It's been a busy week around here! We close our the week with a blog tour from one of our favorite authors, Ann Aguirre. Join us in celebrating the release of As Long As You Love Me.
As Long As You Love Me
by Ann Aguirre
Book 2 in the 2B Trilogy
SUMMARY:
by Ann Aguirre
Book 2 in the 2B Trilogy
SUMMARY:
Most people dream about getting out of Sharon, Nebraska,
but after three years away, Lauren Barrett is coming home. There are the
justifications she gives to everyone else—missing her family, losing her college
scholarship. And then there’s the reason Lauren can’t admit to anyone: Rob
Conrad, her best friend’s older brother.
Football prowess and jaw-dropping good looks made Rob a
star in high school. Out in the real world, his job and his relationships are
going nowhere. He can’t pinpoint exactly what’s missing until Lauren comes back
to town, bringing old feelings and new dreams with her. But he’s the guy that
women love and leave—not the one who makes them think of forever.
Though she’s terrified of opening up, Lauren’s ready to
take that chance. Because the only thing more important than figuring out where
you truly belong is finding the person you were meant to be with.
Buy at
Read the First Chapter HERE!
I am not sure this
genre features Ann Aguirre’s best writing.
For me, Ann Aguirre creates the most amazing worlds – creative, edgy,
and dark. I’m currently reading another
one of her books, Havoc, and I’m
enthralled. So I’m sorry to say that I don’t feel the same way about this story. I miss her imagination and tight-wire storytelling. The irony is that
I read many more romance and New Adult books than science fiction. Still, I
liked a lot of things about the book, but I didn’t feel compelled by the story.
I like the premise.
Going against the norm, small-town girl
Lauren doesn’t want to escape from the small town, she wants to go home. Back
at home she reconnects with her best-friend’s brother, a man she has had a mad
crush on since she was a kid.
Every wonder what
happened to the BMOC (Big Man On Campus) after high school? Both his family and
the community saddle Rob with the reputation as the dumb jock. Is he doomed to relive the Glory Days for the
rest of his life with no expectations to break out of that stereotype? People
didn’t expect much for him and Rob lives up to that reputation.
Lauren shares that
struggle – both are hiding behind a façade. She learned in her teens that she
could hide her true self by pretending to be a extrovert – the Party Lauren.
The difference between the two is the Lauren sees herself as a work in
progress; Rob hasn’t begun his self-actualization yet. They get each other. One of the best lines in the book says this
best:
“Lauren, you’re the only person in the world who doesn’t make me feel like half a ham sandwich.”
What was missing
for me: I feel like the emotional punch comes too late in the story. This made
the pace of the book really slow for the first half of the book. There is very
little drama to sustain the first half. Even where there is a point
when Rob has to make a decision regarding his girlfriend – a potential trigger for
conflict – it falls flat.
IN A NUTSHELL:
A nice contemporary
New Adult romance, it has the emotional power to make it a nice to read, but
not necessarily a MUST read.
Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA
Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English
Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a
voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order.
She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in
sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo
music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and
teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.
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