Bad Idea
First of all... HOLY CLIFFHANGER FEDEX MAN!
Be prepared people. You're gonna want Vol. 2 big time. Is it worth the wait? I gotta say yes, yes it is. Let me try to convince you.
This story is rich with character construction and development, both in the main characters and the side characters. The arc is solid and engrossing, and it ends at a logical stopping point - with a jumping-off point for the next volume that keeps me on the edge of my seat, but not making me throw my kindle at the wall. :-)
“So, ah, yeah,” I say. “I got a few for you today, ladies.”
God, I sound like a douchebag. I sound like the beginning of a porn video, the ones where some asshat in a too-tight UPS uniform starts boning the secretary with a line like “Do you wanna see my package?”
Nico Soltero becomes a constant in Layla Barros' life when she takes a job at a law firm to support herself through college. He can't believe the connection he feels to her, and wonders if she feels the same. He flirts with her, calls her "NYU," asks about her life, but he can't seem to work up the courage to ask her out.
Layla is utterly captivated by Nico, the FedEx guy at her office. She's pretty sure they had a "meet-cute" on the street on her first day, and from that point forward, she felt like a magnet pulled towards him. On her end, there are issues that would be involved if he asked her out. Lots of baggage inherited via her family, and flak from her friends. Not to mention some of the misconceptions she's sure he has about her.
Nico hugs me closer, draping one heavy leg over mine and slipping a lean, muscled arm around my waist so he is curved completely around the back of my body. He fits there. We fit, like two crooked pieces of the crazy jigsaw puzzle of this city, with its eight million other parts.
It turns out one of the major hurdles in their relationship is New York itself, and ultimately - it takes its toll. There's a time-jump just before the last chapter, and we're left with a frantic Nico and Layla asking him for help.
It's tantalizing, and I truly can't wait for the next part of the story. I read this straight through with limited bathroom breaks - it was JUST. THAT. GOOD. I had to take a little off my rating because there were some parts where I didn't love the "I had it worse than you" conversations, but they weren't dealbreakers.
I give Bad Idea Vol. 1 4.5 Compass Tattoos.