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Crossing the Line
A high-stakes story of star-crossed lovers from Simone Elkeles, the New York Times bestselling author of the Perfect Chemistry series
To escape his abusive stepdad, bad boy Ryan Hess runs from his tiny Texas border town to Mexico. But his plans to keep his head down and stay out of trouble are shattered the minute he meets the beautiful and totally out of his league Dalila Sandoval.
Dalila Sandoval shouldn’t even know someone like Ryan Hess. The daughter of one of the wealthiest lawyers in Mexico, Dalila is focused on studying and planning for her bright future. Ryan is only a distraction from her dreams, but she’s never felt more alive than when she’s by his side.
Ryan and Dalila are wrong for each other in every way. And yet they can’t resist the sparks that fly when they’re together. But their love is like a flame burning too close to the fuse.
Something is going to explode. Will their love be strong enough to survive? Or will it burn them both?
To escape his abusive stepdad, bad boy Ryan Hess runs from his tiny Texas border town to Mexico. But his plans to keep his head down and stay out of trouble are shattered the minute he meets the beautiful and totally out of his league Dalila Sandoval.
Dalila Sandoval shouldn’t even know someone like Ryan Hess. The daughter of one of the wealthiest lawyers in Mexico, Dalila is focused on studying and planning for her bright future. Ryan is only a distraction from her dreams, but she’s never felt more alive than when she’s by his side.
Ryan and Dalila are wrong for each other in every way. And yet they can’t resist the sparks that fly when they’re together. But their love is like a flame burning too close to the fuse.
Something is going to explode. Will their love be strong enough to survive? Or will it burn them both?
348 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 12, 2018
89 people are currently reading
3365 people want to read
About the author
Simone Elkeles
31 books13.6k followersSimone Elkeles is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of novels for teens. Simone’s books have won many awards including being YALSA Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, being named to the YALSA Popular Paperbacks and Teens Top Ten lists, and added to the Illinois “Read for a Lifetime” Reading List. Simone also won the coveted RITA award from the Romance Writers of America for her book Perfect Chemistry. Simone is especially proud of the fact that the Illinois Association of Teachers of English named her Author of the Year.
Simone was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where she still lives today. Simone went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and received her Bachelor’s of Science there in Psychology in 1992. She continued her education at Loyola University-Chicago where she received her Master’s of Science degree in Industrial Relations while working for a manufacturing company creating diversity programs for their employees.
She loves animals (she has two dogs – a labradoodle and a German Shepherd), kids (she also has two of those) and her family. In her spare time she’s the Hockey Mom for her kids hockey teams and is an active Girl Scout leader specially trained in outdoor education. She also spends time mentoring other teen and adult authors. (She also loves sushi, which you can probably tell by reading her books.) Simone writes about teens because she was a teen in the 80’s (when spiked hair and blue eye shadow were “rad”) and she loves writing about those exciting teen relationships and romances.
Simone was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where she still lives today. Simone went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and received her Bachelor’s of Science there in Psychology in 1992. She continued her education at Loyola University-Chicago where she received her Master’s of Science degree in Industrial Relations while working for a manufacturing company creating diversity programs for their employees.
She loves animals (she has two dogs – a labradoodle and a German Shepherd), kids (she also has two of those) and her family. In her spare time she’s the Hockey Mom for her kids hockey teams and is an active Girl Scout leader specially trained in outdoor education. She also spends time mentoring other teen and adult authors. (She also loves sushi, which you can probably tell by reading her books.) Simone writes about teens because she was a teen in the 80’s (when spiked hair and blue eye shadow were “rad”) and she loves writing about those exciting teen relationships and romances.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews
February 19, 2018
Simone, you did me DIRTY!!!!!
I got so lost in this book and was so into it...and then the ending comes. *sigh* I honestly should have seen it coming.
- Action Packed --- I could see this being turned into a movie.
- Tons of romance
- Steamy -- super emotional sexy time scenes.
- Friendships and Family issues
...... but horrible ending.....
I would still recommend this book, especially to those who love Simone Elkeles, but jump into it knowing that Simone Elkeles twisted things around with this book and will pull every emotion out of you that you did not even know you could feel.
Even though I hate the ending, I devoured this book and cannot wait to see what writes next.
I got so lost in this book and was so into it...and then the ending comes. *sigh* I honestly should have seen it coming.
- Action Packed --- I could see this being turned into a movie.
- Tons of romance
- Steamy -- super emotional sexy time scenes.
- Friendships and Family issues
...... but horrible ending.....
I would still recommend this book, especially to those who love Simone Elkeles, but jump into it knowing that Simone Elkeles twisted things around with this book and will pull every emotion out of you that you did not even know you could feel.
Even though I hate the ending, I devoured this book and cannot wait to see what writes next.
June 27, 2018
RATING: 2/5
ARC provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
This was a solid 3 stars until things got unnecessarily messy and complicated towards the end. Not gonna lie, I did enjoy the romance but the book has major flaws.
Said flaws include:
1) Some of the Spanish phrases were clearly copied from Google Translator and no one bothered to verify them. (There is something called context people!)
2) I did not care for the characters
3) The romance was kinda insta-lovey and needy.
4) The conflict took too long to get resolved. Therefore, I lost interest.
5) The ending is, in my opinion, stupid and made the whole book seem silly and pointless.
I’m starting to see a pattern in all of Simone Elkeles books and it is not working for me :(
ARC provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review
This was a solid 3 stars until things got unnecessarily messy and complicated towards the end. Not gonna lie, I did enjoy the romance but the book has major flaws.
Said flaws include:
1) Some of the Spanish phrases were clearly copied from Google Translator and no one bothered to verify them. (There is something called context people!)
