Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

Rose Zarelli is starting sophomore year and she has PLANS for this year.  She wants to be someone that isn't plagued by being the girl who called 911 at that party last year, someone that has a senior boyfriend, someone that breaks out of her shell and gets a lead in the school musical.  That's right, Rose discovered a new passion: singing.  But surprise surprise, things don't go the way she envisioned it.  Her year starts out with another party scandal, her BFF's are all finding their "thing" and it turns out they're all really pretty and talented, and Jamie Forta is still Jamie Forta.  Rose and her mom are again not quite clicking, Peter (her brother) has big problems of his own, and that singing thing?  It turns out she hasn't found out exactly where her voice fits in....






So this was another sequel that I've been dying to read.  I fell in love with Rose's voice last year when I read Confessions of an Angry Girl.  She made me feel like I wanted to go back to high school so I could be friends with her.  In this second book, I wasn't disappointed.  Rose was back and she was just like she was in the first book, but with a little more perspective.  She knows more about what she wants, or at least, what direction she wants to head in.

The relationship with Rose and Jamie is borderline annoying in this book.  Jamie is back to being an enigma and honestly it's getting old.  Rose has been naïve for way too long... she needs to date a guy who actually talks to her more than once every 6 months.  Jamie comes to Rose when he feels like it, she drops everything to give him her undivided attention, and then he's gone.  I know they have chemistry, but if the guy has known you for 2 years and he's still not wanting to date you, move on.  He's just so unavailable to her, and she's way too available to him.  But I must say this is a very realistic high school relationship!  Oh and Rose is unfortunately still making Jamie look pedophile-ish by just blurting out how inexperienced and confused she is by all things sexy-times.

In spite of that, I really did love this book.  Rose is such a realistic character, and while I might not always love everything she's thinking and doing, I feel like I know her.  Something cool that goes on in this book is that Rose and her mom (and sometimes Peter) go to therapy.  Actually it's not so much cool as it is completely explosive.  Some of the most intense moments in this book were during these therapy sessions where they don't hold back.  (Also I find the whole concept of a shrink going to see a shrink amusing).

Another thing in this book that hooked me was Regina's brother, Conrad's, story.  Conrad goes through some of the bullying issues that Rose went through in the first book (although on a completely different level), but he doesn't want anyone's sympathy.  Conrad follows in his sisters footsteps by being a hardass. 

This one again ended abruptly, so I look forward to reading more about Rose and her confusing life in the next book.

Overall:  LOVE!!!  If you liked the first book (Confessions of an Angry Girl), you won't be disappointed by this one.  Rose is still Rose with her naivety and attitude.  If you like reading about down-to-Earth real girls, I highly recommend this series!

This Book Contains:

• GLBT Issues
• Therapy sessions
• A movie star
• Awesome secondary characters
• Singing
• Fashion
• BLOGGING!!
• Domestic Violence

You may also like: My Thoughts on Book 1- Confessions of an Angry Girl

Add it to your To-Read List!!

My Rating: 4/4

How I got this book: I was provided a free copy in exchange for this honest review (Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Teen)
Date Published: 6/25/2013