Julianna Keyes

Sometimes I'm just in the mood for NA. My last read kind of got me there. In reviewing my list, I decided to settle on Julianna Keyes since the first offering was so solid. I found myself recalling so much of that book that I'm not completely sure why I only rated it a 3, further solidifying the fact that I'm a moody reader.

Keyes has an unpretentious, realistic style. She's not sentimental or flowery, just pretty real. In this installment, we get to see everyone's favorite recovered show more gonorrhea patient, Kellan. I'm not saying this to be flip-it was a very big part of the first book of this series and a very real foundation for Kellan's development. While there are jokes here and there (I've mentioned my sensitivity to this) it's not done in the tasteless, easy manner of some other authors (ahem) but more that way that friends remind you that you made a mistake and you'll never live it down. Again, with the set up that Kellan fucked his way through freshman year, used sophomore year to pick up the pieces, and is now turning to junior year without knowing who he is or what his major is, his childhood best friend and 'first' on the list is returns to his life from the prior two years of shutting him out. It's painful, yet a delight to see Kellan's longing for her impossible nature--she denies him or ignores him for much of the first third of the book. She doesn't want to associate with him or live in his shadow. Not because of his list, but because she's really trying to stand on her own and just resort to the boy she's loved forever.

What results is a stumbling, realistic college romance. Kellan and Andi are funny, tentative with each other, honest and sweet (oddly, one of the moments that really got me was when someone said "Andrea Walsh" and he corrected them on the pronunciation...because it's these little moments that I feel like characters show how they care.) It was their easy joking back and forth, and their appreciation of one another.

To tell it from Kellan's POV was lovely. He wouldn't be a super easy character to not pass off as a douche (though he didn't necessarily always come across as such in the first) but seeing his internal thoughts made it impossible to doubt his feelings for Andi. Because he knows her so well, it really worked for me in this book. Andi wasn't a mystery, though as in every first person romance, it's more difficult to know her. Her motivations were still understandable.

I'm surprised to say I found the last 15% or so quite moving, with a very romantic but not overdone ending. show less

I'm not sure I can rate this yet.

Update 1/2/19

I'm not kidding when I tell you this book gave me dreams. It was that raw, emotional, personal...fill in the blank. So angsty. What about its impeccable writing that just matches the mood, and holy shit, it's so sexy. Sounds great, doesn't it?

I usually think of my friend Blackjack here, when rating romance when deciding how exactly to set my standards between 2/3/4 stars. Blackjack's said here before - to paraphrase-she likes a romance where she show more can see the couple having a successful relationship after they are off the page. I really like that. I didn't even trust this couple to be happy on the page. It's weird, I know the people we love can humiliate us. I don't think they should want to. And even if they do, the whispers of power, the honesty of confessing a punishing, painful rape fantasy are things I'm glad most people and characters don't have the stomach for. Because this was in the first person, we only ever see how the heroine (Rachel) feels. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I do know that letting go is as beautiful as second chance and leaving a toxic environment is rescuing oneself. I don't think I believe in closure. And a good portion of the the Rachel's development in this novel is to be forced into seeing how she's hurt everyone by Dean. In the end he knows he's wrong for taking this approach but that doesn't make it not abusive.

This was one Julianna Keyes where the terrible mistakes were too deep, cutting, and awful. The first encounter begins exactly how Dean's planned to punish Rachel. All the heroine did was save herself, and they both continue to punish her for it. And Dean didn't do much throughout the story-he was just sort of there. Cold, jealous, ridiculous.

In the end, I don't trust them. They didn't arrive to their HEA by time, conversation and healing, but by burning off the bad parts and tearing things from the root in terribly painful and destructive way.

In other words, this isn't a successful second chance. It's a dream of lovelorn teenagers chasing their first high and not letting it go. It's a self-made woman being brought back down to size through humiliation to see what she really wants. It was a failure of a romance for me, as much as it pains me to say. show less

I've been considering this book all day. A whole day! Percolating on a review for that long is not in my character. I'm more "decide and question later"

Was this a 3 star or a 4 star? It was one of the more raw, gritty, unpleasant NA books I've read. The only one that comes close to this [b:Summer Skin|26211610|Summer Skin|Kirsty Eagar|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453873095s/26211610.jpg|46192224] or I should say this comes close to that?

Reading this book felt oddly personal. In a lot show more of ways, in a lot of characters, in a lot of mistakes and in a lot of hopes too. And I actually think this is very NA. If YA is all about identity and coming to terms with that (that is, deciding who you are), NA is about deciding who you are going to be. Who will you disappoint? Who will you leave behind other than a perfunctory 'hey, how are you?' and where do you think you're going. (Hey, I know what middle age is about in fiction too: "how the fuck am I here?")

That said, no it doesn't have my undying recommendation. While I lapped it up and love it for its complications and echoes of mistakes and consequences that are so very true to so many degrees, will you? Can you identify with an aimless hero who seriously does one of the worst things within 3 chapters of a book and let him grow from there? I can't explain the plot, nor do I ever anyway, but Aiden. Aiden. Aiden is a fucking asshole. Not my beloved kind, but a fuckface. A dick-with terrible tattoos (that should tell you how different this author is.)

So what the hell, Sam? If you're still reading this you're maybe thinking "obviously this is barely a 3. The hero is a straight up dick."

But no. Because Julianna Keyes and her indescribable plots make you feel, understand and pretty much root for these men with terrible mistakes. But she doesn't make it easy to do so. I didn't really click with Aiden, but we all know an Aiden. And nothing in life is a straight line. And so this book is a 4 because it is so very very true. show less

This was an absolutely fun ride! The plot is simple: a down-on-her luck baker gets drunk and enters for an adventure/love reality show. Shocker! She gets chosen and the book is 85% what happens on show. I had so much fun with this. Emmy was such a sweetheart and I wanted to protect her from everything. Not because she was weak, but because I cared so much. Seeing her emerge stronger and happier was wonderful.

I appreciated so many things about this book - No insta-love between the leads, in show more fact there was a veryyyyy brief moment I thought I didn't have the ML correct (I did :)). The other characters! They were so fun and some of the contestants had great growth from when we first met to end of book. Even the show's host was fun. The show's twists and turns plus their wacky challenges. The final conflict/break up - Now I rarely like 3rd act breakups but this one was different, in fact if events had happened differently I would have not enjoyed the couple as much as I did.

P.S. It was when I was done with the book that I remembered that JK wrote 2 NA and the very angsty, steamy Time Served series that I also enjoyed. They are different from this book in tone but not in how well written they all were.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publishers for the ARC, I had a great time reading this. show less