2) I did not care for the characters
3) The romance was kinda insta-lovey and needy.
4) The conflict took too long to get resolved. Therefore, I lost interest.
5) The ending is, in my opinion, stupid and made the whole book seem silly and pointless.
I’m starting to see a pattern in all of Simone Elkeles books and it is not working for me :(
September 2, 2018
Damn, this book broke my heart into millions of pieces... 😞
I loved it, with all I have: my heart, my soul and my mind. But the ending was not what I expected. At all...
First of all, I love those books which have Spanish sentences as parts of a conversation. Spanish makes a book more interesting from my point of view. And this one had a lot of them.
Second, Ryan and Dalila (such an interesting name as well) had a unique love story. One that you could feel from their first kiss.
Pablo... such a good friend. Each character needs a friend like him. Even in the darkest moments.
I also loved the idea of cartels in this book. Usually cartels and mafia make the action better. The suspense, the fear, the guns, the bad guys etc.
But that ending! Yeah, I know I’ve said it before... but damn that ending! Why?! Just why?
I loved it, with all I have: my heart, my soul and my mind. But the ending was not what I expected. At all...
First of all, I love those books which have Spanish sentences as parts of a conversation. Spanish makes a book more interesting from my point of view. And this one had a lot of them.
Second, Ryan and Dalila (such an interesting name as well) had a unique love story. One that you could feel from their first kiss.
Pablo... such a good friend. Each character needs a friend like him. Even in the darkest moments.
I also loved the idea of cartels in this book. Usually cartels and mafia make the action better. The suspense, the fear, the guns, the bad guys etc.
But that ending! Yeah, I know I’ve said it before... but damn that ending! Why?! Just why?
June 15, 2018
Wha???That ending. Nyet. Hell No!
July 24, 2018
I really enjoy Simone Elkeles's books. I'm a sucker for a bad boy and I love when she writes interracial relationships. The books are engaging and exciting to read. You get the boy and girls' points of view and there's always a dangerous element that adds to the experience. Both characters have been through some tough things and they were a good couple. The only thing I didn't like was the ending
January 19, 2019
OMG je ne m’attendais pas du tout à ça!
June 19, 2018
Usually an escape across the southern border has the person coming north, but Ryan has already made one huge move south, from Chicago to a tiny town in Texas after his alcoholic mom married an overbearing sheriff who can't stand Ryan. Boxing is his salvation, especially after his dad vanished before he was born and other kids bullied him. Life at home is ugly, what with Mom taking his stepfather's side and his two stepbrothers delighting in making him the scapegoat for everything.
After deciding that there's no reason to stick around, Ryan takes what little money he has and hops into his junker car. He heads into Mexico where he believes a retired boxing champion might be his salvation...If he can convince the reclusive man to train him.
Enter Dalila, daughter of a powerful Mexican lawyer who feels trapped herself, but for different reasons. The guy who her family thinks she should be interested in, introduces her to boxing and after she sees Ryan in the gym, the attraction grows until it's so powerful, nothing, not her father, not the jealous would-be boyfriend, not rival Mexican gangs, not even Ryan's evil stepdad, can stop them from colliding. However, there are plenty of roadblocks standing in their way including secrets, corrupt officials and uncertainty about who's trustworthy. All of it leads to a shocking conclusion that I certainly didn't expect. Simone is one of my favorite authors and she certainly hit the sweet spot with this book.
After deciding that there's no reason to stick around, Ryan takes what little money he has and hops into his junker car. He heads into Mexico where he believes a retired boxing champion might be his salvation...If he can convince the reclusive man to train him.
Enter Dalila, daughter of a powerful Mexican lawyer who feels trapped herself, but for different reasons. The guy who her family thinks she should be interested in, introduces her to boxing and after she sees Ryan in the gym, the attraction grows until it's so powerful, nothing, not her father, not the jealous would-be boyfriend, not rival Mexican gangs, not even Ryan's evil stepdad, can stop them from colliding. However, there are plenty of roadblocks standing in their way including secrets, corrupt officials and uncertainty about who's trustworthy. All of it leads to a shocking conclusion that I certainly didn't expect. Simone is one of my favorite authors and she certainly hit the sweet spot with this book.
July 3, 2019
Cuando vi que Versátil publicaba de nuevo a Simone Elkeles no pude evitar dar saltos de alegría, su trilogía de «Química perfecta» me había enganchado mucho en mis tiempos de adolescencia.
Qué lástima que fuera una lectura tan decepcionante.
Más que una novela se asemeja a un borrador: le falta profundidad y escenas para que sea creíble. Sobre todo de la mitad hacia adelante.
La relación de los protagonistas casi puede considerarse un 'instantlove'.
Hay algunos errores gramaticales y erratas, no más de diez, sería interesante modificarlos en caso de haber una segunda edición.
Qué lástima que fuera una lectura tan decepcionante.
Más que una novela se asemeja a un borrador: le falta profundidad y escenas para que sea creíble. Sobre todo de la mitad hacia adelante.
La relación de los protagonistas casi puede considerarse un 'instantlove'.
Hay algunos errores gramaticales y erratas, no más de diez, sería interesante modificarlos en caso de haber una segunda edición.
