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Heat of the Moment

(Moment of Truth #1)

Lauren Barnholdt (Goodreads Author)

3.41 · Rating details · 1,230 ratings · 140 reviews

Lyla McAfee had all but forgotten the email that she wrote to herself freshman year and scheduled to be delivered right before graduation—the one promising that she’d learn to trust by the end of senior year. But when she receives it the first morning of her senior trip to Florida her life is sent into a tailspin. Soon she’s questioning her seemingly perfect relationship w ...more

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Paperback, 304 pages

Published May 12th 2015 by HarperTeen

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My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

2015 Contemporary YA

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Start your review of Heat of the Moment (Moment of Truth, #1)

Apr 13, 2015 Alyssa rated it liked it

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Heat of the Moment by Lauren Barnholdt
Book One of the Moment of Truth series
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Before graduation, I promise to...learn to trust. In the first book in the Moment of Truth series, Lyla discovers that trusting her head might be easy but trusting her heart is a whole other matter.

Each book in this paperback original series is told from the ...more

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Nov 03, 2014 Sarah Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult, r2r-read, love-triangle, netgalley-edelweiss, read-2015, romance, clean

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“Before graduation, I will… learn to trust.”

This was a light and easy summer read, but the main character just told so many lies!

I didn’t dislike Lyla in this book, but I did get a little annoyed at the number of lies she told. It got to the point where everything out of her mouth seemed to be a lie, and if I had been her friend, I think I’d have gotten pretty sick of it ...more

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Nov 22, 2014 Zemira (Kylo Ren fangirl) Warner rated it did not like it

Shelves: edelweiss, awful, contemporary, ahhh-my-eyes, youve-got-to-be-kidding-me, umm-no, where-are-the-parents

This is the moment when I feel like I'm too old for a certain book. There's no way someone my age(25) would find the inside of this girl's mind sane. She was childish and obsessed with finally getting laid on her school trip. Guuurl...

While I was reading Heat of the Moment I kept thinking about how much this book reminds me of a bad, teen Zade(Hart of Dixie) fanfiction. While Hart of Dixie is charming and silly, this book was just silly.

The MC irked me from the start where she's talking trash ...more

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Sep 18, 2014 Deanna rated it liked it

Shelves: shitty-love-interest, swoon-worthy-love-interest, young-adult, romance, terrible-protagonist, stupid-love-triangles, contemporary, annoying-protagonist

2.5 / 5 stars

You know it’s a Lauren Barnholdt book if:

• Main character freaks out over something small
• MC lies about something and keeps lying to cover it up (because she’s a pathological liar)
• the love interest is either:

• Pretentious/cocky/asshole
• or sweet/swoon-worthy
• or both if there’s a love triangle

• Lots of slut-shamming from all around
• The MC creates more angst/problem for herself because she can’t stop fucking lying
• The MC obsesses over silly little details over everythi

2.5 / 5 stars

You know it’s a Lauren Barnholdt book if:

• Main character freaks out over something small
• MC lies about something and keeps lying to cover it up (because she’s a pathological liar)
• the love interest is either:

• Pretentious/cocky/asshole
• or sweet/swoon-worthy
• or both if there’s a love triangle

• Lots of slut-shamming from all around
• The MC creates more angst/problem for herself because she can’t stop fucking lying
• The MC obsesses over silly little details over everything
• The other girls in the novel will be given stereotypical “best friend” roles given to background characters, or they will be catty/mean for no reason whatsoever.

Once you’ve read one Lauren Barnholdt novel, you’ve read them all (and trust me, I’ve read them all). The main character will always lie about something and create more shit for her to shovel just because she doesn’t realize that the truth is an alternative choice.

This is the first Barnholdt novel that I’ve read that just didn’t work for me.
Maybe I’m too old for this, maybe I have a hard time believing that seventeen year olds would behave like ten year olds, or maybe I’m seriously too old for this juvenile bullshit.

I honestly was hoping that the love interest would be the saving grace of the book. Barnholdt’s other books have had boys who were definitely swoon worthy (Drew from Watch Me, Noah from Sometime It Happens, Luke from the Secret Identity of Devon Delaney…), but this book’s leading love interest just fell flat. He was kind of pretentious at times, he slut-shamed the main character, Lyla, and he was just disrespectful of her and her relationship with her boyfriend.

He was just flat out disrespectful of her for majority of their interactions that I found myself wanting to figure out what the hell happened between Lyla, Quinn (who will be the protagonist of book 2), and Aven (who’ll be the protagonist of book 3) more than seeing this punk mess around with her and try to ruin her two-year relationship with her boyfriend. He does somewhat redeem himself at the 80% mark (and Lyla does redeem her character toward the last 20% of the novel).

