Review: The Studying Hours by Sara Ney

The Studying Hours
(How to Date a Douchebag #1)
by Sara Ney
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Sept. 13, 2016
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:

CRUDE. ARROGANT. A**HOLE.
No doubt about it, Sebastian ‘Oz’ Osborne is the university’s most celebrated student athlete—and possibly the biggest douchebag. A walking, talking cliché, he has a filthy mouth, a fantastic body, and doesn’t give a sh*t about what you or anyone else thinks.

SMART. CLASSY. CONSERVATIVE.
Make no mistake, Jameson Clarke may be the university’s most diligent student—but she is no prude. Spending most of her time in the hallowed halls of the library, James is wary of pervs, jocks, and douchebags—and Oz Osborne is all three.

She’s smart, sarcastic—and not what he expected.

…EVERY DOUCHBAG HAS HIS WEAKNESS.

He wants to be friends.
He wants to spend time with her.
He wants to drive her crazy.

He wants…

Her.

This was a cute story between two people who are complete opposites, but somehow build a friendship. How do they meet? Well, when Oz’s friends bet him to get the prude cardigan wearing chick in the library to kiss him, of course. Only, unlike so many stories where this would backfire down the road, Jameson is in on it. Oz fesses up immediately that there’s $500 in stake if she kisses him and she strikes a deal, she’ll kiss him if she gets half the earnings. And that is how their friendship is born.

I really did like that these two are so completely opposite. James (Jameson) seems to live a pretty quiet life. She goes to the parties with her friends, but that’s not the highlight of her life, unlike with Oz. Oz is the popular wrestler. He lives for parties and chicks. So when James come in and not only doesn’t know who he is, but doesn’t care, he’s immediately intrigued. Having someone who does fawn all over him because of his popularity is refreshing and he finds himself seeking out her company.

While the author makes it a point to continuously bring up that he’s a horn dog, I did like seeing a softer side of Oz towards the end. I do wish we got to see more of it earlier on, but I guess that wouldn’t have been true to his character. One thing that can be said about these two is that James does not back down. She’s a very strong character who easily holds her own. Whether it’s against Oz or his roommates, she volleys back everything they dish at her.

The Studying Hours was an enjoyable new adult romance. I liked the back and forth with the characters and the growth that Oz has throughout the story.