Rush by Kandi Steiner is often described as your favorite reality tv show in book format. Each book contains episodes which do kind of act like episodes of a tv show: short and each sort of has it's own plot while also being part of an overarching plot. The episode format makes the series feel fast paced as well. The first book in this series also reminded me of Jersey Shore. That's not a bad thing either!
Rush opens up with Cassie, a new student at Palm South University. She is rushing sororities with her (soon to be ex) best friend Paris. From Cassie's story we also meet Cassie's soon to be sorority sisters and a wide range of characters. Honestly, I had some trouble telling them a part at first.
Typically with romance novels, the first book in a series focuses on one couple. Usually the story is told from the point of view of just the two main characters. In Rush, we get introduced to all of the characters at the start. There's no neat wrap up by the end of the first Palm South University book. This helps to add to the tv show feel.
Add to that the and the fact that the story centers around sorority girls and frat boys throwing parties and hooking up with each other while also dealing with some personal things such as family problems and drug use. Things get wild and messy pretty quickly.
It took me a while until my brain was able to separate the characters just because they were all introduced at once. The characters all seemed so similar until the author started developing each one more. I also enjoyed the surprise sapphic hook-up between two of the sorority sisters. Let's see if that was just a fling or a potential romance though.
There's also a forbidden romance developing in Rush between Jess and the teacher's assistant in one of her classes. Oh man, that was steamy. It started off with a spicy smut scene between the two and, despite trying as hard as she could, it ended with Jess giving in. There was a scene between the two characters that could be a little uncomfortable. While at a party, the teacher's assistant pins Jess up against a wall and starts touching her. The verbal consent during this scene is a bit iffy from what I remember. It's the whole "her body wants it but it's forbidden" angle.
On top of this there is also a bit of a love triangle happening between Cassie, Skyler (who is Cassie's big sister) and Adam who seems to be confused about who he wants. It'll be fun to see that develop in the next books.
I do plan to continue with the series because, I mean, I love trashy tv and this is basically trashy tv in book format.
All of the books in the Palm South University series are available on Kindle Unlimited.
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