Review: THE TEMPTATION OF LILA AND ETHAN by Jessica Sorensen

Title: THE TEMPTATION OF LILA AND ETHAN
Pub Date: 5/6/14 from Grand Central Publishing
ARC received from publisher in exchange for an honest review
Dannie says: not as tempting as some of Sorensen's other works, but still fun!

On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks, expensive clothes, and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect façade. She'll do anything to keep the emptiness inside hidden-which leads her into situations that always end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there's only one person who's there to pull her out: Ethan Gregory. 

Ethan set the rules a long time ago: he and Lila are just friends. He doesn't do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad boy exterior is a far cry from Lila's pretty princess image, Ethan can't deny they have a deeper connection than he's used to. If he's not careful, he could be in serious danger of becoming attached-and he's learned the hard way that attachment only leads to heartbreak.

When Lila falls farther than she ever has before, can Ethan continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling . . . for her?

WHAT I LIKED

If you've been following this blog for a while you know I'll pretty much pick up anything with Jessica Sorensen's name on it. She has a knack for writing realistically imperfect characters that are easy to champion. The premise of Lila and Ethan promised to be another book I'd reread until I had memorized. It touched on the New Adult themes I loved without being a cookie cutter college let's get drunk and tame a bad boy trope that I've grown really, really sick of. I was hooked by this premise. There were some areas it fell short for me, though, making it a like rather than a love. 

Ethan. I'm not really a sucker for a bad boy and I think this was one area where some of Sorensen's characters start to blend together a little. He's a bit similar to Quinton, who is probably my favorite character by this author, and so I found myself comparing the two, leaving Ethan to be more of a like than a love, since I felt Quinton was more multifaceted and tangible. I did really, really enjoy reading Ethan's chapters though.

WHAT I LOVED

The realistic portrayal of addiction in upper class teens/twenty-somethings. You know how I'm a sucker for a well-told drug story, and Sorensen's books are some of my favorite in this respect. I did think she handled this aspect of the story very well, and I won't say anything more than that to avoid spoilers. But it was realistic and from me that's hard praise to come by. 

Hurray for a book that can be read as a standalone! I've read the previous two books in this series, but I don't think you need to read them to enjoy this book. And although there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, there's enough tying of loose ends that if you want to stop here, you can, and feel satisfied that the story has reached a conclusion. 

WHAT I WANTED MORE OF

A stronger FMC. I felt like Lila could have grown more in terms of her personal journey. I wanted her to be stronger and to rely on Ethan less. I felt at times like they were toying with codependency in a way that seemed unhealthy, and I wanted her to need less rescuing than she did. 

More chemistry--while Sorensen's characterization and chemistry are nearly always out of the box, I did feel like this book went into the tropey area a little too much with the whitewashed pure girl and the inked up bad boy. While I didn't think Ethan was your typical NA LI, he wasn't unique enough from other male leads in Sorensen's growing collection. So, maybe because I've read nearly everything in her catalog, I felt like these characters and their chemistry was not as original as I'd hoped. 

Short story long, if you enjoy Jessica Sorensen's books, I think you'll be tempted by Lila and Ethan. I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

Review: SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen

Title: SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen

Pub Date: Available Now!!

ARC received from Grand Central Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Dannie says: Sorensen could write a book about numbers, and I'd be hooked to the very last page. QUINTON is no exception. 

Buy Links:

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SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen (February 4, 2014; Forever E-Book; $4.99)

Nova Reed can't forget him-Quinton Carter, the boy with the honey-brown eyes who made her realize she deserved more than an empty life. His pain was so similar to her own. But Nova has been coming to terms with her past and healing, while Quinton is out there somewhere, sinking deeper. She's determined to find him and help him . . . before it's too late.Nova has haunted his dreams for nearly a year-but Quinton never thought a sweet, kind person like her would care enough about a person like him. To Quinton, a dark, dangerous life is exactly what he deserves. And Nova has no place in it. But Nova has followed him to Las Vegas, and now he must do whatever it takes to keep her away, to maintain his self-imposed punishment for the unforgivable things he's done. But there's one flaw in his plan: Nova isn't going anywhere . . .

