Book Review: My Life With The Walter Boys

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Romance

I did not expect myself to actually enjoy this one the amount that I did. I expected this to be a super cringy romance with characters that would constantly make my eyes roll in annoyance, but glad to say this wasn’t cringy but no where close to the great romances I generally read.

Continue reading for more details.

Synopsis:

My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again.

Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then...

Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident.

Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians.

Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway)

Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

Review:

Jackie seemed like a character I’d really be able to relate to because she constantly wanted to be perfect and do the best, which is the case for me too, but that picture-perfect side of her really did not last as long as I thought. If I was in her spot, I feel like I would’ve resisted and tried to stick to my morales at least a bit longer than Jackie had. I understand her circumstances were different but I did see that side of her for a good three (four? don’t quote me on this) days, then *poof*, that side of her was never seen again. I’m saying if a guy asked someone who claims they’re trying to get into Princeton (which was also only mentioned once?) to help him TP someone’s house, I can say with confidence they would’ve denied him multiple times before giving into the pressure. Jackie didn’t even think twice before agreeing. Maybe living with 12 troublesome boys has a quicker influence on a person than one might think.

“You couldn’t control everything, because it wasn’t all meant to be perfect. Sometimes things needed to be messy.”

I also felt as if the lingering effects of having lost her whole entire family would’ve been a more obvious and more prominent factor of her story. A handful of times throughout the book (especially more in the beginning) I could truly see Jackie’s hurt and pain, but other than those times, her biggest problem was Cole. I wish Jackie’s grief was explored and we could’ve seen her coping with it in a healthy way. I’m pretty sure coming out of your room deciding you’re done grieving on a random day after being cooped up there (which is valid) isn’t exactly considered “coping”. I’m not sure how long it takes for one to cope with such a big loss, but I guess I can give her the benefit of the doubt and say everyone is different.

“It's terrifying how death can materialize in a single, silent moment, completely unnoticed by the rest of the world.”

Now onto the elephant in the room: Cole. Okay, so, the Cole effect is a real thing I’m going to admit that much. Though, it worked on me for the first half of the book. His snarky remarks and the way he was actually the few brothers who were nice to Jackie had me whipped. Like, yes, he was seen with a different girl every day but if we put that aside, he seemed like a generally good guy. Then that good guy transitioned into a really annoying, and problematic guy. He kept on pressuring Jackie to do things she shouldn’t do (and she let him lead her into these things even though she knew better), setting her up for trouble, and just ultimately using her to get back at his brother, Alex. He did improve a little at the end after talking with her, but, still, he should’ve been mature enough to not do any of those things (no matter the reason) to begin with. Throughout his problematic phase, Jackie continued to be wooed and mesmerized by him.

“It was some type of invisible force, as if he were the sun and I was a tiny planet being reined in by his all-consuming gravity”

Next: Alex. Again, I adored him at the beginning and thought he was cute and mysterious. I liked Alex and Jackie’s friendship, I thought it was really cute and they definitely felt like they would make great best friends who would support and be there for each other. Though, I started to get annoyed by Alex towards the last part of the book because he seemed to also be using her to make Cole jealous and he wasn’t being completely honest with Jackie (to be fair, Jackie also wasn’t being completely truthful with Alex either).

“Maybe people should just give hugs. Physical contact says a lot without actually saying anything,”

If you asked me to choose between the two boys for Jackie, I’d say neither for multiple reasons. One: the brothers need to fix whatever rivalry they have going on because Jackie just ended up being in the firing range. Two: c’mon, Jackie is technically their family, especially by the end of the book, isn’t that weird enough? Three: They both are immature kids.

Oh, and spoiler alert: she ends up single in the end anyways. She goes through all that just to end up being single? Though, I think that’s for the better.

“In their sleep, both boys kept moving closer to me, and when I finally drifted off, there was one arm wrapped around my stomach and one hand intertwined with mine.”

I could have a paragraph for each of the Walter boys, but then this post would go on for ages so this is the condensed version. Will wasn’t a big part of Jackie’s life, but when he was he was extremely understanding and caring. Already talked about Cole, but, boy, was his twin, nothing like him. Danny was an amazing friend to Jackie once they became more comfortable with each other’s presence. Jackie helped and supported him and Danny always provided great advice and support to Jackie as well. Isaac and Lee (twins) had amazing character development and I love how their relationship with Jackie developed throughout the course of the book. Nathan was the best walter boy, hands down. I kept on forgetting he was younger than most of the other boys because he acted so mature from the beginning. He was always there for Jackie and their friendship was the best! The little kids were entertaining, mischievous, and made me glad I don’t have younger brothers. I loved the family dynamic between the brothers and slowly seeing Jackie being integrated into their big family.

“After the lengthy rehearsal dinner, during which Zack stabbed Benny with a fork and Jack and Jordan almost set the tablecloth on fire,”

Onto the plot! I’m sorry, but I think this whole concept is ridiculous (which was actually the reason I picked up this book lol) Though, the author executed it in a way it didn’t feel as cringy and stupid as it should’ve, which I was surprised by. I didn’t feel bored at any point while reading this book because of the different scenes and events that occurred throughout the story so I would say it was paced well.

If I simply reflected on the overall book, I would say it wasn’t bad but actually reflecting on each individual aspect of the book really allowed me to see how this is a good read for people who want something fun and entertaining with lots of the high school drama but not really a book for those who want a solid romance with good love interests and meaningful messages.

“Everyone got behind Fox, the name the guys had dubbed the red truck.

"Fox?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Isaac said with a grin. "Our truck is hot, like Megan Fox.”

Overall,

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