Easy – Review

Category: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Keywords: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Format: eBook, paperback, audiobook
Source: Purchased

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Rescued by a stranger.
Haunted by a secret
Sometimes, love isn’t easy…

He watched her, but never knew her. Until thanks to a chance encounter, he became her savior…

The attraction between them was undeniable. Yet the past he’d worked so hard to overcome, and the future she’d put so much faith in, threatened to tear them apart.

Only together could they fight the pain and guilt, face the truth—and find the unexpected power of love.

A groundbreaking novel in the New Adult genre, Easy faces one girl’s struggle to regain the trust she’s lost, find the inner strength to fight back against an attacker, and accept the peace she finds in the arms of a secretive boy.

Review:

Some books stand out.  There is a buzz that starts when everyone is reading and talking about a particular book.  I saw it on many readers’ “read” and “to-read” shelves on GoodReads.  Then, a good friend recommended it.  I was a little hesitant because, though I enjoy a good romance, this one had some potential issues that might be hard to read.  However, based on so many great reviews, I decided to give it a shot.  I was hooked from the first chapter and found myself not wanting to put it down.  In fact, I read it in one sitting and late into the night.  

Easy is considered Mature YA or New Adult.  Characters are older than in typical Young Adult books and in college or just post college.  Webber’s story takes place in a college setting (dorms, classrooms, frat houses) and she has managed to nail the the college environment and experiences. In many romances centered contemporary fiction stories, I find myself rolling my eyes.  The connection between the two main characters seem contrived or there is the insta-love angle.  Characters meet and fall immediately and madly in love.

Webber gets more than the setting right in Easy.  Jacqueline and Lucas are characters that I liked a lot.  Both of them were flawed, and showed evolution and growth over the course of the story.  Their relationship grew slowly and built over time, and there was definitely chemistry between the two of them.  Additionally, there were secondary characters in the story that I enjoyed as well.  Some of the storyline did seem a bit predictable, but the dialogue didn’t feel contrived, and I never found myself eye-rolling, which was important.  I really don’t want to spoil this book so I will say less than more.

However, more than setting and characters, Webber deals with an important issue in a real way.  Early in the book, Jacqueline is assaulted in the parking lot and nearly raped.  Rather than just being a scene or a plot device used to bring Jacqueline and Lucas together, Webber follows the storyline through the book in a way that shows young women that they can have a voice.  This discovery for Jacqueline doesn’t come over night, and it is helped along by the support of friends.  The response of both friends and acquaintances plays a key role.  Rather than making everyone supportive, Webber chose to portray a range of responses which added to the realistic feel.  And there is one scene towards the end where I just wanted to cheer when the head of the sorority speaks.  The addition of several resources and hotline numbers added credibility to the message that Webber was so clear in communicating through her book.  This is one book that certainly exceeded my expectations and I was glad that I picked this book up to read.

Visit the author online at her blog, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter @tammarawebber