Knee Deep by Jolene Perry

Book Description:

Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.
Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.
Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both.

  Christina's BookReview

 

Shawn + Ronnie= Forever

Ronnie Bird has it all. Loving parents, great friends, average grades and the love of her life. Ronnie’s life is perfect. At least that’s what she thinks…
Shawn has been acting strange lately. He’s tense all the time and angry. If only Ronnie would be a better girlfriend he wouldn’t be. When Shawn starts to act hurtful towards her, she doesn’t know what to do. She needs to find a way to make it all better for him. It’s all her fault. She needs to be a better girlfriend and listen to what he says. But Ronnie is about to learn that love doesn’t hurt. Not mentally or physically.

Luke wants to show Ronnie what real love is. He has loved her in silence for many years. Unfortunately Ronnie doesn’t see him as anything other than a friend. That is until she is chosen to play opposite him in Romeo & Juliet.
When the lines between real and fake start to blur for Ronnie, she tries everything in her power to avoid what’s happening. She can’t be falling for her Luke. She has Shawn. She and Shawn are meant to be together forever. They will get over there rough patch… Will Ronnie finally open her eyes or will she continue to be in denial?

Ronnie is a sweet girl. Too sweet. She is utterly blind when it comes to Shawn. She blames herself for all the wrong going on in their relationship and ignores the signs. She is blind to what is in front of her.
Luke is such an amazing friend. He is rough around the edges, but who wouldn’t be with a past like his. You can’t help but instantly like him and feel bad for him because there isn’t another alternative for Ronnie. Shawn is it. No matter how many times he saves her and shows her how he feels Ronnie continues to push him away. When he finally walks away your heart breaks for him.

This was a good story. At times I felt like it dragged on and it was frustrating to read about all the reasons Ronnie made up for Shawn. It got to the point where I wished I could jump into the book and wring her neck. Her internal debates had me rolling my eyes. SHEESH, you have an amazing boy who is protecting you and is your best friend and you are pushing him away for a selfish loser who abuses you! WTHeck is that!

That wasn’t the only reason this book received 4 stars. Honestly, at the end I felt like readers didn’t really get to know Luke as much as I think we would have want to. It was always Shawn this, Shawn that and only at the end do we get Luke this, Luke that. I wish we had more Luke and less Shawn, but that’s just the way it was written. Maybe a Luke POV novella would make up for it. :)

Overall it was a good read. I will be reading more of Ms. Perry’s work.