Author Website: www.lisabrownroberts.com
Author Twitter: @LBrownRoberts
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorLisaBrownRoberts/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8287979.Lisa_Brown_Roberts

Author Bio:

Lisa Brown Roberts still hasn't recovered from the teenage trauma of nearly tweezing off both eyebrows and having to pencil them in for an entire school year. This and other angst-filled memories inspire her to write YA books about navigating life's painful and funny dramas, and falling in love along the way.

Her almost forever home is Colorado, though she occasionally pines for the days when she lived within walking distance of the Pacific Ocean. Her house is full of books, boys, four-legged prima donnas, and lots of laughter.

Book Synopsis:

Disclaimer: This book contains a villain pretending to be a hero, a hero pretending to be a villain, a disco-dancing heroine, two overprotective sidekicks, a little bit of bad language, and a whole lot of swoony kissing.

Spirit committee leader Mandy Pennington is secretly in love with her best friend, Gus, but when he hooks up with her archenemy at a party, she decides to win him over once and for all. She just doesn’t know how. But who better to help than hot loner Caleb Torrs?

Caleb’s got his own problems, but when he sees Mandy pining over Gus at a party, he thinks she’s finally smoked the spirit stick and lost her mind. Maybe he has, too, because he just asked Mandy to be his fake girlfriend. She’ll get her loser friend’s attention, and he’ll get his stalker ex off his back.

It’s a win-win.

But soon one fake date blends into the next and before he knows it, he actually wants to kiss Mandy. For real. Too bad their plan is working, and Gus is finally noticing the one girl Caleb just might be falling for…

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Excerpt: 

After she and Caleb sat down, a group of guys sat on the other side of her, laughing loudly and fake punching each other until one of them noticed her.

“Yo babe, you need company? I got room on my lap.” He leered at her.

A swirling vortex of anxiety and anger shot through Mandy. She hated guys like this, who just invaded her space and made rude comments like she was some toy, not a real person. She turned away from the jerk hoping to ignore him, but instead she met Caleb’s stormy dark gaze. Uh oh.
Mandy put a restraining hand on Caleb’s arm but he ignored her, leaning over her to get in the guy’s face. “Shut your pie-hole, unless you want a taste of my fist.”

Mandy closed her eyes and sighed. Great. Now she had not two cavemen to deal with.

The other guy tensed up. His blue eyes, which looked glazed, met hers. “You with this asshole?”

Caleb leaned in close, his spicy scent overwhelming her as his voice rumbled in her ear. “Take your pick, Disco. The devil you know or the one you don’t.”

Holy crap. He was practically smoldering. She grabbed her soda and took a long drink, then glanced at the blue-eyed jerk.

“Yeah,” she finally said, “I’m with him.”

Blue Eyes shrugged. “Your loss.” He turned away, saying foul to his friends that she chose to ignore.

Caleb leaned forward again but she pushed him back, locking eyes with him. “Caleb. If you hang out with my friends, there’s basically one rule. Don’t be a jerk. And no fighting.” She was suddenly aware of her hands still on his chest. Muscles flexed underneath the fabric of his shirt.

“That’s two rules.” Caleb’s hands reached up to cover hers. His eyes narrowed. “You’d rather I let that guy harass you?” His grip tightened, flattening her palms against his chest. Cammie and J.T. goggled at them, open-mouthed, while Jiro smirked and Liam shook his head, smiling.

“I--I--um--” How could she possibly form a coherent sentence when Caleb was filling up her senses like this, his heartbeat racing under her hand? The theater darkened and the speakers vibrated with the soundtrack from the movie previews, but Mandy couldn’t see or hear anything except Caleb.

Caleb released her hands, shifting in his seat to drape his arm over her, his fingers tangling in her hair, then drifting across her neck before setting on her shoulder. Every nerve ending in her body roared to life, and she was pretty sure that fire really was his secret super power.

“W-what are you doing?” she managed to whisper.

In the dim light from the screen, she saw him tilt his chin toward Blue Eyes. “Being an excellent fake boyfriend. He keeps watching you. I want to make sure he gets the message to leave you alone.”

