Review: 3 1/2 stars. Good read. Sweet book. Had a few plot issues that bothered me...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 6, 2013
Faith Warren is a 17 year old only child of an abusive, strict, fanatical preacher who has been insulated and guarded from being a normal teenage girl. She's never even been kissed.Jimmy Finn ends up in her father's church because he is serving a community service sentence. She is immediately drawn to the juxtaposition of  Finn's physical appearance (tattoos,  smoking, piercing, etc.) with his inner kindness and sweetness that comes through when he's with her.Faith is attracted to Finn - not because it would defy her father, but because she genuinely likes him and she can be the most natural and is most comfortable around him.The description of the book that is written on amazon is a bit misleading. Finn and Faith do not 'separate' until about 60% into the book. The first 60% is spent focusing on how Faith and Finn fall for each other. How she brings out the best in him. How he brings out the best in her. How they have to steal away to be together. It's very secretive, romantic and sweet.Then the book fast forwards 4 years and Faith and Finn meet again. Finn is cruel to Faith. Faith is hurt by Finn.The cruelty that Finn throws at Faith makes you cringe. Even if he was right about how she left him, it still did not warrant the mean things that he said about her and her father.The big 'misunderstanding' lasts for about 25% of the book. It was difficult to read. Difficult to think that with modern technology, they couldn't have figured out that the big misunderstanding when it was perpetrated. They are kinda dumb. Didn't fight hard enough. Make big assumptions. Guess we have to chalk it up to them being young???Anyhow, after I got over how dumb they were - I enjoyed the last 10 % of the book where everyone gets their HEA.There is a nice epilogue that makes it very happy.Steam factor? I think it had 2 hot scenes between the two main characters. A few with some heavy petting. But overall, sex is not a big part of this book.I didn't love both characters. They had a lot of flaws.Finn was just too self-destructive with the drinking and drugs. Then all of a sudden, after he sees Faith again, he will completely stop?Faith's mom was equally culpable for the father's actions by not protecting her child!Then suddenly, she is a model mother towards the end of the book and all is forgiven?Why did Faith, who suddenly is reunited with Finn, hide her secret for so long. If you love someone, you trust them as well. She assumed that he would not react well. That is not a good foundation for a relationship.This book  was in a series, but I didn't read any of the other ones. But this book can be read as a standalone book.Reading this book by itself with no other history of these characters, I wasn't fully emotionally invested in these two. It was nice to see them get their HEA - but once the book was done, they left my thoughts completely. (just had to stick with me long enough to write this review).So if the plot issues above don't bother you, then please read this book for a sweet love that is lost, then found again.