Review: Clean NA romance, but could not connect with the main characters.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 28, 2014
*I received a Netgalley copy for review*"If Only" is about a girl named Jordan Brooks, an American student who travels to Europe to study abroad for about a year or so. During that time, she meets Griffin and Noah, who are also American students studying abroad. She pretty much has to choose between Noah and Griffin, as both guys are attracted to her, and she also has to survive the 1+ year of college life in and around Europe.As you can see from the paragraph above, It's really difficult to pin-point what this story was really about, because not much really happens, plot-wise. Other than the obvious goal of ensuring she passes her classes, Jordan is basically dealing with the drama between her, Griffin, and Noah.Let me begin by saying that I did not enjoy the first half of the book. There were too many convoluted things going on, more specifically, the first few chapters. In chapter 1, Jordan meets these two guys on a train to Scotland. But it was HOW they all met was what bothered me for the rest of the book. Jordan meets Griffin when he randomly sits next to her on the train. And within a few paragraphs in or so, it's like she's suddenly in love with this complete stranger. Then she gets up to go to the bathroom (or the 'loo' as it's repeatedly called in the story), and that's when she meets Noah. Within a few paragraphs of that, they are suddenly kissing. Two complete strangers suddenly kissing within 5 minutes of meeting each other. I just didn't like that, and it made me think that Jordan was just some desperate girl looking for love (which is one of many things that turn me off with female heroines).That one single kiss that Noah and Jordan have pretty much becomes the pinnacle thing for the rest of the book, which really jarred me out of the story. I just don't find it realistic for one little peck to suddenly make two complete strangers fall in love. But this is what is dragged on over and over throughout the story.Speaking of kissing, there is a LOT of it. So much so, it really gets exhausting. I do love kissing, but like everything else, I like it in moderation. But when done so excessively that the kissing descriptions start sounding the same, it really loses the desired effect. Too much of a good thing eventually gets bad. I'd gotten to the point where I could pretty much predict both characters' next moves before they even do it. I would've liked a little more variety in the characters' intimate sessions, rather than the same kind of scene recycled over and over.There was only one ‘true’ sex scene in the book, and that didn't occur until the last few pages. But the scene itself was a pretty tame, fade-to-black kind of thing, so if you’re expecting steamy scenes in this story, you will be disappointed. For the most part, the rest of the ‘intimate’ scenes involved touching and lots and LOTS of kissing."If Only" can probably be considered a clean NA romance because there is not much in the way of dark content to worry about. There wasn't really any of the usual ‘childhood angst’ going on that we see in most NA books, other than Noah’s claustrophobia, but that seemed like such a random thing to bring up late in the book when I thought the reader should have had more clues sprinkled throughout the story to hint at this. But I don’t really count Noah’s claustrophobia as angst.I felt the entire first half of the story didn't make sense, and should have been axed. Griffin was like the red herring of the story, as I was left a little disappointed with how things happened between him and Jordan during the holidays. Griffin seemed irrelevant to the story, and I felt like the first half was just a waste. It annoyed me that Griffin just suddenly goes *poof* after I've spent so many chapters trying to get to know him and connect with him as a character. This story should have simply focused on Jordan and Noah, and the drama that went with it. I think this is why the second half of the book (Noah) was much more enjoyable for me than the first half (Griffin).Another red herring was Lily, which I thought had no purpose in the story, other than the sole purpose for some sort of drama to be forced into the story. But I’m sure there was a better way to do this. This drama was unneeded and pretty much brought the story’s pacing to a halt.What I definitely did enjoy were the supporting characters, Eliana and Duncan, who pretty much carried a lot of the story. I would certainly love to read a book about the two of them. They seem like two fun characters that I would enjoy, and the way they met would have also been a great setup for Jordan and Noah to meet in a similar manner, instead of letting just one small kiss to determine the fate of the world. Because of how fast things happened, and because of the fact Jordan and Noah are basing their relationship on one single kiss on a train, I could not connect with either of them, because to me, I still see them as two complete strangers who barely know each other. Or maybe just good friends. But definitely not boyfriend/girlfriend.I also liked how the European setting was interwoven with the story. The reader gets a bit of a snapshot tour of the fun places in Scotland and beyond, and the people Jordan and her friends interact with.Overall, I think "If Only" is a good book for someone who is looking for clean NA romance.And yes, there is a sweet HEA waiting at the end :)