{REVIEW} My Life With The Walter Boys by Ali Novak

Title: My Life With The Walter Boys
Author: Ali Novak
Series: My Life With The Walter Boys
Book: 1
Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year old Jackie Howard knows nothing about her new guardian Katherine Walter when she moves from New York to Colorado. After discovering that Katherine has twelve boys, Jackie fears that living in the Walter house isn't going to be easy. It's just icing on the cake that the boys look like Abercrombie models...

My Rating/Thoughts:

This is EXACTLY what I needed to defeat my nasty reading slump! This was a quick, cutesy, funny and just all around adorable read. I absolutely loved it and devoured it in a day. Now Ali Novak has originally uploaded this story on Wattpad and when it was officially published it had about 50% never before seen stuff. So the fact that I read the published version AND Wattpad version both in two days really says something. I mean I basically just read the same story back to back in the duration of two days. That says a lot for me. No matter how much I loved a story, I wouldn't read it back to back. But this story was just so cute and I loved it. I loved all the characters and didn't want to say goodbye to them so soon. In fact, I am currently reading her "What if" alternate story of My Life As A Walter which focuses on Cole four years after My Life With The Walter Boys. I have no idea what it is about these contemporary stories that surrounds huge families with a million boys, but I am like a greedy kid in a candy store. I was obsessed with My Life Next Door and I really enjoyed Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys (which this story takes inspiration from). So without further adieu. Let's get down to business.

So after an accident that causes the death of her entire family, Jackie Howard finds herself in her mother's long lost best friend Katherine Walter's care. She must go with her to live with her family in Colorado with 12 boys! Well 11, but the daughter Parker is basically just another one of the boys (lol). I loved that the boys all had such different personalities. Cole was the arrogant, conceited jerk that you can't help but love. Alex is the cute, adorable nerdy shy guy that you just want to hug. Nathan is a sweetheart, Isaac is just as cocky, but you can't help but laugh at him. The small twins are adorable and just this whole family is so lovable. I loved reading about everyone and I really liked how close they are.

This book was filled with just the right amount of humor and romance that it was exactly what I needed right now. I loved the love triangle because it left me just as torn as Jackie. I kept flip flopping right along with Jackie. I always like these stories as well because it's kind of nice to not know who you love because the characters both have different things to offer. But I am glad with the ending. The only thing that I want is more. So I am ecstatic that Novak is working on an official sequel that will continue from Jackie's POV and pick up right where this novel ended! (Phew, thank God)

What I really enjoyed about this book was the acceptance of Jackie into the family. It shows how far she came. At the beginning she didn't feel like she belonged anywhere. Her family was gone and she had no one in New York, but she didn't feel like she belong with the Walters either. So for Katherine to include her in the family murial and call her her family was truly touching. Jackie finally had a family and a home. Now in the Wattpad version, Nathan was the artist and the one who painted the murial and I think I liked that version better just because it was more touching coming from him. He saw Jackie as his sister and because he painted her in the middle of everyone with his arm around her and the twins hanging on her legs while Cole and Alex fought over who would stand next to her was perfect! Obviously the two versions had a lot of differences and some plot holes were tweaked, character personalities were different for a few, but for the most part it was the same and  I think I liked the Wattpad version more because it offered more stuff. However! I didn't like Cole in that version much because he was so pushy with Jackie that it was such a turn off. But I still loved him. I had to.

Now I have to go purchase the physical copy of this book so I can read it over and over until the sequel releases in late 2015/early 2016. *sigh*

Would I recommend? Yes.