None of the main characters were easy to connect with. I’m hoping that Quinn’s and Aven’s characters would be far more easy to connect with when their books come out next.
The novel ends in a cliffhanger, and if you're not a fan of cliffhangers--I'd suggest waiting until book 2 and book 3 comes out before reading this book. ...more

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Apr 09, 2015 Anabel (inthebookcorner) added it

Shelves: dnf

DNFed at 28%
Did not like the main character. Wow was she annoying. Didn't want to waste my time on a book I wasn't enjoying at all. Also, I don't think I could have handled reading more about her repeatedly stating how she was dying to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, just to get it out of the way, while flirting with some other guy the whole time. blah. ...more

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Sep 04, 2015 Paige rated it did not like it

DNF. This book could have been good, and definitely suffers from the "great synopsis, terrible book" syndrome. The main character was just so annoying. I immediately stopped reading once I got to the line that literally was written, "His back was, um, muscular." ...more

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Nov 22, 2014 Lauren ✨ (TheBookishTwins) rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, did-not-finish, edelweiss, highly-anticipated-2015, owned

I received a free copy from Edelweiss for review purposes.

DNF 43%

A while ago I read Lauren Barnholdt's novel Through to You and it's fair to say we did not get along. When I saw this go up on Edelweiss, I requested it before I realised who the author was. Big mistake. Instead I decided to give it a good go and I made it nearly 50% through the book, but the absurdity of it affected my enjoyment massively and I couldn't go on any longer.

So, when Lyla was 14 she, along with her two best friends, wr ...more

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Mar 29, 2015 Kathy Martin rated it liked it

This is a story of the most poorly-supervised class trip that I have ever read about. The seniors are traveling from somewhere in New England to Florida for Spring Break. This episode, the first in a trilogy, is told by Lyla McAfee. It begins with her receiving an email from her 8th grade self which reminds her of her vow to "learn to trust." Next, she just about misses the flight to Florida when her mom is late bringing her to the bus at school.

Luckily, another senior has also missed the bus. A This is a story of the most poorly-supervised class trip that I have ever read about. The seniors are traveling from somewhere in New England to Florida for Spring Break. This episode, the first in a trilogy, is told by Lyla McAfee. It begins with her receiving an email from her 8th grade self which reminds her of her vow to "learn to trust." Next, she just about misses the flight to Florida when her mom is late bringing her to the bus at school.

Luckily, another senior has also missed the bus. After some misgivings and a potential case of motion sickness, Lyla agrees to ride Beckett's motorcycles to the airport where they hope to board the flight with none of the advisers the wiser. (See what I mean...lousy supervision.) Lyla then proceeds to lie to her boyfriend Derrick about how she got to the airport. This doesn't bode well for Lyla's goal of finally having sex with her boyfriend of two years. I couldn't figure out why Lyla wanted to have sex with him other than to check something off some imaginary list that she had made. The two had no chemistry and every time they would come close to moving their relationship to the next level, something would interfere. A lot of the time the something was Beckett.

Adding to the complications on this trip is the fact that Lyla is sharing the hotel room with two girls who used to be her best friends - Aven and Quinn - until they had a fight that destroyed their friendships. Lyla is very unforgiving and a complete black and white thinker with more than a touch of ADHD. Who else would get sidetracked by flooring options when she is imaging a romantic encounter with Derrick?

I found Lyla to be very annoying and, since the book was written in tight first person, I really didn't know enough about either Derrick and Beckett to form much of an opinion about them. I certainly couldn't see why Beckett kept pursuing her through all the abuse the Lyla heaped on him.

As far as I am concerned, Lyla never did reach her goal of learning to trust in this story. Maybe something will happen in the next two books. ...more

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Oct 14, 2014 Laura's Book Addiction rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015, 2015-wishlist

#HeatOfTheMoment by #LaurenBarnholdt 3/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a likeable story. I loved Beckett but Derrick just got on my nerves. I'm looking forward to reading Quinn's & Aven's books!!! ...more

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Nov 23, 2014 Sandy rated it it was ok

Shelves: arcs, disappointed, 2014

What to say…what to say? First off, I don’t feel like this book was exactly as the description advertised. Lyla doesn’t appear to begin questioning her relationship with longtime boyfriend Derrick because of the email she sent to herself. And she doesn’t really even start to question whether ending her friendship with Quinn and Aven was the biggest mistake of her life either. I mean I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s just not how this book went down. I mean that might have been how t What to say…what to say? First off, I don’t feel like this book was exactly as the description advertised. Lyla doesn’t appear to begin questioning her relationship with longtime boyfriend Derrick because of the email she sent to herself. And she doesn’t really even start to question whether ending her friendship with Quinn and Aven was the biggest mistake of her life either. I mean I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s just not how this book went down. I mean that might have been how things ended up, but it’s not exactly as advertised.

