Review: In Review: The Fall of January Cooper by Audrey Bell
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2014
I wasn't really sure what to expect going into The Fall of January Cooper. I'd read and loved Audrey Bell's Love Show last winter, so I was excited to get my hands on this one, but I wasn't sure how I would deal with the characters. Spoiled brat meets broken hockey star? I knew there would be no middle ground. I was either going to love it or hate it. My rating probably gives me away here, but I'll just state it for the record – I loved it.When the novel started, January Cooper was the type of character I would never be friends with in real life. She was immature, impulsive and spoiled. She wasn't particularly likable until she began her fall from the top. And it was a truly spectacular fall. Her NASCAR driver fiancé cheated on her and got busted for drugs. Her father was convicted of leading a Ponzi scheme. Her mother falls off the map and January is flat broke. She moves back into the dorm with her former best friend who she once caught sleeping with her boyfriend at the time. She gets a job as a bartender and proceeds to try to make the best of her current situation. Through all of it, January earned my respect and, by the end, I was rooting for her hard core. She was definitely more than the spoiled princess she came off as in the beginning. At the end, I would have been happy to call her my friend.Christian Cutlass was one heck of a character. He, too, wasn't particularly likable at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I sympathized with him for the loss of his hockey career and his twin brother. It was heartbreaking. He was riddled with guilt over the accident that caused his brother's death and he wouldn't let himself find good things in life because of it. He slept around and came off as a real jerk. Underneath it all, however, was a great guy. He was loyal and protective. I loved watching him and January get to know each other after she began working at his bar.January's gorgeous. Christian's hot. You just know they're going to make a powerful pair, but you'll have to wait a bit before this happens. There was some instant attraction between them, of course, but the build to more was a slow burn that I simultaneously enjoyed and wanted to scream over. I like my new adult a bit steamy and it seemed like I would have to wait forever for these two to finally give in. But, the pacing of their growth from strangers to coworkers to friends to more was perfect for them. They both had too many issues to fall into something too quickly. It wouldn't have felt as real as it did. I wish there had been a little more of a steam factor in this book, though. January and Christian had such a powerful attraction, I would have expected more explosiveness from them.From the family dramas to the friendships, the romance to the redemption, I was totally hooked on this book. I wanted to know how it ended for both Christian and January. I wanted to see them both continue to pick up the pieces (together, preferably) and emerge even stronger on the other side. Even a couple weeks after I finished this book, I'd love more of their story.I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.