Pages: 118
Publication date: December 21, 2013

Publisher: Kate Ashton

How I got the copy: Received from author in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars
   

  

From Goodreads:

A New Adult contemporary romance - companion novella to Every Little Piece.

Needing to love…

Every day I’m with Chad, I prove my dad wrong, that I can be loved…that I am loveable. So why is our relationship so hard? When we’re together on the dance floor or between the sheets, I pray for a small twinge of lust or something. I remember when his lazy smile sent my toes curling and my lower regions throbbing. But lately, thoughts of Noah come even though I don’t want them to: his valiant efforts to rescue me, his tender, caring side, even though I was being an idiot that night. I just don’t know if I’m ready to shake off one bad relationship to trust in another one. 

Wanting to trust…

Her words echo in my head. Let’s be secret friends. Shh, don’t tell anyone. That girl ruined my life. Because of her and what happened I haven’t touched a girl since high school. I haven’t let myself fantasize about a girlfriend. About finding love. Or sex. Shit. Has it been that long since I’ve been laid? Then there’s Carly. The tantalizing goddess I rescued. For the first time I’m feeling things I swore I never would again. Somehow, she’s wormed her way into my heart, but I just don’t know if it’s too late for love and for the two of us.

I got hooked on reading from Sarah Dessen books back in the day.  And since her books I haven't found an author who gets me quite as much as she does.  But there is something about Kate Ashton's writing that is so similar and I'm definitely a fan.  She takes the same serious and contemplative tone that Dessen has, but puts it into a New Adult setting and adds so much more tension and romance.

She also uses metaphors, which any good Dessen fan would enjoy.  In this book the ocean kind of represents an ending and a beginning...almost like a baptism of sorts.  It's really clever and refreshing.

I loved that both of the main characters had issues to work through.  Their characters both developed so much, yet they grew together.  There were times I wanted to slap some sense into Carly...and if I'm being honest...Noah too.  But overall they were enjoyable characters that pulled at my heart strings.  I think that's the main reason I gave this four stars.  I just wanted them to stop being so blind about what they wanted and needed, but change is scary so I understand why they were hesitant.

I especially liked the ending.  We get hint that book three will be from Chad's POV and I've already started reading it...I couldn't wait!  I definitely recommend this to contemporary fans and it's really cheap on amazon right now so you should take advantage of that while you can!  This is definitely an author to keep an eye out for!

My review of book 1: Every Little Piece

Goodreads / Website

Pages: 265
Publication date: June 6, 2013

Publisher: Leigh T. Moore

How I got the copy: Received from author in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:  5 out of 5 Stars
   

  

From Goodreads:

Three bad things I learned this year:
-People you trust lie, even parents.
-That hot guy, the one who’s totally into you, he might not be the one.
-Things are not always how they appear.

Three good things I learned this year:
-Best friends are always there for you, even when they’re far away.
-That other hot guy, the one who remembers your birthday, he just might be the one.
-Oh, and things are not always how they appear.

Anna Sanders expected an anonymous (and uneventful) senior year until she crossed paths with rich-and-sexy Jack Kyser and his twin sister Lucy.

Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed Anna outside her comfort zone, and Jack showed her feelings she’d never experienced... Until he mysteriously withdrew.

Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction for Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins’ distant, single father. 

A secret that could permanently change all their lives.

Fans of The O.C. pay attention!  Jack Kyser is a mixture of rich Seth Cohen, who doesn't want to be part of the high class world anymore + a dash of Ryan Attwood, who is the dark, mysterious, hot, new guy.  In the beginning I actually thought he was going to end up being paranormal because his family secludes themselves from the rest of the town and he was so mysterious.  I felt like that guy on Ancient Aliens that accuses everyone of being an alien.
 But I was glad when he turned out to be 100% human.  There was also another amazing love interest.  His name is Julian and while he spends some of the time in  just the background of the novel, I was routing for him the whole way.  It was one love triangle that I actually enjoyed.

The main character, Anna, was so true to what I remember being a teenager was like.  She tries to hold herself together when things get rough, but she's being thrown into new situations all the time and it's hard for her to navigate.  What I didn't like about her was that she put Jack on a pedistal and expected him to be perfect.  He had flaws.  In fact, there were times he was kind of a jerk.  A lovable jerk once you learned his past, but still.