Review: Not just another YA book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2014
Hanley hides behind many things, black hair, and attitude, alcohol and parties and her parents seem to be happy to ignore most of it. One day while she was sneaking out to another party she comes face to face with Nate in her garage. At first Hanley is frightened and kicks him out even though Nate seems polite and handsome, common sense says that if you find a strange guy in your garage at night who admits that he has been staying in your garage for a while you kick him out right away. When Hanley comes home completely drunk Nate helps her inside. As crazy as it sounds Hanley finds something in him she hasn't in so long she never thought she would so when freezing cold temperatures are announced Hanley does the only thing she can think of and offers him her garage.The more time they spend together to more it becomes obvious that Nate has many secrets and that they are both growing to care about each other. Soon Hanley finds herself making excuses to her friends of why she can't go out and party so she can spend more time with Nate. As Nate and Hanley's relationship grows into more and Hanley finds herself wanting to not only tell Nate all of her painful secrets but find out all the secrets that caused Nate to live in her garage. When Nate begins to opens up more about the death of his brother someone recognizes Nate and Nate is soon taken away. Now Hanley will have to decide if she believes in Nate as well as their love or if she will let her own painful past and others influence not only her and Nate's happiness but maybe Nate's life as well.I was really intrigued by this story when I first heard about but with it being a YA book I was a little leery, I will still read some YA books but I have found that I have outgrown them yet there was still something about this book that had me wanting to give it a chance and boy am I glad I did. This book was so much more than a YA book and I never guessed the turn this book would take. Hanley carry's her pain as a barrier from everyone and Nate is the only one who seems to really break though, she's had a wall up for so long she no longer see's the people around her who love her as people who love and want to help her.Nate doesn't seem to be your typical homeless teen and he isn't he ran hoping for a different outcome than he got while trying to deal with a pain to hard to cope with. So when he found Hanley he never thought he would find love, acceptance and strength. Both Hanley and Nate's story was beautifully written. I found myself easily wrapped up in this book that was written so well and easy that I kept wanting to read just another page to see what happens. Hanley isn't just another angry teen and Nate isn't just another fluffy hero.Another bonus I found while reading this book was the longer you read to more substance and depth we get from the side characters and I found myself not only wanting to see Nate and Hanley get a happy ending, but to see more of Hanley's friends and sister and know how their stories end. In fact I really hope Erin Fletcher writes stories for each of Hanley's friends and her sister.This is the first book I have read from Ms Fletcher, her writing was very effortless and easy and I'm excited to see what else she writes in the future. This book was a pleasant surprise that made me happy to once again take a chance, because this chance defiantly paid off.Thank you NetGallery and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an ARC for my review.