Falling Hard

At the Party #2

by Lauren Barnholdt

Emily and Ashton couldn’t be more different. She’s quiet and sweet, he’s popular and outspoken. And when he flirts with her one night at the party she’s throwing, Emily knows she should stay away. It’s never a good idea to get involved with the hottest guy in school– you’re only setting yourself up for heartbreak.
But even though Ashton might come across as cool and confident, he can’t stop thinking about Emily. And by the end of the night, these two just might be falling hard…

Told from both Emily and Ashton’s point of view, this is the second novella in the romantic At the Party series by Lauren Barnholdt, author of Two-Way Street and One Night That Changes Everything

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, High School, Short Stories, Ebooks, Teen

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2011

Reviews

[Sita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in like 20 minutes on a friday night (because I have no life...). And it was good, it was easy to read and the characters were likeable enough. If your looking for something short and fluffy to read, this is it :)

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, this is #2 in a series? Oops! I read it first. It read pretty much like a stand-alone, so hopefully I'm not missing much. Surely not, right?

Okay, this is the story of Emily and Ashton, two high school kids who find each and fall in looooooove during a party. Apparently Emily's mom wants her to be a Mean Girl type chick, (think Rachel McAdam's character, not Lindsay Lohan's) and for some irresponsible reason this grown woman wants Emily to invite popular underaged teens over to irresponsibly get drunk and make a mess of her house. Emily, described more as an understated type of pretty, goes along with the plan only to please her recently-divorced semi-man-hungry mother and throws another party.

So, she's irresponsibly mixing up Koolaid drinks for her underage friends when this cocky popular kid, Ashton, comes in and takes over -- because, of course, cocky popular pubescent boys are better at mixing underaged drinks than understated-type-of-pretty girls like Emily. And of course, in typical high school girl fashion, Emily falls hard for Ashton.

Now in books, unlike in real life, the cocky, popular kids like Ashton always seem to be falling for the understated-type-of-pretty girls like Emily, even with stalkerish ex-girlfriends (with perfect blonde hair and skinny figures) lurking in the shadows. Then there's a semi-drunken mix-up and it looks like Emily and Ashton might not be together.

I think I would have eaten this up like candy if I were 12 or 13 -- feeling all grown up and scandalous reading about almost-sex and almost-drunkenness at my young, impressionable age. But, I'm 30 now. And I'm just not sure this kind of fiction translates to my crowd.

I'll still give it 3 stars --- for my 12-year old self.

[Fátima H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Súper cortito, para pasar el rato.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick enjoyable read, a light romantic comedy of sorts. I liked the narrative voice switching between Ashton and Emily it was great to see both of their characters development. Both characters seemed very like-able, (usually I don't like female protagonists)the book itself is very short and I read it in under an hour I would suggest this book for anyone wishing to wind down just before going to sleep.
I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because although I really enjoyed it there were just a few niggling things that I just couldn't let go.

[Sheryl C. Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea why people are so hard on authors; this was a sweet story. Sure i'm over 30 which i'm sure isn't the target audience, but it was a sweet little read and i LOVED it!

[Just A Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay let me just start this review like this. It picked up where it left off from PART ONE right away which was great. And this whole Brody Campbell Natalia thing is really entertaining for me but oh my god there is a part where Cam and Natalie are fighting on the phone and I just started geeking! These two are too cute. I keep imagining Natalia in my head and the girl I make her out to be I LOVE!

The plot is really getting good and if I don’t finish this book tonight I’m going to be PO’D! Forgive me for saying this but I may even be cokblocking myself to read this book! That’s how amazing it is. Sometimes I find the simplest books with a simpler plot to be ABSOLUTELY breathtaking. And I keep geeking out which I haven’t done in forever to a book!

[Book Girl 998 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que es la mejor de todas. A pesar de eso le faltaba al igual que las demás.

[PattyPepperpotts · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's more of a 1.5 star actually...

Reading this piece makes me feel like going through a brief daydream while doing people watching... you know those moments when you are bored out of your mind that you pass the time making up little stories in your head about the people you see around you just to make the passing of time bearable - stories that are so brief they are actually just plots with potential, stories with just enough details to make it a little bit interesting than staring off into space, but not enough to actually merit it as a good worthy story.

A glimpse, a moment, that's how it feels.

You can't really blame it, the shortness of the story is its weakness, not being able to explore or build enough to make an impression. It couldn't have made an impact even if it really wanted to.


I say it's okay, for an interesting plot line, but it's not really a story that's unique or different, or something that would be retained in the mind after reading it. It's just well, it's not sucky, it's not bad, but I wouldn't say it's good.

You may say I'm crazy for continuing to read the series, but then again, I was bored and this was such a short read.

[Emma (BelleBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this series after reading the first four books in Lauren Barnholdt's other mini series, The Witches of Santa Anna.

Just like that series this one id made up of short novellas, although I would recommend that you read The Witches of Santa Anna first, as there are characters in this series which originate from Santa Anna.

This book was a short and sweet little romance novella, based on Emily and Ashton. Emily is hosting the party, but isn't really involved in it at all, it's not her scene, Infact her mum is the one that pushes her to throw these parties. During the party she bumps into Ashton...and I won't spoil the rest for you.

Really nice, quick read for when you don't have much time.

