BOOK REVIEW: Boomerang by Noelle August

14 May 2015

Boomerang (Boomerang #1)
by Noelle August (Goodreads, Website, Twitter)
Published by William Morrow on July 8th, 2014
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: eBook (339 pages)
Source: Purchased
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ADD TO GOODREADS
Welcome to Boomerang.com, the dating site for the millennial gen with its no-fuss, no-commitments matchups, and where work is steamier than any random hook-up.

Mia Galliano is an aspiring filmmaker. Ethan Vance has just played his last game as a collegiate soccer star. They’re sharp, hungry for success, and they share a secret.

Last night, Ethan and Mia met at a bar, and, well . . . one thing led to another, which led to them waking up the next morning—together. Things turned awkward in a hurry when they found themselves sharing a post hookup taxi . . . to the same place: Boomerang headquarters.

What began as a powerful connection between them is treated to a cold shower courtesy of two major complications. First, Boomerang has a strict policy against co-worker dating. And second, they’re now competitors for only one job at the end of summer.

As their internships come to an end, will they manage to keep their eyes on the future and their hands off each other, or will the pull of attraction put them right back where they started?


The moment I came across Boomerang, the synopsis immediately grabbed me. Dating website internship? Aspiring filmmaker heroine? No dating policy? Well, sign me up! All I could think of was I had to get my hands on this book, plus, it's got all these praising reviews all over Goodreads, so I was pretty much convinced that I was going to enjoy this book.

Mia Galliano and Ethan Vance wake up next to each other after a hot hook up night, with just a faint memory of how everything went down the night before. Awkward right? Well, what's more awkward is when they realize they're internship mates for the same company: Boomerang, a dating website, kinda like Tinder. But everything takes a complicated turn when the internship turns out to be kind of a competition and the winner gets a full time job at Boomerang. With both in need of the job badly, plus the fact that the company highly discourages dating between co-workers, Mia and Ethan have got to stay away, no matter how attracted they are to each other.

Sounds really cool right? I thought so, too. However, once again, my gullible self needs a smack in the head because this book left me disappointed. Okay, no, let me rephrase. This book did not fulfill my expectations. All the hype of the 4 to 5 star ratings all over Goodreads kind of made me feel as if I was reading a different book. But alas, it's obviously the same read, duh.

The characters, as individuals, were great. Mia's a spunky character, meanwhile, Ethan was such a sweetheart with an amazing connection with kids. The times when he would spend time to play ball with the nine year olds, and having them call him Coach was just too cute.

Granted, this book was really cute and the characters were relatable. However, this is where it all goes downhill. The characters did not connect at all. Mia and Ethan, together, lacked chemistry, which made the push and pull between them so irrelevant and boring. There was also a little bit of instalove going on, which was weird as they barely even know each other... and in fact, don't even remember the night of the hook up.

Another thing was, I wanted more emphasis on the "aspiring filmmaker" aspect of Mia, but all I got was a part where she held up a camera to her grandmother to videotape her... and that was basically it. Ethan's side of the story as a footballer was much more emphasized than Mia's, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, however, it should have been equalized.

Man, I totally feel like this book could do so much better. Forget about the cute moments, everything else ended up being dull and overly cliche for my taste. If you're a fan of the New Adult cliche romances, Boomerang might just be your new favorite, but sadly, it wasn't mine.