WHAT I LIKED 

The dynamic between the two main characters. One thing Sorensen does consistently well is creates characters whose relationship makes sense while simultaneously being full of conflict. This is the case with Quinton and Nova, though I liked their chemistry better in Book 1, which is why this is a like and not a love for me. There was more interpersonal tension where as the conflict and tension here was more intrapersonal. Yes. I make up words. Just go with it, people. 

The distinct narration and voice between the two main characters. Here again I thought this was something she did better in book one but still did better than many female new adult authors and that was creating a male narrator who sounded male (for the most part) without making the distinction between the two that the guy curses a bunch. I enjoyed the voice in this read. 

WHAT I LOVED

The overall story arc and plot. It goes without saying that I'm a sucker for this sort of story, but really I was instantly invested in these characters and their journey. I was both terrified and eager to know how the whole thing would turn out and read way too late into the night to reach the ending!

The authenticity. This is a tough read because there is so much reality to it. Both in terms of being the addict and caring for and about a person who is addicted. You feel helpless and lost and there is this seemingly endless cycle of trying and failing. Sorensen does an awesome job of making that reality come through for the reader. She doesn't pull punches or gloss over the reality to please the reader, and I have great respect for her as a result.

Quinton. He was what drew me into the first book and I latched onto him again here. He is such a great, organic dark horse character and I was really rooting for him, even when he was being a very unlikable anti-hero. I was totally invested in what was happening to him and he was very, very real. 

WHAT I WANTED MORE OF

Intensity and pace. In BREAKING NOVA the listless narrative made sense because Nova was dealing with her chaos and depression. Here she's supposedly better and happy with her life. I found her narrative to contradict that, and I wanted more energy out of her. In fairness, though, this does go back to the story's authenticity. Sometimes the things that we do to help people who are dealing with drugs don't work...a lot of the time they don't work. And a lot of the time the things we do to help actually harm, despite our positive intentions. Regarding this element, I felt like the author could have done more to accentuate this theme for the reader. 

A stronger female MC. This bothered me in NOVA, too, but more so here because she was really tagged as the hero in action for this story. I found a lot of her narrative to be really simple so I wanted more complexity from her than we got. I think she had a courageous goal of helping Quinton get sober, but almost from page one I felt like she wasn't up to the task. She was more fragile-seeming than I wanted her to be. To be clear this isn't a flaw in the writing, it's just my personal preference for how I like my female main characters. 

More arc in Quinton's character--I would have liked to have seen a little more growth in our MMC. I think that he does have some of that, but not enough for a POV character. I think if the author had taken further what happens in the last twenty pages of the book, we would have seen that growth. So my fingers are crossed that we will get some of that in Book 3!

Short story long, I'm pretty much onboard with reading anything Jessica Sorensen writes. She creates engaging characters in conflict-filled situations that are authentic and gripping and SAVING QUINTON is no exception.

About the author:

Jessica Sorensen is a #1 New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who lives with her husband and three kids in Idaho. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

Website      Facebook     Twitter     Goodreads

 Buy links are above! 

Launch Day Blitz! SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen

Happy Book Birthday to Jessica Sorensen, who's sequel to BREAKING NOVA (which I freaking LOVED) comes out today. Check out the excerpt below and stay tuned tomorrow for my review of SAVING QUINTON. Happy Book Birthday, Jessica!

Buy Links:

Amazon     B&N     iTunes

SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen (February 4, 2014; Forever E-Book; $4.99)

Nova Reed can't forget him-Quinton Carter, the boy with the honey-brown eyes who made her realize she deserved more than an empty life. His pain was so similar to her own. But Nova has been coming to terms with her past and healing, while Quinton is out there somewhere, sinking deeper. She's determined to find him and help him . . . before it's too late.Nova has haunted his dreams for nearly a year-but Quinton never thought a sweet, kind person like her would care enough about a person like him. To Quinton, a dark, dangerous life is exactly what he deserves. And Nova has no place in it. But Nova has followed him to Las Vegas, and now he must do whatever it takes to keep her away, to maintain his self-imposed punishment for the unforgivable things he's done. But there's one flaw in his plan: Nova isn't going anywhere . . .