July 19, 2018
what the fuck was this? I wanted a light cute summer read because reading so many Shakespearean tragedies was getting way too depressing, but instead of a light cute novel, I do I get this, a shitty book with a shitty ending that doesn't make sense whatsoever. wth? I can't believe I wasted my time and money on this book to be cheated like this with that stupid shitty ending that doesn't make sense whatsoever. That ending made the entire book so redundant and utterly pointless. Can't believe I stayed up all night reading this book when I could've studied for my exam. If I wanted a brutal ending I should've just stuck to all those Shakespearean plays I've been reading for my eng lit class lately. The storyline is meh and the characters are uninteresting. I think Elkeles was trying to write something similar to Perfect Chemistry, but everything about this book was all wrong. The romance was way too insta-love type of a romance. The only line I liked in the entire novel was, "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like building a wall or somethin' like that." That line gave me a good laugh, but that was it, the rest was so boring and completely pointless. I'm so damn disappointed. I was so looking forward to reading something nice and light but alas, that wasn't meant to be :/
March 1, 2018
I am having the worst luck with picking up books these days.
I read "Crossing the Line" because I used to love a few from this author back in the day, but for me it did not work. Too much, too soon, too little, that's how I felt about it. I couldn't connect with the characters and there was a case of insta love too.
I also (always) feel like someone who actually speaks Spanish should give the author some advices, because some things did not sound right to me (and I don't even speak Spanish that well)... For example: you don't say "loco" to some girls, it should be "locas"; and addressing a girl your age by "señora"? Seriously? o_O
But the beginning was pretty great, I loved that chapter and I was sure I was going to love it. I assume the ending was great too, it fit the story well.
I appreciate being given the chance to read it in advance and I hope that other people will enjoy it a lot better. *sigh* For now I am rounding it up to 2 stars.
I read "Crossing the Line" because I used to love a few from this author back in the day, but for me it did not work. Too much, too soon, too little, that's how I felt about it. I couldn't connect with the characters and there was a case of insta love too.
I also (always) feel like someone who actually speaks Spanish should give the author some advices, because some things did not sound right to me (and I don't even speak Spanish that well)... For example: you don't say "loco" to some girls, it should be "locas"; and addressing a girl your age by "señora"? Seriously? o_O
But the beginning was pretty great, I loved that chapter and I was sure I was going to love it. I assume the ending was great too, it fit the story well.
I appreciate being given the chance to read it in advance and I hope that other people will enjoy it a lot better. *sigh* For now I am rounding it up to 2 stars.
July 21, 2019
En realidad es un 3'5.
Una novela poco convencional que nos llevará a vivir un amor nacido entre multitud de peligros.
Más allá del límite de Simone Elkeles es una historia para nada convencional que nos arrastrará a una trepidante aventura donde sus protagonistas no lo tendrán nada fácil pues deberán sortear miles de peligros además de luchar por su relación, un amor que no conoce fronteras ni tampoco límites.
Link de la reseña completa: https://florecilladecereza.blogspot.c...
Una novela poco convencional que nos llevará a vivir un amor nacido entre multitud de peligros.
Más allá del límite de Simone Elkeles es una historia para nada convencional que nos arrastrará a una trepidante aventura donde sus protagonistas no lo tendrán nada fácil pues deberán sortear miles de peligros además de luchar por su relación, un amor que no conoce fronteras ni tampoco límites.
Link de la reseña completa: https://florecilladecereza.blogspot.c...
March 12, 2018
I received this eARC book from Edelweiss. This is my honest review.
Release date: June 12, 2018
Life for Ryan has not been kind throughout his 17 years. With no father around, and a drunk mother, growing up in Chicago was very rough, especially being bullied and beat up all of the time. But Ryan had enough and decided to learn how to fend for himself by learning how to fight - how to box.
Now his mom moved them to Texas when she remarried, and Ryan hates it there even more. He hates his stepfather, and his two stepbrothers. They are the epiphany of bullies, and his stepfather hates that Ryan won't conform to his ways and rules.
After being threatened one too many times, Ryan decides to go across the border to Mexico and find a famous boxer to train with. He is taking control of his life and needs to be better at boxing to survive on his own.
Dalila has grown up pretty privileged when it comes to families in Mexico. Her father is a well-known lawyer and has a great business that has provided her family with the funds they need to be able to have a great house and even security to walk their perimeter. And Dalila has gotten an amazing education, but only so she can become a heart surgeon like her older brother was going to do before he passed away from heart conditions. So now she has to live her brother's dreams because her parents are really pushing her to do so.
Even though Dalila looks like the perfect daughter, following all of the rules, she's actually a rule breaker through and through. In fact, she decides to go to Texas to a music concert with her two friends, Demi and Soona. And at this concert, she meets Ryan, who "saved" her from a mosh pit...
That's not the last time Dalila and Ryan meet, though. In fact, their lives become so intertwined with one another, and they find themselves drawn to each other. But their lives get incredible dangerous when shady cops, persistent detectives, and 2 cartels are out looking for these two for two very different reasons. With so much against them, their happily ever after may be in danger.
*Sad face*. I really, really, really wanted to like this book. I really did!!! I love Simone Elkeles and the fact that I just gave her book 2 stars is killing me inside a little bit right now. I thought that this book would be the opposite of Perfect Chemistry to the fact that the boy was white and the girl was Mexican, but there are so many things that are different, it can't even be compared to each other.
So, Ryan and Delila. I like them individually just fine, but when they are together, it just doesn't work for me. They are so awkward around each other and act like badasses and independent, but then all of a sudden they are confessing their love for each other. It went from 0 to 100 in a matter of pages, and that wasn't a gradual attraction to each other, but "the world is going to crap and you're here, so let's do this" type of thing. At least for me, anyway.
Then all of the different parties involved. There was SO MUCH GOING ON!!!! It was a bit hard to keep track of it, and then you throw in the Spanish language, where sometimes it wasn't translated that well for non-Spanish speaking readers, and I was confused. I don't tend to be confused that often because I am so engrossed into the novel that I follow everything to a T, but alas, I was.
