Review: Stupid Girl by Cindy Miles

Only fools fall in love... 

After her senior year of high school leaves behind nothing but heartache, Olivia Beaumont is sure of this: She’s no stupid girl. She sets out for Winston University, promising herself that she will remain focused on her first and only love – astronomy. But all it takes is cocky sophomore Brax Jenkins and an accidental collision with a football, to throw her entire year off course. 

A quick-tempered Southie who escaped the inner city streets of Boston to pitch for Winston, Brax is known to play way more fields than just the baseball diamond. So, when his name is drawn to take part in his fraternity’s hazing dare, Brax eagerly accepts the mission to take Olivia’s virginity. But he doesn’t plan on falling hard for the sweet and sassy Texas girl who sees right through his bad-boy persona. 

As Olivia and Brax battle their feelings for each other, echoes of the past year begin to surface. A boy who once turned Olivia’s whole world upside down reappears, and “harmless” pranks wreak havoc. Pretty soon the aspiring astronomer is on the verge of revealing her most difficult, heartbreaking secret. All the while, Brax must wrestle with the irrevocable dare, and Olivia struggles against all logic as she does the one thing only a stupid girl would do: fall in love.

My Thoughts:
I have so many mixed emotions about this book.  So many, in fact, that I can't just write a simple review.  I feel the need to elaborate...a lot!  So I'll start with what I liked about the book.  I can see where other reader/reviewers felt the need to point out that this book is full of cliches.  But I don't really mind them.  I like that Brax was from Boston.  I can't recall reading a book with a Boston-based character.  I liked his tough, bad-boy persona.  I liked that Olivia was incredibly vulnerable, but got stronger throughout the story.  I also liked that this book touched on a painful issue.  Brax made Olivia really come to terms with a traumatic event.  The characters are well written.  I would have liked there to have been a bit more in depth on Brax's background & current parent situation.  

**Spoilers ahead!!**

All that being said, let me tell you what I didn't like.  I'm from Texas, where the book is based.  Lubbock, where I actually went to college, is only 1 hr. & 45 min. away from Amarillo.  It's unlikely that there would be 2 college towns so close.  But that, I can still overlook.  But to call the area "central Texas" is WRONG.  Central Texas is a good 4-6 hours away from North, West Texas where the story is taking place.  Sooooo, therefore, Brax should not have been referring to the area as central Texas.  I think the author should have done more research on the area.
Then let's talk about the two chapters from Brax's POV.  In most books, that switch POV, you read pretty equally from all characters.  So it leads me to believe that the only reason for the chapters in Brax's POV were just to move the story along.  They didn't hurt the story, but the information in them could have been revealed in a different way by being creative and still keeping to only Olivia's POV. 
The biggest problem I have with this book is how Olivia's date rape was handled.  Any ER would that did a rape exam would have notified the police.  It would have been hospital policy.  And regardless of what Kelsy's dad would have wanted, charges would have been filed.  They would have also done a drug screening and found the ecstasy in her system which would have probably been held up in court.  Now, I could have accepted that Kelsy's dad would have paid people off, a judge or something, to get a "not guilty" verdict.  But the way it was all handled just wasn't realistic.  Also, Kelsy going to the same college was just too easy.  

And that's all I've got to say about this book.  I liked it enough to read the next book in the series.  I hope to see some improvements.  As far as I'm concerned this series has great potential.
Recommended for 17 & up.  Sexual content, situations & language.