Opposing Sides (The University Park Series Book 1) by CM Doporto

  I rarely read a book where I connect with one of the characters so closely, but this was one of those books.

   Lexi Thompson has lived a life where she was sheltered as much as possible by her parents and is currently engaged to Collin Norris, who is a college baseball star.  Collin has also been rather sheltered and is a preacher's kid.  His parents along with Lexi's are on the extreme end of conservative in how they act and dress.  They don't drink any alcohol except on certain occasions, believe in waiting to give yourself to someone after you're married, don't cuss, and make sure they and their children wear very conservative clothes.  Both sets of parents are so focused on controlling their children's lives that the moms have decided for Lexi what wedding dress to buy, even though she hates it and it's her wedding.  To make matters worse, she is rather unsure of her feelings for Collin, who pretty much never shows his.  After she starts tutoring the star football player of the university, Raven Davenport, Lexi starts realizing just how much she doesn't feel for Collin.  However, her attraction for Raven has turned into a major problem and she doesn't want to tutor him anymore because of it.  But no matter how she looks at it, she is very attracted to him and really likes him, maybe more than she does Collin.  The hard part for Lexi is trying to break away from her parents expectations and for once, doing what she wants.

   Like I said above, I understand this character quite a bit and her struggle to take her life from her parents and into her own hands.  As an adult, she is old enough to make her own decisions.  Some parents want to shield their children so much from the world that they end up not letting them decide anything for their selves and this is a big mistake.  Lexi was going to marry Collin just because it was expected of her.  The university bad boy was not someone her parents would have approved of.  I have children and I want to shelter them too, but I also understand the value of them needing to slowly become independent and make their own decisions, whether they are good or bad.  Some things are learned best by experience.  And I am not saying I think that Lexi made poor decisions in this book.  In fact, she made good ones by making up her own mind about what she wanted and her reasoning behind it.  This was a very good read!

5 out of 5 stars!!