All Play and No Work

All Play and No Work by twitched
Blair and Matt haven't got along since her brother befriended him. Now it's six years on and Blair is refusing to do any of her schoolwork. When Matt's hired to tutor her, secrets Blair never wanted anyone to know start emerging, but will anything change?
Banner Credit: Amy

Melissa Thinks: As the youngest child in my family, I can certainly understand the feeling of being overshadowed by an older sibling. Blair has always been compared to her older, overachieving sister. The fact that they hate each other doesn’t exactly help their relationship. Enter Matt: Blair’s brother Tom’s best friend and perhaps the only person who see’s Blair as her own person and not Leah’s little sister. The only problem? They absolutely hate each other. Needless to say, neither of them are happy when Blair's failing grades leads to her father hiring Matt as her tutor.

This story brings together two of the most popular, one being my favorite, clichés: Hate/Love and Girl and Best Friend. It takes the best of both of these writing stereotypes and mixes them together into one big pile of awesome. There’s a natural progression to Matt and Blair’s relationship and it never gets to a point where you’re dreading over the top fluff. I liked the unique qualities that the author brought to her characters: Blair's childishness, Matt's more maturity, and Tom's health food craze, which all work together to make the story different from others in the genre. The problems with her friends, mysterious back story with her sister, and the biting relationship with Matt give All Work and No Play that special little something that makes it a very memorable addition to the Hate/Love category.