Sweet - Review

Sweet (Contours of the Heart, # 3)

By: Tammara Webber

Published: April 27th 2015

340 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--He’s the love of her life, but he doesn’t know it.
She’s his one moment of sacrifice in a lifetime of survival.

He was damaged and wild, but resilient.
She’s always been obedient. Now she’s restless.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from, and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her:
Sweet.

This is another book where the description isn't necessarily wrong, but does give the book a completely different impression than what it really is. I don't think Pearl thinks that Boyce is everything she should run from, and I don't think she's restless either. And I really don't even think Boyce is dangerous. I don't know. The description just doesn't fit. Boyce and Pearl go way back. I'm talking...all the way to when she was 5 and he was 7. After they meet at that age, the two have many more experiences together throughout their childhood and teenage years. The thing is, no one else really knows that the two have any connection to each other.

Sweet is told in alternating points of view (Boyce and Pearl) and between memories of the past and moments of the present. I was somewhat frustrated in the beginning because it truly seemed like the majority of the beginning was focused more on the events of the past rather than what was going on with Boyce and Pearl in the present, but it's all to set the stage.

Pearl is anything but restless. She finally feels good about her life decisions and where she's going in her career. She's even standing up to her mother, who she thought would always have her back. One person who does have her back...Boyce. He seems to know her better than anyone else.

Boyce is doing pretty well for himself compared to where we last saw him in Breakable. Even though he grew up with an abusive father, his mother left him and his brother when they were young, and his brother died in the military, Boyce is making something of himself. He's taken lemons and made lemonade. He's taken over the garage that his father owned and has really turned it into a profitable business. He's become responsible. Not dangerous.

Pearl and Boyce have had a connection since they were 5 and 7. They've shared looks, a few kisses, and more in their past. Yet the two don't seem to have a clue what the other wants. It's clear that they both find the other attractive, but neither knows how deep the other's feelings go. I liked watching this relationship build as they had so much history.

The language was much more...colorful...and full of f-bombs than I would have thought. I don't remember the prior books being as bad about this, but it has been a while since I read them. The physical scenes were...well some were fairly tame and others more graphic. Sweet bordered on being a bit much for my preferences.

Favorite quotes:

-Nothing like a high school friend to drag you back to high school behavior.

-"...sometimes what seems like a gut feeling is just pride pretending to be instinct."

-"Nothing makes me feel how small and insignificant I am, how fleeting life is, like the sky and the ocean."..."You want to feel insignificant?" "I want to feel what's true."

I enjoyed the story of Sweet, and I'm glad that Boyce and Pearl got to have their story explored. Some conflict was visible to me from early on, but nothing happened that really had me rolling my eyes at the obvious. And I liked how these two were intertwined and connected from their childhoods yet still so distant until now. Sweet gets 4 Stars. Have you read Sweet? What did you think? Let me know!

Side note: I really hate the name Boyce.

Waiting on Sweet

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Sweet (Contours of the Heart, # 3)

By: Tammara Webber

Expected Publication: April 27th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--He’s the love of her life, but he doesn’t know it.
She’s his one moment of sacrifice in a lifetime of survival.

He was damaged and wild, but resilient.
She’s always been obedient. Now she’s restless.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from, and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her:
Sweet.

I had no, no, no clue Tammara Webber was writing another Contours of the Heart book, but I am so stoked about this. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Believe - Review

Believe (True Believers, # 3)

By: Erin McCarthy

Expected Publication: January 21st 2014 by InterMix

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--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…

After finishing Sweet, I had to jump right into Believe, and I was so glad that I had it already available to pick up next. Erin McCarthy has sucked me into these characters. She started planting little bits and pieces of Robin’s story into Sweet, and it was easy to see that Robin was going to be next to get her story told. However, I hate cheating books. I hate cheating period. The very idea of it makes me sick to my stomach. So to see that Robin’s story involved this topic I was a little wary of it. But Erin McCarthy didn’t glorify it. She didn’t excuse it. And neither did Robin.

