Review: Funny, super-duper sweet, and up on the favorite's shelf.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 1, 2013
Rachel is AMAZING at writing YA love stories. That's what this book is. Amazing.It's full of sweetness, with a side of cocky, snarky, and realness. This book could absolutely happen in the real world. I LOVED Ellie. She was sweet and MORAL and normal. The only time I wanted to slap her was near the end, but of course that was the point. We were watching this play out, as the reader knowing that she wasn't right, but just knew that all would be well in short time. And the 'come back together' scene? So original and different. I expected the big blow-up, the angry yelling, the bumping into each other months and months later and doing the awkward dance. Those have been done so many times, and yes, I expected it here. But it wasn't like that. I was so pleasantly surprised that when the time came for that scene, it was done so differently. Just like this couple. They aren't a normal couple and don't operate like one, but they love each other like one. Very original. And she wasn't some annoying girl who did all these stupid things and she wasn't torn between two guys. When Colton kept popping up, I wondered if she'd start to have mixed feelings, but the girl was fantastically smitten with Fin.And Fin. Wow. I thought he was going to be a jerk half the book and he was to a certain degree, a small degree, but for the most part, he was swoony in all sorts of sweet ways. And once he decided he wanted Ellie, forget about it. He was relentlessly smitten himself. I loved watching it all unfold between these two. He was sexy, cocky and one of the most amazing book boys ever. You'll find out why he was so amazing near the end of the book. Family men are the sexiest men that I read about. The way he wanted Ellie and still wanted to do what he needed to do made him that much more awesome.The other great thing about this book was the family and friends. Her brothers were awesome. I loved them. Her whole family was awesome and it was nice to watch her really realize that throughout the book.And it's totally setting up a sequel for her friend, Britte's story and one of the brothers. Can't wait for that one!Now, Rachel is an amazing and super sweet chick, and I'm gonna be a pit bull for a minute on her behalf. I read some reviews that took off stars because Ellie was a virgin in college. YOU SHOULD CONGRATULATE HER!! Not put her down because of it. Being a virgin isn't this awful thing that some people make it out to be. If that's the case, then I wouldn't recommend any of my books either. There's a time and place for everything. If Ellie wasn't a virgin, this great dynamic of the story, that Ellie had never felt real love (other than family love) and didn't even like to kiss because she had never been kissed properly, wouldn't have been so potent and plausible. So open your minds and don't be so harsh on things without thinking it through. We should read books for the amazing story, not whether the book has sex in it or not, and not because you think a virgin in college isn't possible. My favorite stories of all time are YA books that the romance is sweet and amazing. There wasn't a lick of sex. It wasn't needed to get the point across. So look back to when you first started reading and remember what it was like to just sink into a story that made you never want to stop reading it and has a point and a mission to make you see something important within the story. Don't be so consumed with what's not in the story. :)6 wonderful, v-card proud, awesomely swoonworthy, original, lovey dovey stars from me.