I suddenly realize that I’m in my room. Awake. And Nova’s here. With me. My thoughts start racing as I try to recollect what happened. I was planning on those guys beating me to death. Why didn’t that happen? Because it was too easy? Do I deserve not to be let off so easy—do I deserve worse than death? But if that’s true then why’s Nova here?

“What are you doing here?” It’s painful to talk, but I force the words to leave my mouth. “Or am I dreaming?”

She repositions her hand on my cheek, but doesn’t pull away, the startled look in her eyes diminishing. “You’re not dreaming…you were unconscious but…are you okay?” She seems nervous and it reminds me of how innocent and good she is, and how she shouldn’t be here in the crack house that I call home.

“Why are you here?” I ask, my voice feeble as I try to sit up, but my arms aren’t working and I fall right back down on the mattress.

“I came here to see you,” she replies, absent-mindedly touching her lips, and I wonder if I really kissed her or if I was imagining it.

She stares at me with her fingers on her lips and it’s uncomfortable because she’s really looking at me. I’ve been so used to people looking through me, as if I were a ghost, seeing the drugs, the person that I am now, the worthlessness all over me, instead of who I used to be. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be really looked at and for a split second I enjoy it. Then she looks away and I feel like I’m dying, my brain registering the pain in my legs, arms, chest—everywhere. And I’m crashing. Badly. My hands start to shake, my heart rate picking up as soon as I realize this.

“Go put some ice in a plastic bag,” she says, snapping her fingers at someone.

I hear a mutter and then Tristan steps into my view. He glances down at me and the haziness in his eyes lets me know he’s high on something, but I’m glad he’s at least here and it doesn’t look like he’s been beaten up. 

“Dude, you look like shit,” he tells me with a dopey-ass grin.

“I feel like shit,” I mutter, managing to get my hand up to my face to rub my eyes. “You look like you got away.”

“I did, and you should have run with me, you dumbass…I thought you were for a while until I realized I was alone.” Tristan chuckles under his breath. “Wait until you see yourself in a mirror.”

His amusement seems to piss Nova off and she gets to her feet, tugging the bottoms of her shorts down, fury burning in her eyes. “Go get a fucking bag to put the ice in,” she says, not yelling, but her tone is cold, abrupt, harsh, and she sort of shoves him. This isn’t the Nova I remember at all and she kind of scares me.

She seems to scare Tristan, too, who surrenders with his hands in front of him and backs toward the doorway. “Fine. Jesus, Nova. You don’t have to get crazy about it.”

“You haven’t even begun to see me get crazy,” she snaps, pointing at the door. “Now go get a damn bag.”

After Tristan leaves, she turns to the doorway and says, “What am I going to do?”

I can’t see who she’s talking to and it makes me wonder who the hell is in here. Delilah? I doubt it, since I don’t think she’d be asking Delilah that question.

“I don’t know,” someone replies. I still can’t see who it is, but I can tell the voice belongs to a female and I hate how excited I get over the fact that Nova’s not here with a guy.

Suddenly a girl with black hair and big blue eyes steps in. “He looks…” She assesses me, then looks at Nova. “He looks like he needs to go to a hospital.”

“No hospitals,” I croak. “I don’t have the cash to pay for that.” And I don’t deserve to heal so easily. I should suffer for getting up and running away from my death.

Nova stares down at me with reluctance. “Quinton, I really think you need to go to a hospital.” She kneels back down on the mattress, sweeping her long brown hair to the side as she leans over me. Her fingers gently enfold my wrist and, moving slowly, she bends my arm so I can get a good view of my hand. It’s twice the size it normally is and my skin is purple and blue. Even where her fingers are, the skin is swollen and raw, and it seems like her touch should hurt, but all I can feel is heat—her heat. God, I’ve missed her heat. I’ve spent the last year wrapped up in coldness, feeling the numbness of drugs and sex with random women and now she’s here and I feel like I’m burning up.

