When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill

When Joss Met Matt
by Ellie Cahill (YA author Liz Czukas)
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Published by: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - February 24, 2015
Rating: 3.75 Stars

NOTICE: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What if after every bad breakup, there was someone to turn to “cleanse your palate”—someone who wouldn’t judge you, who was great in bed, someone you were sure not to fall in love with? “Sorbet sex” could solve everything—as long as it never got too sweet.

Joss and Matt have been friends since freshman year, meeting one night after Joss is dumped by her high school boyfriend. After few drinks, Joss nearly gives it up to an even drunker frat boy. Matt humors her with a proposition: that he’ll become her go-to guy whenever she needs to heal a broken heart. In return, she’ll do the same for him. The #1 Rule: They’ll never fall in love with each other. People scoff at the arrangement. But six years later, Joss and Matt are still the best of friends . . . with benefits.

Through a string of boyfriends and girlfriends—some almost perfect, some downright wrong—Joss and Matt are always there for each other when the going gets tough. No strings. No attachments. Piece of cake. No problem. After all, since they wrote the rules, surely they can play by them. Or can they?

A better title for this new adult novel would be, "Sorbet," in my opinion. The given title was a bit long and didn't capture the essence of the story. That said, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely keep Ellie Cahill on my list of authors to read new material from.

The story moves back and forth between the past and present in a very clear way. Sometimes authors don't know how to use this technique to its full benefit, but this author certainly does. She captured the initial sorbet contract between Joss and Matt as freshmen coeds and weaved it in well with a dinner at Matt's house, several years in the future. Joss is all set to tell Matt (FINALLY) that she's in love with him at dinner, when the next words out of his mouth are that he's moving away. After six long years of soothing broken egos and hearts, has Joss lost her own?

You'll have to read to find out, and I highly recommend you do!