Anna @ Anna Reads (*sniffs* miss her) occasionally talked about “Old Lady Syndrome” and that’s exactly how I felt while reading Heat of the Moment. The gist of OLS is while reading a book you realize how much of an adult you’ve become by contrasting your now self to the character. And yeah, I was having MAJOR Old Lady Syndrome with this one. Truthfully, I remember having some of the exact same thoughts and feelings as Lyla when I was much younger. But in my old age of not quite thirty, I just wanted to scream at her to open her eyes and stop being such an idiot. Her thought process, missing the obvious, not stopping to explore why she feels whatever she feels, her reaction based actions…all of it just made feel OLD.

Lyla as a character was painful to read at times for me. There were just too many “DUH” moments. I was discussing this with husband and he made a good point. He said that since character growth is so important that it’s almost like authors sometimes make the characters so idiotic, immature, etc in the early parts of the book so that by the end it’s easy to see their progression. I think he’s onto something. Subtlety is not always easy to write. And so yeah, except that Lyla STILL didn’t feel like she made much progress to me by the end of the book. She was still pretty immature (and this is a girl contemplating having sex..it blows my old lady mind).

Derrick, Lyla’s longtime boyfriend, wasn’t much better. If Lyla sees in black and white then Derrick sees in the darkest of blacks and the purest of whites. Thank goodness this wasn’t a dual narrative because I feel like I would have been just as annoyed and old feeling seeing inside his head as hers. Like Lyla, Derrick missed the obvious so many times.

Beckett on the other hand was probably the only character I really connected to. He liked Lyla—for some reason that I’m still not exactly sure about. But I felt like I understood him and could even relate some. That’s about all I’ve got.

The writing was smooth enough. This was an easy and fast read. That wasn’t the problem. But I just couldn’t connect with the characters because of how immature they felt. This might be the perfect book for younger YA fans.

By the way, the word “probably” was used entirely too many times in this book.

Some quotes to illustrate my points:

-As the car gets closer to the front circle, I see someone standing on the sidewalk, right where the bus should be. Derrick! He probably waited for me! He probably decided that if I wasn’t going to Florida, then he wasn’t going either. I wonder if he had some sixth sense about me losing my virginity to him this weekend.

-I’m texting Derrick now, trying to figure out how far away the bus has gotten. Maybe I can catch up with it somewhere. Like if it stops at a red light or something, I can just run up to it and get on. Of course, that will be horribly embarrassing. Probably everyone will be looking.

-What am I supposed to do until he calls me? And what about his phone? He said it was dead. How long will it take him to charge it? Twenty minutes? An hour? Will he plug it in right when he gets to his room? Will he text me while it’s charging, or is he going to wait until it’s fully charged? He’ll probably wait until it’s fully charged. Boys are so stupid like that. He probably doesn’t even realize he can just text me while it’s plugged in. He probably doesn’t—

Seriously, I could keep going. Just search “probably” and you’ll find all the annoying rants and ravings and questions of an immature teenage girl looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong places.

I feel like I’m making this book sound worse than it was. Like I said, the writing wasn’t horrible. Sentences flowed. Things made sense. I never really wondered how we got from point A to point B—like the author left out some steps. But I just can’t really tolerate characters like Lyla too well. Heat of the Moment gets 2.5 Stars from me. Have you read Heat of the Moment? What did you think? Let me know! ...more

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Jan 07, 2015 Brandi Kosiner rated it liked it

I wanted to read this because it sounded like a nice summer read but also one that would have some depth. I also love the premise of writing to your older self and seeing how those goals and promises line up with how life turns out three years later.

The friendship between the three is shrouded in her hurt, she feels like they betrayed her trust, and they have been estranged for almost as long as they wrote the emails. Of course, getting the emails they wrote so long ago, and when they were th I wanted to read this because it sounded like a nice summer read but also one that would have some depth. I also love the premise of writing to your older self and seeing how those goals and promises line up with how life turns out three years later.

The friendship between the three is shrouded in her hurt, she feels like they betrayed her trust, and they have been estranged for almost as long as they wrote the emails. Of course, getting the emails they wrote so long ago, and when they were the three musketeers brings back memories and thinking of the others again. They are put in the same room for their senior trip, so being in close quarters again brings out some of their feelings, and the ways they've changed.

The lightness of the story was nice. I have read a lot of really emotional, draining and intense contemporaries lately, so this was a nice change of pace. It didn't deal with completely fluffy issues all of the time, but it was more day to day, everyone has been hurt type things. It gave it just enough depth but also didn't weigh it down and it is def a summery read.

