Review: OK for ME
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2014
I am going to take a deep breath as I start this review.  By now most of my followers know that character development, content and concept are huge for me when I read and review a book.  While reading this book I struggled with being satisfied on these points.The character development is very detailed in this story; the reader learns everything there is to know about the lead character Denver and her best friend, with benefits, Greer. These two have a long history together which normally is a good thing for me. This time I felt it was too much. I felt that there was a lot of time reliving the past instead of propelling the story forward. I would have been less frustrated with it if there wasn’t so much yo-yoing back and forth from present to past and back to present again.  The other concern I had was the reasoning behind why Denver character was portrayed the way she was.  I found it unbelievable.  Denver comes across so strong and independent after being raised by a crap mom and sleazy stepfather.  I understand that it was a mask so she could shield herself from hurt, but to me it did not make sense. I believe it is the going  back and forth of the storyline that exacerbates my feelings on this.The major concept of the story is that Denver thinks herself a slut. Rumors go around school that she is one and at some point she just goes with it, instead of fighting it which is far from the real truth. Greer is her friend, the boy that loves her like no other, and the boy she loses her virginity to, and who she will not commit to because she is wears that label on her sleeve that she has been given: slut. How she can be labeled a slut if she has only been with slept with one guy exclusively is beyond me. Greer‘s love is so strong that he is willing to have any type of relationship with Denver that she willing to give. He is willing to wait and fight for her if in the process even though he is continually used by Denver.The reason she asked her best friend to pop her cherry is probably the one thing that did make sense to me. The irrational reasoning actually made sense and I believed it to be a smart one.  I think she was pretty brilliant to figure out why she felt it needed to be done.In the present, she goes off to college and is shocked when by Greer’s decision of joining her at her college hoping that she will give him a chance that their relationship could be mean something more. Just moments before she discovers Greer’s arrival, Denver meets a very sexy cowboy named Ransom and let me just say, Holy Hell is he hot!  I could see his extreme alpha tendencies within the first few pages.  I could as they say; “read between the lines” and found by the end my suspicions had been confirmed when it came to him.  There is an attraction with these two and we only get glimpses of these two together, each hear rumors about the other and seem to give each other a wide birth a large part of the time.  These two are not the main focus of book one and I really wish they had been.  I was so over the struggle between the relationship with Greer and Denver at this point. It just seemed so repetitious and I wanted Ransom and Denver to become more of the focus.By the end of the book, I was left so confused I did not know which way was up. Things happened with Greer to cause a huge rift between them but it seemed she was admitting she still loved him and could see her future with him.  The events and truth that was revealed with Greer is crazy and I was very upset and shocked with him. I am not sure how I feel about him anymore. I know how I should feel but part of me understands why he did what he did. The other part he did I do not find his behavior acceptable and would never forgive him for. Then, all at once, Denver is confessing that she thinks she is falling for Ransom.As my assumptions were beginning to be confirmed as to type of person Ransom was were true, I didn’t want to believe that this story was going to take the turn that it did I literally yelled out “REALLY? This is where this story is going?”  This also makes no sense to me, Denver can’t even figure out who her heart belongs too. Let alone begin the type of relationship that she may be agreeing to have with Ransom. They both have a conversation that communicated a lot except what really needed to be communicated in regards to the slut thing.The story is well written, it has interesting characters overall. I just did not get it and I think that may be a first for me. I can usually dig in deep and pull it out.  I felt as if I was given the filler before we actually get to what this story is suppose to be about. I wish I could just come out say what I need to say, but that would put a major spoiler into the review and I do not ever do that. It just makes this particular review so hard and frustrating for me.I really love discussing books with others that have read books that I have read or reviewed. This one makes me want to discuss big time. If you read it or have read it, Please contact me and let’s talk.This is not a standalone book, it is part of a series, it is not a huge cliffhanger but it ends with lots of questions and has a continuation.