In The Dark (The Rules Book 2)

Gabe has been in love with Lucy since the beginning of the book. He just didn't actually believe it. Gabe comes from a rich family while Lucy's mom works as a maid. The first part of the book is how they met while Gabe and his family were on vacation. I was looking forward to the second part when they run into each other at school. When they do run into each other again, Lucy doesn't know how to handle the direction her life just took. She doesn't like facing the truth so when the secrets finally come out, things fall apart. I was kind of disappointed in the ending because there can be so much more to their story.

What happens on summer vacation, should stay on summer vacation.... right? Well Gabe and Lucy are about to find out how far their summer fling is going to go.Gabe "Mr. GQ" is vacationing with his family and not happy about having to spend time with them, the only thing that is helping is the sexy neighbor who he watches at the pool every afternoon. Lucy is house sitting for the summer trying to make money for school and notices her sexy neighbor watching her. Things quickly heat up between Gabe and Lucy, but there are secrets between them. They agree to a summer fling and oh what a summer it was.I adored how Gabe cared for Lucy and always wanted to make sure she was happy. He got upset when she would talk about her body and not being happy about it, and even though at first he was put off by some things about her, he embraced them and you could tell he was quickly falling for this girl. Lucy lets Gabe believe the story he made up that she's a rich girl alone for the summer. She doesn't have the heart to tell him she's just house sitting, especially when things heat up between these two. I loved how she stood firm on who she was with Gabe and definitely didn't put up with his crap.The two of them shared an amazing summer together, but never expected to run into each other at school. Gabe has tried to get Lucy out of his mind and nothing is working. When they run into each other again, things are definitely tense between them, but then get hot and sexy all over again. I really wish at this point Lucy would have told Gabe the truth about her, instead of letting it come out the way it did. Gabe was head over heals for this girl and if she would have been upfront about everything things wouldn't have gotten so awful for them.I adored this book, like I do all of Monica Murphy's stories. The story moved quickly, but it was a perfect pace to tell this sotry. Gabe may be a player, but he's definitely tamed by one feisty girl named Lucy. Funny how falling in love does that to you! Lucy has struggles all women deal with with her body, but Gabe makes her feel secure in who she is. This book had me laughing, swooning and falling in love. I loved how this book was lighthearted but still dealt with some big issues. The way it was written was beautiful. The ending was perfection, and I'm hoping we get to see more of Lucy and Gabe in the next book in this series.

This was a nice, lightweight, entertaining read. It's nothing heavy and it flowed nicely, keeping me interested. I'm surprised that I liked it as much as I did as I'm not a Y/A reader nor do I gravitate to College kids' stories. This story followed the same format as the first book in this series,  Fair Game (The Rules Book 1) ...almost identically. Still, I loved 21 y/o Lucy's character. She's independent but still devoted to keeping her mother happy. Doing the right thing; working hard, being a good girl, etc. She's kind and sweet and a little sassy at times.Gabe Walker is a rich boy who's life is not his own. He has to dance to the tune of his parents' fiddle and both hates and resents it. He's very unhappy and covers it with jokes. He jokes all the time. He loves women...he's a blatant man-whore who's proud of his reputation. And then he meets Lucy and practically becomes obsessed with her.This was (once again) a sweetly, slightly erotic story of college kids finding love, through all the up's and down's of family commitments/obligations, and college life responsibilities. The downside(s) to the story was how the author described Lucy's "first time". It SO was NOT true to life. It wasn't an authentic description of a virgin's first time. At all. The whole telling of it was rushed. Character descriptions were weak. In chapter #1, we're told Lucy has long dark brown hair. In Ch#2 her hair is changed to black. I dunno, I'm one of those readers who needs a clear picture to connect. I need visuals...and lots of them. Personality traits were described well...but character descriptions were almost non-existent. 60% of the story is about Gabe chasing Lucy, and establishing the feelings that are growing between our two protagonists before they part and go their separate ways. The last 40% is very mild drama before wrapping up to a nice HEA. This was Gabe's real awakening...of how Lucy makes him realize how lonely his life is conquering one co-ed after another....nothing special about each conquest. He realizes he leads a sad, empty life without any emotion. A good story but nowhere near as good as the first book.

I really enjoyed this second book in the series. I liked Gabe from the start but took a little while to warm up to Lucy- her lack of self confidence wore a little thin at times so I was delighted when she showed the strong , determined side of herself. It was sad how isolated she had been. Good to see Jade and Shep. As for Tristan....hmmm....Ms Murphy has her work cut out with his character I think and I am very intrigued to learn more about the guy who , for me , is the least popular in the group.Gabe and Lucy have a hot Summer fling that leaves them both sad when they part ways. Lucy has secrets that she is hiding and these come to the fore when she unexpectedly crosses paths with our Hero .This was an enjoyable read. The ending was nice- it felt like a happy for now ending which works well in the context of the book. I hope that Tristan's story will finish with an epilogue that looks into the future for all three couples.Lots of passion after a well written slow build. Just enough angst.

Would have been 5 stars. I do like this author, however the end seemed so rushed and honestly quite out of character with the rest of the book. The forgive and forget part, didn't ring right. The parents, just didn't buy it. It was a shame as the end had so much potential felt short changed. Still not sure if I'll bother with book 3

Well that's my opinion of Gabe forever changed!If you want to know the story, read the blurb, but what I will say Is that I enjoyed this book better than the first.Excellent writing and I was drawn into Lucy and Gabe's story from the very beginning :) Bring on Tristan's story......

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, jade and shep's story, was unsure whether to read this second one in case it didn't live up to it. I worried for nothing gable and lucy's story was just as good and I now can't wait to read tristans.Monica Murphy is becoming one of my favourite authors.

Great read