Derrick and Lyla got together right after the explosion of her friendship with Aven and Quinn. So she has made him the center of her recreated world. She has made friends, or some form of it, with the people that he was friends with. He is thoughtful and considerate, that is until the senior trip and the lies she told to cover her butt on what was ultimately innocent until she made it otherwise. I understand that the premise is shaking up her life again, and looking deeper into her trust issues, and to do that she has to realize that she hasn't really fixed them and what she does to cover it up. She tried to convince herself that it was just a vague goal, and that she had worked on her issues, and the problem between her and Derrick really just served as a glaring response that she hadn't really dealt with trusting at all.

Her secret and what her friends did to make her feel betrayed was really only hinted at, even though I had an idea of what may have happened. The synopsis makes it seem like you will need to read all three perspectives to really understand what caused their friendship to end, and reasoning of all of them. I will probably give the others a read. Especially if they go up for grabs as an ARC or if library gets it.

Beckett was typical mysterious bad boy type. He plays with her head a bit, flirts and gives her a nickname. He rides a motorcycle and just hasn't really been much of a presence besides another body taking up a seat in her AP classes. He is funny though, and I do like their chemistry. However, The love triangle. But I guess I can't fault it too much because I knew going in.

I could feel for Lyla, but all of her lies got a little much. I understood more and more why she feels the need to cover things up, but also, it is like I want to pull her aside, Gibbs her with the clipboard and tell her it only makes things worse.

However, I did like how it ended for her, and the road that she was on as far as realizing her faults, and working towards better relationships, and really trusting and giving others a chance.

Bottom Line: Nice summer read ...more

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Nov 21, 2014 Dayla rated it did not like it

Shelves: arc, books-for-review

I wanted to like this book, but the protagonist was frustrating. Her boyfriend was frustrating. The situations were frustrating. The conclusion was frustrating and a little random--it was something that could have been dealt with a lot earlier in the book. Also, the prose was infuriating.

Imagine that you're having a monologue. And you're just talking like this in your head and you have a random thought and suddenly--

"Look, I'm interrupting your mental thought. Every. Single. Time."

This was prob I wanted to like this book, but the protagonist was frustrating. Her boyfriend was frustrating. The situations were frustrating. The conclusion was frustrating and a little random--it was something that could have been dealt with a lot earlier in the book. Also, the prose was infuriating.

Imagine that you're having a monologue. And you're just talking like this in your head and you have a random thought and suddenly--

"Look, I'm interrupting your mental thought. Every. Single. Time."

This was probably one of the most annoying aspects of the writing in this book.

Though the concept of the storyline taking place while on vacation is fun, it honestly made no sense. You have a couple hundred senior students going on a trip for four days and the chaperones state that if you aren't on the bus, you can't go. Period. Yet, the protagonist finds a way to go. Way to be, chaperones! Then, the students roam around freely and we NEVER SEE A CHAPERONE CHECKING IN TO MAKE SURE THE STUDENTS ARE ALIVE AND WELL. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said this was a school senior trip? Liability? What liability?!

That alone was enough to annoy me. Add in the fact that the protagonist was a capital B that almost barely grows--if you count the random day of semi-revelations--and how she suddenly attracts the attention of the school bad boy. No explanation. In the span of four days, one guy you barely know (but is admittedly a player) threatens to destroy your two-year relationship by falling for you in a huge case of insta-love (careful, it's contagious!), your seemingly perfect relationship suddenly falls apart, and we learn that though you have an estranged father, we don't really understand why you don't talk to him? I mean, (view spoiler)

This book just. Ugh.

You know when you read a book and you semi-accept it until you write the review? Yeah, this book.

Happy reading! ...more

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Mar 09, 2015 Shannon Rogers rated it really liked it

Shelves: own-arc

I am such a huge fan of Lauren Barnholdt books, and this one was no exception. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like Lyla. She seemed a little self-centered and kind of stupid actually considering some of the things she just seemed to be completely deluded about. However, as time went on, she definitely grew on me. I started to think back at how I used to think when I was a teenager and I kept thinking, yet, that was me. So she was definitely a pretty believable character. And therein lies one ...more

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May 27, 2015 Veronica rated it it was ok

This is the first book that I bought on a whim and it is the last. I wanted a fun and dramatic book to kick off my summer and this just did not live up to its potential. I found the main character Lyla to be selfish and annoying. She told lie after lie to a point that it just got ridiculous! Don't even get me started on the 'school' trip. Where are all the teachers? They are nonexistent in this book... all the students just wonder around Florida all by themselves and go clubbing. I thought her e ...more

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Dec 29, 2014 jasmine rated it liked it

