Review: Awwwww Inducing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 31, 2014
Fate.  It’s such a tricky thing with such a long history interpreted in so many ways.  Imagined as everything from a vast tapestry, a thread for every soul, to simply being in the right place at the right time.  And sometimes a little of both.Alexia Morgan and Phillip Ryan meet by chance on an airplane and have that immediate connection we all hope for, but never really expect.  She’s headed to college for the first time and he’s on his way back to start his junior year.  They slowly begin to understand how very much they have in common and in the process scare themselves out of being able to further their connection.  But Mistress Fate takes things into her own hands and just keeps thrusting them together, whether they’re ready for it or not.These two people are utterly sweet, mostly nave and absolutely made for each other.  And they really do try.  They put down their insecurities, they embrace each other and they bravely allow themselves to love.  Until the vast tapestry reveals a little more of their connection, afraid of what might be.This book is really sweet story of young love finding its footing in the midst of tremendous loss and second chances.  All of the characters are approachable, open and easy to love.  It’s a lovely little happily ever after in a world that has too few of them.My only real issues with this book were how the author chose to arrange this book and some pretty significant copy editing issues.  The book is set up in alternating chapters told from Alexia and Phillip’s perspectives, which is typically a wonderful way to get both sides of the story and can provide wonderful moments of insight.  My issue was that all of Phillip’s chapters were a literal re-telling of what Alexia just lived through, only from his perspective.  So while there were occasional nuggets of revelation and reflection that made me smile, mostly I felt like I was reading each chapter twice.  There were enough instances of word confusion to make it distracting as well.Overall this is a wonderful love story and a little repetition and copy editing issues don’t detract from that.  If you’re looking for a love story with truly relatable characters, then Last Heartbeat is for you.