romance / chicklit

badboy, writer, humor, romance, friendship

Kelly Wankum has an unfortunate last name and even worse luck. By the tender age of twenty-three, she's broken her tailbone, thumb, her nose, hip, and now her rib. It wouldn't be so bad if she could say something funny like, "I broke myself on a stripper pole" or "I was mugged in a Walmart parking lot." That would actually be believable, right? Instead, she breaks her rib, reaching for a ball of yarn. Even worse, everyone knows she's so accident prone, she could sneeze and lose a tooth. They'd probably bet on her swallowing it in a pancake. Oh wait, she's done that too.Another trip to the Urgent Care has the doctors shaking their heads, offering to pray for her health while new, sexy Doctor Blake Cole immediately gets off on the wrong foot.One smolder has all the women fanning themselves and leaving their phone numbers doodled on the examination paper. That is, every woman except for Kelly.Months after their first encounter, Blake meets her by chance on Kelly's birthday. After inadvertently humiliating her, he tries to set things straight and make it up to her. The problem is, she wants nothing to do with him or his bad boy ways. Can Blake convinces her to give him a chance, or will the bad boy doctor have to cut his losses with the girl who breaks every bone?

Meet Kelly. A socially awkward accident-prone twenty-four-year-old who's allergic to everything and anything. Did I tell you she's also jobless, and she also has very few friends? There's Val, a beautiful, outgoing fashionista, and then there's Gerry, a body-sized stuffed giraffe that she picked up in Walmart. On her 13th birthday, no one turned up to her party. That's how popular she is. Sad right? Then there's her surname. I know. Let's not even go there. You couldn't make it up.

Kelly's always been a glass-half-full kind of girl, but what with breaking a bone every five minutes combined with the pandemic restrictions, it results in her having to move back home. Now she's struggling to see the silver in any cloud, which is causing her anxiety issues to flare up. Her only respite? Kelly loves to write on Wattpad and engage with the platform's community. She desperately wants to get a publishing contract and has sent queries out in the past, but all of them were rejected. She quite literally has reached rock bottom and doesn't know quite what to do with her life.

Meet Blake. The GQ model-like bad boy doctor. Rich, successful, popular with the ladies. Let's not forget the inked arms and the motorcycle. That Greek God's got it all going on.

Kelly and Blake meet at the hospital. Where else. He accidentally confuses her surname with another word. I won't say it! It really does break the ice (but thankfully, not another bone). He likes her. She doesn't want to get involved, as she knows she'll wind up hurt. Why? Kelly had an unpleasant school experience and Blake really is the embodiment of everything she hates. Can she see past that?

A forced proximity situation created by them both contracting the coronavirus sees them spend time together. They discover they both have unfortunate pasts.

Insecurities. Cheating. Bullying. You name it.

In the end? Kelly realizes that Blake's not the bad boy she thought he was after all and that he's actually going to stick around for the long-term.

I love feel-good romance stories, and this one does not disappoint.

It's current with the coronavirus theme, and it also gives a big shout-out to Wattpad. It touches on how being part of the big orange platform's community offers hope to so many—allowing people, whether as writers or readers, from all over the world to come together and form friendships when they perhaps don't have the opportunity to connect in any other way.

This story also emphasizes three things.

One, that we should never judge a book by its cover.

Two, those first impressions aren't always right.

Three, that a leopard can, in fact, change its spots.

Be warned. This tale is not all sweetness and light. Some of the storyline may be triggering for some.

Me? I binged it from start to finish. It's got just the right balance of everything. Romance. Humor. Smut! What's not to love.

Where do Kelly and Blake end up? In the happily ever after, of course.

: Thank you for a beautiful story based on two people who couldn't be more different if they tried.

Kristi Elliot is a Wattpad Star and also a Wattys 2020 winner. Kristi has several other stories on the platform. Go binge. Go.

Perfect title (who doesn't love a bad boy!). Touching and humorous storyline. Fabulously well written.