Shallow

NOTE: This coming year I have set a challenge for myself of reading one book a week that takes me out of my comfort zone. A book that may include one (or more) tropes (scenarios) that I avoid like the plague. Cheating. Older women/younger man. OW drama. Just to name a few. Nothing is off limits. I am taking a HUGE step out of the box I usually live in and charting a course into the unknown (HaHa). My reviews for these books will differ slightly from my usual as I will focus more on whether the author wowed me despite it having content I avoid. That said, I will go into each book with an open mind and an open heart and who knows, maybe I will discover a new favorite author on the way!



~THIS BOOK INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING TROPES (SCENARIOS) I USUALLY AVOID~ (don't click if you don't want the book spoiled!!)
-- Famous unlikable heroine-- Drug use-- OW drama-- Asshole hero


~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I found this one to be very well written. The pace was perfect. The plot was engaging and kept me turning the pages. We flip flop back and forth from past to present which I am not usually a fan of, but it worked quite well in this case.


~HERO~
Honestly? I can't say I found the hero very likable for most of this one. He was a total asshole. He was bitter. He was angry. He treated Shiloh like dirt. I get what she did was awful. I do, but how am I suppose to believe that someone with that much hate and anger can set that aside to forgive and have an HEA? It's a shame this tatted up, and pierced hottie was wasted on such an asshole character. That said, the last 30ish% he got better for me and I started to warm up to him, but the author never got me to a place where I cared whether he got a happy ever after or not.


~HEROINE~
This book started out with one of the least likable heroines I have ever read. I was girding my loins expecting to spend the book hating on her. Of course, that was pretty much the point. However, the author made the hero such an incredible douchebag that I quickly warmed up to the heroine, even though the things she had done in the past (to Cary) and in the present were pretty damn bad. Nevertheless, the author did a good job making her a sympathetic character, and I honestly felt she learned from her mistakes. She grew up and became a better person while the hero for me stayed stuck in his hate and anger far too long for me to buy into his sudden change of heart.





~SIDE CHARACTERS~
I HATED Taryn with the passion of a thousand white-hot suns. I hated the power Cary let her have over him. That said, I LOVED Frankie, and the guys and Shiloh's Mom cracked me up at times. I also think we have seen some of these characters in BLURRED RED LINES a book that I LOVED by this author. I am not 100% sure (I need to do some digging) but Carrick and the gym seemed familar to me.


~HEAT LEVEL~
This was light on the spice. The sex scenes were hot, but there wasn't a ton of them, and they were slow in coming. The slow buildup fit the tone of the book though, so it wasn't a negative thing and didn't affect my rating at all.


~ANGST LEVEL~
High. I spent much of this book with my stomach in knots. There was also a lot of push/pull and OW drama. There was a lot of anger and hate on the hero's part that didn't make for a pleasant read. That said, angst lovers will probably eat this one up.


~IN THE END~
I didn't love this one as much as I had hoped to. The writing was excellent and all that, but it was too angsty for me. The first 60ish% was akin to torture. The OW drama annoyed me. I hated the hero. The push/pull stretched out too long. The author didn't get me to the point of buying into an HEA. I didn't buy Cary's parents would get past what Shiloh did. It wasn't an enjoyable read for me, and I read for enjoyment, not torture. That said, this book was a perfect choice for my challenge, and I knew going in I would run across books that would push me too far out of my comfort zone (the whole point of the challenge) and this one did. Plus, all the reasons I didn't love this one are personal reasons as opposed to the book being “bad.” As I mentioned above, I suspect lovers of all things angst will eat this one up, as they should. This author can write. Of that, there is no doubt and why I am struggling to decide on a rating for this one. As uncomfortable as the book made me it was still an excellent book that despite the stomach knots had me hooked and turning the pages. Therefore, I think I will settle on 4 Stars as of right now and reserve the right to change my rating after thinking about it more.