And, lastly, the ending... I get it. I really, really do. But I just wish it didn't happen. I needed something more, because even though I didn't connect to the characters, I was still hoping for something more to happen at the end. It was a devastating ending that ended abruptly, and I was not pleased with it at all.
I feel like this could have been an amazing novel, but there were too many things I was struggling with. It breaks my heart that I couldn't get lost in this novel like I usually do, and the fact that I wasn't as emotional about the ending really showed me that I wasn't as invested in this book as I should have been.
I am totally a fan of Simone Elkeles, still, and hopefully this is the only dud for me out of her books. I may have to go re-read the Perfect Chemistry series to get this bad feeling out of me and keep her books as a fond memory for me.
I hope I am the only one that feels this way and that all of the other readers who get their hands on this book love it so much. It just wasn't meant to be for me, unfortunately :(
I am very grateful that I was able to receive an eARC novel of this book and look forward to seeing other readers get lost in the story when it is released!
Release date: June 12, 2018
Life for Ryan has not been kind throughout his 17 years. With no father around, and a drunk mother, growing up in Chicago was very rough, especially being bullied and beat up all of the time. But Ryan had enough and decided to learn how to fend for himself by learning how to fight - how to box.
Now his mom moved them to Texas when she remarried, and Ryan hates it there even more. He hates his stepfather, and his two stepbrothers. They are the epiphany of bullies, and his stepfather hates that Ryan won't conform to his ways and rules.
After being threatened one too many times, Ryan decides to go across the border to Mexico and find a famous boxer to train with. He is taking control of his life and needs to be better at boxing to survive on his own.
Dalila has grown up pretty privileged when it comes to families in Mexico. Her father is a well-known lawyer and has a great business that has provided her family with the funds they need to be able to have a great house and even security to walk their perimeter. And Dalila has gotten an amazing education, but only so she can become a heart surgeon like her older brother was going to do before he passed away from heart conditions. So now she has to live her brother's dreams because her parents are really pushing her to do so.
Even though Dalila looks like the perfect daughter, following all of the rules, she's actually a rule breaker through and through. In fact, she decides to go to Texas to a music concert with her two friends, Demi and Soona. And at this concert, she meets Ryan, who "saved" her from a mosh pit...
That's not the last time Dalila and Ryan meet, though. In fact, their lives become so intertwined with one another, and they find themselves drawn to each other. But their lives get incredible dangerous when shady cops, persistent detectives, and 2 cartels are out looking for these two for two very different reasons. With so much against them, their happily ever after may be in danger.
*Sad face*. I really, really, really wanted to like this book. I really did!!! I love Simone Elkeles and the fact that I just gave her book 2 stars is killing me inside a little bit right now. I thought that this book would be the opposite of Perfect Chemistry to the fact that the boy was white and the girl was Mexican, but there are so many things that are different, it can't even be compared to each other.
So, Ryan and Delila. I like them individually just fine, but when they are together, it just doesn't work for me. They are so awkward around each other and act like badasses and independent, but then all of a sudden they are confessing their love for each other. It went from 0 to 100 in a matter of pages, and that wasn't a gradual attraction to each other, but "the world is going to crap and you're here, so let's do this" type of thing. At least for me, anyway.
Then all of the different parties involved. There was SO MUCH GOING ON!!!! It was a bit hard to keep track of it, and then you throw in the Spanish language, where sometimes it wasn't translated that well for non-Spanish speaking readers, and I was confused. I don't tend to be confused that often because I am so engrossed into the novel that I follow everything to a T, but alas, I was.
And, lastly, the ending... I get it. I really, really do. But I just wish it didn't happen. I needed something more, because even though I didn't connect to the characters, I was still hoping for something more to happen at the end. It was a devastating ending that ended abruptly, and I was not pleased with it at all.
I feel like this could have been an amazing novel, but there were too many things I was struggling with. It breaks my heart that I couldn't get lost in this novel like I usually do, and the fact that I wasn't as emotional about the ending really showed me that I wasn't as invested in this book as I should have been.
I am totally a fan of Simone Elkeles, still, and hopefully this is the only dud for me out of her books. I may have to go re-read the Perfect Chemistry series to get this bad feeling out of me and keep her books as a fond memory for me.
I hope I am the only one that feels this way and that all of the other readers who get their hands on this book love it so much. It just wasn't meant to be for me, unfortunately :(
I am very grateful that I was able to receive an eARC novel of this book and look forward to seeing other readers get lost in the story when it is released!
July 17, 2020
Review to come!
August 12, 2018
“Sometimes you never know what’s missing in your life until it’s right in front of your face. I never thought I needed a hero, until I met Ryan Hess.”
The initial premise of this novel drew me in with the quintessential bad boy meets rich girl and they fall in love despite their circumstances story. The romantic rags to riches saga is always a joy for me.
Ryan Hess redefined the standard for the bad boy genre. Ryan’s inner monologue completely broke my heart and made me fall in love with him along with Dalila. He was open and vulnerable without being whiny or annoying. His journey from troubled teen to respectable man was just the right pace. His transformation was believable because it wasn’t a transformation. He’s a good guy from page one. He just won’t admit it. Five stars for this young man alone!
Dalila also broke the mold, for me, as far as the spoiled, damsel in distress stereotype goes. She was strong and willing to admit when things were wrong in her royal, designer world. She wasn’t disillusioned to the evils behind the upper class and worked hard to expose the demons, even if at her own expense.
The novel was more moving than I had expected. I laughed. I cried. And I thoroughly enjoyed joining Ryan and Dalila on their journey.
My only critique, is all the Spanish. I speak Spanish, so it was fun for me to see Spanish on the page, but the dialogue wasn’t always explained and it could leave some readers wanting a little more clarity.
