Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn’t live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he’s never known, and just when he thinks he’s got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?
Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.
School Library Journal
Gr 10 Up—Chain Reaction follows Perfect Chemistry (2009) and Rules of Attraction (2010, both Walker), a trilogy centered on the lives and loves of the Fuentes brothers. Luis, the youngest, is a smart, macho "adrenaline junkie" who has a way with the chicas. The story is told in alternating chapters by Luis, who opens with a rock-climbing stunt that lands him in the hospital, and by Nikki, 15, who opens intending to tell her boyfriend that she is pregnant. The importance of la familia is a thread throughout the story, and when the Fuentes family returns to Chicago's South Side, Luis finds himself drawn into the gang life that Alex and Carlos worked so hard to leave behind. Nikki, dumped by her boyfriend, has sworn off relationships, putting her energy into helping out at an animal shelter. The fast-paced story is a melodramatic roller coaster, with gangbanging, drug selling, steamy encounters in pool cabanas, and a shocking family secret revealed. The story is laced with Spanish words and phrases, four letter words, and up-front descriptions of loving teenage trysts. Derek shows some depth of character as a friend who stands up for Luis, as does Reyes, an ex-gang member turned cop. Most of the characters are clearly either good or bad, but this simplicity keeps the story moving briskly along. A no-loose-ends epilogue revisits the family 26 years later, to assure readers that all ends well. The books are best read in order and will find the strongest audience among fans of the first two installments.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX
From the Publisher
“The fast-paced story is a melodramatic roller coaster.”—School Library Journal
“Fans of the series and other females will gobble up this exciting, suspenseful novel.”—VOYA
Children's Literature - Renee Farrah Vess
Luis Fuentes is determined to date Nikki Cruz. She dismisses his every advance and will not fall for any of his usual tricks, which only makes him want her more. Her family has suppressed their Mexican heritage in an effort to acclimate and excel in Illinois. Luis' family on the other hand proudly displays their Mexican roots, which makes Nikki question how she is living her life. Since her relationship with Marco, now a member of the ruthless Latino Blood gang, ended badly she has sworn off boys. Luis is set on changing her mind, but gets pulled into the dark world of Latino Blood that almost consumed his brothers. Suddenly his priorities change to protecting his family from their shaky past to throwing himself into it, and he begins losing focus on his own future. Nikki's lost one boyfriend to the LB, and she is not about to lose another. This is the third book in the "Perfect Chemistry" romance series, and it involves gang violence, strong language, and sexual scenes. Reviewer: Renee Farrah Vess
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