Shelves: g-romance, g-contemporary, cover-crush, x-young-adult, first-in-series

writing a review for this book is hard for me, because i felt two strikingly different ways throughout it. sometimes i loved it with the power of a thousand burning suns, and other times i hate it the same way, but both of those feelings were very fleeting and shallow. ultimately, i felt... nothing about this book. it was very much just okay. i knew from the beginning how things were going to go: it was cliché and predictable, anyone who's ever read a book in their life will be able to almost ps writing a review for this book is hard for me, because i felt two strikingly different ways throughout it. sometimes i loved it with the power of a thousand burning suns, and other times i hate it the same way, but both of those feelings were very fleeting and shallow. ultimately, i felt... nothing about this book. it was very much just okay. i knew from the beginning how things were going to go: it was cliché and predictable, anyone who's ever read a book in their life will be able to almost psychically call what's going to happen when, and even what's going to be said by who before they even say it.

the first thing i'm going to address is that there was quite a bit of sexism in this book but surprisingly, for the most part, it wasn't misogyny. lyla wants to lose her virginity to her boyfriend derrick, and of course he eagerly agrees to it, but when it comes time to do it, he hesitates a lot (or he stalls, i guess? whatever you want to call it,) and she shames him for this almost endlessly in her head. "what kind of guy doesn't want to have sex with his girlfriend?" "what kind of guy stalls and hesitates?" "does he not want to have sex with me?" "what kind of guy is he?" -- what kind of guy , lyla thought to herself almost nonstop. what kind of a man isn't always ready to go, constantly thinking of sex and in the mood to fuck the living daylights out of any willing woman? a human one. contrary to what girls believe, men have emotions and thoughts. they have opinions. their dicks aren't constantly and distractingly hard, heat-seeking missiles trying to find a willing hole to plunder. this kind of thinking is harmful and disgusting. i gave lyla the benefit of the doubt given that she's seventeen but honestly, there was a lot more than misandry in this book.

in true chicklit/young adult fashion, there was a whole truckload of slut shaming!! her new bad boy lover, beckett, shamed her for wanting to wear a skimpy bathing suit, insisting that showing off her body in a suggestive way meant that she was just insecure and desperate for attention. the worst part was that she agreed with him. she too thought that the only reason to wear skimpy clothes was to garner male attention, and even if that were true, what's the shame in that? human beings want attention. it has nothing to do with self respect or dignity or worth. fuck people who think that way. she thinks of other girls as bitchy, slutty, stupid, useless, etc all because they threaten her relationship with this douche bag stalker who sweeps her off her feet in a matter of days.

(view spoiler)[speaking of douche bag stalker, has there ever been a more boring "bad boy" than beckett? for fuck's sake, he even drives a motorcycle. he's "witty" and sarcastic, never shuts up, always teases lyla and gets into debates with her that she finds charming when he's actually just being a condescending dickhead. he's also incredibly creepy. he lies to and manipulates lyla to get her to go out with him. no matter how tiny and innocent the lie is, telling someone you're going to take them to find their boyfriend and then intentionally taking them the long way to get ice cream and onto a romantic beach is a major infraction. there's danger/rapist potential written all over that. he drags her out in the name of checking on her friend just to spend time with her and feed her donuts. he checks multiple hospitals until he finds her when he knows she's hurt. he's fucking creepy. this is not charming, this is not endearing. this is horrible. he doesn't even have a reason to like her? and yet he does. he manipulates other girls to make her jealous too, which obviously makes our sweet little lyla wet as hell. on top of everything else, he's also just... cliché. he's a player who likes girls who don't have expectations but lyla, oh no, she's different from those "other girls" and he wants to change for her. she can change him. she can have him. fuck that.

in a nutshell, this book went precisely how i said it would at 56%: "this book is the meeting place or the first official Every Bad Cliche of All Time convention. I'm just waiting to find out that Derrick is cheating on her, or that he's a giant douche bag and Beckett is, like, unexpectedly perfect! And good! And loyal! AND HE WANTS TO CHANGE FOR YOU LYLA!!!! ALL BAD BOYS ARE JUST GOOD BOYS WHO NEED LOVE!!!"

the reason this wound up with 3 stars instead of 1 was because somehow, in spite of all of these horrible things, it was still decent. lyla had the occasional funny thought (in spite of being a martyr with no respect for her parents and consistently blowing things out of proportion and never taking responsibility or doing anything mature literally ever, and calling people assholes and being mean for no reason when she was almost always the one who was wrong,) and derrick was actually a pretty good guy, even if the narrator went way out of her way to make him seem like he was not one (because god forbid lyla just be unhappy and break up with him, he has to do drastic, unrealistic things like abandoning his gf/friend of 2 years in an er in the middle of an unfamiliar area,) and in spite of how much i resent lyla's attempt to slut shame one of them, i genuinely liked aven and quinn. i can't wait to read about aven and quinn. (hide spoiler)]

this author has potential, in my opinion; her writing is easy and readable, somehow compelling even though the content seems to be incredibly hit or miss. if her writing had been any less decent, i would have dnfed this book at 20% when i realized how insufferable lyla was, how boring beckett was, and how derrick was about to suffer from "relentless douche bag" syndrome to justify lyla wanting to leave him. ...more

