Lorrie has had a rough life thus far. Her mother was murdered by her stepfather and her biological dad took his own life shortly thereafter. Driven by the rumors surrounding her, she dropped out of college to collect her life together. Finally returning to school after three semesters away, Lorrie meets Hunter Jensen, college student and MMA fighter, on a cold night after she fell into a river, being startled by a cat. There is an immediate attraction between the two of them but Lorrie decides that she cannot handle a relationship, despite their mutual attraction. Hunter agrees and they begin a casual friendship.
After Lorrie realizes the depth of her feelings for Hunter (which happens when she finds out Hunter received a blowjob), they both realize that they cannot ignore the attraction between them. They become a couple and spend a glorious weekend holed up in his apartment having more sex than should be legal (albeit very hot sex). The world for them was right.
Lorrie's world is then shattered by a letter from her stepfather. She becomes a recluse, missing classes, sleeping constantly. She receives no contact from Hunter. Unsure of what's happening, she goes to find him only to see him entering the college's health facility with his ex-girlfriend, Ada. When Lorrie confronts him, he begs her not to go and Ada yells to Lorrie that she would not be upset with Hunter if she knew what was wrong with him. Pleading with Ada not to reveal anything, Ada leaves him and Hunter follows her, leaving Lorrie behind. Feeling the her world is collapsing around her, she decides to drop out of school, break it off with Hunter, and return to Indiana with the little family she has remaining. She leaves Hunter a note after waiting for him at his apartment for hours saying she is leaving.
The following day, she decides she wants to see and speak with Hunter one final time before she goes. Unable to find him, she learns he is at an MMA fight. Feeling something is very wrong, she rushes off to find him. When she reaches the fight, Hunter is beaten so badly that both his eyes are nearly swollen shut. He is knocked out and when medics rush in to treat him, she finally makes it to his side. Hunter is barely able to know what is going on around him and she allows the ambulance to take him to the hospital. When she is told by one of his friends that Lorrie is no good for Hunter, she decides that neither of them is good for the other and takes the bus to Indiana.
I desperately wanted to love this book but instead, I only ended up liking it. I LOVED Hunter and Lorrie's playful banter with each other. It seemed so realistic - just how two friends and lovers would interact. The sex was HOT. However, I felt the writer just could not get into a groove. I could easily tell where she stopped and picked up again. There were parts of the book that were smooth and flawless, like she had been writing for hours and then stopped. I felt the book was choppy and just didn't flow right to me.
Another issue I had with the book is her decision to devote TWO chapters to Hunter's point-of-view. The rest of the book is told from Lorrie's perspective. Almost as if Ms. West could not figure out to let the reader know what Hunter's problem was without telling it from Hunter's point of view. She should have finished the book in Lorrie's voice and then devoted an epilogue to Hunter, where we could find out what his problem was and how he was going after Lorrie.
And my final problem has completely NOTHING to do with the plot. Kittens are involved. Hunter finds and adopts a litter of kittens from his gym - a wonderful, sweet gesture. Yet he knows nothing about kittens, not even enough to know they need kitten food/formula when he and Lorrie visit the pet store. So how exactly are they able to determine the sex of the litter if they know so little about cats?? Having a veterinary background, I know sexing kittens is a very difficult task (I've worked with vets for over 6 years and I still have trouble). I realize this is probably not something the author even wondered about and just carried on so this is just a little bit that irked me.
Would I recommend this book? Sure. Overall, it was a pretty good read (and probably no one would notice the kitten thing unless they had veterinary experience) and if you're just in it for the sex, you're good. Will I read the second book? Yes, because I want Lorrie and Hunter to have their happily ever after.
(ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)
No comments:
Post a Comment