Review: Fantastic
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 26, 2013
The first blog I read from this author was Price of a Kiss and I loved it. I followed that with Hot Commodity which was a disappointment. Not terrible, but kind of bland. I therefore approached this book with slight trepidation, and was blown away.The story follows Paige who is starting college, her older brother's dream college, still suffering from his death three years earlier and desperate to live the life he wanted, but can no longer have, for him. Her plan is quickly soured however when she encounters Logan, the person responsible for her brothers death.I loved the characters in this book. Paige was a fantastic heroine and I really felt for her loss. Given that it was clear that we are supposed to be rooting for Logan as the Hero of the story Paige's initial treatment of him could have made her unlikeable, but the author never pushed to hard and her anger and behaviour felt fully justified. And I loved that she was able to move on from her grief, but didn't jump into instalove. It was a gradual process that was very touching.Logan, now what to say about him? He was just perfect. So sweet, thoughtful, caring and absolutely tortured over his part in Paige's brother's death. He didn't back away from his guilt and really felt that he deserved all the rage Paige threw at him. You just wanted to give him a giant hug! And the scene when Paige tells him that she forgives him was just heart wrenching.I honestly was skeptical about the romance aspect of the story. Given the circumstances, I didn't see how the author would make it remotely plausible, but it was developed slowly and skilfully so that their eventual acceptance of their feelings felt both inevitable and believable.This book was genuinely moving and managed to balance the angst nicely with the romance so that it wasn't too heavy a read. The only reason I haven't given it 5 stars is that the end of the book is preceded with the put the characters in peril cliche which is overdone in recent books. It didn't come completely out of nowhere and wasn't badly written, but neither was it necessary for the story. All in all though, really enjoyed this book and it has definitely got a spot on my re-read pile.