a lot with his feelings for Kat because he had been friends with Max for so long. I thought that he was really patient with Kat, and he was always trying to help her out. I felt like he made a few mistakes when it came to her and how he handled things, but honestly it was mostly age and the fact that he was a guy. He didn't understand what he was doing or how she was interpreting his actions. Kat I had some issues with. While I liked her strength and determination and how hard working she was, I felt like she would all too often forget that and become extremely insecure. It was like a complete personality shift, and gave me a bit of whiplash. She let Max treat her horribly and made excuses for him. I just didn't understand. I thought that she had a great connection with Alec, and they were great together. They had strong chemistry and you could feel their attraction. But honestly she jumped to a lot of conclusions with him, and didn't think about the fact that he was just trying to help her. What made it the worst was the fact that she didn't tell him how she was feeling or take the chance to be honest with him. I felt like so much of the conflict in this book could have been solved with a single conversation.

My other big problem with this story was that it felt like things were resolved way too easily. Almost every single problem that happened in this book was solved instantly with a single apology, and all of a sudden its forgotten. I just could not get behind that because it was just too unbelievable to me. After everything that went down with Max all of a sudden with an apology they are all friends and hanging out again, and Kat's parents did something horrible but its okay because they feel bad after their son yelled at them. It just was too easy. I thought that this story did deal with some important topics, but they kind of got lost with the weak conflicts and the cliches. This story was predictable, and while I would say it was enjoyable it isn't memorable to me. I think if you are looking for a light and easy read that has a happy ending that you might give this one a try. But if you are looking for a strong story with characters that have depth, this one might not be for you. The next book in this series is Max's story, and I am not sure how he will redeem himself after everything that he did. I might give it a go to see what happens with him, and hope that it goes better for me than this one did.

**ARC Provided by Edelweiss**

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