Frosh: First Blush by Mónica B. Wagner

Title: Frosh: First Blush (Frosh #1)

Author: Mónica B. Wagner

Publisher: The Studio - Paper Lantern Lit

Release Date: October 20, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

During welcome week at Hillson University, the FROSH will hit the fan.

Type-A aspiring journalist Ellie plans to take freshman year by storm. But hellbent on breaking a huge on-campus scandal, she risks becoming one herself—and getting the mysterious, heart-melting QB in serious trouble.

Grant, star quarterback and charismatic chick-magnet, is hiding a life-altering secret. The last thing he needs is an overeager (absolutely adorable) journalist asking questions. He’s got a reputation to protect.

High-society legacy student Devon is ready to catch the football hottie of her dreams. If the tabloids feature her with the “it” boy on her arm, her tainted past will be buried—or so she thinks.

Charlie, pre-med, is done being the sweet and funny geek that girls like Devon ignore. But if he tried to impress her with a new edgy, spontaneous attitude, will his heart end up in the emergency room?

FROSH intertwines the stories of Ellie, Grant, Devon, and Charlie in Mónica B. Wagner’s sexy NA debut series, about falling in love and falling apart. 

We all know by now that I’m a sucker for New Adult stories, especially when they’re actually set in a college. So I was really intrigued when I heard about Mónica B. Wagner’s Frosh: First Blush. Even if this story wasn’t quite what I expected, I still found myself to really enjoy reading it. 

Ellie is determined to make a good impression at the Hillson Daily Nexus and land that editorial assistant position. All she has to do is dig up dirt on the new starting quarterback. And Ellie is willing to do just about anything for her story. She just never thought that doing anything for the story would involve developing confusing feelings for her subject. The last thing Grant wants is to have a reporter following him around. He doesn’t need anyone finding out about his shoulder. But he doesn’t mind Ellie. In fact he likes her, too bad she’s the reporter trailing him. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s Devon who keeps popping up everywhere he is, determined to make him hers. The way she sees it, dating Grant would be the way to finally burry her family’s scandal-filled past. But even if she thinks she wants Grant, the person Devon can’t stop thinking about is Charlie, the cute and funny pre-med geek she hooked up with. Charlie didn’t think a girl like Devon would ever be interested in him. But now that something’s happened between them, he’s determined to keep it going. If only she would give him the time of day. Who said navigating the first week of college would be easy?

When I first read the synopsis for Mónica B. Wagner’s Frosh: First Blush, I was intrigued. I’m always curious about stories that weave together the plotlessness of different characters in a way that results in all of them intersecting in some way or another. That kind of story just appeals to me and I’m always trying to figure out how the different plot lines fit, or how they’re going to come together. It totally keeps me going when I’m reading. And that was absolutely true with Frosh: First Blush. From the moment I started reading, I was trying to piece it all together, figuring out who was who in each of the different’ characters’ chapters. And it was definitely fun seeing how it was all connected. My one issue with the book was how quickly everything seemed to be happening. Basically this entire story takes place between Wednesday and Saturday. And A LOT happens in those four days. I will say that the fact that the story was told from four different perspectives did help. It made it feel reasonable that so much could happen in such a short time if it was happening to four different people and those around them. And by the end of the book, it didn’t really bother me so much anymore. In fact, I was looking forward to seeing what would happen next.

The four main characters in this story were all interesting and so different. But they were also all just trying to figure out this whole college thing. And let’s just say that they weren’t all going about it in the best way. I mean, Ellie was so focused on getting her story for the newspaper that she was pretty much ignoring everything else around her. And she was so determined to only see things one way that she was missing what was right in front of her. Devon kind of had a similar thing going. She was so focused on appearances that she was ignoring the sweet, geeky guy who was pretty much perfect for her. And who she liked even if she wouldn’t admit it to herself. And speaking of that sweet, geeky guy, Charlie was pretty much my favourite. I was always excited whenever the story switched back to his perspective. Not that I didn’t like the other characters, but I pretty much developed a soft spot for Charlie pretty early on. Though, really, the same thing could also be said about Grant. Even if sometimes I wanted to yell at him to stop making stupid decisions. But I liked the decisions he was making by the end of the book so I’m just hoping everything works out for the best.

Even though it wasn’t quite what I expected when I went in, I still really enjoyed reading Mónica B. Wagner’s Frosh: First Blush. The story was fun to read and left me asking for what came next. So you can bet I’ll be reading whatever sequel comes along.