Review: Love Wes & Lana
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 8, 2013
I reviewed this book at MustReadBooksOrDie with my friend Shelley.Court: We say a lot we have a great love for A.J. because we became friends through discussing her debut novel Documentary, but it really goes much deeper than that. She is a fantastic writer, and we are always on the edge of our seats to find out what she's working on! Recklessly does not disappoint! Wesley Elliott and his twin brother Abel are huge secondary characters in the other books...so to have an insider look into Wes's life was an amazing journey!Shel: Yes, we bonded over Documentary and shamelessly stalked A.J. until she succumbed to our harassment. I'm thrilled to say that from Documentary (and relentless stalking) I made two new and wonderful friends and I fell in love with the characters that A.J. continues to enthrall us with.Court: Wes and Lana are perfect replicas of each other. They don't do commitments or really any long term commitment to anything other than what they wanna do. Lana proves this in her ability to just pick up and go wherever and whenever she wants...like spending a month in another state. Wes is a professional surfer who travels all over the world. Either of their lives are enviable because of the freedom, but they find out that sometimes its okay to want something permanent...maybe even in each other!Shel: It is precisely their free spirited-ness (is that even a word ?, probably not...no judging) that draws me to Lana and Wes and also makes me uncomfortable. A.J. and I had a marathon conversation about this a while back and something about their reckless (yeah, I totally went there) behavior got under my skin. In the best way. I loved their independence.. their joie de vivre and yet I wanted to anchor them down a little too--I guess it's the responsible mom side of me that wanted to sit them down and ugh (I hate to admit this)...change them. But that would NEVER do for these characters and it wouldn't be the vision A.J. had for these two, so I took a deep breath, let go of what I wanted for them, and instantly became emotionally connected to them.Court: The amazing characters in this group of friends really floors me every single time. Wes, Abel, Kai and Dylan are my favorite friends of all time because they support each other no matter what. Kai, because I always swoon for Kai, helps Wes in ways that I and I'm sure Wes never expected and all of them spending time together were some of my favorite moments.Shel: Yes! If you are familiar with the gang from Documentary and Remake then you are in luck. A.J. continues to give us snippets of what they are up to and delights us with their banter and witty comebacks. Both Kai and Dylan give Wes some good advice and solidify them as my perennial favorites for best book couple.Court: Okay...least we not forget..the sexy times are off the charts. Wes and Lana are very uninhibited in every aspect of their lives so while they're not too kinky they don't hold anything back in their passion for all things sex!! Shel: Yes...from the very beginning it's very sexual and sexy. Man..to be young, hot, and single in California..I WISH!!!Court: This tale is real life and its hard and raw and I loved every single second. There is angst and insecurity and 24 year old's making decisions making this New Adult in every sense of the word. Recklessly had me on the edge of the cliff right up until the very. very. end. ..so yeah A.J....don't do that again! Haha!Shel: O.M.Gah. The last 20% of this novel. SHEESH!!! This novel had me literally sweating by the end..and if you knew me, you'd know that I don't really sweat (especially when I am glued to the couch reading). But I did for Recklessly. My heart took nose dives and tailspins and just when I thought I saw hope I'd find myself screaming the F word a lot, in bold, with exclamation points.Shel: Read it. It's a must read. It'll get under your skin in the best possible way...Courtney: 5 StarsShelley: 5 Stars