Review: Another great story in the Cedar Mountain University series!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
I received a complimentary e-copy of All In in exchange for an honest review.All In is the 2nd book in the Cedar Mountain University series, following Pieces of Me. Pieces of Me was Delaney and Cole's story and All In is Grace's story. Grace is Cole's sister and Delaney's college roommate. All In could be read as a standalone but I'd recommend reading Pieces Of Me first, just so you can get to know some of the other characters in Grace's life.Grace and Grant were the golden couple - She's been in love with him ever since he became friends with her brother Holden and they've been dating for 2 years. Everyone, Grace included, just figured that they'd be together forever. And they probably would have been had Grant not ripped her world apart by breaking up with her so they could each see other people. It's just a shame that when he ended their relationship, it didn't end his friendship with Holden so even though Grace and he are no longer together, he's still too often hanging around, proving that it's hard to get over someone who is always around.Grace didn't want to see other people but she gets tired of moping around and one night at a frat party she's starting to feel no pain and considers having a one night stand to help get past the heartbreak. She comes close only to decide it's a bad idea and is relieved when another frat brother Jacob steps in and offers her an out and offers her his bed to sleep for the night. He's a perfect gentlemen, sleeping on the floor but when he drives her home the next morning, the typical college rumors start flying when people see her leaving the frat house with Jacob.Jacob and Grace start spending more time together and even though they start dating for real, Grant is always circling around in their space, making it hard for Jacob to know if Grace is truly over Grant and completely into their relationship. Will she be able to convince him that she's all in with him or will Grant be an obstacle that they just can't get through?I loved All In. I devoured Pieces of Me when I read it last year and honestly I never thought that Ann Garner would be able to come even close to making me love another couple as much as I loved Delaney and Cole, but she absolutely did with Jacob and Grace. I love that even though this was Grace's story, Delaney and Cole were just as much involved that I didn't have to miss them and wonder about where they were in their relationship.Grace wore her heart on her sleeve and I loved her for it. You always knew how she was feeling about Grant, and about Jacob. Jacob had his own baggage to deal with and I could understand his position in wondering if Grace was all there for him. It was painful to watch them grow closer only to fall further apart and more times than not I just wanted to smack Grant for still having the power to mess with Grace's head when things were going well with Jacob and I couldn't wait to get to the end to see if things were going to finally work out for Grace and Jacob.It's safe to say that I'm a huge fan of Ann Garner and I'll be keeping an eye out for more by her!