Review: Fantastic!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 26, 2014
At first glance, you would think that Isabel Jenkins has the world at her feet. A child prodigy on the verge of becoming a medical resident at the age of just eighteen. But suddenly everything that she's worked so hard to achieve seems to have been ripped from her grasp. Isabel has failed at the final hurdle when it came to her emotional assessment. So what's an eighteen year old girl, who's lacking in the skills of life to do? She enrols in college. But it's instantly apparent that Izzy's not like other eighteen year olds, so her super hot RA, Marshall Collins, offers to take her under his wing and help her fit in.This was good. So very good. It was so much more that what the blurb eludes to. It actually didn't start out for me that way though. Isabel was hard to connect with. She was quite emotionless and abrupt, and I was thinking that there was no way that I was going to survive a whole book with her being like that. But I had hope. Hope that she would grow and learn and mature along the way.I usually find myself really gravitating towards the male characters in books. And I did this time around as well. Marshall was amazing. He was sweet and always willing to help. As I got to know him better his strength and selflessness were what really shone through. And he has the most absolutely perfect and quirky family. I loved each and every one of them. But after reading for a little while, there was just something about Izzy that I was drawn to. As her story was slowly revealed to us, that draw was even greater and I found myself absolutely loving her. There are so many things in her past that have led to her being so closed off emotionally. But when she's with Marshall, that's not the case. He makes her feel, and he makes her want more than what she's ever wanted before.I loved the chemistry between Izzy and Marshall. Their relationship was built from a great friendship. But boy, don't they have some huge issues to deal with. Despite everything that these two face and the wonderful romance that develops between them, it was Izzy's growth that I enjoyed the most.I actually found myself shedding a few tears towards the end. It completely caught me by surprise, because as much I was absolutely loving the book, that was one emotion I just didn't expect. Third Degree is the first book that I've read by Julie Cross and I was really impressed by it's originality and depth. I will definitely be checking out more of this authors work.4.5/5 Fantastic StarsThis book was gifted to me for an honest review.