However, in life, we don’t often get resolution, so it may have been a brilliant tactic on Elkeles part, to further bring the reader into the Mexican cartel war that Ryan and Dalila are fighting through.
Great read!
The initial premise of this novel drew me in with the quintessential bad boy meets rich girl and they fall in love despite their circumstances story. The romantic rags to riches saga is always a joy for me.
Ryan Hess redefined the standard for the bad boy genre. Ryan’s inner monologue completely broke my heart and made me fall in love with him along with Dalila. He was open and vulnerable without being whiny or annoying. His journey from troubled teen to respectable man was just the right pace. His transformation was believable because it wasn’t a transformation. He’s a good guy from page one. He just won’t admit it. Five stars for this young man alone!
Dalila also broke the mold, for me, as far as the spoiled, damsel in distress stereotype goes. She was strong and willing to admit when things were wrong in her royal, designer world. She wasn’t disillusioned to the evils behind the upper class and worked hard to expose the demons, even if at her own expense.
The novel was more moving than I had expected. I laughed. I cried. And I thoroughly enjoyed joining Ryan and Dalila on their journey.
My only critique, is all the Spanish. I speak Spanish, so it was fun for me to see Spanish on the page, but the dialogue wasn’t always explained and it could leave some readers wanting a little more clarity.
However, in life, we don’t often get resolution, so it may have been a brilliant tactic on Elkeles part, to further bring the reader into the Mexican cartel war that Ryan and Dalila are fighting through.
Great read!
July 9, 2019
http://yourhappinesslife.blogspot.com...
Lo he disfrutado mucho, es una historia de amor con muchas complicaciones, donde al principio pensamos que es el típico libro del chico malo y la niña rica, pero nada más lejos de la realidad.
Desarrollamos una historia de amor en medio de la dificultad de los cárteles de Mexico y los policías corruptos.
Lo he disfrutado mucho, es una historia de amor con muchas complicaciones, donde al principio pensamos que es el típico libro del chico malo y la niña rica, pero nada más lejos de la realidad.
Desarrollamos una historia de amor en medio de la dificultad de los cárteles de Mexico y los policías corruptos.
June 8, 2018
I really enjoyed this romance with a boxer and princess. I loved the friends and romance. The ending I didn't really like but it was a very real ending.
September 15, 2018
I can't believe I used to enjoy Simone Elkeles' books, this was so racist and stereotypical and TERRIBLE
June 13, 2018
I'm a fan of Simone Elkeles. Even though my first book by her wasn't a huge hit for me, every one of her other books were really enjoyable for me so when I saw Crossing the Line I was really excited. However, Crossing the Line was a little bit of a let down for me.
My biggest issue with Crossing the Line was the moments that seemed to stretch the imagination. And Crossing the Line had many of those moments. I mean does anyone use really personal information like a nickname as their password here in 2018? Ok maybe some people do, but a powerful attorney? One who would have potentially highly classified information from clients past and present in their possession? Yeah? Probably not. How about when you're trying to avoid being seen or caught by potential bad guys and your truck breaks down? You just decide to sleep in the BED of the truck that night? Oh but that's not all. You do the deed? REALLY? Because that's what you should really be doing in the back of a truck, at night, when you're trying to keep a low profile. The relationship between Ryan and Dalila went from zero to one-hundred pretty quickly. One minute they're still denying to have any connection and the next minute they're talking about their futures together. It was jarring for me how quickly that change came about which left it feeling a bit unrealistic. Do four-star hotels take check-ins without a credit card? In my experience they don't. That's because if you want anything like room service, pay per view, or the mini bar they can charge those things to the room which will charge your card. And when you've stumbled upon a brutal murder what's the first thing you should do? TOUCH THE BODY. Clean the face of the deceased and then decide to BURY THEM? Because the authorities won't need to do any investigating, right? Oh goodness. I'm sorry guys. Some of these things were just minor things and some were used to advance the story even though they're not realistic, but each of these incidences took me out of the story and caused me to roll my eyes big time. And some of these things were so brutally stupid that I wonder how they made it past editing.
Ryan and Dalila were both decent characters. Each were fairly fleshed out with backgrounds, motivations, and fears. Although, I felt that Ryan was a bit more developed than Dalila. I was fine rooting for the relationship. I specifically liked the flirting between the two before things were more concrete between them. But I also felt like things moved too fast. I didn't feel like the two knew each other well enough to have moved into the level of feelings they claimed to have or the physical level they reached.
My second biggest issue with Crossing the Line was how emotion driven it was. This is an odd thing for me to complain about because usually I love and devour books driven by emotion. But I guess my struggle was that the emotions didn't feel mature or healthy exactly. Ryan has the self-deprication thing down thinking he's unworthy of Dalila. This isn't surprising given his background. But it also isn't exactly healthy. The whole "made me feel" thing...while sure we certainly feel emotions as a result and reaction to other people, I've been struggling with the idea that no one else can make us feel anything. We are in charge of our own emotions and to advertise differently is to weaken the power within each one of us. At one point Dalila asks Ryan what he's thinking about and when he doesn't go into a soliloqy about his love for her she's disappointed. I loathe the "it feels so right that it can't be wrong" mantra because that's nothing short of what drug addicts or alcoholics must think. And to let our emotions rule us beyond reason is no better than either of these addictions. Dalila also asks Ryan to be open with her while immediately thinking that she doesn't intend to be open with him. Talk about hypocrisy. Not exactly the best foundation for a relationship. Not to mention the repeated lies Dalila tells him. So I guess while normally I love relationships where the love between two characters drives the story, the relationship between these two didn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies due to the immaturity and unhealthy nature of some of the statements mentioned above.