“It’s just a bruise,” I say, not looking at my hand, but at her. I want to hold her, hug her, kiss her, touch her, but I also want her to go away. Stay. Leave. Right. Wrong. Lexi. Nova. Guilt.

Guilt.

Guilt.

Guilt.

It was all your fault.

About the author:

Jessica Sorensen is a #1 New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who lives with her husband and three kids in Idaho. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

Website      Facebook     Twitter     Goodreads

 Buy links are above! And check out the giveaway below!

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Review: BREAKING NOVA by Jessica Sorensen

BREAKING NOVA by Jessica Sorensen

Author's: Goodreads   Website    Twitter   Facebook

ARC received from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) in exchange for an honest review. 

Pub Date: September 3, 2013

Dannie says: Now THAT'S what I call New Adult Contemporary!

Nova Reed used to have dreams-of becoming a famous drummer, of marrying her true love. But all of that was taken away in an instant. Now she's getting by as best she can, though sometimes that means doing things the old Nova would never do. Things that are slowly eating away at her spirit. Every day blends into the next . . . until she meets Quinton Carter. His intense, honey brown eyes instantly draw her in, and he looks just about as broken as she feels inside.

Quinton once got a second chance at life-but he doesn't want it. The tattoos on his chest are a constant reminder of what he's done, what he's lost. He's sworn to never allow happiness into his life . . . but then beautiful, sweet Nova makes him smile. He knows he's too damaged to get close to her, yet she's the only one who can make him feel alive again. Quinton will have to decide: does he deserve to start over? Or should he pay for his past forever?

What I Liked

The characters. I never fell in love with either of the MCs, so I can't really claim them as a love, but I did like them and want to read their stories. I found them to be very authentic of addicts and trauma survivors, so I guess they're a strong like bordering on love.

The raw, rich emotions. This is a tough read. It's a real read, but a tough one. So, yeah, it's my sort of book. I think it may be triggering for certain readers--those dealing with addictions primarily, but also readers who have experienced depression. Out of concern for those readers, the emotional arc of this book is a like rather than a love, because I think a little more hope--even if only in one of the secondary characters--would have balanced out the story arc as well as eliminate my concern that this book should come with all sorts of resource links. 

What I Loved

The authenticity. I'm wondering how this will play to the target audience, but as a substance abuse counselor and prevention advocate, I felt like this book was a pretty stellar argument about the addictive properties of marijuana that a lot of our culture is trying to ignore. The details, emotions, and thoughts in this book ring very true with my clients' experiences and I think a lot of teens who have felt the sort of grief and loss and trauma Nova and Quintin have will find them real and relatable. 

The hook and plot. I usually hate prologues, but in this case I felt like it was necessary and it worked. I was hooked from the end of the first scene and the prologue was so well-executed.

The rich, real setting details. Whether the author spent a minute or two in dens herself or thoroughly did her research, the places and things detailed add wicked authenticity to this read for me. I'm pretty critical when it comes to this sort of stuff--because I've seen a den or ten and know plenty of kids who grew up too fast there. A critical teen who wants to nitpick on how real the story is will have a hard time scratching apart this one.

The writing overall. I've read all of Sorensen's books to date and this one is far and away my favorite. Part of that is the content--this is the kind of stuff I write so it's also what I like to read (and usually pick apart but there wasn't much to do here). But plotwise and description wise I just felt like this book is her best yet. And I am itching to get my hands on the sequel ASAP!

What I Wanted More Of

Closure at the end. I'm not a big fan of cliffhanger endings, even in series. For me, I'm left feeling cheated out of a complete story arc, and I definitely felt like that in these pages. The teaser for book two at the end did NOT help at all! 

Faster pace. It's a tough balance--writing a book about depressed teens, struggling to keep their heads above water without feeling depressed and like you're drowning along with them as a reader. For me, the pace fell a little short, but I'm not sure all readers will agree. 

Short story long, this is a great read--albeit possibly triggering--and I cannot wait to see what happens next! Add it to GoodReads and order via these links!