Done with Along for the Ride

As of last night, I have completed Along for the Ride. The book was good, but I feel like the ending was a bit...rushed. I ended up liking her mom more after she came to Colby to check on Auden, and how Auden's mom agreed to take care of Thisbe while Auden went to the Beach Bash. 


I could never come to like her father, though. Always such a quitter. He just doesn't get back onto the bike when he crashes and falls. He'd probably even just get off the bike if there was even a possibility of a crash. Auden's quest with Eli was the highlight. I love reading Eli's and Auden's nights together, and also the conversations between Auden, Maggie, Leah and Esther. They are great friends. And Heidi...well, there's more than meets the eye to her. I thought Heidi would be a blonde bimbo airhead, but she wasn't in the slightest. She's a businesswoman with a passion for clothes and pink. Same with Maggie. I never would have imagined Maggie to be as intelligent as she was - at least as smart as Auden, so, like Auden, I was surprised when Maggie said she was going to Defriese, just like Auden. 


And Jason...ugh, what a jerk! He needs to get a life. I wanted to punch him when he backed out of prom the second time around. He's way too focused on academics. He's really going to regret that he didn't get out more when he was younger. Auden has so much patience and self-control. If a guy did that to me, I'd explode. 


However...as much as I liked Eli, I felt like he didn't make much of an effort to be with Auden - she made a huge effort to get back with him, when really, she didn't really do anything. She just wanted a break, to focus on her studies a bit. It made me sad that he was going to retire from biking. 


All in all, I'd give this book 3.5/5 stars - I would give it more stars, but I just couldn't compare myself to Auden, which is why I like to read books in the first place. Plus, the book started slow (which I hate) and it took too long to get to where she meets Eli. Everything else before that seems sort of unnecessary, considering that Along for the Ride is a romance novel.