Review: A great cover + great characters + Dirty Dancing reference = Awesome book!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 27, 2013
I knew from gazing longingly at the cover (the male portion of it in particular) that I would find some swoon in this book. I knew after reading what the book was about that I would enjoy the story behind that freaking gorgeous cover (again, the male portion of it in particular). Then I looked through Angeline’s idea board on pinterest, and knew I would be wishing like crazy that Dallas was a real person. But then people, I learned that The. Best. Movie. Made. Ever. (also known as Dirty Dancing) played a part in this book and knew without a doubt that this would be a top New Adult read for me. As it turns out, I couldn’t be more right on all of these counts.We meet Carmyn right at one of the hardest points in her life. She has just found her fiancé cheating on her. This was the guy she trusted, loved, and planned on spending her life with, the same guy that was there for her when she dealt with some tough family times but was so quick to hurt her for no reason at all. After a much-needed grieving period, Carmyn decides it’s time for her to do something out of character. She has always worked hard, studied hard, and made the right decisions so a night of letting go is just the type of thing to get her out of her slump. This leads her to the one and only Dallas. Dallas happens to be the campus’ residential hottie and bad boy. He likes to keep his distance, drives a motorcycle, has tattoos, and sleeps with whoever he wants whenever he wants. But hiding behind all of that is a guy who is broken-hearted and hurt over what his father did years before. Just like how their lifestyles are hiding what they’re truly feeling, this one night for them proves to be much more than they each expected.While on the surface this story follows some of the more popular characteristics of NA novels like the bad boy, the good girl, and an unlikely romance, it in fact proved to be much more than that. Carmyn and Dallas each proved to be easy-to-like, complex characters with their own set of problems and issues to work through over the course of the book while also balancing an unconventional relationship considering they’re more like acquaintances with benefits than anything else. But the more time they spend together the more they learn they can be there for one another and are actually more alike than they may seem. Dallas works hard to get Carmyn to open her heart to him which is difficult considering she keeps that sh*t on lock. On the flip-side, Carmyn pushes Dallas to work through issues with his dad and his half-brother despite how much he tries to ignore her help.Despite all of the tougher parts of this book it is actually full of lots of fun. Dallas and Carmyn learn to let go together. From the banter to the dart playing to the motorcycle altering to the girly movie watching and even to the Dirty Dancing reenacting, this book was full of small but sweet moments that had me grinning. Another fun part of this book? Well the swoon and sexy times of course! It’s no secret I love when a bad boy is caught off guard and frazzled by a girl. This is certainly the case with Dallas and Carmyn. I love, love, LOVED watching these two fall for each other. The attraction was there from the very beginning but the other, deeper feelings were like a fire slowly gaining heat and intensity as the story went on.There is no doubt in my mind that many, many other readers will fall for Dallas and Carmyn’s story as much as I did. Sure it may seem like the classic bad boy falls for the good girl love story but it proved to be much more than that. With a special knack for writing dual points of view, a whole lot of sweet moments and swoon, and realistic characters, Angeline Kace created a New Adult romance I am going to suggest you give a try!