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Jan 23, 2018 Carol***BeautyandtheBeastlyBooks rated it liked it

Shelves: cliche, beautiful-covers, young-adult, coming-of-age, high-school

Heat of the Moment is a sweet high-scool/YA romance. I got involved with the characters and I liked the storyline, even though it’s sort of a cliche.

That being said, it wasn’t enough to really catch my attention. It was an entertaining read, but there wasn’t anything really special in it. At least not for me.

It’s not a bad book, the writing is okay. And I don’t mind the youger subjects, but even for a YA book it felt a bit too shallow. I wish it dived more into the subjects.

Also it ended in su ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 Denise rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf-abandoned

MC female was too much of a spaz.

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May 19, 2018 Abby rated it liked it

This book was 3.5 stars for me. I really enjoyed the story, but I felt it could've been done better. Some of the characters annoyed me, and I don't know if I could read the rest of the books. ...more

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Jun 20, 2018 Laur rated it it was amazing

It took me so long to get through Wayfarer that I was really afraid of falling into another slump. That did not happen. read the entire book in a day. It was definitely intended for a younger audience but I had a great time. A perfect lighthearted summer read

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Nov 30, 2014 Rowena rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs

Lauren Barnholdt is hit or miss with a lot of readers but for me, she’s mostly been a hit. The last couple of books she’s released haven’t been my favorites but I still like her as an author so I try to give her books a go when they hit the review shelves.

This book is the first in her new Moment of Truth series about three ex best friends who are in their senior of high school and have received emails that they sent to each other back when they were freshman in high school. Back before their fri Lauren Barnholdt is hit or miss with a lot of readers but for me, she’s mostly been a hit. The last couple of books she’s released haven’t been my favorites but I still like her as an author so I try to give her books a go when they hit the review shelves.

This book is the first in her new Moment of Truth series about three ex best friends who are in their senior of high school and have received emails that they sent to each other back when they were freshman in high school. Back before their friendships fell apart.

The first of the friends, Lyla McAfee’s email said, “Before I graduate, I’ll learn to trust”. Lyla hasn’t trusted anyone in a very long time. She doesn’t really have any true friends, not since her friends betrayed her and caused a whole lot of drama in her family. She’s kept to herself and with her boyfriend Derrick.

Lyla is on her way to her senior trip to Florida with her boyfriend and she’s determined to lose her virginity because she feels that it’s time. Things have been going pretty perfect with Derrick but when she misses the bus to the airport and he doesn’t call to check up on her, a girl’s got to wonder…how perfect are things if he doesn’t seem to care that you might miss the senior trip? Lyla has got a lot on her mind and this trip away is supposed to be perfect but when the school play boy, Beckett starts coming around, things get pretty crazy.

Right from the jump, I liked Beckett. I liked him a lot more than I liked Derrick. The minute Lyla wasn’t on the bus and Derrick didn’t call, my spidey senses started going off like crazy and then when they get to the airport and Derrick explained away his non-call, my spidey senses continued to beep beep beep their way around my head. But then the book takes off and then Lyla starts to get on my nerves.

Like, a lot.

She makes every bad decision on the planet and even in the end, she’s making stupid assumptions and thinking stupid shit that pissed me right off. She was so immature and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Beckett liked her so much. I thought Beckett deserved far better than the likes of Lyla. She was so dumb for so much of the book. She kind of reminded me of Penn from Barnholdt’s book Through to You. Full of dumb shit for far too long.

In the end, I didn’t hate her but I still didn’t really like her and I’m hoping that will change in the next book because I still want to read the other books. The friendship between Lyla, Aven and Quinn is something that is drawing me to continue the series. I think it’s Quinn’s book and I’m looking forward to digging into that one. Quinn and Aven are interesting characters and I can’t wait to read more of them. I liked them more than I liked Lyla so I’m hopeful that they won’t drive me too crazy in their books. ...more

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Jan 12, 2015 Ashley (Loves Books) rated it liked it

If you’re looking for a quick, light summer read that’s got elements you’re looking for in a contemporary YA novel, Heat of the Moment is for you.

Now, I’m going to admit early on: I’m not really a fan of this book. There were some parts I liked, and I do actually think I’ll be reading the following two books in this series…but overall, I had so many problems with it.