[Michelle Cano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodreads esta loco porque este es el primer....amm no se si puedo llamarlo libro, porque digo, tiene solo 30 hojas, pero este es el primer *inserte aqui cualquier nombre para esto* de creo mini saga (¿?) (o algo así)

La verdad no sé como termine leyendo esto y tampoco se que me esperaba de esto, solo empece a leerlo y fue algo así como: ¿WTF?


Igual le he dado 2 estrellas, pero que conste que he leido cosas peores, y la verdad es que, bueno para ser una historia corta no esta taaaaaaaaan mal (aunque la verdad creo que yo pude escribir algo mejor... y eso ya es mucho decir)

[Sana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Falling Hard is told from the perspective of the host of the party and the story, though highly unlikely, was interesting.

The personality of Emily and Ashton are almost polar opposites. Emily goes to the kitchen to make some Kool-Aid and from there Ashton catches her and they talk a bit. Granted, that's that is just a hell of a short time to get attracted to someone, but they kinda do.

Then there was this psycho girlfriend part. It got better after that part and then ended on a sweet note.

[Nati · Rating 1 out of 5]

Suerte que la serie de relatos no llevan un orden, porque he comenzado por el segundo. No se como será el resto, pero Ashton me ha dado un ataque de risa a lo largo de la historia. Su reacción hacia Jasper fue increíblemente... estúpida. Los dos protagonistas me me parecieron flaquear de a momentos pero, oye, ¿qué puedo criticar en tan solo 25 paginas? No mucho, así que no estaré decepcionada.
No estoy acostumbrada a leer cosas tan cortas, ¡pero veamos que tal las otras tres historias!

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emily is the host of the party that the short novellas take plavce at. She is not really known in school, except that she houses the parties. She is crushing on Ashton, who happens to be a popular guy at school, and he likes her back. Find out if their feelings are ever revealed during the party. A fast, cute read.

[Gracie O · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emily and Ashton's connection just felt so-so. I mean, I liked the alternation POV, but if that wansn't there, then I would've thought that it was just forced.

It was a light, quick read. Though it wasn't as good as the first one, it's definitely a good little short story to read during a break or so.

[The Anxious Bookaholic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was exactly what I needed. It was light, romantic with a lot of laugh out loud moments. Both Emily and Ashton were such a likable characters and I loved the way the author did not try to soften the differences between them, but emphasize on the fact that despite them they still are a perfect for each other.

[Shxrxn · Rating 2 out of 5]

You don’t think what’s a good idea?
- Ashton
This. Conversing with you.
- Emily
Oh. Well, it’s probably not, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
- Ashton
You just… you’re so… you’re just… you’re like a dessert that needs to be savored. You can’t just go having the whole thing in one sitting.
- Ashton

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I read the first book, Telling Secrets (At the Party 1) which I gave 2 stars, I said I wouldnt read the rest. Im happy I changed my mind because I really liked this one. Four books, one party, four different romances. I enjoyed this one and Ashton and Emily make a really cute couple and it turned out to be a sweet fun quick read. Will be reading At the Party 3 for sure.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short Story of a girl named Emily, this takes place at her own party with a guy (Her boyfriend at the end of the story) named Ashton Wagner. He is a popular guy from school and he has a crush on her. I don't really have anything else to talk about because this book took me about 25 minutes ill say to read it. But its a good book.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA novella, so you've got to give some lee-way for character and plot development. That said, I do love Lauren Barnholdt. The characters she creates feel really real, but this one--not sure if it's due to its short length or not--but it read like fanfiction. If anyone else wrote this one, I think I'd rate it 2 stars.

[Kylah Polidore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing!!!! Lauren Barnholdt did a great job writing this series in the perspective of teenagers. I love the whole Kool-Aid scene, Ashton and Emily are really likeable characters. Ashton's friend Tucker is hilarious. And I love how Ashton didn't know that Jasper liked boys so he thought jasper was with Emily. I love this whole series.

[*¨·٠•●♥✿LINLAN✿♥●•٠·¨* · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Falling Hard" is okay to me. However if I compare it with the others book in At the Party Series, this book is the weakest one. I can't pinpoint it for you; if you read it, you'll know. The characters in "Falling Hard" are well...interested but weird. So two stars for this books.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculously short, crude and unbelievable story. Neither the girl or the boy character are particularly appealing, and their instant attraction is told, not felt. Perhaps it the story were longer and the characters allowed to develop more, it would have been more viable.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short story. It's pretty good for it's length. I liked that the characters were realistic and that they kept in mind that they had just met. They didn't think they were in love or anything, just that they liked each other.

[Stephanie:) :D :P loves COOKIES! D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was ok, because the story was cute and romantic and stuff. But the problem was that the story of this book was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY short read and that was the main reason I've putted this book a four stars.

[Vidhi Chheda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I read this, didn't realize it was going to be a short book (since it was the first book of the series that I was reading). So when I finish the book 20 mins later, am just confused whether I was reading a complete version, is it really over???

[April Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a short story but I loved it.
I was on the edge of my chair hoping it would work out.

[Stacey O'driscoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, wasn't terrible but a little ridiculous. Perhaps if it had been a novel rather than a short story it woul have been better.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it on my kindle in less than an hour. Really fast and short read.

[Leyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the second installment in the At the Party series as well as th first one, though love at first sight isn't really my thing.

[Kath S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too light, too short, to shallow.... It's not enough