Spirit committee leader Mandy Pennington is secretly in love with her best friend, Gus, but when he hooks up with her archenemy at a party, she decides to win him over once and for all. She just doesn’t know how. But who better to help than hot loner Caleb Torrs? Caleb’s got his own problems, but when he sees Mandy pining over Gus at a party, he thinks she’s finally smoked the spirit stick and lost her mind. Maybe he has, too, because he just asked Mandy to be his fake girlfriend. She’ll get her loser friend’s attention, and he’ll get his stalker ex off his back. It’s a win-win. But soon one fake date blends into the next and before he knows it, he actually wants to kiss Mandy. For real. Too bad their plan is working, and Gus is finally noticing the one girl Caleb just might be falling for."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

Let me begin by saying that Lisa Brown Roberts was just the author I was looking for. Her writing is so much fun to read and really hit the spot. I've been searching for a good contemporary read, as it is a genre I don't read much of but have been wanting to pick up more, and Resisting the Rebel was perfect! It had lovable characters, a great plot, even better writing, and yeah, lots of swoony kissing!

At the start of the book, our lovable heroine Mandy is at a party looking for her long-time best friend/crush, Gus. When she bumps into bad boy Caleb Torrs, he reluctantly points her in the "right" direction.Unfortunately, she finds Gus hooking up with her archenemy, Kay. When she tries to leave the party, she realizes she has no ride and is stuck waiting for one of her friends to pick her up. In swoops Caleb to fly our Mandy home and the two come up with this absolutely crazy plan: Caleb and Mandy are going to pretend to be in a fake relationship. Mandy wants Gus to finally notice her, and Caleb wants his crazy obsessive ex-girlfriend, Elle, off his back. What could go wrong, right?

Boy oh boy did I love this book! Mandy was such a wonderful character to follow. She was full of spunk and positivity and even when she was having to deal with some negative things in her life, she still always tried her best to see the good side of the situation. Plus, she absolutely lived and breathed anything disco or 70's related and it was so refreshing to see a character that was so out of the box like that! Her friends were also very fun to read about, although Cammie did get on my nerves a bit with the over protectiveness. I understood why she was being like that, however, and was glad when she finally came around to Caleb at the end. Also, J.T. was so wonderfully funny and optimistic. There was so much happiness in all of these characters, even if there were some not so good times.

The cover of this book lead me to believe that Caleb was going to be a completely different character than he was in the book. Caleb is a black leather wearing, lighter flicking, book loving bad boy. I can't lie, he's the type of male character I love reading about in books. Bad boys make the best characters! It was clear from the beginning that Caleb had at least a very small thing for Mandy, and I really liked reading along as he caught up with those feelings that he had for her. Also I may have spent a lot of time mentally trying to push the two of them together because it was obvious that they were perfect for each other. But seeing him develop from "liking" her to actually liking her was quite fun. It's always nice to learn that the bad boy secretly has a heart and crushes on a dorky girl.

Lisa Brown Roberts really put together a fantastic book. I hesitate when it comes to contemporary, simply because the ending is predictable and I can't stand teenage drama. I got enough drama in high school and I'm definitely not looking for more! But the writing was, to put it simply, fun. I don't think there was a moment that I was reading this book where I wasn't smiling. The banter between all of the characters was so well written and flowed so well, and the development from start to finish was a joy to read. Mandy, while very peppy and very involved in tons of school activities and obviously quite popular, did not come across as a person who could really stand up for herself. By the end, she was loudly speaking her mind and being honest about her feelings, taking charge of stressful situations, and standing up for herself. Her journey to a strong character was a lot of fun to read, and with such wonderful supporting characters like J.T and Cammie, Mandy was really able to be the confident person she was meant to be. I also really liked how she was determined to do better in her classes despite her dysgraphia and ADHD, and that by the end, she was able to write out an entire paper and confidently express her thoughts. I must admit, I was proud of her!

Resisting the Rebel is a perfect contemporary read. If you're hesitant about picking up a contemporary romance, then Lisa Brown Roberts will be sure to wash your doubts away and leave you wanting more of her books. She's able to write a story that keeps you engaged and laughing and happy throughout the entire book, and that's the sign of a good author in my opinion. Also, this was inspired by Sky High, a movie about teenage superheroes, and I am definitely able to see the similarities and inspiration. Especially between Caleb and Warren! The book releases on July 25th, so be sure to pick it up and be prepared for a great read!