I think the main problem was Lyla—which is unfortunate, since she’s the main character of this installment. She was just…she lied s If you’re looking for a quick, light summer read that’s got elements you’re looking for in a contemporary YA novel, Heat of the Moment is for you.

Now, I’m going to admit early on: I’m not really a fan of this book. There were some parts I liked, and I do actually think I’ll be reading the following two books in this series…but overall, I had so many problems with it.

I think the main problem was Lyla—which is unfortunate, since she’s the main character of this installment. She was just…she lied so easily, she was wishy-washy and a little bit unlikeable, honestly. I couldn’t find much to like about her in the beginning, and even though she did kind of finally grow into her own as it went on, all the reasons I didn’t like her were already in place.

Her focus on sex was a little…weird. I mean, I understand: high school, 2 years with your boyfriend, that all adds up. But how focused she was on making it happen, how she used it as reason and justification and a little bit of a bribe to Derrick…I dunno. It just felt like it wasn’t right to me.

Derrick was a whole other issue. Absolutely nowhere in this entire book did I see a “perfect” relationship with him. Not in any memories, not in any current happenings, nothing. It seemed like he got what he wanted all the time, and she just stood by, blissfully unaware until Beckett shows up in the picture.

I think I just wanted the friendships and ex-friendships to be a little more of the focus. All the interactions with Aven (awesome name!) and Quinn were interesting and I wanted more. I know it’s the setup to 2 other books, that it’s supposed to be just a dip of your toe into the water…but it was actually pretty frustrating. Too much tease, not enough delivery.

The friendship mystery is one of 2 reasons I want to continue with this series. The other main reason are the emails. I loved the concept of that—in fact, my 7th grade teacher had us write letters to our future 12th grade selves. I completely forgot about it until it arrived at my mailbox shortly after graduation. Absolutely nothing panned out the way I thought it would, but the hopes for who I would become were still there, and I loved it. I like what Lyla wanted for herself--though I don’t quite get her disdain for it—and want to find out how it went for the other girls, too.

Heat of the Moment left a lot to be desired for me as a reader, but I recongise how it will appeal to someone looking for a light summery romance and trio of girls to befriend. Maybe it didn’t work for me, but you should still try!

2.5 stars ...more

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Mar 04, 2015 Take Me Away To A Great Read rated it liked it

Shelves: harpercollins

3 Out of 5 Stars

Heat of the Moment by Lauren Barnholdt
Moment of Truth, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: Advanced Review Copy provided by publisher

Thank you HarperCollins for this ARC for review and this in no way affected my opinion or rating of this novel.

This was the first book by Lauren that I have read and I really liked the fun, easy feel that her writing has. This story was written through only one POV and yet through the details in her writing I 3 Out of 5 Stars

Heat of the Moment by Lauren Barnholdt
Moment of Truth, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Rating: 3 stars
Source: Advanced Review Copy provided by publisher

Thank you HarperCollins for this ARC for review and this in no way affected my opinion or rating of this novel.

This was the first book by Lauren that I have read and I really liked the fun, easy feel that her writing has. This story was written through only one POV and yet through the details in her writing I could figure things out that even the main character was struggling with. This was all due to the wonderful writing that lead you to those details.

Lyla McAfee will do anything to make sure she gets to go one the senior trip to Florida. She wants to spend the time with her boyfriend Derrick and take their relationship to the next level.

There are so many things that seem to get in the way of what Lyla wants, including her and Derrick. They are considered to be the perfect couple and everything is perfect when there is no bumps in the road. What will happen to their relationship when Beckett causes some jealousy and when Lyla questions Derrick's friendship with Juliana? Can their relationship survive the jealousy and lies?

Lyla, Quinn and Aven all used to be friends. They wrote emails to themselves on freshmen year to be delivered to them before graduation. Lyla' was that she would learn to trust by the end of senior year. Since freshman year Lyla, Aven, and Quinn have had a falling out and are no longer best-friends. Lyla feels that they have betrayed her in the worst way and she doesn't think she can trust them.

Will these former friends, Lyla, Aven, and Quinn come together over their promised emails? Will Lyla learn to trust? Find out in this first part of the series.

I really liked how this book started and, I liked the friendship between the former friends. Lyla was the only problem for me, I felt at times she was self involved. She didn't pay attention to anyone else around her, or care how they felt. Her selfishness at times drove me crazy. I hated that she lied so much, when it would have just been easier to tell the truth. I can't wait to see what Aven and Quinn wrote in their emails and how their stories play out. I am giving Lyla's story 3 out of 5 stars. ...more

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Nov 21, 2014 ReadWriteLove28 rated it it was ok

Shelves: borrowed, fluffy-and-light, rev-on-amazon

Have you ever read a book that is so mindless that you can’t help but laugh? That was me while I was reading Heat of the Moment.

