Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Livie has always been the stable one of the two Cleary sisters, handling her parents’ tragic death and Kacey’s self-destructive phase with strength and maturity. But underneath that exterior is a little girl hanging onto the last words her father ever spoke to her. “Make me proud,” he had said. She promised she would…and she’s done her best over the past seven years with every choice, with every word, with every action.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy that she’s going to someday marry. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots, a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say ‘no’ to, and Ashton, the gorgeous captain of the men’s rowing team. Definitely him. He’s an arrogant ass who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare and everything she doesn’t want in a guy. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who happens to fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.
In Ten Tiny Breaths, the first book to this companion, was raw and gritty and really, fully embodied the idea of what New Adult could and should be. So when the companion was announced, I was like hell, yeah! However this book had a much more typical YA feel about it, even though the main character, Livie is in college. While I liked it, it didn’t ‘go there’ as much as I wanted it too.
I think my biggest hitch was the initial set up of sexy playboy, Ashton. We get older sister Kacey, still fiery and awesome as ever trying to get Livie to loosen up with a night of drunken escapades. And drunk as a skunk, she catches the eye of Ashton “Jello Thief” Henley. And from that night on, he can’t let her go, even when she becomes interested in Ashton’s very sexy (and British!) best friend Conner. I guess the set up felt as though it was lacking something that never really showed up by the end. Maybe it was the fact you don’t really see what attracted him to her I feel like a dual POV would have helped and it excites me to learn she’ll be writing more books, both of them dual POV.
That being said, this book kept me utterly captivated. I kept wondering what would sexy thing would happen next between Ashton and Livie and how it would all end and just how badly hearts would be broken. It was fun, sexy read and I couldn’t put down. Really and truly a fantastic romantic summer read. It was certainly New Adult without the deeply dark that New Adult can be.
Similar recommendations: Ten Tiny Breaths by KA Tucker and The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen.
