Review: I've had my "fix" from Unfixable.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 25, 2014
I read the excerpt before I purchased this book. But for some reason I didn't realize it was about Willa. As in Ginger and Derek's Willa. I read Ginger's story the first day it came out. It was one of the first Entangled Books I ever downloaded. And I loved it so much. So when I started reading, only then did I realize this was about Willa Peet, Ginger's younger sister.Last we saw Willa she was a scared (and yet somehow strong) little girl dating (or beginning to date) Evan. I really didn't even expect a Willa book. And I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The reason being I still saw (in my mind) Willa as that little girl. As Ginger's sister. And for the first few pages I had a hard time grasping that Willa was now grown up.But she IS grown up... and she is very like (and yet very different from) her sister Ginger.This is an Entangled "Embrace" and not a "Brazen"... I usually stay more towards Brazen as they are usually less Nicholas Sparks and more gritty, more real. But I downloaded this book anyways because I wanted to give this new semi-genre from Tessa a try. I like Tessa. I like every book she has written.So my night commences around 9pm and I start reading, fully expecting to be asleep by 11pm. But 11 rolls around and I can't put it down. And then 12. And finally I finish this book around 1am. And I have to admit... I don't think I've shed tears while reading since back in the early 90's when I read "My Girl" and Thomas J died from the bee stings.But don't you know it, I'm literally sobbing when Willa finds the photograph Shane leaves for her on her nightstand.Throughout this book I had this ending in my head. I had this idea of how it would end. I figured Shane would walk away and Willa would mourn and yet still love him. Months would pass and he'd show up and she'd take him back. That's how these love stories work, right?I'm not sure why I saw it that way. Maybe because Tessa did such a wonderful job writing Shane that I half expected him to be a bad apple. I mean come on, he drives a fast car, he's jealous, he wants no strings attached sex.But slowly, oh so slowly, we see a new side to Shane. How he handles his sister when she gets a boyfriend. The little things he says like "Willa, I didn't see you coming."Or how about how he stays up all night to get her in contact with her sister?For some reason us women are hardwired to believe we have to have it rough at first for things to get good. So I figured he's ditch her some how. And then he'd come to this big realization. But no. Instead Willa ditches him. She goes against her better judgement and tells him he means nothing. She doesn't feel what he feels.Of course we know she's lying. We've known it all along. She told us as much after they first have sex.Willa runs and spends all night at a coffee shop. She retreats into her self punishment... because that's what Willa does. It's SO her. I wouldn't expect any less from her. I kind of hoped Faith would punch her when she gets back, but she doesn't and I'm ok with it.But the moment Willa finds the photo on her nightstand, it's so monumental that I cried. I mean, I knew they'd get back together, I knew he'd be waiting for her. But it was still such a beautiful moment, so wonderfully written that I shuddered. Seriously. I shuddered. That's pretty hard. "It's all over my face, in the damp welling of my eyes, the breathlessness he captured with the shot. It's so obvious. I'm looking at the man I love."I'm pretty sure Tessa could not have written that any better. It's such a huge moment for Willa.And then:'Slowly, I turn the photograph over in my hand. When I see the word LIAR scrawled in what has to be Shane's handwriting, a watery laugh bubbles from my throat.'This sentence alone tells me more about Shane than the entire book did. And in that moment, I've fallen so hopelessly in love with Shane and Willa that I'm confident I'll read this book many times over.When I saw the words Epilogue after the final chapter I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I don't like Epilogues. I don't even like Prologues. But, oh goody, it was from Shane's POV. And we needed it. Yes we really did.'Derek and Ginger exchange a look, then glance over at me.At least, I think they do.I'm looking at Willa.'Mind. Blown.