Going Under by Georgia Cates

Book Description:

Jessie Boone is a self proclaimed bad boy and doesn’t march to the beat of anyone’s drum, but his own. Growing up in less than desirable circumstances has made him no stranger to the hard knock life and his determination to leave it behind is fierce. When he finds himself transferred to East Franklin High School, he sees his opportunity to use his athletic ability to snag a college football scholarship, but Forbes Henderson, the player Jessie means to replace isn’t giving up his spot willingly.

In fact, Forbes is willing to go to extreme measures to retain his place as first string quarterback. When Forbes’ malicious plan to injure his replacement fails, Jessie is furious and determined to show him he messed with the wrong person; not only is he going to take the position of first string quarterback, he’s going to take his girl, too.

Claire Deveraux is perfection at it’s best. She is beautiful, intelligent and unaware she just became Jessie Boone’s conquest as revenge against her boyfriend, Forbes Henderson. Like her flawless performance as the perfect daughter and student, Claire’s production of being the perfect girlfriend has everyone fooled, except Jessie Boone, and she fears this tattooed bad boy will see her secret desire to explore his crude threats and promises to rock her perfect world. If she decides to give in to one uninhibited moment with Jessie, will she learn too late that it was all an act of vengeance or will Jessie learn the taste of first love is sweeter than that of revenge?

Christina's BookReview

“When you look back on this moment months from now, don't forget the one word I'm about to say to you, Claire Deveraux. Foreplay.”

Recap

Jessie Boone isn’t your average popular East Franklin high student. Jessie comes from a different side of town and has a different way of living. When he finally has the chance to get a football scholarship to a good school he is prepared to fight for it. But East Fraknlin already has a starting quarterback and he isn’t someone to mess with. When Forbes Henderson shows Jessie just how out of place he is Jessie extract revenge by trying to steal the one thing Forbes has and won’t let go, Claire Deveraux. But Claire isn’t like the rest of East Franklin’s girl. Jessie quickly learns that what starts off revenge turns into something very unexpected.

Claire Deveraux has the perfect life. Great parent, excellent GPA, great friends, a cheerleading and a start quarter back as a boyfriend. But Claire Deveraux isn’t your typical popular girl. Claire hates hiding her true nature to please others. And when Jessie’s Boone decides to rattle her cage Claire will learn just how sick she is of hiding. Falling for a boy from Collinsville was not the plan.
Will these two finally be able to see that revenge isn't always sweet? Will Claire be able to stick next to Jessie after learning his secrets? Or will what they have fall apart?

My Take

I have to say that I loved the premise of this story. I liked the characters and loved all of the humor, angst, and love in this book. While reading I had one statement in my head the whole time: “What you see on the outside is different then what’s on the inside.”

Jessie is one of those badass guys that have the heart and soul of an angel or at least almost like an angel. You quickly understand why he is the way he is and feel for all the crap he has had to put up with. Jessie has his own issues going on but he has a plan, has focus, is incredibly smart and will do anything for the ones he loves. During the book I found myself hoping that his dreams would come true because he deserved it. He was given a shitty hand in life and deserved good. And that good came in the form of Claire.

Claire didn’t put with Jessie’s crap and played her own game. She wasn’t a weak protag which quickly got her on me list. She rattled Jessie’s cage just as much as he rattled hers. The “foreplay” between the two was just hilarious and oh so wonderful. I liked her spunk and I liked her fire. I liked that she took a chance on someone different then she was use to and that she stood by him through the good and the bad.

These two together made for some funny moments as well as lots of loving and heartbreaking ones. You can’t get more realistic then this and the way the author portrayed there story was excellent.

Claire and Jessie made this book good but one person made this book great to read. Claire’s best friend Payton totally made this book much more enjoyable! I totally adored her from her first sentence and from there on out I was looking forward to her moments. When the author mentioned her story was the sequel I was delighted! Payton is the best friend every girl out here should have. She is real, raw and realistic. I cannot wait to get started on Shallow.

The only reason this is getting 4 stars is because at I think it jumped to insta-love pretty quickly. I wanted more of the bickering and sarcasm before they both got on the “love train”.  I felt like Jessie turned into muss really quick.

I would recommend this book and look forward to continuing on with Payton’s story.