ARC Review: Believe by Erin McCarthy

Pub. Date: January 21st, 2014

Publisher: InterMix

232 pages

ebook (Trade Paperback publishing June 3rd, 2014 by Berkley Trade)

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Robin used to be a party girl… until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend's boyfriend. Now she's faced with being THAT girl, and couldn't be more disgusted with herself. She can't even tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and she avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that's good and oh, so bad…



Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin at his cousin's house, and he knows that he has no business talking to her, but he's drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn't care that he's done time, or that he only has five bucks to his name, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.



But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it's a naïve dream to believe that his record won't catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…

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I absolutely loved True and Sweet, books 1 and 2 in the True Believers series. Naturally I was extraordinarily excited about Believe. One of the things I loved most about True and Sweet, was how naturally the relationships between Rory and Tyler, and Jessica and Riley, developed. The relationships weren’t rushed, or hurried, and they always felt genuine and realistic. I also really loved the wit and the humor of the dialogue – especially the banter between Jessica and Riley in Sweet ( check out my review of Sweet). Believe really switched things up stylistically, and the change threw me as a reader.  

I was initially kind of annoyed by how quickly Robin and Phoenix’s relationship progressed. By the time the couples in the other two novels got together, it felt like a reward for the reader, because we got to see the relationships grow, and we had the chance to root for them to be together. Robin and Phoenix’s relationship felt too insta-lovey for me because there was no waiting, or questioning if or when they would end up together. The relationship itself was still believable – you could clearly see that there were a lot of similarities between the two characters, bringing them together - but I was nowhere near as emotionally invested. I missed the build up and the will they/ won’t they tension that the other two novels had in spades.

Where True and Sweet had a lot of humor to balance out the serious parts, Believe is almost humorless. We met Robin in book one, and coming into this novel, we know a lot of the reasoning behind some of the choices she makes. Because we know so much, it’s easy to understand why the more lighthearted humor just wouldn’t have worked this time around. From the tone, to the events, Believe is a much more serious novel. The seriousness was necessarily, but the wit and humor of McCarthy’s writing is what really drew me into books one and two. Even though I understood why these elements were absent, I still seriously missed them.

If I’d read Believe as a standalone, or prior to the previous two novels, I’m sure I would have liked it more – and don’t get me wrong, I really did like it. But, given how much I loved the style of the previous two novels, I spent a great deal of time contrasting the differences. Believe simply didn’t work for me as well as for me as the previous two novels, but I know there are readers who will adore the more serious side of Robin’s story.  

Rating 3/5

*** I received a copy of the novel from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was in no way compensated. 

Review: Texas Redeemed by Isla Bennet

Pub. Date: May 2013

Publisher: Montlake Romance

406 pages

Paperback/ebook

When you think of Romance as a genre, the usual stereotypes include a female protagonist, lots of dialogue, a very linear story, and a happy ending. Texas Redeemed might be a Romance – but it completely breaks the mould.

Going through med school and traveling the world as part of Doctors Without Borders has acted as a distraction from the rebellious life Peyton Turner ran from thirteen years before. Back in his Texas hometown of Night Sky, Peyton learns the youthful mistake he regrets the most, is one he didn’t know he made. In the years he was gone, he intentionally stayed hidden from his complicated family life, but in his silence, he unknowingly prevented his best friend Valerie from being able to tell him she was pregnant with his twins. In an attempt to come to terms with the experiences he missed out on, Peyton sets out to claim what could have been. But the damage done by leaving may be a cut too deep for the good doctor to fix.  

There are so many novels (especially in the romance genre) where women get ‘rescued’ from their pasts by a man. In Texas Redeemed, first as children and then as adults, Peyton and Val support each other, and that support helps them move past the pain in their pasts – no rescue, just an honest

Review: Finding It (Losing It #3) by Cora Carmack

Pub. Date: October 15^th, 2013

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Paperback

320 pages

My love for Cora Carmack’s books is almost annoying. I have yet to take more than a day to finish one of her novels because the characters are just so lovely and real, her writing style is so addictive, and I truthfully just cannot wait for the happy endings.

Jetting off to Europe after graduation, Kelsey wants to find experiences. She needs something that will shake things up and make her feel something real. But, after barhopping and adventure seeking all over Europe, loneliness sinks in, and Kelsey is no closer to finding something real than she was before her trip. It’s only when ex-Army Jackson Hunt walks into her life, pointing out that she can’t expect to have new experiences when every night is the same party in a different place, that Kelsey’s adventure really starts. In Italy, Kelsey and Hunt spend every waking minute together. But, she has to learn the hard way that sometimes, before you can appreciate any new, great experiences, you have learn how to handle your bad ones. 

I don’t know if it was the exotic settings, or the fact that I ultimately related to Kelsey so much more than I have to any of the previous Losing It characters, but Finding It is my favorite Carmack novel to

Review: Unspoken (Woodlands #2) by Jen Frederick

Pub. Date: September 16^th 2013

Publisher: Pear Tree LLC/ Jen Frederick

260 pages

Paperback/ ebook

Having read a fair amount of New Adult lately, I’m finding that there's a bit more ‘rough’ than diamonds in the rough out there. Unspoken is definitely a diamond – but a diamond that needs just a little more polishing until it reaches perfection.

Bo is not your typically college student. At 23 he’s already been a Marine stationed in Afghanistan, and carries more baggage than a sorority house sees on moving day. AnnaMarie, AM for short, carries just as much baggage after a series of rumors involving ‘‘extracurricular activities’’ with the entire Lacrosse team were falsely spread. The only two non-freshman in Biology class, Bo slyly groups the two together. Under the guise of schoolwork, Bo and AM spend increasing amounts of time together, showing the other who they really are beneath the baggage and rumors that they have been brandished with. 

I appreciate NA without Insta-love immensely. Insta-love is so unrealistic and I typically lose interest the second it is introduced. Frederick really proved to the reader the relationship between Bo and AM, and why the two characters connected, long before they actually became a couple. As a reader you had to work towards the Happily Ever After, it wasn’t just handed to you, so you appreciated it that much more. I especially appreciated that once the two are together, they’re together. There is very little of the ‘what is going to break them up before they’re eventually brought back together’ drama. Bo and AMs relationship felt much more true and realistic to real life than most NA relationship do for me.

Review: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

Pub. Date: October 1^st, 2013

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Hardcover

389 pages

How to Love took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I was angered, inspired, annoyed, and overjoyed throughout the reading process because of how relatable Reena’s character is, and because of how realistically her situation is represented.  

With a 4.0, the chance to graduate high school after only three years, a close family with supremely strong religious beliefs, and general anti-social tendencies, Reena is not a teen you would expect to end up pregnant at 16. But she does. How To Love tells Reena’s story ‘Before’ the birth of her daughter Hannah, and ‘After’. Everything that ‘Before’ Reena experiences – from the destruction of a significant friendship, to her budding relationship with long-time crush Sawyer, until the moment she finds out she is pregnant – makes you feel like you're waiting to be propelled into the middle of an intersection, knowing the car speeding up behind you has no chance of stopping before impact. You know something serious and potentially horrible is about to happen, but you're powerless to stop it.