THE TROUBLE WITH YOU (Rixon Raiders #1) by L.A. COTTON

‘It wasn’t that I wanted her. I didn’t. I just didn’t like the idea of anyone else having her either.’

The Trouble with You by L.A Cotton is the first book we’ve read by this Author and we’re now hooked and can’t wait for the next book in this series. Each book in the Rixon Raiders series can be read as a standalone as it features different couples, however, we meet them all in this book so a connection has been made, be it positive or negative…HA!

‘Being a Rixon Rider came with a certain set of privileges. We were treated like gods in the halls at school; and outside the school gates, around town, wasn’t much different. It was easy to get swept up in it all. The girls. The attention. The respect.’

We love high angst and The Trouble with You is chock a block with it, in this enemies to lovers YA/NA romance. There’s nothing like starting off seriously disliking a character and then the Author cleverly making you turn a one-eighty and actually care by the end! The different POV’s certainly helped too.

‘He was cold. Focused. Determined to succeed no matter what.’

The setting in The Trouble with You is a senior year of high school with its trademark hate/love relationships, school rivalry and bullying culture. Its focus is centred around the school football team which brings with it, the stereotypical associated culture. You’ve got your typical stars of the football team who reign over the high school and town alike, the main heroes being Jason, Cameron and Asher, and they really can do no wrong. Hailee would disagree with that though. Whilst they’re completely worshipped by most, they’re the bane of her life.

‘There was just something about getting a reaction out of her that got my blood pumping.’

Hailee is Jason’s stepbrother and since their parents got together, Jason has harboured incredible hatred for Hailee and roped in his teammates, Cameron and Asher to help him harass Hailee with nasty and cruel pranks. Whilst she gives as good as she gets, she encountered mortifying situations. Hailee has an intense dislike for ‘the cool kids’ but she can’t help but have growing feelings for Cameron, Jason’s best mate, who once was a friend but is now one of her tormentors.

‘He was theirs to have, theirs to worship, theirs to love. But there were moments with him, when it was just the two of us, when it felt like he was mine.’

Hailee was one tough and sassy girl. What she has to endure is quite something and we had mad respect for her. At times she came across quite hard, however, she’d have to be in order to put up with Jason’s behaviour. Her friendship with Flick was lovely albeit a tad selfish on Hailee’s side at times but we have to say the growth and maturity in this slow burn romance was lovely to read. Some of the incidents depicted in this story were quite disturbing yet sadly quite realistic in nature. Saying that, despite the emotional moments and the angst, there were some lovely moments too between Hailee and Cameron which broke up the more emotional ones as well as a passionate connection and heartfelt romance.

‘I wanted to take away his pain and make it my own.’

The Trouble with You highlighted the strength of friendships, the dramas of family life and of course first love. Now the next book is Jason’s and wow he has some explaining to do! What a great start to a series! Fans of Rachel Van Dyken and Erin Watts should definitely check this series out.

‘This was high school. Kids were mean and got off on bringing each other down. But the real world, where things were hard and painful and uncertain was waiting for them. High school didn’t define me. I knew my worth, and this moment, right here, defined me.’