Author: Liz Reinhardt
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: September 6th, 2011
Page Count: 267
Genre: contemporary romance
Audience: (mature) young adult
Source: bought ebook
Rating: 5 I'd happily spend lazy afternoons in this book's arms
Goodreads Summary:
What happens when you fall in love with the perfect guy... twice... in one day?
Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she’s back in the States, she’s determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance.
What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once.
The same day that dark, brooding Saxon Maclean charmed her with his killer good looks and whip-smart wit, Jake Kelly stole her breath away with his heart-wrenching smile and intelligent, thoughtful focus.
But Saxon is a proud player who makes it clear that he doesn’t know why he can’t get Brenna off of his mind and out of his system, and Jake’s sweet and humble attitude hides a secret past life that might be more darker and more complex than Brenna’s willing to handle.
Complicating the matter is the fact that Saxon and Jake were once best friends and are now arch-enemies... and the more Brenna finds out about their connection to each other, the more intrigued and worried she becomes.
Between keeping the peace with her lovingly over-protective parents, designing t-shirts for her high school’s rising punk band, keeping up her grades in both academic and technical high school, and running the track like a maniac, Brenna has enough to worry about with out juggling two guys who make her heart thud and drive her crazy all at once.
She has to make a choice. But how can she when giving her heart to one of them might mean breaking the other’s?
Sometimes I wanted to shake Brenna for not always making wise decisions, but at the same time, I understand where she's coming from; the conflict between her love for Jake and her attraction to Saxon drove me bonkers (and had me constantly rooting for Jake), but her feelings are real and honest. And despite Jake's secrets, he seems like a sweet, caring, loving guy, even if he is a bit needy at times. Saxon on the other hand is just too smooth for me to really like. At all. Brenna's character is well-developed; I love that she is so into art and reading. She seems like she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with. Though most of the story revolves around their burgeoning romance and his feelings for Brenna, Jake is well-drawn and realistic as well. Saxon comes across as totally shady to me, and he's a bit elusive, so his less developed characterization didn't bother me at all.
Overall, I just lovelovelove the romance in this story. And I'm not a huge fan of straight-romance, but this surprised me with its depth. It's definitely a character-driven/internal struggle book rather than being very plot-based. And I totally appreciated that. There are parts of this book that make me not want to recommend it to just anyone, though; the description itself says for "older young adults," so keep that in mind. There are sexy bits that make me wary of recommending it for anyone younger than say upper high school. But take that as you will! Other than that, I have no reservations about recommending this. And if this tells you anything, as soon as I finished it, I had to buy the next book in the Brenna Blixen series, Junk Miles. (And start reading it of course!)
I'm all proud of myself for starting your new obsession, Randi. :P Blix's decisions weren't always my favorite, but I think it fit the story.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you think about Junk Miles! :D