Review: Sigh - I just love this book so much!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 21, 2013
I go to a lot of different writers for different things - honest characters, exciting premises, a believable and addicting series, steamy love scenes, thoughtful human issues or authentic conflict. But with Lyla Payne and her Whitman University series, I always get it all, and then some!If for some reason you haven't read the other two books in the Whitman University series, you are really missing out. Go one click the rest, now, go - scoot! This series is tough, mature and sexy but at the same time very playful and irreverant. Warning though, it is insanely addicting. The second you finish one book you wish the next were already out. The characters are so real that sometimes I think Ms. Payne has taken them beyond three-dimensional to some kind of fourth dimension of character development. Everyone in her books, whether a main or secondary character, is layered and deliciously imperfect.Each book in her phenomenal Whitman University series is lovely, but this one really gets under your skin. It stuck with me and challenged me. It is not for the faint of heart, and that's a good thing. Toby is a closed-off golden boy hottie plagued by secrets and guilt, while Kennedy is, well she is just a smoking hot mess that you can't help but like. Together, their connection is intense and their chemistry is combustible.This book is intense. You know you are hurtling toward a world of hurt but you encourage Toby and are with him and Kennedy the whole way. You breathe this life experience right along with him. He is a fabulous hero and grows so much. He is so visceral, funny, charming and real and he takes the reader to an ending that is just plain beautiful.This installment is edgier than the rest of the series. Its not "angsty" just for the sake of being so (like a lot of NA books out there), it is just emotional, challenging and true. It is more like the intense book one (broken at love) than the more playful book two (by referral only). A major piece of this book that I loved is the sophisticated and unique use of point of view. The majority of the book is 1st person from our hero with highly objective snippets giving us a glimpse of our tortured heroine and her motivations. So often in romance an innocent girl is chasing after the angry tortured man, and this totally turns it on its head, challenging the reader while it challenges our hero. The book is so evocative and poignant that at times I had to put it down and take a moment before diving back in. The pacing and relationship development is so realistic, Ms. Payne almost makes it look too easy. It is so authentic that it often felt realistic to the point of voyeurism. I felt like Toby at times, then like I was his friend, knowing I would give him advice to protect his heart while simultaneously rooting these two crazy kids on. Its an emotional roller coaster in the best possible way.My only wish/greedy request would be for a longer epilogue (ideally a scene or two back at school. They will face a lot when school starts again and I would love to see how they handle it and other people). The book is so intense I think my racing heart needed a little more of a slow burn on the comedown, but that is like saying a Dove bar can be improved by being 10% bigger! Besides, a great feature of this series is that everyone's stories are so beautifully interwoven that each book plays on the characters from prior and future books. This series doesn't just give lip service to a prior couple, they are a part of the action and aid in the growth and development of the other characters - you know, like in real life! So hopefully we will see more of Toby and Kennedy in the future. (Speaking of all the great characters, someone needs to make this book a mini series or something, stat ☺) Enjoy!