Review: I think there is something here, just needs some polishing.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2013
A Moment was something of a surprise.  It was much darker and edgier than I had anticipated.  In a good way.  It had a slightly similar feel as Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.  Though, the execution of A Moment cannot compare to Hopeless. I'm not sure if I am trying to send myself to an early grave with all these super dark contemporary reads lately or what.  I really need to take a break from them, my heart is just plain sore!Ryan has had a horrible adolescence.  Horrible would be putting in mildly, actually.  Something disgustingly unthinkable happened to him when he was young and the demons of that day haunt him, drive him to fight and rage and worse.  He's a typical male; ignore the problem, don't speak of the unspeakable and it will all go away. But it doesn't. It can't.  It may just eat away at him until he pushes everything good in his life away and leaves him with nothing.Liliana is a woman with a full plate.  Pregnant at fourteen, she now has a seven year old autistic son, a mother dying of MS and a college degree to try and complete. On top of that she has to work to pay all the bills.  Dating does not fit into her schedule, especially if the guy she's dating has some dramatic baggage to deal with.  The night Liliana meets Ryan, she sees him in his absolutely darkest moment and she should do nothing but run away from him.As lust usually does...it works its way in between Ryan and Liliana and the attraction is just something they can't deny or stay away from. Even if all signs point to it being a bad idea.What I enjoyed about A Moment was the damaged boy and the fixer girl.  I love good, messed up characters.  I like to see them fumble through life and love.  I also like it when they come out the other side, if it is done right.  That being stated, Ryan came through it in kind of an odd way for me.  There was just something about it that rubbed me wrong. He's so determined to fix himself with just the help of Liliana and his own strength but...it just didn't ring quite true to me.  I can't really pinpoint what had me pause, but I did.There are some very great moments throughout the book, some very heartfelt and tender aspects that pulled at my emotions.  I wish they were enough for me to love this book, but there was just something missing.  I really think it lays in the character development. Perhaps if it had been a bit longer I could have felt more of a connection.  They aren't paper thin characters by any means, but with such a raw subject matter I needed to know more about them to really draw me in..I'm not sure where the series will go from here but I am interested in reading more, I think there is something here...it just needs some polishing and fine tuning.  At $0.99 it is worth the read.  I do think A Moment will find an audience of readers who will absolutely love it.