As a matter of fact, Robin is pretty much disgusted with herself after waking up from blacking out one night from partying. Robin is so shaken by what she’s done to her friend that she goes into a bit of a depression. She pretty much hates herself. She doesn’t understand how she could do something so far from what her sober self would have done. And because of this, Robin makes a conscious decision to quit drinking. She wants to be sober and know that she’s in control of herself. While again, I doing enjoy reading cheating stories, it was nice to see a character feel so guilty about her own behavior and the step she takes to make sure it never happens again.

Phoenix is Tyler and Riley’s cousin. We’ve met their aunt before so we had an established tie there. But we find out that Phoenix is fresh out of a stint in jail. Obviously we don’t know why he was in jail for a while. But Phoenix and Robin connect over a shared love of art and simply wanting to be around someone who has no expectations of them. I loved seeing how their relationship grew. Robin makes a conscious effort (along with not drinking) not to play any games with Phoenix. She decides to be honest with him whenever she can and whenever she can’t, she stays silent. Neither push the other to discuss things they would rather not because they both understand what it’s like to not want to talk about a particular topic.

Like Riley from Sweet, Phoenix doesn’t fit into the typical new adult leading male pattern and I loved that. It’s so refreshing to get not one, but two guys who aren’t trying to sleep their way through town. And even though Robin is a bit of a party girl and she made a huge drunken mistake, she’s not fast and easy either.

I found myself highlighting up a storm whenever I was reading this book. Some of my favorites quotes:

Of course, I was never going to find that guy at a keg party. Another reason I had stopped going to the frat house all-nighters. I didn't have the stomach for the so-called living-in-the-moment fun since I had woken up next to Nathan.

I wanted to say that she wasn't good enough for him anyway, that she was a liar and a cheat and a [crappy] girlfriend who didn't deserve him, but did I really know that? And if I was no better than her, did I have any right to say anything?

Sometimes we needed forgiveness.

At eight, I just knew there was something wrong with both of us because I was supposed to have the drugs but she was the one who couldn't go a day without them.

I just wanted someone to look at me, in all my pale, non-drinking glory, and think I was someone they wanted to talk to. That's all.

For some reason, that touched me. The guy that old ladies shied away from at the drugstore was worried about inconveniencing me. Me. I hadn't felt worthy of consideration lately.

"'The bluebird carries the sky on his back.' That's Henry David Thoreau."..."'No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky,'" Phoenix said. "That's Bob Dylan."

"'There is no remedy for love, but to love more.' That's Thoreau," I mummered. Phoenix kissed the corners of my mouth. "'The future for me is already a thing of the past. You were my first love and you will be my last.' That's Bob Dylan."

I will say that I was disappointed with the ultimate conflict of the book. I had been so proud of Robin and Phoenix up until this point that the decisions and reactions they made to the major conflict (or more accurately, that CAUSED the major conflict) was a letdown. It felt out of character, and it felt almost like Erin McCarthy took the easy way out there. I did enjoy the character growth and the effort that both Phoenix and Robin put into making themselves better people and into their relationship as a whole.

Overall, I was hooked on this story and these characters. Despite the topic cheating having a prominent place in the storyline, I found myself enjoying most every aspect of this book. Believe was also less graphic than most new adult books that I’ve read—as I’ve found to be the case with Erin McCarthy’s other books in this series—and I always appreciate that. I’m giving Believe 4 Stars. Have you read Believe? What did you think? Let me know!

Sweet - Review

Sweet (True Believers, # 2)

By: Erin McCarthy

Published: October 15th 2013 by InterMix

257 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Jessica Sweet thought going away to college would finally make her free of her parents’ constant judgments and insistence she play chastity club role model for their church events, but if anything, the freedom has made her realize she can’t go home and be a hypocrite anymore. Tired of dodging their questions, she stays at school over the summer and lands in an unexpected crash pad: Riley Mann’s house.

Sarcastic, cocky, and full of opinions, Riley is also sexy personified with tattoos and biceps earned from working as a roofer all day. Not the right guy for her even if Jessica was looking for a relationship, which she is definitely not. But Jessica knows that Riley hides the burden of having to raise his younger brothers behind that grin and as she helps him get his house in order for a custody hearing, they begin to fall hard for each other, and she is forced to question what she’s hiding herself.

....

