Review: Brody Mason is definitely moving to the top of my book boyfriend list
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2013
J.A. Huss got me with Brody Mason. As far as I'm concerned, the entire novel could have been told from his point of view (instead of half) and I would have been a happy camper. I really fell hard for him as a character. He's rough and tumble on the outside, and such a sensitive soul on the inside. But the thing that got me the most is that he waits for Fee. He never gives up on her. She's the one for him and that's it. When she disappears as a child, he never gets to give her that Fruit Roll-Up on the school bus. Instead he continually searches the woods for her each summer, and his devotion is heartbreakingly romantic.My absolute favorite scene is the one where Brody has Fee climb onto the back of his motorbike. It's probably my pick for swoon moment of the year. The way J.A. describes their bodies being wrapped around each other and how Brody squeezes her hand, it's sizzling hot and beautifully tender all at the same time. I loved it. It's a perfect depiction of Brody's wild nature combined with his utter compassion when it comes to the girl of his dreams. He's full of longing and it's the sexiest 'bad boy with a heart of gold' portrayal I've read in quite a while.Plus, I like how J.A. doesn't make Brody squeaky clean. He's slept with other girls since Fee's been gone. He's had problems with the cops. He didn't go to college. Instead, he's struggling to get over the loss of his parents who were killed by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve. He's trying to be there to support his younger brothers. He's holding onto life by his fingernails and it's only when Fee returns that he finally feels a sense of relief that maybe everything will be okay. And as a reader, you want that for him. He's a scruffy mechanic who has been dealt a bad hand and he's such a great guy you can't help rooting that things go right for him.I know the book has a girl's name in the title, but Brody just swept me away. He stole the show as far as I'm concerned. From this point forward, Brody Mason is definitely moving to the top of my book boyfriend list. Ladies, you won't be disappointed in getting to know him a whole lot better. He's so worth the time it takes to read this book.P.S. Not to mention, I absolutely love the acknowledgments by J.A. Huss at the conclusion of LOSING FRANCESCA. Especially the line, "Being a successful indie author means you work extremely hard because there's generally no team of people to thank at the end of the book." I'm an indie author myself so I feel such a connection to her as a fellow writer doing all of the grunt work that goes along with publishing a book. She's so honest when she says, "Some days really suck ... because people are mean or sales are slow..." Keep fighting the good fight, J.A.! Your talent is undeniable regardless of all of the hoopla that surrounds the world of publishing.