Review: JASE turns up the heat and romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2014
I liked how this novel was split into two parts. The first section introduces the journey of Carly Smythe and Jase Steele. They live on separate coasts but meet one summer while Carly is visiting her family in Jersey. The second section is the meat of the story where everything happens. This is a story of opposites attracting but not necessarily meant to last.Carly wasn’t planning for a romance on her vacation to the east coast. She is innocent and inexperienced when it comes to relationships so she appears to be the typical ‘good girl’. Her participation in this smutty book club gives her plenty of insight on the possibilities that made me giggle. I appreciate the known references! Meeting Jase at the beach might be the first impulsive decision she has ever made but she cannot resist him.Jase Steele is clearly a bad boy and not afraid to flaunt it. It is obvious he has secrets piled up but it takes a while for anything to be revealed. The more time he spends with Carly, the more this charming side of him emerges. He makes some super sweet gestures that made me realize he was just waiting for the right girl. Carly is very different from anyone he has ever met so he pulls out all the stops… eventually.Their interactions prove how naive she is and left me wondering what was going on. They meet up and have these strange discussions, which result in Carly stomping off back home. She keeps walking away from him but then going back. The whole set up seemed odd to me. I was hoping her character development improved as the novel went on. There was a ton of back and forth in this story that frustrated me. I felt the structure could use some grooming to improve the pacing, especially in the first half. About midway through, pieces began to fall into place and the storyline made more sense. I really wish Carly and Jase spent less time pushing each other away and more time happy together.Overall, Jase was a good read. It has solid components that carry the story and keep it flowing. The strong areas were enough to keep me reading. Carly and Jase form a bond that was very special. What they must overcome is quite inspiring. I will definitely look into other books by this author.4 Diamonds