I was pleasantly surprised whenever I read True. Erin McCarthy’s first installment was much deeper than I expected. I enjoyed the characters and their stories. And so I was excited to read the other books in the series. I got denied for Sweet whenever I requested it for review, but that didn’t stop me from finding another way to pick it up and find out what happens next. I have to say based off of True only, I wasn’t sure I was going to like Jessica and Riley’s story. Riley seemed a little on the mean side and Jessica was known to be a party girl bordering on slut. However, as with True, Sweet surprised me with its depth.

One of the first things I want to discuss is how Riley doesn’t fall into the cookie cutter, cliché new-adult male character, and I cannot fully tell you the happiness that brings me. The leading male of most new adult novels sleeps with a different girl every night, and Riley isn’t like that—AT ALL! Not only does he not understand sex with someone who he doesn’t care about, he also puts off having sex with Jessica despite how often she might throw herself at him. He’s taking his time and trying his best not to skip any steps which I cannot rave about enough. Kudos Riley, and kudos Erin McCarthy. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving us a different leading male. Because of this, Sweet isn’t as graphic as many new adult books, but that was also a win for me.

Jessica fills some of the slack there though. Just because Riley isn’t ready to skip steps doesn’t mean that Jessica isn’t. She’s used to skipping steps, and so even with Riley she reverts back to what she knows. She brings baggage from her past sexual experiences into their relationship wondering if Riley is rejecting her because he doesn’t want her at all. Had she not been as “experienced”, these questions wouldn’t have been an issue.

In True, we met Tyler and Riley’s younger brothers, Easton and Jayden, and we saw how fiercely protective of them both Tyler is, but Sweet shows an even deeper side of that because Riley is the one actually fighting for custody of them. Tyler messed that up when he took the fall for his mother’s drug charges. A convicted felon probably isn’t going to be awarded custody of an eleven year old. I love this family dynamic. Despite Riley, Tyler, and Jayden's father having left, Easton having a completely different father, and their mother having a drug problem, these boys stick together, they love each other above all else, and they fight to stay together—doing whatever it takes and sacrificing whatever is needed to reach the desired end result.

Jessica comes into the picture needing a place to stay during the summer. She wants to do something to not only thank Riley and Tyler for giving her a place to crash for a week, she also wants to leave her mark on the house and on their family. Rory (Tyler’s girlfriend) cooks and has been accepted by all of the boys as an honorary family member, Jessica wants the same. So she starts a home improvement project. It starts out as a way to thank Tyler and Riley and grows into trying to help Riley improve the living environment in an effort to better his custody chances. Of course, working together and living so closely is how Jessica and Riley’s relationship begins to develop.

Jessica has her own family drama to contend with. Her father is a preacher and her parents force church, religion, her major—pretty much any aspect of her life that they can control—on her. Otherwise they’ll cut her off financially. Of course, these parents were crazy and hypocritical Christian characters—the only kind that appear to be in mainstream literature these days. That was a bit cliché and annoying to me, but luckily they didn’t have a huge part in the book. Jessica does eventually stand up to them. But I never understood why being cut off financially was that big of a problem—plenty of people don’t have their parents' financial support and they survive college all on their own. Of course it isn’t easy, but it’s totally doable.

Overall, I was hooked into Sweet easily, quickly, and I read it until I knocked it out. It was such an enjoyable read. Even though it had moments that weren’t completely original, the biggest parts felt original to me. And that’s a win. I was emotionally invested which is one of the biggest compliments I can give a book. Sweet gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Sweet? What did you think? Let me know.

My favorite quotes:

I had put on the tight red tank absently, then had wondered if more cleavage would be better for what I had in mind, then had been disgusted with myself for even thinking such a thought. So then I had decided no cleavage was necessary to my self-respect and pulled a Union Jack shirt on over the tank.

I wasn't completely useless. Just a product of my environment.

Want to go to the hardware store with me?
Is that a new club?

"Never ask someone to tell you who you are. You tell them."

"I'm too heavy," I said, because that's what we say as girls. We love the thought that a guy can carry us, but then we worry that he'll start thinking with each step that you were way heavier than he expected and that maybe you should lay off the ice cream. It's also maybe a slightly passive-aggressive way of seeking the reassurance we need. Toxic, sure, but it slipped out before I could stop myself.

"It's not a pretty place on the ground. Life gets a little ugly in the details, but up here, taken as a whole, you realize the world can be pretty awesome."