Shelly Crane

This author never disappoints me with her love stories. They make me feel all swooney and stuff. Crane brought me back to the world of contemporary. She has an amazing way of telling a story. She doesn't make it all fluffy, and puts challenges in the plot to show how real it is.

I felt awful for Emma. She wakes up from a coma not knowing anyone, or what happened. She tries so hard to be the girl her parents knew before the accident. All she does is make herself unhappy, and harder for her to show more move on. It seems like Mason is the only one that understands she can't go back to who she was. Mason's her physical therapist, but can't keep from feeling drawn to her. He's a great guy, but has his own secrets and things he's dealing with. He doesn't want to make Emma's life more difficult. Andy, Emma's boyfriend, is a tool. That's all I'll say, because nothing nice will come out of my mouth about him.

Emma's life before and after are two complete opposites. I'm not sure how she stood to be the person she was before, but the accident seems to be the starting point to starting a new life. Things aren't easy for her as she acclimates into her life, but she just learns from the circumstances, and tries to deal with it as best as she can.

Wide Awake is a great book, that you won't want to put down. The topics and situation are completely believable. I can't imagine waking up, and not remembering anything. A great love story for those that need something that's not filled completely with fluff, and tackles some pretty big issues. I'll definitely be buying the print book of this so it can be read many times over. show less

I'm weird about this book/series. It was good. I stayed up entirely too late reading it. It moved kind of slow but I was really excited about it while I was reading... I just don't know. Maybe it's only a 2 or 3 star book for me. I keep waffling on that so I gave it 4 because I like to give the benefit of the doubt and I DO feel like the series has some merit.

I think part of the reason I am a little conflicted about it is that it seemed a little oppressive towards women, bordering on show more misogynistic at times. Actually, it seemed a lot oppressive towards women at times. But then, I could see how in the plot that was one of the "changes" that might occur. But I still highly doubt it's ever going to make my feminist side feel all warm and fuzzy.

It also had a highly annoying amount of typographical errors. Very highly annoying. Like, at times, I couldn't exactly make out that the character was supposed to have said. It was also extremely overboard with the "I Love You's" and reassurances. Both characters are totally insecure, but I guess that's better than the female being a total insecure mess all by her poor little ole' self. That gets annoying.

The author's agenda comes through in parts of the book at times too. I understand that nearly every author has "something to say" in their work, but it was a little too soap-boxy... a little too put on... a little 'holier than thou'.

In spit of all of my criticism I am definitely going to read the next installment of this series and I really did like it. Crane has a great gift for story telling but the actual writing needs some serious attention. The plot doesn't flow smoothly, some of the events are awkwardly placed, but the characters are wonderful and the basic plot is very entertaining and original enough. I feel like the actual writing will only get better as Crane continues to write. show less

Pardon me a minute while I gush all over this review. Shelly Crane is one of my most fave authors, so I never hesitate to purchase her books as soon as it's been released. Crane is only one of two authors who evokes that kind of dedication from me. I was continually stalking Smash Into You, waiting for it's release and some how I missed it's release date by four days, I couldn't even look myself in the mirror. LOL. Anyway, it was the day before my B'day so I thought it would be a nice gift show more to myself to just relax with something romantic and sweet. Crane is certainly a romantic and I didn't expect anything less from this book. It did not disappoint. Okay, okay, enough gushing, (probably not), on with the review.

It's probably too cliche to say that Smash Into You was not what I expected but it's true. I didn't expect the suspense, mystery, and the action. Never read anything quite like this from Crane before. Oh for sure it had the expected intense romance, and lets not forget the swoon, oh the swoon. I've read a few excerpts that made it seem like it would just be about a boy and a girl finding love but I did not predict such a thrillingly, mysterious and heartwarming ride. It was a boy and a girl trying to heal their emotional scars, finding their place in the world, making things right and of course falling in love.

Jude at first comes across as the typical player but there is more to him than meets the eye. He hates being a heart breaker so he steers clear of girls who's heart he knows he could completely ruin; especially since he doesn't stay in one place for very long. He lives his life on the run and can't afford to get too close to anyone, else they suffer the same fate. What I like about Jude is even the girls who throw themselves at him he finds it in himself to show them some kind of respect. Being involved with them is more about punishing himself, he cannot afford to fall in love, he doesn't deserve it. I love that Crane's heroes are always gentlemanly, and romantic as hell, no matter how badass they may be. Jude is no different, he was very protective and respectful towards Marley.

Marley surprised me, the first few scenes with her did not prepare me for how much of a tough chick she would turn out to be. All the adversities that she and Jude faced did not turn her into a whimpering coward. Marley went with the flow, she adjusted to the moment quickly with sincerity and grit. Marley is as damaged as Jude, but she doesn't wear it on her sleeve. She like him as avoided getting attached but she's not as jaded as Jude, as she keeps referring to him as. Again another strong character, Crane's female characters aren't always caught up with their insecurities, and they tend to be more tenacious and resilient.

Another aspect of Crane's books that I love is how these couples seem to have some kind of destiny type of connection. I'm always a sucker for stuff like that, you know the soul mate, it was destiny for us to meet kind of thing? I can't help it, it's so swoony. That part of the story was very surprising.

Smash Into You was thrilling, and as sweet as can be. As you might have read from the synopsis, Jude is on the run from some guy that keeps chasing him from town to town, city to city. Well, this is his journey to finding out why this guy, 'Biloxi' wants him dead and how can he fix it so that he can have the life his mother wanted for him. Along the way he ran into Marley and for the first time he wants more for himself. But he doesn't want her to live the life he's been living. Can he make things right and have the girl of his dreams? Can he and this intriguing girl heal each other's wounds? And can they have their HEA? You'll just have to read it to find out. show less

I am definitely hooked on this series. It is strange to read the different side of the paranormal side. No vampire, just strange tats and abilities along with a real quick love matches and a bunch of other crazy mess along with it. There are so many layers to the book and I find myself falling more in love with Maggie and Caleb in every book. This book was filled with twists at every turn (some good and some bad) but filling you in would give the book away. I so want to know what happens show more with Jen and Bish and hope like hell they get their own book or some major storyline in a new book. What I can say is that I am truly glad that I have the next book because this one ends with one heck of a cliffhanger! show less