In relation to the major plot line of the mystery behind who the bad guys are, every single thing that I predicted came true. I was starting to wonder if I was wrong in my guesses, but nope. Turned out right. I don't say this to brag that I figured it out, but to point out that I don't enjoy predicting every twist. I actually enjoy being surprised. Yet that didn't happen for me in Crossing the Line. And actually, similarly to my frustration with how quickly Ryan and Dalila jumped in their relationship from zero to together, I felt the same way with how quickly things wrapped up, all of the bad guys were revealed and their motives as well. It all felt too rushed to me.
I know that after reading this review one could conclude that I really disliked Crossing the Line? But that wasn't the case. I did enjoy it. Minus these issues. The things I took issue with were just easy to point out. Despite my frustrations Crossing the Line gets 3 Stars. Have you read Crossing the Line ? What did you think? Let me know!
My biggest issue with Crossing the Line was the moments that seemed to stretch the imagination. And Crossing the Line had many of those moments. I mean does anyone use really personal information like a nickname as their password here in 2018? Ok maybe some people do, but a powerful attorney? One who would have potentially highly classified information from clients past and present in their possession? Yeah? Probably not. How about when you're trying to avoid being seen or caught by potential bad guys and your truck breaks down? You just decide to sleep in the BED of the truck that night? Oh but that's not all. You do the deed? REALLY? Because that's what you should really be doing in the back of a truck, at night, when you're trying to keep a low profile. The relationship between Ryan and Dalila went from zero to one-hundred pretty quickly. One minute they're still denying to have any connection and the next minute they're talking about their futures together. It was jarring for me how quickly that change came about which left it feeling a bit unrealistic. Do four-star hotels take check-ins without a credit card? In my experience they don't. That's because if you want anything like room service, pay per view, or the mini bar they can charge those things to the room which will charge your card. And when you've stumbled upon a brutal murder what's the first thing you should do? TOUCH THE BODY. Clean the face of the deceased and then decide to BURY THEM? Because the authorities won't need to do any investigating, right? Oh goodness. I'm sorry guys. Some of these things were just minor things and some were used to advance the story even though they're not realistic, but each of these incidences took me out of the story and caused me to roll my eyes big time. And some of these things were so brutally stupid that I wonder how they made it past editing.
Ryan and Dalila were both decent characters. Each were fairly fleshed out with backgrounds, motivations, and fears. Although, I felt that Ryan was a bit more developed than Dalila. I was fine rooting for the relationship. I specifically liked the flirting between the two before things were more concrete between them. But I also felt like things moved too fast. I didn't feel like the two knew each other well enough to have moved into the level of feelings they claimed to have or the physical level they reached.
My second biggest issue with Crossing the Line was how emotion driven it was. This is an odd thing for me to complain about because usually I love and devour books driven by emotion. But I guess my struggle was that the emotions didn't feel mature or healthy exactly. Ryan has the self-deprication thing down thinking he's unworthy of Dalila. This isn't surprising given his background. But it also isn't exactly healthy. The whole "made me feel" thing...while sure we certainly feel emotions as a result and reaction to other people, I've been struggling with the idea that no one else can make us feel anything. We are in charge of our own emotions and to advertise differently is to weaken the power within each one of us. At one point Dalila asks Ryan what he's thinking about and when he doesn't go into a soliloqy about his love for her she's disappointed. I loathe the "it feels so right that it can't be wrong" mantra because that's nothing short of what drug addicts or alcoholics must think. And to let our emotions rule us beyond reason is no better than either of these addictions. Dalila also asks Ryan to be open with her while immediately thinking that she doesn't intend to be open with him. Talk about hypocrisy. Not exactly the best foundation for a relationship. Not to mention the repeated lies Dalila tells him. So I guess while normally I love relationships where the love between two characters drives the story, the relationship between these two didn't exactly give me the warm and fuzzies due to the immaturity and unhealthy nature of some of the statements mentioned above.
In relation to the major plot line of the mystery behind who the bad guys are, every single thing that I predicted came true. I was starting to wonder if I was wrong in my guesses, but nope. Turned out right. I don't say this to brag that I figured it out, but to point out that I don't enjoy predicting every twist. I actually enjoy being surprised. Yet that didn't happen for me in Crossing the Line. And actually, similarly to my frustration with how quickly Ryan and Dalila jumped in their relationship from zero to together, I felt the same way with how quickly things wrapped up, all of the bad guys were revealed and their motives as well. It all felt too rushed to me.
I know that after reading this review one could conclude that I really disliked Crossing the Line? But that wasn't the case. I did enjoy it. Minus these issues. The things I took issue with were just easy to point out. Despite my frustrations Crossing the Line gets 3 Stars. Have you read Crossing the Line ? What did you think? Let me know!
June 26, 2019
No me creo que esta autora sea la misma que Química Perfecta 🤦♀️
January 14, 2022
pwahhahaha. nul à chier. j'ai donné 1 étoile parce que c'est le minimum, et juste pour la grand-mère dans l'histoire. je me suis pas attachée aux personnages mais genre vraiment pas. rien à foutre, ils pouvaient mourir à tout moment.
les histoires de gang/cartel etc j'aime pas du tout je trouve ça ridicule bref j'aime pas.
j'ai même lu la fin en diagonale parce que c'était devenu une torture. même la fin est pas folle, très rapide alors qu'on a des longueurs pendant tout le récit. vraiment cette lecture décevante jusqu'au bout. je m'attendais à rien, mais je suis quand même déçue haha.
j'ai hâte de passer à autre chose, parce que ça va deux minutes mais ces lectures de début d'année, pas fofolles...
les histoires de gang/cartel etc j'aime pas du tout je trouve ça ridicule bref j'aime pas.
j'ai même lu la fin en diagonale parce que c'était devenu une torture. même la fin est pas folle, très rapide alors qu'on a des longueurs pendant tout le récit. vraiment cette lecture décevante jusqu'au bout. je m'attendais à rien, mais je suis quand même déçue haha.
j'ai hâte de passer à autre chose, parce que ça va deux minutes mais ces lectures de début d'année, pas fofolles...
