Find more of my reviews at www.readingangel.comI have been highly anticipating reading Falling For You. Lisa Schroeder is one of my favorite authors. All of her books go on my auto-preorder list. When she announced Falling For You as her first Young Adult book not written in verse I could not wait to read it and see how well she took it on. I loved that while Falling For You is not written in verse, you can still fell Lisa's lyrical style of writing through-out. Her writing always flows so smoothly.One reason I loved Falling For You as much as I did was that the main character was one I really connected to and wanted to root for. Rae has so much that she has to struggle with. She feels like she has to bear the weight of everything on her own. Yet, she is still such a good person, taking her grandmother’s saying “The road to happiness is paved with good deeds for others” to heart and really living it. Rae is someone who is constantly striving to make other people’s lives better.Because the book starts with “The hospital” and then flashes back to the last 6 months to tell the story and to lead up to the moment of the hospital I was literally on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen to Rae. I just wanted her story to end with a happy ending so badly, and I just didn't see how it was going to get there. I devoured Falling For You in one sitting, completely immersed in the lives of these characters.I could clearly tell from the beginning that Nathan was going to be bad news for Rae. I was so scared that she was going to just cling to that since she was so alone in her home life. I was so glad to see that she was stronger than that. I loved that Lisa pulled the story away from abusive boyfriend/clingy girlfriend. Rae is able to connect with Leo, who is such a good friend and just an all-around great guy. He would say some of the sweetest things and I just wanted to reach through the pages and hug him myself.Just like Rae, the people who worked with her at Full Bloom, the flower shop, were among my favorite of the book. I loved Nina and Spencer. Nina was such a great mother figure for Rae and you could just see how much she genuinely cared for her. Spencer was funny and charming. There games of This or That became a favorite part of the dialogue for me.Falling For You was an emotionally charged and fast-paced YA contemporary. I flew through it in just a few short hours and was left hugging the book to my chest not wanting to let the characters go. If you are a fan of contemporary, grab you a copy of Falling For You ASAP!
