The Rules of You and Me

The Rules of You and Me by Shana Norris

Hannah Cohen has always lived her life by a set of carefully constructed rules to maintain the image of perfection. But now, the rules aren't helping control the chaos that is quickly taking over.

Opting out of spending the summer in Paris with her mom, Hannah instead heads to the mountains of North Carolina to stay with her aunt. The Blue Ridge Mountains provide a barrier between Hannah and the rest of the world, a safe haven where her secrets can be forgotten.

When Hannah crosses paths with Jude Westmore, a guy who hangs a different shirt from the tree in his front yard every day, she finds herself breaking out of the comfort of her rules and doing things she had never dared before. As the summer passes, Hannah and Jude grow closer and make up their own rules for dealing with life.

But when the secret Hannah has tried to forget is finally revealed, even the new rules can’t save her from possibly losing everything–including Jude.**

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

Let me first say this, if you haven't read The Boyfriend Thief, I would suggest you do so before reading this book. While this one is listed as a companion to The Boyfriend Thief, you see Hannah in a different light and I think it adds something to her character. You can see her for what people see her as and then in this book you can get to know the real her. It also talks about things that happen in the Boyfriend Thief that could ruin it for you!

Hannah always follows the rules. Not even the rules of society, rules her parents have drilled in to her since her dad got his bank up and running and everything changed. Appearances started mattering more and being a family started mattering less.  She has to be the best, at any cost. It seems like the cost has become more then she can handle. She's stressed to the max and has started seeing a life coach, and the only reason its a life coach is because if she was going to a therapist it would look bad on her family. Things have steadily gone down hill for her family though, dad's in rehab and her mom is on vacation in Paris. She was supposed to go with her mom, but she just needed space. Time away from the rules and the pressure so she went to her aunts in Asheville.

What Hannah notices right away is that she can't seem to break away from the rules. While looking for her Aunt Lydia's house her car gets a flat and she has no cell. This is where we meet Jude. Jude stops to help her and she is instantly on the defense. People just don't do things for others without having some sort of payment expected. 

"My dad had always taught me to never be indebted to someone. Rule #21: Even the score as soon as possible."

Jude has his own issues, his brother was in the army and died. Leaving Jude to deal with the pain and his moms pain. Jude was always in the background, his brother Liam was the one everyone was friends with. They all liked Jude as a result of being friends with Liam.  Jude and Hannah just sort of fall in to a friendship. He helps her make new rules that help her step out of her comfort zone and she helps him come back in to the real world. He is mysterious to everyone, they don't understand how Hannah gets him to talk to her, seeing that he's not talked to anyone in the ten months since Liam died. 

I really enjoyed her new friends Kate, Aston and Carter. They seemed like true friends, not what she had at home.  They celebrated her birthday and helped her be a teenager. 

Hannah started the summer pressured and feeling like she had to be perfect. The summer ended with her realizing that she can only be what she wants to be. No one else can live her life and no one can tell her what she has to do to make herself happy. She finally tells her parents what shes thinking and starts living for Hannah. 

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Hannah let her hair down, figuratively and literally.  She helps Jude just as much as he helps her. Their relationship wasn't typical but it was a sweet time to watch. He was just what she needed at the time. I seriously enjoyed Jude, he just struck a note with me. I loved his character. 

"I wanted to give you a reminder," Aunt Lydia said, "to never stop wishing. Your parents have their wishes for you and I have mine, but what matters most is what you wish for yourself."

**Goodreads summary