The concept behind Heat of the Moment is that it is one part of a trilogy, where each book focuses on one of three ex-best friends. The book started with Lyla missing the bus for her senior trip to Disney. She had been looking forward to this trip forever, so she started panicking when she realized that she might not be able to go after all. She luckily ran into another Have you ever read a book that is so mindless that you can’t help but laugh? That was me while I was reading Heat of the Moment.

The concept behind Heat of the Moment is that it is one part of a trilogy, where each book focuses on one of three ex-best friends. The book started with Lyla missing the bus for her senior trip to Disney. She had been looking forward to this trip forever, so she started panicking when she realized that she might not be able to go after all. She luckily ran into another guy from her school who missed the bus, and he generously gave her a ride. But once Lyla arrived in Disney, it turned out that her senior trip wasn’t going to be her ‘happily ever after’ trip that she wanted. You see, she has a boyfriend who she loved (and planned on losing her virginity to during this trip), but she couldn’t stop thinking about another guy. Let the boy trouble begin! But it wasn’t just boy trouble…Lyla also had to deal with being roommates with her two ex-best friends.

I had trouble connecting to most of the characters, and some seemed one dimensional. They were all very superficial, and I did not feel as though I could trust anyone. It was as though the characters were lying to themselves, and by doing that, they were lying to the reader. Then again, maybe I’m biased. I loathe people who are liars. But even though I didn’t connect with the characters, I must admit that Heat of the Moment was funny. I actually was laughing throughout the entire book. It was bizarre. I don’t know how to describe it other than I didn’t like it, but it was hysterical.

Also, I should probably give a warning. Yes, there were love triangles in this book, but no, I did not enjoy them. They were very messy and confusing. I do not think that they were necessary- they seemed very random. Also, there was a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of the book, which caused me to read the last page twice before I realized that it was actually the ending. Literally, the last paragraph of this book made my head spin. It made absolutely no sense, at all, but yet it was very effective. I need to read the next book to find out what happened next!

I am going to give this book 2.5/5 stars, but round up to 3 because it was funny and I do want to read the sequel. ...more

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Jun 05, 2016 jenny rated it it was ok · review of another edition

First of all, sorry if I make some mistakes english is not my native language!

The book was really lame!
I didn't like the MC, Layla, she was so annoying! She always lied, to her boyfriend, to her friends, to Beckett, to her mother, to herself... TO EVERYONE!!! The only thing she told were lies! It was sooo annoying!
I loved the idea about the emails! It's such a cute idea for a book, but seriously she turned it into something so boring!
Also the Side characters... Most of them were also annoying.
A ...more

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Jul 31, 2015 Andrew rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction

Disappointing. Almost all thoughts and decisions that Lyla made annoyed me, or didn't make any sense. The plot and events seemed really thrown together and as others have stated in their reviews, not as how the sypnosis describes. She didn't make any sense to me and the drama she made in her head went on for far too long, and all these bad scenarios could have been avoided if she just didn't lie about things that didn't have to be a big deal. Is that why her name is Lie-la?

I read another one of

...more

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May 04, 2015 Harligrace rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this book and overall liked the story line and loved Beckett. He was so hot, funny, brooding, mysterious, and handsome. Lyla was an okay main character but she got on my nerves at times because she would never give anyone time to explain things. Once she made her mind up, no one could talk her out of anything. She worried too much and tried a little too hard at times, but she had her good moments. She was witty and had a good heart. She really developed throughout the book and s ...more

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Aug 22, 2016 Ashley rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016, ebook, library, 3-stars

This was cute. Nothing groundbreaking or spectacular, but just a fun, light read. I'm looking forward to the other books in this series to see what Quinn and Aven's stories are. And as far as Lyla goes, I liked her characterization. She seemed like a real teenage girl.

My only gripe, and it's not just this book, it's most, is that the conflict always seems to be the same: one person is too stubborn to admit something, and when the other person calls them out on it, they get in a big fight for no ...more

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May 25, 2015 Laura Greata rated it liked it

Different (lower) standards for a beach read. 4 stars to read as a super easy teen read on beach in one day. 3 stars as compared to my other ratings...

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Feb 22, 2016 Emma added it

Shelves: romance, everyday

Absolute rubbish - I read it for the laughs! It's the high school version of those stupid books we'd read in primary school about all the popular girls and their boyfriends/love triangles. ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Linda Pérez rated it liked it

Shelves: i-own-a-copy-of-this-book, ya, romance, contemporaries, 2019

(2.5) Ah, lying for no reason to cover more lies for no reason. My least favorite trope. It’s been a while.
Some YA protagonists really don’t know you don’t have to lie about everything, huh?

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