SUNNY - BLOG TOUR, REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY: "As Long As You Love Me" by Ann Aguirre

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:

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 

Amazon | B&N | BAM | IndieBound | Vroman’s | Book Depository | Powell’s| iTunes

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.

Other Books in the 2B Trilogy:

I Want It That Way

As Long As You Love Me

The Shape Of My Heart (11/25/14)

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.

Links:

Website **Facebook**Twitter**Tumblr ** Goodreads ** Newsletter SignUp

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SUSAN: BOOK REVIEW "Deeper" by Robin York

SUMMARY:

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.


REVIEW:

Wow. I was…not prepared for this. I didn’t anticipate this book being so emotional and affecting me in this way.

At first glance, this may seem like your typical good girl meets bad boy with a “you make me want to be a better man” ending. Don’t get me wrong…I like this storyline. But, this book takes you way beyond that. The layers to this story could, in and of themselves, be their own tale. Woven together, they make for an emotion-tugging, thought-provoking, highly entertaining read. I’m thinking about these characters days after finishing. I haven’t wanted to start another book.

Caroline is on a mission – she has plans, she’s on a schedule. College. Internship. Law School. Judge. No room for error. No room for her ex boyfriend to post naked and illicit pictures of her on the internet. …until it happens.

West is on a mission – get out of his trailer-park town. Make a life for himself to be able to take care of his little sister. Work 3 jobs and get into med school. Become a doctor. No room for distractions like falling in love with a girl like Caroline…until it happens.

I love that, though the attraction immediate, it took them 18 months for their first kiss. Acquaintances, to friends, to lovers…with a simmering desire all along.

West is, well, he’s imperfect. He sells drugs, he sells sex for favors, He is angry and violent. But he’s also kind, loyal, devoted, a caregiver, protective and holy cow…I could not imagine being loved by someone like West so completely at that age. He has, quite frankly, stolen my younger self’s heart and made my older self want nothing more than to take care of him and make sure he’ll be ok.

The characters start in these cliché buckets but Robin York (the NA pen name for author Ruthie Knox) takes them beyond. Caroline is not just your perfect little girl. She is fierce and learns to fight. She figures out how to maneuver and thrive despite all that’s “not fair” about life. And she learns to really love. West is not just a boy from the “wrong side of town”. He’s driven. He takes accountability for his choices. He opens his heart even when he thinks he can’t.

I did not see the ending of this book coming. I was…confused. I begged it not to happen. I was devastated.

…and then I realized it’s only book 1 of a series. THANK FUCK. And now…I’m dying and desperate to get my hands on book 2. I need to know how this plays out. I need more than anything to know that it will be ok. And really…I just need more West.

IN A NUTSHELL: NA fans will love this book. It’s reminiscent of Katie McGarry’s “Pushing the Limits” in that the writing is quality, the dialogue believable, the characters engaging. Welcome to NA…Ms York. So happy to have you!

SUNNY: BOOK REVIEW - "Hector" by Elizabeth Reyes

SUMMARY from Goodreads:
Charlotte Brennan is no stranger to heartache and mortification. Her past is full of both. So when amazing and incredibly intense Hector Ayala, literally jumps into Charlee’s life, her walls are immediately up. Letting her guard down and sharing her past and deepest secret is not happening. Charlee is not looking to get her heart crushed once again. However, her willpower proves to be no match for Hector’s mesmerizing pull.

Guilt is a profound emotion to deal with and no one knows this better than Hector. So when he gets the chance to make up for a past indiscretion that’s been gnawing away at him for months, he takes it. Doing so means he’ll also have to pass up pursuing Charlee, the only girl he’s ever been so fascinated by. But his inability to explain why they could never be has him dealing with a new kind of
guilt—the guilt of knowing he is unwillingly breaking her heart.

REVIEW:
Elizabeth Reyes is a great writer. She writes with a clear and honest voice. She has made these boys of 5th Street so adorably irresistible. The problem I have with this book is the character of Charlee. I really wanted to like Charlee but she behaves in such an immature manner - constantly jumping to conclusions and running away (or threatening to go home), it became annoying. She certainly has reason for her insecurities, but her unwillingness to give Hector the benefit of the doubt became tiresome. I really wanted to like her. I like that she is a chess genius. I like that she is both innocent and daring. She has the whole geek-chic going on. She is my kinda gal. Unfortunately, her bad behavior was disappointing and overshadowed her charm.  

IN A NUTSHELL: 
It is worth reading this book if just to get to know the delectable Hector...he's worth you time and money.  Yeah, to the 5th Street boys!