Anya and the Shy Guy by Suze Winegardner || ARC Review

Title: Anya and the Shy Guy

Author: Suze Winegardner

Series: Backstage Pass #4

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Entangled Crush

Pages: Kindle Edition

Publication Date: July 14th 2015

My Rating: ★★★★★

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It’s always the quiet ones…

Anya Anderson doesn’t just need a big break, she needs any break. Living on the streets doesn’t leave a girl many options, so when she scores a gig reporting on the Seconds to Juliet tour, she jumps at the chance to earn enough money to sleep somewhere safe. And the paycheck will get bigger – and keep her off the streets for good – if she can dig up dirt on Will Fray, the irritatingly hot “shy guy” of the band.

Problem is, Will Fray isn’t who everyone thinks he is. In fact, he’s not Will at all. Matt, Will’s identical twin, is actually the guy onstage, reluctantly covering for his brother while he’s in rehab. To make matters worse, Matt’s being shadowed by a cute reporter with troubled eyes determined to get the scoop. On him. And he’s having trouble finding the willpower to keep his distance…

But if the secret gets out, it won’t just be his head on a platter – it’ll be the whole band’s.

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains steamy make out scenes, graphic language, and a love story so hot your copy may spontaneously burst into flames. You’ve been warned.

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I received an ARC of this book from the publisher for review purposes.

Anya and the Shy Guy is the fourth book in the Backstage Pass series. This series follows five guys on their journey to ultimate stardom as one by one they fall in love.

So guys, as the title suggests this is the shy guy of the band, Will’s book. Or is it? You see there’s a twist to this story. After tripping on set, Seconds to Juliet’s “Shy Guy” gets loaded on painkillers at S2J’s manager’s orders. When he finds his addiction is getting out of control he checks himself into rehab without his manager’s knowledge. This is where Will’s identical twin, Matt comes in. Covering for Will’s absence is a hard enough task for Matt but add in a reporter determined to dig out his deepest secrets and things get ten times more difficult. Especially when he finds himself falling for said reporter. Follow Matt and Anya as they try to keep their lies straight and their lives straighter.

Phew. Glad I’m done with that, way to formal for my liking. This review is not going to be formal, you see you must understand that it’s hard for me to write this without using only gifs and words like “cute”, “adorable”, “swoon”. So bear with me as I write this incoherent fangirlish review.

The plot was good, compelling, even. I have to say the “twins switching places” concept added a nice twist to it. It had a consistent pacing throughout the book with the exception of the last ten percent (incredibly fast paced and gripping, I liked it!). Like the other Backstage Pass books, it alternates between the male and female protagonists’ POVs (third person view)  .

The main hot guy, Matt, was totally adorable and a breath of fresh air for me. He was supposed to be the shy guy and I guess in a sense he was but he wasn’t nearly as shy as Will. I don’t- don’t even know how to relay to you people how much I loved him. How much I still love him. But I’ll try my best (or else what’s the point of this review anyway?).

Things you should know about Matt:

• He has a tattoo of an elaborate compass on his left shoulder (a sorta shy guy with a tattoo??)
• He can be totally confident about one thing but hesitant about another
• He wasn’t really seeing the appeal of the “Twin Switch“

Matt didn’t care how much fun movies made it seem for twins to switch places. This was anything but fun.

• He has this insane ability to say the right thing at the right time

“You’re phenomenal, and you’re mine. Wait. That didn’t come out right. I meant I’m yours. If you’ll have me.”

• He’s a self acclaimed competitive eater. That scene with the food in the greenroom was unexpected; what he did to make her feel better… I mean, Anya was mortified by what she had done and he took it all in stride. The way he responded… I want to be able to have a meal with guy like that, especially when it seems so fun.
• He has this protective side to him; you can see it in the little things he does.
• He is not perfect. No, that was not an error. I found him perfect but he wasn’t, he screwed up just as much as the next person and he tripped over his words (cute!)
• He likes ____ places. (Read it if you want to know! HAHAHAHAHA)
• He wears glasses. I repeat: the guy wears glasses! I’m not sure if it’s just me but I find when a guy is already hot as hell, with specs he is absolutely hot in this insanely dorkish way. Tell me I am not the only one…

There are so many more things you should know about Matt but me telling you would totally ruin the fun! Just know that when he described his favorite first date thing to do, it had me swooning.

I’ve never been on a date, so it would be a first date

Now for the female protagonist, Anya. (You should know that it takes an unbelievable amount of self-restraint to stop myself from writing more on Matt.)

Anya is a really different female character from what I’m used to. Street smart and independent, I loved her. It was really refreshing to get a character with problems but didn’t come off as whiny or desperate. At first all she was after was some scoop on the band’s shy guy, but then following him all over the place clearly had some effect on her. I mean, who can resist the charms of one so patient and sweet?

Anya and Matt’s relationship was so CUTE. Their playful banter and his sweet talk.

BUT there was this one part that had me so frustrated, so angry and at the same time it had my pulse racing. It was a Giselle sort of moment for me

Also, we got a lot of parts with the other members, Ryder, Miles, Trevin and Nathan. What a treat! The tension between them was palpable but so was the camaraderie. I love how they team up when one of their own has a little snafu.

“I had time to think while I was away. Guys, listen. We’re multimillion dollar artists. This whole tour–and the livelihoodof LJ and his company and the whole crew–is dependent on us right now. If not now when can we ever make demands? When can we take charge? When can we insist on not letting terrorists like Paige win? They can’t fire our friends. We’re Americans. We must not let terrorists win, dammit.”

SQUAD GOALS.

I’ve only read this book and Mia and the Bad Boy, so I was particularly excited about being reunited with Ryder. Here’s a quote for all you fans:

“Pot, meet the kettle. Kettle, meet the pot.”

Oooh, I think I know who Nathan is going to end up with and I’m liking it!

Let’s not forget this book had a friendship between Anya and Natasha that I really admired.

I haven’t read Aimee and the Heartthrob and Daisy and the Front Man but I must say I am officially a Seconds to Juliet fan!

If you’re into fun, cutesy books that will have you like this

And if you’re into boy bands–because this whole boy band thing made things so fun and original– then you should totally give this book and series a shot. Also, for those of you who have expressed a certain excitement about this book and want to know how I found it; this GIF just about sums it up:

So, get this book now. Get it NOW or else.. I mean, you should totally read this. Yeah, no pressure. Or else.

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It was so fun writing this review! I enjoyed Anya and the Shy Guy even more than Mia and the Bad Boy (review here) which is why I gave it 5 stars. I know some of you have been eyeing it pre-release so now that it’s been released I hope you get in and enjoy it. 😀 Let me know what you guys thought/think of it in the comments if you’ve read it. If you haven’t let me know if you’re going to! Happy reading and hugs! ❤