August 1, 2023
I felt that the end of the story would not be happy...
February 6, 2019
Mouaip... rien de neuf.
http://blogclarabel.canalblog.com/arc...
http://blogclarabel.canalblog.com/arc...
August 8, 2022
*3.8 Stars
I loved the boxing aspect!
I loved the boxing aspect!
August 5, 2018
Simone Elkeles has been one of my auto-buy authors for years. As a teenager, I devoured all her books - the laugh-out-loud-funny How to Ruin series, the smoking hot Perfect Chemistry series, and the raw and heartbreaking Leaving Paradise. To this day, I still her books are some of the first I suggest to fans of YA romance/contemporary.
Therefore, when I found out she had a new book coming out, I was beyond excited. It had been YEARS since I had read a book by Simone, and I couldn't wait to dive in. Crossing the Line's synopsis gave me Perfect Chemistry vibes, and as someone who loves a good forbidden romance, I was all in. It didn't even faze me that it was getting some incredibly iffy reviews.
The result? I should've listened to the iffy reviews because Crossing the Line was not the book for me. I'll admit it was an easy read - I breezed through it in a few hours; however, there were so many parts that left me scratching my head and/or screaming internally at the ridiculousness. And the ending? It was insane, and not in a wow-what-a crazy-twist kind of way but in a what-the-heck-did-I-just-read kind of way?!
My first big problem with Crossing the Line was the main characters. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing outright terrible about Ryan or Dalila. Ryan's the stereotypical bad boy with a heart of gold while Dalila is the forever good girl looking to be bad. Out of the two, I found Ryan to be the more likable. His love of boxing was one thing I always found enjoyable about the book, and the bond between him and his mentor was the most genuine relationship in the book.
However, when you get down to the nitty gritty, Ryan and Dalila are both characters I've seen time and time again in these kind of books, but unlike other books, there was nothing that made them stand out to me, nothing to make me truly connect with them. I found their POVs to be somewhat lackluster. I wanted more personality, more oomph to their voices and to their actions and a whole a lot less whining.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance. It reeked of insta-love, and I felt as if the link between them was superficial. The scenes between them were a tad ridiculous/over the top. For instance, there's a moment early-ish in the book where Dalila drops the L word, and I felt like it was so incredibly out of place. Honestly, it made me cringe.
Now for the plot. I'll admit I liked the original direction of the plot. It was exciting to see Ryan go after his boxing dreams and start to find a home in the process, but as the book continued, it became less about boxing and more about conspiracies and drug cartel related drama. I'm all for drama, but in this case, the drama was too much. I found so many of the big twists in this book to be not only ridiculous but also out of place. I also couldn't stand how so much of this book was based on assumptions.. You know the phrase, "assuming just makes an a** out of you and me" well that perfectly describes what happens here. There's so many times where communication - just asking simple questions, taking the time to think/talk things through - could have changed everything. Additionally, there's still so much I'm scratching my head about, wondering why Simone took it in that direction. And the ending...well that's what completely ruined the book for me....I've seen other reviews say the ending made the book feel sort of pointless, and I have to agree.
Overall, Crossing the Line was not the book for me. It just didn't have the feel of Simone's earlier books.
Now for the big question? Will I still read Simone's future books? Of course! This one may have not been my speed, but I love her previous books enough to continue on!
Therefore, when I found out she had a new book coming out, I was beyond excited. It had been YEARS since I had read a book by Simone, and I couldn't wait to dive in. Crossing the Line's synopsis gave me Perfect Chemistry vibes, and as someone who loves a good forbidden romance, I was all in. It didn't even faze me that it was getting some incredibly iffy reviews.
The result? I should've listened to the iffy reviews because Crossing the Line was not the book for me. I'll admit it was an easy read - I breezed through it in a few hours; however, there were so many parts that left me scratching my head and/or screaming internally at the ridiculousness. And the ending? It was insane, and not in a wow-what-a crazy-twist kind of way but in a what-the-heck-did-I-just-read kind of way?!
My first big problem with Crossing the Line was the main characters. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing outright terrible about Ryan or Dalila. Ryan's the stereotypical bad boy with a heart of gold while Dalila is the forever good girl looking to be bad. Out of the two, I found Ryan to be the more likable. His love of boxing was one thing I always found enjoyable about the book, and the bond between him and his mentor was the most genuine relationship in the book.
However, when you get down to the nitty gritty, Ryan and Dalila are both characters I've seen time and time again in these kind of books, but unlike other books, there was nothing that made them stand out to me, nothing to make me truly connect with them. I found their POVs to be somewhat lackluster. I wanted more personality, more oomph to their voices and to their actions and a whole a lot less whining.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance. It reeked of insta-love, and I felt as if the link between them was superficial. The scenes between them were a tad ridiculous/over the top. For instance, there's a moment early-ish in the book where Dalila drops the L word, and I felt like it was so incredibly out of place. Honestly, it made me cringe.
