Crush Control

Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley stars Willow who is moving back to her mothers hometown after living in Las Vegas where her mother worked as a hypnotist in one of the hotels.  Willow is excited to see her best friend Max whom she left in middle school (and may have hypnotized into always being her best friend) but sad to see that he has a girlfriend (who of course is nice and super sweet)  After arriving in town Willow runs into problems with her classmates after putting her mothers hypnotism tricks to work.

This was a fun contemporary romance with a twist.  The hypnotism element was hysterical and the romance was sweet.  I also enjoyed the conflict between Willow, her mother and her maternal grandparents.  It felt real and I loved Willow worked to make things work between all of them.  The friendships all seemed real and the plot was interesting and fun.  I finished the book quickly.

Appropriateness:  There is a bit of sex talk but no sex and the romances are fairly innocent.  There is a party scene where it is implied that the kids are drinking (with the yard being littered with red plastic cups) but beer is never specifically mentioned.  The main character is in her late teens.  I recommend it for readers 12+