Steph Campbell

Rating: 4.5/5

*dab her eyes with a Kleenex*

Second chances are a beautiful thing, indeed.

From the beginning of the book, sorrow and sadness clenched my heart in a iron grasp and didn't let go until I turned the last pages and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the two lovers getting finally their happy ending. It was the least they could have after all the hurt and heartaches they've been subjected to in one year.

A whirl of misunderstanding, pain, grief, loss, bitterness, love, heartbreak, a show more messy break-up and Tobin and Delia in the middle of it all, how can anyone stay stoic and unmoved by what they have been through?

I cried and cried and stayed until 2am reading in a frenzy, aching for a small flicker of happiness, to see them get past all their mistakes, overcome their fears and obstacles and be in each other arms again.

I cried for Tobin who just lost his older brother but couldn't understand why he did that to himself.

And I cried for Delia, who had been bullied her whole life by her control-freak father but then had enough of it and stood up for herself and her happiness against him.

Beautiful, emotional and hazardous for mushy hearts (like myself); Mrs. Perry and Mrs. Campbell are two authors I'm adding to watch-out-for list. show less

If you enjoy contemporary romance, then this is a great novel to read. I love a good romance, but Grounding Quinn is so much more than that. Stephanie Campbell has done a wonderful job writing this novel. Quinn is a beautiful young girl who comes from a very dysfunctional family. Her mom is mentally unstable, and lives on prescription meds, and her dad certainly has a plethora of his own issues. Growing up in the midst of all this has left Quinn a very insecure girl, though she tries show more desperately to mask it, and her coping mechanisms are not the best of choices. She is afraid to open up to anyone, and has presented the facade that everything is great, good, and normal with her friends. Then things change when Quinn meets Ben over the summer, and hottie Ben is not just a summer fling, she really cares about him.

Ben is a totally swoon worthy guy. He is protective and caring, and he falls hard for Quinn, even telling her that he loves her, and Quinn is afraid of love. She cares deeply for Ben, and has opened up to him more than she ever has with anyone, yet her insecurities and fears of letting someone past the walls she has built up cause her to make some really bad choices. Those choices lead to some painful consequences, but the judgement and punishment Quinn places upon herself is far worse than anyone else could do. Quinn has to come to terms with the things she has done, the choices she has made, her own lack of self-worth and inability to forgive herself and accept forgiveness from others, especially Ben. Ben continues to love and accept her through all of this though she continues to push him away. He is one of those absolutely dreamy guys every girl would love to have, but even he has his limits, and has his own issues with his family, though his family dynamic is entirely different from Quinn's.

Stephanie Campbell has written the book in such a way that you get to experience the whole gamut of emotions going on and you feel elated and heartbroken as you journey though real life experiences with real-life characters. The situations they face deal with genuine issues, and the characters and supporting characters are far from perfect, which makes them so believable. I was hooked from the first page and totally engrossed through the whole novel, waiting to see if the love Quinn and Ben have could stand the tests that face them. This is an amazing novel and I would definitely recommend reading it. Enjoy it, oh yes I did. show less

I've been waiting for this! Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt (I already wrote just how much I adore her writing) should write ALL!BOOKS!EVER together. I dare say I liked it even more than [b:Lengths|15750790|Lengths (Lengths, #1)|Steph Campbell|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343365302s/15750790.jpg|21444871] for one simple reason: it's all from Landry's POV and this is so rare in YA/NA fiction that you can't help but savor every single word of it like it's something precious. (But rest show more assured that Deo is still my favorite between the two characters.)

I just loved being in Landry's head. I was so sad for how alone he was in the beginning. You can see that he's a nice guy, it's just that he's still a guy - and that's what they're like. He's made mistakes and he has regrets and I really liked this whole journey from a self-absorbed boy who refuses to admit he's all grown up to the proper man that he is in the end. Sometimes you just need to pull your sh*t together, and own up to your mistakes and he did just that.

Mila - I think a lot of girls will relate to her. She's a bookish, nerdy, genuinely sweet girl and you know what I really liked? The fact that she just decides to take matters into her own hands in the beginning of the book. You can see she's going to go for it. And when she comes after him you can see that she won't let him walk all over her and be a jerk just because she's in love with him.

They have this really effortless relationship in the beginning that gives you this friends vibe, but there's also obvious chemistry between them, and it's wonderful how they made it so that the reader can see it but Landry is completely oblivious to it - he's just such a guy!
Though if I'm honest, I thought the book would be all about reconnecting with Toni, at least that's the impression I got from the blurb, so I had to actually switch teams when I saw where the story was headed, but I was okay with it because I loved Mila instantly!

There are two or three sex scenes, but they are not so much in-your-face-graphic (not that I'd mind) as they are descriptive. Really really loved them.

The story is the perfect holiday read because the book is this huge box of mush-mush sweetness and you just can't help but feel good about in the end. It leaves you all content and happy with a huge grin on your face. I devoured it in a couple of hours.
I loved all the Star Wars, Firefly (and there were even !DR WHO!) references throughout the book. So this book was so worth the wait.
Everyone needs to read this wonderful story. show less

I finally understand that life isn’t about holding all of the pieces neatly together. Life is about picking up the pieces.And love is about finding a way to make those pieces fit together,even if they’re all jaggedy and mismatched.And that’s what brought Ben and I to this moment—to this mad,crazy love.
To this promise.
That beautiful things can last, if you let them bend and change with you.

“I love you,I used to think I loved you because of the way you made me feel that first day show more we spent together in Savannah.But I don’t.I love you for the way you crinkle your nose when someone annoys the shit out of you, and you’re trying so damn hard to bite your tongue. I love you for never burning food. I love you for calling me out on my shit,and reminding me every day why I’m so damn lucky to call you mine.I love you for making my life whole.”

Writing a review for this one is going to be tough.I dont think I can forgive Quinn as easy as Ben.With Ben my disappointment lasted less than a chapter.I got that he has issues too and he needed to get them out of his system.I was not that easy with Quinn.I dont know why exactly is that.Maybe its because she pushes of Ben and acts like she hasnt done anything wrong in the past.How could she forget what she did with Mark?And the fact that he forgave her?In my mind she was cruel to him.But I know thats not probably the truth and I am just been unfair to her.You know what maybe I get her a little.She doesn't think she deserves him so she wants him to see what a mistake he makes being with her.

I can’t promise that I’ll ever be able to give you the big house, or the best Damascus knives or that I’ll ever be able to tell the difference between a Coeur à la Crème mold and a soufflé dish.I can’t promise that I’ll never piss you off, or that I’ll never let you down again. I can’t promise to always say the right things, or even to pretend that you always say the right things. But I can promise, and I do promise, that I’ll wake up every single day and try like hell. I promise you that I’ll give you everything in me. show less