Review: Sweet Hero, Nice Twist on Gender Roles
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 9, 2014
** 3.5 stars **First Impression... A Good Guy/Bad Girl Story? I love when an author takes the typical trope and turns it around.The Story... Avery is used to getting, and bedding, any guy she wants. When she sets her sights on Bennett, Avery is sure that she will snag him in no time. Bennett, though, is not having it. He likes Avery, is very attracted to her, but that's not his game. In All of You, our hero is waiting for nothing less than true love. Avery doesn't want to give up her wild ways, Bennett won't give in for less than his ideals. Will they find a way to be together?The Characters... Sweet Bennett stole the story. An art student and tattoo artist, Bennett is sexy and appealing. An even better attribute is that Bennett is the nicest. A responsible son and brother, he has his reasons for holding onto his virginity. I like that he was complex; showing his desires, but holding himself in check. He was a guy any girl should be lucky to have.Avery was a little harder for me to get on board with. I do appreciate a girl who is self-confident and in fine tune with her sexuality, and I think it's great to have a girl who doesn't really wrestle with what she wants. Her actions weren't always in her best interest, but honestly, that's the beauty with flawed characters, we get to see them experience character growth.Avery's friends Ella and Rachel were kind of hilarious. They were crass and bold. At first, I was a little put off by the way they talked, but then I remembered how my friends and I talked, and I got it. Also, it's a double standard. If guys make sexual jokes and call each other crude names, we laugh and call it a bromance. The same should apply to females, in my opinion.The Writing... I enjoyed author Christina Lee's voice. It had a nice tone and pace that helped me fly through the story. I would say I literally read this story in approximately two hours.The Heat... Despite his virgin status, Bennett was not nave or completely inexperienced. For this story, the heat between them was very consistent. I appreciated that while it played a part in the story, it didn't completely take over.In the End... All of You was a thoughtful, sweet, and steamy love story. Bennett and Avery were complex characters with reasons for their actions. They both managed to bend, while staying true to themselves. I look forward to the next book, about Ella, Before You Break.Favorite Quote:Bennett was kissing the shit out of me and I couldn't breathe but I didn't care because if this is what kissing him felt like, I could get my fill of oxygen later.