Now for the plot. I'll admit I liked the original direction of the plot. It was exciting to see Ryan go after his boxing dreams and start to find a home in the process, but as the book continued, it became less about boxing and more about conspiracies and drug cartel related drama. I'm all for drama, but in this case, the drama was too much. I found so many of the big twists in this book to be not only ridiculous but also out of place. I also couldn't stand how so much of this book was based on assumptions.. You know the phrase, "assuming just makes an a** out of you and me" well that perfectly describes what happens here. There's so many times where communication - just asking simple questions, taking the time to think/talk things through - could have changed everything. Additionally, there's still so much I'm scratching my head about, wondering why Simone took it in that direction. And the ending...well that's what completely ruined the book for me....I've seen other reviews say the ending made the book feel sort of pointless, and I have to agree.
Overall, Crossing the Line was not the book for me. It just didn't have the feel of Simone's earlier books.
Now for the big question? Will I still read Simone's future books? Of course! This one may have not been my speed, but I love her previous books enough to continue on!
May 27, 2023
3/5 | I personally wouldn't recommend
⚠️SPOILER ALERT THROUGHOUT THIS REVIEW⚠️
Enjoyment
I was expecting to enjoy this book, and the fact that I stayed up until 2am proves that I did. There were some things that bugged me though, like how Simone wasn't descriptive enough for me. If a character gets punched, WHERE does he/she/they get punched???? And to be fair this book didn't bring out a lot of emotions as I think it was supposed to. But despite that I would have read the book again, if it wasn't for the ending. [Internally screaming]
Characters
Dalila, for all her 'I'm a tough woman attitude', is not a very tough woman. She was a bit needy, and wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Ryan. Ryan, on the other hand I absolutely loved 😍. But Mateo I always had my suspicions about, and ofc I was right [hair flick]
Ryan and Dalila's Relationship
It was definitely insta-love, which isn't on my list of fav troupes. And it wasn't a very equal-match kind of thing. Dalila is always reliant on Ryan, and though Ryan adores Dalila, he doesnt rely on her like Dalila does on him.
Setting
The whole Texas/Mexico setting was interesting, but it really just showed us that they have pretty much the same landscape.
Plot
Sorry to say, but i wasn't really paying any attention to the plot. I was a bit confused though, and i still don't understand the whole thing with the cartels (i don't know if i spelt that right). Also the ending was kind of similar to Defy the Stars
Conclusion
The characters were a bit messy, wasn't very descriptive, the romance was a bit off, but I still very much enjoyed until the ending sprung up on me.
⚠️SPOILER ALERT THROUGHOUT THIS REVIEW⚠️
Enjoyment
I was expecting to enjoy this book, and the fact that I stayed up until 2am proves that I did. There were some things that bugged me though, like how Simone wasn't descriptive enough for me. If a character gets punched, WHERE does he/she/they get punched???? And to be fair this book didn't bring out a lot of emotions as I think it was supposed to. But despite that I would have read the book again, if it wasn't for the ending. [Internally screaming]
Characters
Dalila, for all her 'I'm a tough woman attitude', is not a very tough woman. She was a bit needy, and wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Ryan. Ryan, on the other hand I absolutely loved 😍. But Mateo I always had my suspicions about, and ofc I was right [hair flick]
Ryan and Dalila's Relationship
It was definitely insta-love, which isn't on my list of fav troupes. And it wasn't a very equal-match kind of thing. Dalila is always reliant on Ryan, and though Ryan adores Dalila, he doesnt rely on her like Dalila does on him.
Setting
The whole Texas/Mexico setting was interesting, but it really just showed us that they have pretty much the same landscape.
Plot
Sorry to say, but i wasn't really paying any attention to the plot. I was a bit confused though, and i still don't understand the whole thing with the cartels (i don't know if i spelt that right). Also the ending was kind of similar to Defy the Stars
Conclusion
The characters were a bit messy, wasn't very descriptive, the romance was a bit off, but I still very much enjoyed until the ending sprung up on me.
July 16, 2018
Loved this book so much but HATED THE ENDING!!! Ryan and Dalila are such great characters- opposites in most ways- Ryan has a mother who has never been there for him and is now married to a bully sheriff who hates Ryan. Dalila lives in Mexico, has lots of money and friends and when she and Ryan meet sparks fly but also anger. Their eventual romance is swoon worthy. The drug cartels are fighting for power, is Dalila's father involved? Dalila is determined to find out the truth, but at what cost? I love Simone Elkeles books and this book does not hold back about the darker side of life in Mexico.
July 22, 2018
At first I was like, “OH THIS BOOK SHPULD BE GREAT! WHY DOES IT HAVE A LOW RATING??” Oh, maybe because the ending was totally unexpected in the worst way possible?!?! Yeah, that’s why! Now the book was great besides that. It took place in Mexico which was new, it had a strong female and male protagonists, it was fast paced and sexy. It also had a pretty twisted and cool storyline. But no it had to be brutally stopped by the unfortunate occurrence at the end. 🙃
June 28, 2018
i like this author I loved the perfect chemistry series. this one? whoo boy
Dalila keeps running into ryan. she can't stand him. then she decides..well..he's here. now its all consuming love and passion with drug cartels and evil stepfathers thrown in.
there wasn't even any hot romance scenes to make me even think this was plausible
disappointing. very
Dalila keeps running into ryan. she can't stand him. then she decides..well..he's here. now its all consuming love and passion with drug cartels and evil stepfathers thrown in.
there wasn't even any hot romance scenes to make me even think this was plausible
disappointing. very
August 28, 2020
I really ate up this book quick. With so much hope of a happy ending. Whyyyyy??? Did it have to end that way? I cried like a baby. Ryan deserved so much more. He fought to hard and long all his life to finally have it and them poof? Why Simone why?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2019
well, I didn't like the end. And it's very banal, it's not love it's simple physical desire
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